Democratocracy in Action in Florida

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk


The Democratic apparatus is at it again. Just days after we learned that early voters in Nevada found their ballots pre-programmed for Harry Reid, we learn that the party's cloak and dagger guy, former President Bill Clinton, was dispatched to Florida to convince Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek to drop out of the race in favor of independent candidate Charlie Crist, who is governor.

This is the second time we know of that Clinton has secretly tried to get a Democratic candidate to drop out of a senate race. The first was Joe Sestak.

Last night on Fox's Greta Van Susteren show, Crist was interviewed and openly admitted to the effort to convince Meek to drop out. (Meek is far back in the polls and the intent is to defeat Republican conservative Marco Rubio, who is leading.) Crist also admitted to discussing the matter with White House officials-whom he refused to name.

Meek, meanwhile, is denying word that he twice promised Clinton he would drop out in favor of Crist. And what is Clinton saying? Has anybody seen him lately?

This is also reminiscient of the time a few years ago when Bob Toricelli dropped out of the New Jersey Senata race very late under Democratic pressure due to the fact that he was mired in scandal and way down in the polls. Frank Lautenberg replaced him and subsequently won.

I wonder how Florida voters feel about this sleazy move. Furthermore, I thought the Democrats were the party of the minorities (Meek is African-American). Why are the Democrats stooping so low in order to defeat Rubio? Is it because they cannot stand to see a successful, conservative Republican Hispanic sitting in Congress?

The Right To Vote!

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

The right to vote is granted to all citizens of the United States regardless of race, creed, color, sex, income, or sexual orientation.  If you are a citizen over the age of 18, who hasn't committed a felony, you have the right to vote.

That is soon to change.  For now there is a movement by the Progressives Moonbats to allow legal non-citizens to vote.

Like his neighbors, Claude Rwaganje pays taxes on his income and taxes on his cars. His children have gone to Portland's public schools. He's interested in the workings of Maine's largest city, which he has called home for 13 years.

There's one vital difference, though: Rwaganje isn't a U.S. citizen and isn't allowed to vote on those taxes or on school issues. That may soon change.

Portland residents will vote Nov. 2 on a proposal to give legal residents who are not U.S. citizens the right to vote in local elections, joining places like San Francisco and Chicago that have already loosened the rules or are considering it.

Noncitizens hold down jobs, pay taxes, own businesses, volunteer in the community and serve in the military, and it's only fair they be allowed to vote, Rwaganje said.

"We have immigrants who are playing key roles in different issues of this country, but they don't get the right to vote," said Rwaganje, 40, who moved to the U.S. because of political strife in his native Congo and runs a nonprofit that offers financial advice to immigrants.

Opponents of the measure say immigrants already have an avenue to cast ballots -- by becoming citizens. Allowing noncitizens to vote dilutes the meaning of citizenship, they say, adding that it could lead to fraud and unfairly sway elections.

"My primary objection is I don't think it is right, I don't think it is just, I don't think it is fair," Portland resident Barbara Campbell Harvey said.

In San Francisco, a ballot question Nov. 2 will ask voters whether they want to allow noncitizens to vote in school board elections if they are the parents, legal guardians or caregivers of children in the school system.

Noncitizens are allowed to vote in school board elections in Chicago and in municipal elections in half a dozen towns in Maryland, said Ron Hayduk, a professor at the City University of New York
and author of "Democracy for All: Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights in the United States."

New York City allowed noncitizens to vote in community school board elections until 2003, when the school board system was reorganized, and several municipalities in Massachusetts have approved allowing it but don't yet have the required approval from the Legislature, he said.

Full Story

I don't believe this is Constitutional.  Just examine the following Amendments:

15th Amendment

Section 1.


The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

19th Amendment

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

26th Amendment

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.

It is a right of citizens and not residents.

Funny how the liberals want to give away the franchise to any one who just lives here, but is terribly afraid of letting the men and women serving this nation in the military the right to cast a ballot.

Military voters from the land of Lincoln could be shut out of the midterm election after the Justice Department reached an agreement with Illinois that gave the state "a pass" for violating federal election law, an advocacy group warned Monday.

The Justice Department hammered out the court agreement Friday addressing the failure of 35 Illinois counties to send military and overseas absentee ballots 45 days before the election -- a requirement of the MOVE Act. The agreement gave voters from six of those counties a few extra days to send back their ballots but did not specifically address the other 29 counties.

Eric Eversole, a former Justice voting section attorney who runs the nonprofit Military Voter Protection Project, told FoxNews.com the deal effectively lets wayward Illinois
election officials off the hook and does little to ensure the state's military voters get their ballots in time.

