Saturday, April 30, 2016

Reading Poems in Germany Is Now Verboten

Hat tip Gates of Vienna

Image result for gestapo


(When poem mocks Recep Tayyip Erdogan)


Thomas and Heinrich Mann must be rolling in their graves. Here we have a leader from the Pirate Party reading someone else's satirical and highly critical poem about Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Guess what happens in Angela Merkel's Germany. He has his microphone taken away by cops and is arrested! Watch what happens as this man is taken off to the Prinz Albrechtsrasse.* Gates of Vienna has the video with English sub-titles.



Dead Poets Society

* Prinz Albrechtstrasse:  The street in Berlin where Gestapo hqs was located.

Melissa Click (Mizzou) Has New Reason for Her Firing

Hat tip Campus Reform




"I was fired because I am white"



She's baaaack.

Yes, Melissa Click, the fired ex-former-once upon a time University of Missouri  communications professor who was never taught about the First Amendment, is still trying to get her job back (or a monster payout). She has pretty much run out of reasons why she tried to have a student reporter physically (calling for "some muscle") removed from a public protest on the campus of the public university and cursed at a campus cop trying to move a mob back at another protest. Thus, she has come up with another reason why her firing was wrong.

You see, the only reason they are picking on her is because she is white. Talk about a Hail Mary!

Hey! We need some muscle over here. Somebody take this woman away once and for all.


Warren G and the 7th Inning Retch

Image result for warren g harding
"....root root root for the Cubbies..."



The good news is that the Cubs won yesterday against the Braves at Wrigley Field.

Now for the bad news.



Yes, that was everyone's favorite rapper, Warren G (not Harding) "singing" Take me out to the ballgame during the 7th inning retch. Earlier, Warren G had opened up The Old Ballgame  by throwing out the first bitch.

There is a rumor going around that today's guest crooner will be none other than Steve Bartman.

Image result for steve bartman

"Take me out of the ballgame"

Friday, April 29, 2016

Daily Mail Coverage of the Costa Mesa Trump Event

Hat tip Daily Mail

One group of protesters was filmed trying to flip over a police car and arrests have been made outside outside the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa. A patrol car with a smashed window is pictured above
-Daily Mail



Last night, a riot broke out in Costa Mesa while Donald Trump was speaking. Realizing that the British paper Daily Mail is a tabloid, once again, they seem to provide more reporting on certain events and stories than we get in the US. The Trump rally and accompanying riot is an example. There are loads of pictures and many of them are disturbing. There was violence and some Trump supporters were attacked and bloodied.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3565010/Police-clash-protesters-outside-Donald-Trump-rally-California.html

As one who is married to a Mexican, it is saddening to me  that most of the miscreants were Hispanic. Granted, if I were of Mexican heritage, I would be offended by some of Trump's remarks on the illegal immigration issue. I would also protest. Nothing wrong in that. That is no excuse for what happened last night. I also found the display of so many Mexican flags insulting and offensive. This is not Mexico. This is the United States of America.  Of course, we don't know the actual nationality of those who acted out.

If these incidents continue, Trump is going to get a lot more support. We don't see these things happening at Hillary Clinton rallies. I object to a corrupt person like her becoming the next president, but I am not going to riot over it. I object to a total socialist like Bernie Sanders becoming president. I am not going to riot over it. I don't want Trump to win the Republican nomination either, but I am not going to riot over it.

Even more disturbing is a third person report from Miggie, one of my regular readers and a personal friend. Here is his comment.

"A good friend of mine told me that he was stuck in traffic near the event. As he was sitting there he wached the crowd. He said that one guy held up the ISIS flag and waived it around. He did this a number of times. He was amazed that in this crowd of thousands of presumably Americans, no one bothered him or even said anything to him. 

I don't know if they had the same America hatred or they didn't recognize the flag."


One of the reasons I went to the Daily Mail article is that there were so many photos. There is no mention of an ISIS flag, and I don't see any in the photos. This is an issue worth following. Hopefully, if it happened, someone got it on video or a photo.

Judicial Watch Gets Clinton Email Regarding Benghazi-2 Years Late

Hat tip Judicial Watch

                                                                                  "Hey, we just found one more."


