Trump: It costs too much to support Kurds against ISIS in Syria
Israel Hayom
October 7, 2019
US President Donald Trump on Monday defended his administration's decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria, saying it was too costly to keep supporting US-allied Kurdish-led forces in the region fighting the Islamic State.
"The Kurds fought with us, but were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so. They have been fighting Turkey for decades," Trump said in a series of tweets.
"Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out."
Earlier Monday, Germany expressed concerns at the prospect of an incursion by Turkey into northeastern Syria, saying such an intervention could further destabilize the war-torn country.
Ulrike Demmer, a spokeswoman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, said on Monday that Germany is aware of the "special security policy situation" that Turkey faces on its border. But she cautioned that successes against the Islamic State group, which she noted were achieved in significant part by Syrian Kurdish forces with international support, "must not be endangered."
On Monday, US-backed Kurdish-led forces said American troops had begun pulling back from positions along the border in northeast Syria ahead of an expected Turkish invasion that the Syrian Kurds say will overturn five years of achievements in the battle against ISIS.
The Syrian Kurdish fighters also accused Washington of failing to abide by its commitments to its key allies in the fight against the Islamic State. It's a major shift in US policy.
There was no immediate confirmation from the White House of US troops clearing positions in areas in northern Syria.
"Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into northern Syria," the White House said after Trump spoke to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday.
"The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial "caliphate," will no longer be in the immediate area," it added in a statement.
Erdoğan, however, also said American troops have started withdrawing from positions, and a video posted by a Kurdish news agency showed a convoy of American armored vehicles apparently heading away from the border area of Tal Abyad.
Erdoğan spoke hours after the White House said US forces in northeastern Syria will move aside and clear the way for an expected Turkish assault – essentially abandoning Kurdish fighters who fought alongside American forces in the yearslong battle to defeat the Islamic State group.
Erdoğan didn't elaborate on the planned Turkish incursion but said Turkey was determined to halt what it perceives as threats from the Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Erdoğan has threatened for months to launch the military operation across the border. He views the Syria Kurdish forces as a threat to his country as Ankara has struggled with a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.
In the US, Republicans and Democrats have warned that allowing the Turkish attack could lead to a massacre of the Kurds and send a troubling message to American allies across the globe.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, as the Kurdish-led force is known, said the American pullout began first from areas along the Syria-Turkey border.
"The American forces did not abide by their commitments and withdrew their forces along the border with Turkey," the SDF said in its statement. "Turkey now is preparing to invade northern and eastern parts of Syria."
"The Turkish military operation in northern and eastern Syria will have a huge negative effect on our war against ISIS," it added.
In an agreement between Ankara and Washington, joint patrols had been patrolling a security zone that covers over 78 miles along the border between the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn. The SDF had removed fortification from the areas, considered by Turkey as a threat, and retreated heavy weapons.
But Turkey and the US disagreed over the depth of the zone, with Ankara seeking to also have its troops monitor a stretch of territory between 19 to 25 miles. Despite the agreement, Erdoğan had continued to threaten an attack.
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'A stain on America's honor': Lindsey Graham says Trump's Syria pullout abandons Kurds, helps ISIS
By William Cummings and David Jackson
USA Today
October 7, 2019
WASHINGTON – Calling it a "stain on America's honor," Sen. Lindsey Graham on Monday denounced President Donald Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops out of northeastern Syria as Turkey prepares a military assault against Kurdish fighters who helped the U.S. battle the Islamic State.
Graham phoned into "Fox & Friends," which Trump is known to watch regularly, to express his displeasure at the "impulsive decision by the president," calling it "short-sighted and irresponsible." He said the move has "undone all the gains we've made" and "thrown the region into further chaos."
"This to me is just unnerving to its core," Graham said.
The U.S.-backed Kurds under the Syrian Democratic Forces said their American allies "did not fulfill their obligations" as U.S. troops began to withdraw from their positions ahead of the expected Turkish military operation.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan considers the Kurdish forces in Syria to be terrorists allied with Kurdish insurgents within his country and has long threatened a military incursion into the area.
Foreign policy experts, as well as Republican and Democratic lawmakers, have warned that allowing Turkey into the region could lead to a massacre of the Kurds and been seen as a betrayal of a U.S. military ally.
President Donald Trump defended the move on Twitter Monday, writing the U.S. "was supposed to be in Syria for 30 days" and "that was many years ago."
"We stayed and got deeper and deeper into battle with no aim in sight," Trump tweeted.
"The Kurds fought with us, but were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so," Trump added. He repeated his aversion to longterm U.S. military commitments overseas and said, "WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN."
"Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out," he added.
Trump announced a U.S. withdrawal from Syria in late 2018, a plan that led to the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
Later, the president backed off a full withdrawal, but he apparently sees Monday's pullback as a way to resurrect his plan to get the U.S. out of Syria.
Graham was critical of last year’s plan to pull out of Syria and on Monday he said that if the reports of a withdrawal are accurate it is "a disaster in the making." He warned it will "will be a stain on America's honor for abandoning the Kurds" and "ensures" an "ISIS comeback."
"To say to the American people, 'ISIS has been destroyed in Syria,' is not true," Graham said on Fox News.
He said he would introduce a resolution in the Senate "asking for a reversal of this decision."
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said the withdrawal would be a "grave mistake that will have implications far beyond Syria" and would embolden Iran.
The SDF took down fortifications and removed heavy weapons for the border region in a move meant to appease Erdogan as part of an agreement in which American and Turkey would conduct joint patrols in along a 78-mile security zone.
"Despite our efforts to avoid any military escalation with Turkey, the flexibility we have shown to move forward with the establishment of the border security mechanism, and the fulfillment of all our obligations in this regard, the US forces did not fulfill their obligations and withdrew their forces from the territories bordering with Turkey," the SDF said in a statement shared by the Kurdish Hawar news agency.
The SDF warned that Turkey's planned "invasion" would "have a major negative impact on our war on ISIS and will destroy all the stability achieved during the past years."
The Kurdish fighters said they "will not hesitate for a moment to defend ourselves" and they called on "Arabs Kurds, Syrians and Assyrians to join forces and stand with their legitimate forces to defend our country against this Turkish aggression."
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham in a statement on Sunday that "Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria" and that U.S. forces "will not support or be involved in the operation."
The statement did not mention the U.S. pullout but Erdogan confirmed the pullback, as did the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. And video shared by Hawar reportedly showing U.S. forces withdrawing from the towns in of Tal Abyad and Serê Kaniyê.
A spokeswoman for the European Union warned that Turkey's planned military action "will only exacerbate civilian suffering and lead to massive displacement."
Ulrike Demmer, a spokeswoman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Monday that the progress that has been made against the Islamic State "must not be endangered" and warned that Turkey could further destabilize Syria.
Trump said it was time to "bring our soldiers home," adding, "We are 7000 miles away and will crush ISIS again if they come anywhere near us!"
Many critics pointed out that Trump and his family have business interests in Turkey. Some cited a 2012 tweet from Ivanka Trump lauding Erdogan for helping launch a project in Istanbul.
Trump also mentioned the "magnificent" project in a tweet that year.
The unexpected withdrawal comes as Trump faces an impeachment inquiry over allegations that he pressured a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 election.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Abandoning the Kurds is the worst thing Tru7mp has done. Erdogan is an Islamic slimeball who is viewing with Iran for domination of the Middle East. Although elected, Erdogan is a brutal dictator who imprisons any opposition leaders to his regime. Before Erdogan, Turkey and Israel enjoyed a very friendly relationship. That is no longer the case. And Erdogan has vowed to eradicate our best ally in the war against ISIS, the Kurds. The Kurds were also our allies in Iraq. Abandoning the Kurds constitute an outright betrayal of a close ally. Shame on Trump!
In addition to Graham and Rubio, here is what some other notable Republicans said.
Nikki Haley: “We must always have the backs of our allies if we expect them to have our back, The Kurds were instrumental in our successful fight against ISIS iun Syria. Leaving them to die is a big mistake. Turkey is not our friend.”
Ted Cruz: “Our enemies and rivals (Iran, Russia, etc.) don’t abandon their allies; if we want allies to stand with America in the future, we shouldn’t either. Honorable nations stand by their friends. It would also be disgraceful if we sat idly by while Turkey slaughters the Kurds, as public reports suggest that Turkish leader Erdogan explicitly told President Trump he intends to do. Kurds risked their lives – for many years – to fight alongside us.”
Apparently, Trump finds it more important for the Ukraine and China to help him dig up dirt on Joe Biden than to prevent the slaughter of the Kurds.
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DONALD TRUMP ANNOUNCES THE KURDS ARE ALL ABOUT TO GET BUTT-FUCKED
by Bob Walsh
President Trump announced yesterday that we are getting out of the police business in Syria. Unfortunately that means that our allies, the Kurds, are going to find out what the Armenians found out 100 years ago. The Turks don't play nice and if they don't like you they have no compunction about exterminating you. They don't give a shit what anybody else thinks, they just go for it.
Politics in the Levant and the Middle East is a bitch. Especially if you live there.
Tuesday, October 08, 2019
THIS IS, I CONFESS, A NEW ONE ON ME
by Bob Walsh
A golfer was driving his golf cart at a high rate of speed on the course yesterday in the CA foothills, tried to cross a bridge on the course, didn't make it, hit the railing, was thrown out of the cart into the creek (or whatever) the bridge was crossing, and died. His companion was not ejected from the cart and was slightly injured.
I can't help but think there was some substance abuse involved in this. I could be 100% wrong, but somehow I get that feeling.
A golfer was driving his golf cart at a high rate of speed on the course yesterday in the CA foothills, tried to cross a bridge on the course, didn't make it, hit the railing, was thrown out of the cart into the creek (or whatever) the bridge was crossing, and died. His companion was not ejected from the cart and was slightly injured.
I can't help but think there was some substance abuse involved in this. I could be 100% wrong, but somehow I get that feeling.
PG&E MAY BE PREPARING TO SHUT OFF POWER IN ABOUT HALF OR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
by Bob Walsh
PG&E is preparing to possibly-maybe shut down the power in a huge area of NorCal due to a combination of high fire danger and high wind. Could get real, real interesting. I wonder if some of their safety shutoff people own stock in generator manufacturers?
PG&E is preparing to possibly-maybe shut down the power in a huge area of NorCal due to a combination of high fire danger and high wind. Could get real, real interesting. I wonder if some of their safety shutoff people own stock in generator manufacturers?
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
by Bob Walsh
In 876 the First Battle of Andernach took place between the forces of the West Frankish King Charles the Bald and the East Frankish King Louis the Younger. Charlie won, in case anybody actually cares.
In 1871 the Great Chicago Fire started, in the O'Leary barn, though probably not by a cow kicking over a lantern. It burned down about 1/3 of the city during the following 24 hours, and incidentally made the Roosevelt family rich(er) in the replacement glass market.
In 1918 Alvin York killed 28 Germans and captured 132 all by himself, earning a Congressional Medal of Honor as well as a Croix de Guerre from the French.
In 1919 the U. S. congress passed the Volstead Act, beginning an interesting but ultimately destructive social experiment called Prohibition.
In 876 the First Battle of Andernach took place between the forces of the West Frankish King Charles the Bald and the East Frankish King Louis the Younger. Charlie won, in case anybody actually cares.
In 1871 the Great Chicago Fire started, in the O'Leary barn, though probably not by a cow kicking over a lantern. It burned down about 1/3 of the city during the following 24 hours, and incidentally made the Roosevelt family rich(er) in the replacement glass market.
In 1918 Alvin York killed 28 Germans and captured 132 all by himself, earning a Congressional Medal of Honor as well as a Croix de Guerre from the French.
In 1919 the U. S. congress passed the Volstead Act, beginning an interesting but ultimately destructive social experiment called Prohibition.
SCOTUS AND GENDER
by Bob Walsh
One of the cases being taken up by SCOTUS this term is a gender identity issue. Right now discrimination laws prohibit discrimination in most areas on the basis of gender. The matter before the court is whether or not sexual persuasion, gender IDENTITY and transgender falls under the "gender' umbrella or if these situations do not and must be addressed separately.
The court could determine that your gender is determined by your plumbing at birth, or by what you feel like when you wake up in the morning, or pretty much anything in between. I can't imagine the court will go with the hard liberal interpretation (you are what you feel like at any particular time) just because of the operational problems if nothing else.
I know right now this question is causing significant and legitimate problems within amateur athletics, especially women's athletics, as "women" who are structurally male have essentially running over female competitors. It is also causing significant problems for jail and prison management that needs to be worked out, especially now that some states allow birth certificates to be "corrected" for gender or allow some sort of non-binary designation on driver's licenses and similar documents.
I know when I retired from the CA prison system it was pretty simple. If your birth certificate said MALE and you had a penis you were male. Anything else was up for argument. That isn't quite so clear-cut any more.
One of the cases being taken up by SCOTUS this term is a gender identity issue. Right now discrimination laws prohibit discrimination in most areas on the basis of gender. The matter before the court is whether or not sexual persuasion, gender IDENTITY and transgender falls under the "gender' umbrella or if these situations do not and must be addressed separately.
The court could determine that your gender is determined by your plumbing at birth, or by what you feel like when you wake up in the morning, or pretty much anything in between. I can't imagine the court will go with the hard liberal interpretation (you are what you feel like at any particular time) just because of the operational problems if nothing else.
I know right now this question is causing significant and legitimate problems within amateur athletics, especially women's athletics, as "women" who are structurally male have essentially running over female competitors. It is also causing significant problems for jail and prison management that needs to be worked out, especially now that some states allow birth certificates to be "corrected" for gender or allow some sort of non-binary designation on driver's licenses and similar documents.
I know when I retired from the CA prison system it was pretty simple. If your birth certificate said MALE and you had a penis you were male. Anything else was up for argument. That isn't quite so clear-cut any more.
SEND THE BITCH BACK TO BRITAIN
Runaway diplomat wife's disgraceful evasion of justice shames America - send back your sniveling coward, Mr President, and make her face the consequences of her deadly actions
By Piers Morgan
Daily Mail
October 7, 2019
The wife of a US diplomat ran over and killed a 19-year-old boy while driving the wrong way down a road.
After initially signalling that she would co-operate in the investigation, Anne Sacoolas suddenly disappeared. It turned out she flew back to the U.S. after claiming diplomatic immunity, reportedly on the advice of the U.S. Embassy.
Under the 1961 Vienna Convention, diplomats and their family members are typically immune from prosecution in their host country. So, Ms Sacoolas has exercised her right under this agreement to flee Britain, and justice, and has done so with the full backing of the United States authorities that have so far resisted calls from British police to waive her immunity, as they are empowered to do in exceptional circumstances.
This means that Harry Dunn's parents, already suffering the unimaginable agony of losing their son, are now facing a second horror - the likelihood that the person who caused their pain may never face any accountability for their actions.
It's a scandal that shames America.
By Piers Morgan
Daily Mail
October 7, 2019
The wife of a US diplomat ran over and killed a 19-year-old boy while driving the wrong way down a road.
After initially signalling that she would co-operate in the investigation, Anne Sacoolas suddenly disappeared. It turned out she flew back to the U.S. after claiming diplomatic immunity, reportedly on the advice of the U.S. Embassy.
Under the 1961 Vienna Convention, diplomats and their family members are typically immune from prosecution in their host country. So, Ms Sacoolas has exercised her right under this agreement to flee Britain, and justice, and has done so with the full backing of the United States authorities that have so far resisted calls from British police to waive her immunity, as they are empowered to do in exceptional circumstances.
This means that Harry Dunn's parents, already suffering the unimaginable agony of losing their son, are now facing a second horror - the likelihood that the person who caused their pain may never face any accountability for their actions.
It's a scandal that shames America.
ILHAN OMAR IS A DISGRACE TO WOMEN AND TO MUSLIMS TOO
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar files for divorce from her husband, months after moving into luxury penthouse apartment and her romantic relationship with her married campaign strategist was revealed
Daily Mail
October 7, 2019
Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, 38, filed for divorce from her husband Ahmed Hirsi, the father of her three children, on Friday. The two were married in 2002, separated in 2008, and were remarried in 2018.
During their separation, Omar married British-born Ahmed Elmi in 2009 - but had a child with Hirsi in 2011 - and divorced Elmi in 2017.
Omar's most recent divorce comes after DailyMail.com revealed in July that Omar had moved into a penthouse apartment in Minneapolis. The news also follows DailyMail.com revealing Omar was carrying on with her then-married aide Tim Mynett. The two were seen on a romantic dinner date back in March
Mynett's doctor wife filed for divorce from her much younger husband in August. She claimed in divorce papers that Mynett declared his love for the congresswoman directly to her.
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REPRESENTATIVE ILHAN OMAR ANNOUNCES SHE IS GETTING A DIVORCE
by Bob Walsh
Ilhan Omar announced yesterday that she is filing for divorce. I guess she wants to go back to being married to her biological brother. I think that's called "rolling your own" in Oakie.
Daily Mail
October 7, 2019
Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, 38, filed for divorce from her husband Ahmed Hirsi, the father of her three children, on Friday. The two were married in 2002, separated in 2008, and were remarried in 2018.
During their separation, Omar married British-born Ahmed Elmi in 2009 - but had a child with Hirsi in 2011 - and divorced Elmi in 2017.
Omar's most recent divorce comes after DailyMail.com revealed in July that Omar had moved into a penthouse apartment in Minneapolis. The news also follows DailyMail.com revealing Omar was carrying on with her then-married aide Tim Mynett. The two were seen on a romantic dinner date back in March
Mynett's doctor wife filed for divorce from her much younger husband in August. She claimed in divorce papers that Mynett declared his love for the congresswoman directly to her.
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REPRESENTATIVE ILHAN OMAR ANNOUNCES SHE IS GETTING A DIVORCE
by Bob Walsh
Ilhan Omar announced yesterday that she is filing for divorce. I guess she wants to go back to being married to her biological brother. I think that's called "rolling your own" in Oakie.
WHAT DOES A BRIDEGROOM DO IF HE DOES NOT HAVE THE MONEY FOR A RING AND THE WEDDING VENUE? ….. HE ROBS A BANK, OF COURSE
Texas groom robs bank day before wedding to pay for ring and venue, police say
By Ben Kesslen
NBC News
October 7, 2019
A Texas bridegroom robbed a bank the day before his wedding to pay for his fiancee’s ring and the cost of the venue, according to police.