"For at least 29 counties, there were absolutely no consequences," he said. "Illinois is precisely the reason why you can't wait until a week before the election to try and resolve a clear violation of military voting rights."

For some overseas military voters, he said, "it might not get there."

Full Story

The new voting model:

Let all non-citizens vote.
Let all military personal be forbidden to vote.
Stuff the ballot box.

How Broken Is Washington?

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle
That is the question that tbascom of The Liberty Ledger is asking.  He has 5 answers to that question denouncing both parties for the quagmire that is business in our nation's capital.

So, just how broken is Washington? Let me count some ways:

1. We’re getting news reports that Republican leaders are suggesting to high-value donors that a resurgent Republican Party will not pursue repeal of Obamacare. That’s being roundly denied by official statements from key Republican leaders, like McConnell and Corker. But here’s the sign of how broken Washington has become: I can’t automatically believe the denials, or trust the Republicans to pursue repeal – even if they say they will. There’s been so much lying, on both sides of the aisle, that my trust is broken. Increasingly, I think that career politicians and federal bureaucrats make up one party regardless of the “D,” “R,” or “I” after their names, and we who want limited federal government, increased state power, greater liberty, and economic freedom make up a different party, regardless of the “D,” “R,” or “I” after our names. (Those who want to be taken care of by the government and are willing to trade personal and economic liberty to get it are not really a third party, so much as the willing dupes of the career politician party.)

2. Today, a Politico analyst on the Morning Joe show said the Republican leadership’s ideal scenario would be for a strong showing, but to fall short of a majority in the Senate because that would allow the Republican Party to mount a powerful opposition but would not put them in a position to actually stop the policies and laws that offend so many American citizens. As a consequence, the fervor would grow for a significant Republican blow-out in 2012. For the same reason, the Democrats would prefer a small Republican majority, large enough to be responsible for anything that doesn’t work until 2012, but too small to overturn a presidential veto. Their hope is that such a situation will lead to a restoration of Democrat power and a re-election of Obama in 2012. Clearly, this is a sign of Washington brokenness: both parties are exercising a cynicism that locks out the American public, and like the Democrats we are rejecting, the Republicans may well be more concerned with their own long-term power than with taking on the wrongheadedness of the current administration and the Democrat party. I cannot trust the Republicans to do the right thing. Even should they win the blow-out they seek for 2012, I have no automatic confidence that they will then act to reverse the damaging laws and policies enacted by the Obama regime. Instead, their power-oriented cynicism suggests they will do what consolidates their power rather than what is in the interests of the Constitution and the people they purportedly represent.

3. Even if the Republicans gain a majority in both Houses next month, the historic tendency of the Republican Party is to seek compromises with the Democrats. They want to be the party of “civility” that “goes along to get along.” The problem is that any compromise with Democrats requires increased regulation and decreased individual liberty, economic freedom, and localism. That’s because Democrats are always looking to increase the centralization of power; so when the Republicans compromise with them it means sacrificing some degree of Constitutional rights. How incredibly broken is it that I cannot trust that Republicans, given power, will act to reduce federal consolidation of power and restore the rights of individuals, local communities and states? This is why Republican representatives, especially of the conservative strand, are always at a disadvantage in the call for “bipartisanship,” and why Republicans have to be leaders, not functionaries: we need leaders who can articulate the problem of compromising with plans to increase federal authority and who can lead the nation toward those founding values that have made the U.S. unique among the nations of the world. I have no confidence that the current Republican leadership is made up of such people.

Finish reading here.

I do hope that you will read the entire posting.  I have a feeling that Republicans are taking the Tea Party for granted and believe they can ignore us after the election in November.

"President Obama has made it okay to hate Israel!"

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Was a recent comment that Joel Pollak gave to INN.

Joel Barry Pollak was born on April 25, 1977 in Johannesburg, South Africa, his parents emigrated to the United States shortly after his birth. He became a U.S. Citizen in 1987. He grew up in the Chicago suburbs, principally in Skokie. He attended Solomon Schechter Day School and Niles North High School, where he was the class valedictorian in 1995.

Joel graduated magna cum laude from Harvard with a joint degree in Social Studies and Environmental Science & Public Policy. His master's degree is in Jewish Studies from the University of Cape Town in 2006. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2009. In December 2009 he wed Julia Inge Bertelsmann.