Our State Department operates like a snail when it comes to turning over communications related to Hillary Clinton and Benghazi. Now Judicial Watch has belatedly received an email that DOS had originally withheld. Had this document been turned over in a timely manner, it would have divulged the existence of Hillary Clinton's private email server before she authorized the deletions of tens of thousands of emails.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/state-department-hid-key-clinton-benghazi-email-from-judicial-watch/

"It was one of my hardest choices."


Propaganda Drive Out of Dept.of Education

Hat tip Total Conservative

Amid all the textbook controversy in our schools (mostly 7th grade) that are teaching our kids a sugar-coated presentation of Islam, we now know that President Obama's Department of Education is feeding our schools material on what to teach. Total Conservative has a reaction.


http://totalconservative.com/department-of-education-confronts-anti-muslim-bias-in-schools/

Here  is more  from the Parent Herald regarding  the concerns of DOE.

http://www.parentherald.com/articles/39508/20160427/department-education-encourages-islam-
classrooms-stop-muslim-bullying.htm

Going to the source, I went to the DOE web site. The below link (after entering the search word, "Islam") brought up this page.

http://eric.ed.gov/?q=islam&ft=on

I also found this page interesting.

http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED419740

"This simulation allows students to learn about the history and culture of Islam and the Islamic world by "becoming" Muslims. There are five phases of the unit. Students are assigned to a city, choose an Arabic name, and become familiar with their group and responsibilities outlined in the Student Guide. In the introduction section, students take a pretest, read a short history of Islam, and learn about Muslim dress and customs. In the Caravan Days section, cities compete to answer quiz cards and collect Arabic money. Oasis Days gives time for students to complete several tasks required of every group in the simulation. In Festival Days each group presents its own festival project. The Islamic Bowl culminates the unit with each city providing contestants for a "college-bowl" type of activity. (EH)"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fousesquawk comment: I don't want to see any kids bullied in school, and that includes Muslim kids. Yet, I am unconvinced that this is a problem. All these so-called hate crimes that CAIR is always talking about are greatly exaggerated in my view. FBI crime statistics bear that out.

As for schools "educating" parents about their kids' bullying, this has been an issue ever since the days of the little red schoolhouse, one that transcends ethnicity or religion. Full disclosure: When I was a kid, I was bullied (until I learned to fight), and I was guilty of bullying myself with one particular student who was obese. (If I could ever find that person, I would beg his forgiveness.) Suffice to say, my kids know that bullying is wrong.

Our schools have a duty to teach facts-not misinformation. From the textbook controversy we already know that 7th grade kids all over the country are getting a distorted, politically correct version of Islam, one that is so misleading as to be false. I am not asking that schools trash Islam in the classroom. That would be grossly injurious to Muslim kids. But if they cannot present it accurately, they should leave it alone altogether.

And the Department of Education should stay out of it altogether as well. Local schools don't need federal guidance in this area.


Berkeley Hillel: No Friend to Israel

Hat tip Paul Schnee


The below article from the Jerusalem Post is troubling. Not just because it illustrates the failure of Hillel to fight all the pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel/anti-Semitic agitation on campus, but also the revelation that one of Bernie Sanders' closest aides was connected to Hillel while attending UC Berkeley. The below article maintains that Simone Zimmerman transition from being pro-Israel to being a strong foe of the Jewish state while attending UCB and frequenting Hillel.


http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Simone-Zimmerman-Pro-Israel-enthusiast-turned-anti-Israel-radical-452539

Hillel is a national organization dedicated to supporting Jewish student life on campus. Their chapters differ, but many have chosen to call themselves, "Open Hillel" meaning they welcome members who are hostile to Israel as well as supportive of Israel. My own experiences with Orange County Hillel have been mostly negative as I have found them unwilling to stand up to pro-Palestinian activism on campus.

This article about Berkeley Hillel is pretty much the final straw for me on Hillel. It also says something about Bernie Sanders, coupled with his recent statements on Israel/Palestinians-suspension or no suspension.

More on SJP From Carolyn Glick (Jerusalem Post)

Hat tip Campus Watch and Jerusalem Post


This week, I cross-posted an article  that showed connections between Students for Justice in Palestine and various other organizations at least indirectly connected to Hamas, a US State Department designated terrorist organization.

Carolyn Glick of the Jerusalem Post has added to that report with more details on SJP's connections.