Heath Bumpous, of Crockett, about 120 miles north of Houston, robbed the Citizens State Bank in nearby Groveton on Friday morning, Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said on Facebook Live.
Wallace said Bumpous, 36, who provided a full confession to police and is being charged with robbery, went into the local bank indicating he had a weapon and demanded money.
Bumpous then left with the stolen cash, drove down dirt and forest service roads when he got a call from his fiancee, Wallace said.
The two were supposed to get married Saturday, and his fiancee said she saw the surveillance video stills of her husband-to-be robbing the bank that police had posted on Facebook.
After some discussion, Wallace said the fiancee was able to persuade Bumpous to turn himself in and soon after, he confessed to authorities in Houston.
“He basically stated he was getting married tomorrow, he didn't have enough money for the wedding ring he wanted to buy and he needed to pay for the wedding venue,” Wallace said.
The sheriff said his team recovered most of the stolen money, and thanked Bumpous’ family for their help.
Bumpous was still in police custody as of Monday morning and has just been transferred to Trinity County Jail. Wallace told NBC News on Monday that the wedding, scheduled for Saturday, didn't happen.
"No wedding took place that I know of," he said, "It didn't happen in my jail."
Wallace said Bumpous has not been able to have visitors since his arrest. His fiancee declined to comment.
By Ben Kesslen
NBC News
October 7, 2019
A Texas bridegroom robbed a bank the day before his wedding to pay for his fiancee’s ring and the cost of the venue, according to police.
Heath Bumpous, of Crockett, about 120 miles north of Houston, robbed the Citizens State Bank in nearby Groveton on Friday morning, Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said on Facebook Live.
Wallace said Bumpous, 36, who provided a full confession to police and is being charged with robbery, went into the local bank indicating he had a weapon and demanded money.
Bumpous then left with the stolen cash, drove down dirt and forest service roads when he got a call from his fiancee, Wallace said.
The two were supposed to get married Saturday, and his fiancee said she saw the surveillance video stills of her husband-to-be robbing the bank that police had posted on Facebook.
After some discussion, Wallace said the fiancee was able to persuade Bumpous to turn himself in and soon after, he confessed to authorities in Houston.
“He basically stated he was getting married tomorrow, he didn't have enough money for the wedding ring he wanted to buy and he needed to pay for the wedding venue,” Wallace said.
The sheriff said his team recovered most of the stolen money, and thanked Bumpous’ family for their help.
Bumpous was still in police custody as of Monday morning and has just been transferred to Trinity County Jail. Wallace told NBC News on Monday that the wedding, scheduled for Saturday, didn't happen.
"No wedding took place that I know of," he said, "It didn't happen in my jail."
Wallace said Bumpous has not been able to have visitors since his arrest. His fiancee declined to comment.
MIRACLE MUTT
Dog found buried alive in the Bahamas more than a month after Hurricane Dorian
By Doug Phillips
South Florida Sun Sentinel
October 7, 2019
Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas on Sept. 1. More than a month later — on Friday— an emaciated dog was found clinging to life, buried under debris in Marsh Harbor in the Abacos.
A drone equipped with infrared heat-seeking technology being used by Loxahatchee Groves-based Big Dog Ranch Rescue detected the animal trapped in rubble under a collapsed building.
He was quickly dubbed “Miracle."
It’s unclear exactly how long the dog was pinned, but judging from his condition it was an extraordinary amount of time.
“Beautiful little baby, Miracle, that was found trapped underneath an air conditioning unit and with no food and water must have survived on rain water because he’s emaciated,” the organization’s founder and president, Lauree Simmons, said.
The dog was quickly flown back to South Florida to be treated for multiple ailments and is in the early stages of recovery.
Simmons described him as weak and anemic, but also “famous," in a social media posting Sunday following several rounds of interviews by various news media organizations.
“He’s definitely got a long road to recovery ahead. He will need physical therapy and a lot of help and strength so he can fully walk again. Our wonderful medical team is monitoring him and keeping him as comfortable as possible,” Simmons said.
Even more recognition was heaped on the dog’s story Monday morning during a live news report on NBC’s Today. Miracle, at first lethargic and laying down, got on his feet and dug his snout into a food bowl being held by correspondent Kerry Sanders. Sanders reported that more than 10,000 inquiries about adopting the dog have come in from as far away as London, England.
While recovery efforts continue across many parts of the Bahamas, the human death toll is still uncertain. Though hundreds of people remain listed as missing, the government’s official count is 60, according to the online news organization The Root.
Miracle is the 138th dog to be found in the Bahamas by Big Dog Ranch Rescue in the aftermath of Category 5 Hurricane Dorian, according to the organization.
Simmons said the dog was found on the group’s twelfth rescue flight to the Bahamas.
Ninety dogs have been brought to the no-kill rescue shelter and about 50 are still seeking homes.
“We do feel that little Miracle will make it,” Simmons said.
By Doug Phillips
South Florida Sun Sentinel
October 7, 2019
Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas on Sept. 1. More than a month later — on Friday— an emaciated dog was found clinging to life, buried under debris in Marsh Harbor in the Abacos.
A drone equipped with infrared heat-seeking technology being used by Loxahatchee Groves-based Big Dog Ranch Rescue detected the animal trapped in rubble under a collapsed building.
He was quickly dubbed “Miracle."
It’s unclear exactly how long the dog was pinned, but judging from his condition it was an extraordinary amount of time.
“Beautiful little baby, Miracle, that was found trapped underneath an air conditioning unit and with no food and water must have survived on rain water because he’s emaciated,” the organization’s founder and president, Lauree Simmons, said.
The dog was quickly flown back to South Florida to be treated for multiple ailments and is in the early stages of recovery.
Simmons described him as weak and anemic, but also “famous," in a social media posting Sunday following several rounds of interviews by various news media organizations.
“He’s definitely got a long road to recovery ahead. He will need physical therapy and a lot of help and strength so he can fully walk again. Our wonderful medical team is monitoring him and keeping him as comfortable as possible,” Simmons said.
Even more recognition was heaped on the dog’s story Monday morning during a live news report on NBC’s Today. Miracle, at first lethargic and laying down, got on his feet and dug his snout into a food bowl being held by correspondent Kerry Sanders. Sanders reported that more than 10,000 inquiries about adopting the dog have come in from as far away as London, England.
While recovery efforts continue across many parts of the Bahamas, the human death toll is still uncertain. Though hundreds of people remain listed as missing, the government’s official count is 60, according to the online news organization The Root.
Miracle is the 138th dog to be found in the Bahamas by Big Dog Ranch Rescue in the aftermath of Category 5 Hurricane Dorian, according to the organization.
Simmons said the dog was found on the group’s twelfth rescue flight to the Bahamas.
Ninety dogs have been brought to the no-kill rescue shelter and about 50 are still seeking homes.
“We do feel that little Miracle will make it,” Simmons said.
GRETA THUNBERG HAS THE CLIMATE ALARMISTS’ NUMBER
If they believed what they claim to believe, they’d do a lot more about it. She’s right—how dare they?
By Barton Swaim
The Wall Street Journal
October 4, 2019
How to think about Greta Thunberg ? She is the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist known for her articulate fulminations on climate change. At last month’s United Nations General Assembly, she scolded delegates. “I shouldn’t be up here,” she said, her expression contorted with rage. “I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”
It’s true that political causes discredit themselves by allowing children to make arguments they don’t understand. But ridiculing a child, however cynical her promoters, is dishonorable. I vividly recall the vicious mockery from supposedly responsible adults when Caitlin Upton mangled an answer about geography in the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant. The spectacle of grown men ridiculing a well-meaning 18-year-old girl wasn’t an appealing one.
Commentators who sympathize with Ms. Thunberg’s views are perceptibly conflicted about whether they should champion her activism or wish she’d go away. You sense the uncertainty in center-left punditry about her. She gets praise for her bold preaching on climate change, which the right can’t criticize without appearing boorish—great. But a political movement spoken for by a teenager can’t be taken altogether seriously.
Yet Ms. Thunberg has a lesser-noted claim on our attention—not her expertise or her degree of alarm, but her insight into the global climate-change movement itself. She is aware—and has the bad manners to say so—that the vast majority of wealthy transnationals who intone rote demands that governments “take action” on climate change don’t actually believe what they’re saying.
At the U.N., Ms. Thunberg wasn’t speaking to rubes and oilmen and climate “deniers.” She was speaking to the swarms of diplomatic elite who had earlier disembarked from jumbo jets and descended on Midtown Manhattan’s bars, restaurants and five-star hotels and clogged its streets with phalanxes of giant sport-utility vehicles. Ms. Thunberg appears to suspect—rightly—that these people don’t think we’re headed for doomsday. They enjoy the moral uplift afforded by their fashionable views; otherwise they’re along for the ride.
Young children don’t see hypocrisy for what it is. They have faith in adults. When Ms. Thunberg was younger and she heard European politicians and leaders of nongovernmental organizations insisting that the world would experience cataclysmic environmental degradation unless governments imposed dramatic changes, she believed them. She couldn’t have understood that when the leaders she admired spoke of taking “dramatic” and “immediate” action to combat climate change, all they had in mind was the incremental transfer of political power to unaccountable regulatory agencies and transnational organizations in faraway capitals.
According to her family’s 2018 book, “Scenes From the Heart,” young Greta persuaded her parents to forgo air travel (despite her mother’s dependence on it for her career as an opera singer) and to become vegans. She cut classes to engage in protests outside the Swedish Parliament. But most “climate leaders,” she would discover, weren’t prepared to make significant changes to their life aims for the sake of preserving life on Earth. For them, it was enough to toss their empty water bottles into the recycling bin and maybe buy a Tesla.
They could argue with impeccable logic that there’s no point in making major changes to your lifestyle, since real progress requires that developed and developing nations all agree to huge decreases in carbon emissions. That, as everybody at the U.N. must know even if they pretend not to, will never happen: No national government can be expected to cripple its economy on the dubious promise that other nations will cripple theirs. So our climate leaders are happily reduced to making piecemeal demands for more regulatory powers—most of which will have no appreciable effect on global climate.
Ms. Thunberg grasps that if today’s climate leaders believed what they claim to believe, they would use their power to impose drastic reductions to greenhouse emissions, whatever other nations might do. They would also, if their convictions were genuine, engage in terrible and revolutionary deeds for the salvation of humanity: intimidation, brutality, sabotage. Instead they are content to trumpet the right opinions and otherwise persist in their ordinary habits of consumption as though none of it really mattered. Greta Thunberg has a point. How dare they?
By Barton Swaim
The Wall Street Journal
October 4, 2019
How to think about Greta Thunberg ? She is the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist known for her articulate fulminations on climate change. At last month’s United Nations General Assembly, she scolded delegates. “I shouldn’t be up here,” she said, her expression contorted with rage. “I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”
It’s true that political causes discredit themselves by allowing children to make arguments they don’t understand. But ridiculing a child, however cynical her promoters, is dishonorable. I vividly recall the vicious mockery from supposedly responsible adults when Caitlin Upton mangled an answer about geography in the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant. The spectacle of grown men ridiculing a well-meaning 18-year-old girl wasn’t an appealing one.
Commentators who sympathize with Ms. Thunberg’s views are perceptibly conflicted about whether they should champion her activism or wish she’d go away. You sense the uncertainty in center-left punditry about her. She gets praise for her bold preaching on climate change, which the right can’t criticize without appearing boorish—great. But a political movement spoken for by a teenager can’t be taken altogether seriously.
Yet Ms. Thunberg has a lesser-noted claim on our attention—not her expertise or her degree of alarm, but her insight into the global climate-change movement itself. She is aware—and has the bad manners to say so—that the vast majority of wealthy transnationals who intone rote demands that governments “take action” on climate change don’t actually believe what they’re saying.
At the U.N., Ms. Thunberg wasn’t speaking to rubes and oilmen and climate “deniers.” She was speaking to the swarms of diplomatic elite who had earlier disembarked from jumbo jets and descended on Midtown Manhattan’s bars, restaurants and five-star hotels and clogged its streets with phalanxes of giant sport-utility vehicles. Ms. Thunberg appears to suspect—rightly—that these people don’t think we’re headed for doomsday. They enjoy the moral uplift afforded by their fashionable views; otherwise they’re along for the ride.
Young children don’t see hypocrisy for what it is. They have faith in adults. When Ms. Thunberg was younger and she heard European politicians and leaders of nongovernmental organizations insisting that the world would experience cataclysmic environmental degradation unless governments imposed dramatic changes, she believed them. She couldn’t have understood that when the leaders she admired spoke of taking “dramatic” and “immediate” action to combat climate change, all they had in mind was the incremental transfer of political power to unaccountable regulatory agencies and transnational organizations in faraway capitals.
According to her family’s 2018 book, “Scenes From the Heart,” young Greta persuaded her parents to forgo air travel (despite her mother’s dependence on it for her career as an opera singer) and to become vegans. She cut classes to engage in protests outside the Swedish Parliament. But most “climate leaders,” she would discover, weren’t prepared to make significant changes to their life aims for the sake of preserving life on Earth. For them, it was enough to toss their empty water bottles into the recycling bin and maybe buy a Tesla.
They could argue with impeccable logic that there’s no point in making major changes to your lifestyle, since real progress requires that developed and developing nations all agree to huge decreases in carbon emissions. That, as everybody at the U.N. must know even if they pretend not to, will never happen: No national government can be expected to cripple its economy on the dubious promise that other nations will cripple theirs. So our climate leaders are happily reduced to making piecemeal demands for more regulatory powers—most of which will have no appreciable effect on global climate.
Ms. Thunberg grasps that if today’s climate leaders believed what they claim to believe, they would use their power to impose drastic reductions to greenhouse emissions, whatever other nations might do. They would also, if their convictions were genuine, engage in terrible and revolutionary deeds for the salvation of humanity: intimidation, brutality, sabotage. Instead they are content to trumpet the right opinions and otherwise persist in their ordinary habits of consumption as though none of it really mattered. Greta Thunberg has a point. How dare they?
MY BROTHER ALI IS IRAN’S LATEST HOSTAGE
The ayatollahs hold him in a notorious prison as retaliation for my activism against compulsory hijab
By Masih Alinejad
The Wall Street Journal
October 6, 2019
As the Trump administration speaks of placing “maximum pressure” on Iran, my brother Ali Alinejad has become another victim of Iran’s perpetual maximum pressure on its own citizens. Two weeks ago, Intelligence Ministry agents raided his home in Tehran and blindfolded and handcuffed him in front of his two small children, and dragged him away. He is now being interrogated at Iran’s notorious Evin prison. His only crime is being my brother.
Around the same time as Ali’s arrest, a team of seven agents raided my former husband’s home in the northern city of Babol. The agents arrested his sister and brother, again using blindfolds and handcuffs. They too were targeted only because of their connection to me.
Why pick on me? Five years ago on Facebook, I launched My Stealthy Freedom, a campaign against the compulsory hijab, the most visible symbol of clerical rule in Iran.
Since then, women from all over Iran, even in conservative and religious cities like Mashad and Qom, are removing their headscarves and posting photos and videos of their acts of defiance. I receive more than 2,000 messages from these women each day. My Stealthy Freedom has quickly become the biggest civil-disobedience campaign in the history of the Islamic Republic.
Feeling the pain, the regime has lashed out. In late July, Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Court, announced that I was to be treated as a “hostile government” with which interaction is punishable by up to a decade in prison.
In August, six women were sentenced to a combined 109 years for peacefully protesting the compulsory hijab. One, Saba Kordafshari, is only 20 and faces 24 years in prison. If the authorities thought this would scare off Iranian women, they were wrong. Women continue to send me videos of their resistance.
My brother wasn’t involved in the campaigns. He was, however, my constant source of family news, and I loved to regale him with tales of my amazing sunflowers and the little patch of basil and mint I tend to in Brooklyn, N.Y. His arrest is an attempt to silence me and other women who resist.
Today an Iranian woman cannot travel abroad or seek divorce without her husband’s permission. She cannot be a judge or a member of the Guardian Council, which vets all laws. Inheritance laws are deeply unfair, and the regime even denies women simple pleasures such as attending a sports match at a stadium. Last month a woman was sentenced to 10 years in prison for singing in public. Since taking power in 1979, the clerical government has found a way to demean women and restrict their liberties in every aspect of life.
The most pernicious of these restrictions continues to be the compulsory-hijab laws of 1979 and 1983, which require women in public places to wrap their heads in scarves. The compulsory hijab is a way to censor women, erasing their identities and subjugating their individualities.
Imprisoning women who don’t wear hijabs reiterates the Islamic Republic’s constant message: The regime doesn’t recognize individuals as the rightful owners of their own bodies. That’s why it won’t let my relatives leave Iran, even though it forced me into exile in 2009. They’re more useful as hostages.
Hostage-taking is part of the regime’s DNA. The 1979 invasion of the U.S. Embassy and 444-day captivity of diplomats there helped solidify the Islamic Republic. Today Iran illegally imprisons Iranian-Americans Siamak and Baquer Namazi, British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and many more citizens of Western nations.
The arrests of my family members came as President Hassan Rouhani spoke at the United Nations about the West’s “unjust and oppressive actions” against Iran. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif complains that U.S. sanctions prevent him from visiting an Iranian ambassador who is being treated at a New York hospital. What about all the Iranians whose families have been torn apart for decades because of the regime he represents? While Iranian officials invoke sovereignty and justice to get their way abroad, sovereignty of the individual and rule of law mean nothing to the regime at home.
President Trump reportedly seeks a meeting with Mr. Rouhani, and French President Emmanuel Macron pushes to salvage the nuclear deal. I fear the Trump administration will cut a deal with Tehran that ignores human rights, emboldening the clerical regime to crack down on its domestic opposition without concern for international pressure.
Let the unlawful arrest and detention of my family be a warning to Mr. Macron and the White House: Iran’s is a regime of hostage-takers, and hostage-takers cannot be trusted.
By Masih Alinejad
The Wall Street Journal
October 6, 2019
As the Trump administration speaks of placing “maximum pressure” on Iran, my brother Ali Alinejad has become another victim of Iran’s perpetual maximum pressure on its own citizens. Two weeks ago, Intelligence Ministry agents raided his home in Tehran and blindfolded and handcuffed him in front of his two small children, and dragged him away. He is now being interrogated at Iran’s notorious Evin prison. His only crime is being my brother.
