by Bob Walsh
The boys decided to tear up five dorms at the California State Prison at Susanville yesterday morning. This used to be a pretty mellow place which operated primarily as a feeder for fire camps. Now most of the actual minimum custody inmates are sentenced under realignment to county jails rather than state prison that is leaving more violent, gang oriented inmates in housing not truly designed for them. This makes I think five significant disturbances in CA state prisons this week.
Two officers were injured in this mess though apparently not critically. Four inmates were hurt bad enough to need to be transported off grounds. Two the them are critical. Several other staff and several more inmates received medical attention at the facility.
The one news article I read on this said that "a group of inmates broke out of a dorm and fought with other inmates." To me, group means "gang", as opposed to, say, the Christian Men's Reading Group.
Speaking of minimum custody, I was told yesterday (single source, unverified) that the DOC now has a specific policy of NOT referring ORWD (off-reservation work detail) walk-aways as escapes because they do NOT want the inmates to get additional time, they want them to do their time and hit street as soon as possible.
Saturday, August 31, 2019
SIRHAN SIRHAN SHANKED IN PRISON
by Bob Walsh
Sirhan Sirhan, the only inmate in the state prison system of whom it can reasonably be said will only get out of prison feet first, was shanked yesterday at the R. J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego. He did need to be transported to an off-grounds hospital for treatment but the wound is not thought to be life threatening. Damn shame.
Sirhan Sirhan, the only inmate in the state prison system of whom it can reasonably be said will only get out of prison feet first, was shanked yesterday at the R. J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego. He did need to be transported to an off-grounds hospital for treatment but the wound is not thought to be life threatening. Damn shame.
AND YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD A DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY
by Bob Walsh
Robert James Fimbres, 28, is normally a denizen of Napa, California but is current a guest of the people. Wednesday night he had nothing better to do and, fueled by a certain amount of substance abuse, went to his father's house and set fire to an American flag in the driveway. It burned his dad's garage down and resulted in some damage to the house as well. The house was being prepped for sale.
Fimbres is being held pending $50,000 bail and is facing felony arson charges among other difficulties.
Robert James Fimbres, 28, is normally a denizen of Napa, California but is current a guest of the people. Wednesday night he had nothing better to do and, fueled by a certain amount of substance abuse, went to his father's house and set fire to an American flag in the driveway. It burned his dad's garage down and resulted in some damage to the house as well. The house was being prepped for sale.
Fimbres is being held pending $50,000 bail and is facing felony arson charges among other difficulties.
MEASLES MAKING A HUGE COMEBACK IN EUROPE
by Bob Walsh
According to the World Health Organization about 90,000 people have come down with measles in Europe during the first half of this calendar year. This is double that reported last year. The vast majority of these cases were in the Ukraine. Europe has many pockets of anti-vaxxers and these pockets seem to be driving the resurgence of the disease.
Germany is considering mandatory vaccination for public school attendance. Greece and the UK have recently lost their "measles free" status due to outbreaks of the disease. The vaccination is almost 100% effective but there is no real treatment for the disease once you have it. It is HIGHLY INFECTIOUS and people do die from it.
EDITOR'S NOTE: It must be all due to global warming.
According to the World Health Organization about 90,000 people have come down with measles in Europe during the first half of this calendar year. This is double that reported last year. The vast majority of these cases were in the Ukraine. Europe has many pockets of anti-vaxxers and these pockets seem to be driving the resurgence of the disease.
Germany is considering mandatory vaccination for public school attendance. Greece and the UK have recently lost their "measles free" status due to outbreaks of the disease. The vaccination is almost 100% effective but there is no real treatment for the disease once you have it. It is HIGHLY INFECTIOUS and people do die from it.
EDITOR'S NOTE: It must be all due to global warming.
DRUNKEN ASSHOLE ARRESTED FOR THUMPING CHILDREN IN LODI, CALIFORNIA TARGET STORE
by Bob Walsh
Jeff Lee Hardcastle, 51, of Galt is apparently a drunk and an asshole. He is now a guest of San Joaquin County facing several felony and a few misdemeanor charges relating to his drunken assholeishness.
It seems that, on Wednesday, Hardcastle walked up to a five-year old and an 11-year old in the Target store and thumped them both in the head with his fist for no obvious reason. He was quickly located behind the store by the cops and arrested. Based on his photo I would say he has a lot of in-custody time, judging by the amount of ink on him.
With any sort of luck he will get a lot of time in the slammer, as opposed to kindness, understanding and treatment for whatever anger issues he has.
Jeff Lee Hardcastle, 51, of Galt is apparently a drunk and an asshole. He is now a guest of San Joaquin County facing several felony and a few misdemeanor charges relating to his drunken assholeishness.
It seems that, on Wednesday, Hardcastle walked up to a five-year old and an 11-year old in the Target store and thumped them both in the head with his fist for no obvious reason. He was quickly located behind the store by the cops and arrested. Based on his photo I would say he has a lot of in-custody time, judging by the amount of ink on him.
With any sort of luck he will get a lot of time in the slammer, as opposed to kindness, understanding and treatment for whatever anger issues he has.
THE MOST ACCURATE INDICATOR OF FUTURE BAD BEHAVIOR
Is Past Bad Behavior
by Bob Walsh
Tyrone McAllister is the son of the former Chief of Police of Union City, CA. On December 11 of last year the young man, 19, was sentenced to a year in county for thumping on an elderly Sikh man in Manteca. A charge of elder abuse was dropped in exchange for his plea. He got out in June, on five years probation, with credit for time served. (His dad retired three days after he was sentenced.)
He and a road dog were just arrested for murder and several counts of robbery in conjunction with a murder in Oakland. There is pretty good surveillance footage of the incident (stupid bastard) so there is little doubt of his guilt.
I wonder how the dead guy's family feels about the plea deal. He had been out about two months when the murder was committed.
by Bob Walsh
Tyrone McAllister is the son of the former Chief of Police of Union City, CA. On December 11 of last year the young man, 19, was sentenced to a year in county for thumping on an elderly Sikh man in Manteca. A charge of elder abuse was dropped in exchange for his plea. He got out in June, on five years probation, with credit for time served. (His dad retired three days after he was sentenced.)
He and a road dog were just arrested for murder and several counts of robbery in conjunction with a murder in Oakland. There is pretty good surveillance footage of the incident (stupid bastard) so there is little doubt of his guilt.
I wonder how the dead guy's family feels about the plea deal. He had been out about two months when the murder was committed.
ANOTHER WIN FOR THE WARRIORS IN THE WAR ON DRUGS
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Returns To San Pedro With $38.5 Million In Seized Cocaine
LAPPL News Watch
August 30, 2019
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Robert Ward returned Thursday morning to San Pedro after a 50-day mission with 2,800 pounds of cocaine – valued at $38.5 million – that was seized in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
The mission was the first for the 154-foot-long Robert Ward, which was commissioned about six months ago, Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll said. During the mission, the cutter’s crew seized or disrupted an estimated 6,558 pounds of cocaine in all.
Disrupted cocaine is, for example, when smugglers dump it into the ocean and the Coast Guard can’t retrieve it before the drug sinks.
Of that, 3,000 pounds seized on the cutter’s first-ever drug bust, on July 16, was placed onto another cutter, Steadfast, and brought ashore in San Diego. Three suspects were detained.
On Aug. 22, the crew found 1,500 pounds of cocaine drifting in the ocean, which had been abandoned by smugglers when they realized they were being tracked. The remaining 2,000 or so pounds were also abandoned by smugglers, but Coast Guard officials were unable to retrieve those bales in time before they sank in the Pacific.
LAPPL News Watch
August 30, 2019
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Robert Ward returned Thursday morning to San Pedro after a 50-day mission with 2,800 pounds of cocaine – valued at $38.5 million – that was seized in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
The mission was the first for the 154-foot-long Robert Ward, which was commissioned about six months ago, Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll said. During the mission, the cutter’s crew seized or disrupted an estimated 6,558 pounds of cocaine in all.
Disrupted cocaine is, for example, when smugglers dump it into the ocean and the Coast Guard can’t retrieve it before the drug sinks.
Of that, 3,000 pounds seized on the cutter’s first-ever drug bust, on July 16, was placed onto another cutter, Steadfast, and brought ashore in San Diego. Three suspects were detained.
On Aug. 22, the crew found 1,500 pounds of cocaine drifting in the ocean, which had been abandoned by smugglers when they realized they were being tracked. The remaining 2,000 or so pounds were also abandoned by smugglers, but Coast Guard officials were unable to retrieve those bales in time before they sank in the Pacific.
MOM BUSTED IN TODDLER’S METH DEATH
Autopsy: 2-year-old boy found unresponsive in S. Wichita motel died of 'methadone toxicity'
KWCH
August 28, 2019
WICHITA, Kan. -- Autopsy results show a 2-year-old boy found dead in a south Wichita motel in May had methadone in his system.
According to Sedgwick County District Coroner Timothy Gorrill, 2-year-old Zayden Jaynesahkluah died as a result of methadone toxicity. Gorrill noted that because he did not know how the boy got the narcotic his manner of death is undetermined.
Toxicology results show a juice bottle containing red liquid and a cigarette butt both tested positive for methadone and nicotine. A can of Coke containing a cigarette butt and cigarette ashes also tested positive for methadone, nicotine and caffeine.
The autopsy report goes on to state Zayden was born prematurely. He had been treated for seizures believed to be linked to a viral infection at a local hospital May 2-3, 2019.
The autopsy states Zayden reportedly arrived at the Sunset Motel in the 2300 block of South Broadway around midnight on May 31 because his family's electricity had been cut off. The boy was with his mother, sister and his mother's male friend
Zayden was discovered unresponsive at 9:45 a.m. and 911 was called. When police and EMS arrived on the scene, resuscitation attempts failed and Zayden was pronounced dead at 10:35 a.m.
The report states the boy had 0.82 mg/L of the drug in his femoral blood and 0.50 mg/L in the blood in his heart.
Eyewitness News interviewed Zayden's mother, Kimberly Compass, following the boy's death. At that time, she said got up, saw her son had thrown up and called 911.
"It freaked me out," she told us at the time. "I became hysterical, which of course, I would. He's my son. Then I just waited for them to get there to help."
Compass was arrested on Aug. 15 and charged her with first-degree murder in the son's death. She is being held in the Sedgwick County jail on a $500,000 bond and is scheduled to be back in court in September.
KWCH
August 28, 2019
WICHITA, Kan. -- Autopsy results show a 2-year-old boy found dead in a south Wichita motel in May had methadone in his system.
According to Sedgwick County District Coroner Timothy Gorrill, 2-year-old Zayden Jaynesahkluah died as a result of methadone toxicity. Gorrill noted that because he did not know how the boy got the narcotic his manner of death is undetermined.
Toxicology results show a juice bottle containing red liquid and a cigarette butt both tested positive for methadone and nicotine. A can of Coke containing a cigarette butt and cigarette ashes also tested positive for methadone, nicotine and caffeine.
The autopsy report goes on to state Zayden was born prematurely. He had been treated for seizures believed to be linked to a viral infection at a local hospital May 2-3, 2019.
The autopsy states Zayden reportedly arrived at the Sunset Motel in the 2300 block of South Broadway around midnight on May 31 because his family's electricity had been cut off. The boy was with his mother, sister and his mother's male friend
Zayden was discovered unresponsive at 9:45 a.m. and 911 was called. When police and EMS arrived on the scene, resuscitation attempts failed and Zayden was pronounced dead at 10:35 a.m.
The report states the boy had 0.82 mg/L of the drug in his femoral blood and 0.50 mg/L in the blood in his heart.
Eyewitness News interviewed Zayden's mother, Kimberly Compass, following the boy's death. At that time, she said got up, saw her son had thrown up and called 911.
"It freaked me out," she told us at the time. "I became hysterical, which of course, I would. He's my son. Then I just waited for them to get there to help."
Compass was arrested on Aug. 15 and charged her with first-degree murder in the son's death. She is being held in the Sedgwick County jail on a $500,000 bond and is scheduled to be back in court in September.
LOOKS LIKE A VERY GOOD PARTNERSHIP
Police Departments Nationwide Partner With Ring To View Doorbell Cam Footage
LAPPL News Watch
August 30, 2019
Amazon's Ring doorbell is partnering with more than 400 police departments across the country to monitor neighborhoods.
Ring released an official map showing the police forces that have joined their network. There's about 17 listed locally from Ventura to Orange County, including police departments in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Pomona, Torrance and Westminster.
Police can now directly request videos recorded by homeowners.
Privacy advocates fear the program may threaten civil liberties and are calling for oversight and public discussion on the matter.
Ring released the following statement Wednesday in an announcement on the new feature: "Neighbors and local law enforcement have achieved amazing results by working together through the Neighbors app, from getting stolen guns off the streets to helping families keep their children safe, and even recovering stolen medical supplies for a diabetic child. Every member of a community plays a vital role in making neighborhoods safer, and we're proud that our users can decide how exactly they want to contribute to those conversations. We've also been thoughtful about designing how law enforcement engages with the Neighbors app to ensure users always stay in control of the information they share, and that their privacy is protected."
LAPPL News Watch
August 30, 2019
Amazon's Ring doorbell is partnering with more than 400 police departments across the country to monitor neighborhoods.
Ring released an official map showing the police forces that have joined their network. There's about 17 listed locally from Ventura to Orange County, including police departments in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Pomona, Torrance and Westminster.
Police can now directly request videos recorded by homeowners.
Privacy advocates fear the program may threaten civil liberties and are calling for oversight and public discussion on the matter.
Ring released the following statement Wednesday in an announcement on the new feature: "Neighbors and local law enforcement have achieved amazing results by working together through the Neighbors app, from getting stolen guns off the streets to helping families keep their children safe, and even recovering stolen medical supplies for a diabetic child. Every member of a community plays a vital role in making neighborhoods safer, and we're proud that our users can decide how exactly they want to contribute to those conversations. We've also been thoughtful about designing how law enforcement engages with the Neighbors app to ensure users always stay in control of the information they share, and that their privacy is protected."
IF YOU TELL A LIE BIG ENOUGH AND KEEP REPEATING IT, PEOPLE WILL EVENTUALLY COME TO BELIEVE IT ---JOSEPH GOEBBELS
Puncturing the big lie of Palestinian identity
by Melanie Phillips
Israel Hayom
August 30, 2019
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently claimed that the Palestinians were the descendants of the Canaanites. “This land is for its people, its residents and the Canaanites who were here 5,000 years ago – and we are the Canaanites!” he declared, vowing that every Israeli stone and house “built on our land” would end up “in the garbage dump of history.”
Any Western Palestinian supporter might have been left somewhat perplexed. After all, it’s an article of faith among those hostile to Israel that the indigenous inhabitants of the land are Palestinian Arabs who have been supplanted by Jewish occupiers.
Since Canaanites were said to have been conquered by the Jews, Abbas is laying claim to Canaanite ancestry to give the Palestinians a prior right to the land of Israel. But if they were actually Canaanites, then they can’t be Arabs, who many centuries later came, as the name implies, from the Arabian Peninsula, just as the Philistines, from whom in other moods the Palestinians also claim to have descended, came from Crete.
Abbas’s argument is, of course, ludicrous. The fact is that the Jews were the only people for whom the land of Israel was ever their national kingdom, several centuries before the creation of Islam.
The Jews are the only extant indigenous people of the land. Palestinian identity was invented in the 1960s in order to destroy the Jews’ claim to Israel and airbrush them out of their own history.
From time to time, this inconvenient historical truth has been blurted out by Arabs themselves. In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Commission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine: “There is no such country as Palestine! ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented!”
In 1977, PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein said: “The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. … Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism.”
In 2012, Hamas Interior and National Security Minister Fathi Hammad said: “Brothers, half of the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis. Who are the Palestinians? We have many families called Al-Masri, whose roots are Egyptian. Egyptian! They may be from Alexandria, from Cairo, from Dumietta, from the north, from Aswan, from Upper Egypt. We are Egyptians. We are Arabs. We are Muslims.”
All of this has been totally ignored by Westerners who continue to promote the Palestinians’ fictitious identity. Now, however, a stunning if inadvertent acknowledgment of the truth has emerged from an unlikely source.
Nazmi al Jubeh, an associate professor of history and archaeology at Birzeit University outside Ramallah, told a UN conference last June that there was no evidence linking the Jews to Jerusalem.
Thus far, so predictably mendacious. But thanks to the Elder of Zion website, a piece has now surfaced written by al Jubeh in 2006 in which he demolished the myth of Palestinian identity and made plain that it was invented solely to destroy Zionism and Israel.
Not that he acknowledged the Jews’ own history in the land. He made correct but passing reference to the Romans renaming Judea as “Palestina” in order “to challenge the memory of the Jews” after the Romans put down “the Jewish rebellion.”
Yet he didn’t provide the context for this by explaining that the Romans had crushed the Jewish kingdom, which had existed for centuries before being conquered in turn by successive waves of colonial invaders.
Instead, he claimed that the “Palestinian Jews, an essential component of the Palestinian people, started at the beginning of the twentieth century to identify themselves with the Zionist movement, thus separating themselves from the rest of their own people … ”
Despite this egregious and absurd falsification of Jewish history, the striking element of al Jubeh’s account is his admission of what we know to be objectively true – that, from the earliest times, there was no Palestinian identity.
Those living in Palestine from the time of the Romans, he wrote, were “mostly part of a greater regional or international political entity, which usually housed several nations, ethnic groups, and cultures.”
Similarly, today’s Palestinians, he wrote, “are the result of accumulated ethnic, racial, and religious groups, who once lived, conquered, occupied, and passed through this strip of land.
“Wars and invasions have never totally replaced the local population in any period of history; they rather added to, mixed with and reformulated the local identity. The Palestinian people are the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Jebusites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Aramaeans, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Turks, the Crusaders, and the Kurds, who once settled, conquered, occupied or just passed through Palestine.”
What gave the Palestinians their identity, he said, was their “struggle” against Zionism and the State of Israel. “There is no way to understand this identity apart from the conflict.”
It became internationally recognized as “a symbol for liberation and for the anti-colonial struggle.” Only after the 1967 Six-Day War did the Palestinians start trying to flesh this out by self-consciously developing artistic expression, architecture, and local history.
