Free Republic

With the Democratic National Convention and an attendant influx of protesters a week away, the city is suggesting businesses bring in loose planters, take down flags, and secure commercial dumpsters "to avoid misappropriation by demonstrators." The city expects 35,000 to 50,000 protesters daily during the July 25-28 convention. Anticipated gathering spots include FDR Park, Marconi Plaza, Independence Mall, City Hall, and the Municipal Services Building. Marches are planned down Broad Street and Market Street. Simultaneously, Philadelphia is rolling out a literal multicolored carpet for visitors and delegates and hosting four days of live music along Broad Street. The Mural Arts...

As the presidential election looms, some 41,000 black voters in Philadelphia who used to be registered to vote are off the books now, and leaders in Philadelphia’s black community are scrambling to get them registered so their voices will be heard come November. “We’re concerned that people may think elections may go a certain way, and too often people think that one vote doesn’t count,” Minister Rodney Muhammad, president of the NAACP’s Philadelphia chapter, told NBC10 this week. “It certainly does.”

The Secret Service special agent in charge of security during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next month said there will be a security perimeter around the Wells Fargo Complex that will extend higher than five feet. The DNC’s annual event will include “no-scale fencing,” Special Agent James Henry told NBC10.com. Henry noted that the specifics about the “perimeter” have not yet been finalized. This year’s Democratic National Convention will take place July 25-28 in Philadelphia, marking the second time in less than a year that the City of Brotherly Love has hosted a high profile event necessitating a National...

"Bill Clinton will be joined by Mothers of the Movement, which includes the mothers of black men and women who have been killed by gun violence or in police custody. The mothers of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown are scheduled to appear at the DNC."

A 51-foot joint will make an appearance in Philly for the Democratic National Convention next week. No, it doesn’t actually contain marijuana – just a lot of air. The giant joint has circulated at past events in New York City and Washington, D.C. DCMJ, an organization pushing for marijuana legalization, will lead the joint-centered march. It’s expected to start sometime after noon on July 25th, according to PhillyVoice. Volunteers will help carry the joint to the convention, and activists will support it on the return journey. According to the Associated Press, the Secret Service flagged and restricted the whereabouts of...

While police officers are getting murdered in Dallas and Baton Rouge, while others are under assault in Missouri, Georgia and Tennessee, while supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement attempt to justify the murders of police officers, the Democratic National Convention, AKA Hillary’s Coronation, will feature the mothers of black men who died in confrontations with police, thereby perpetuating the myth that there is systemic racism in police departments across the nation. One mother who will speak will be Lezley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown, the “Gentle Giant” who burgled a convenience store, then attempted to grab the gun...

The former top cop in Washington and Philadelphia said Sunday that the country is “sitting on a powder keg” amid outcry over a number of fatal police shootings, including two last week that prompted nationwide protests.

In a city awash in violence, where a homicide or two is reported every few days, Maj Toure believes more guns – in the hands of the right people – could help stem the bloodshed. “The good guys -- the people that want to be more informed, more responsible, that want to be card-carrying good guys and girls -- those are the people that we’re talking to,” said Toure, a North Philly native and rapper. It's a similar message to the one espoused by the powerful lobbyist the National Rifle Association, which responded to calls for stricter gun control laws...

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is coordinating with Democratic activists to so disrupt the upcoming Republican and Democratic National Conventions that martial law will be declared. That’s the stunning discovery revealed in a series of direct messages between three activists. On Friday, June 10, 2016, someone hacked into the Twitter account of #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) leader and former Baltimore mayoral candidate DeRay McKesson. McKesson later confirmed the hack to The Baltimore Sun. On June 11, 2016, a Twitterer who calls himself The Saint (@TheSaintNegro) tweeted a direct-message conversation on June 10 between KcKesson and another BLM leader Johnetta Elzie (Netta), in...

The Democratic Party’s plan to crash this month’s Republican National Convention is heavy on gimmicks and stunts meant to highlight a possible “Trumpocalypse,” as well as to ridicule the presumptive GOP candidate.... ....Democratic National Committee’s “Counter Convention Plan Sketch” covers 22 pages and outlines the party’s activities in Cleveland, where the Republican convention begins July 18. ...A copy of the plan was obtained by the hacker “Guccifer 2.0,” who breached party servers and made off with DNC financial records... ....The DNC plan notes that the party’s efforts in Cleveland will cost in excess of $800,000. In addition to 16 staffers...