Around the same time as Ali’s arrest, a team of seven agents raided my former husband’s home in the northern city of Babol. The agents arrested his sister and brother, again using blindfolds and handcuffs. They too were targeted only because of their connection to me.
Why pick on me? Five years ago on Facebook, I launched My Stealthy Freedom, a campaign against the compulsory hijab, the most visible symbol of clerical rule in Iran.
Since then, women from all over Iran, even in conservative and religious cities like Mashad and Qom, are removing their headscarves and posting photos and videos of their acts of defiance. I receive more than 2,000 messages from these women each day. My Stealthy Freedom has quickly become the biggest civil-disobedience campaign in the history of the Islamic Republic.
Feeling the pain, the regime has lashed out. In late July, Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Court, announced that I was to be treated as a “hostile government” with which interaction is punishable by up to a decade in prison.
In August, six women were sentenced to a combined 109 years for peacefully protesting the compulsory hijab. One, Saba Kordafshari, is only 20 and faces 24 years in prison. If the authorities thought this would scare off Iranian women, they were wrong. Women continue to send me videos of their resistance.
My brother wasn’t involved in the campaigns. He was, however, my constant source of family news, and I loved to regale him with tales of my amazing sunflowers and the little patch of basil and mint I tend to in Brooklyn, N.Y. His arrest is an attempt to silence me and other women who resist.
Today an Iranian woman cannot travel abroad or seek divorce without her husband’s permission. She cannot be a judge or a member of the Guardian Council, which vets all laws. Inheritance laws are deeply unfair, and the regime even denies women simple pleasures such as attending a sports match at a stadium. Last month a woman was sentenced to 10 years in prison for singing in public. Since taking power in 1979, the clerical government has found a way to demean women and restrict their liberties in every aspect of life.
The most pernicious of these restrictions continues to be the compulsory-hijab laws of 1979 and 1983, which require women in public places to wrap their heads in scarves. The compulsory hijab is a way to censor women, erasing their identities and subjugating their individualities.
Imprisoning women who don’t wear hijabs reiterates the Islamic Republic’s constant message: The regime doesn’t recognize individuals as the rightful owners of their own bodies. That’s why it won’t let my relatives leave Iran, even though it forced me into exile in 2009. They’re more useful as hostages.
Hostage-taking is part of the regime’s DNA. The 1979 invasion of the U.S. Embassy and 444-day captivity of diplomats there helped solidify the Islamic Republic. Today Iran illegally imprisons Iranian-Americans Siamak and Baquer Namazi, British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and many more citizens of Western nations.
The arrests of my family members came as President Hassan Rouhani spoke at the United Nations about the West’s “unjust and oppressive actions” against Iran. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif complains that U.S. sanctions prevent him from visiting an Iranian ambassador who is being treated at a New York hospital. What about all the Iranians whose families have been torn apart for decades because of the regime he represents? While Iranian officials invoke sovereignty and justice to get their way abroad, sovereignty of the individual and rule of law mean nothing to the regime at home.
President Trump reportedly seeks a meeting with Mr. Rouhani, and French President Emmanuel Macron pushes to salvage the nuclear deal. I fear the Trump administration will cut a deal with Tehran that ignores human rights, emboldening the clerical regime to crack down on its domestic opposition without concern for international pressure.
Let the unlawful arrest and detention of my family be a warning to Mr. Macron and the White House: Iran’s is a regime of hostage-takers, and hostage-takers cannot be trusted.
Monday, October 07, 2019
FIREFIGHTING 101
Never try to extinguish a fire with gasoline
President Trump started a fire with his phone call to the Ukrainian president. And then he threw gasoline on the fire with his declaration that China should investigate Joe Biden and his son. Trump obviously did not enroll in Firefighting 101 – Neve try to extinguish a fire with gasoline.
Dumb and dumber! It was dumb of Trump to ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, and it was even dumber to publicly ask the Chinese to do so.
Three Republican senators are now criticizing Trump’s actions.
Mitt Romney, as expected, slammed Trump by saying, “By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.”
Ben Sasse, a senator from Nebraska, said “Hold up: Americans don’t look to Chinese commies for the truth. If the Biden kid broke laws by selling his name to Beijing, that’s a matter for American courts, not communist tyrants running torture camps.”
Susan Collins said “I thought the president made a big mistake by asking China to get involved in investigating a political opponent. It’s completely inappropriate.”
Romney has been a frequent critic of Trump and Collins has criticized him a time or two, but this is the first time Sasse has said an unkind word about the president.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell called on Republicans to stand up against President Trump. “The Republican Party has got to get a grip on itself. Right now, Republican leaders and members of the Congress, in both the Senate and in the House, are holding back because they're terrified of what will happen to any one of them if they speak out,” he said. “And so, they need to get a grip, and when they see things that are not right they need to say something about it, because our foreign policy is in shambles right now in my humble judgement.”
Powell, like Romney, has been an outspoken foe of Trump. Now he is trying to drive a wedge into the crack opened in the Republican wall surrounding Trump by Romney, Sasse and Collins.
There is no doubt that Trump will be impeached in the House by the blood-thirsty Democrats. Trump better be careful because if 20 Republican senators join the Democrats and vote to convict him, that would constitute the two-thirds majority needed to terminate his presidency.
Fortunately for the President, he’s not going to get 20 Republican defections with what those mad dogs Adam Schitt (oops, typo) and Jerry Nadler accuse him of ….. but does Trump have more gasoline? And since he very likely does, have his advisors gotten Trump to enroll in Firefighting 101? I doubt it.
President Trump started a fire with his phone call to the Ukrainian president. And then he threw gasoline on the fire with his declaration that China should investigate Joe Biden and his son. Trump obviously did not enroll in Firefighting 101 – Neve try to extinguish a fire with gasoline.
Dumb and dumber! It was dumb of Trump to ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, and it was even dumber to publicly ask the Chinese to do so.
Three Republican senators are now criticizing Trump’s actions.
Mitt Romney, as expected, slammed Trump by saying, “By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.”
Ben Sasse, a senator from Nebraska, said “Hold up: Americans don’t look to Chinese commies for the truth. If the Biden kid broke laws by selling his name to Beijing, that’s a matter for American courts, not communist tyrants running torture camps.”
Susan Collins said “I thought the president made a big mistake by asking China to get involved in investigating a political opponent. It’s completely inappropriate.”
Romney has been a frequent critic of Trump and Collins has criticized him a time or two, but this is the first time Sasse has said an unkind word about the president.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell called on Republicans to stand up against President Trump. “The Republican Party has got to get a grip on itself. Right now, Republican leaders and members of the Congress, in both the Senate and in the House, are holding back because they're terrified of what will happen to any one of them if they speak out,” he said. “And so, they need to get a grip, and when they see things that are not right they need to say something about it, because our foreign policy is in shambles right now in my humble judgement.”
Powell, like Romney, has been an outspoken foe of Trump. Now he is trying to drive a wedge into the crack opened in the Republican wall surrounding Trump by Romney, Sasse and Collins.
There is no doubt that Trump will be impeached in the House by the blood-thirsty Democrats. Trump better be careful because if 20 Republican senators join the Democrats and vote to convict him, that would constitute the two-thirds majority needed to terminate his presidency.
Fortunately for the President, he’s not going to get 20 Republican defections with what those mad dogs Adam Schitt (oops, typo) and Jerry Nadler accuse him of ….. but does Trump have more gasoline? And since he very likely does, have his advisors gotten Trump to enroll in Firefighting 101? I doubt it.
SLEAZE MOVE WITH A DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT
by Bob Walsh
In August of this year Harry Dunn, 19, was killed while driving on his motorbike near RAF Croughton in Northhamptonshire in the U.K. It is believed the driver of the hit-and-run car was the wife of a U. S. diplomatic who was driving on the wrong side of the road. The woman was apparently "advised" by the embassy to leave the U. K., and did in fact do so.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has called on the U. S. Ambassador in London to ask them to reconsider and return the woman to the U. K. for possible trial. The United State has declined to waive diplomatic immunity, as expected.
I don't know how things work in the U. K. but in the U. S. one of the things that a foreign government has to do to have a recognized embassy here is they have to prove they have motor vehicle insurance from a U. S. carrier. I would not be surprised if the same is true in the U. K. If true, that would at least give the family involved some financial compensation, providing they can make a case. I strongly suspect the car carried diplomatic plates and is parked at the U. S. embassy. That could complicate a traffic investigation.
The U. S. could of course waive privilege for civil and not for criminal purposes, but I don't see that happening either.
Sometimes things just suck and there isn't much you can do about it.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The bitch had promised British authorities she would not leave the U.K.
In August of this year Harry Dunn, 19, was killed while driving on his motorbike near RAF Croughton in Northhamptonshire in the U.K. It is believed the driver of the hit-and-run car was the wife of a U. S. diplomatic who was driving on the wrong side of the road. The woman was apparently "advised" by the embassy to leave the U. K., and did in fact do so.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has called on the U. S. Ambassador in London to ask them to reconsider and return the woman to the U. K. for possible trial. The United State has declined to waive diplomatic immunity, as expected.
I don't know how things work in the U. K. but in the U. S. one of the things that a foreign government has to do to have a recognized embassy here is they have to prove they have motor vehicle insurance from a U. S. carrier. I would not be surprised if the same is true in the U. K. If true, that would at least give the family involved some financial compensation, providing they can make a case. I strongly suspect the car carried diplomatic plates and is parked at the U. S. embassy. That could complicate a traffic investigation.
The U. S. could of course waive privilege for civil and not for criminal purposes, but I don't see that happening either.
Sometimes things just suck and there isn't much you can do about it.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The bitch had promised British authorities she would not leave the U.K.
HOROWITZ REPORT #2 IS IN THE AG'S HANDS
by Bob Walsh
The report by the Inspector General of the DOJ into the allegations of political abuse of the FISA court is now in the hands of the Attorney General, Bill Barr, and is very likely to be released in two weeks or less.
The Trump people have said practically since day one that that deep state Trump haters perpetrated a fraud on the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court, presenting material and documents that they presenters KNEW were bogus as verified fact, in order to establish a predicate cause to launch an investigation of the Trump campaign. Since this began when Barack the Magnificent was still president the splash from this could throw a lot of mud and a lot of shit on a lot of very important people, ASSUMING of course that the Trump people are correct in their assertions. My inclination, for what that may be worth to you, is that the Trump people are mostly correct. Inherent dishonesty runs deep in the swamp. The power structure will do pretty much anything to protect itself.
Wouldn't it be fun if the report comes to the public record at about the same time the House is trying to make up its mind how far to push the Trump impeachment bullshit? The mudballs will be flying so fast and furious that nothing else will get any ink or air time for days or even weeks. Oh well, there are still reruns of Hill Street Blues and Peter Gunn on television.
The report by the Inspector General of the DOJ into the allegations of political abuse of the FISA court is now in the hands of the Attorney General, Bill Barr, and is very likely to be released in two weeks or less.
The Trump people have said practically since day one that that deep state Trump haters perpetrated a fraud on the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court, presenting material and documents that they presenters KNEW were bogus as verified fact, in order to establish a predicate cause to launch an investigation of the Trump campaign. Since this began when Barack the Magnificent was still president the splash from this could throw a lot of mud and a lot of shit on a lot of very important people, ASSUMING of course that the Trump people are correct in their assertions. My inclination, for what that may be worth to you, is that the Trump people are mostly correct. Inherent dishonesty runs deep in the swamp. The power structure will do pretty much anything to protect itself.
Wouldn't it be fun if the report comes to the public record at about the same time the House is trying to make up its mind how far to push the Trump impeachment bullshit? The mudballs will be flying so fast and furious that nothing else will get any ink or air time for days or even weeks. Oh well, there are still reruns of Hill Street Blues and Peter Gunn on television.
FIRST HE SAID GALVESTON COPS TREATED HIM WITH RESPECT, BUT 3 MONTHS LATER HE SAYS THEY DIDN’T
Donald Neely, subject of controversial Galveston arrest, speaks out about his experience
By Damali Keith
Fox 26 News
October 3, 2019
GALVESTON, Texas - The man who was arrested by Galveston Mounted Patrol officers in a controversial video is speaking out. Donald Neely has been homeless for three years and has been arrested by those officers before, but on August 3, 2019, Neely says he couldn't believe when the officers, who were on horseback, tied him to a rope and began walking him down the street.
Neely told me he has respect for authorities, but that day, he didn't feel the respect was reciprocated.
"It was kind of hot and sweaty. That didn’t make it no better," says Neely.
In the heat of summer, Neely was tied to a rope and walked down Market Street in Galveston as officers rode on horseback to take him to jail for trespassing.
"They paraded me down the strand with my hands handcuffed behind my back with a long rope," he said.
"Stay next to me, 'cause I'm going to drag you if not," you can hear one officer say in the video.
"I couldn’t believe I was walking down the street with two officers on a mounted horse and I’m in the middle with handcuffs on going to the patrol car," Neely said.
A family advocate says Neely suffers mental illness, is homeless and won't always agree to stay with loved ones, like his baby sister Taranette Neely.
"He’s been having it rough all his life. It's just bad. He never had a chance," says Taranette, who says she is devastated to see her brother treated with "no dignity, like a slave," or an animal.
"Disgusting. Just straight out disrespectful to humans," Taranette adds.
"There used to be an open-air slave market in Galveston. They would walk them down Market Street, the same street they walked him down to go to market to sell black men," says family friend Erin Toberman.
"How many children literally saw a picture out of a history book come to life?" asks Neely's attorney Julie Ketterman, who says they are planning to sue.
"Here’s a question: Would they have done that to me? No. Would they have done that to a business owner there? No. They would have waited that 10 minutes for transport," says Ketterman.
"Well, I had to suck it up, because the police officer has more authority," adds Neely.
Ketterman says she hopes the lawsuit will help get more respect for the mentally ill and a change in policy.
"This looks bad," one of the officers said in the video.
"He knew, he knew in his heart. He said it several times," says Ketterman.
"This is going to look so bad. I'm glad you're not embarrassed Mr. Neely," the officer says.
"But he (the officer) also felt he was in a position, if you listen to what he says, he was in a position where he couldn’t say no. So that needs to be addressed," says Ketterman.
"That should never happen again, getting paraded down the street by a horse to a squad car," says Neely.
The Galveston County Sheriff's Office has now finished it's investigation into the actions of the Galveston Police Department. The police chief says he will review the report and decide if changes are necessary.
By Damali Keith
Fox 26 News
October 3, 2019
GALVESTON, Texas - The man who was arrested by Galveston Mounted Patrol officers in a controversial video is speaking out. Donald Neely has been homeless for three years and has been arrested by those officers before, but on August 3, 2019, Neely says he couldn't believe when the officers, who were on horseback, tied him to a rope and began walking him down the street.
Neely told me he has respect for authorities, but that day, he didn't feel the respect was reciprocated.
"It was kind of hot and sweaty. That didn’t make it no better," says Neely.
In the heat of summer, Neely was tied to a rope and walked down Market Street in Galveston as officers rode on horseback to take him to jail for trespassing.
"They paraded me down the strand with my hands handcuffed behind my back with a long rope," he said.
"Stay next to me, 'cause I'm going to drag you if not," you can hear one officer say in the video.
"I couldn’t believe I was walking down the street with two officers on a mounted horse and I’m in the middle with handcuffs on going to the patrol car," Neely said.
A family advocate says Neely suffers mental illness, is homeless and won't always agree to stay with loved ones, like his baby sister Taranette Neely.
"He’s been having it rough all his life. It's just bad. He never had a chance," says Taranette, who says she is devastated to see her brother treated with "no dignity, like a slave," or an animal.
"Disgusting. Just straight out disrespectful to humans," Taranette adds.
"There used to be an open-air slave market in Galveston. They would walk them down Market Street, the same street they walked him down to go to market to sell black men," says family friend Erin Toberman.
"How many children literally saw a picture out of a history book come to life?" asks Neely's attorney Julie Ketterman, who says they are planning to sue.
"Here’s a question: Would they have done that to me? No. Would they have done that to a business owner there? No. They would have waited that 10 minutes for transport," says Ketterman.
"Well, I had to suck it up, because the police officer has more authority," adds Neely.
Ketterman says she hopes the lawsuit will help get more respect for the mentally ill and a change in policy.
"This looks bad," one of the officers said in the video.
"He knew, he knew in his heart. He said it several times," says Ketterman.
"This is going to look so bad. I'm glad you're not embarrassed Mr. Neely," the officer says.
"But he (the officer) also felt he was in a position, if you listen to what he says, he was in a position where he couldn’t say no. So that needs to be addressed," says Ketterman.
"That should never happen again, getting paraded down the street by a horse to a squad car," says Neely.
The Galveston County Sheriff's Office has now finished it's investigation into the actions of the Galveston Police Department. The police chief says he will review the report and decide if changes are necessary.
VICKERS CUNNINGHAM IS THE POSTER BOY FOR WHY JUDGES SHOULD NOT BE ELECTED
"Texas Seven" member Randy Halprin wins stay of execution amid claim of anti-Semitic judge
By Jolie McCullough
The Texas Tribune
October 4, 2019
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the execution of Randy Halprin on Friday, less than a week before he was to be put to death.
Halprin, one of the infamous "Texas Seven" — who were convicted in the 2000 murder of a police officer during a more than month-long prison escape — had recently argued that his trial was biased because his judge was "a racist and anti-Semitic bigot."
Halprin, who is Jewish, said in his latest appeal that former Judge Vickers Cunningham had described Halprin as “a fuckin’ Jew” and “goddamn kike” shortly after the trial. Cunningham also admitted to putting stipulations in his will that his children could only receive inheritance by marrying a straight, white Christian, as was first reported by The Dallas Morning News in 2018.
The Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas’ highest criminal court, stopped Halprin’s execution, set for next Thursday, and sent the case back to the Dallas County trial court for further review of the claims.
"A fair trial requires an impartial judge – and Mr. Halprin did not have a fair and neutral judge when his life was at stake," one of Halprin's attorneys, Tivon Schardl, said in a statement after the ruling. "We are very grateful the CCA has given Mr. Halprin the opportunity to seek a new trial, free of religious discrimination."
Cunningham did not immediately return requests for comment Friday afternoon. Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot, who did not file a response to Halprin's latest appeal, said Friday evening it was too early to determine what his office's next steps would be in the case.