He is the author of:

The Kasrils Affair: Jews and Minority Politics in the New South Africa

Don’t Tell Me Words Don’t Matter: How Rhetoric Won the 2008 Presidential Election

He is the Republican candidate for the 9th Congressional District trying to defeat 6 term incumbent Jan Schakowsky.

Here are some excerpts from the INN article:

A Conversation with Joel Pollak - Candidate for Chicago's 9th congressional district

As candidates from both sides of the aisle feverishly stump to achieve a victory in the upcoming November mid-term elections, pundits and opinion makers have been focusing on a small but highly significant race for Chicago's 9th congressional district. It is in this suburban Chicago setting where political neophyte Joel B. Pollak (R) is seeking to unseat the incumbent, Rep.Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) who is running for her seventh term in congress.

Israel National News spoke with Mr. Pollak, a soft spoken 33 year-old Orthodox Jew and Harvard trained lawyer who decided to throw his hat in the political ring for the very first time. "I grew up in a secular home but my parents and I became observant Jews and I learned first hand of the special significance that Israel holds for the Jewish people" says Pollak. "I love Israel – not just because it is my religious homeland, and not just because of my family roots there, but also because of the principle that it represents. The State of Israel stands for the idea that an oppressed people can take control of its own destiny, and build freedom and prosperity with nothing more than faith and hard work. It is the same idea that built America. That is why our two countries are so close, and will remain so," he declares.

Pollak, a resident of Skokie, a predominantly Jewish Chicago suburb, says that he is running for Congress because there is a failure of leadership in Washington and that the concerns of his constituents are not being addressed by their current representative. "I'm outraged that Congress did not raise their voices in indignation over the fact that "war crimes" were committed against Israel during the Gaza flotilla debacle. Our government should demand accountability from those responsible for this attempted act of murder against Israeli soldiers and that includes Turkey and Iran. We must immediately reassess our relationship with Turkey and those countries who foster terrorism. Israel is facing existential perils that are graver than they ever were before and my opponent just does not understand that. President Obama has made it okay to hate Israel," he intoned.

The Weekly Standard has reported that "Rep.Jan Schakowsky is one of the top recipients of campaign cash from J Street, the far-left organization that opposes Israel at every opportunity. It turns out that J Street has taken $750,000 from George Soros, despite the earlier denials of J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami."

Moreover, at a recent Schakowsky fundraiser in Chicago, Helen Thomas, the former doyenne of the White House press corps appeared as the featured speaker and guest. Thomas, a long time pro-Palestinian apologist, achieved notoriety this past May 27th when she told Rabbi David Nesenoff after a White House Jewish Heritage event that the Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and went on to say that the Palestinian people “are occupied and it’s their land” and that Israelis should “go home” -- to Poland, Germany, America “and everywhere else.” Commenting on this, Mr. Pollak said, "Rep. Schakowsky and her guests were well aware of Thomas’s record of anti-Israel rhetoric, and were invited to distance themselves from her views. None did. Instead, Rep. Schakowsky declared proudly of Thomas: “She’s so awesome!”

On domestic issues Mr. Pollak stands in stark contrast to his opponent who has virtually rubber stamped the Obama agenda of redistribution of wealth, entitlements, government bailouts and health care reform. "I will introduce laws to roll back government interference in the economy. With appropriate regulations in place, the government should divest itself of the large chunks of the banking, insurance and automotive sectors it recently took over. We need to send the right signals to workers and entrepreneurs that the U.S. is once again a nation committed to free enterprise, job creation and economic growth", said Pollak.

On October 17th, Mr. Pollak received the endorsement of "To Protect Our Heritage" the Midwest's oldest and largest bi-partisan, pro-Israel PAC. Their endorsement statement said of Pollak: "We are convinced that Joel Pollak will be a stronger advocate for the critical relationship between our country and Israel. In seeking out ways to strengthen the ties and protect Israel, he will be helping both nations."Concerning Pollak's opponent, TPOH expressed their thoughts by saying, "Problematic are Rep. Schakowsky’s strong ties with individuals and groups such as J Street. J Streethas labeled itself as pro-Israel; however, its underlying mission has been revealed to be the weakening of bi-partisan Congressional support for Israel by, among other tactics, drawing away Democratic support for that relationship. Rep. Schakowsky, by her staunch support of J Street since its inception – and she has been a main if not the main beneficiary of J Street fundraising efforts – likely unwittingly threatens to make Israel a partisan issue between the two political parties."

Mr. Pollak has also been endorsed by Harvard law school professor Alan Dershowitz who was a featured speaker at his fundraising event.

Read the full article here.