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/15778

"Unfortunately, shortly after he entered office in 2009, President Barack Obama's then-attorney- general Eric Holder ordered the Department of Justice to stop investigating Islamist nonprofit groups. Accordingly, it is highly unlikely that any investigation will be conducted by federal agencies in the near future."

Indeed, rumors at the same claimed that the US Attorney's Office in Dallas, which has prosecuted the Holy Land Foundation trial, had superseding indictments ready to go against other major figures in the US when the Obama administration came into office and shut it down. Hopefully, the cases will be reopened if a Republican wins the White House.

Trump in Costa Mesa: Fights and Arrests

I was thinking that I should go to that Trump rally in Costa Mesa (Orange County) last night, but the NFL draft was on, so I decided to stay home and see who the Steelers drafted.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/04/29/at-least-20-arrested-following-violent-protests-after-southern-california-trump-rally.html?intcmp=hpbt2

Make no mistake: Every time something like this happens, Trump gets more support. The more radical the problem, the more radical the solution.

How Obama Wants to Let The Refugees in Through the back Door

It looks like the Obama administration and the State Department are conspiring with the UN to find alternative ways to in crease the number of Syrian refugees let into the US-no matter the risk.


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/04/29/us-weighing-under-radar-routes-for-syrian-refugees.html

For once it is up to Congress to get involved and fight this. Is this not why we elected Republicans to the House and Senate? Up to now they have done nothing to stop Obama's radical agenda. It is as if the Democrats still controlled both houses of Congress.

This is one large reason Donald Trump is getting so much support.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Loyola Marymount (LA) Employee Under Investigation For Hate Crime (Allegedly Said There are Only Two Genders)

Hat tip The College Fix

"Denying Transgenderism"

                              Law enforcement working hand in hand to stamp out denying transgenderism


It appears even LAPD has been called into Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles to assist LMU's Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT) after students complained that a university employee told them that there were only two genders-male and female.


I kid you not. The College Fix has made an inquiry with LMU and has a report.

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/27212/

So now expressing an opinion is  a hate crime to be investigated not only by BIRT but LAPD as well? Wow.

Cooperation between police agencies is essential I always say. It was a lesson I learned working in DEA. I might also say that I had many occasions to work with LAPD during my two tours of duty in Los Angeles.

I must confess, however, I never worked with BIRT.

                                                                              "BIRT!!!"

UC Davis Chancellor Put "On Leave"

Hat tip The Big Story and Squid


University of California President Janet Napolitano has placed UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi "on leave" in the wake of allegations into her "double dipping" and possible conflicts of interest.

http://bigstory.ap.org/urn:publicid:ap.org:f5556e589fa247d6b47cf305b3c49feb

Among all the issues mentioned in the linked article, we can add the appearance of swastikas on the campus twice in in 2015 along with other anti-Semitic incidents. This is indicative of a campus climate much in need of improvement.

Harvard's Center For Middle East Studies Crying Victim

Hat tip Campus Watch and Harvard Independent



Pity the poor academics at Harvard's Center for Middle East Studies (CMES). It seems like Rodney Dangerfield they don't get no respect. Winfield Myers of Campus Watch has an article on the inability of the CMES to get the professors they want. This is based an an op-ed appearing in the Harvard Independent.

Oh yes. The article in the Independent implies that it is those Jews who are responsible.

http://www.campus-watch.org/blog/2016/04/harvard-grad-student-claims-jewish-profs-sunk

Here is the original article in the Independent written by somebody named Aditya Agrawal.

"Sam alleges, in fact that there were several “well qualified tenure-track scholars” who were turned away despite the gaping vacancies. He admits to hearing “unsubstantiated claims” that one of the scholars may have been turned down because he was a Palestinian. “He expressed views disagreeing with Israel’s actions and one or more people on his committee were Jewish and did not agree with his views,” he says."

So let me make sure I have this right: "Sam" (whose true name cannot be divulged because he fears for his life-probably from the Mossad) heard unsubstantiated claims that one scholar may have been turned down because he was Palestinian and that one or more people on the committee were Jewish.

With evidence like that you couldn't put a dog in the pound.