Halprin, 42, was sentenced to death in 2003 in the high-profile murder of Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins on Christmas Eve 2000. Seven prisoners at a South Texas prison escaped more than a week earlier, and were robbing a sporting goods store when Hawkins arrived on scene. The 31-year-old officer was shot repeatedly and run over as the escapees fled. Halprin was found about a month later in an RV in Colorado with Larry Harper, who killed himself when police surrounded them. The other five were captured within a couple of days.
Halprin’s lawyers said in their filing they had recently learned about Cunningham’s anti-Semitic slurs, as well as calling some of his co-defendants “wetbacks.” They also claimed Cunningham said people of color would “go down” in his courtroom and that Jews “needed to be shut down.” The filings attributed the allegations to first-hand accounts. Cunningham has denied the bigoted comments in previous interviews with the Morning News.
Four of the other Texas Seven have already been executed — including at least one tried under Cunningham. Aside from Halprin, only one member, Patrick Murphy, remains alive, and he is set for execution in November. Murphy's scheduled execution in March was halted because the Texas Department of Criminal Justice would not allow a Buddhist spiritual adviser into the execution chamber with him.
Halprin’s was the second Texas execution stopped by different courts in two days. On Thursday, a Henderson County court withdrew the execution date of Randall Mays, set for Oct. 16, to review his mental competence.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Unless Cunningham made unfair rulings against the worthless piece of Jewish shit, I don’t see why his being a worthless piece of anti-Semitic shit should keep the state from carrying out a well-deserved execution.
Mays' attorneys say he suffers from delusions and thinks Texas wants to execute him over a renewable energy design he believes he created. He murdered two Henderson County sheriff’s deputies … let him take his invention to hell!
By Jolie McCullough
The Texas Tribune
October 4, 2019
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the execution of Randy Halprin on Friday, less than a week before he was to be put to death.
Halprin, one of the infamous "Texas Seven" — who were convicted in the 2000 murder of a police officer during a more than month-long prison escape — had recently argued that his trial was biased because his judge was "a racist and anti-Semitic bigot."
Halprin, who is Jewish, said in his latest appeal that former Judge Vickers Cunningham had described Halprin as “a fuckin’ Jew” and “goddamn kike” shortly after the trial. Cunningham also admitted to putting stipulations in his will that his children could only receive inheritance by marrying a straight, white Christian, as was first reported by The Dallas Morning News in 2018.
The Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas’ highest criminal court, stopped Halprin’s execution, set for next Thursday, and sent the case back to the Dallas County trial court for further review of the claims.
"A fair trial requires an impartial judge – and Mr. Halprin did not have a fair and neutral judge when his life was at stake," one of Halprin's attorneys, Tivon Schardl, said in a statement after the ruling. "We are very grateful the CCA has given Mr. Halprin the opportunity to seek a new trial, free of religious discrimination."
Cunningham did not immediately return requests for comment Friday afternoon. Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot, who did not file a response to Halprin's latest appeal, said Friday evening it was too early to determine what his office's next steps would be in the case.
Halprin, 42, was sentenced to death in 2003 in the high-profile murder of Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins on Christmas Eve 2000. Seven prisoners at a South Texas prison escaped more than a week earlier, and were robbing a sporting goods store when Hawkins arrived on scene. The 31-year-old officer was shot repeatedly and run over as the escapees fled. Halprin was found about a month later in an RV in Colorado with Larry Harper, who killed himself when police surrounded them. The other five were captured within a couple of days.
Halprin’s lawyers said in their filing they had recently learned about Cunningham’s anti-Semitic slurs, as well as calling some of his co-defendants “wetbacks.” They also claimed Cunningham said people of color would “go down” in his courtroom and that Jews “needed to be shut down.” The filings attributed the allegations to first-hand accounts. Cunningham has denied the bigoted comments in previous interviews with the Morning News.
Four of the other Texas Seven have already been executed — including at least one tried under Cunningham. Aside from Halprin, only one member, Patrick Murphy, remains alive, and he is set for execution in November. Murphy's scheduled execution in March was halted because the Texas Department of Criminal Justice would not allow a Buddhist spiritual adviser into the execution chamber with him.
Halprin’s was the second Texas execution stopped by different courts in two days. On Thursday, a Henderson County court withdrew the execution date of Randall Mays, set for Oct. 16, to review his mental competence.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Unless Cunningham made unfair rulings against the worthless piece of Jewish shit, I don’t see why his being a worthless piece of anti-Semitic shit should keep the state from carrying out a well-deserved execution.
Mays' attorneys say he suffers from delusions and thinks Texas wants to execute him over a renewable energy design he believes he created. He murdered two Henderson County sheriff’s deputies … let him take his invention to hell!
PREACHER CLAIMS IT’S HUNTING SEASON FOR THE YOUNG BLACK MAN AND WE’RE BEING GUNNED DOWN IN THE STREETS [BY WHITE COPS]
Ex-Officer Not Guilty of Manslaughter in Georgia Shooting
Associated Press
October 6, 2019
WOODBINE, Ga. (AP) — A former Georgia police officer who fatally shot a fleeing, unarmed black man was acquitted Saturday of voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.
The jury, however, found Zechariah Presley guilty of violating his oath of office in the 2018 shooting of Tony Green, 33, in coastal Camden County near the Georgia-Florida state line.
Presley was ordered to be jailed pending sentencing Oct. 18. He faces a prison term of one to five years.
Presley sat silently at the defense table. Green's relatives wiped away tears after the verdict was read.
Pastor Mack De'Von Knight, whose church Green attended, denounced the acquittals outside the courthouse, saying the evidence was "open and shut."
"He admitted that he killed Tony Green in cold blood," Knight said. "To me, it's hunting season for the young black man and we're being gunned down in the streets and there's no repercussions, there's no consequences for these officers."
Though Presley's body camera recorded his fatal encounter with Green, darkness and something covering the camera lens obscured the shooting and the moments leading up to it. That left the jury to weigh Presley's court testimony recalling what had occurred with a sometimes conflicting account by prosecutors and investigators.
Presley said he followed Green's car on the night of June 20, 2018, because he believed Green was driving with a suspended license. Dash camera video showed Green drive the car off the road, then open the door and run. He briefly returned to the vehicle to grab an unseen object, then fled again.
Presley chased Green on foot down a darkened street. A short struggle followed that's not visible on the video. The recording picked up the electrified clicking sound from Presley's Taser, followed by eight gunshots.
Another officer arrives afterward to find Presley lying on the ground. Presley says Green had been on top of him, trying to grab his Taser. Presley then says: "And then I was going for my gun, and he started taking off. And I fired."
An autopsy found Green was struck by eight bullets — one to his chest, the rest to his back and hips. Green also had small amounts of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and a tranquilizer in his system.
On the witness stand Wednesday, Presley added details he had not mentioned previously. He said he opened fire after Green turned back to face him and extended an arm, saying he feared Green had a gun. Investigators determined the object in his hand was a cellphone.
Presley's attorneys argued the shooting was justified because Presley believed his life was in danger.
"Tony Green was not shot because of misdemeanor offenses," defense attorney Adrienne Browning said in her closing argument Thursday. "He was shot because of bad decision after bad decision, until the threat was overwhelming and Zech feared for his life."
Prosecutors said jurors shouldn't believe the revised account of the shooting Presley gave in court.
"He made a fatal mistake and it was a mistake that cost a man his life," prosecutor Rocky Bridges said of Presley in his closing argument. "You don't have to like Tony Green. ... He ran from the police, not a good decision. But he was not armed. He did not turn on officer Presley. He did not deserve to die."
The shooting of a black man by a white officer sparked protests by Green's relatives and other black residents of Kingsland. They argued a manslaughter charge wasn't severe enough for Presley, who was fired after the shooting. The grand jury that indicted Presley rejected charging him with murder.
Associated Press
October 6, 2019
WOODBINE, Ga. (AP) — A former Georgia police officer who fatally shot a fleeing, unarmed black man was acquitted Saturday of voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.
The jury, however, found Zechariah Presley guilty of violating his oath of office in the 2018 shooting of Tony Green, 33, in coastal Camden County near the Georgia-Florida state line.
Presley was ordered to be jailed pending sentencing Oct. 18. He faces a prison term of one to five years.
Presley sat silently at the defense table. Green's relatives wiped away tears after the verdict was read.
Pastor Mack De'Von Knight, whose church Green attended, denounced the acquittals outside the courthouse, saying the evidence was "open and shut."
"He admitted that he killed Tony Green in cold blood," Knight said. "To me, it's hunting season for the young black man and we're being gunned down in the streets and there's no repercussions, there's no consequences for these officers."
Though Presley's body camera recorded his fatal encounter with Green, darkness and something covering the camera lens obscured the shooting and the moments leading up to it. That left the jury to weigh Presley's court testimony recalling what had occurred with a sometimes conflicting account by prosecutors and investigators.
Presley said he followed Green's car on the night of June 20, 2018, because he believed Green was driving with a suspended license. Dash camera video showed Green drive the car off the road, then open the door and run. He briefly returned to the vehicle to grab an unseen object, then fled again.
Presley chased Green on foot down a darkened street. A short struggle followed that's not visible on the video. The recording picked up the electrified clicking sound from Presley's Taser, followed by eight gunshots.
Another officer arrives afterward to find Presley lying on the ground. Presley says Green had been on top of him, trying to grab his Taser. Presley then says: "And then I was going for my gun, and he started taking off. And I fired."
An autopsy found Green was struck by eight bullets — one to his chest, the rest to his back and hips. Green also had small amounts of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and a tranquilizer in his system.
On the witness stand Wednesday, Presley added details he had not mentioned previously. He said he opened fire after Green turned back to face him and extended an arm, saying he feared Green had a gun. Investigators determined the object in his hand was a cellphone.
Presley's attorneys argued the shooting was justified because Presley believed his life was in danger.
"Tony Green was not shot because of misdemeanor offenses," defense attorney Adrienne Browning said in her closing argument Thursday. "He was shot because of bad decision after bad decision, until the threat was overwhelming and Zech feared for his life."
Prosecutors said jurors shouldn't believe the revised account of the shooting Presley gave in court.
"He made a fatal mistake and it was a mistake that cost a man his life," prosecutor Rocky Bridges said of Presley in his closing argument. "You don't have to like Tony Green. ... He ran from the police, not a good decision. But he was not armed. He did not turn on officer Presley. He did not deserve to die."
The shooting of a black man by a white officer sparked protests by Green's relatives and other black residents of Kingsland. They argued a manslaughter charge wasn't severe enough for Presley, who was fired after the shooting. The grand jury that indicted Presley rejected charging him with murder.
CAN A CANNABEER SOON HIT THE SHELVES IN US STORES?
Cannabeer on Sale in Mexico but Won't Get you High
Borderland Beat
October 5, 2019
After a long process for the Mexican authorities to approve the sale of Cannabeer, a beer with cannabis, the distribution of this curious alcoholic beverage in our country has already begun.
Angélica Gálvez, one of those responsible for the product is already available in Mexico, said in an interview with the newspaper Milenio that this beer had its origin in Valencia and said that it is necessary to end the prejudices that are around hemp and marijuana.
“Hemp is a seed known for the benefits it gives as high protein content, essential amino acids and having all three groups of omegas. I dare to say that beer is a healthy product , ” said Angelica.
Do not think that this drink will produce a "trip" but will only make you drunk. Cannabeer is one of the most popular brands of craft beer in Spain, so much so that in 2015 it received recognition for the best hemp product.
Cannabeer is a craft beer made with hemp seed and has no THC or CBD , cannabinoids present in marijuana, so it has no effect . The award winning brew is available at any special store, self-service or restaurants.
It is important to mention that marijuana and hemp are not the same , although both belong to the cannabis sativa species, but hemp usually has a higher concentration of CBD, or cannabinoids which is used for medicinal purposes , while marijuana does have high THC levels, a psychoactive ingredient.
“If you take five you will get drunk as with any beer, but it is for alcohol, not for hemp. It will not give you a psychoactive effect that we have stereotyped around the plant. The beer is currently cataloged to be sold as craft beer, not as a CBD product, ” Angelica said during the interview.
Borderland Beat
October 5, 2019
After a long process for the Mexican authorities to approve the sale of Cannabeer, a beer with cannabis, the distribution of this curious alcoholic beverage in our country has already begun.
Angélica Gálvez, one of those responsible for the product is already available in Mexico, said in an interview with the newspaper Milenio that this beer had its origin in Valencia and said that it is necessary to end the prejudices that are around hemp and marijuana.
“Hemp is a seed known for the benefits it gives as high protein content, essential amino acids and having all three groups of omegas. I dare to say that beer is a healthy product , ” said Angelica.
Do not think that this drink will produce a "trip" but will only make you drunk. Cannabeer is one of the most popular brands of craft beer in Spain, so much so that in 2015 it received recognition for the best hemp product.
Cannabeer is a craft beer made with hemp seed and has no THC or CBD , cannabinoids present in marijuana, so it has no effect . The award winning brew is available at any special store, self-service or restaurants.
It is important to mention that marijuana and hemp are not the same , although both belong to the cannabis sativa species, but hemp usually has a higher concentration of CBD, or cannabinoids which is used for medicinal purposes , while marijuana does have high THC levels, a psychoactive ingredient.
“If you take five you will get drunk as with any beer, but it is for alcohol, not for hemp. It will not give you a psychoactive effect that we have stereotyped around the plant. The beer is currently cataloged to be sold as craft beer, not as a CBD product, ” Angelica said during the interview.
THAT WILL TEACH HIM TO GET A LOUD ALARM CLOCK
21-year-old Florida juror jailed for oversleeping and missing trial
By Morgan Phillips
Fox News
October 5, 2019
A 21-year-old Florida man drew a 10-day jail sentence after he overslept and thus missed jury duty at a Palm Beach trial.
Deandre Somerville, 21, originally also faced a year of probation for sleeping in. On Friday his probation was reduced to three months, but he has also been ordered do perform community service, delivering brief speeches on the importance of jury duty each week.
Somerville explained he slept through his alarm and woke up hours later to realize he had missed jury service. He said he did not call the court to let them know what happened because he felt nervous, and he was in a rush to leave for his afternoon job working afterschool programs at the city’s parks and recreation department.
“At work, I was looking on my phone thinking, ‘What’s the worst-case scenario that could happen?’ I thought maybe I would get a fine or something like that,” Somerville said. A police officer showed up at the door of his grandparents' house, where he resides, bringing along a court summons.
“My grandfather said, ‘Just go in and be honest,’” said Somerville. “I’ve never had a criminal background, never been arrested, never been in handcuffs. The most I’ve ever gotten was a traffic ticket so I was thinking it wouldn’t be that bad.”
"I said, 'Sir, honestly I overslept and I didn't understand the seriousness of this.' He asked me if I had a criminal record. I said, 'Sir, I've never been arrested,'" Somerville told WPTV he had said at his court hearing.
The West Palm Beach judge was not happy, seemingly unimpressed, said the 21-year-old had held the court up by 45 minutes. Ultimately, an alternate juror was selected to take his place. Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes found Somerville in criminal contempt of court and sentenced him to 10 days in jail, 150 hours of community service and a $223 fine.
"Now I have a record," Somerville said. "I almost feel like a criminal now. Now, I have to explain this in every interview." He said he plans to go to school to become a firefighter.
After criticism, Judge Kastrenakes reduced Somerville’s sentence Friday. He’d already served the 10-day jail time and his letter of apology was accepted by the court. Instead of a year’s probation, Somerville will now serve three months, according to The Sun-Sentinel.
And instead of 150 hours of community service, he’ll serve 30, which includes his weekly speeches to new jurors on the importance of jury duty.
“Good people make bad mistakes, and this is a classic example,” Kastrenakes told The Sun-Sentinel. “Jury misconduct is a serious concern,” he added.
By Morgan Phillips
Fox News
October 5, 2019
A 21-year-old Florida man drew a 10-day jail sentence after he overslept and thus missed jury duty at a Palm Beach trial.
Deandre Somerville, 21, originally also faced a year of probation for sleeping in. On Friday his probation was reduced to three months, but he has also been ordered do perform community service, delivering brief speeches on the importance of jury duty each week.
Somerville explained he slept through his alarm and woke up hours later to realize he had missed jury service. He said he did not call the court to let them know what happened because he felt nervous, and he was in a rush to leave for his afternoon job working afterschool programs at the city’s parks and recreation department.
“At work, I was looking on my phone thinking, ‘What’s the worst-case scenario that could happen?’ I thought maybe I would get a fine or something like that,” Somerville said. A police officer showed up at the door of his grandparents' house, where he resides, bringing along a court summons.
“My grandfather said, ‘Just go in and be honest,’” said Somerville. “I’ve never had a criminal background, never been arrested, never been in handcuffs. The most I’ve ever gotten was a traffic ticket so I was thinking it wouldn’t be that bad.”
"I said, 'Sir, honestly I overslept and I didn't understand the seriousness of this.' He asked me if I had a criminal record. I said, 'Sir, I've never been arrested,'" Somerville told WPTV he had said at his court hearing.
The West Palm Beach judge was not happy, seemingly unimpressed, said the 21-year-old had held the court up by 45 minutes. Ultimately, an alternate juror was selected to take his place. Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes found Somerville in criminal contempt of court and sentenced him to 10 days in jail, 150 hours of community service and a $223 fine.
"Now I have a record," Somerville said. "I almost feel like a criminal now. Now, I have to explain this in every interview." He said he plans to go to school to become a firefighter.
After criticism, Judge Kastrenakes reduced Somerville’s sentence Friday. He’d already served the 10-day jail time and his letter of apology was accepted by the court. Instead of a year’s probation, Somerville will now serve three months, according to The Sun-Sentinel.
And instead of 150 hours of community service, he’ll serve 30, which includes his weekly speeches to new jurors on the importance of jury duty.
“Good people make bad mistakes, and this is a classic example,” Kastrenakes told The Sun-Sentinel. “Jury misconduct is a serious concern,” he added.
Sunday, October 06, 2019
OBAMA ON FACE OF EL CAPITAN
AOC wants a sculpture of President Barack Obama chiseled on the face of Yosemite’s El Capitan and wants to pay for it with a tax surcharge imposed on white people
The Unconventional Gazette
October 6, 2019
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, a member of the AOC squad, says that our first black president is the greatest president this nation ever had. She wants to change the sculptures on Mount Rushmore by replacing George Washington with Barack Obama.