More sharply still, al Jubeh wrote that if the history of the region after the First World War had been different, the Palestinians may not have chosen a state in which to express their identity.
For decades, they marketed the conflict with Israel as “Arab-Israeli” and not as “Palestinian-Israeli.” The idea of a state of Palestine, he wrote, only emerged in the mid-1970s when Palestinian identity became politicized around the heavily promoted image of “a fighting nation seeking freedom.” This aspiration became the major vehicle in forming the Palestinians’ current sense of themselves.
In other words, Palestinian identity has no meaning except as a movement to deny the right of the indigenous Jewish people to their own homeland.
The Palestinians’ claim to be the rightful inheritors of the land lies at the very heart of the Western animus against Israel. It represents one of the most successful, if fiendish, propaganda achievements ever to have been pulled off – to have persuaded millions of people that this ludicrous falsehood is an unchallengeable truth.
All the malicious libels and distortions thrown at Israel by Western foes to delegitimize and destroy it rest on this historical lie. Claims that Israel is occupying another people’s land, that its actions are illegal, that it behaves with the cruelty and ruthlessness associated with colonialist invaders – all of this and more rests upon the belief that the Palestinians are the rightful inheritors of the land.
It is the foundation stone of a cause that Western liberals believe defines them as anti-colonialist defenders of the rights of indigenous peoples.
But it’s the Palestinians – and behind them the Arab and Muslim world – who are intent on colonialism and depriving the Jewish people of their rightful and historic homeland. And it is support for that ignoble cause more than any other that has destroyed the moral compass of the West.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Palestinians make Joseph Goebbels proud.
by Melanie Phillips
Israel Hayom
August 30, 2019
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently claimed that the Palestinians were the descendants of the Canaanites. “This land is for its people, its residents and the Canaanites who were here 5,000 years ago – and we are the Canaanites!” he declared, vowing that every Israeli stone and house “built on our land” would end up “in the garbage dump of history.”
Any Western Palestinian supporter might have been left somewhat perplexed. After all, it’s an article of faith among those hostile to Israel that the indigenous inhabitants of the land are Palestinian Arabs who have been supplanted by Jewish occupiers.
Since Canaanites were said to have been conquered by the Jews, Abbas is laying claim to Canaanite ancestry to give the Palestinians a prior right to the land of Israel. But if they were actually Canaanites, then they can’t be Arabs, who many centuries later came, as the name implies, from the Arabian Peninsula, just as the Philistines, from whom in other moods the Palestinians also claim to have descended, came from Crete.
Abbas’s argument is, of course, ludicrous. The fact is that the Jews were the only people for whom the land of Israel was ever their national kingdom, several centuries before the creation of Islam.
The Jews are the only extant indigenous people of the land. Palestinian identity was invented in the 1960s in order to destroy the Jews’ claim to Israel and airbrush them out of their own history.
From time to time, this inconvenient historical truth has been blurted out by Arabs themselves. In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Commission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine: “There is no such country as Palestine! ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented!”
In 1977, PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein said: “The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. … Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism.”
In 2012, Hamas Interior and National Security Minister Fathi Hammad said: “Brothers, half of the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis. Who are the Palestinians? We have many families called Al-Masri, whose roots are Egyptian. Egyptian! They may be from Alexandria, from Cairo, from Dumietta, from the north, from Aswan, from Upper Egypt. We are Egyptians. We are Arabs. We are Muslims.”
All of this has been totally ignored by Westerners who continue to promote the Palestinians’ fictitious identity. Now, however, a stunning if inadvertent acknowledgment of the truth has emerged from an unlikely source.
Nazmi al Jubeh, an associate professor of history and archaeology at Birzeit University outside Ramallah, told a UN conference last June that there was no evidence linking the Jews to Jerusalem.
Thus far, so predictably mendacious. But thanks to the Elder of Zion website, a piece has now surfaced written by al Jubeh in 2006 in which he demolished the myth of Palestinian identity and made plain that it was invented solely to destroy Zionism and Israel.
Not that he acknowledged the Jews’ own history in the land. He made correct but passing reference to the Romans renaming Judea as “Palestina” in order “to challenge the memory of the Jews” after the Romans put down “the Jewish rebellion.”
Yet he didn’t provide the context for this by explaining that the Romans had crushed the Jewish kingdom, which had existed for centuries before being conquered in turn by successive waves of colonial invaders.
Instead, he claimed that the “Palestinian Jews, an essential component of the Palestinian people, started at the beginning of the twentieth century to identify themselves with the Zionist movement, thus separating themselves from the rest of their own people … ”
Despite this egregious and absurd falsification of Jewish history, the striking element of al Jubeh’s account is his admission of what we know to be objectively true – that, from the earliest times, there was no Palestinian identity.
Those living in Palestine from the time of the Romans, he wrote, were “mostly part of a greater regional or international political entity, which usually housed several nations, ethnic groups, and cultures.”
Similarly, today’s Palestinians, he wrote, “are the result of accumulated ethnic, racial, and religious groups, who once lived, conquered, occupied, and passed through this strip of land.
“Wars and invasions have never totally replaced the local population in any period of history; they rather added to, mixed with and reformulated the local identity. The Palestinian people are the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Jebusites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Aramaeans, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Turks, the Crusaders, and the Kurds, who once settled, conquered, occupied or just passed through Palestine.”
What gave the Palestinians their identity, he said, was their “struggle” against Zionism and the State of Israel. “There is no way to understand this identity apart from the conflict.”
It became internationally recognized as “a symbol for liberation and for the anti-colonial struggle.” Only after the 1967 Six-Day War did the Palestinians start trying to flesh this out by self-consciously developing artistic expression, architecture, and local history.
More sharply still, al Jubeh wrote that if the history of the region after the First World War had been different, the Palestinians may not have chosen a state in which to express their identity.
For decades, they marketed the conflict with Israel as “Arab-Israeli” and not as “Palestinian-Israeli.” The idea of a state of Palestine, he wrote, only emerged in the mid-1970s when Palestinian identity became politicized around the heavily promoted image of “a fighting nation seeking freedom.” This aspiration became the major vehicle in forming the Palestinians’ current sense of themselves.
In other words, Palestinian identity has no meaning except as a movement to deny the right of the indigenous Jewish people to their own homeland.
The Palestinians’ claim to be the rightful inheritors of the land lies at the very heart of the Western animus against Israel. It represents one of the most successful, if fiendish, propaganda achievements ever to have been pulled off – to have persuaded millions of people that this ludicrous falsehood is an unchallengeable truth.
All the malicious libels and distortions thrown at Israel by Western foes to delegitimize and destroy it rest on this historical lie. Claims that Israel is occupying another people’s land, that its actions are illegal, that it behaves with the cruelty and ruthlessness associated with colonialist invaders – all of this and more rests upon the belief that the Palestinians are the rightful inheritors of the land.
It is the foundation stone of a cause that Western liberals believe defines them as anti-colonialist defenders of the rights of indigenous peoples.
But it’s the Palestinians – and behind them the Arab and Muslim world – who are intent on colonialism and depriving the Jewish people of their rightful and historic homeland. And it is support for that ignoble cause more than any other that has destroyed the moral compass of the West.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Palestinians make Joseph Goebbels proud.
HITTING THEM IN THE POCKETBOOK MIGHT HURT
US sanctions Lebanese bank for helping Iran-backed Hezbollah
By Deb Riechmann
Associated Press
August 30, 2019
WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department on Thursday targeted a Lebanese bank the Trump administration calls the "bank of choice" of Hezbollah, Iran's proxy in Lebanon, as part of a maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.
The U.S., in partnership with Oman, also announced sanctions against four individuals Treasury accuses of moving tens of millions of dollars between Iran's elite Quds Force and the military wing of the Islamic militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Treasury sanctioned Jammal Trust Bank, a financial institution based in Lebanon that facilitates banking activities for Hezbollah, and its three subsidiaries. The bank and Hezbollah have been doing business since at least the mid-2000s, Treasury said.
Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy and has identified Hezbollah as the most potent military threat on its borders.
"Corrupt financial institutions like Jammal Trust are a direct threat to the integrity of the Lebanese financial system. Jammal Trust provides support and services to Hezbollah's executive Council and the Martyrs Foundation, which funnels money to the families of suicide bombers," said Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary for terrorism and financial Intelligence. "The U.S. will continue to work with the Central Bank of Lebanon to deny Hezbollah access to the international financial system. This action is a warning to all who provide services to this terrorist group."
In the second action, Treasury, in partnership with the Arab nation of Oman, sanctioned Mohammad Sarur, Kamal Abdelrahman Aref Awad and Fawaz Mahmud Ali Nasser for supporting Hamas.
"These facilitators funneled tens of millions of dollars from Iran's Quds Force through Hezbollah in Lebanon to Hamas for terrorist attacks originating from the Gaza Strip. Hamas' continued violent campaign against innocent civilians and the state of Israel is to the great detriment of the people in Gaza," Mandelker said. "Treasury will continue to disrupt terrorist networks by targeting those who generate funds to carry out the Iranian regime's violent agenda."
Thursday's action blocks any property or interests in property that the targets have within U.S. jurisdiction. It also bans Americans from engaging in transactions with them and prohibits transactions involving them from moving through the United States.
By Deb Riechmann
Associated Press
August 30, 2019
WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department on Thursday targeted a Lebanese bank the Trump administration calls the "bank of choice" of Hezbollah, Iran's proxy in Lebanon, as part of a maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.
The U.S., in partnership with Oman, also announced sanctions against four individuals Treasury accuses of moving tens of millions of dollars between Iran's elite Quds Force and the military wing of the Islamic militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Treasury sanctioned Jammal Trust Bank, a financial institution based in Lebanon that facilitates banking activities for Hezbollah, and its three subsidiaries. The bank and Hezbollah have been doing business since at least the mid-2000s, Treasury said.
Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy and has identified Hezbollah as the most potent military threat on its borders.
"Corrupt financial institutions like Jammal Trust are a direct threat to the integrity of the Lebanese financial system. Jammal Trust provides support and services to Hezbollah's executive Council and the Martyrs Foundation, which funnels money to the families of suicide bombers," said Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary for terrorism and financial Intelligence. "The U.S. will continue to work with the Central Bank of Lebanon to deny Hezbollah access to the international financial system. This action is a warning to all who provide services to this terrorist group."
In the second action, Treasury, in partnership with the Arab nation of Oman, sanctioned Mohammad Sarur, Kamal Abdelrahman Aref Awad and Fawaz Mahmud Ali Nasser for supporting Hamas.
"These facilitators funneled tens of millions of dollars from Iran's Quds Force through Hezbollah in Lebanon to Hamas for terrorist attacks originating from the Gaza Strip. Hamas' continued violent campaign against innocent civilians and the state of Israel is to the great detriment of the people in Gaza," Mandelker said. "Treasury will continue to disrupt terrorist networks by targeting those who generate funds to carry out the Iranian regime's violent agenda."
Thursday's action blocks any property or interests in property that the targets have within U.S. jurisdiction. It also bans Americans from engaging in transactions with them and prohibits transactions involving them from moving through the United States.
THE KURDS HAVE BEEN FIGHTING THE WAR AGAINST ISIS FOR US … SO WHY DO WE KEEP PLAYING NICE WITH THAT KURD-HATING ISLAMIST ERDOGAN?
Turkey's Erdoğan says won't allow US stalling in Syria deal
Israel Hayom
August 29, 2019
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey’s deal with the United States to set up a “safe zone” in northeast Syria was a correct step and that Ankara would not let Washington delay the plan, CNN Türk reported on Thursday.
Ankara revealed last weekend that a joint operations center for the proposed zone along Syria’s northeastern border is now fully operational.
Washington and Ankara have been at odds over plans for the region, where the Kurdish YPG militia from the main part of a US-backed force fighting Islamic State. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group.
“The agreement which we have reached with the USA is a correct step towards establishing a safe zone and removing the YPG from the east of the Euphrates [river],” Erdoğan told reporters on his way back from meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Erdoğan said that Turkey would not accept delays in the plan, comparing it to an earlier deal with Washington to remove YPG fighters from the northern Syrian city of Manbij, which Ankara accused Washington of delaying.
“We will never tolerate a delay like we saw in Manbij. The process must advance rapidly,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying by CNN on Thursday.
The safe zone was proposed last year by US President Donald Trump, who had announced plans to withdraw US special forces from northern Syria but later suspended the plan to ensure that Washington’s Kurdish allies would be protected.
Erdoğan said this week Turkish ground troops would enter the planned safe zone “very soon”, having warned previously that Turkey would mount a cross-border offensive on its own to clear the YPG militia from its border if necessary.
“All the personnel, the armored carriers, all are on the border. That is, we are in a position to do everything at any moment,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying.
Defense cooperation with Russia
On Tuesday, an official in a YPG-led alliance said that the YPG will pull forces and heavy weapons from a strip along Syria’s border with Turkey under US-Turkish deals.
The YPG withdrew from the Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain border positions in recent days, proving it is serious about ongoing talks, the Kurdish-led authority in north and east Syria said.
US support for the YPG has enraged Turkey, which views the militia as a terrorist organization linked to Kurdish insurgents inside the country.
The two countries have also fallen out over Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems, prompting Washington to begin removing Turkey from its program for manufacturing F-35 jets, which Turkey also planned to buy.
Erdoğan visited an aviation fair with Putin during his visit to Moscow. Asked whether Russia’s Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter jet and Su-35 aircraft could be among alternatives to the F-35s, Erdoğan said: “Why not? We didn’t come here for nothing.”
The RIA news agency cited a Russian official as saying on Wednesday that the two countries are discussing the possibility of deliveries of the two aircraft to Turkey.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I don’t under stand why Trump keeps playing nice with Erdogan. He is no friend of ours. If he could, he would annihilate the Kurds who have been fighting ISIS for us, and he hates Israel to boot. Now he’s playing Russia against the US. I say let him have all the Russian weapons and aircrafts he wants and let us program our weapons to strike Turkey if he ever uses them against our allies.
We ought to have Turkey kicked out of NATO!
Israel Hayom
August 29, 2019
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey’s deal with the United States to set up a “safe zone” in northeast Syria was a correct step and that Ankara would not let Washington delay the plan, CNN Türk reported on Thursday.
Ankara revealed last weekend that a joint operations center for the proposed zone along Syria’s northeastern border is now fully operational.
Washington and Ankara have been at odds over plans for the region, where the Kurdish YPG militia from the main part of a US-backed force fighting Islamic State. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group.
“The agreement which we have reached with the USA is a correct step towards establishing a safe zone and removing the YPG from the east of the Euphrates [river],” Erdoğan told reporters on his way back from meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Erdoğan said that Turkey would not accept delays in the plan, comparing it to an earlier deal with Washington to remove YPG fighters from the northern Syrian city of Manbij, which Ankara accused Washington of delaying.
“We will never tolerate a delay like we saw in Manbij. The process must advance rapidly,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying by CNN on Thursday.
The safe zone was proposed last year by US President Donald Trump, who had announced plans to withdraw US special forces from northern Syria but later suspended the plan to ensure that Washington’s Kurdish allies would be protected.
Erdoğan said this week Turkish ground troops would enter the planned safe zone “very soon”, having warned previously that Turkey would mount a cross-border offensive on its own to clear the YPG militia from its border if necessary.
“All the personnel, the armored carriers, all are on the border. That is, we are in a position to do everything at any moment,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying.
Defense cooperation with Russia
On Tuesday, an official in a YPG-led alliance said that the YPG will pull forces and heavy weapons from a strip along Syria’s border with Turkey under US-Turkish deals.
The YPG withdrew from the Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain border positions in recent days, proving it is serious about ongoing talks, the Kurdish-led authority in north and east Syria said.
US support for the YPG has enraged Turkey, which views the militia as a terrorist organization linked to Kurdish insurgents inside the country.
The two countries have also fallen out over Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems, prompting Washington to begin removing Turkey from its program for manufacturing F-35 jets, which Turkey also planned to buy.
Erdoğan visited an aviation fair with Putin during his visit to Moscow. Asked whether Russia’s Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter jet and Su-35 aircraft could be among alternatives to the F-35s, Erdoğan said: “Why not? We didn’t come here for nothing.”
The RIA news agency cited a Russian official as saying on Wednesday that the two countries are discussing the possibility of deliveries of the two aircraft to Turkey.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I don’t under stand why Trump keeps playing nice with Erdogan. He is no friend of ours. If he could, he would annihilate the Kurds who have been fighting ISIS for us, and he hates Israel to boot. Now he’s playing Russia against the US. I say let him have all the Russian weapons and aircrafts he wants and let us program our weapons to strike Turkey if he ever uses them against our allies.
We ought to have Turkey kicked out of NATO!
Friday, August 30, 2019
WHAT IS SCARY IS THAT THIS GUY MIGHT BECOME OUR NEXT PRESIDENT
As he campaigns for president, Joe Biden tells a moving but false war story
By Matt Viser and Greg Jaffe
The Washington Post
August 29, 2019
HANOVER, N.H. — Joe Biden painted a vivid scene for the 400 people packed into a college meeting hall. A four-star general had asked the then-vice president to travel to Kunar province in Afghanistan, a dangerous foray into “godforsaken country” to recognize the remarkable heroism of a Navy captain.
Some told him it was too risky, but Biden said he brushed off their concerns. “We can lose a vice president,” he said. “We can’t lose many more of these kids. Not a joke.”
The Navy captain, Biden recalled Friday night, had rappelled down a 60-foot ravine under fire and retrieved the body of an American comrade, carrying him on his back. Now the general wanted Biden to pin a Silver Star on the American hero who, despite his bravery, felt like a failure.
“He said, ‘Sir, I don’t want the damn thing!’ ” Biden said, his jaw clenched and his voice rising to a shout. “’Do not pin it on me, Sir! Please, Sir. Do not do that! He died. He died!’ ”
The room was silent.
“This is the God’s truth,” Biden had said as he told the story. “My word as a Biden.”
Except almost every detail in the story appears to be incorrect. Based on interviews with more than a dozen U.S. troops, their commanders and Biden campaign officials, it appears as though the former vice president has jumbled elements of at least three actual events into one story of bravery, compassion and regret that never happened.