For those of you who do not remember this man this might jar your memory:











Harvard student takes on Rep Frank




Pollak's opponent Jan Schakowsky supports J Street, the Obama Agenda and Helen Thomas.

Joel Pollak is showing himself to be a new breed of Chicago Politician.  Young, Conservative, and Republican.  He supports limited government, lower taxes and is a supporter of Israel.


I wish I lived in the 9th District.

Monkey in the Middle proudly endorses Joel Pollak for Congress.

The Celebration of Class Warfare

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

On October 2, 2010 so-called Labor Leaders, Progressives, Socialists, Communists, Code Pink, and other Moonbat Idiots Members of the far-left gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to condemn the United States, Glen Beck, The Tea Party, and the people who attended and supported the Restoring Honor event with the One Nation Rally.

I was not at either event but Robert Ringer was.  These are his observations on the October 2nd rally:

The weather was perfect — 72 degrees and sunny — for the "One Nation Working Together" rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 2. I was determined to go with an open mind because I wanted to try to understand what would motivate someone to attend an event sponsored by unions and self-proclaimed socialist and communist groups.

The first time I heard about the rally the thought crossed my mind how embarrassing it was that union bosses and their counterparts in a wide variety of extremist, left-wing organizations would put on an event to counter one sponsored by a television commentator, Glenn Beck. It was like a third-grader trying to one-up a popular rival on the playground.

Of course, the organizers would now deny they were responding to Beck’s 8/28 Restoring Honor event, but that in itself would be embarrassing given that they’ve been talking about it being their answer to his hugely successful rally since they first came up with the idea. On Saturday, I only heard bits and pieces of a few speeches, but at least one of the speakers shouted, "Somebody tell Glenn Beck there are more people here than at his event."

The rally started at noon and, as planned, I arrived in Washington just before 2:00 p.m. As I entered D.C. from the Virginia side, the first thing I noticed was that people were walking away from the rally site in droves. Not a good sign for an event that was scheduled to last until 4:00 p.m.

As I stopped at the first light after coming across the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge, I glanced to my left and was surprised to see a number of vacant parking spaces on 23rd Street — something unheard of in a city where you can drive around for an hour in search of a parking spot. I did a quick left onto 23rd and promptly backed into one of the available spaces.

My wife and I then started walking toward the Lincoln Memorial, an easy trek compared to the exhausting walk we had endured for the 8/28 Restoring Honor rally when the closest parking we could find was at the Willard Hotel on 14th Street. As we walked toward the Lincoln Memorial, people wearing T-shirts emblazoned with logos and wording in keeping with the theme of the rally continued streaming by us in the opposite direction.

On arriving at the site the first thing I did was try to estimate the crowd size, which I’ve become pretty adept at. This particular case, however, was unusually difficult because of the nonstop flow of people leaving the event early. At any given time, however, I estimated that the density of the crowd ranged from one-fifth to one-tenth that of the Restoring Honor gathering.

At the Beck rally it was strictly shoulder-to-shoulder, virtually impossible to walk in most places. That crowd was no less than 500,000 — and perhaps as high as 750,000. But one of the many differences with the 8/28 event was that virtually everyone stayed until the rally was officially over. They were there by choice.

To be as fair as possible, I generously factored in the large number of people who had departed two hours or more before I arrived at the One Nation rally and came up with a crowd estimate of between 75,000 to 150,000 — far more than the 30,000 to 50,000 I had guessed might show up. Clearly, I had underestimated the power of union bosses handing down mandates to their rank and file to attend.

But to me the crowd size didn’t really matter, because they were two totally different events. Beck is just one individual — a radio and television personality — who produced a rally (primarily using his own money) with a theme of restoring honor to America and to honor fallen U.S. soldiers. By contrast, the 10/2 event was a political rally sponsored by a wide array of well-funded, far-left organizations.

The big question is not who had the largest crowd; that wasn’t even close. The more important question is why rally organizers like Al Sharpton would be so focused on trying to show the public they could outdraw a media personality.

To the crowd’s credit, though the signs and rhetoric were brazenly anti-freedom and anti-free market, people were generally well behaved, though clearly lacking in enthusiasm. To their discredit, however, trash was everywhere, which I have found to be a trademark of those on the left — especially the environmental crowd.

Again, by contrast, it was hard to find any trash on the ground at Beck’s 8/28 event. There are many conjectures I could draw from this observation, but due to space limitations, I’ll leave that psychological endeavor up to you.

Tabloid-size "newspapers" were all over the place. One was called The Militant, which featured the headline: "Public education is a birth right, not a corporate profit."