Presley, who previously demanded the destruction of the Washington Monument and the renaming of our nation’s capital, says that a slave owner should not be honored in our country. “Washington owned 124 slaves and should be condemned, not honored,” she said. “One of the best ways to make things right is to remove him from Mount Rushmore and replace him with the great Barack Obama.”
AOC squad member Rashida Tlaib said, “Yes, get that motherfucker off of Mount Rushmore! Barack belongs up there, not that slave-owning motherfucker.”
Iljan Omar agreed, saying “Some of those 124 slaves probably came from Somalia, the country of my birth. It makes me sick to think that this country would honor a slave owner.”
AOC said, “Of course I agree with my sisters. Obama belongs on Mount Rushmore, not George Washington.”
When the AOC squad was informed by architectural engineers that it would be impossible to replace Washington with Obama, AOC came up with another plan. She is now proposing that a gigantic sculpture of Obama be chiseled on the face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. “I think having the face of President Obama covering the face of El Capitan would be an even greater honor than having him on Mount Rushmore,” she said.
Presley said, “While I am disappointed that we cannot remove Washington from Mount Rushmore, I think Alex’s plan is a wonderful proposal.”
“Let’s do both,” Tlaib said. “Let’s get that motherfucker off of Rushmore and let’s put President Obama on El Capitan.”
While architectural engineers said it could be done, they also said that chiseling a sculpture of Obama on the face of El Capitan would be almost cost prohibitive.
AOC said it would not be cost prohibitive because she would impose a surcharge on the income taxes of white Americans. “That surcharge would be a form of reparations for slavery that my sisters and I strongly favor,” she said.
House Democrats Elijah Cummings, Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, as well as senators Al Franken, Richard Durbin and Richard Blumenthal, quickly endorsed AOC’s proposal.
Republicans were quick to ridicule AOC’s proposal. “Both the Rushmore and El Capitan proposals are the craziest crap I’ve heard coming from the Democrats,” said Senator Ted Cruz. And Senator Marco Rubio said, “Talk about crazy, AOC’s proposal just about tops them all.”
President Trump made it clear that Obama does not deserve to be honored in any way. However, he said “After I’ve passed away, I would consider it a great and well-deserved honor to have a sculpture of me on the face of El Capitan. Yes, put me on El Capitan.”
Mitt Romney was quick to blast Trump. “Put Trump on El Capitan?” he said. “No, throw him off of El Capitan.” Romney’s blast came on the heels of Trump having called for his impeachment.
Chelsea Clinton, on a book tour with Hillary, said “If mom had been elected, it would have been great to see sculptures of my mom and dad flanking that of President Obama on El Capitan.”
As expected, preservationists were up in arms over destroying the face of El Capitan. The presidents of the National Park Service, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Preservation Action and the National Trust for Historic Preservation all denounced both Presley’s and AOC’s proposals.
Frank Dean, president of Yosemite Conservancy, said “Defacing El Capitan in any way, shape, or form would be dishonoring the 31 climbers who have died since 1905 while attempting to scale up the 3,000 feet of the granite wall.”
Except for Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic candidates were noncommittal on AOC’s proposal. Joe Biden said, “My focus right now is to make people aware that Trump is a lying, cheating, stealing, womanizing, racist and corrupt person who belongs in jail, not in the White House.”
O’Rourke said: “Since we cannot take Washington off of Mount Rushmore, J would give some of the assault weapons that I would confiscate if elected president and give them to the Park Service. Then I would let anyone who wants to shoot at Washington on Mount Rushmore do so with one of those confiscated guns under the supervision of a park ranger. I would charge $100 for every 10 rounds fired at Washington. That way the slave owner would be defaced, not honored.”
Tlaib thought O’Rourke’s plan was a good one too. “Shoot the motherfucker,” she said. When someone suggested Tlaib’s use of that obscenity was uncalled for, she replied “That’s how my Detroit constituents talk. So, shoot the motherfucking slave owner.”
Former President Obama said "I feel honored by both congresswomen's proposals. Other than that I have nothing further to say."
The Unconventional Gazette
October 6, 2019
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, a member of the AOC squad, says that our first black president is the greatest president this nation ever had. She wants to change the sculptures on Mount Rushmore by replacing George Washington with Barack Obama.
Presley, who previously demanded the destruction of the Washington Monument and the renaming of our nation’s capital, says that a slave owner should not be honored in our country. “Washington owned 124 slaves and should be condemned, not honored,” she said. “One of the best ways to make things right is to remove him from Mount Rushmore and replace him with the great Barack Obama.”
AOC squad member Rashida Tlaib said, “Yes, get that motherfucker off of Mount Rushmore! Barack belongs up there, not that slave-owning motherfucker.”
Iljan Omar agreed, saying “Some of those 124 slaves probably came from Somalia, the country of my birth. It makes me sick to think that this country would honor a slave owner.”
AOC said, “Of course I agree with my sisters. Obama belongs on Mount Rushmore, not George Washington.”
When the AOC squad was informed by architectural engineers that it would be impossible to replace Washington with Obama, AOC came up with another plan. She is now proposing that a gigantic sculpture of Obama be chiseled on the face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. “I think having the face of President Obama covering the face of El Capitan would be an even greater honor than having him on Mount Rushmore,” she said.
Presley said, “While I am disappointed that we cannot remove Washington from Mount Rushmore, I think Alex’s plan is a wonderful proposal.”
“Let’s do both,” Tlaib said. “Let’s get that motherfucker off of Rushmore and let’s put President Obama on El Capitan.”
While architectural engineers said it could be done, they also said that chiseling a sculpture of Obama on the face of El Capitan would be almost cost prohibitive.
AOC said it would not be cost prohibitive because she would impose a surcharge on the income taxes of white Americans. “That surcharge would be a form of reparations for slavery that my sisters and I strongly favor,” she said.
House Democrats Elijah Cummings, Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, as well as senators Al Franken, Richard Durbin and Richard Blumenthal, quickly endorsed AOC’s proposal.
Republicans were quick to ridicule AOC’s proposal. “Both the Rushmore and El Capitan proposals are the craziest crap I’ve heard coming from the Democrats,” said Senator Ted Cruz. And Senator Marco Rubio said, “Talk about crazy, AOC’s proposal just about tops them all.”
President Trump made it clear that Obama does not deserve to be honored in any way. However, he said “After I’ve passed away, I would consider it a great and well-deserved honor to have a sculpture of me on the face of El Capitan. Yes, put me on El Capitan.”
Mitt Romney was quick to blast Trump. “Put Trump on El Capitan?” he said. “No, throw him off of El Capitan.” Romney’s blast came on the heels of Trump having called for his impeachment.
Chelsea Clinton, on a book tour with Hillary, said “If mom had been elected, it would have been great to see sculptures of my mom and dad flanking that of President Obama on El Capitan.”
As expected, preservationists were up in arms over destroying the face of El Capitan. The presidents of the National Park Service, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Preservation Action and the National Trust for Historic Preservation all denounced both Presley’s and AOC’s proposals.
Frank Dean, president of Yosemite Conservancy, said “Defacing El Capitan in any way, shape, or form would be dishonoring the 31 climbers who have died since 1905 while attempting to scale up the 3,000 feet of the granite wall.”
Except for Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic candidates were noncommittal on AOC’s proposal. Joe Biden said, “My focus right now is to make people aware that Trump is a lying, cheating, stealing, womanizing, racist and corrupt person who belongs in jail, not in the White House.”
O’Rourke said: “Since we cannot take Washington off of Mount Rushmore, J would give some of the assault weapons that I would confiscate if elected president and give them to the Park Service. Then I would let anyone who wants to shoot at Washington on Mount Rushmore do so with one of those confiscated guns under the supervision of a park ranger. I would charge $100 for every 10 rounds fired at Washington. That way the slave owner would be defaced, not honored.”
Tlaib thought O’Rourke’s plan was a good one too. “Shoot the motherfucker,” she said. When someone suggested Tlaib’s use of that obscenity was uncalled for, she replied “That’s how my Detroit constituents talk. So, shoot the motherfucking slave owner.”
Former President Obama said "I feel honored by both congresswomen's proposals. Other than that I have nothing further to say."
TRUMP FURTHER TIGHTENS UP IMMIGRATION
by Bob Walsh
Two days ago President Trump signed an executive order which prohibits immigration by many people who can not clearly demonstrate that they will not become a medical burden on the taxpayers. This does not affect refugees but does affect people who are trying to enter the country on a standard visa who are the parents or spouses of persons who are already U S citizens. They have to demonstrate that they have or can quickly and effectively obtain insurance or have sufficient financial means to cover their own health care.
This new requirement kicks in November 3.
Two days ago President Trump signed an executive order which prohibits immigration by many people who can not clearly demonstrate that they will not become a medical burden on the taxpayers. This does not affect refugees but does affect people who are trying to enter the country on a standard visa who are the parents or spouses of persons who are already U S citizens. They have to demonstrate that they have or can quickly and effectively obtain insurance or have sufficient financial means to cover their own health care.
This new requirement kicks in November 3.
ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST IN THE COLLEGE CHEATING SCANDAL
by Bob Walsh
A Napa Valley wine maker is the latest to be sent up the river in the college admissions scandal. Augustin F. Hunneus, 53, paid both to have her SAT score "adjusted" and to get her into USC as a water polo player. He also gave a decent size "donation" to the college with promises of more to come. (I wonder if he is still on the hook for those?)
In any event he copped out early on and on Friday received an invitation to do five months as a guest of the people. That is the longest sentence handed out so far.
As one might expect this situation has resulted in numerous actions of the legislation to prevent this from happening again. That means, of course, that people will merely get more clever in how they arrange such things. One of the bills, which would have banned preferential treatment of donors or alumni rugrats now only requires that the schools inform the legislature (not the public, the legislature) of preferential admissions policies. But that's OK because it makes the legislature feel good, like they actually accomplished something.
A Napa Valley wine maker is the latest to be sent up the river in the college admissions scandal. Augustin F. Hunneus, 53, paid both to have her SAT score "adjusted" and to get her into USC as a water polo player. He also gave a decent size "donation" to the college with promises of more to come. (I wonder if he is still on the hook for those?)
In any event he copped out early on and on Friday received an invitation to do five months as a guest of the people. That is the longest sentence handed out so far.
As one might expect this situation has resulted in numerous actions of the legislation to prevent this from happening again. That means, of course, that people will merely get more clever in how they arrange such things. One of the bills, which would have banned preferential treatment of donors or alumni rugrats now only requires that the schools inform the legislature (not the public, the legislature) of preferential admissions policies. But that's OK because it makes the legislature feel good, like they actually accomplished something.
ACLU CLAIMS 5-YEAR-OLD GUATEMALAN GIRL WAS SEPARATED FROM HER FAMILY SO LONG SHE FORGOT HER NATIVE LANGUAGE
Lawsuit seeks damages and health services for migrant families separated by U.S.
By Camilo Montoya-Galvez
CBS News
October 4, 2019
A new lawsuit against current and former top Trump administration officials who oversaw and implemented policies that led to the separation of migrant families near the U.S.-Mexico border is seeking potentially millions of dollars in damages on behalf of thousands of parents and children.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is asking the U.S. district court in Arizona — a border state where many of the migrants were initially detained and separated — to award damages to thousands of migrant families who have been separated by the U.S. government since 2017. The group, arguably the administration's most formidable foe in court, is also seeking the creation of a fund to cover health services for families still traumatized by the separations.
"Although separated families can never be made whole, justice requires redress for their suffering. Plaintiffs now seek that justice for themselves and other families like them," the ACLU said in its lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday.
The ACLU named present and past high-ranking officials at the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Justice Department as defendants in the lawsuit. The organization accused them of violating the rights of migrants by depriving them of due process, failing to provide traumatized parents and children adequate health services and subjecting families to "punitive" treatment through often prolonged separations.
Although some detained migrant families were separated under previous administrations — mostly when officials determined the parents posed a danger to their children — the Trump administration utilized different tools, including the discontinued policy of "zero tolerance" that led to the criminal prosecutions of border-crossing parents, to systemically separate thousands of families in the span of months.
After massive public outcry, Judge Dana Sabraw U.S. District of Southern California ordered the administration in June 2018 to halt the controversial practice of forcibly separating detained migrant parents from their children. Sabraw decreed that families should not be separated "absent a determination that the parent is unfit or presents a danger to the child."
According to figures disclosed through litigation, more than 2,800 children were separated from their parents as of late 2018, while nearly 1,000 minors were separated after Sabraw's ruling. In its filing on Thursday, the ACLU said that more recent disclosures in litigation suggest that there are an additional 2,000 children who were separated that the government has not identified by name to the court.
Although it listed five families as the plaintiffs, the ACLU in its latest class action lawsuit asked for relief for all children and parents who were separated by the U.S. government since 2017.
The filing recounts the separation of a Guatemalan mother from her two young sons after they were apprehended in May 2018. Soon after their arrival at a Border Patrol detention center, the filing alleges, an officer approached the mother, telling her that her children "would be taken from her" and giving her five minutes to say goodbye.
"The boys began to cry uncontrollably and hugged (their mother) tight, desperate to stay with her," the lawsuit reads.
The family reunited seven weeks after they were separated and were granted asylum in May of this year. According to the ACLU, the family continues to suffer trauma as a result of the separation.
"The younger boy, struggles with being apart from his mother for even brief periods; he is often sad and cries much more than he previously did; and he can no longer sleep or bathe alone," the filing says. "(The older boy) shows his trauma by acting out in anger, anger that was uncharacteristic before the separation."
In another case featured in the lawsuit, a Guatemalan father spent five months separated from his five-year-old daughter, who lost her ability to speak and understand their native Mam, a language of Mayan origins. The two reunited in Guatemala — where the father had been deported — but the girl has since struggled to communicate with her mother, who only speaks Mam.
One mother who fled violence and threats of kidnapping in El Salvador was separated from her 15-year-old daughter for about 16 months. According to the ACLU, the mother and daughter sought asylum at port near Nogales, Arizona, in late 2017 and were detained for a few days until being separated on Christmas morning.
"(The mother) was given no opportunity to say goodbye to her daughter," the filing says.
According to the filing, the Salvadoran mother was erroneously told that asylum was no longer an option for adults from her country. Out of desperation, she consented to her removal in front of a judge in March and was deported soon after.
After more than a year apart, the family reunited in the U.S., where they are now seeking asylum. But the ACLU said the 15-year-old daughter now suffers from depression and anxiety — and at one point became suicidal.
"In a contemporaneous journal entry, (the daughter) wrote that even though she knew her mom loved her, she wanted to kill herself," the filing reads.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For all the liberals that are hyperventilating because of this lawsuit, here’s a reminder that the Obama administration also separated little children from their illegal immigrant families.
By Camilo Montoya-Galvez
CBS News
October 4, 2019
A new lawsuit against current and former top Trump administration officials who oversaw and implemented policies that led to the separation of migrant families near the U.S.-Mexico border is seeking potentially millions of dollars in damages on behalf of thousands of parents and children.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is asking the U.S. district court in Arizona — a border state where many of the migrants were initially detained and separated — to award damages to thousands of migrant families who have been separated by the U.S. government since 2017. The group, arguably the administration's most formidable foe in court, is also seeking the creation of a fund to cover health services for families still traumatized by the separations.
"Although separated families can never be made whole, justice requires redress for their suffering. Plaintiffs now seek that justice for themselves and other families like them," the ACLU said in its lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday.
The ACLU named present and past high-ranking officials at the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Justice Department as defendants in the lawsuit. The organization accused them of violating the rights of migrants by depriving them of due process, failing to provide traumatized parents and children adequate health services and subjecting families to "punitive" treatment through often prolonged separations.
Although some detained migrant families were separated under previous administrations — mostly when officials determined the parents posed a danger to their children — the Trump administration utilized different tools, including the discontinued policy of "zero tolerance" that led to the criminal prosecutions of border-crossing parents, to systemically separate thousands of families in the span of months.
After massive public outcry, Judge Dana Sabraw U.S. District of Southern California ordered the administration in June 2018 to halt the controversial practice of forcibly separating detained migrant parents from their children. Sabraw decreed that families should not be separated "absent a determination that the parent is unfit or presents a danger to the child."
According to figures disclosed through litigation, more than 2,800 children were separated from their parents as of late 2018, while nearly 1,000 minors were separated after Sabraw's ruling. In its filing on Thursday, the ACLU said that more recent disclosures in litigation suggest that there are an additional 2,000 children who were separated that the government has not identified by name to the court.
Although it listed five families as the plaintiffs, the ACLU in its latest class action lawsuit asked for relief for all children and parents who were separated by the U.S. government since 2017.
The filing recounts the separation of a Guatemalan mother from her two young sons after they were apprehended in May 2018. Soon after their arrival at a Border Patrol detention center, the filing alleges, an officer approached the mother, telling her that her children "would be taken from her" and giving her five minutes to say goodbye.
"The boys began to cry uncontrollably and hugged (their mother) tight, desperate to stay with her," the lawsuit reads.
The family reunited seven weeks after they were separated and were granted asylum in May of this year. According to the ACLU, the family continues to suffer trauma as a result of the separation.
"The younger boy, struggles with being apart from his mother for even brief periods; he is often sad and cries much more than he previously did; and he can no longer sleep or bathe alone," the filing says. "(The older boy) shows his trauma by acting out in anger, anger that was uncharacteristic before the separation."
In another case featured in the lawsuit, a Guatemalan father spent five months separated from his five-year-old daughter, who lost her ability to speak and understand their native Mam, a language of Mayan origins. The two reunited in Guatemala — where the father had been deported — but the girl has since struggled to communicate with her mother, who only speaks Mam.
One mother who fled violence and threats of kidnapping in El Salvador was separated from her 15-year-old daughter for about 16 months. According to the ACLU, the mother and daughter sought asylum at port near Nogales, Arizona, in late 2017 and were detained for a few days until being separated on Christmas morning.
"(The mother) was given no opportunity to say goodbye to her daughter," the filing says.
According to the filing, the Salvadoran mother was erroneously told that asylum was no longer an option for adults from her country. Out of desperation, she consented to her removal in front of a judge in March and was deported soon after.
After more than a year apart, the family reunited in the U.S., where they are now seeking asylum. But the ACLU said the 15-year-old daughter now suffers from depression and anxiety — and at one point became suicidal.