Biden visited Kunar province in 2008 as a U.S. senator, not as vice president. The service member who performed the celebrated rescue that Biden described was a 20-year-old Army specialist, not a much older Navy captain. And that soldier, Kyle J. White, never had a Silver Star, or any other medal, pinned on him by Biden. At a White House ceremony six years after Biden’s visit, White stood at attention as President Barack Obama placed a Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, around his neck.
The upshot: In the space of three minutes, Biden got the time period, the location, the heroic act, the type of medal, the military branch and the rank of the recipient wrong, as well as his own role in the ceremony.
One element of Biden’s story is rooted in an actual event: The vice president did pin a medal on a heartbroken soldier, Army Staff Sgt. Chad Workman, who didn’t believe he deserved the award.
In a statement, Biden’s campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said Workman’s valor was “emblematic of the duty and sacrifice of the 9/11 generation of veterans.”
The campaign did not dispute any of the facts in the Post report.
In an interview with Washington Post opinion columnist Jonathan Capehart after the report was first published, Biden suggested he was telling Workman’s story in New Hampshire, although almost none of the details he offered matched what actually happened to Workman.
“I was making the point how courageous these people are, how incredible they are, this generation of warriors, these fallen angels we’ve lost,” he said. “I don’t know what the problem is. What is it that I said wrong?”
Biden, 76, has struggled during his presidential campaign with gaffes and misstatements that hark back to his earlier political troubles and have put a spotlight on his age. In 1987, Biden dropped out of the presidential race amid charges that he had plagiarized the speeches of a British politician and others.
One big question facing candidates and voters more than 30 years later is whether President Trump’s routine falsehoods have changed the standards by which other presidential aspirants, including Biden, should be judged. From the beginning of his presidency until the middle of last month, Trump has uttered more than 12,000 false or misleading statements, The Washington Post has found. He has continued to add to that total since then.
Biden has used war stories to celebrate military sacrifice and attack Trump’s version of patriotism, built around ferocity and firepower. The former vice president, like Trump, never served in the military. But Biden’s son Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in 2015, deployed to Iraq as an Army lawyer in 2008, and the candidate ends almost all of his speeches with the refrain: “May God protect our troops.”
Embedded in Biden’s medal story are the touchstones of his long career: foreign policy expertise, patriotism and perseverance through grief.
Biden’s first public recounting of his trip to Kunar province, made shortly after his return in early 2008, was largely true, but not nearly as emotionally fraught as the versions he would later tell on the campaign trail. In 2008, then-Sen. Biden, along with Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), flew by helicopter to Forward Operating Base Naray, not far from Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. There, they watched as Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez presented a Bronze Star for valor to Spec. Miles Foltz, who braved heavy Taliban fire to rescue a wounded soldier. Spec. Tommy Alford had been manning his machine gun atop a hill when a Taliban bullet sliced through his jaw and neck. Foltz pulled Alford behind a nearby rock, stanched his bleeding and then took over his friend’s weapon. Two soldiers were killed during the ambush, but Alford survived and even returned to the unit a few months later to finish his combat tour.
“It was pretty ballsy, what Foltz did that day,” said retired Col. Chris Kolenda, who was Foltz’s commander in Afghanistan. “It was pretty awesome. . . . He saved a lot of lives.”
For Foltz, the memory of Biden’s visit and the Bronze Star remain bittersweet. “I wrote about it for an English class when I was going through college,” he said. “I can’t remember how I phrased it, but it’s like the medal helps hold down all the guilt for all the things I didn’t do that day.”
Biden returned home from his trip in 2008 worried that the United States was losing the war and moved by the battlefield award ceremony. “I know it sounds a little corny,” he said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, “but I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.”
Biden seemed to stop telling the story until the summer of 2016, when the presidential campaign was in full swing and Trump was surging to the top of the polls. In July of that year, he told it at a World War II ceremony in Australia. In this version, Foltz, a young soldier, had been replaced by the apocryphal and much older Navy captain who in Biden’s telling “climbed down about 200 feet” into a ravine and retrieved his wounded friend who died. The Bronze Star was upgraded to a Silver Star.
This time, Biden said he was the one who pinned the medal on the officer, not the general. “Sir, with all due respect, I do not want it,” Biden recalled the officer saying.
Months later, as the angry and divisive 2016 presidential campaign kicked into high gear, Biden’s story of the medal ceremony grew more harrowing and less accurate. He told it at an October rally for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in response to comments from Trump suggesting that some troops weren’t mentally strong enough to handle the rigors of combat. “Where the hell is he from?” Biden asked of Trump that day in Florida.
This time, Biden shifted the setting from Afghanistan to Iraq. Instead of rappelling down a ravine, an Army captain pulled a dead soldier out of a burning Humvee.
“He died. He died, Mr. Vice President,” Biden recalled the officer saying. “I don’t want the medal.”
Biden jabbed at the air with his index finger and yelled, “How many nights does that kid go to sleep seeing that image in his head, dealing with it?”
The Pentagon has no record of an Army captain receiving a Silver Star in Iraq during the time period Biden describes.
Three weeks later, stumping for Jason Kander, an Afghan War veteran running for the Senate in Missouri, Biden told both the Iraq and Afghanistan versions back to back in a single speech. First it was the Navy captain who rappelled down the ravine in Kunar. “He died. He died. I don’t deserve it,” Biden quoted the medal recipient as saying. Then he segued to the Army officer, the burning Humvee and Iraq. “This is the God’s truth,” Biden said. “As I approached him in a full formation . . . ‘Sir,’ he whispered to me, ‘Sir, please don’t. Please don’t pin that on me. He died, Sir. He died. I didn’t do my job. He died.’ ”
Then, on Friday, came New Hampshire. The setting was a town hall meeting about health care. Someone asked a question about mental health and Biden started talking about post-traumatic stress disorder and the heavy toll of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He pulled his daily schedule from the pocket of his blue blazer, an American flag pin affixed to its lapel. For the past 13 years, Biden’s rundown has included a daily tally of the dead and wounded from the war zones.
“I call every morning to the Defense Department — not a joke — to learn exactly how many women and men have been killed in Afghanistan or Iraq,” he told the crowd. “Nothing bothers me more than when someone says approximately 6,000 died. No, it is 6,883 as of this morning.”
Then Biden told the latest, and perhaps most inaccurate, version his Afghanistan story.
“I’ve been in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq over 30 times,” he said. (His campaign later clarified that the correct number is 21.) He talked about Kunar province, the Navy captain — “Navy, Navy” he repeated for emphasis — the deep ravine, the dead friend and the moment of reckoning when Biden pinned the medal on the officer’s uniform.
The version of Biden’s story that’s true — and just as heart-rending — is one he rarely tells. The setting was not Kunar province, but Wardak, just southwest of Kabul. The medal recipient was Workman, 35, who had run into a burning vehicle to save his dying friend. By the time Workman had pried open the door and plunged into the flames, it was too late.
“I never pulled him out because he was melting,” Workman recalled in a phone interview earlier this week from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Wash.
Workman’s company commander told him that the vice president was going to pin a Bronze Star on him for his heroism. “I tried to get out of going,” recalled Workman, who has since been promoted to first sergeant. “I didn’t want that medal.” Nevertheless on Jan. 11, 2011, a cold, gray day, Workman stood at attention as Biden pinned the medal to his chest. The moment is memorialized in a White House photo and in a 2016 interview that Biden did with National Geographic.
Here’s how Biden remembered it: “You see the look on his face — he says, ‘Sir, I don’t want it. I don’t want it. He died. He died.’ ”
Workman’s version is the same, but with one added detail. He recalled Biden meeting his gaze. Workman told the vice president that he didn’t want the medal.
“I know you don’t,” Biden replied softly.
Eight years later, Workman still remembers how Biden looked at him.
“He has that look where his eyes can see into your eyes,” Workman said. “I felt like he really understood.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This reminds me of Hillary’s phony 2008 story that she came “under sniper fire” in Bosnia.
By Matt Viser and Greg Jaffe
The Washington Post
August 29, 2019
HANOVER, N.H. — Joe Biden painted a vivid scene for the 400 people packed into a college meeting hall. A four-star general had asked the then-vice president to travel to Kunar province in Afghanistan, a dangerous foray into “godforsaken country” to recognize the remarkable heroism of a Navy captain.
Some told him it was too risky, but Biden said he brushed off their concerns. “We can lose a vice president,” he said. “We can’t lose many more of these kids. Not a joke.”
The Navy captain, Biden recalled Friday night, had rappelled down a 60-foot ravine under fire and retrieved the body of an American comrade, carrying him on his back. Now the general wanted Biden to pin a Silver Star on the American hero who, despite his bravery, felt like a failure.
“He said, ‘Sir, I don’t want the damn thing!’ ” Biden said, his jaw clenched and his voice rising to a shout. “’Do not pin it on me, Sir! Please, Sir. Do not do that! He died. He died!’ ”
The room was silent.
“This is the God’s truth,” Biden had said as he told the story. “My word as a Biden.”
Except almost every detail in the story appears to be incorrect. Based on interviews with more than a dozen U.S. troops, their commanders and Biden campaign officials, it appears as though the former vice president has jumbled elements of at least three actual events into one story of bravery, compassion and regret that never happened.
Biden visited Kunar province in 2008 as a U.S. senator, not as vice president. The service member who performed the celebrated rescue that Biden described was a 20-year-old Army specialist, not a much older Navy captain. And that soldier, Kyle J. White, never had a Silver Star, or any other medal, pinned on him by Biden. At a White House ceremony six years after Biden’s visit, White stood at attention as President Barack Obama placed a Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, around his neck.
The upshot: In the space of three minutes, Biden got the time period, the location, the heroic act, the type of medal, the military branch and the rank of the recipient wrong, as well as his own role in the ceremony.
One element of Biden’s story is rooted in an actual event: The vice president did pin a medal on a heartbroken soldier, Army Staff Sgt. Chad Workman, who didn’t believe he deserved the award.
In a statement, Biden’s campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said Workman’s valor was “emblematic of the duty and sacrifice of the 9/11 generation of veterans.”
The campaign did not dispute any of the facts in the Post report.
In an interview with Washington Post opinion columnist Jonathan Capehart after the report was first published, Biden suggested he was telling Workman’s story in New Hampshire, although almost none of the details he offered matched what actually happened to Workman.
“I was making the point how courageous these people are, how incredible they are, this generation of warriors, these fallen angels we’ve lost,” he said. “I don’t know what the problem is. What is it that I said wrong?”
Biden, 76, has struggled during his presidential campaign with gaffes and misstatements that hark back to his earlier political troubles and have put a spotlight on his age. In 1987, Biden dropped out of the presidential race amid charges that he had plagiarized the speeches of a British politician and others.
One big question facing candidates and voters more than 30 years later is whether President Trump’s routine falsehoods have changed the standards by which other presidential aspirants, including Biden, should be judged. From the beginning of his presidency until the middle of last month, Trump has uttered more than 12,000 false or misleading statements, The Washington Post has found. He has continued to add to that total since then.
Biden has used war stories to celebrate military sacrifice and attack Trump’s version of patriotism, built around ferocity and firepower. The former vice president, like Trump, never served in the military. But Biden’s son Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in 2015, deployed to Iraq as an Army lawyer in 2008, and the candidate ends almost all of his speeches with the refrain: “May God protect our troops.”
Embedded in Biden’s medal story are the touchstones of his long career: foreign policy expertise, patriotism and perseverance through grief.
Biden’s first public recounting of his trip to Kunar province, made shortly after his return in early 2008, was largely true, but not nearly as emotionally fraught as the versions he would later tell on the campaign trail. In 2008, then-Sen. Biden, along with Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), flew by helicopter to Forward Operating Base Naray, not far from Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. There, they watched as Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez presented a Bronze Star for valor to Spec. Miles Foltz, who braved heavy Taliban fire to rescue a wounded soldier. Spec. Tommy Alford had been manning his machine gun atop a hill when a Taliban bullet sliced through his jaw and neck. Foltz pulled Alford behind a nearby rock, stanched his bleeding and then took over his friend’s weapon. Two soldiers were killed during the ambush, but Alford survived and even returned to the unit a few months later to finish his combat tour.
“It was pretty ballsy, what Foltz did that day,” said retired Col. Chris Kolenda, who was Foltz’s commander in Afghanistan. “It was pretty awesome. . . . He saved a lot of lives.”
For Foltz, the memory of Biden’s visit and the Bronze Star remain bittersweet. “I wrote about it for an English class when I was going through college,” he said. “I can’t remember how I phrased it, but it’s like the medal helps hold down all the guilt for all the things I didn’t do that day.”
Biden returned home from his trip in 2008 worried that the United States was losing the war and moved by the battlefield award ceremony. “I know it sounds a little corny,” he said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, “but I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.”
Biden seemed to stop telling the story until the summer of 2016, when the presidential campaign was in full swing and Trump was surging to the top of the polls. In July of that year, he told it at a World War II ceremony in Australia. In this version, Foltz, a young soldier, had been replaced by the apocryphal and much older Navy captain who in Biden’s telling “climbed down about 200 feet” into a ravine and retrieved his wounded friend who died. The Bronze Star was upgraded to a Silver Star.
This time, Biden said he was the one who pinned the medal on the officer, not the general. “Sir, with all due respect, I do not want it,” Biden recalled the officer saying.
Months later, as the angry and divisive 2016 presidential campaign kicked into high gear, Biden’s story of the medal ceremony grew more harrowing and less accurate. He told it at an October rally for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in response to comments from Trump suggesting that some troops weren’t mentally strong enough to handle the rigors of combat. “Where the hell is he from?” Biden asked of Trump that day in Florida.
This time, Biden shifted the setting from Afghanistan to Iraq. Instead of rappelling down a ravine, an Army captain pulled a dead soldier out of a burning Humvee.
“He died. He died, Mr. Vice President,” Biden recalled the officer saying. “I don’t want the medal.”
Biden jabbed at the air with his index finger and yelled, “How many nights does that kid go to sleep seeing that image in his head, dealing with it?”
The Pentagon has no record of an Army captain receiving a Silver Star in Iraq during the time period Biden describes.
Three weeks later, stumping for Jason Kander, an Afghan War veteran running for the Senate in Missouri, Biden told both the Iraq and Afghanistan versions back to back in a single speech. First it was the Navy captain who rappelled down the ravine in Kunar. “He died. He died. I don’t deserve it,” Biden quoted the medal recipient as saying. Then he segued to the Army officer, the burning Humvee and Iraq. “This is the God’s truth,” Biden said. “As I approached him in a full formation . . . ‘Sir,’ he whispered to me, ‘Sir, please don’t. Please don’t pin that on me. He died, Sir. He died. I didn’t do my job. He died.’ ”
Then, on Friday, came New Hampshire. The setting was a town hall meeting about health care. Someone asked a question about mental health and Biden started talking about post-traumatic stress disorder and the heavy toll of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He pulled his daily schedule from the pocket of his blue blazer, an American flag pin affixed to its lapel. For the past 13 years, Biden’s rundown has included a daily tally of the dead and wounded from the war zones.
“I call every morning to the Defense Department — not a joke — to learn exactly how many women and men have been killed in Afghanistan or Iraq,” he told the crowd. “Nothing bothers me more than when someone says approximately 6,000 died. No, it is 6,883 as of this morning.”
Then Biden told the latest, and perhaps most inaccurate, version his Afghanistan story.
“I’ve been in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq over 30 times,” he said. (His campaign later clarified that the correct number is 21.) He talked about Kunar province, the Navy captain — “Navy, Navy” he repeated for emphasis — the deep ravine, the dead friend and the moment of reckoning when Biden pinned the medal on the officer’s uniform.
The version of Biden’s story that’s true — and just as heart-rending — is one he rarely tells. The setting was not Kunar province, but Wardak, just southwest of Kabul. The medal recipient was Workman, 35, who had run into a burning vehicle to save his dying friend. By the time Workman had pried open the door and plunged into the flames, it was too late.
“I never pulled him out because he was melting,” Workman recalled in a phone interview earlier this week from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Wash.
Workman’s company commander told him that the vice president was going to pin a Bronze Star on him for his heroism. “I tried to get out of going,” recalled Workman, who has since been promoted to first sergeant. “I didn’t want that medal.” Nevertheless on Jan. 11, 2011, a cold, gray day, Workman stood at attention as Biden pinned the medal to his chest. The moment is memorialized in a White House photo and in a 2016 interview that Biden did with National Geographic.
Here’s how Biden remembered it: “You see the look on his face — he says, ‘Sir, I don’t want it. I don’t want it. He died. He died.’ ”
Workman’s version is the same, but with one added detail. He recalled Biden meeting his gaze. Workman told the vice president that he didn’t want the medal.
“I know you don’t,” Biden replied softly.
Eight years later, Workman still remembers how Biden looked at him.
“He has that look where his eyes can see into your eyes,” Workman said. “I felt like he really understood.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This reminds me of Hillary’s phony 2008 story that she came “under sniper fire” in Bosnia.
RED BILL MOVES TO HOMOGENIZE SCHOOLS IN NYC
by Bob Walsh
Like all good commie bastards, Bill de Blasio likes equality, or at least the appearance of equality, so everybody is equally mediocre and miserable.
He has therefore decreed that all gifted and special placement programs and the testing system that supports any such program is now dead. He is also moving to make charter schools as difficult as possible to operate in New York City.
One of the interesting items of fallout from this will be the High School of the Performing Arts, an internationally known public school in New York City. Students who want in MUST AUDITION and must keep up their academic work in addition to whatever performing classes and skills they might have. This program will KILL OFF the audition process. It won't directly kill off the school, but it will certainly turn it into a mediocrity.
It is barely possible that this one item MIGHT generate enough screaming from powerful people in the performance arts that it might kill the whole idea. I am, however, not going to bet any money on it.
Like all good commie bastards, Bill de Blasio likes equality, or at least the appearance of equality, so everybody is equally mediocre and miserable.
He has therefore decreed that all gifted and special placement programs and the testing system that supports any such program is now dead. He is also moving to make charter schools as difficult as possible to operate in New York City.
One of the interesting items of fallout from this will be the High School of the Performing Arts, an internationally known public school in New York City. Students who want in MUST AUDITION and must keep up their academic work in addition to whatever performing classes and skills they might have. This program will KILL OFF the audition process. It won't directly kill off the school, but it will certainly turn it into a mediocrity.