Another one, Challenge: The Revolutionary Communist Newspaper of Progressive Labor Party, sported a logo that read "Fight for Communism." Mind you, this was a rally called "One Nation Working Together" — in the capital city of the United States of America!

Then there were the signs:

* "Wages that are rightfully ours."

* "We demand $$$ for jobs and education."

* "The American Dream promises a free education."

* "Black Is Back."

* "Capitalism is failing. Socialism is the answer."

At one of the many tables where books were being sold I wrote down such titles as Bolshevism, What Is Marxism, The Communist Manifesto, Four Marxist Classics and Black Liberation and Socialism. Quite an array of reading material for an event titled "One Nation Working Together."

Then there were the pamphlets, with such patriotic verbiage as:

* "Fight for a Two-Year National Moratorium to Halt All Foreclosures and Evictions."

* "Jobs for All! Public-Works Program Now!"

* "Make the bosses pay for their crisis!"

I could fill a book with what I saw at the rally, but to me the bottom line is this: The Oct. 2 "One Nation Working Together" event was simply a celebration of that age-old disease, class warfare. Unwittingly, the hate peddlers who promoted it provided a public-service by letting us know they are still out there, alive and well. And they are poised and ready to bring down the American way of life — especially freedom and the free-market system.

As I walked back up 23rd Street after my short stay at the rally, the little security guard inside my brain whispered to me, "This was a reminder that America is irrevocably split into those who want to put a stop to the government’s policy of redistributing wealth and those who demand that the government use force to give them even more of other people’s wealth.

The latter group (which I estimate at nearly one-third of the current U.S. population) is fully prepared to sell their souls to a totalitarian regime in exchange for the "stuff" they think they deserve. I’m not sure how they define deserve, but it matters not. What does matter, sadly, is that they are nothing more than pawns in a power game that has existed probably since the Neolithic Age.

These pawns have long been referred to — by everyone from George Orwell to Alvin Toffler to Saul Alinsky — as the Have-Nots. This is what the "One Nation Working Together" rally was all about, nothing more and nothing less. It’s an old theme that will continue to be with us until the last breath of humankind has been extinguished.

And the truth that many people do not want to believe is that there is no solution to the problem. The only hope is containment. Right now, a majority of Americans are poised to push back and try to contain the radical left from bringing down the curtain on capitalism and individual sovereignty. But no matter what happens on Nov. 2, no one should be deluded into believing the war is over. The war will never be over.

Start preparing your mind now for what’s coming after Nov. 2, and teach your children what Ronald Reagan said back in 1964:

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

After what I saw and heard in D.C. on Oct. 2, I can vouch for the Dutchman’s words.

Although many news agencies and networks claim that the picture below is of the 10/2 rally, in reality it is of the 8/28 rally.  The left is losing on all fronts and can only produce lies to feed the people.

On November 2nd the people will tell the leftist elites a loud message.

Update on UC President OC Appearance

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk


"One person's hate speech is another person's education"


On November 4, University of California President Mark Yudof will speak at the Bat Yahm Synagogue in Newport Beach. The appearance is being sponsored by the Orange County Jewish Federation, and the topic will be civil discourse on college campus, of dire concern to the UC-Irvine community. As I recently wrote, Yudof should expect a number of questions about the question of whether anti-Semitism exists on the UCI campus, some of which I laid out. Well, it appears that the event may not shape up that way. Check out the Federation web site, which lays out all the ground rules.

https://secure.ujcfederations.org/ft2/form.html?__id=20653





First of all, why all the registration rules? This event is in a synagoge, and is open to the public. It is not as if the Israeli ambassador is coming to speak. Why does the Federation need to register everyone who wishes to attend? I have been to other Bat Yahm events related to the this subject. I just walked in, sat down and listened to the speaker then asked my question. Why is it necessary to put one's name on a list, supply address, phone number, e-mail, choose a security code word, and present a photo ID?





Note also that the Federation wants you to post your question in advance and that those questions will be given priority. I'll say. They don't want any hostile or embarrassing questions asked of the president. It looks like they will try and control the questions and who asks them.

And then there is this dandy about a suggested minimum "donation" of $18. What is that all about? That would lead me to ask if Mr Yudof is getting paid for this appearance.

Well, it looks like a wonderful time will be had by all. I hope some wise guy doesn't have the temerity to ask President Yudof a hardball question, like,

"What is your favorite color?"

or

"If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?"

And The World Held Its Breath!

For 24 hours the people of the Planet Earth held their collective breath as the Nation of Chile finally rescued 33 trapped miners from what could have become their tomb a half mile under the Chilean Desert.

