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Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Hillary Clinton in Retirement

It is the year 2038. Hillary Clinton, now 90 and living alone in her Chappaqua estate, sits in her trophy room surrounded by mementos of her career in public service while contemplating another run for the presidency. The wall pictured above represents those who she blames for her loss to Donald Trump in 2016, among others, Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, James Comey, Hopalong Cassidy, and Buster Keaton.

It's been 15 years since she gave her last interview. It's been that long since anybody asked. Still, she clings to hope that the DNC will call and beg her to run for president again. Every day she waits for her cell phone to ring, checks her emails, erases them, and thinks of some new person to blame for it all.

She has thought about writing another book about her life, but then again, nothing's happened in the last 20 years. What could she write about-her last glass of chardonnay?

So she waits-still hoping to become the nation's first female president, and waits...and waits.....

Alternatif fuer Deutschland Speaks Truth to Parliament

Hat tip Gates of Vienna


Last Friday in the parliament of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, Robert Farle, a representative of Alternatif fuer Deutschland, the anti-migrant party, spoke plain facts about the insane immigration policy that is wrecking Germany. Mr Farle drew objections from people who didn't like the words and even the tone of his voice.






Jihad in Philly?

Hat tip Jihad Watch and Gates of Vienna

                                                                                      "Allahu Akhbar, by Jove."



Last night, a 31-year-old driver named Khalil Lawal of Arlington, Virginia was shot to death during a struggle with police in Philadelphi after he tried to run down someone with his car. Police are "not ruling out terror" as a motive. Jihad Watch reports that Lawal belonged to an Islamic group.

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/01/philadelphia-driver-who-tried-to-hit-pedestrian-then-attacked-officer-identified-as-muslim-named-khalil-lawal

Stay tuned.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

The FBI in Turmoil

This article first appeared in The Times of Israel Blogs.



With the myriad of investigations going on in Washington, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, America’s most famous law enforcement agency, is in turmoil. Charges are flying that the agency used a questionable “Russian dossier”, conducted by a former British intelligent agent, to obtain a FISA warrant against at least one member of the Trump campaign team. A FISA warrant is commonly used in national security/spying cases where the investigating agency would prefer not to obtain a warrant for electronic surveillance through the regular federal courts (in order to protect sensitive information).Supporters of President Trump are charging that the FBI abused the FISA court to spy on Americans for political purposes (namely, to support the candidacy of Hillary Clinton). To date, no evidence has turned up to incriminate Trump in colluding with the Russians.
At the same time, the former director of the FBI, James Comey, is still under fire for the bureau’s decision not to recommend prosecution of Hillary Clinton over her email scandal. It