Now let us deal with CMES itself. If you were to guess that this body benefits from Saudi funding and is another bastion of anti-Israel, anti-West, pro-Arab thought, you would be correct. Here is what Muslim reformist Stephen Schwartz had to say about CMES in American Thinker in 2012.  As you will see, CMES's benefactor is Alwaleed Bin Talal, the Saudi billionaire whose  check for 10 million dollars to New York City was rejected by then- mayor Rudy Giuliani because Bin Talal had essentially blamed the attack on our Middle East policies. It seems that our universities are not too proud to accept Bin Talal's millions.

Brown Shirts in Action at San Diego State

sdsu protest 428
-Fox News


 If you are wondering why San Diego State University's mascot is the Aztec, maybe now we have the answer. Last night, upset that David Horowitz's organization posted flyers on campus naming certain students who were allegedly engaged in bullying tactics while promoting the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli cause, and unsatisfied by the response of the university president, a mob of students surrounded the campus police car carrying said president and prevented it from leaving for over an hour.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/04/28/university-students-protest-over-flier-naming-anti-israel-campus-activists.html?intcmp=hplnws

Here is how the Daily Aztec reported the incident.

http://www.thedailyaztec.com/77662/news/77662/#comment-456289

Well, the little rascals may not have carried SDSU President Elliot Hirschman to the top of a pyramid and cut out his heart, but in the good old days, this action would have legally constituted  a form of false imprisonment.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=236-237

Of course, one wonders why the campus police didn't take swift action especially since it was their own cruiser that was carrying Mr Hirschman. Obviously, he ordered them not to.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

What Is Going on at Harvard Law?

Hat tip Pro-Israel Bay Bloggers




This month, former Israeli cabinet member Tzipi Livni spoke at the Harvard Law School. During the q and a, Husam el-Qoulaq, a third year law student insulted Ms Livni by asking, "Why are  you so smelly?" As it turns out, the offender is a former UC Berkeley student. Pro-Israel Bay Bloggers has more.

http://proisraelbaybloggers.blogspot.com/2016/04/husam-el-qoulaq-local-angle.html

Law prevents Harvard or any other school from making public any disciplinary action that might be taken against this young man. After the embarrassment this has caused Harvard Law School, one might hope he has been expelled, but I doubt it.

To be honest, I have participated in many campus q and a's, and I have generally been in opposition to the speaker. Off the top of my head, I think the harshest thing I ever said was to Amir Abdel Malik Ali when I told him that he was an anti-Semite and hated his own country. Never would it have occurred to me to say what this clown said to Ms Livni.

This incident brings to mind the 2010 disruption of the Israeli ambassador to the US' speech at UC Irvine in 2010. A couple of years later, four of those students returned to speak at UCI during the annual anti-Israel hoopla hosted by the Muslim Student Union. One of them, Osama Shabaik, had gone on to Harvard Law School. He actually boasted about being told by the dean that he had only noticed his application because he had listed the incident on the document. (The 11 students
were prosecuted and convicted .) Thus, he felt that it was a factor in his being accepted by Harvard Law.

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2013/04/irvine-11-arrogance-has-its-rewards.html

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2012/05/day-4-at-uc-irvine-hate-week-irvine-11.html

Anybody want to bet a beer that this El-Qoubaq guy  remains at Harvard?


John Kerry Says Don't Blame Muslims

Hat tip PJ Media


John Kerry has put on his kumbaya hat once again.  In a speech at Rice University, he took aim at those who speak critically of Islam in the face of the non-stop terror attacks and religious persecution going on around the world.


https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/2016/04/27/kerry-smearing-muslims-for-actions-of-a-few-is-like-blaming-all-christians-for-bosnia/


I don't blame all Muslims for the acts of ISIS, Al Quada or Boko Haram, nor do I smear Muslims in general, but the protestations of US Muslim leaders that the above don't represent Islam is drawn into serious question  by a careful study of the Koran, the hadith, and the life of Mohammad.

As for the anti-Semitism  and persecution of Christians, it is being done by Muslims. Is it not natural that many would draw negative conclusions about the ideology that is driving all this?  We don't have to smear all Muslims, nor should we, but we do have every right to critically examine the ideology that accounts  for so much hate and death around the world.

Finally, as we count up the number of Western Muslims who have joined ISIS or been arrested trying to, how many Western Muslims can Kerry name that have gone to the Middle East to fight against ISIS?

The answer as far as I know stands at zero.

Turkey's Slide

This article was first posted in Eagle Rising.