The last of the Chilean miners, the foreman who held them together when they were feared lost, was raised from the depths of the earth Wednesday night -- a joyous ending to a 69-day ordeal that riveted the world. No one has ever been trapped so long and survived.

Luis Urzua ascended smoothly through 2,000 feet of rock, completing a 22 1/2-hour rescue operation that unfolded with remarkable speed and flawless execution. Before a jubilant crowd of about 2,000 people, he became the 33rd miner to be rescued.

"We have done what the entire world was waiting for," he told Chilean President Sebastian Pinera immediately after his rescue. "The 70 days that we fought so hard were not in vain. We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing."

The president told him: "You are not the same, and the country is not the same after this. You were an inspiration. Go hug your wife and your daughter." With Urzua by his side, he led the crowd in singing the national anthem.

The rescue exceeded expectations every step of the way. Officials first said it might be four months before they could get the men out; it turned out to be 69 days and about 8 hours.

Rescuers in Chile began Tuesday night raising the 33 trapped miners one-by-one to the surface, ending their 69-day ordeal. No one in history has been trapped underground so long and survived.

After four flawless test runs, a 13-foot-tall rescue capsule will descend deep into the earth to bring 33 miners back to the surface after two agonizing months.

In this photo released by the Chilean government, miner Alex Vega gestures after being rescued from the collapsed San Jose gold and copper mine where he had been trapped with 32 other miners for over two months near Copiapo, Chile, Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010.

In this photo released by the Chilean government, miner Alex Vega gestures after being rescued from the collapsed San Jose gold and copper mine where he had been trapped with 32 other miners for over two months near Copiapo, Chile, Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010.

Once the escape tunnel was finished, they estimated it would take 36 to 48 hours to get all the miners to the surface. That got faster as the operation went along, and all the miners were safely above ground in 22 hours, 37 minutes.

Manuel Gonzalez, the last of six rescue workers who talked the men through the final hours, was hoisted to the surface at 12:32 a.m. Thursday local time to hugs from his comrades and Pinera.

Read the full story here.

The 33 freed men!

It was wonderful that for the first time in a very long time the human race collectively united for the right reason. To encourage and pray for a small miracle in the Chilean Desert.  Congratulation to the Nation of Chili!


Chile National Anthem

A Chronology of Events at UC-Irvine

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk


Hat tip to Miggie and Scholars for Peace in the Middle East


My colleague, Leila Beckwith, Professor Emeritus at UCLA, has written an account of anti-Semitic activity at UC-Irvine for Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. It gives a fine account of the mess that has been going on at UC-Irvine the last few years.


http://www.spme.net/cgi-bin/articles.cgi?ID=7206



The recent suspension of the Muslim Student Union at UCI in no way means that this sad spectacle has reached an end. The suspension has been reduced to one quarter, and it appears that the MSU has now been re-organized (at least for this quarter) as Alkalima-Muslim Students at UC-Irvine.

What a great reputation for a university to have. What is really sad is that 99% of the students at UCI do not deserve this reputation. It is a classic example of how a few troublemakers ruin things for everyone.

Why Children Should Not Play In Traffic!

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

This story has traveled around the world a few times already.  At first it seems to be another let's make Israelis look worse than Jack the Ripper.  But when the video hit, the story is different.

Two Arab children from the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem were injured after they were hit by a car driven by Elad director David Be’eri. Be’eri, head of a group that advocates for Jewish families to live in the predominantly Arab neighborhood, claimed that the youths were throwing rocks at his car and he hit them accidentally in an attempt to flee from the area.

“His car was surrounded with tens of people with rocks,” Elad spokesman Udi Ragones told the Jerusalem Post. “When they started throwing them, and he hit them when he tried to flee from the area. It seems that they were lying in wait and the ambush was planned with rocks, it may have even been a lynch situation. He felt his life was in danger.”

Elad director David Be'eri, claiming he was ambushed by Arabs, injures two kids with car; "He felt his life was in danger,” Elad spokesman says.

Two Arab children from the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem were injured after they were hit by a car driven by Elad director David Be’eri. Be’eri, head of a group that advocates for Jewish families to live in the predominantly Arab neighborhood, claimed that the youths were throwing rocks at his car and he hit them accidentally in an attempt to flee from the area.

“His car was surrounded with tens of people with rocks,” Elad spokesman Udi Ragones told the Jerusalem Post. “When they started throwing them, and he hit them when he tried to flee from the area. It seems that they were lying in wait and the ambush was planned with rocks, it may have even been a lynch situation. He felt his life was in danger.”