has Image result for james comey
been revealed that Comey was drafting his exoneration report on Clinton long before the investigation was complete and before she was interviewed. The interview itself has raised eyebrows seemingly forgetting normal procedures when interviewing the target of an investigation.
Moreover, released emails between two officials involved in the investigation, Peter Strzok and his colleague (and paramour) Lisa Page, indicate that the top brass at FBI knew Clinton was not going to be indicted. The messages also suggested not only a strong dislike for candidate Trump but a determination to do what they could to keep him out of the White House. Strzok played a role in the drafting and changing of language in Comey’s exoneration statement. One of the key changes in the re-drafting was taking out the statement that Mrs. Clinton was “grossly negligent”. It was changed to “extremely careless.” It just so happens that “grossly negligent” is the language used in the relevant statute that pertained to Mrs Clinton’s misuse of sensitive and classified email communications. Strzok also was the one who interviewed former Trump national security adviser, Michael Flynn, in the White House. Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Just this week, the asst. director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, who was also known to be involved with the investigations, stepped down and took unused vacation and sick leave prior to becoming eligible for retirement in March.
As I write, the Republicans in the House Intelligence Committee are about to release a 4-page document, which was drafted by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), which severely damns the actions of the intelligence services (presumably including the FBI) in investigating Trump. How much this will impact the investigation and credibility of Special Counsel Robert Mueller into the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence operatives in trying to impact the 2018 election remains to be seen. Remember that Mueller was head of the FBI when the agency was actively investigating Russian attempts to purchase American uranium. We now know that the same people who were behind the (approved sale) of 20% of American uranium to Russian interests gave over $100,000 million to the Clinton Foundation. Secretary of State Clinton was one of 9 agency heads who signed off on the sale. In addition, Bill Clinton received some $500,000 to give a speech in Moscow on behalf of the same people. Peter Schweizer’s book, “Clinton Cash”, lays it all out.
Now, Muller, who is a close friend and former FBI colleague of Comey, is in charge of the investigation into Trump. Some charge that he has a conflict of interest since Comey is a prime witness in the case.
In short, it’s a mess. When all the facts come to light, it’s a safe bet that the reputation of the FBI is going to take a huge hit. The same can be said for the Department of Justice, which oversees the FBI, a couple of former attorneys general, and quite possibly, the current Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Full disclosure: I am a retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent (DEA). In fact, for 5 1/2 years, I worked as an instructor at DEA’s Office of Training when it was co-located within the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. We DEA agents had our share of issues with the FBI when they were given co-jurisdiction to work drug cases. But that is water under the bridge. The point I want to make here is that I fully support the FBI’s work in counter terrorism, and I think they are doing a good job though political correctness under the Obama administration negatively impacted the type of training materials they could utilize when it came to Islamic terrorism. Here is the point: Whatever comes out about the FBI’s actions in these current scandals regarding President Trump and Hillary Clinton, it does not affect the way I feel about the rank and file agents. It is the political corruption at the very top that needs to be fully investigated, and if appropriate, cleansed. I am sure that the agents out there in the field, no matter their personal feelings about Trump or Mrs. Clinton, are just as concerned as I.

Monday, January 29, 2018

LA High School Teacher's Outburst

This is one of the worst classroom rants by a teacher/professor that I have heard of. Gregory Salcido, a teacher at El Rancho High School near Los Angeles (and city councilman in Pico Rivera also near Los Angeles) took exception to a student wearing a Marine Corps shirt in his class. He then set off an a vulgar rant against people in the military. Fortunately, the student who was the target of his wrath began to record the rant on his cell phone.

Below are three news report on the incident.


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/28/california-teacher-slams-military-members-as-lowest-low-in-classroom-rant-caught-on-video.html

https://www.whittierdailynews.com/2018/01/27/pico-rivera-councilman-and-el-rancho-high-teacher-gregory-salcido-caught-on-tape-degrading-military/

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/01/29/student-who-triggered-military-hating-california-teacher-gives-his-side-story.html

Mr Salcido has his right to say what he thinks about the military. Nobody is going to arrest him. As for his continued employment as a teacher, the school has the right to consider the manner and tone of his remarks in front of his students and decide if this meets their professional expectations to say nothing of their commitment to make every student feel comfortable and in a positive learning environment. In my view, Mr Salcido has failed to live up to those standards.

Andrew McCabe Goes on Leave Pending Retirement

"Incidentally, the McCabe removal comes after Wray viewed the memo Sunday on Capitol Hill, as reported by Fox News’ Catherine Herridge. The removal also comes ahead of a DOJ inspector general report regarding the handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe." 
-Fox News

Things are heating up on both sides of the Washington DC investigations,  (the Mueller investigation into Trump and the investigation into skulduggery being waged by the Obama administration, its intelligence services, and the FBI against Trump himself as well as white-washing the Clinton email scandal.) Unfortunately, only the first has a special prosecutor.