It is barely possible that this one item MIGHT generate enough screaming from powerful people in the performance arts that it might kill the whole idea. I am, however, not going to bet any money on it.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
by Bob Walsh
In 1146 various European leaders got together to outlaw the crossbow in an effort to stop war.
It didn't work.
In 1146 various European leaders got together to outlaw the crossbow in an effort to stop war.
It didn't work.
IS NASCAR LOSING THEIR BALLS ?
Short Answer, YES
by Bob Walsh
NASCAR is apparently "shifting" its position on support of the Second Amendment and is now refusing to accept advertising from many (though not all) firearms manufacturers. They are still open to taking money from advertisers for "less controversial gun accessories."
I am not a huge fan of "drive fast, turn left, repeat" race car driving (I do like their two road courses) but if I was a fan this would make me much less inclined to spend money with them. I wonder how the real fan base will feel about this.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Short answer, the rabid fans won't give a shit.
As for NASCAR disassociating itself from gun manufacturers, they're just aligning themselves with the majority of Americans who now favor repealing the right to bear arms.
by Bob Walsh
NASCAR is apparently "shifting" its position on support of the Second Amendment and is now refusing to accept advertising from many (though not all) firearms manufacturers. They are still open to taking money from advertisers for "less controversial gun accessories."
I am not a huge fan of "drive fast, turn left, repeat" race car driving (I do like their two road courses) but if I was a fan this would make me much less inclined to spend money with them. I wonder how the real fan base will feel about this.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Short answer, the rabid fans won't give a shit.
As for NASCAR disassociating itself from gun manufacturers, they're just aligning themselves with the majority of Americans who now favor repealing the right to bear arms.
SOMETIMES I THINK STOCKTON JUST ISN'T TRYING ANY MORE
by Bob Walsh
There were two homicides in Stockton on Tuesday. One was a man found murdered on the sidewalk just north of downtown. The second was a woman found dead on the sidewalk just south of downtown. These are the first murders inside the city limits in about six or seven weeks. This makes only 27 homicides in the city this calendar year.
Is Stockton becoming civilized? Anything is possible I guess.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Dead bodies on the sidewalks sounds a lot better than shit on the sidewalks.
There were two homicides in Stockton on Tuesday. One was a man found murdered on the sidewalk just north of downtown. The second was a woman found dead on the sidewalk just south of downtown. These are the first murders inside the city limits in about six or seven weeks. This makes only 27 homicides in the city this calendar year.
Is Stockton becoming civilized? Anything is possible I guess.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Dead bodies on the sidewalks sounds a lot better than shit on the sidewalks.
72-YEAR-OLD MAN PREPARED HIMSELF TO REPEL CHINESE INVADERS
Dozens of guns, grenades, pipe bomb, liquid mercury found inside Philadelphia home
WPVI
August 29, 2019
PHILADELPHIA -- Danny Kravitz says things are usually pretty uneventful in his neighborhood in the Bustleton section of Northeast Philadelphia.
"It's a very quiet neighborhood," said Kravitz "You never have any trouble."
But there seemed to be big trouble on Wednesday night, as police blocked off the 9700 block of Northeast Avenue. Neighbors like Kravitz wondered what was going on. It didn't take them long to find out that police had found a cache of weapons in the house just down the street.
"They found more and more weapons throughout the house," said Chief Inspector Scott Small. "In the basement, every room, the attic, crawlspace, living room, dining room, bedrooms."
Chopper 6 was overhead as officers began removing guns from the home.
Investigators found 39 guns. One of them appeared to be an assault rifle. Police also found what appeared to be a pipe bomb, 1,000 rounds of ammunition, a jar of liquid mercury and ten grenades. All of the grenades inert, meaning that they did not contain explosive mechanisms.
Philadelphia's Acting Police Commissioner says officers discovered the *reason why the man had so many weapons.
"It appears that he could have been a broker or dealer of guns in the past," said Christine Coulter, acting Philadelphia Police commissioner. "I don't think it's a nefarious situation that the guns were there."
Officers came to the house after the family of the 72-year-old man who lives there called police at about 4:30 p.m. saying they'd found a suicide note. The family was worried about the man's mental state.
"I'm grateful for the family member that step forward and said there could be a problem here looking out for his father's interest," said Coulter.
The man went to the hospital for a mental evaluation as officers complied with the family's request to take the guns for safekeeping.
Police were at the home for more than seven hours.
The guns are in the hands of the police department's Firearms Identification Unit. They'll run the serial numbers on the guns to make sure none of them had been stolen or used to commit a crime.
Now that neighbors do know what was inside, they're glad police did get that call to the unassuming house right down the street.
"Thank God for that," said Kravitz. "Thank God."
WPVI
August 29, 2019
PHILADELPHIA -- Danny Kravitz says things are usually pretty uneventful in his neighborhood in the Bustleton section of Northeast Philadelphia.
"It's a very quiet neighborhood," said Kravitz "You never have any trouble."
But there seemed to be big trouble on Wednesday night, as police blocked off the 9700 block of Northeast Avenue. Neighbors like Kravitz wondered what was going on. It didn't take them long to find out that police had found a cache of weapons in the house just down the street.
"They found more and more weapons throughout the house," said Chief Inspector Scott Small. "In the basement, every room, the attic, crawlspace, living room, dining room, bedrooms."
Chopper 6 was overhead as officers began removing guns from the home.
Investigators found 39 guns. One of them appeared to be an assault rifle. Police also found what appeared to be a pipe bomb, 1,000 rounds of ammunition, a jar of liquid mercury and ten grenades. All of the grenades inert, meaning that they did not contain explosive mechanisms.
Philadelphia's Acting Police Commissioner says officers discovered the *reason why the man had so many weapons.
"It appears that he could have been a broker or dealer of guns in the past," said Christine Coulter, acting Philadelphia Police commissioner. "I don't think it's a nefarious situation that the guns were there."
Officers came to the house after the family of the 72-year-old man who lives there called police at about 4:30 p.m. saying they'd found a suicide note. The family was worried about the man's mental state.
"I'm grateful for the family member that step forward and said there could be a problem here looking out for his father's interest," said Coulter.
The man went to the hospital for a mental evaluation as officers complied with the family's request to take the guns for safekeeping.
Police were at the home for more than seven hours.
The guns are in the hands of the police department's Firearms Identification Unit. They'll run the serial numbers on the guns to make sure none of them had been stolen or used to commit a crime.
Now that neighbors do know what was inside, they're glad police did get that call to the unassuming house right down the street.
"Thank God for that," said Kravitz. "Thank God."
CRIES FOR HELP BY WOMAN IN LABOR IGNORED BY DENVER COUNTY JAIL PERSONNEL
‘Nobody cared’: A woman gave birth alone in a jail cell after her cries for help were ignored, lawsuit says
By Allyson Chiu
The Washington Post
August 29, 2019
Diana Sanchez screamed as she writhed on the small bed inside her cell at the Denver County Jail. Gripping the thin mattress with one hand, she tried to use the other to take off her white cloth pants, only managing to free her left leg. Her face glistened with sweat. She had been in labor for hours, and now her baby was coming.
At 10:44 a.m. on July 31, 2018, in a moment captured on surveillance video, Sanchez gave birth to her son alone in her cell without medical supervision or treatment, despite repeatedly telling the jail’s staff that she was having contractions, according to a federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Colorado on Wednesday. The suit alleges that instead of “ensuring that Ms. Sanchez was able to give birth in a safe and sanitary medical setting,” nurses and deputies “callously made her labor alone for hours,” forcing her to endure a “horrific experience.”
“That pain was indescribable,” Sanchez told KDVR in an interview last year, “and what hurts me more though is the fact that nobody cared.”
The suit, which names the city and county of Denver, Denver Health Medical Center and six individuals as defendants, comes months after an internal investigation conducted by the Denver Sheriff Department cleared its deputies of wrongdoing — a result that left Sanchez’s attorney, Mari Newman, “profoundly disappointed.”
“That’s just emblematic of how broken the system really is,” Newman told The Washington Post. “They claim to have done a review and their conclusion is that nothing was wrong with the fact that a woman was never taken to the hospital and ended up giving birth in a dirty, cold, hard jail cell. It’s really unfathomable.”
A spokeswoman with the sheriff department told KDVR on Wednesday that last year’s investigation concluded deputies “took the appropriate actions under the circumstances and followed the relevant policies and procedures.” But, she added, “Policy has since been clarified that when an inmate is in labor, an emergency ambulance will be called.” Denver Health, which provides medical services at the jail, did not respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.
On July 14, 2018, Sanchez, who was already more than eight months pregnant, was booked into the Denver County Jail on charges related to identity theft, KDVR reported. According to the lawsuit, medical personnel made note of her condition and were aware that her due date was just over three weeks away.
Then, around 5 a.m. on July 31, Sanchez had a message for the deputy who was delivering her breakfast: She was having contractions.
Sanchez would go on to tell deputies and nurses about her contractions “at least eight times that morning,” but medical care wasn’t provided and an ambulance to the hospital never arrived, the complaint alleged. Instead, for the next four to five hours, Sanchez “labored alone in her cell,” a “long and painful” process that was captured in its entirety on surveillance video that the jail’s staff were responsible for monitoring, the suit said.
“It’s profoundly difficult to watch a person who is in so much pain, so much fear and at such medical risk, and yet nobody is doing anything about it,” Newman said.
Shortly before 10 a.m., Sanchez’s labor pains worsened, the lawsuit said. She told a deputy that her water had broken and she was experiencing abdominal pains, symptoms that indicated she was going to deliver her baby soon, according to the complaint.
But when the deputy relayed the information to a nurse, the nurse only requested for a van to take Sanchez to the hospital, the suit said. Jail officials signed off despite knowing that the van wouldn’t transport Sanchez until all new detainees had been booked, a process that could take “multiple hours,” the suit alleged.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that a person who’s been in labor for hours and whose water has broken is going to have a baby,” Newman said. “The baby’s not going to wait for book-ins. The baby’s coming one way or the other.”
As Sanchez waited, Newman said the mother was given an absorbent pad to lie on. In the surveillance video, Sanchez can be seen unfolding the square sheet and placing it on her bed.
“You might as well give her a Band-Aid and pretend that that’s going to keep the baby from coming,” Newman said. “It’s ridiculous.”
Less than an hour after her water broke, Sanchez started shouting for help, the complaint said. A deputy arrived to Sanchez’s cell to find that the pad was soaked through and she was “clearly in excruciating pain.” When a nurse was informed of the situation, he allegedly responded that Sanchez was already scheduled to go to the hospital, so she didn’t need medical care, the suit said.
By 10:42 a.m., video of the cell showed Sanchez with her pants around her knees, her face distorted in a grimace. Soon, she is frantically taking off her pants and underwear. The door of her cell opens, but no one comes in to help.
Sanchez’s mouth is wide open in a scream. Within seconds, a small baby tumbles out onto the bed and only then does a man wearing surgical gloves enter the cell. He appears to examine the infant, gently patting the baby’s back a few times. At least two people in uniforms can be seen.
The Denver Fire Department took another 15 minutes to arrive at the cell, the lawsuit said. Sanchez and her baby weren’t transported to the hospital until around 11:15 a.m. — more than 30 minutes after she had given birth, the suit alleged.
“They put my son’s life at risk,” Sanchez told KDVR in August 2018. “When I got to the hospital, they said that I could have bled to death.”
With the lawsuit, Newman said she hopes to “achieve some measure of accountability and to force wrongdoers to change their behavior.” The suit mentions several past incidents in which inmates under the supervision of the city and county of Denver and Denver Health Medical Center personnel allegedly did not receive adequate care. One case, which was settled about 10 years ago, resulted in an agreement that jail staff are required to report medical emergencies up the chain of command and if no action is taken, to call 911 themselves, Newman said. Had that commitment been followed, Sanchez’s experience might have been avoided, she said.
“I would like to think that institutions and people will do the right thing for their own sake, but apparently that’s not the case,” she said.
__________
ASSUMING THIS IS TRUE A FEW PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THEIR ASSES HANDED TO THEM
by Bob Walsh
Diana Sanchez is probably not a nice person. At the end of July of last year she was a guest of the people in the Denver jail. That being said, she does have certain rights.
Allegedly she was in labor for a bit over five hours in a cell, unattended, in the jail. Jail staff, including contract nurses, were aware that she was in labor and left her unattended in a cell. She eventually popped out the kid, on the floor of the cell, with no assistance of any kind. There is security video so it seems unlikely that she is making up the whole thing and is probably not even exaggerating significantly.
To his credit the Sheriff ordered an immediate internal investigation of the incident. The findings were that custody staff followed existing procedure. Strangely enough it would seem that, at the time, it was NOT policy to call for an ambulance when a prisoner was clearly about to give birth. A nurse stood outside the cell during much of the labor and watched. After Sanchez popped out the kid the nurse entered the cell and picked the baby up off the floor. I think that was nice of him.
Ms. Sanchez's lawyer is of course screaming about lack of compassion. I would point out that jails are not in the compassion business, they are in the security business.
It is not clear whether or not contract medical staff violated any existing procedures. Ms. Sanchez is, of course, suing everybody involved. She may very well have a case, at least against the medical staff.
By Allyson Chiu
The Washington Post
August 29, 2019
Diana Sanchez screamed as she writhed on the small bed inside her cell at the Denver County Jail. Gripping the thin mattress with one hand, she tried to use the other to take off her white cloth pants, only managing to free her left leg. Her face glistened with sweat. She had been in labor for hours, and now her baby was coming.
At 10:44 a.m. on July 31, 2018, in a moment captured on surveillance video, Sanchez gave birth to her son alone in her cell without medical supervision or treatment, despite repeatedly telling the jail’s staff that she was having contractions, according to a federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Colorado on Wednesday. The suit alleges that instead of “ensuring that Ms. Sanchez was able to give birth in a safe and sanitary medical setting,” nurses and deputies “callously made her labor alone for hours,” forcing her to endure a “horrific experience.”
“That pain was indescribable,” Sanchez told KDVR in an interview last year, “and what hurts me more though is the fact that nobody cared.”
The suit, which names the city and county of Denver, Denver Health Medical Center and six individuals as defendants, comes months after an internal investigation conducted by the Denver Sheriff Department cleared its deputies of wrongdoing — a result that left Sanchez’s attorney, Mari Newman, “profoundly disappointed.”
“That’s just emblematic of how broken the system really is,” Newman told The Washington Post. “They claim to have done a review and their conclusion is that nothing was wrong with the fact that a woman was never taken to the hospital and ended up giving birth in a dirty, cold, hard jail cell. It’s really unfathomable.”
A spokeswoman with the sheriff department told KDVR on Wednesday that last year’s investigation concluded deputies “took the appropriate actions under the circumstances and followed the relevant policies and procedures.” But, she added, “Policy has since been clarified that when an inmate is in labor, an emergency ambulance will be called.” Denver Health, which provides medical services at the jail, did not respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.
On July 14, 2018, Sanchez, who was already more than eight months pregnant, was booked into the Denver County Jail on charges related to identity theft, KDVR reported. According to the lawsuit, medical personnel made note of her condition and were aware that her due date was just over three weeks away.
Then, around 5 a.m. on July 31, Sanchez had a message for the deputy who was delivering her breakfast: She was having contractions.
Sanchez would go on to tell deputies and nurses about her contractions “at least eight times that morning,” but medical care wasn’t provided and an ambulance to the hospital never arrived, the complaint alleged. Instead, for the next four to five hours, Sanchez “labored alone in her cell,” a “long and painful” process that was captured in its entirety on surveillance video that the jail’s staff were responsible for monitoring, the suit said.
“It’s profoundly difficult to watch a person who is in so much pain, so much fear and at such medical risk, and yet nobody is doing anything about it,” Newman said.
Shortly before 10 a.m., Sanchez’s labor pains worsened, the lawsuit said. She told a deputy that her water had broken and she was experiencing abdominal pains, symptoms that indicated she was going to deliver her baby soon, according to the complaint.
But when the deputy relayed the information to a nurse, the nurse only requested for a van to take Sanchez to the hospital, the suit said. Jail officials signed off despite knowing that the van wouldn’t transport Sanchez until all new detainees had been booked, a process that could take “multiple hours,” the suit alleged.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that a person who’s been in labor for hours and whose water has broken is going to have a baby,” Newman said. “The baby’s not going to wait for book-ins. The baby’s coming one way or the other.”
As Sanchez waited, Newman said the mother was given an absorbent pad to lie on. In the surveillance video, Sanchez can be seen unfolding the square sheet and placing it on her bed.
“You might as well give her a Band-Aid and pretend that that’s going to keep the baby from coming,” Newman said. “It’s ridiculous.”
Less than an hour after her water broke, Sanchez started shouting for help, the complaint said. A deputy arrived to Sanchez’s cell to find that the pad was soaked through and she was “clearly in excruciating pain.” When a nurse was informed of the situation, he allegedly responded that Sanchez was already scheduled to go to the hospital, so she didn’t need medical care, the suit said.
By 10:42 a.m., video of the cell showed Sanchez with her pants around her knees, her face distorted in a grimace. Soon, she is frantically taking off her pants and underwear. The door of her cell opens, but no one comes in to help.
Sanchez’s mouth is wide open in a scream. Within seconds, a small baby tumbles out onto the bed and only then does a man wearing surgical gloves enter the cell. He appears to examine the infant, gently patting the baby’s back a few times. At least two people in uniforms can be seen.
The Denver Fire Department took another 15 minutes to arrive at the cell, the lawsuit said. Sanchez and her baby weren’t transported to the hospital until around 11:15 a.m. — more than 30 minutes after she had given birth, the suit alleged.
“They put my son’s life at risk,” Sanchez told KDVR in August 2018. “When I got to the hospital, they said that I could have bled to death.”
With the lawsuit, Newman said she hopes to “achieve some measure of accountability and to force wrongdoers to change their behavior.” The suit mentions several past incidents in which inmates under the supervision of the city and county of Denver and Denver Health Medical Center personnel allegedly did not receive adequate care. One case, which was settled about 10 years ago, resulted in an agreement that jail staff are required to report medical emergencies up the chain of command and if no action is taken, to call 911 themselves, Newman said. Had that commitment been followed, Sanchez’s experience might have been avoided, she said.
“I would like to think that institutions and people will do the right thing for their own sake, but apparently that’s not the case,” she said.