An Al-Jazeera video clip and AFP photos from the incident show just four youths with rocks surrounding Be’eri’s car, and then two youths getting hit. One was lightly injured, and one was in moderate condition. Both were evacuated to Moqassed Hospital in the area.

Be’eri lives in the area and was on his way home with his son at the time of the incident, Ragones said. Be’eri was taken by the police for an investigation, and later released on bail. An investigation is ongoing, lead by an examiner with the police’s traffic division. Police are using photos from the incident in their investigation.

Ragones said the incident took place less than 100 meters from where a private Israeli guard for the Jewish residents shot and killed Samr Sirkhan, an Arab resident who was throwing stones, about three weeks ago. The shooting prompted widespread riots in east Jerusalem, which injured ten people. Over 50 Arab residents arrested in the week that followed for violent incidents.

Elad, a Hebrew acronym which means ‘To the City of David,’ is a right-wing group that has operated in Silwan since 1991. They support 62 Jewish families living in the area, and are not connected to the controversial Beit Yontaton building, home to an additional eight Jewish families. Elad also runs the City of David archeological park, which hosts more than 400,000 visitors per year.

Be’eri, 57, established the City of David foundation in 1986 to explore ruins from the Second Temple period. Since then, the archeological dig has angered Silwan’s Arab residents, who accuse the organization of making a land grab.

The Arab Press claims that the boys were just playing with their rocks when they were hit by the Israeli Car Lunatic Israeli Settler on purpose.  Guess which version of the truth the MSM and State Department is going with.  Even after viewing this video:



Palestinian parents send their children out to throw stones at cars, at Israeli soldiers, at Israeli civilians.  When they do the so-called media are there with their cameras ready to "document" the atrocity that the Israelis are performing upon the "innocent" Palestinian children.  Thus if all you saw was the photo on the top  of this post, you would believe the worst.  Yet by viewing this video we see that the children were being directed instructed by an adult on the etiquette of rock throwing.

We also see the child running towards the car, throw a rock then get hit by the car.  One can then deduce that the whole purpose of this child's action was to throw a rock at the car regardless of the consequences of his action.  He is very lucky.  For if that car had been going faster he would have ended up with either major injuries or death (In accordance with Muslim beliefs he is unlucky.  For if he had been killed he would have been declared a Shahid and received his 72 virgins.).  As it is, this child didn't even want to go to the hospital.  In fact was trying to do everything not to get into the car (As seen in the video).  Plus if he had been very badly hurt, he would have been bleeding very heavily and an ambulance would have been called.

So for the MSM it was just another incident to blame Israel, Israels and Jews for Nazi-like behavior.  To those of us who have viewed the video and saw the truth for ourselves it just reaffirms the truth:

Children Should Not Throw Stones OR Play In the Street!!

Guy Milliere Speaks in Orange County on Europe and America

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk


Last night, I went to hear French writer and commentator Guy Milliere speak in front of the ACT for America chapter in Orange County. Milliere is a controversial figure in France due to his outspokenness about the growing threat of militant Islam in Europe. Much like Dutch politician Geert Wilders, Milliere is excoriated as a fascist by the left and the French media. There have been threats on his life, yet he continues to speak his mind. His thesis is pretty simple; Europe is lost and the only force that can preserve freedom in the world is the United States. He is decidedly pro-American and anti-Obama.

As Milliere explains it, Europe has no hope of reversing the growing Islamization on that continent. He cites the demographics, the disparate birthrates, the political correctness and the unwillingness of the Europeans to defend themselves. One reason is that the Europeans don't have any idea of who they are or what they should be defending. They don't really enjoy democracy as America does and their fates are decided by politicians and bureaucrats at the national level and the European Union.

According to Milliere, there is no true conservative press in Europe. What is considered "conservative" in Europe would be on a par with say, the New York Times.

Isn't that encouraging?

He also mentioned that you cannot get Fox News in France. You can get Al-Jazeera or CNN, but not Fox News.

In addition, political correctness is the order of the day, which he tells us was imported to the US by Europe.

Thanks a lot, Europe.

In summary, Milliere tells us that it is up to America to stand up for freedom. Once America loses its freedom, the whole world is gone. He said that America should not give in to the constant demands to accommodate Islam. His metaphor was that we can welcome Muslims to our country, but they "must leave their baggage at the door".