Now Asst FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who played a role in so much of the above, has stepped down deciding to use up his vacation and sick leave until he is eligible to retire, which I believe is sometime in March. What is the significance of this? CNN, naturally, is asking if President Trump had a hand in removing McCabe. It is also possible that the dam is about to break, and that contrary to Mueller's case, evidence may come forth that the FBI acted improperly in its investigation into Clinton and  acted improperly in looking into the Trump campaign. For example, it appears that the FBI relied on the much-discredited Russian dossier to apply for FISA wiretaps into members of the Trump campaign. The just released emails between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page (with references to "Andy") indicate that they knew Clinton was not going to be indicted and that they wanted to do anything they could to keep Trump out of the White House. Then there is the 4-page memo that Congress may release any day. Those Republicans who have seen it say it is highly damning.  

It is important to note, however, that this memo was drafted by Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA). The Democrats reportedly have drafted their own in response. Thus, there is a partisan aspect to it. What is important is that evidence supporting the conclusions of the memo be provided.

I look forward to the release of the memo, but if it only contains charges, it has little use absent evidence to back them up. The controversy over the FBI's role in all these investigations regarding, Trump, his team and Hillary Clinton needs to be resolved in the open. Ditto for Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian-Trump collusion into the election. I just hope Mueller doesn't wind up indicting people for unrelated issues. If Trump is going to sit down and answer questions from Mueller, he'd better get his facts straight and not try to outsmart the investigators.

Our faith in government has been damaged on both sides of the political spectrum. We need to get all the facts out there for the public to see.



The Latest Case of White Cultural Appropriation, Privilege etc. Yoga

Hat tip The College Fix
                                                                                    "Just practicing a little yoga."


Full disclosure: I ate dinner in an Indian restaurant last night. I am a cultural appropriator!

Between ex-Michigan State gymnastic trainer/child sex abuser Larry Nassar and the latest allegations of cover ups of gang rapes by Michigan State athletes, Michigan State hardly needs any more bad publicity.

But here it is.

Shreena Gandhi, a Michigan State professor of religious studies, is all upset because white people are practicing yoga. According to Gandhi, this is an expression of cultural appropriation and white supremacy to say nothing of the "yoga industrial complex".



http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/41333/

 I am reminded of a trip I took to New Delhi when I was in DEA. One day at the embassy, I was watching embassy employees playing a game of softball. The player who caught my eye was a young Indian lad of about 20 who was playing shortstop. Of course, this was softball, not baseball, but this kid had all the moves of one who had been playing baseball in the States. He was outstanding, the best player on the field, almost all of the players being Americans. I was told he was the son of an embassy local employee and that he had been playing the game all this life. Here is my point: Was I, as an American, offended that this Indian kid was "appropriating" the grand old American game of softball? Hardly. I was flattered and impressed.

But here we have Ms. Gandhi, who is offended that yoga, which originated in India, is popular here in the US. (Ms Gandhi was born in the UK.) Since we are a "nation of immigrants", it is only natural that we adopt many customs, foods and traditions of those who come here. What's wrong with that? This is just another example of someone in academia grasping at straws to bash "privileged whites". It is not only silly, but it is also divisive.

But I will close by referring back to Mr Nassar, who will be spending the next 175 years in prison as a convicted serial sex abuser. Why not take up yoga, Larry? Maybe you can make the Guinness Book of World Records by standing on your head for 175 years.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Miko Peled Article in American Herald Tribune


Image result for miko peled

Miko Peled (r)  visiting Mufid Abdulqadar in federal prison


"Palestinian Suffering Is Caused by Very Existence of Israel"

-Miko Peled


Miko Peled, the feisty little ex-Israeli who now lives in Southern California and travels around absolutely trashing his birthplace for the benefit of various Palestinian groups, has written an article in the left-wing American Herald Tribune. (As you can see from the above photo, he is also a supporter of those imprisoned as a result of the Holy Land Foundation trial involving charitable funds that were diverted to terror groups overseas.) But that is another story.