Image result for istanbul
Istanbul


As I follow events in the Middle East, I am often angered by the actions of Turkey, a country that is supposed to be our NATO ally, but which seems to be drifting off into some other camp under the leadership of their Islamist and anti-Semitic leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Not only has Turkey turned in a hostile direction toward Israel under Erdoğan, the Turks seem more interested in fighting the Kurds (who are their arch enemy) than helping the West fight ISIS. Turkey has not only served as a transit point for Western-based Muslims seeking to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq, but the country has been a transit point for tens of thousands of Middle East migrants, refugees, and terrorists headed to Europe. With friends like this, well, you know how the line goes. Of course Erdoğan and Obama get on quite well, but that doesn't qualify the former as a friend of the US.

I also view it with a touch of sadness. I visited Turkey twice during the 1980s while I was stationed in Milan, Italy with DEA. I had worked a case in Milan that resulted in the seizure of 15 kilos of heroin and the arrests of several Turks. As a result, my Italian counterparts and I traveled to Ankara and Istanbul to share the details of the case with our Turkish police counterparts in the hope of seeing additional arrests in Turkey. In fact, this first case and trip helped the Italian and Turkish police to establish direct ties between their respective law enforcement agencies, which was vitally important since Turkey was a major source country for heroin entering Italy at that time. My Italian counterpart eventually became Italy's first drug attache in Turkey a few years later.

Prior to leaving the first time, we were advised that the best way to make a positive impression on our Turkish hosts was to request a visit to the tomb of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , who was Turkey's national hero and founder of the Turkish Republic after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It was Atatürk who secularized the country, introduced the Latin alphabet to the Turkish language, and removed the veil from Turkish women. Accordingly, the Turkish police arranged an escorted tour of Atatürk's mausoleum in Ankara. (We repeated the process on our second visit as well a couple of years later.)

Our principle counterpart was Attila Aytek, the head of the National Police drug enforcement. He was no nonsense and a straight shooter whom we could trust. (The police in Istanbul were a somewhat different story.) Aytek had us all to his house for dinner one night. It was during Ramadan, and we had to wait until 8 pm before we could sit down to eat. They, also had to wait before they could smoke, so it was a smoky dinner table.

Turkish food was a delight, and so was the excellent Turkish beer, most notably Efes Pilzen, their top brand. I recall there was also a Tuborg brewery in Turkey and its product was better than the Tuborg in Denmark in my opinion. Though Turkey is a Muslim country, many Turks drink, and they are especially fond of Raki, a drink similar to the Greek Uzo.

At any rate, while Ankara was a drab city, Istanbul is one of the most fabulous cities I have ever visited. On our first visit, we stayed at the historic old Pera Palace Hotel, where Agatha Christie turned up at a time she was considered "missing." Turkey is also a great place for souvenirs, from great carpets to samovars. Istanbul's famed Covered  Bizarre is a place you could spend the whole day shopping for treasures.

Finally, the people were friendly, and I came to like them.

Under Erdoğan, however, Turkey is changing. He seems to be undoing many of  Atatürk's secular reforms and the country is getting caught up with the increasing radicalization within Islam. Whereas Turkey had a good relationship with Israel before Erdoğan, relations are now badly frayed. The Mavi Marvara boat incident in May 2010 off the coast of Gaza involved a Turkish boat and several Turkish fighters who were killed trying to sail through the Israeli Navy's embargo. Under pressure from Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Turkey. It should have been the other way around.

I used to tell Turks I met that I couldn't understand why the country wanted to join the European Union. Now I think they should not be admitted-at least until Erdoğan is gone. Hopefully, when that day comes, Turkey will return to the time when they were considered the ideal secular Muslim nation.




Tuesday, April 26, 2016

What are Students for Justice in Palestine's Foreign Connections?