__________
ASSUMING THIS IS TRUE A FEW PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THEIR ASSES HANDED TO THEM
by Bob Walsh
Diana Sanchez is probably not a nice person. At the end of July of last year she was a guest of the people in the Denver jail. That being said, she does have certain rights.
Allegedly she was in labor for a bit over five hours in a cell, unattended, in the jail. Jail staff, including contract nurses, were aware that she was in labor and left her unattended in a cell. She eventually popped out the kid, on the floor of the cell, with no assistance of any kind. There is security video so it seems unlikely that she is making up the whole thing and is probably not even exaggerating significantly.
To his credit the Sheriff ordered an immediate internal investigation of the incident. The findings were that custody staff followed existing procedure. Strangely enough it would seem that, at the time, it was NOT policy to call for an ambulance when a prisoner was clearly about to give birth. A nurse stood outside the cell during much of the labor and watched. After Sanchez popped out the kid the nurse entered the cell and picked the baby up off the floor. I think that was nice of him.
Ms. Sanchez's lawyer is of course screaming about lack of compassion. I would point out that jails are not in the compassion business, they are in the security business.
It is not clear whether or not contract medical staff violated any existing procedures. Ms. Sanchez is, of course, suing everybody involved. She may very well have a case, at least against the medical staff.
CALIFORNIA’S BIGGEST CITIES CONFRONT A ‘DEFECATION CRISIS’
Lawmakers ban plastic straws as a far worse kind of waste covers the streets of San Francisco and L.A.
By Charles Kesler
The Wall Street Journal
August 16, 2019
They say there’s a smartphone app for everything, and doubters should know there are now at least two dealing with excrement on the sidewalks of San Francisco. The city has its official SF311 app, part of its “San Francisco at your Service” program, and last year a private developer introduced Snapcrap, which allows residents to upload a photo of an offending specimen directly to the SF311 website. This alerts the city’s new five-person “poop patrol,” which will follow up, presumably, with a smile.
Then there are the maps. At least three maps charting the location of “poop complaints” in the city have been assembled, the latest and best by the nonprofit Open the Books. Their map shows most of the city covered by brown pin dots, each marking a report to the Department of Public Works.
The website RealtyHop.com dubs San Francisco “the doo-doo capital of the U.S.” They noted that the city’s poop reports almost tripled between 2011 and 2017.
The problem draws attention because the poop increasingly comes not from dogs but from humans. In partial defense of his city, Curbed SF’s Adam Brinklow explains that the reports submitted to the city didn’t distinguish between human and dog excrement, and that there were 150,000 dogs and fewer than 10,000 homeless people within city limits. But he admits that homelessness was probably the leading edge of the problem in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles, where 36,000 people live on the streets, and many do their business there.
The majority of the nation’s homeless people now live in California. There are myriad causes at work, no doubt. But there was no “defecation crisis”—a term usually associated with rural India—in the 1930s, even with unemployment at 25%, vagabonds roaming the country, and shantytowns and “Hoovervilles” springing up everywhere. Today’s homeless and the hobos of the Great Depression are different in many ways. The triple scourges of drug abuse, mental illness and family breakdown have produced anomie and derangements far deeper than those seen in the 1930s, when the widely shared nature of the economic and psychological distress provided its own grim comfort.
In California at least, one is struck by the contrast between the fastidious attention paid to the social duty of scooping up and disposing of dog feces, and the rather more paralyzed and guilty reaction to the plague of human feces. The former is treated as a moral imperative among the enlightened—and the thin plastic bags used as the means to this moral end have so far escaped the fate of plastic straws, well on their way to being outlawed as an environmental outrage. Even social-justice warriors don’t consider it their personal duty, however, to tidy up after their fellow human beings on the streets.
Confronted on the sidewalk with a nasty fait accompli, most people are indignant. But the questions they then ask often diverge. Those of a more traditional disposition might wonder, “What is wrong with these people?” Those of a more progressive mind-set might exclaim, “Why hasn’t the government designed a program to solve this?”
Each is sincere, and society will have to try to answer both to make things better. But it’s the former inquiry, prepared to make some difficult and unfashionable moral distinctions, that needs encouragement in deep-blue California. “Homeless” was originally an adjective. It became a collective noun, denoting the victims of homelessness, only later, under the influence of the 20th century’s confidence that the first step in solving a social problem is to name it. Not all problems are social, however, and few if any social problems can be “solved,” in the strong sense of the term.
Without wishing to return to the Elizabethan Poor Laws, we ought to consider what was lost when the courts discouraged Americans from thinking of “homelessness” in light of the old laws against vagrancy. Under that understanding, no one had a right to camp out indefinitely on public property, much less to defecate on it. Public property belonged to the public—to everyone—and couldn’t be privatized for the benefit of one or more vagrants, however poor or sick. Though that principle would need to be applied to modern circumstances, it is the indispensable starting point for thinking about the shocking problems of the Golden State.
EDITOR’S NOTE: What a pile of shit!
By Charles Kesler
The Wall Street Journal
August 16, 2019
They say there’s a smartphone app for everything, and doubters should know there are now at least two dealing with excrement on the sidewalks of San Francisco. The city has its official SF311 app, part of its “San Francisco at your Service” program, and last year a private developer introduced Snapcrap, which allows residents to upload a photo of an offending specimen directly to the SF311 website. This alerts the city’s new five-person “poop patrol,” which will follow up, presumably, with a smile.
Then there are the maps. At least three maps charting the location of “poop complaints” in the city have been assembled, the latest and best by the nonprofit Open the Books. Their map shows most of the city covered by brown pin dots, each marking a report to the Department of Public Works.
The website RealtyHop.com dubs San Francisco “the doo-doo capital of the U.S.” They noted that the city’s poop reports almost tripled between 2011 and 2017.
The problem draws attention because the poop increasingly comes not from dogs but from humans. In partial defense of his city, Curbed SF’s Adam Brinklow explains that the reports submitted to the city didn’t distinguish between human and dog excrement, and that there were 150,000 dogs and fewer than 10,000 homeless people within city limits. But he admits that homelessness was probably the leading edge of the problem in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles, where 36,000 people live on the streets, and many do their business there.
The majority of the nation’s homeless people now live in California. There are myriad causes at work, no doubt. But there was no “defecation crisis”—a term usually associated with rural India—in the 1930s, even with unemployment at 25%, vagabonds roaming the country, and shantytowns and “Hoovervilles” springing up everywhere. Today’s homeless and the hobos of the Great Depression are different in many ways. The triple scourges of drug abuse, mental illness and family breakdown have produced anomie and derangements far deeper than those seen in the 1930s, when the widely shared nature of the economic and psychological distress provided its own grim comfort.
In California at least, one is struck by the contrast between the fastidious attention paid to the social duty of scooping up and disposing of dog feces, and the rather more paralyzed and guilty reaction to the plague of human feces. The former is treated as a moral imperative among the enlightened—and the thin plastic bags used as the means to this moral end have so far escaped the fate of plastic straws, well on their way to being outlawed as an environmental outrage. Even social-justice warriors don’t consider it their personal duty, however, to tidy up after their fellow human beings on the streets.
Confronted on the sidewalk with a nasty fait accompli, most people are indignant. But the questions they then ask often diverge. Those of a more traditional disposition might wonder, “What is wrong with these people?” Those of a more progressive mind-set might exclaim, “Why hasn’t the government designed a program to solve this?”
Each is sincere, and society will have to try to answer both to make things better. But it’s the former inquiry, prepared to make some difficult and unfashionable moral distinctions, that needs encouragement in deep-blue California. “Homeless” was originally an adjective. It became a collective noun, denoting the victims of homelessness, only later, under the influence of the 20th century’s confidence that the first step in solving a social problem is to name it. Not all problems are social, however, and few if any social problems can be “solved,” in the strong sense of the term.
Without wishing to return to the Elizabethan Poor Laws, we ought to consider what was lost when the courts discouraged Americans from thinking of “homelessness” in light of the old laws against vagrancy. Under that understanding, no one had a right to camp out indefinitely on public property, much less to defecate on it. Public property belonged to the public—to everyone—and couldn’t be privatized for the benefit of one or more vagrants, however poor or sick. Though that principle would need to be applied to modern circumstances, it is the indispensable starting point for thinking about the shocking problems of the Golden State.
EDITOR’S NOTE: What a pile of shit!
‘NEW LEFT URBANISTS’ WANT TO REMAKE YOUR CITY
It’s about control—using infrastructure to make the masses conform to one vision of how to live
By Christopher F. Rufo
The Wall Street Journal
August 22, 2019
America’s big cities are almost all dominated by the Democratic Party, but the politics of urban development are far from monolithic. In the past few years, a new faction has emerged across the country. Call them the new left urbanists.
These activists have big dreams. They want local governments to rebuild the urban environment—housing, transit, roads and tolls—to achieve social justice, racial justice and net-zero carbon emissions. They rally around slogans such as “ban all cars,” “raze the suburbs” and “single-family housing is white supremacy”—though they’re generally white and affluent themselves, often employed in public or semipublic roles in urban planning, housing development and social advocacy. They treat public housing, mass transit and bike lanes as a holy trinity, and they want to impose their religion on you.
“The residential is political,” wrote new left urbanists David Madden and Peter Marcuse in 2016. “The shape of the housing system is always the outcome of struggles between different groups and classes.” By dictating how cities build new housing, the logic goes, urbanists can dictate how people live and set right society’s socioeconomic, racial and moral deficiencies.
One widely circulated left-urbanist plan from April 2018 comes from the People’s Policy Project, a crowdfunded socialist think tank. The authors, Peter Gowan and Ryan Cooper, envision the construction of 10 million “municipal homes” over the next decade. The proposal imagines local governments building more housing units than the private construction industry and becoming the largest landlord in many cities.
The abysmal record of public housing in the U.S., from crime to decay, makes no difference to these urbanists. They rebrand “housing projects” as “municipal homes” and assert that new units will resemble neighborhoods in Stockholm, Vienna and Helsinki, rather than Detroit, Newark and Oakland.
Activists are concerned not only with the quantity of new housing but also with who builds and lives in it. New developments must be government-run and tick off the boxes of identity politics. In San Francisco, some activists oppose all private housing construction. A 2017 essay in the San Francisco Examiner called advocates for more market housing part of a “libertarian, anti-poor campaign to turn longtime sites of progressive organizing into rich-people-only zones” and compared them to white nationalists.
One might dismiss this as radical posturing, but public-housing advocates have seized real power in city halls. They’ve learned how to use the zoning and permitting bureaucracy to stanch private development. In San Francisco’s Mission District, laundromat owner Bob Tillman had to spend $1.4 million and nearly five years to gain permission to convert his business into an apartment building. Activists and their enablers in City Hall claimed the laundry business was “historic” and that development would displace minority residents. At one point the planning commission hired a “shadow consultant” to assess whether the shadows cast by the proposed building could cause harm to the community.
In New York City, progressive urbanists have focused on public transportation. The subway system was designed mostly in the early 20th century to serve the practical needs of New Yorkers, but today’s activists see it as a grand instrument for cosmic justice.
In the Straphangers Campaign’s 2018 “Transportation and Equity” report, the advocacy group begins from the premise that “the most vulnerable New Yorkers suffer disproportionately from high fares, long commutes, polluted air, and dangerous streets.” It ends up estimating that an additional $30 billion in tax revenue would be needed for its desired overhaul: upgrading 11 subway lines, building 130 new accessible stations, and purchasing more than 3,000 new subway cars, along with nearly 5,000 new buses, over the next 10 years.
While state and local leaders haven’t signed up for this ambitious plan, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and other local politicians have expressed support for some of the activists’ funding proposals, including congestion pricing, a “millionaire’s tax,” a marijuana tax, a stock-transfer tax and even a $3-a-package tax on Amazon deliveries.
There’s a reasonable argument for congestion pricing in traffic-glutted Manhattan and for more investment in mass transit. But the Straphangers’ long-term vision involves elimination of the automobile, which remains a middle-class staple in the outer boroughs. Their plan would restrict curbside space for cars by building “protected bike lanes on all major arterial streets across the five boroughs,” “giving developers incentives to contribute toward sustainable transportation over private vehicle usage,” and eliminating parking requirements for new housing.
Activists use euphemisms like “transportation alternatives” and “transportation choices,” but at heart their vision is about control. They want to remake the urban infrastructure in their own image: green, moral and in solidarity with the masses—at least as those masses exist in their imagination.
The new left urbanists’ fatal mistake is to view cities as collections of buildings, roads, tunnels and bike lanes. Urbanists can demolish and rebuild physical environments, but they can’t pave over the people. Life in a metropolis is simply too complex, too variable and too ephemeral—it will evade even the most careful planning. Making cities better and more beautiful requires bringing neighbors, developers, employers and governments into the conversation. Thriving cities are built through cooperation, not compulsion.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m surprised they did not recommend replacing the police with social workers.
By Christopher F. Rufo
The Wall Street Journal
August 22, 2019
America’s big cities are almost all dominated by the Democratic Party, but the politics of urban development are far from monolithic. In the past few years, a new faction has emerged across the country. Call them the new left urbanists.
These activists have big dreams. They want local governments to rebuild the urban environment—housing, transit, roads and tolls—to achieve social justice, racial justice and net-zero carbon emissions. They rally around slogans such as “ban all cars,” “raze the suburbs” and “single-family housing is white supremacy”—though they’re generally white and affluent themselves, often employed in public or semipublic roles in urban planning, housing development and social advocacy. They treat public housing, mass transit and bike lanes as a holy trinity, and they want to impose their religion on you.
“The residential is political,” wrote new left urbanists David Madden and Peter Marcuse in 2016. “The shape of the housing system is always the outcome of struggles between different groups and classes.” By dictating how cities build new housing, the logic goes, urbanists can dictate how people live and set right society’s socioeconomic, racial and moral deficiencies.
One widely circulated left-urbanist plan from April 2018 comes from the People’s Policy Project, a crowdfunded socialist think tank. The authors, Peter Gowan and Ryan Cooper, envision the construction of 10 million “municipal homes” over the next decade. The proposal imagines local governments building more housing units than the private construction industry and becoming the largest landlord in many cities.
The abysmal record of public housing in the U.S., from crime to decay, makes no difference to these urbanists. They rebrand “housing projects” as “municipal homes” and assert that new units will resemble neighborhoods in Stockholm, Vienna and Helsinki, rather than Detroit, Newark and Oakland.
Activists are concerned not only with the quantity of new housing but also with who builds and lives in it. New developments must be government-run and tick off the boxes of identity politics. In San Francisco, some activists oppose all private housing construction. A 2017 essay in the San Francisco Examiner called advocates for more market housing part of a “libertarian, anti-poor campaign to turn longtime sites of progressive organizing into rich-people-only zones” and compared them to white nationalists.
One might dismiss this as radical posturing, but public-housing advocates have seized real power in city halls. They’ve learned how to use the zoning and permitting bureaucracy to stanch private development. In San Francisco’s Mission District, laundromat owner Bob Tillman had to spend $1.4 million and nearly five years to gain permission to convert his business into an apartment building. Activists and their enablers in City Hall claimed the laundry business was “historic” and that development would displace minority residents. At one point the planning commission hired a “shadow consultant” to assess whether the shadows cast by the proposed building could cause harm to the community.
In New York City, progressive urbanists have focused on public transportation. The subway system was designed mostly in the early 20th century to serve the practical needs of New Yorkers, but today’s activists see it as a grand instrument for cosmic justice.
In the Straphangers Campaign’s 2018 “Transportation and Equity” report, the advocacy group begins from the premise that “the most vulnerable New Yorkers suffer disproportionately from high fares, long commutes, polluted air, and dangerous streets.” It ends up estimating that an additional $30 billion in tax revenue would be needed for its desired overhaul: upgrading 11 subway lines, building 130 new accessible stations, and purchasing more than 3,000 new subway cars, along with nearly 5,000 new buses, over the next 10 years.
While state and local leaders haven’t signed up for this ambitious plan, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and other local politicians have expressed support for some of the activists’ funding proposals, including congestion pricing, a “millionaire’s tax,” a marijuana tax, a stock-transfer tax and even a $3-a-package tax on Amazon deliveries.
There’s a reasonable argument for congestion pricing in traffic-glutted Manhattan and for more investment in mass transit. But the Straphangers’ long-term vision involves elimination of the automobile, which remains a middle-class staple in the outer boroughs. Their plan would restrict curbside space for cars by building “protected bike lanes on all major arterial streets across the five boroughs,” “giving developers incentives to contribute toward sustainable transportation over private vehicle usage,” and eliminating parking requirements for new housing.
Activists use euphemisms like “transportation alternatives” and “transportation choices,” but at heart their vision is about control. They want to remake the urban infrastructure in their own image: green, moral and in solidarity with the masses—at least as those masses exist in their imagination.
The new left urbanists’ fatal mistake is to view cities as collections of buildings, roads, tunnels and bike lanes. Urbanists can demolish and rebuild physical environments, but they can’t pave over the people. Life in a metropolis is simply too complex, too variable and too ephemeral—it will evade even the most careful planning. Making cities better and more beautiful requires bringing neighbors, developers, employers and governments into the conversation. Thriving cities are built through cooperation, not compulsion.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m surprised they did not recommend replacing the police with social workers.
BUT IT’S OK FOR THE PALESTINIANS TO DROP ISRAEL FROM THE MAPS THEY MAKE
Trump Accused of “Wiping Out the Palestinian People”: Further flipping the Mideast conflict on its head, US State Department drops all mention of “Palestine”
By David Lazarus
Israel Today
August 28, 2019
The change was first spotted by journalist Aaron Magid and reported in a tweet that the State Department “has removed Palestinians completely from the Middle East. It used to be Palestinian territories or the Palestinian Authority. Now, Palestinians don’t exist.”
The revised US State Department website shows the countries and areas where the State Department is involved, with no mention of “Palestine” or the “Palestinians.”
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) secretary-general Saeb Erekat complained on Twitter that removing Palestine from the US State Department’s website was part of Trump’s policy of “advancing the agenda” of Israeli settlers in Judea and Samaria.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman said the removal “comes in the context of desperate attempts to wipe out the Palestinian cause and people.” He said that excluding “Palestine” from a US government’s official platform “reflects the content of the so-called American Deal of the Century,” referring to the yet to be unveiled US regional peace proposal.