Having previously seen this character's dog and pony show in 2013 at UC Irvine, where I videotaped it over his angry objections, I knew that he was solidly on the Palestinians' side. This latest article confirms to me that he doesn't even think Israel has a right to exist.

https://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/palestine/2114-antisemitism-zionism.html

 "In a pathetic attempt to hide its apartheid nature, the Israeli government decided to ban members of twenty international human rights and Palestinian rights organizations from entering its borders. The list is so outrageous, black listing as it does highly respected human rights groups, that it even made it to the Washington Post." (Emphasis mine)

Here is the list courtesy of the Washington Post:



Europe
  • AFPS (France-Palestine Solidarity Association)
  • BDS France
  • BDS Italy
  • ECCP (The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine)
  • FOA (Friends of al-Aqsa)
  • IPSC (Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign)
  • Norge Palestinakomitee (The Palestine Committee of Norway)
  • Palestinagrupperna i Sverige (PGS-Palestine Solidarity Association of Sweden)
  • PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign)
  • War on Want
  • BDS Kampagne
United States
  • AFSC (American Friends Service Committee)
  • AMP (American Muslims for Palestine)
  • Code Pink
  • JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace)
  • NSJP (National Students for Justice in Palestine)
  • USCPR (U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights)
Other groups
  • BDS Chile
  • BDS South Africa
  • BDS National Committee


Without going into detail on each of the above organizations, let me address the ones I know about.

BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions). Why should Israel allow anybody connected to BDS to enter their country? BDS is devoted to the destruction of Israel. I take particular note of Swedish and Norwegian groups. Those two countries arguably have more anti-Israel organizations than any other European countries. The names of these organizations make it clear where they stand.

In the US, we have Students for Justice in Palestine. Their tactics of intimidation and disruption have been documented by videos by many people and organizations across the US including by Yours Truly. American Muslims for Palestine, co-founded by UC Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, is a financier of SJP. In addition, the curiously-named Jewish Voice for Peace, is solidly anti-Israel and engages in tactics of disruption. Then there is Code Pink, which opposes any and all military actions by the US or Israel but ignores the terrorism, death and destruction wrought by the Palestinians and their allies.

These are not highly respected groups. They are radicals. As for the American Friends Service Committee, they are misguided supporters of the Palestinian narrative. I could care less if they were given a Nobel prize. So was Yaser Arafat.

As for Peled's issues with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-semitism, here it is since I was unable to open Peled's link.

 https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/node/196

Note:  Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic. Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for “why things go wrong.” It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.(Emphasis mine)  

Yes, there are some references to Israel which could fall under the definition. The US State Department's definition of anti-semitism is very similar when it comes to references to Israel. What the above statement means is that mere criticism of Israeli policies is not anti-semitic. Yet when Israel is singled out for human rights abuses while those of other countries, such as virtually all of her Arab neighbors, are ignored, singling out the one Jewish nation in the region could be  considered anti-semitic. That is the reality of what is happening. The four "points" raised by Peled are a figment of his fevered reasoning.

"Israel does nothing to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians and any expectation that it will is naive or foolish. It is crucial that this is understood fully. Palestinian suffering is caused by very existence of Israel because it is a settler colonial project. No serious attempt to permanently alleviate Palestinian suffering can be successful without dismantling Zionism and freeing Palestine from the Zionist regime."

What about the suffering brought upon by Palestinian leaders like Yasir Arafat and the government of Hamas in Gaza? What is their responsibility? What is the responsibility of the Palestinians themselves, who have bought in with a policy of terror and hatred of Jews?  When those Arabs who left Israel during the fighting in 1948 became residents of refugee camps, what was the responsibility of the Arab states, which left them in those camps all these decades? Now we are talking about children and grandchildren who were never afforded the opportunity to assimilate into those neighboring lands and make something of themselves. Meanwhile the half million or so Jews who were driven out of Arab lands at the same time frame found their homes, mostly in Israel, and assimilated. How much does the dysfunction of these Arab countries contribute to the "suffering" of the so-called Palestinians?