Hat tip Barry

Bret Stephens has an interesting piece appearing in the Wall Street Journal which merits our attention. It concerns Students for Justice in Palestine, a growing national student organization that campaigns on college campuses agitating against Israel. The organization has been documented many times using tactics of intimidation against students who support Israel. 
In this piece, Stephens examines the possible connections between SJP and other organizations.
"Earlier this month, Harvard law student Husam El-Quolaq posed a question at a public conference to Tzipi Livni, the former Israeli foreign minister. “How is it that you are so smelly?” Mr. El-Quolaq wanted to know. “It’s regarding your odor—about the odor of Tzipi Livni, very smelly.”
Harvard went out of its way to try to keep the questioner’s identity a secret, including by deleting the comment from its video of the event—a privilege, one suspects, the school would not have afforded a student asking a similar question of a black speaker. And Mr. El-Quolaq, who is active in a Harvard affiliate of Students for Justice in Palestine, or SJP, later offered an anonymous apology “to anyone who felt offended.”
Yet the exchange is another reminder of the anti-Israel, and increasingly anti-Semitic, environment students now experience on American campuses. That’s the doing of several groups, including some nominally Jewish ones. But none is so prominent as SJP, which has more than 100 chapters nationwide and has been canny in pairing itself with left-wing or minority student organizations to sponsor anti-Israel events, heckle pro-Israel speakers, and agitate for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolutions on campus.
SJP’s self-declared goal is to end Israel’s “occupation and colonization of all Arab lands” while “promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.” That’s another way of saying destroying the Jewish state.
Yet as prominent as SJP and the wider BDS movement have become, less is known about the sources of their funding. That changed last week after testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Mr. Schanzer, a former Treasury Department official and terrorism-finance expert, notes in his testimony that a prominent backer of SJP and like-minded groups is an organization called American Muslims for Palestine, based in Palos Hills, Ill., and led by UC Berkeley lecturer Hatem Bazian, who also happens to be one of SJP’s founders. AMP claimed to have spent $100,000 on anti-Israel campus activities in 2014, including to SJP. An AMP conference that year at a Chicago Hyatt  invited participants to “come and navigate the fine line between legal activism and material support for terrorism.”
FDD discovered that many of AMP’s leading members were previously active in some dubious former charities. The most prominent, the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation For Relief and Development, was shut down in 2001 by the federal government for providing millions in funds to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas; five Holy Land officials eventually were convicted to prison terms and two others fled the country.
Today, AMP’s leaders include at least three Holy Land alumni. One of them is Milwaukee furniture salesman Salah Sarsour, who last year told Al Jazeera that an AMP conference he chaired “aims to keep up with and support the Palestinian people’s continuous intifada.”
According to a November 2001 FBI report, Mr. Sarsour’s brother Jamil confessed in 1998 to Israeli officials that “some of the members of the Islamic Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his brothers Salah and Imad are involved in raising money in the name of HLFRD that is actually for Hamas.” Mr. Sarsour spent time in Israeli prison for Hamas-related activities but has not been charged with a crime in the U.S. He did not return calls for comment.
Then there is the Islamic Association for Palestine, which in 2004 was found civilly liable in federal court for supporting Hamas and was disbanded in 2010. At least four former IAP senior leaders are currently active in AMP, including its national policy director, Osama Abu Irshaid.
In a phone interview, Mr. Abu Irshaid insisted that “IAP has nothing to do with AMP” and dismissed claims that IAP had ties to Hamas as “definitely baseless,” at least as far as he knew. “I can only testify to what I experienced,” he added carefully.
But the verdict in the Holy Land case noted donation checks from the early 1990s that “were made payable to the IAP but deposited into HLF’s bank account and on which the donors had written on the memo line ‘for Palestinian Mujahideen only.’ ” The court also described IAP as a “media entity” created by Mousa Abu Marzook, a senior Hamas leader who in 1995 was named a “specially designated terrorist” by the Treasury Department.
On Monday, I spoke to Mr. Bazian and asked him to address Mr. Schanzer’s specific claims. “This is about silencing any person or any group that speaks about Palestine,” he said, accusing Mr. Schanzer and the House Foreign Relations Committee of giving “McCarthyism a new lease on life.” As for the past ties of AMP’s leaders, he dismissed it as “guilt by association.”
Mr. Schanzer stressed in his testimony that FDD “had seen no evidence of illicit activity” by AMP, including raising money for foreign causes. And even unindicted co-conspirators in terror-sponsoring organizations have rights, including to assembly and speech.
Still, it’s worth thinking about who these people are and the politics they support. As Judge Richard Posner wrote in his 2008 decision upholding the judgment against IAP, “Anyone who knowingly contributes to the nonviolent wing of an organization that he knows to engage in terrorism is knowingly contributing to the organization’s terrorist activities.”
As Husam El-Quolaq might say, “very smelly.”'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fousesquawk Comments:

"On Monday, I spoke to Mr. Bazian and asked him to address Mr. Schanzer’s specific claims. “This is about silencing any person or any group that speaks about Palestine,” he said, accusing Mr. Schanzer and the House Foreign Relations Committee of giving “McCarthyism a new lease on life.” As for the past ties of AMP’s leaders, he dismissed it as “guilt by association.”