In March of this year, the State Department for the first time referred to the Golan Heights as “Israeli-controlled” in its annual report, and also dropped the word “occupied” in reference to the Palestinian territories. Later that month, Trump announced an official US recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
US administration officials are also shying away from talking about a Palestinian state as an outcome of peace negotiations. The Palestinians have ceased all cooperation with Trump after he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
The Trump administration has stopped all financial support to the Palestinians, which totaled about $400 million a year.
By David Lazarus
Israel Today
August 28, 2019
The change was first spotted by journalist Aaron Magid and reported in a tweet that the State Department “has removed Palestinians completely from the Middle East. It used to be Palestinian territories or the Palestinian Authority. Now, Palestinians don’t exist.”
The revised US State Department website shows the countries and areas where the State Department is involved, with no mention of “Palestine” or the “Palestinians.”
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) secretary-general Saeb Erekat complained on Twitter that removing Palestine from the US State Department’s website was part of Trump’s policy of “advancing the agenda” of Israeli settlers in Judea and Samaria.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman said the removal “comes in the context of desperate attempts to wipe out the Palestinian cause and people.” He said that excluding “Palestine” from a US government’s official platform “reflects the content of the so-called American Deal of the Century,” referring to the yet to be unveiled US regional peace proposal.
In March of this year, the State Department for the first time referred to the Golan Heights as “Israeli-controlled” in its annual report, and also dropped the word “occupied” in reference to the Palestinian territories. Later that month, Trump announced an official US recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
US administration officials are also shying away from talking about a Palestinian state as an outcome of peace negotiations. The Palestinians have ceased all cooperation with Trump after he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
The Trump administration has stopped all financial support to the Palestinians, which totaled about $400 million a year.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
PROGRESSIVES ARE WAGING WAR AGAINST THOSE WHO PROTECT US
The war on the police started in 2009 when President Obama played the race card after cops arrested his friend, Harvard Professor Henry Gates, and it has escalated ever since
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
August 28, 2019
These are troubling times for the police with cops under siege. Progressives have been waging a relentless war against the police and it all started in 2009 when President Obama declared the “police acted stupidly” in arresting his friend, Harvard Professor Henry Gates and suggested his friend was a victim of historical racial profiling by the police.
In July 2009, Gates was arrested at his Cambridge, Mass. home by the local police after they received a 9-1-1 call of an attempted burglary in progress. Gates had just returned from a trip to China and was unable to unlock his front door. While he and his driver were trying to force the door open, neighbors reported it to the police. Gates gave the cops a lot of lip and he was hauled off to the pokey for disorderly conduct. The charges were then dropped.
President Obama was a friend of Professor Gates. He issued a statement saying: “I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home, and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately.”
Obama was correct in saying any of us would be pretty angry if getting busted for trying to get inside our own home. And the arrest was pretty stupid. But by playing the race card, Obama started a war on the police that has been waged by Progressives ever since.
The war began to peak in 2014 with the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown at the hands of the police.
In July 2014, Eric Garner died in a struggle with NYPD cops who were trying to arrest him for selling ‘loosies’, cigarettes sold individually without city and state taxes. He had a history of arrests for selling loosies and, at the time, was out on bail for that charge. The police responded to a complaint by store owners that Garner was selling the cigarettes in front of their businesses. When four cops tried to arrest him, the 395-pound black man told them he was tired of being “harassed” by them and kept shoving the officers away. In a struggle on the ground, officer Daniel Pantaleo appeared to be putting a choke hold on Garner who told the officers several times he could not breathe. Garner died and his death led to demonstrations all over the country with mobs shouting “I can’t breathe.”
An autopsy indicated that Garner's death resulted from a choke hold, compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police. Asthma, heart disease, and obesity were cited as contributing factors.
Garner’s death led to the prominence of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, whose police-hating rhetoric incited the assassination of five Dallas police officers and the wounding of nine others in in July 2016.
In August 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown, an unarmed black youth, was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri by a white cop. Brown, who had just committed a strong-arm robbery of a convenience store clerk, when he was spotted by Ferguson PD Officer Darren Wilson. A physical struggle occurred between the white officer and the black thug which led to Wilson shooting Brown dead. A Brown friend told everyone who would listen that Brown had his hands up in surrender or said "don't shoot" before he was shot. An FBI investigation showed this was not true.
Rioting occurred in Ferguson with members of the mob shouting “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Wilson was forced to resign in order to placate ‘the community’. A grand jury refused to indict Wilson and after a long investigation by the FBI, the Justice Department announced there was no cause to take any action against Wilson. Even though the shooting of Brown was justified, Wilson’s career was irreparably ruined.
President Obama stoked the flames in the war on cops with this remark about the shooting of Michael Brown: “In too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement. Too many young men of color feel targeted by law enforcement — guilty of walking while black or driving while black, judged by stereotypes that fuel fear and resentment and hopelessness.”
In the Garner death, a grand jury refused to indict Pantaleo and the Justice Department announced there were no grounds to charge the officer criminally. That led to at least 50 demonstrations nationwide against police brutality. Two police officers in Brooklyn, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, were ambushed and shot dead just weeks after a grand jury cleared Pantaleo.
Obama also stoked the flames in responding to the Pantaleo grand jury decision and, among other remarks, said: “We are going to take specific steps to improve the training and the work with state and local government when it comes to policing in communities of color. We are going to be scrupulous in investigating cases where we are concerned about the partiality and accountability that's taking place.”
Apparently, Obama and the Progressives, a euphemism for Liberals, are not concerned about a big thug attacking Officer Wilson or about Garner resisting a lawful arrest. To them it’s white cops killing black men just because they are black. They feed off of the rare shootings by bad white cops of black men that are undeniably unjustified such as the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald in Chicago and the 2015 shooting of Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina.
With liberal DAs filing charges against cops in response to demonstrations or in order to head them off, the war against cops was in full swing.
In 2015, Baltimore DA Marilyn Mosby charged six officers for their role in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died while in police custody after he suffered a fatal spinal injury while being transported in the back of a police van. A judge dismissed charges against three of the officers. Mosby then decided not to pursue the remaining three cases. It was clear she should never have charged the officers in the first place.
In 2016, a wave of liberal prosecutors funded by George Soros were elected nationwide in major jurisdictions including Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, St. Louis and Houston. Soros donated $500,000 to Kim Ogg’s campaign in Houston. Several of them quickly charged police officers in order to mollify crowds accusing cops of police brutality. New York Post columnist Miranda Devine says “In district attorneys’ offices across the country, plans are underway to dismantle the criminal justice policies that have served us so well for a generation.”
This brings me back to the Eric Garner case. For five years the wolves led by Garner’s family and rabble rouser Al Sharpton, have been howling for the blood of the arresting officers. When they could not get Pantaleo charged with murder, they demanded he be fired. Uber-liberal, Sandinista-loving Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had previously warned his son about trigger-happy cops shooting young black men, made it clear he wanted Pantaleo fired. Thus, fearing for his job, Police Commissioner James O’Neill committed a grave injustice against Pantaleo by firing the officer on August 19.
That wasn’t enough. Garner’s family, Sharpton and the other wolves keep howling for the blood of all officers involved in his arrest. De Blasio was heckled at a town hall meeting even though he had called for and got Pantaleo’s scalp because the other officers were still at work.
The fallout from the Pantaleo firing was swift. Patrick Lynch, the Police Benevolent Association boss, urged cops to “proceed with the utmost caution in this new reality, in which they may be deemed ‘reckless’ just for doing their job.” Joseph Imperatrice, founder of pro-cop group Blue Lives Matter, said “The days of proactive policing are completely done.” Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins said, “The NYPD is falling apart at the seams.”
But one NYPD cop put it more succinctly by saying, “Policing is dead. Morale was already low. This was just the nail in the coffin.” NYPD’s morale began its spiral downward when Red Bill became mayor in 2014.
Indeed, cops in New York are now slow in responding to calls and are making fewer arrests. Arrests dropped 27% between Aug. 19 — the day Pantaleo was fired — and Aug. 25 compared to the same period in 2018, with police making 3,508 busts compared to 4,827.
The firing of Pantaleo has not only affected NYPD officers, but it has also been noted by cops all over the country. They are troubled that police can no longer count on being backed up by the brass and feel that cops have to protect themselves because no one else is going to protect them.
With the Progressive’s war on cops, people have felt free to douse NYPD cops in Manhattan and Brooklyn with water and to throw objects at them. And in Philadelphia crowds cheered on a cop killer.
Whenever you hear a Democratic political candidate say he or she supports the police, you are hearing the words of a hypocrite. You won’t hear them condemning their fellow Progressives who are waging the war started by President Obama against those who protect us.
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
August 28, 2019
These are troubling times for the police with cops under siege. Progressives have been waging a relentless war against the police and it all started in 2009 when President Obama declared the “police acted stupidly” in arresting his friend, Harvard Professor Henry Gates and suggested his friend was a victim of historical racial profiling by the police.
In July 2009, Gates was arrested at his Cambridge, Mass. home by the local police after they received a 9-1-1 call of an attempted burglary in progress. Gates had just returned from a trip to China and was unable to unlock his front door. While he and his driver were trying to force the door open, neighbors reported it to the police. Gates gave the cops a lot of lip and he was hauled off to the pokey for disorderly conduct. The charges were then dropped.
President Obama was a friend of Professor Gates. He issued a statement saying: “I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home, and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately.”
Obama was correct in saying any of us would be pretty angry if getting busted for trying to get inside our own home. And the arrest was pretty stupid. But by playing the race card, Obama started a war on the police that has been waged by Progressives ever since.
The war began to peak in 2014 with the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown at the hands of the police.
In July 2014, Eric Garner died in a struggle with NYPD cops who were trying to arrest him for selling ‘loosies’, cigarettes sold individually without city and state taxes. He had a history of arrests for selling loosies and, at the time, was out on bail for that charge. The police responded to a complaint by store owners that Garner was selling the cigarettes in front of their businesses. When four cops tried to arrest him, the 395-pound black man told them he was tired of being “harassed” by them and kept shoving the officers away. In a struggle on the ground, officer Daniel Pantaleo appeared to be putting a choke hold on Garner who told the officers several times he could not breathe. Garner died and his death led to demonstrations all over the country with mobs shouting “I can’t breathe.”
An autopsy indicated that Garner's death resulted from a choke hold, compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police. Asthma, heart disease, and obesity were cited as contributing factors.
Garner’s death led to the prominence of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, whose police-hating rhetoric incited the assassination of five Dallas police officers and the wounding of nine others in in July 2016.
In August 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown, an unarmed black youth, was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri by a white cop. Brown, who had just committed a strong-arm robbery of a convenience store clerk, when he was spotted by Ferguson PD Officer Darren Wilson. A physical struggle occurred between the white officer and the black thug which led to Wilson shooting Brown dead. A Brown friend told everyone who would listen that Brown had his hands up in surrender or said "don't shoot" before he was shot. An FBI investigation showed this was not true.
Rioting occurred in Ferguson with members of the mob shouting “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Wilson was forced to resign in order to placate ‘the community’. A grand jury refused to indict Wilson and after a long investigation by the FBI, the Justice Department announced there was no cause to take any action against Wilson. Even though the shooting of Brown was justified, Wilson’s career was irreparably ruined.
President Obama stoked the flames in the war on cops with this remark about the shooting of Michael Brown: “In too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement. Too many young men of color feel targeted by law enforcement — guilty of walking while black or driving while black, judged by stereotypes that fuel fear and resentment and hopelessness.”
In the Garner death, a grand jury refused to indict Pantaleo and the Justice Department announced there were no grounds to charge the officer criminally. That led to at least 50 demonstrations nationwide against police brutality. Two police officers in Brooklyn, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, were ambushed and shot dead just weeks after a grand jury cleared Pantaleo.
Obama also stoked the flames in responding to the Pantaleo grand jury decision and, among other remarks, said: “We are going to take specific steps to improve the training and the work with state and local government when it comes to policing in communities of color. We are going to be scrupulous in investigating cases where we are concerned about the partiality and accountability that's taking place.”
Apparently, Obama and the Progressives, a euphemism for Liberals, are not concerned about a big thug attacking Officer Wilson or about Garner resisting a lawful arrest. To them it’s white cops killing black men just because they are black. They feed off of the rare shootings by bad white cops of black men that are undeniably unjustified such as the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald in Chicago and the 2015 shooting of Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina.
With liberal DAs filing charges against cops in response to demonstrations or in order to head them off, the war against cops was in full swing.
In 2015, Baltimore DA Marilyn Mosby charged six officers for their role in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died while in police custody after he suffered a fatal spinal injury while being transported in the back of a police van. A judge dismissed charges against three of the officers. Mosby then decided not to pursue the remaining three cases. It was clear she should never have charged the officers in the first place.
In 2016, a wave of liberal prosecutors funded by George Soros were elected nationwide in major jurisdictions including Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, St. Louis and Houston. Soros donated $500,000 to Kim Ogg’s campaign in Houston. Several of them quickly charged police officers in order to mollify crowds accusing cops of police brutality. New York Post columnist Miranda Devine says “In district attorneys’ offices across the country, plans are underway to dismantle the criminal justice policies that have served us so well for a generation.”
This brings me back to the Eric Garner case. For five years the wolves led by Garner’s family and rabble rouser Al Sharpton, have been howling for the blood of the arresting officers. When they could not get Pantaleo charged with murder, they demanded he be fired. Uber-liberal, Sandinista-loving Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had previously warned his son about trigger-happy cops shooting young black men, made it clear he wanted Pantaleo fired. Thus, fearing for his job, Police Commissioner James O’Neill committed a grave injustice against Pantaleo by firing the officer on August 19.
That wasn’t enough. Garner’s family, Sharpton and the other wolves keep howling for the blood of all officers involved in his arrest. De Blasio was heckled at a town hall meeting even though he had called for and got Pantaleo’s scalp because the other officers were still at work.
The fallout from the Pantaleo firing was swift. Patrick Lynch, the Police Benevolent Association boss, urged cops to “proceed with the utmost caution in this new reality, in which they may be deemed ‘reckless’ just for doing their job.” Joseph Imperatrice, founder of pro-cop group Blue Lives Matter, said “The days of proactive policing are completely done.” Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins said, “The NYPD is falling apart at the seams.”
But one NYPD cop put it more succinctly by saying, “Policing is dead. Morale was already low. This was just the nail in the coffin.” NYPD’s morale began its spiral downward when Red Bill became mayor in 2014.
Indeed, cops in New York are now slow in responding to calls and are making fewer arrests. Arrests dropped 27% between Aug. 19 — the day Pantaleo was fired — and Aug. 25 compared to the same period in 2018, with police making 3,508 busts compared to 4,827.
The firing of Pantaleo has not only affected NYPD officers, but it has also been noted by cops all over the country. They are troubled that police can no longer count on being backed up by the brass and feel that cops have to protect themselves because no one else is going to protect them.
With the Progressive’s war on cops, people have felt free to douse NYPD cops in Manhattan and Brooklyn with water and to throw objects at them. And in Philadelphia crowds cheered on a cop killer.
Whenever you hear a Democratic political candidate say he or she supports the police, you are hearing the words of a hypocrite. You won’t hear them condemning their fellow Progressives who are waging the war started by President Obama against those who protect us.
I JUST WATCHED THE ABSOLUTE WORST THING I EVER SAW ON TV IN MY LIFE
by Bob Walsh
I just finished watching (not completely voluntarily) something called Mountain Monsters. It was even worst than the worse Grade D movie I ever saw IN MY LIFE.
It was a pack of hillbilly rednecks, or actors playing rednecks very convincingly, who were hunting for a 7-foot tall wolf that walks on two legs in Butthole, West Virginia. Each scene had two or three repeats, holes in the story big enough to drive a large truck thru and scripting that would make a junior high school English class embarrassed. If it wasn't for the fact I was half medicated and 2/3 asleep I would have considered it to be a 100% waste of my evening. As it was it was only about an 85% waste of my evening.
This thing made The Terror From Tiny Town or Plan 9 From Outer Space look like high art with excellent production values. If it hadn't been for the fact I was loaded on Percocet and Valium washed down with some Hennessy 5-Star I would have been offended that it was even on TV. As it is I am not completely sure I didn't just imagine it. It was that bad.
I just finished watching (not completely voluntarily) something called Mountain Monsters. It was even worst than the worse Grade D movie I ever saw IN MY LIFE.
It was a pack of hillbilly rednecks, or actors playing rednecks very convincingly, who were hunting for a 7-foot tall wolf that walks on two legs in Butthole, West Virginia. Each scene had two or three repeats, holes in the story big enough to drive a large truck thru and scripting that would make a junior high school English class embarrassed. If it wasn't for the fact I was half medicated and 2/3 asleep I would have considered it to be a 100% waste of my evening. As it was it was only about an 85% waste of my evening.
This thing made The Terror From Tiny Town or Plan 9 From Outer Space look like high art with excellent production values. If it hadn't been for the fact I was loaded on Percocet and Valium washed down with some Hennessy 5-Star I would have been offended that it was even on TV. As it is I am not completely sure I didn't just imagine it. It was that bad.
I THOUGHT THIS SHIT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IMPOSSIBLE
by Bob Walsh
There are apparently at least three fully documented cases of voting machines changing votes in two Mississippi counties in the current GOP gubernatorial primary runoff. Besides the three fully documented cases in two counties there are complaints of similar problems, not yet verified, in seven additional counties.
In one instance, which is on video which has made it on to facebook, one particular voting machine changed an attempted vote from Waller to Reeves a dozen times in fourteen seconds. Allegedly only 19 actual votes were cast on that machine until it was pulled out of service.
All of the machines are TSX machines owned by the counties in which the voting had taken place.
I am not completely sure of what the status of the election is at this time. The election took place on Tuesday and the official winner (at this time) is Reeves. I wouldn't be surprised if a new election is demanded, and actually held.
There are apparently at least three fully documented cases of voting machines changing votes in two Mississippi counties in the current GOP gubernatorial primary runoff. Besides the three fully documented cases in two counties there are complaints of similar problems, not yet verified, in seven additional counties.