Philadelphia will Bern. The City of Brotherly Love is expecting up to 200,000 protesters at this month’s Democratic National Convention, the Philadelphia mayor’s office told The Post. Protest organizers, however, say they are planning for 1 million protesters. “It’s becoming more and more realistic as the days go on,” said the chief organizer, Billy Taylor, 31, who holds permits for three-quarters of the permitted protesters. Taylor, a local owner of a landscape business and a committed Bernie Sanders supporter, said the protest’s goals are to get rid of the chair of the Democratic Party, abolish superdelegates, implement same-day voter registration...

Some of Bernie Sanders’ 1,831 New York delegates can’t scrape up enough cash to attend this month’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia — so they’ve turned to crowdfunding websites to raise the cash. “The cost definitely was a surprise,” said Jessica Frisco, 23, a delegate from the Upper West Side. “People are freaking out.” Unlike the savvy operators who usually win slots as convention delegates, some from Sanders’ campaign say they had no idea they would have to spend up to $5,000 on travel expenses.

In Philadelphia, in what now is called Independence Hall, is preserved a Chippendale style chair crafted in 1779 by the cabinetmaker John Folwell, with a sun on the horizon carved at the top. For nearly three months in 1787, George Washington used this chair during the sessions of the Federal Convention. According to James Madison, whose feet would have dangled from it since, at 5’4” he was ten inches shorter than Washington, Benjamin Franklin mused: “I have often in the course of the session looked at that sun behind the President without being able to tell whether it was...

Excavating toilets might not seem like glamorous work. But this team of archaeologists were not complaining when they unearthed 87,000 artifacts dating back to the American Revolution while digging up 250-year-old outhouses in Philadelphia. The Commonwealth Heritage Group made the fascinating find on a dig at the site of the new Museum of the American Revolution, which opens next year. Twelve of the brick bathrooms were uncovered during the dig just two blocks away from Philadelphia's Independence Hall, the Huffington Post reported. Intricate crockery, finely detailed jugs, wig curlers and an array of beads were found during the excavation....

Motorists on Interstate 95 during the Democratic National Convention should be prepared for weight restrictions and ramp closures. PennDot has outlined what drivers on the interstate should expect before, during and after the DNC, which will be held July 25-28 at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia. Here's what you need to know: Open to passenger vehicles Like other highways in the area, I-95 will be open to passenger vehicles. No vehicles weighing more than 5 tons Vehicles that weigh more than five tons won't be permitted on I-95 between Exit 13 (for Interstate 76 West/Route 291/Valley Forge) and...

In Philadelphia, a 1.5-cents-per-ounce tax on beverages goes into effect January 1, 2017. The regressive, highly unpopular tax will add 18 cents to the cost of a can of soda, $1.08 for a six-pack or $1.02 for a two-liter bottle. The new “soda tax” will be added on top of the already excessive 8% sales tax that applies to beverages in Pennsylvania.Yes, the tax is unpopular – 58% of residents oppose the measure. Yes, the tax will disproportionately harm poor residents – economic studies show that low-income Americans spend a larger portion of their income on consumer goods like soda. No, the...

Philadelphia’s public school system was ordered to pay out $2.3 million in damages after a court found it deliberately discriminated against a white-owned business. Security and Data Technologies, Inc. (SDT) was initially chosen by Philadelphia School District (PSD) and then-Superintendent Arlene Ackerman back in 2010 to install surveillance cameras at 19 schools PSD classified as particularly dangerous. After the company began preliminary work, it was abruptly “deselected” and the $7.5 million no-bid contract was then awarded on an emergency basis to IBS Communications, a company not eligible for no-bid contracts. The abrupt turn of events, it turns out, had a...

Greg Nash Resignation letter at link. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) is resigning effective immediately, he announced Thursday, after initially seeking to remain in Congress despite his conviction on corruption charges. "In my previous letter I indicated a later resignation date in order to provide for an orderly transition of my office after 21 years in the House," he wrote in a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). "However, out of respect for the entire House Leadership, and so as not to cause a distraction from the House's work for the people, I have changed my effective date." Fattah first...

They’ve begun painting the donkeys in Philadelphia. Fifty-seven fiberglass donkeys representing the delegations to the Democratic National Convention are being painted with iconic images and will be placed on display starting July 1 at city landmarks. Twenty-eight artists were selected to custom-design each donkey, symbol of the Democratic Party. …

A shuttered Philadelphia prison that was built 120 years ago and once used inmates as test subjects for biochemical research is being readied in case space is needed to hold protesters arrested during the Democratic National Convention. Tens of thousands of protesters are expected at the July 25-28 convention. Officials with the city's prison system tell the Philadelphia Inquirer Holmesburg Prison can be used if needed for mass arrests. The prison was closed in 1995....