Or some might call it, "connecting the dots".

Connecting the dots always seems to bear fruit when examining these Islamic and anti-Israel activists. For example, the above article draws a link between SJP and American Muslims for Palestine, both co-founded by Hatem Bazian, a Palestinian-born activist who came from the West Bank to the US for his college education. During that time, he was an active agitator on US campuses against Israel and once called for an intifada in the US while speaking to a college crowd. He is now a professor at UC Berkeley and a co-founder of something called the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Center, which occupies a one-room broom closet at UCB.

The article also reports that the now disbanded Islamic Association for Palestine, which was connected to Hamas and the (convicted) Holy Land Foundation charities, has several former members now active with AMP.

Very smelly, indeed.



Another University Title IX Screw Up

Add Colorado State University at Pueblo to the growing list of universities trying to enforce the Obama administration's interpretation of Title IX when it comes to sexual assaults and sexual "assaults".

In this instance, we have a young man who had consensual sex with a young lady. No problem, right?

Read on.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/04/19/csu-pueblo-grant-neal-suspension-consensual-sex/

This is a classic example of why the universities are ill-equipped to deal with these issues. Instead of due process, we have kangaroo courts in which the male suspect or accused is presumed guilty at the outset.

California has recently passed a boffo ruling that says that a male student must get clear consent from the female for each step in the sexual process, from touching her breasts to actual penile penetration. I don't know if Colorado is similar, but it seems from the article that the critical point is where the young man initially penetrated the lady without a condom (then withdrew when she objected to his not having a condom). If that is sexual assault, it is time we all entered the monastery. Or maybe we need a team of lawyers present on both sides when we have sex.

I wish this young man well in his lawsuit.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Can Tennessee Lead the Way in Defunding Campus Diversity Offices?

Hat tip Deb

In what I consider an encouraging development, the Tennessee legislature  (both houses) has voted to bar the use of state funds for a diversity office at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Inside Higher Education has a report.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/22/both-houses-tennessee-legislature-vote-bar-use-state-funds-university-diversity

These diversity offices and cross cultural centers as well  are a waste of time and money. They sound great in theory, but in practice, they are centers where certain groups divide themselves from others. Diversity should come naturally and without anyone paying attention to it. As long as students and faculty think of themselves as human beings, Americans, and (UT) Volunteers, all else will fall into line. Start dividing yourselves into "victimized" tribes and nothing but conflict will follow. Currently, many of these centers are promoting the division between "Students of Color" and "Privileged whites".

For years now, I have watched the UC Irvine Cross Cultural Center used as a staging area for the Muslim Student Union and more recently, Students for Justice in Palestine to venture forth and disrupt Jewish pro-Israel events. The patio right outside the CCC has been requisitioned by the MSU for years as their prayer area. How can Jewish students feel comfortable there? 

Finally, I refuse to accept this myth that in the year 2016, non-white students do not feel welcome on a college campus. Quite the opposite. They are coddled and made to feel as if they are some kind of handicapped children who can't get by without diversity offices and cross cultural centers in order to find friends.

How racist is that?


  

Oberlin's Shame (Joy Karega and Her Supporters)

Hat tip Oberlin Review and Campus Watch


Ohio's Oberlin College was greatly embarrassed recently by the public rants of Professor
Joy Karega, an obvious anti-Semite who has gone public with her hate. Karega seems to think that all the world's misfortunes are the fault of the Eternal Jew.

Of course, one would think that Karega's statements would incur the wrath of her colleagues at Oberlin, who are always quick to denounce hate, right?

Wrong.

It seems that in contrast, Oberlin's academics and the Multicultural Resource Center have circled the wagons around Karega. In response, Professor Emeritus Sidney Rosenfeld has penned the below article in The Oberlin Review.


http://oberlinreview.org/10397/opinions/college-fails-to-address-antisemitism-on-campus/

Karega’s social media comments, while covered under the First Amendment, are outrageous and not worthy of any support beyond those First Amendment rights. I am not asking for Karega to be fired, but the entire campus community from administration to faculty to students to the Multicultural Resource Center should condemn her words.



