By Fox Nation Senior Editor Jesse Watters

1,110 people filed into the Tennessee ballroom at The Grand Opryland Hotel here in Nashville for the National Tea Party convention banquet.   They began the night with the first course, a caesar salad, then radio talk show host Phil Valentine (tonight’s MC) cracked a joke that Sarah Palin wasn’t going to make it tonight, drawing hearty laughter from the crowd.

After the Star-Spangled Banner, everyone was asked to hold hands in prayer: “The Tea Party Nation is going to stand strong with the state of Israel… despite what the president says, we are a Judeo-Christian nation…protect Sarah and her family almighty Lord…Amen.” The next course came out: filet mignon with shrimp, asparagus and mashed potatoes.

It was a “dry” night, with a BYOB option, and from the look of it, only a few tables tables had bottles.  Sarah Palin entered during the main course and chatted with folks in a roped off VIP area that contained about 20 tables. She was seated with Tea Party nation founder Judson Phillips and his family. Phillips then took the stage, and in his regular guy way, thanked a list of staff, volunteers, the hotel, sponsors and his wife.The crowd erupted in applause after he claimed the convention “the hottest political event so far this year,” and as a special gift, Judson announced all of the women in the room were getting flowers. Red roses began to be distributed while the third course was served: a chocolate cake with strawberries. Judson punctuated his remarks with a rousing “We Going to Change America” riff, which brought the crowd to its feet.

Phil Valentine took over from there and zinged Gore, “Al has a bigger footprint than Sasquatch,” before introducing Andrew Breitbart, who has emerged as a folk hero and real leader within the movement. Breitbart decided to skip the stairs and just jumped right up on stage to a hearty applause.  Before introducing singer John David, Breitbart gave an official Tea Party movement endorsement of Steve Bannon’s incredible film “Generation Zero” that “knocked people’s socks off” last night.

John David then took the stage – a 30-year-old musician with a plaid shirt and trucker hat – long hair and looks straight out of an MTV music video…sang his song, “American Heart,” a patriotic John Mellencanp-esque song that had women standing and waving American flags. Where the flags came from I’m not sure.

Breitbart came back, and after a leading a touching toast to Ronald Reagan’s 99th birthday, he caught fire…teasing the media, mocking the “death panel” controversy and introducing Sarah Palin. She received a standing ovation for just under a minute and the crowd was at the edge of their seats…

Stay Tuned for more updates throughout the Convention and watch Palin’s speech tonight streaming online and or LIVE on Fox News…

By Fox Nation Senior Editor Jesse Watters

If you paid any attention to the mainstream media last week, you’d think the National Tea Party Convention was a near-bankrupt, disorganized event torn apart by internal squabbling and backstabbing that would tarnish and splinter the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement itself.

Don’t believe the hype.

I am behind-the-scenes at the convention and have spoken to various leaders, dozens of grassroots activists and a host of trusted pundits.  Here’s what I found…

The National Tea Party Convention – hosted by Tea Party Nation – has begun to lay the foundation for a merging of Tea Party activists with the Republican Party. Despite attempts by Democrats and certain media outlets to drive a wedge between the Tea Parties and the GOP, it’s becoming clear that the Tea Parties will grow WITHIN the Republican Party and not splinter off and form a 3rd party.

Tea Party Nation has announced the formation of “Ensuring Liberty Corporation” – a 501(c)(4) that will organize and raise funds to support candidates across the country who embrace the conservative principles of:

1. Fiscal Responsibility

2. Lower Taxes

3. Less Government

4. States’ Rights

5. National Security

Although the media tried to paint this event as chaotic and hemorrhaging cash, this  Convention is obviously strong and growing.

This Political Action Committee has identified 20 key races in 2010, from Mississippi to Arkansas to Tennessee – and does not seek to “co-opt” or “replace” the RNC.  Tea Party Nation has also announced follow-up events, a direct democracy technology strategy to enhance voter participation, as well as a national movie screening to commemorate Rick Santelli’s “rant” on Feb 27th.

The grassroots activists here are ignoring the media-driven narrative of infighting within the Tea Party Movement.  They don’t care about that.  Yes, there are disputes among different Tea Party groups: The Tea Party Patriots, The Tea Party Express, Tea Party Nation, Freedom Works … but I have not witnessed any of this in Nashville so far and hear that discussions are taking place at the leadership level to resolve what are considered healthy disagreements that occur in all young organic movements.

No one is complaining about cost.  The Gaylord Opryland Hotel is the largest hotel (without a casino) in the entire world and people are absolutely thrilled to be here, meet each other and learn.  In fact, the primary schedule for the Convention revolves around strategy sessions led by local activists and professionals: How to organize a Tea Party, how to engage young voters, how to leverage technology, and how to set up voter drives.  They’re getting a bang for their buck.

The majority of activists here are middle aged Americans and senior citizens – not the wild-eyed gun-toting survivalists who some cable news stations like to present as defining the movement.  Many of these folks have never participated in politics before … and almost everyone I have spoken to says that they don’t think politicians in Washington are listening to them.  They see their freedom, their money and their children’s futures slowly being compromised – and want to restore the republic to its constitutional principles with their idea that elected politicians work for THEM, not the other way around.

People here are vigilant in their pursuit of restoring the principles laid out by our Founding Fathers. These Americans call themselves “the silent majority,” but they’re beginning to have their voice heard.

There were hundreds of press credentials given out today, an ironic situation since last year the media mainly ignored the movement, then tried to marginalize it.  Andrew Breitbart is here to introduce Sarah Palin Saturday night – and a dozen conservative bloggers are finally meeting face to face. The international media is also here – from Holland to Japan … even Al Jazeera. Typically, the mainstream media representatives here are trying to foment discord and continue to hammer the Tea Party Nation leadership about controversial comments made Thursday night by Tom Tancredo.

Stay Tuned for more updates throughout the Convention and watch Palin’s speech Saturday night streaming online and or LIVE on Fox News…

So far, the H1N1 pandemic has been far less severe than many experts had predicted last spring. But that doesn’t mean public health officials will let down their guard against the next threat.

“I don’t think anybody is thinking about scaling back,” said Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We’re thinking about planning.”

Schuchat said if a more virulent strain of influenza we’re to strike the US, the health system would have to do a lot more to respond. H1N1 did not stress the system to the point of overcrowding hospitals, as some doctors had originally feared.

The need to develop methods to produce larger quantities of vaccine faster has emerged as a major priority during the H1N1 scare.

“We don’t want to be any less prepared,” Schuchat said. “We want to be much more prepared.”

Related blog: H1N1 Activity Levels Off

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Hey guys!

I know you got a chance to check out my blog about the New Kids on the Block here at Fox a few days ago and I promised you a link to our exclusive video with the band!

Check out the video right here!

By FNC Reporter Anita Vogel

It’s the first line of defense protecting our nation’s food supply along the southern border.

Two white mobile units sit a couple of hundred yards away from the actual entry point in Nogales, Arizona.

They make up the Food and Drug Administration’s only mobile food and safety unit. Inside, a slew of microbiologists are busy testing all kinds of produce that has just come in from Mexico. They’re testing for certain kinds of e-coli and salmonella which we know can be deadly.

What’s unique about the mobile lab is that it cuts down the testing time from three to seven days to just 24 hours. That say experts, is the difference between saving a shipment of food or taking it to the dump … and saving lives.

The lab has been in service since 2005 and has been deployed to disasters like Katrina and other parts of the country for routine testing.

It will be parked at the border for another two weeks before rolling out to the next assignment … testing citrus crops in Miami.