"In a contemporaneous journal entry, (the daughter) wrote that even though she knew her mom loved her, she wanted to kill herself," the filing reads.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For all the liberals that are hyperventilating because of this lawsuit, here’s a reminder that the Obama administration also separated little children from their illegal immigrant families.
ALLAHU AKBAR, I KILL ALL YOU CONNARDS
Paris police attacker had 'radical vision of Islam'
AFP
October 5, 2019
Paris -- A staffer at Paris police headquarters who stabbed four colleagues to death seems to have adhered to "a radical vision of Islam", anti-terror prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said Saturday.
The assailant, a 45-year-old computer expert, had been in contact with members of the "Salafist Islamist movement", Ricard told reporters.
The attacker "agreed with certain atrocities committed in the name of that religion" and defended the Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015, Ricard said.
He had also changed his attire in recent months and wished to no longer "have certain kinds of contact with women".
Three police officers and an administrative worker -- three men and a woman -- died in the frenzied 30-minute attack on Thursday at the police headquarters, a stone's throw from the Notre-Dame cathedral in the historic heart of Paris.
The assailant was eventually shot dead by police.
Two other people were injured in the Thursday lunchtime stabbing spree that sent shock waves through an embattled French police force already complaining of low morale.
Sources at the Paris prosecutor's office said on Friday the case had been passed to the anti-terrorist prosecutor's office PNAT after early enquiries suggested that the attacker, a convert to Islam, could have become radicalised.
The assailant, named as Mickael Harpon, was born on the French overseas territory of Martinique in the Caribbean.
Sources said he had worked in a section of the police service dedicated to collecting information on jihadist radicalisation.
AFP
October 5, 2019
Paris -- A staffer at Paris police headquarters who stabbed four colleagues to death seems to have adhered to "a radical vision of Islam", anti-terror prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said Saturday.
The assailant, a 45-year-old computer expert, had been in contact with members of the "Salafist Islamist movement", Ricard told reporters.
The attacker "agreed with certain atrocities committed in the name of that religion" and defended the Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015, Ricard said.
He had also changed his attire in recent months and wished to no longer "have certain kinds of contact with women".
Three police officers and an administrative worker -- three men and a woman -- died in the frenzied 30-minute attack on Thursday at the police headquarters, a stone's throw from the Notre-Dame cathedral in the historic heart of Paris.
The assailant was eventually shot dead by police.
Two other people were injured in the Thursday lunchtime stabbing spree that sent shock waves through an embattled French police force already complaining of low morale.
Sources at the Paris prosecutor's office said on Friday the case had been passed to the anti-terrorist prosecutor's office PNAT after early enquiries suggested that the attacker, a convert to Islam, could have become radicalised.
The assailant, named as Mickael Harpon, was born on the French overseas territory of Martinique in the Caribbean.
Sources said he had worked in a section of the police service dedicated to collecting information on jihadist radicalisation.
FEDS BUST MEXICO-TO-OREGON DRUG RING; 20 ARRESTED
The drug ring brought $15 million dollars’ worth of methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine to Portland from Mexico
KGW8
October 2, 2019
PORTLAND, Ore. — U.S. authorities said Wednesday they completed drug-trafficking busts in Oregon that involved an international network of couriers, dealers and stash-house operators who smuggled methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine worth about $15 million from Mexico to Portland.
Federal, state and local law enforcement conducted raids and arrested 20 people, U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said. Ten people were already in custody in the case, and 11, including the two suspected top leaders, remained at large after being indicted.
Mexican kingpins smuggled the drugs to two Oregon distributors, who then spread it to stash houses, dealers, couriers and money launderers, authorities said.
On Wednesday afternoon customers arrived at Tienda Mexicana Gonzalez Brothers in Southeast Portland to find it padlocked shut. The quick mart is closed because authorities say the owners were knowingly wiring drug money to Mexico.
Customers were baffled by the money laundering allegations. "They're friendly, nice people, they've always been nice to me", said customer Teresa Holmes. "It's a shock. I had no idea."
The operation “marks one of the largest takedowns of a drug trafficking organization in the history of the District of Oregon,” Williams said. “The very large quantities of drugs trafficked and the possession of firearms will subject many of these defendants to very long prison sentences - up to life.”
At one point, operatives in Portland were filling weekly orders from customers for more than 75 pounds (35 kilograms) of methamphetamine and 55 pounds (25 kilograms) of heroin, he said.
“This amounts to roughly 600,000 individual user doses,” Williams said.
The organization would routinely change the location of stash houses, rotate vehicles and phones, and pay individual couriers to take time off if they were nearing detection by law enforcement, the prosecutor said.
The operation is also accused of shipping guns back to Mexico for use by associates.
Court documents allege the operation involved a sophisticated money laundering scheme that worked out of a Mexican mini-mart in a rundown strip mall next to a marijuana retail store.
Couriers brought drug proceeds there to be wired in small amounts back to Mexico, with the knowledge and consent of its owners, Williams said. In that way, more than $1 million was laundered from drug proceeds in one year alone, he said.
Federal authorities credited the police department in Gresham, Oregon with first bringing the drug ring to their attention. From there, the investigation expanded and lasted more than a year.
Gresham Police Chief Robin Sells said her detectives first learned of the international drug ring through a confidential informant. She declined to provide further details.
KGW8
October 2, 2019
PORTLAND, Ore. — U.S. authorities said Wednesday they completed drug-trafficking busts in Oregon that involved an international network of couriers, dealers and stash-house operators who smuggled methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine worth about $15 million from Mexico to Portland.
Federal, state and local law enforcement conducted raids and arrested 20 people, U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said. Ten people were already in custody in the case, and 11, including the two suspected top leaders, remained at large after being indicted.
Mexican kingpins smuggled the drugs to two Oregon distributors, who then spread it to stash houses, dealers, couriers and money launderers, authorities said.
On Wednesday afternoon customers arrived at Tienda Mexicana Gonzalez Brothers in Southeast Portland to find it padlocked shut. The quick mart is closed because authorities say the owners were knowingly wiring drug money to Mexico.
Customers were baffled by the money laundering allegations. "They're friendly, nice people, they've always been nice to me", said customer Teresa Holmes. "It's a shock. I had no idea."
The operation “marks one of the largest takedowns of a drug trafficking organization in the history of the District of Oregon,” Williams said. “The very large quantities of drugs trafficked and the possession of firearms will subject many of these defendants to very long prison sentences - up to life.”
At one point, operatives in Portland were filling weekly orders from customers for more than 75 pounds (35 kilograms) of methamphetamine and 55 pounds (25 kilograms) of heroin, he said.
“This amounts to roughly 600,000 individual user doses,” Williams said.
The organization would routinely change the location of stash houses, rotate vehicles and phones, and pay individual couriers to take time off if they were nearing detection by law enforcement, the prosecutor said.
The operation is also accused of shipping guns back to Mexico for use by associates.
Court documents allege the operation involved a sophisticated money laundering scheme that worked out of a Mexican mini-mart in a rundown strip mall next to a marijuana retail store.
Couriers brought drug proceeds there to be wired in small amounts back to Mexico, with the knowledge and consent of its owners, Williams said. In that way, more than $1 million was laundered from drug proceeds in one year alone, he said.
Federal authorities credited the police department in Gresham, Oregon with first bringing the drug ring to their attention. From there, the investigation expanded and lasted more than a year.
Gresham Police Chief Robin Sells said her detectives first learned of the international drug ring through a confidential informant. She declined to provide further details.
WHEN KENYAN WANTED TO TAKE A LEAK, HE FOUND HIS DICK GONE
Kenyan Man Wakes Up to Find His Manhood Chopped Off by Friend
By John Wanjohi
Mwakilishi
October 4, 2019
A 51-year-old Kenyan man is currently hospitalized after his manhood was chopped off by a friend while asleep.
Moses Wanyoike from Kamahuha Village, Maragua, Murang’a County said he was shocked after finding his penis severed from his body when he woke up on Thursday morning.
Speaking to the media from his hospital bed, Wanyoike explained that he spent Wednesday night drinking alcohol with his friends at a local bar.
After the drinking spree, the victim said he followed his friend named Gerald Mbugua to his home at about 2 am.
“Throughout the journey, Mbugua kept on telling me that he would circumcise me for a second time. I treated his threat as a bad joke, blaming his statement on the excess alcohol that we had taken,” said Wanyoike.
It was until he woke up on Thursday morning and went to the toilet that he realized his genitals had been cut off. He immediately called another friend who rushed him to Murang’a Level 5 Hospital with the help of Kamahuha MCA Joseph Karanja.
"I found the man in a pool of blood and my first action was to put him in my vehicle and go with him to make a report at Kamahuha AP Camp.”
“ I blame the action on indulgence in illicit alcohol that could have led to the unfortunate incident as he was seen with the alleged assailant the previous night taking beer together at Kamahuha trading center,"said MCA Karanja.
The suspect, Mbugua had gone into hiding at the time and efforts to find the severed manhood was fruitless. Mbugua was later arrested from his hideout in Kamahuha.
Both the victim and the suspect are reportedly unmarried
EDITOR’S NOTE: And now Moses will most likely remain unmarried.
By John Wanjohi
Mwakilishi
October 4, 2019
A 51-year-old Kenyan man is currently hospitalized after his manhood was chopped off by a friend while asleep.
Moses Wanyoike from Kamahuha Village, Maragua, Murang’a County said he was shocked after finding his penis severed from his body when he woke up on Thursday morning.
Speaking to the media from his hospital bed, Wanyoike explained that he spent Wednesday night drinking alcohol with his friends at a local bar.
After the drinking spree, the victim said he followed his friend named Gerald Mbugua to his home at about 2 am.
“Throughout the journey, Mbugua kept on telling me that he would circumcise me for a second time. I treated his threat as a bad joke, blaming his statement on the excess alcohol that we had taken,” said Wanyoike.
It was until he woke up on Thursday morning and went to the toilet that he realized his genitals had been cut off. He immediately called another friend who rushed him to Murang’a Level 5 Hospital with the help of Kamahuha MCA Joseph Karanja.
"I found the man in a pool of blood and my first action was to put him in my vehicle and go with him to make a report at Kamahuha AP Camp.”
“ I blame the action on indulgence in illicit alcohol that could have led to the unfortunate incident as he was seen with the alleged assailant the previous night taking beer together at Kamahuha trading center,"said MCA Karanja.
The suspect, Mbugua had gone into hiding at the time and efforts to find the severed manhood was fruitless. Mbugua was later arrested from his hideout in Kamahuha.
Both the victim and the suspect are reportedly unmarried
EDITOR’S NOTE: And now Moses will most likely remain unmarried.
THEM OKIES MUST TEACH THEIR DOGS TO SHOOTWHEN THEY ARE STILL PUPPIES
Oklahoma woman in pickup shot in thigh by Labrador puppy
By Robert Gearty
Fox News
October 5, 2019
An Oklahoma woman underwent surgery after a dog shot her in the thigh in a pickup truck stopped at a railroad crossing.
The .22-caliber gun went off Thursday afternoon in Enid, Okla., when Molly, a yellow Labrador retriever puppy, jumped onto a back seat console, spooked by the passing train, according to news reports.
Passenger Tina Springer, 44, was expected to recover, KFOR-TV reported.
The driver of the pickup and the dog’s owner, Brent Parks, 79, called 911 to report the shooting.
“The dog shot her?” the 911 operator is heard asking Parks, according to a recording of the call obtained by the station.
“Yeah,” Parks responds. “He stepped on it and it went off.”
Later in the recording Springer is heard crying in pain, as Parks tells her, “Come off of it. You’re tougher than that. I know.”
Reports described Springer as Parks’ caretaker.
KFOR quoted police as saying the gun’s serial number had been scratched off.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The gun’s serial number had been scratched off? Somebody better cut Molly’s nails.
By Robert Gearty
Fox News
October 5, 2019
An Oklahoma woman underwent surgery after a dog shot her in the thigh in a pickup truck stopped at a railroad crossing.
The .22-caliber gun went off Thursday afternoon in Enid, Okla., when Molly, a yellow Labrador retriever puppy, jumped onto a back seat console, spooked by the passing train, according to news reports.
Passenger Tina Springer, 44, was expected to recover, KFOR-TV reported.
The driver of the pickup and the dog’s owner, Brent Parks, 79, called 911 to report the shooting.
“The dog shot her?” the 911 operator is heard asking Parks, according to a recording of the call obtained by the station.
“Yeah,” Parks responds. “He stepped on it and it went off.”
Later in the recording Springer is heard crying in pain, as Parks tells her, “Come off of it. You’re tougher than that. I know.”
Reports described Springer as Parks’ caretaker.
KFOR quoted police as saying the gun’s serial number had been scratched off.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The gun’s serial number had been scratched off? Somebody better cut Molly’s nails.
Saturday, October 05, 2019
THE WEIGHT OF THE BADGE
BY George Strait
[Verse 1]
It's gonna be a long one, another grave yard shift
As he says goodbye to his wife and kids
He spends his life just like his dad's
Driving away under the weight of the badge
[Verse 2]
He's seen it all in his fifteen years
Watchin' our backs, facing our fears
Lord knows it ain't no easy task
Keeping us safe under the weight of the badge
[Verse 3]
He swore that oath to protect and serve
Pours his heart and soul into both those words
Lays his life on the line
And the line he walks is razor-fine
Tempered strength is always tough
But he ain't gonna buckle under the weight of the badge
[Verse 4]
Not that long ago, he woke up in the hospital
With his wife and kids praying by his bed
He said, "I'm gonna be alright
There's just some times you gotta fight"
And the truth is, nothing truer could be said
I do it for us and I do it for them
And I ain't gonna buckle under the weight of the badge
[Verse 5]
It doesn't weigh a lot until you put it on
And the weight of it is staggering
Then duty calls each time
He knows he's gotta answer
And it's all in the hand of
The heavy weight of the badge
And he ain't gonna buckle
Under the weight of the badge
No, he ain't gonna buckle
Under the weight of the badge
DOZENS OF NYPD SIKH OFFICERS CAME TO HOUSTON TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS TO DEPUTY DHALIWAL
Thousands Remember Slain Texas Deputy As ‘Ambassador Of All That Is Good'
By St. John Barned-Smith and Dylan McGuinness
Houston Chronicle
October 4, 2019
HOUSTON — When he joined the Harris County Sheriff’s Office — and fought for the right to wear his turban and beard — Sandeep Dhaliwal became a trailblazer for Sikhs across North America.
NYPD Sgt. Gurvinder Singh, president of the Sikh Officers’ Association, first got to know Dhaliwal in 2016, after hearing about his mission to wear his articles of faith on duty.
“He was the motivation to a lot of guys here,” he said, standing inside the cavernous entrance of the Berry Center in northwest Houston on Wednesday, where he and dozens of other Sikhs from NYPD had traveled to pay their respects at Dhaliwal’s funeral.
Dhaliwal was shot to death Friday during a traffic stop. Robert Solis, 47, was arrested later that day and charged with murdering the deputy, a 42-year-old father of three.
The lawman’s effort inspired Sikhs in New York to fight for the same rights a year later, Singh said. “It’s a big part of us, our identity, to be able to wear our turban.”
They were among thousands of mourners that nearly filled the darkened Berry Center’s approximately 7,000-seat auditorium: everyday Houstonians, local Sikhs and innumerable law enforcement officers. Many wore blue to honor Dhaliwal. They flocked to Houston from every corner of Texas, from Louisiana, Florida, California and Canada.
They came to honor a man who became one of the most visible members of the Sikh community in North America, a gregarious unifier who mourners said embodied the ideals of tolerance, service and diversity prized by many Houstonians.
“Service to other human beings was center to his life,” said Hardam Singh Azad, the chairman of the Sikh National Center Gurdwara, who said Dhaliwal’s service left a mark on all who learned about it. “Even in his death, he has brought a tremendous sense of pride among Sikhs, Americans and people worldwide.”
Many in the Sikh community said Dhaliwal’s life was vital to young Sikhs growing up in Houston and across the country. The slain lawman led youth services at the temple and made an imprint on their lives.
“He was a hero to the younger generation,” Sartaj Singh Bal said before he walked into the memorial services.
Daljit and Rajbir Sra said Dhaliwal truly embodied what it means to be a Sikh.
“He made all of us feel so proud,” Rajbir Sra said, recounting how loving Dhaliwal was. “He doesn’t know hatred.”
The Sras said their faith calls on them to wish well-being for all people — even the man who ambushed Dhaliwal.
“No hatred, no revenge,” they said.
Dignitaries lauded Dhaliwal’s commitment to service and his kind nature.
“He was, and continues to be, the ambassador of all that is good, all that is just,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner, declaring Sept. 27, “Sheriff Deputy Dhaliwal Day.”
“This community and the entire state of Texas are better for having known him,” said Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz was one of several Texas politicians who attended the funeral, along with Turner, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Judge Lina Hidalgo, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, and County Commissioner Adrian Garcia.
“Houston is the most diverse big city in America,” Cruz said. “Deputy Dhaliwal embodied that diversity and he was an ambassador for understanding — understanding that we need today and everyday going forward.”
Hidalgo said Dhaliwal’s generous spirit opened doors with many he met.
“We will not let our community be fearful, because the opposite of love is not hate, but fear,” she said. “We will not live in fear of another tragedy, we will not close our doors or our hearts, but rather go forward together.”
The ceremony, which lasted several hours, included a Sikh “kirtan,” which includes communal singing and prayer, and a traditional law enforcement memorial, with speeches by state and local politicians and the pomp and rituals customary to such funerals, including a pipe and drum corps, the procession of a riderless horse, a final radio call, a three volley salute and a missing man flyover of three helicopters.
During the second portion of the service, former sheriff Adrian Garcia, who hired Dhaliwal and instituted the policy allowing Sikhs to serve in their traditional turban, spoke directly to the slain deputy’s father.
“All he wanted to do was make you proud. And he did so, beautifully,” said Garcia, now a county commissioner “When you were watching, when you couldn’t see him. He was carrying your heart, your values, your name, your respect, into this incredible community.”
Current Sheriff Ed Gonzalez added, “Sandeep has brought this entire community together, in a very powerful way, in a way only Sandeep could do.”
Even as they mourned Dhaliwal, members of the Sikh Coalition also urged military and police agencies across the country to follow the example of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and pass religious accommodation policies of their own. Only about 25 of 15,400 law enforcement agencies in the United States have the policies, the organization said.