In my view, Peled is a strange duck who has a hatred for the country of his birth. I assume he is now a naturalized American, but I find it bizarre how one can so hate his country of origin that he denies its very right to exist. 

Saturday, January 27, 2018

At UCSC Inmates Run the Institution




UC Santa Cruz (America's Wackiest University) is at it again. Black student groups have taken over buildings making demands, and, naturally, the university is caving in. The College Fix has the story.

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/41331/

It goes without saying that George Blumenthal, who is supposed to be running this carnival masquerading as a university, is a weenie. Not that he is unique in this respect. Most university presidents and chancellors are just like him. "You want us to paint a building red, green and black? Sure. You want us to paint another building pink, orange and purple? No problem."




Friday, January 26, 2018

UConn Restricts Ben Shapiro Appearance

Image result for terrified dog cartoon


“We understand that even the thought of an individual coming to campus with the views that Mr. Shapiro expresses can be concerning and even hurtful and that’s why we wanted to make you aware as soon as we were informed,” Murchison wrote. “In the meantime, please utilize the many campus resources available to you should you want to talk through your feelings about this issue, including my office, the Cultural Centers, the Dean of Students Office, and CMHS, if necessary.”


The University of Connecticut, which I believe calls itself. "the Huskies", is all in a tither because conservative speaker Ben Shapiro is coming to give a talk sponsored by the Young America Foundation, a conservative student group. Attendance is restricted, and offended students are being afforded some sort of counseling lest they be unable to cope with Mr Shapiro's words. Campus Reform has the report.

https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10423

Let's be clear. Ben Shapiro is not a racist. He is not a hater of anybody. He is merely a conservative speaker who is quite articulate in his reasoning. Maybe that's why the left fears him so much.

Amsterdam Shooting

Hat tip Gates of Vienna and Vlad Tepes



Masked gunmen attacked a group of people this evening in Amsterdam. When it was over, one Moroccan man was killed and two others taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds. The below article was translated into English by Yours Truly.




https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/dode-en-gewonden-bij-schietpartij-amsterdam~a2485ff2/


De politie heeft de omgeving van de Grote Wittenburgstraat afgezet waar de hulpdiensten aanwezig zijn na een schietpartij.


 Police closed off the area of Grote Wittenburg Street where emergency services are present after a shooting. © ANP






One Dead and two wounded in Amsterdam shooting

There is one dead in a shooting in Amsterdam. Two people were wounded. The incident occurred around 19.10 hours on the Grote Wittenburgstraat on one of the Eastern Islands.




ietincident Grote Wittenburgerstraat:


The police have  spread out with large equipment and have closed the street. (The victim) was shot several times. The wounded were taken to the hospital with unknown injuries. One of them is a girl. The detectives have started with extensive investigation. 

Local residents say to Het Parool that the shots went off in the community center. The masked perpetrators appeared to have been looking specifically for the victims. The dead victim is reported to be a young man of Moroccan descent. It is the second deadly shooting incident in two months in the neighborhood. In November, a 19-year-old boy was shot dead at the Kattenburgerkade That incident happened a few hundred meters away.
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What this underlines is the fact that the Netherlands has a serious crime problem with Moroccan gangs.  Yet when Geert Wilders of the Dutch Freedom party states this publicly, he gets prosecuted for hate speech. 

Turks and Kurds Fighting in Germany


Hat tip Gates of Vienna


Earlier this week it was Hanover Airport. Now it has spread to Berlin, Stuttgart, and other places as Kurds and Turks run amok on German streets fighting each other due to their ancient hatreds and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan sending his forces after the Kurds in Syria.

Here are scenes from Stuttgart:




Berlin:



And in the midst of all this, as Germany tries to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, it is all marred by anti-Jewish outbreaks.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/01/26/anti-semitism-in-germany-mars-international-holocaust-remembrance-day.html

The historical lesson for all this, among other things, is that borders are important.