Will There Soon Be a New Reinheitsgebot in Germany?

Hat tip Gary's German Beer Page


This week, Germany celebrated the 500th anniversary of the famed Bavarian Reinheitsgebot (Purity Law), which in 1516 specified that only three ingredients could be used in brewing beer- water, hops and malt (later amended to include yeast). This spread all over Germany and helped make German beer the best in the world.

Yet, with the current situation in Germany with the migrants, refugees, and illegal immigrants, most of whom are Muslim, many of whom are acting like they own the place, I wonder what the future holds for beer in Germany. I mean could Clausthaler become the biggest beer in Germany soon?

Or the only beer?


Sunday, April 24, 2016

Chalking vs. Graffiti

Hat tip The College Fix





Having just posted an article on graffiti problems at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where the alleged offender was arrested, now we switch to Georgetown University, which is dealing with a case of chalking (using chalk as opposed to spray paint).

 http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/27175/

So let's compare the two cases. Currently, there seems to be a minor wave of students at campuses around the country writing chalk messages supporting Donald Trump. That alone has officials and students in a tither. Such seems to be the case at Georgetown, where the messages said, "Trump 16", "Build the wall", and "Support Officer (Darren) Wilson".

First of all, there is a big difference between spray painting graffiti and writing something in chalk. With the latter, a little soap and water and it's all gone. At UC Irvine, where I have taught part-time since 1998, I see chalk messages all the time, usually things like messages on the sidewalk telling students the directions how and when to get to an event. It may be against the rules at some colleges, but it is hardly a crime.

With spray paint, on the other hand, somebody has to remove it, and you have to pay said person to perform the work, so it costs money to remove. There is nothing unreasonable about making it a misdemeanor.

As to the content. I argue that there is nothing "grossly obscene" about the Georgetown messages. You may not like Donald Trump, but he is a serious contender for the Republican nomination.  In spite of some inflammatory statements, I don't believe he is a racist. As for building a (border) wall, that is hardly obscene when a country has 12 million people in the country illegally. As for supporting ex-Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson, I certainly hope someone is supporting him. His career and his life have been ruined because he had to shoot a thug named Michael Brown, who was trying to take his gun from him.  In contrast, the young man arrested in Wisconsin wrote, "The Devil iz (sic) a white man".

I rest my case.

A Tale of Two Graffiti: University of Wisconsin

Hat tip College Insurrection and Badger Herald



"April 14, a graffiti artist — yes, an artist, not a vandal — was arrested in connection to 11 counts of graffiti and one count of disorderly conduct for harassing a bystander. "
-Badger Herald



This week, we have two stories in play at the University of Wisconsin at Madison which show the utter hypocrisy of college thinking.

Over the last few months, anti-white graffiti has been appearing on campus, and a suspect has now been arrested, a black male in this case. College Insurrection has the report.

http://collegeinsurrection.com/2016/04/will-university-of-wisconsin-madison-be-the-next-mizzou/


That has led to this op-ed running in this week's campus paper, the Badger Herald. According to the writer, the arrest is an outrage because the "artist" was protesting racism (by stating that "The Devil iz (sic) a white man").

https://badgerherald.com/opinion/2016/04/22/why-you-cant-arrest-someone-for-using-graffiti-to-protest/

Yet, the same issue of the Badger Herald is reporting other graffiti which is anti-Semitic and racist in nature. The article (rightly) contains all the requisite official condemnations.

https://badgerherald.com/news/2016/04/22/anti-semitic-graffiti-found-on-uw-campus/

First of all, spray painting graffiti on walls is vandalism. Somebody has to clean it up. In this case, the cost was $4,000. Secondly, to say, "The Devil iz a white man"  ( I always thought he was red.) is a form of racist hate speech in itself. Let's cut out the double standard. The campus op-ed is excusing hateful graffiti by a black person while the whole university is condemning graffiti by (presumably) a white person. Both acts are wrong. Hopefully, the perpetrator(s) of the anti-Semitic graffiti will be arrested as well.

I try to go easy on student journalists, but at some point, dumb thinking has to be challenged. Hopefully, some day in the future, this young journalist will look back and think, "How could I have been so dumb?". On the other hand, he may be righting the same gibberish for the New York Times.