In one instance, which is on video which has made it on to facebook, one particular voting machine changed an attempted vote from Waller to Reeves a dozen times in fourteen seconds. Allegedly only 19 actual votes were cast on that machine until it was pulled out of service.
All of the machines are TSX machines owned by the counties in which the voting had taken place.
I am not completely sure of what the status of the election is at this time. The election took place on Tuesday and the official winner (at this time) is Reeves. I wouldn't be surprised if a new election is demanded, and actually held.
NORKS WORKING ON SUB-LAUNCHED BALLISTIC MISSILES
by Bob Walsh
Various talking heads reported yesterday that there is now very good evidence to believe the North Korea is working very hard towards a functional SLBM program.
The North Koreans have a decent amount of relatively modern diesel powered submarines that would be capable of carrying such missiles. Obviously being able to move offensive missiles around on subs would make them much harder to find and would enable the Norks to get them physically much closer to potential targets, which would negate much of the current anti-missile capability.
Something for Trump to ponder while he is jacking his jaw about his good buddy Kim.
Various talking heads reported yesterday that there is now very good evidence to believe the North Korea is working very hard towards a functional SLBM program.
The North Koreans have a decent amount of relatively modern diesel powered submarines that would be capable of carrying such missiles. Obviously being able to move offensive missiles around on subs would make them much harder to find and would enable the Norks to get them physically much closer to potential targets, which would negate much of the current anti-missile capability.
Something for Trump to ponder while he is jacking his jaw about his good buddy Kim.
THE FAMILY THAT SLAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER
by Bob Walsh
Blane Barksdale, 56 and his wife Susan Barksdale, 59, both suspected murderers wanted in Tuscon, managed to escape while being transported from NY to Arizona to face trail. They managed to overpower two "security guards" (presumably marginally trained rent-a-cops working for a private prisoner transport service) in Blanding, Utah and beat feet with the "guards" weapons.
I understand why these private prisoner transport operations exist, but their loss rate is very, very high compared to other options. One would think that if Arizona wanted two murderers, they would send actual cops after them, but I guess not.
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's all about the Benjamins. It costs a lot less to use rent-a-cops.
Blane Barksdale, 56 and his wife Susan Barksdale, 59, both suspected murderers wanted in Tuscon, managed to escape while being transported from NY to Arizona to face trail. They managed to overpower two "security guards" (presumably marginally trained rent-a-cops working for a private prisoner transport service) in Blanding, Utah and beat feet with the "guards" weapons.
I understand why these private prisoner transport operations exist, but their loss rate is very, very high compared to other options. One would think that if Arizona wanted two murderers, they would send actual cops after them, but I guess not.
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's all about the Benjamins. It costs a lot less to use rent-a-cops.
A TRULY UNFORTUNATELY AND UNTIMELY DEATH
by Bob Walsh
I am a fan of several of the automotive shows on the magic talking box. I used to really like Top Gear, the Limey one, before the "personnel change."
I also liked some of the fix it - upgrade it -tweak it automotive shows. Among the personalities on such shows was Jessi Combs, 36, a very talented (and attractive, it doesn't hurt) young lady who could design, fabricate and do mechanicals.
In any event Ms. Combs died yesterday in a high-speed one car wreck while trying to break her own personal best land speed record on the Alvord Desert, a dry lake bed in Oregon. Her old record of 398 mph was set back in 2013. She had driven the jet-powered car last year at 483 mph in a non-record eligible shakedown run. To be official the run has to be made twice, once in each direction, within a limited period of time. Mechanical problems shut down her second run that day.
She had set a number of records and racked up several noteworthy accomplishments, including being the first woman to compete in the Race of Gentlemen, driving a Model -T fitted with two engines.
Her goal was to break the official women's land speed record, currently 512 mph held by Kitty O'Neal, set back in 1976.
I am a fan of several of the automotive shows on the magic talking box. I used to really like Top Gear, the Limey one, before the "personnel change."
I also liked some of the fix it - upgrade it -tweak it automotive shows. Among the personalities on such shows was Jessi Combs, 36, a very talented (and attractive, it doesn't hurt) young lady who could design, fabricate and do mechanicals.
In any event Ms. Combs died yesterday in a high-speed one car wreck while trying to break her own personal best land speed record on the Alvord Desert, a dry lake bed in Oregon. Her old record of 398 mph was set back in 2013. She had driven the jet-powered car last year at 483 mph in a non-record eligible shakedown run. To be official the run has to be made twice, once in each direction, within a limited period of time. Mechanical problems shut down her second run that day.
She had set a number of records and racked up several noteworthy accomplishments, including being the first woman to compete in the Race of Gentlemen, driving a Model -T fitted with two engines.
Her goal was to break the official women's land speed record, currently 512 mph held by Kitty O'Neal, set back in 1976.
QUEEN AND PM MOVE TO SUSPEND PARLIAMENT
by Bob Walsh
Her Royal Highness has just given the new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, permission to suspend parliament beginning next month for about six weeks, until October 14, when HRH is scheduled to give a major speech on the subject of Brexit. Parliament just returned to session from their summer vacation.
The Brexit opposition has filed a legal challenge in the Court of Sessions, the highest civil court in Scotland, to suspend the suspension (so to speak). Scotland as a group did NOT vote in favor of Brexit. This move is supported by about 70 members of Parliament.
Boris Johnson has announced that he intends to take the UK out of the EU on October 31 whether or not a deal to smooth the action out is in place. You might recall that Brexit has already been stalled twice.
The head Brexit co-ordinator at the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, has said that this action is unlikely to help deliver a stable future EU-UK relationship. No Shit Sherlock.
Even if Parliament were to collectively make a no-confidence vote and try to force a new election for PM this could not be accomplished prior to October 31.
Where is Winston when you need him?
Her Royal Highness has just given the new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, permission to suspend parliament beginning next month for about six weeks, until October 14, when HRH is scheduled to give a major speech on the subject of Brexit. Parliament just returned to session from their summer vacation.
The Brexit opposition has filed a legal challenge in the Court of Sessions, the highest civil court in Scotland, to suspend the suspension (so to speak). Scotland as a group did NOT vote in favor of Brexit. This move is supported by about 70 members of Parliament.
Boris Johnson has announced that he intends to take the UK out of the EU on October 31 whether or not a deal to smooth the action out is in place. You might recall that Brexit has already been stalled twice.
The head Brexit co-ordinator at the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, has said that this action is unlikely to help deliver a stable future EU-UK relationship. No Shit Sherlock.
Even if Parliament were to collectively make a no-confidence vote and try to force a new election for PM this could not be accomplished prior to October 31.
Where is Winston when you need him?
SEND OMAR’S ANTI-SEMITIC ASS BACK TO SOMALIA
Alabama Republicans approve resolution calling for Omar to be expelled from Congress
By Justin Wise
The Hill
August 27, 2018
Alabama’s Republican Party is urging the state’s congressional delegation to begin the process of expelling freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from Congress.
The state GOP supported a resolution calling for the congresswoman's ouster at its summer meeting in Auburn this past weekend, according to Al.com. The committee reportedly approved the resolution on a voice vote after it was introduced by state Rep. Tommy Hanes.
The resolution calls on Alabama's congressional delegation to "proceed with the expulsion process in accordance to Article 1, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution."
Omar, a Somali refugee who last year became one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, has sparked criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over her comments about issues tied to U.S.-Israeli relations.
The resolution backed by Alabama Republicans condemns Omar for what it calls her "disturbing record of using anti-Semitic language that includes alleging Jewish money is used to buy American influence regarding its policy toward Israel."
The state Republicans also voiced opposition to Omar's public support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement that presses Israel on human rights issues in its conflict with the Palestinians and accused the congresswoman of engaging in "rhetoric that explicitly runs counter to American values and patriotism."
The resolution alleges Omar "dismissed" the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and “sympathized with a convicted terrorist” by pushing for “sentencing leniency.”
Omar in a tweet ripped the Alabama GOP for seeking her removal, noting that Republicans in the state had nominated Roy Moore for the Senate in 2017.
"Sorry, [Alabama GOP], but this is a representative democracy," Omar tweeted. "I was elected with 78% of the vote by the people of Minnesota's 5th District, not the Alabama Republican Party."
"If you want to clean up politics, maybe don’t nominate an accused child molester as your Senate candidate," she added.
In a statement to The Hill, Hanes said the Constitution allows for the removal of a member of Congress who is disloyal to the United States.
“There is precedence for Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution being invoked to expel members of Congress based on disloyalty to the United States," Hanes said in the statement"[Omar] has dismissed and minimized the magnitude of the 9/11 terror attacks. Omar also demonized the brave war veterans who fought to liberate her people. Omar is ungrateful to the United States and the opportunities that have been afforded to her. Her rhetoric is despicable and unpatriotic.
"The left wing mob has accused our effort of being bigoted and driven by race. I will not stand by and allow my fellow Republican patriots to be slandered. Rep. Omar’s race and religion are irrelevant," Hanes continued. "Lady Liberty welcomes those who seek to live the American Dream and assimilate to our freedom loving culture. What is important is her love of country, her loyalty to the United States. Anyone that holds contempt for America ought not serve this great nation as a member of Congress.”
The resolution's approval comes less than two weeks after Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) were denied entry to Israel over their support for the BDS movement. Israel announced its decision just hours after President Trump said the country would show "great weakness" by admitting them.
Omar has come under heavy scrutiny from Trump and other Republicans throughout her first term in Congress. She prompted widespread backlash earlier this year after suggesting lawmakers support Israel because of the money they receive from lobbyists. She prompted similar outrage after saying that those who support the country have “dual loyalty.”
Alabama’s Republican Party is urging the state’s congressional delegation to begin the process of expelling freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from Congress.
The state GOP supported a resolution calling for the congresswoman's ouster at its summer meeting in Auburn this past weekend, according to Al.com. The committee reportedly approved the resolution on a voice vote after it was introduced by state Rep. Tommy Hanes.
The resolution calls on Alabama's congressional delegation to "proceed with the expulsion process in accordance to Article 1, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution."
Omar, a Somali refugee who last year became one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, has sparked criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over her comments about issues tied to U.S.-Israeli relations.
The resolution backed by Alabama Republicans condemns Omar for what it calls her "disturbing record of using anti-Semitic language that includes alleging Jewish money is used to buy American influence regarding its policy toward Israel."
The state Republicans also voiced opposition to Omar's public support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement that presses Israel on human rights issues in its conflict with the Palestinians and accused the congresswoman of engaging in "rhetoric that explicitly runs counter to American values and patriotism."
The resolution alleges Omar "dismissed" the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and “sympathized with a convicted terrorist” by pushing for “sentencing leniency.”
Omar in a tweet ripped the Alabama GOP for seeking her removal, noting that Republicans in the state had nominated Roy Moore for the Senate in 2017.
"Sorry, [Alabama GOP], but this is a representative democracy," Omar tweeted. "I was elected with 78% of the vote by the people of Minnesota's 5th District, not the Alabama Republican Party."
"If you want to clean up politics, maybe don’t nominate an accused child molester as your Senate candidate," she added.
In a statement to The Hill, Hanes said the Constitution allows for the removal of a member of Congress who is disloyal to the United States.
“There is precedence for Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution being invoked to expel members of Congress based on disloyalty to the United States," Hanes said in the statement"[Omar] has dismissed and minimized the magnitude of the 9/11 terror attacks. Omar also demonized the brave war veterans who fought to liberate her people. Omar is ungrateful to the United States and the opportunities that have been afforded to her. Her rhetoric is despicable and unpatriotic.
"The left wing mob has accused our effort of being bigoted and driven by race. I will not stand by and allow my fellow Republican patriots to be slandered. Rep. Omar’s race and religion are irrelevant," Hanes continued. "Lady Liberty welcomes those who seek to live the American Dream and assimilate to our freedom loving culture. What is important is her love of country, her loyalty to the United States. Anyone that holds contempt for America ought not serve this great nation as a member of Congress.”
The resolution's approval comes less than two weeks after Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) were denied entry to Israel over their support for the BDS movement. Israel announced its decision just hours after President Trump said the country would show "great weakness" by admitting them.
Omar has come under heavy scrutiny from Trump and other Republicans throughout her first term in Congress. She prompted widespread backlash earlier this year after suggesting lawmakers support Israel because of the money they receive from lobbyists. She prompted similar outrage after saying that those who support the country have “dual loyalty.”
Trump has frequently lashed out at Omar. In July, he said the lawmaker and other progressive congresswomen of color should "go back" to where they came from.
Omar has been outspoken in her opposition to Trump, saying last month that she believed the president was a "fascist."
__________
Ilhan Omar is accused of illegally using campaign cash to pay for her 'lover' to travel with her - as she DENIES she's dating outside her marriage despite claims by aide's estranged wife
Daily Mail
August 28, 2019
Ilhan Omar, 37, has been accused of illegally using campaign funds to pay for her alleged lover Tim Mynett to travel with her in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission from a conservative group.
The Minnesota congresswoman has paid Mynett more than $250K in consulting fees and travel within a year, with around $21.5K spent solely on travel expenses.
DailyMail.com revealed this month that Mynett, 38, had been seen getting up close and personal with Omar, even seen on a romantic dinner date in March. The affair was confirmed by Mynett's wife Beth, 55, who said in divorce documents filed Tuesday that Mynett told her in April that he and Omar were 'romantically involved' and he was 'in love' with her.
Omar denied that she was dating outside of her marriage to her husband Ahmed Hirsi, then refused to comment further on the matter.
By Justin Wise
The Hill
August 27, 2018
Alabama’s Republican Party is urging the state’s congressional delegation to begin the process of expelling freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from Congress.
The state GOP supported a resolution calling for the congresswoman's ouster at its summer meeting in Auburn this past weekend, according to Al.com. The committee reportedly approved the resolution on a voice vote after it was introduced by state Rep. Tommy Hanes.
The resolution calls on Alabama's congressional delegation to "proceed with the expulsion process in accordance to Article 1, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution."
Omar, a Somali refugee who last year became one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, has sparked criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over her comments about issues tied to U.S.-Israeli relations.
The resolution backed by Alabama Republicans condemns Omar for what it calls her "disturbing record of using anti-Semitic language that includes alleging Jewish money is used to buy American influence regarding its policy toward Israel."
The state Republicans also voiced opposition to Omar's public support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement that presses Israel on human rights issues in its conflict with the Palestinians and accused the congresswoman of engaging in "rhetoric that explicitly runs counter to American values and patriotism."
The resolution alleges Omar "dismissed" the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and “sympathized with a convicted terrorist” by pushing for “sentencing leniency.”
Omar in a tweet ripped the Alabama GOP for seeking her removal, noting that Republicans in the state had nominated Roy Moore for the Senate in 2017.
"Sorry, [Alabama GOP], but this is a representative democracy," Omar tweeted. "I was elected with 78% of the vote by the people of Minnesota's 5th District, not the Alabama Republican Party."
"If you want to clean up politics, maybe don’t nominate an accused child molester as your Senate candidate," she added.
In a statement to The Hill, Hanes said the Constitution allows for the removal of a member of Congress who is disloyal to the United States.
“There is precedence for Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution being invoked to expel members of Congress based on disloyalty to the United States," Hanes said in the statement"[Omar] has dismissed and minimized the magnitude of the 9/11 terror attacks. Omar also demonized the brave war veterans who fought to liberate her people. Omar is ungrateful to the United States and the opportunities that have been afforded to her. Her rhetoric is despicable and unpatriotic.
"The left wing mob has accused our effort of being bigoted and driven by race. I will not stand by and allow my fellow Republican patriots to be slandered. Rep. Omar’s race and religion are irrelevant," Hanes continued. "Lady Liberty welcomes those who seek to live the American Dream and assimilate to our freedom loving culture. What is important is her love of country, her loyalty to the United States. Anyone that holds contempt for America ought not serve this great nation as a member of Congress.”
The resolution's approval comes less than two weeks after Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) were denied entry to Israel over their support for the BDS movement. Israel announced its decision just hours after President Trump said the country would show "great weakness" by admitting them.
Omar has come under heavy scrutiny from Trump and other Republicans throughout her first term in Congress. She prompted widespread backlash earlier this year after suggesting lawmakers support Israel because of the money they receive from lobbyists. She prompted similar outrage after saying that those who support the country have “dual loyalty.”
Alabama’s Republican Party is urging the state’s congressional delegation to begin the process of expelling freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from Congress.
The state GOP supported a resolution calling for the congresswoman's ouster at its summer meeting in Auburn this past weekend, according to Al.com. The committee reportedly approved the resolution on a voice vote after it was introduced by state Rep. Tommy Hanes.
The resolution calls on Alabama's congressional delegation to "proceed with the expulsion process in accordance to Article 1, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution."
Omar, a Somali refugee who last year became one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, has sparked criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over her comments about issues tied to U.S.-Israeli relations.
The resolution backed by Alabama Republicans condemns Omar for what it calls her "disturbing record of using anti-Semitic language that includes alleging Jewish money is used to buy American influence regarding its policy toward Israel."
The state Republicans also voiced opposition to Omar's public support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement that presses Israel on human rights issues in its conflict with the Palestinians and accused the congresswoman of engaging in "rhetoric that explicitly runs counter to American values and patriotism."
The resolution alleges Omar "dismissed" the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and “sympathized with a convicted terrorist” by pushing for “sentencing leniency.”
Omar in a tweet ripped the Alabama GOP for seeking her removal, noting that Republicans in the state had nominated Roy Moore for the Senate in 2017.
"Sorry, [Alabama GOP], but this is a representative democracy," Omar tweeted. "I was elected with 78% of the vote by the people of Minnesota's 5th District, not the Alabama Republican Party."
"If you want to clean up politics, maybe don’t nominate an accused child molester as your Senate candidate," she added.
In a statement to The Hill, Hanes said the Constitution allows for the removal of a member of Congress who is disloyal to the United States.
“There is precedence for Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution being invoked to expel members of Congress based on disloyalty to the United States," Hanes said in the statement"[Omar] has dismissed and minimized the magnitude of the 9/11 terror attacks. Omar also demonized the brave war veterans who fought to liberate her people. Omar is ungrateful to the United States and the opportunities that have been afforded to her. Her rhetoric is despicable and unpatriotic.