“We believe no Sikh should have to face the impossible decision of choosing between their faith and public service,” the letters said. “Deputy Dhaliwal’s service has shown that Sikhs have proven their mettle and desire to serve on the front lines of law enforcement.”
Manpreet K. Singh, a Houston attorney and board member of the Sikh Coalition, said the requests were a natural way to honor Dhaliwal’s legacy.
“It’s something he wanted for his life and career,” she said. The message to those agencies without similar policies is: “You can have a Sandeep too, if you wanted.”
Others didn’t know Dhaliwal but were so touched by his story that they wanted to pay their respects. Huma Ahmed and Tentra Randolph, who work in the Fort Bend County attorney’s office, said that’s what brought them to the Berry Center .
“We had heard so many amazing things about him, we just wanted to honor him,” Ahmed said.
They cited the portions of the ceremony when local leaders challenged those in the audience to go out and make change, as Dhaliwal did.
“I think we were all reminded that we need to serve the way he did,” Ahmed said. “When (Turner) said that one life can make a difference, I think that’s when it really resonated to all of us just what his life was.”
Gurvinder Singh, the NYPD officer, said that he believed Dhaliwal’s life would inspire many other Sikh’s to join law enforcement and follow his example.
“Even though we lost an officer, you’re going to see a lot more Sikh officers out there, and serving their community,” he said.
By St. John Barned-Smith and Dylan McGuinness
Houston Chronicle
October 4, 2019
HOUSTON — When he joined the Harris County Sheriff’s Office — and fought for the right to wear his turban and beard — Sandeep Dhaliwal became a trailblazer for Sikhs across North America.
NYPD Sgt. Gurvinder Singh, president of the Sikh Officers’ Association, first got to know Dhaliwal in 2016, after hearing about his mission to wear his articles of faith on duty.
“He was the motivation to a lot of guys here,” he said, standing inside the cavernous entrance of the Berry Center in northwest Houston on Wednesday, where he and dozens of other Sikhs from NYPD had traveled to pay their respects at Dhaliwal’s funeral.
Dhaliwal was shot to death Friday during a traffic stop. Robert Solis, 47, was arrested later that day and charged with murdering the deputy, a 42-year-old father of three.
The lawman’s effort inspired Sikhs in New York to fight for the same rights a year later, Singh said. “It’s a big part of us, our identity, to be able to wear our turban.”
They were among thousands of mourners that nearly filled the darkened Berry Center’s approximately 7,000-seat auditorium: everyday Houstonians, local Sikhs and innumerable law enforcement officers. Many wore blue to honor Dhaliwal. They flocked to Houston from every corner of Texas, from Louisiana, Florida, California and Canada.
They came to honor a man who became one of the most visible members of the Sikh community in North America, a gregarious unifier who mourners said embodied the ideals of tolerance, service and diversity prized by many Houstonians.
“Service to other human beings was center to his life,” said Hardam Singh Azad, the chairman of the Sikh National Center Gurdwara, who said Dhaliwal’s service left a mark on all who learned about it. “Even in his death, he has brought a tremendous sense of pride among Sikhs, Americans and people worldwide.”
Many in the Sikh community said Dhaliwal’s life was vital to young Sikhs growing up in Houston and across the country. The slain lawman led youth services at the temple and made an imprint on their lives.
“He was a hero to the younger generation,” Sartaj Singh Bal said before he walked into the memorial services.
Daljit and Rajbir Sra said Dhaliwal truly embodied what it means to be a Sikh.
“He made all of us feel so proud,” Rajbir Sra said, recounting how loving Dhaliwal was. “He doesn’t know hatred.”
The Sras said their faith calls on them to wish well-being for all people — even the man who ambushed Dhaliwal.
“No hatred, no revenge,” they said.
Dignitaries lauded Dhaliwal’s commitment to service and his kind nature.
“He was, and continues to be, the ambassador of all that is good, all that is just,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner, declaring Sept. 27, “Sheriff Deputy Dhaliwal Day.”
“This community and the entire state of Texas are better for having known him,” said Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz was one of several Texas politicians who attended the funeral, along with Turner, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Judge Lina Hidalgo, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, and County Commissioner Adrian Garcia.
“Houston is the most diverse big city in America,” Cruz said. “Deputy Dhaliwal embodied that diversity and he was an ambassador for understanding — understanding that we need today and everyday going forward.”
Hidalgo said Dhaliwal’s generous spirit opened doors with many he met.
“We will not let our community be fearful, because the opposite of love is not hate, but fear,” she said. “We will not live in fear of another tragedy, we will not close our doors or our hearts, but rather go forward together.”
The ceremony, which lasted several hours, included a Sikh “kirtan,” which includes communal singing and prayer, and a traditional law enforcement memorial, with speeches by state and local politicians and the pomp and rituals customary to such funerals, including a pipe and drum corps, the procession of a riderless horse, a final radio call, a three volley salute and a missing man flyover of three helicopters.
During the second portion of the service, former sheriff Adrian Garcia, who hired Dhaliwal and instituted the policy allowing Sikhs to serve in their traditional turban, spoke directly to the slain deputy’s father.
“All he wanted to do was make you proud. And he did so, beautifully,” said Garcia, now a county commissioner “When you were watching, when you couldn’t see him. He was carrying your heart, your values, your name, your respect, into this incredible community.”
Current Sheriff Ed Gonzalez added, “Sandeep has brought this entire community together, in a very powerful way, in a way only Sandeep could do.”
Even as they mourned Dhaliwal, members of the Sikh Coalition also urged military and police agencies across the country to follow the example of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and pass religious accommodation policies of their own. Only about 25 of 15,400 law enforcement agencies in the United States have the policies, the organization said.
“We believe no Sikh should have to face the impossible decision of choosing between their faith and public service,” the letters said. “Deputy Dhaliwal’s service has shown that Sikhs have proven their mettle and desire to serve on the front lines of law enforcement.”
Manpreet K. Singh, a Houston attorney and board member of the Sikh Coalition, said the requests were a natural way to honor Dhaliwal’s legacy.
“It’s something he wanted for his life and career,” she said. The message to those agencies without similar policies is: “You can have a Sandeep too, if you wanted.”
Others didn’t know Dhaliwal but were so touched by his story that they wanted to pay their respects. Huma Ahmed and Tentra Randolph, who work in the Fort Bend County attorney’s office, said that’s what brought them to the Berry Center .
“We had heard so many amazing things about him, we just wanted to honor him,” Ahmed said.
They cited the portions of the ceremony when local leaders challenged those in the audience to go out and make change, as Dhaliwal did.
“I think we were all reminded that we need to serve the way he did,” Ahmed said. “When (Turner) said that one life can make a difference, I think that’s when it really resonated to all of us just what his life was.”
Gurvinder Singh, the NYPD officer, said that he believed Dhaliwal’s life would inspire many other Sikh’s to join law enforcement and follow his example.
“Even though we lost an officer, you’re going to see a lot more Sikh officers out there, and serving their community,” he said.
IF SHE WERE RUNNING, STORMY DANIELS WOULD BE THE MOST DECENT AND COMPETATIVE CANDIDATE AMONG THE CURRENT CROP OF DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
No Ukraine, no gain
by João Lemos Esteves
Israel Hayom
October 4, 2019
The United States of America is a powerful country with an extraordinary democratic system. Even in its darkest times, it has always been a beacon for the whole world, for all those who believe in freedom and individual political empowerment.
And democracy is not an easy game or an activity made to be funny or a pinnacle of good morals or courtesy; democracy is rather a confrontational civic forum through which people face and settle their healthy divergences of thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives.
Therefore, conflict in democracies (under the rule of law) is as an expression of civil society's mobilization and is something one should celebrate, not condemn or undervalue.
America is strong because its people are strong (as President Donald Trump often says) and keeps shining a bright light on our best democratic aspirations.
Having said this, the Democrats in Congress still do not understand the American people’s feelings and political aspirations.
Democracy needs a certain humility from political representatives and elected officials, whether they belong to the most politicized organs of the government or the most bureaucratic ones.
The impeachment proceedings launched by the Democrats as a consequence of Trump’s conversation with the Ukrainian president is just confirmation of the so-called "collusion delusion."
They wanted to impeach Trump because of an alleged secret conspiracy set up by the Republican campaign and the Kremlin's top personalities; then, they discovered Michael Cohen, who used to work for Donald Trump, and went on to start a new investigation regarding Trump’s alleged mistress; in between, the Democrats found Michael Avenatti – a Californian lawyer – who persuaded Stormy Daniels to go public and tell her stories about Trump (she even wrote a book and considered running for the Democratic nomination for president).
Democrats have all but lost their minds – this is not a biased or partisan assumption; it is a fact which is right in front of us. And the strangest thing of all is that Daniels could actually be the most decent and competitive Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, considering the real potential nominees.
Let’s face it: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are playing a real-life version of Peter and the Wolf – we are watching the Nancy/Chuck and the Wolf story live from Washington DC.
The wolf is the impeachment proceeding. The Democratic Party has been telling the American people and the whole world that they have so many things to tear Trump’s presidency down for the last years, that Trump is so corrupt that it will be incredibly easy to remove him from the Oval Office – and what have they accomplished? Absolutely nothing, in almost four years.
Russia Collusion? Nothing. After all, Robert Mueller absolved Trump and his team, after a process that, indeed, looked like a witch hunt. Stormy Daniels? Nothing. Michael Cohen? Nothing was proved. And the story goes on and on. It seems that the only wolf the Democrats are going to see is Trump’s reelection in November 2020.
Enough is enough – I bet all my money that even the most die-hard Democrats are totally fed up with this real-life fiction. Pelosi is trying to be the Cinderella of Schumer’s narrative. The Democrats live in a fantasy – it is as if Pelosi is walking in DC kicking a pumpkin in every corner to check if the pumpkin would transform itself into a carriage with a prince.
I must confess that I feel sympathy for Pelosi, Schumer, and the Democratic Party establishment because I used to live in a fantasy as well.
I used to believe that someday, out of the blue sky, I would kick a pumpkin, enter a carriage and marry supermodel Bar Refaeli.
But, you know what? I seriously doubt that my fantasy is going to become a reality. Therefore, I hope – and truly hope – that Pelosi and the Democrats are in the process of rediscovering their sense of reality.
The likelihood of their success in removing Trump from office is like my chances with Bar Refaeli: close to none (in my case, just because the beautiful Israeli model and entrepreneur is already married, of course; in their case, because the impeachment is absolutely baseless and on the eve of another election).
Trump – with an increased level of certainty, shown by the general sentiment of the American people – will continue to navigate the swamp in the years to come.
The truth is – contrary to the fantasy world told by The Washington Post or CNN – President Trump will be very welcomed by the whole world if he manages to drain the swamp in Washington and beyond.
Please, Democrats, stop telling the “Nancy and the Wolf” story – and start singing “America, the Beautiful” once again.
by João Lemos Esteves
Israel Hayom
October 4, 2019
The United States of America is a powerful country with an extraordinary democratic system. Even in its darkest times, it has always been a beacon for the whole world, for all those who believe in freedom and individual political empowerment.
And democracy is not an easy game or an activity made to be funny or a pinnacle of good morals or courtesy; democracy is rather a confrontational civic forum through which people face and settle their healthy divergences of thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives.
Therefore, conflict in democracies (under the rule of law) is as an expression of civil society's mobilization and is something one should celebrate, not condemn or undervalue.
America is strong because its people are strong (as President Donald Trump often says) and keeps shining a bright light on our best democratic aspirations.
Having said this, the Democrats in Congress still do not understand the American people’s feelings and political aspirations.
Democracy needs a certain humility from political representatives and elected officials, whether they belong to the most politicized organs of the government or the most bureaucratic ones.
The impeachment proceedings launched by the Democrats as a consequence of Trump’s conversation with the Ukrainian president is just confirmation of the so-called "collusion delusion."
They wanted to impeach Trump because of an alleged secret conspiracy set up by the Republican campaign and the Kremlin's top personalities; then, they discovered Michael Cohen, who used to work for Donald Trump, and went on to start a new investigation regarding Trump’s alleged mistress; in between, the Democrats found Michael Avenatti – a Californian lawyer – who persuaded Stormy Daniels to go public and tell her stories about Trump (she even wrote a book and considered running for the Democratic nomination for president).
Democrats have all but lost their minds – this is not a biased or partisan assumption; it is a fact which is right in front of us. And the strangest thing of all is that Daniels could actually be the most decent and competitive Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, considering the real potential nominees.
Let’s face it: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are playing a real-life version of Peter and the Wolf – we are watching the Nancy/Chuck and the Wolf story live from Washington DC.
The wolf is the impeachment proceeding. The Democratic Party has been telling the American people and the whole world that they have so many things to tear Trump’s presidency down for the last years, that Trump is so corrupt that it will be incredibly easy to remove him from the Oval Office – and what have they accomplished? Absolutely nothing, in almost four years.
Russia Collusion? Nothing. After all, Robert Mueller absolved Trump and his team, after a process that, indeed, looked like a witch hunt. Stormy Daniels? Nothing. Michael Cohen? Nothing was proved. And the story goes on and on. It seems that the only wolf the Democrats are going to see is Trump’s reelection in November 2020.
Enough is enough – I bet all my money that even the most die-hard Democrats are totally fed up with this real-life fiction. Pelosi is trying to be the Cinderella of Schumer’s narrative. The Democrats live in a fantasy – it is as if Pelosi is walking in DC kicking a pumpkin in every corner to check if the pumpkin would transform itself into a carriage with a prince.
I must confess that I feel sympathy for Pelosi, Schumer, and the Democratic Party establishment because I used to live in a fantasy as well.
I used to believe that someday, out of the blue sky, I would kick a pumpkin, enter a carriage and marry supermodel Bar Refaeli.
But, you know what? I seriously doubt that my fantasy is going to become a reality. Therefore, I hope – and truly hope – that Pelosi and the Democrats are in the process of rediscovering their sense of reality.
The likelihood of their success in removing Trump from office is like my chances with Bar Refaeli: close to none (in my case, just because the beautiful Israeli model and entrepreneur is already married, of course; in their case, because the impeachment is absolutely baseless and on the eve of another election).
Trump – with an increased level of certainty, shown by the general sentiment of the American people – will continue to navigate the swamp in the years to come.
The truth is – contrary to the fantasy world told by The Washington Post or CNN – President Trump will be very welcomed by the whole world if he manages to drain the swamp in Washington and beyond.
Please, Democrats, stop telling the “Nancy and the Wolf” story – and start singing “America, the Beautiful” once again.
WILL THE DEMOCRATS SCREAM BLOODY MURDER BECAUSE A 6-YEAR-OLD WILL BE SEPARATED FROM HIS MOTHER?
Mother Found With 65 Hidden Bundles Of Meth, And Her 6-Year-Old Son, In SUV, Border Patrol Says
LAPPL News Watch
October 4, 2019
Border Patrol agents arrested a 25-year-old mother Tuesday night at a freeway checkpoint in San Diego County after finding nearly 68 pounds of methamphetamine inside the SUV she was driving with her 6-year-old son inside, authorities said.
The woman, a Mexican citizen, pulled up to an Interstate 8 checkpoint in Pine Valley, east of San Diego, around 9 p.m. driving a 1999 Ford Expedition, Border Patrol officials said in a statement.
Agents at the checkpoint sent her to a secondary inspection area where a drug-sniffing dog zeroed in on the rear door of the SUV, authorities said. Agents searched the inside panels of the Expedition and a spare tire, turning up 65 bundles of crystal methamphetamine with a total weight of 67.68 pounds, authorities said.
Officials said the estimated street value of the drugs was more than $179,000.
LAPPL News Watch
October 4, 2019
Border Patrol agents arrested a 25-year-old mother Tuesday night at a freeway checkpoint in San Diego County after finding nearly 68 pounds of methamphetamine inside the SUV she was driving with her 6-year-old son inside, authorities said.
The woman, a Mexican citizen, pulled up to an Interstate 8 checkpoint in Pine Valley, east of San Diego, around 9 p.m. driving a 1999 Ford Expedition, Border Patrol officials said in a statement.
Agents at the checkpoint sent her to a secondary inspection area where a drug-sniffing dog zeroed in on the rear door of the SUV, authorities said. Agents searched the inside panels of the Expedition and a spare tire, turning up 65 bundles of crystal methamphetamine with a total weight of 67.68 pounds, authorities said.
Officials said the estimated street value of the drugs was more than $179,000.
SAN FRANCISCOCOPS PRAYING FOR THE RESIDENTS OF LOS ANGELES
San Francisco DA George Gascon quits post, eyes challenge to LA County DA Jackie Lacey
LAPPL News Watch
October 4, 2019
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon on Thursday announced his resignation and said he is moving to Los Angeles to explore a run for top prosecutor there.
The San Francisco Police Officers Association issued a statement regarding Gascon’s resignation:
“We are praying for the residents of Los Angeles hoping that George Gascon does not do to their city what he did to San Francisco during his tenure. We are happy he will be leaving San Francisco but feel horrible that he is taking his record of failure to an even larger county where he can cause even more harm to public safety. Good riddance.”
LAPPL News Watch
October 4, 2019
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon on Thursday announced his resignation and said he is moving to Los Angeles to explore a run for top prosecutor there.
The San Francisco Police Officers Association issued a statement regarding Gascon’s resignation:
“We are praying for the residents of Los Angeles hoping that George Gascon does not do to their city what he did to San Francisco during his tenure. We are happy he will be leaving San Francisco but feel horrible that he is taking his record of failure to an even larger county where he can cause even more harm to public safety. Good riddance.”
BECAUSE LIBERAL JEWS EMBRACE PROGRESSIVISM, THEY ARE LOSING THEIR JEWISH IDENTITY, LEAVING ONLY ULTRA-ORTHODOX JEWS IN AMERICA
American Jewry’s days of reckoning
by Caroline B. Glick
Israel Hayom
October 4, 2019
On September 29, President Donald Trump set out his nationalist political philosophy in his address before the UN General Assembly. Arguing that the nation-state is the best guarantor of human freedom and liberty, Trump set up a contrast between “patriots” and “globalists.”
“The future does not belong to globalists,” he said.
“The future belongs to patriots. The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations who protect their citizens, respect their neighbors, and honor the differences that make each country special and unique.”