"The left wing mob has accused our effort of being bigoted and driven by race. I will not stand by and allow my fellow Republican patriots to be slandered. Rep. Omar’s race and religion are irrelevant," Hanes continued. "Lady Liberty welcomes those who seek to live the American Dream and assimilate to our freedom loving culture. What is important is her love of country, her loyalty to the United States. Anyone that holds contempt for America ought not serve this great nation as a member of Congress.”
The resolution's approval comes less than two weeks after Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) were denied entry to Israel over their support for the BDS movement. Israel announced its decision just hours after President Trump said the country would show "great weakness" by admitting them.
Omar has come under heavy scrutiny from Trump and other Republicans throughout her first term in Congress. She prompted widespread backlash earlier this year after suggesting lawmakers support Israel because of the money they receive from lobbyists. She prompted similar outrage after saying that those who support the country have “dual loyalty.”
Trump has frequently lashed out at Omar. In July, he said the lawmaker and other progressive congresswomen of color should "go back" to where they came from.
Omar has been outspoken in her opposition to Trump, saying last month that she believed the president was a "fascist."
__________
Ilhan Omar is accused of illegally using campaign cash to pay for her 'lover' to travel with her - as she DENIES she's dating outside her marriage despite claims by aide's estranged wife
Daily Mail
August 28, 2019
Ilhan Omar, 37, has been accused of illegally using campaign funds to pay for her alleged lover Tim Mynett to travel with her in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission from a conservative group.
The Minnesota congresswoman has paid Mynett more than $250K in consulting fees and travel within a year, with around $21.5K spent solely on travel expenses.
DailyMail.com revealed this month that Mynett, 38, had been seen getting up close and personal with Omar, even seen on a romantic dinner date in March. The affair was confirmed by Mynett's wife Beth, 55, who said in divorce documents filed Tuesday that Mynett told her in April that he and Omar were 'romantically involved' and he was 'in love' with her.
Omar denied that she was dating outside of her marriage to her husband Ahmed Hirsi, then refused to comment further on the matter.
INSTEAD OF BEING PAVED WITH GOLD, CALIFORNIA’S STREETS ARE BEING TOPPED WITH SHIT
California's homeless crisis engulfs its capital as Sacramento's business owners tell how they confront naked junkies and streets covered in feces, urine and syringes - with no solution in sight
Daily Mail
August 28, 2019
Sacramento residents and business owners have spoken to DailyMail.com about the city's growing homeless rate - which has increased by 19 per cent in the last two years - with 5,570 people living on the streets.
Hair salon owner Liz Novak brought attention to the issue last week when she uploaded a video claiming she has been forced to relocate due to an epidemic.
The main homeless camp in the city is located on North B Street.
Antique shop owner Steve Sylvester, whose business is located across Novak's, said the problem has worsened in the past 18 months due to the city's drug scene.
DailyMail.com came across discarded syringes on the sidewalk.
A waitress at Pancake Circus diner, identified only as 70-year-old Terri, said she starts every working day at 4.15am 'cleaning up needles and poop and washing down urine,' and shooing the homeless from the property.
Daily Mail
August 28, 2019
Sacramento residents and business owners have spoken to DailyMail.com about the city's growing homeless rate - which has increased by 19 per cent in the last two years - with 5,570 people living on the streets.
Hair salon owner Liz Novak brought attention to the issue last week when she uploaded a video claiming she has been forced to relocate due to an epidemic.
The main homeless camp in the city is located on North B Street.
Antique shop owner Steve Sylvester, whose business is located across Novak's, said the problem has worsened in the past 18 months due to the city's drug scene.
DailyMail.com came across discarded syringes on the sidewalk.
A waitress at Pancake Circus diner, identified only as 70-year-old Terri, said she starts every working day at 4.15am 'cleaning up needles and poop and washing down urine,' and shooing the homeless from the property.
ATTACK OF THE KILLER DRONES ….. AND THIS IS NOT A HILARIOUS MOVIE
From Star Wars to real life: Drone war takes flight
Israel Hayom
August 27, 2019
From the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia to the crowded neighborhoods of Beirut, a drone war has taken flight across the wider Middle East, raising the stakes in the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.
Since the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal last year, there has been an increasing tempo of attacks and alleged threats, notably this weekend, from unmanned aircraft flown by Tehran’s and Washington’s allies in the region.
The appeal of the aircraft – they risk no pilots and can be small enough to evade air-defense systems – fueled their rapid use amid the maximum pressure campaigns of Iran and the US. As these strikes become more frequent, the risk of unwanted escalation becomes greater.
The US military nearly launched airstrikes against Iran after a US military surveillance drone was shot down in June. Meanwhile, strikes attributed to Israel are carried out on targets in Syria on an almost weekly basis, including on Saturday night. Israel’s reason for the latest bombing: To thwart what it called a planned Iranian drone strike.
Israeli aircraft then buzzed over Beirut on Sunday after allegedly losing two drones only hours earlier, raising the risk of a wider conflict between it and Hezbollah. On Sunday evening, another drone strike hit an Iran-backed paramilitary force in Iraq, killing one commander and wounding another, members of the group said. It was not immediately clear who carried out the strike.
Amid the escalation, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a surprise trip Sunday to the G-7 summit in France, at the invitation of the French president.
The mounting tensions are rooted in the US withdrawal in May 2018 from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Under the deal, Tehran limited its enrichment of uranium in exchange for sanctions relief. In response to Washington’s withdrawal, Iran initially sought diplomatic support from European partners still in the accord, but ever-increasing US sanctions choked off its sale of crude oil in the international market.
This May, the US sent nuclear-capable B-52 bombers, fighter jets, an aircraft carrier, and additional troops to the region over what it described as threats from Iran. Mysterious explosions struck oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz.
Coordinated drone attacks followed, first from the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen. Major attacks targeted the kingdom’s oil infrastructure – one on a crucial East-West Pipeline, the other in a major facility deep in the desert of Arabian Peninsula’s Empty Quarter.
Saudi Arabia immediately tied the attacks to Iran, its longtime Middle East rival. While Iran denies arming the Houthis, the West and United Nations experts say that drones used by the rebels mirror models used by the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, a suspected Israeli strike in Iraq last month targeted a base of Shiite militias allied to Iran – in what would be the first attack to be carried out by Israel in Iraq since 1981. Israel remained mum, and US officials who linked the strike to Israel did not say if drones were involved.
Israel, meanwhile, acknowledged striking Syria on Saturday night, in what it described as a pre-emptive attack. The military said that it prevented an effort by Iran to position so-called killer drones ahead of an attack on Israel.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah disputed the Israeli version in a speech later Sunday, saying that Israeli strikes hit a Hezbollah rest house and killed two of the group’s members. He said that going forward, any Israeli drones that enter Lebanon would be shot down.
The drones Israel says it was targeting in Syria are known to experts as loitering munitions and are similar to the ones being used by the Houthis. The bomb-carrying drone flies to a destination, likely programmed before its flight, and either explodes in the air over the target or on impact against it.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking re-election in September, paraphrased a Talmudic passage on self-defense after the attack: “If someone rises up to kill you, kill him first.”
Israel’s military released a map Sunday of what it said were the Iranian supply routes to deliver the planes to Syria. This included what Israel described as the planned drone launch site in the Syrian village of Aqraba, as well as another location in the village of Arneh where a previous launch attempt was allegedly thwarted last Thursday.
IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said that Israel had been monitoring the activity for weeks and struck when it became clear that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards planned to launch the aircraft. He said it is easier to destroy the drones, which are agile and hard to detect once airborne, while they are still on the ground.
“We know the Quds Force spent a lot of effort and time trying to execute this plan,” he said. The Quds, or Jerusalem, Force is the Guard’s expeditionary unit.
Iran denied Israel’s strikes in Syria did any damage to its forces.
“It is a lie,” Guard Gen. Mohsen Rezaei said, according to Iran’s semi-official ILNA news agency. However, Rezaei added that the “defenders of Syria and Iraq will soon give an answer,” without elaborating.
Rezaei’s response shows the escalatory danger of drone strikes. Overnight in Lebanon, one alleged Israeli drone crashed in Beirut while another exploded, authorities there said, calling it an Israeli act of aggression and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.
In his speech, Nasrallah said that one of the drones had been flying low among buildings.
Israel did not acknowledge the incident.
Hezbollah was quick to say that it did not fire on any of the drones, underscoring the group’s keenness to avoid further escalation with its southern neighbor.
The developments, however, present a direct challenge to the group, which is still recovering from a bruising years-long conflict in neighboring Syria that saw thousands of its fighters killed and wounded while fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Hezbollah, which is part of a fragile national unity government already struggling to deal with a serious economic and financial crisis, does not wish to be seen as dragging the country into another ruinous war with Israel, but may be feeling pressured to respond to perceived Israeli provocations.
In the overnight incident, the first drone, apparently unarmed, crashed onto the roof of a Beirut building where Hezbollah’s media office is located and caused damage to the group’s offices.
Israel Hayom
August 27, 2019
From the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia to the crowded neighborhoods of Beirut, a drone war has taken flight across the wider Middle East, raising the stakes in the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.
Since the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal last year, there has been an increasing tempo of attacks and alleged threats, notably this weekend, from unmanned aircraft flown by Tehran’s and Washington’s allies in the region.
The appeal of the aircraft – they risk no pilots and can be small enough to evade air-defense systems – fueled their rapid use amid the maximum pressure campaigns of Iran and the US. As these strikes become more frequent, the risk of unwanted escalation becomes greater.
The US military nearly launched airstrikes against Iran after a US military surveillance drone was shot down in June. Meanwhile, strikes attributed to Israel are carried out on targets in Syria on an almost weekly basis, including on Saturday night. Israel’s reason for the latest bombing: To thwart what it called a planned Iranian drone strike.
Israeli aircraft then buzzed over Beirut on Sunday after allegedly losing two drones only hours earlier, raising the risk of a wider conflict between it and Hezbollah. On Sunday evening, another drone strike hit an Iran-backed paramilitary force in Iraq, killing one commander and wounding another, members of the group said. It was not immediately clear who carried out the strike.
Amid the escalation, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a surprise trip Sunday to the G-7 summit in France, at the invitation of the French president.
The mounting tensions are rooted in the US withdrawal in May 2018 from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Under the deal, Tehran limited its enrichment of uranium in exchange for sanctions relief. In response to Washington’s withdrawal, Iran initially sought diplomatic support from European partners still in the accord, but ever-increasing US sanctions choked off its sale of crude oil in the international market.
This May, the US sent nuclear-capable B-52 bombers, fighter jets, an aircraft carrier, and additional troops to the region over what it described as threats from Iran. Mysterious explosions struck oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz.
Coordinated drone attacks followed, first from the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen. Major attacks targeted the kingdom’s oil infrastructure – one on a crucial East-West Pipeline, the other in a major facility deep in the desert of Arabian Peninsula’s Empty Quarter.
Saudi Arabia immediately tied the attacks to Iran, its longtime Middle East rival. While Iran denies arming the Houthis, the West and United Nations experts say that drones used by the rebels mirror models used by the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, a suspected Israeli strike in Iraq last month targeted a base of Shiite militias allied to Iran – in what would be the first attack to be carried out by Israel in Iraq since 1981. Israel remained mum, and US officials who linked the strike to Israel did not say if drones were involved.
Israel, meanwhile, acknowledged striking Syria on Saturday night, in what it described as a pre-emptive attack. The military said that it prevented an effort by Iran to position so-called killer drones ahead of an attack on Israel.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah disputed the Israeli version in a speech later Sunday, saying that Israeli strikes hit a Hezbollah rest house and killed two of the group’s members. He said that going forward, any Israeli drones that enter Lebanon would be shot down.
The drones Israel says it was targeting in Syria are known to experts as loitering munitions and are similar to the ones being used by the Houthis. The bomb-carrying drone flies to a destination, likely programmed before its flight, and either explodes in the air over the target or on impact against it.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking re-election in September, paraphrased a Talmudic passage on self-defense after the attack: “If someone rises up to kill you, kill him first.”
Israel’s military released a map Sunday of what it said were the Iranian supply routes to deliver the planes to Syria. This included what Israel described as the planned drone launch site in the Syrian village of Aqraba, as well as another location in the village of Arneh where a previous launch attempt was allegedly thwarted last Thursday.
IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said that Israel had been monitoring the activity for weeks and struck when it became clear that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards planned to launch the aircraft. He said it is easier to destroy the drones, which are agile and hard to detect once airborne, while they are still on the ground.
“We know the Quds Force spent a lot of effort and time trying to execute this plan,” he said. The Quds, or Jerusalem, Force is the Guard’s expeditionary unit.
Iran denied Israel’s strikes in Syria did any damage to its forces.
“It is a lie,” Guard Gen. Mohsen Rezaei said, according to Iran’s semi-official ILNA news agency. However, Rezaei added that the “defenders of Syria and Iraq will soon give an answer,” without elaborating.
Rezaei’s response shows the escalatory danger of drone strikes. Overnight in Lebanon, one alleged Israeli drone crashed in Beirut while another exploded, authorities there said, calling it an Israeli act of aggression and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.
In his speech, Nasrallah said that one of the drones had been flying low among buildings.
Israel did not acknowledge the incident.
Hezbollah was quick to say that it did not fire on any of the drones, underscoring the group’s keenness to avoid further escalation with its southern neighbor.
The developments, however, present a direct challenge to the group, which is still recovering from a bruising years-long conflict in neighboring Syria that saw thousands of its fighters killed and wounded while fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Hezbollah, which is part of a fragile national unity government already struggling to deal with a serious economic and financial crisis, does not wish to be seen as dragging the country into another ruinous war with Israel, but may be feeling pressured to respond to perceived Israeli provocations.
In the overnight incident, the first drone, apparently unarmed, crashed onto the roof of a Beirut building where Hezbollah’s media office is located and caused damage to the group’s offices.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
NOW COPS HAVE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO PROTECT THEM
The ‘Pantaleo Effect’: NYPD arrests plummet in wake of firing
By Larry Celona and Craig McCarthy
New York Post
August 26, 2019
The number of arrests and criminal summonses handled by city cops last week plummeted compared to the same period in 2018 — and law enforcement sources warn it’s the “Pantaleo Effect.’’
Officer Daniel Pantaleo was fired by NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill on Aug. 19 over his role in the fatal takedown of Staten Island cigarette peddler Eric Garner, enraging police officers and their union leaders, who argue the cop was simply doing his job during an arrest.
Police Benevolent Association chief Patrick Lynch responded by angrily telling his members to “proceed with the utmost caution’’ when answering calls — and new statistics obtained by The Post on Monday suggest officers are heeding his warning.
Arrests dropped 27% between Aug. 19 — the day Pantaleo was fired — and Aug. 25 compared to the same period in 2018, with police making 3,508 busts compared to 4,827.
The number of criminal summonses issued fell nearly 29% over the same period, going from 1,655 to 1,181, the figures show.
Multiple law enforcement sources told The Post that while there is no organized slowdown, cops on the street clearly feel that the department doesn’t have their backs, so why should they needlessly put themselves on the line?
“Who wants to be the last cop standing?” a Manhattan cop said. “If someone’s in trouble and needs help or if a cop’s in trouble, obviously, you do what you have to do as a police officer. But if it’s discretionary, why put yourself in harm’s way?’’
An NYPD supervisor in Brooklyn said, “Of course it has to do with what happened to Pantaleo — cops are frustrated, upset. They feel they don’t have the backing of downtown, Police Headquarters and City Hall.
“It all goes back to cops feeling like they’re out on the street alone.’’
A Bronx cop said the stats are lower partly because officers are taking more time with calls after Pantaleo.
“They want to be more careful. They have to protect themselves because no one else is going to protect them,’’ the source said.
The Manhattan source said Garner’s case would never have happened today — because the city has told officers to back down on making such quality-of-life busts.
The Police Department said in a statement, “The brave women and men who joined the NYPD did so with a solemn promise to help people, to fight crime, and to keep New York City safe. These dedicated officers practice precision policing — focusing on the offenders who commit crimes, not the accumulation of raw numbers.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: With respect to NYPD's lame statement, let me repeat what I frequently say: You can't make chicken soup out of chicken shit.
By Larry Celona and Craig McCarthy
New York Post
August 26, 2019
The number of arrests and criminal summonses handled by city cops last week plummeted compared to the same period in 2018 — and law enforcement sources warn it’s the “Pantaleo Effect.’’
Officer Daniel Pantaleo was fired by NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill on Aug. 19 over his role in the fatal takedown of Staten Island cigarette peddler Eric Garner, enraging police officers and their union leaders, who argue the cop was simply doing his job during an arrest.
Police Benevolent Association chief Patrick Lynch responded by angrily telling his members to “proceed with the utmost caution’’ when answering calls — and new statistics obtained by The Post on Monday suggest officers are heeding his warning.
Arrests dropped 27% between Aug. 19 — the day Pantaleo was fired — and Aug. 25 compared to the same period in 2018, with police making 3,508 busts compared to 4,827.
The number of criminal summonses issued fell nearly 29% over the same period, going from 1,655 to 1,181, the figures show.
Multiple law enforcement sources told The Post that while there is no organized slowdown, cops on the street clearly feel that the department doesn’t have their backs, so why should they needlessly put themselves on the line?
“Who wants to be the last cop standing?” a Manhattan cop said. “If someone’s in trouble and needs help or if a cop’s in trouble, obviously, you do what you have to do as a police officer. But if it’s discretionary, why put yourself in harm’s way?’’
An NYPD supervisor in Brooklyn said, “Of course it has to do with what happened to Pantaleo — cops are frustrated, upset. They feel they don’t have the backing of downtown, Police Headquarters and City Hall.
“It all goes back to cops feeling like they’re out on the street alone.’’
A Bronx cop said the stats are lower partly because officers are taking more time with calls after Pantaleo.
“They want to be more careful. They have to protect themselves because no one else is going to protect them,’’ the source said.
The Manhattan source said Garner’s case would never have happened today — because the city has told officers to back down on making such quality-of-life busts.
The Police Department said in a statement, “The brave women and men who joined the NYPD did so with a solemn promise to help people, to fight crime, and to keep New York City safe. These dedicated officers practice precision policing — focusing on the offenders who commit crimes, not the accumulation of raw numbers.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: With respect to NYPD's lame statement, let me repeat what I frequently say: You can't make chicken soup out of chicken shit.
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