Jewish nationalists, that is, Zionists, could hear their core convictions echoed in Trump’s statement. Israeli political philosopher Yoram Hazony made much the same argument in his book "The Virtue of Nationalism," which was published last year.
One of the regimes most opposed to nationalism is the Iranian regime. Iran’s leaders view the regime not as the government of the nation of Iran, but as the leader of a global jihad, which will end with the regime’s domination of the world, in the name of Islam – not Iran.
Anti-Semitism is one of the animating doctrines of Iran’s regime. The leaders ascribe to genocidal Jew-hatred. They use their commitment to annihilating Israel and war against the Jewish state as a means to build legitimacy for their regime and revolution throughout the Islamic world.
In his speech, Trump highlighted the regime’s anti-Semitism and its commitment to annihilate Israel.
Trump also excoriated the Arab world for refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist, saying, “Fanatics have long used hatred of Israel to distract from their own failures.”
Trump pledged, “America will never tolerate such anti-Semitic hate.”
Rather than earning him plaudits, American Jews were caustic in their response to Trump’s speech. Britain’s Independent reported that several American Jews condemned Trump’s speech as anti-Semitic. For instance, Laura Seay, a political science professor in Texas tweeted, “So … Trump condemns anti-Semitism in the same speech he started with anti-Semitic code language like 'globalism.'"
A couple of weeks before Trump delivered his address to the UN, the leaders of the Reform movement published a pre-Rosh Hashanah statement on the movement’s website. Rather than concern themselves with Jewish continuity or spiritual renewal, the statement was a long diatribe against Trump.
Among other things, they alleged, “Since taking office, President Trump’s words and actions have sowed division, spread fear, and expressed hateful views that go far beyond the legitimate expressions of policy differences that characterize healthy political debate.”
The question is, what has the Reform movement done for American Jews? According to a few hundred Jewish demonstrators who congregated outside New York City Hall on September 22, the answer is: Nothing.
The purpose of the demonstration was to demand that city officials take effective action to stem the rising wave of anti-Semitic attacks in the city.
According to a report published in May by the New York Police Department, from January through May of this year, New York City experienced an 83% rise in hate crime. 59% of hate crimes in the city are directed against Jews. And anti-Semitic attacks have risen 90% in the past year.
Among the participants, Morton Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America was the only leader of a major Jewish organization. Aside from two New York City councilmen, no Jewish politicians attended the event. New York Senator Charles Schumer wasn’t there. Neither were any of the Jewish representatives from New York.
The Union of Reform Judaism also didn’t send a representative.
It isn’t difficult to understand why almost every Jewish leader ignored the rally. The Jews under assault aren’t their sort of Jews. And the people attacking them aren’t their sort of anti-Semites.
The Jewish victims in New York are not Reform Jews. They are ultra-Orthodox Jews. And they don’t live in Manhattan. They live in Brooklyn.
Shortly after the NYPD released its hate crimes report, New York’s Mayor Bill De Blasio held a press conference in Brooklyn. There he insisted that the anti-Semitic assaults are the work of the far right. In his words, “I think the ideological movement that is anti-Semitic is the right-wing movement.”
He added, “I want to be very, very clear, the violent threat, the threat that is ideological is very much from the right.”
Unfortunately for De Blasio, there are no neo-Nazis in Crown Heights and Williamsburg. The perpetrators of the attacks against his city’s Jewish community are not Trump voters. They are his voters.
Most of the perpetrators are African Americans, and as such, like the Reform Jews, they are members in good standing of the progressive camp in American politics.
The liberal Jewish establishment in America is far more comfortable talking about neo-Nazis than black Jew anti-Semites. That is a large part of the reason that in its annual reports on anti-Semitic attacks in the United States in 2017 and 2018, the Anti-Defamation League tried hard to give the impression that most anti-Semitism in the U.S. emanates from the political right, and is inspired by President Trump. But the facts point to a different conclusion.
Last month the Amcha Initiative, which documents, investigates and combats anti-Semitism on college campuses, published its 2018 report on-campus anti-Semitism. The report revealed that classic anti-Semitic attacks – that is, right-wing anti-Semitic attacks – decreased 42%. In contrast, 2018 saw a 70% increase in leftist anti-Semitic attacks on campuses.
The report’s most alarming finding is that faculty members are playing a central role in propagating and inciting anti-Semitism on campuses by pushing academic boycotts of Israel. Their decisive role – and the fact that their actions are largely backed by university administrators – indicates that anti-Semitism has become institutionalized in American academia.
Rather than fight against this dangerous state of affairs, major Jewish groups have been diffident in their responses. While anti-Israel groups like J Street oppose legislative initiatives to penalize companies that boycott Israel, other liberal groups, like the ADL sit on the fence. They give lip service to anti-BDS laws while grousing incoherently that supporting the penalization of those who discriminate against Israeli Jews somehow breaches the First Amendment or otherwise causes undefined harm to the Jewish community.
The frustrating fact is that these liberal Jewish organizations could make a difference if they wished. If major Jewish groups, including the Reform movement, were to wage a serious, sustained campaign against U.S. academia’s institutionalization of anti-Semitism, liberal politicians would be doing much more than they have been to combat the phenomenon.
Notably, as they hem and haw, the same Trump administration which the liberal Jewish establishment regularly accuses of unleashing anti-Semitism is taking steps to curtail the scourge of academic Jew-hatred.
Last month, for instance, the Education Department sent warning letters to Duke University and to the University of North Carolina after they used federal funds to finance an anti-Semitic conference.
Which brings us to the ultra-Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn. The attacks against the Jews of Crown Heights, Williamsburg and Boro Part are serious and growing more frequent.
Jews walking down the streets are beset by assailants who call them “Dirty Jew” and beat them with sticks and fists. Jews are sideswiped with bricks. Jewish women are assaulted, their head coverings violently removed. Synagogues are vandalized.
The violence against the Jews of Brooklyn is reminiscent of the black community’s violent pogrom against the Jews of Crown Heights in 1991. In August 1991, more than 180 members of the Chabad community were injured in a three-day, four-night pogrom carried out by African and Caribbean American rioters. Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting student from Melbourne, Australia was brutally beaten and stabbed to death.
One of the main black leaders who incited the pogrom was Rev. Al Sharpton, the self-styled civil rights leader. Despite the fact that Sharpton never apologized for stirring up the mass violence against the Jews and then maintaining it for days after it first began, over the past decade, Sharpton has risen in stature in the Democratic party to the point where Democratic presidential hopefuls make pilgrimages to him in the hope of securing his endorsement. MSNBC gave him a show.
And, in recent months, as the Jews of Crown Heights again absorb blows from their African American neighbors, the Reform Jewish movement has joined Sharpton’s fan club.
On Rosh Hashana, the tony East Side Synagogue honored Sharpton at its service. In May, the Religious Action Center of the Reform movement held a conference in Washington, DC titled “Consultation on Conscience.” They invited Sharpton, whom they touted as a “civil rights leader” to speak.
Rosenbaum’s brother Norman Rosenbaum decried the RAC’s decision to invite Sharpton in an op-ed in the Washington Examiner. “Sharpton has never apologized or shown any remorse for his actions during the 1991 Crown Heights Pogrom,” he noted.
“How pathetic it is that the Religious Action Center’s conference is titled ‘Consultation on Conscience.’ That organization, in having Al Sharpton speak, only demonstrates that it has none,” he concluded.
The liberal Jewish leadership’s decision to pretend away progressive anti-Semitism is not unhinged. As a decade of survey data has shown conclusively, their communities are in a state of demographic collapse. With the lowest fertility rates in America, with the majority of non-Orthodox Jews intermarrying and with Jewish literacy at an all-time low, the liberal Jewish establishment seeks to retain its members by embracing their lowest common denominator. That commonality is not Judaism. It is progressivism. Whereas the 2013 Pew survey of American Jews showed that a mere 19% of American Jews believe that observing Jewish law is an essential part of what it means to be Jewish, 56% said working for justice and equality is an essential part of Judaism.
In light of the data, facing mass assimilation and a membership with an increasingly weak sense of Jewish identity, many non-Orthodox Jewish communities now conflate progressive politics with Jewish identity. By serving as a political outlet for their members, the apparent thinking goes, these non-Orthodox communities hope to retain their members.
The problem with this strategy is that with anti-Semitism rapidly becoming a major component of progressive politics, the more strongly liberal Jews embrace progressivism, the less capable they become of defending their Judaism – much less defending their fellow Jews who aren’t progressive. And if nothing changes in the trajectory of progressive politics, sooner rather than later, liberal Jews will be forced to abandon either their Jewish identity or their progressive identity.
For the American Jewish community to survive this clash, the leaders of the community need to begin fighting for their rights as Jews. Unfortunately, at present, there is little reason for optimism.
EDITOR’S NOTE: My dear departed wife of 64 years was not Jewish and though I am not an observant Jew, I am very proud of my Jewishness and will continue to identify myself as a Jew until the day I die.
Embracing that Jew-hating Al Sharpton. How sickening! It makes me want to puke. Damn those Trump-hating liberal Jews!
by Caroline B. Glick
Israel Hayom
October 4, 2019
On September 29, President Donald Trump set out his nationalist political philosophy in his address before the UN General Assembly. Arguing that the nation-state is the best guarantor of human freedom and liberty, Trump set up a contrast between “patriots” and “globalists.”
“The future does not belong to globalists,” he said.
“The future belongs to patriots. The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations who protect their citizens, respect their neighbors, and honor the differences that make each country special and unique.”
Jewish nationalists, that is, Zionists, could hear their core convictions echoed in Trump’s statement. Israeli political philosopher Yoram Hazony made much the same argument in his book "The Virtue of Nationalism," which was published last year.
One of the regimes most opposed to nationalism is the Iranian regime. Iran’s leaders view the regime not as the government of the nation of Iran, but as the leader of a global jihad, which will end with the regime’s domination of the world, in the name of Islam – not Iran.
Anti-Semitism is one of the animating doctrines of Iran’s regime. The leaders ascribe to genocidal Jew-hatred. They use their commitment to annihilating Israel and war against the Jewish state as a means to build legitimacy for their regime and revolution throughout the Islamic world.
In his speech, Trump highlighted the regime’s anti-Semitism and its commitment to annihilate Israel.
Trump also excoriated the Arab world for refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist, saying, “Fanatics have long used hatred of Israel to distract from their own failures.”
Trump pledged, “America will never tolerate such anti-Semitic hate.”
Rather than earning him plaudits, American Jews were caustic in their response to Trump’s speech. Britain’s Independent reported that several American Jews condemned Trump’s speech as anti-Semitic. For instance, Laura Seay, a political science professor in Texas tweeted, “So … Trump condemns anti-Semitism in the same speech he started with anti-Semitic code language like 'globalism.'"
A couple of weeks before Trump delivered his address to the UN, the leaders of the Reform movement published a pre-Rosh Hashanah statement on the movement’s website. Rather than concern themselves with Jewish continuity or spiritual renewal, the statement was a long diatribe against Trump.
Among other things, they alleged, “Since taking office, President Trump’s words and actions have sowed division, spread fear, and expressed hateful views that go far beyond the legitimate expressions of policy differences that characterize healthy political debate.”
The question is, what has the Reform movement done for American Jews? According to a few hundred Jewish demonstrators who congregated outside New York City Hall on September 22, the answer is: Nothing.
The purpose of the demonstration was to demand that city officials take effective action to stem the rising wave of anti-Semitic attacks in the city.
According to a report published in May by the New York Police Department, from January through May of this year, New York City experienced an 83% rise in hate crime. 59% of hate crimes in the city are directed against Jews. And anti-Semitic attacks have risen 90% in the past year.
Among the participants, Morton Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America was the only leader of a major Jewish organization. Aside from two New York City councilmen, no Jewish politicians attended the event. New York Senator Charles Schumer wasn’t there. Neither were any of the Jewish representatives from New York.
The Union of Reform Judaism also didn’t send a representative.
It isn’t difficult to understand why almost every Jewish leader ignored the rally. The Jews under assault aren’t their sort of Jews. And the people attacking them aren’t their sort of anti-Semites.
The Jewish victims in New York are not Reform Jews. They are ultra-Orthodox Jews. And they don’t live in Manhattan. They live in Brooklyn.
Shortly after the NYPD released its hate crimes report, New York’s Mayor Bill De Blasio held a press conference in Brooklyn. There he insisted that the anti-Semitic assaults are the work of the far right. In his words, “I think the ideological movement that is anti-Semitic is the right-wing movement.”
He added, “I want to be very, very clear, the violent threat, the threat that is ideological is very much from the right.”
Unfortunately for De Blasio, there are no neo-Nazis in Crown Heights and Williamsburg. The perpetrators of the attacks against his city’s Jewish community are not Trump voters. They are his voters.
Most of the perpetrators are African Americans, and as such, like the Reform Jews, they are members in good standing of the progressive camp in American politics.
The liberal Jewish establishment in America is far more comfortable talking about neo-Nazis than black Jew anti-Semites. That is a large part of the reason that in its annual reports on anti-Semitic attacks in the United States in 2017 and 2018, the Anti-Defamation League tried hard to give the impression that most anti-Semitism in the U.S. emanates from the political right, and is inspired by President Trump. But the facts point to a different conclusion.
Last month the Amcha Initiative, which documents, investigates and combats anti-Semitism on college campuses, published its 2018 report on-campus anti-Semitism. The report revealed that classic anti-Semitic attacks – that is, right-wing anti-Semitic attacks – decreased 42%. In contrast, 2018 saw a 70% increase in leftist anti-Semitic attacks on campuses.
The report’s most alarming finding is that faculty members are playing a central role in propagating and inciting anti-Semitism on campuses by pushing academic boycotts of Israel. Their decisive role – and the fact that their actions are largely backed by university administrators – indicates that anti-Semitism has become institutionalized in American academia.
Rather than fight against this dangerous state of affairs, major Jewish groups have been diffident in their responses. While anti-Israel groups like J Street oppose legislative initiatives to penalize companies that boycott Israel, other liberal groups, like the ADL sit on the fence. They give lip service to anti-BDS laws while grousing incoherently that supporting the penalization of those who discriminate against Israeli Jews somehow breaches the First Amendment or otherwise causes undefined harm to the Jewish community.
The frustrating fact is that these liberal Jewish organizations could make a difference if they wished. If major Jewish groups, including the Reform movement, were to wage a serious, sustained campaign against U.S. academia’s institutionalization of anti-Semitism, liberal politicians would be doing much more than they have been to combat the phenomenon.
Notably, as they hem and haw, the same Trump administration which the liberal Jewish establishment regularly accuses of unleashing anti-Semitism is taking steps to curtail the scourge of academic Jew-hatred.
Last month, for instance, the Education Department sent warning letters to Duke University and to the University of North Carolina after they used federal funds to finance an anti-Semitic conference.
Which brings us to the ultra-Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn. The attacks against the Jews of Crown Heights, Williamsburg and Boro Part are serious and growing more frequent.
Jews walking down the streets are beset by assailants who call them “Dirty Jew” and beat them with sticks and fists. Jews are sideswiped with bricks. Jewish women are assaulted, their head coverings violently removed. Synagogues are vandalized.
The violence against the Jews of Brooklyn is reminiscent of the black community’s violent pogrom against the Jews of Crown Heights in 1991. In August 1991, more than 180 members of the Chabad community were injured in a three-day, four-night pogrom carried out by African and Caribbean American rioters. Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting student from Melbourne, Australia was brutally beaten and stabbed to death.
One of the main black leaders who incited the pogrom was Rev. Al Sharpton, the self-styled civil rights leader. Despite the fact that Sharpton never apologized for stirring up the mass violence against the Jews and then maintaining it for days after it first began, over the past decade, Sharpton has risen in stature in the Democratic party to the point where Democratic presidential hopefuls make pilgrimages to him in the hope of securing his endorsement. MSNBC gave him a show.
And, in recent months, as the Jews of Crown Heights again absorb blows from their African American neighbors, the Reform Jewish movement has joined Sharpton’s fan club.
On Rosh Hashana, the tony East Side Synagogue honored Sharpton at its service. In May, the Religious Action Center of the Reform movement held a conference in Washington, DC titled “Consultation on Conscience.” They invited Sharpton, whom they touted as a “civil rights leader” to speak.
Rosenbaum’s brother Norman Rosenbaum decried the RAC’s decision to invite Sharpton in an op-ed in the Washington Examiner. “Sharpton has never apologized or shown any remorse for his actions during the 1991 Crown Heights Pogrom,” he noted.
“How pathetic it is that the Religious Action Center’s conference is titled ‘Consultation on Conscience.’ That organization, in having Al Sharpton speak, only demonstrates that it has none,” he concluded.
The liberal Jewish leadership’s decision to pretend away progressive anti-Semitism is not unhinged. As a decade of survey data has shown conclusively, their communities are in a state of demographic collapse. With the lowest fertility rates in America, with the majority of non-Orthodox Jews intermarrying and with Jewish literacy at an all-time low, the liberal Jewish establishment seeks to retain its members by embracing their lowest common denominator. That commonality is not Judaism. It is progressivism. Whereas the 2013 Pew survey of American Jews showed that a mere 19% of American Jews believe that observing Jewish law is an essential part of what it means to be Jewish, 56% said working for justice and equality is an essential part of Judaism.
In light of the data, facing mass assimilation and a membership with an increasingly weak sense of Jewish identity, many non-Orthodox Jewish communities now conflate progressive politics with Jewish identity. By serving as a political outlet for their members, the apparent thinking goes, these non-Orthodox communities hope to retain their members.
The problem with this strategy is that with anti-Semitism rapidly becoming a major component of progressive politics, the more strongly liberal Jews embrace progressivism, the less capable they become of defending their Judaism – much less defending their fellow Jews who aren’t progressive. And if nothing changes in the trajectory of progressive politics, sooner rather than later, liberal Jews will be forced to abandon either their Jewish identity or their progressive identity.
For the American Jewish community to survive this clash, the leaders of the community need to begin fighting for their rights as Jews. Unfortunately, at present, there is little reason for optimism.
EDITOR’S NOTE: My dear departed wife of 64 years was not Jewish and though I am not an observant Jew, I am very proud of my Jewishness and will continue to identify myself as a Jew until the day I die.
Embracing that Jew-hating Al Sharpton. How sickening! It makes me want to puke. Damn those Trump-hating liberal Jews!
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