The questions from the audience were many and long. I had to leave before getting a chance to meet with Milliere. One woman in the audience told us about what happened to her 12-year-old daughter just this week at Ladera Ranch Middle School. Her homework assignment: Memorize the 5 pillars of Islam. She is going to the school board to protest. (I plan to write more about this later.) As I have written previously, this is going on nationwide and especially in California. Middle school students are being subjected to weeks of indoctrination about all the wonderful aspects of Islam while references to Christianity and Judaism are brief and rather negative-you know, Crusades, Inquisition and all that.

The mother went on to say that when her daughter tried to ask the teacher about things like wife beatings and honor killings, the teacher told her, "Oh honey, where did you hear all that?"

Back to Milliere. I have linked his blog (DRZZ) to my own web site under the grouping, "Our real European allies". It is in French. I will be following what he has to say about events in France.

UC President to Speak to Orange County Jewish Group

Hat tip to Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism




"One person's hate speech is another person's education"



The below article is cross-posted from the Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism. It announces a speaking event by the University of California President, Mark Yudof on November 4. The event is sponsored by the Orange County Jewish Federation.




http://octaskforce.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/an-evening-with-u-c-president-marc-yudof/




No doubt Mr Yudof will be addressing Jewish issues at UC-Irvine. If we can go by his previous statements on the on-going controversy involving the Muslim Student Union (aka Alkalima), I would guess that Mr Yudof will express his personal outrage (Yudof is Jewish) at many of the incidents and statements made at MSU-sponsored events -as he has in the past to various groups and individuals. He will most likely, as he has in the past- explain that it is protected free speech-bad as it may be. Certainly, he will defend the actions of his administrators at UCI and other campuses-as he has in the past. Certainly, he will criticize statements made by outside groups and individuals that have sharply criticized the university.


That leads to a central question; is there anti-Semitism on the UCI campus-and other UC campuses?

Keep in mind, the dean of the UCI Law School, Erwin Chemerinsky, has stated repeatedly-before and since he came to UCI that there is no anti-Semitism at UCI. The CEO of the OC Jewish Federation, Shalom Elcott has stated (to me) that there is no anti-Semitism at UCI. The head of OC Hillel has stated in my presence that there is no anti-Semitism at UCI.




"We have a psychosis in the Jewish community that is unable to co-exist equally and brotherly with other human beings. You can take a Jew out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the Jew. And, this has been demonstrated time and time again in Occupied Palestine. And, now they have American diplomats and politicians and decision makers and strategists in their pocket because they have the money."


-Mohammed al-Asi at UC-Irvine, February 2001


See video at: http://www.investigativeproject.org/239/muhammad-al-asi-ghetto-jews

(Investigative Project on Terrorism)



I hope someone in the crowd will ask Mr. Yudof about that. Al -Asi has since spoken again at UCI on more than one occasion.


I hope they will also ask him about swastikas that have recently appeared on bathroom walls at Berkeley and other campuses. I hope they will ask him about a professor at Berkeley who turned out to heckle Jewish students quietly protesting those swastikas.

His name is Andrew Gutierrez.


I hope someone will ask Yudof about Amir Abdel Malik Ali, who has been a regular speaker at UCI for almost a decade. Here he is last May at UCI.





I hope someone will ask Yudof what he thinks about George Galloway coming to speak at UCI in May 2009 and taking up a cash collection for his Viva Palestina convoys to Gaza (read Hamas). Why, Mr Yudof, was this allowed happen-in contravention to UCI's own rules-not to mention US laws against aiding terrorist organizations (Hamas)?


I hope someone will ask Yudof what really came out of that much-publicized meeting with Elcott and three other OC Jewish leaders subsequent to the Oren event.


I hope someone will ask Yudof if he really thinks the UCI-MSU has been punished for their disruption of the speech by the Israel ambassador to the US-especially, since they are now operating this quarter under a new name.


You are probably thinking, "Why doesn't Fouse attend the event and ask the questions himself? He always does at other events."


Correct and great question. Assuming this event takes place at the Jewish Federation headquarters, they won't let me get within 10 miles of the event. That is because the head of the Federation, Shalom Elcott, knows I would ask those questions and embarrass him when he makes his grand statements about how HE and his organization has dealt with the issue effectively in concert with the university

UC Irvine "Is it true?" Department

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk



"One person's hate speech is another person's education"


Last week, the fall quarter began at the University of California-Irvine, and as anyone who follows this blog knows, the Muslim Student Union has begun serving a one-quarter suspension as a result of their disruption of the Israeli ambassador's speech at UCI on February 8, 2010. The original suspension was for one year, as decided by a UCI housing official, Lisa Cornish. Her decision was reduced to one quarter by retiring Vice Chancellor Manuel Gomez on his last day in office. Yet, eyebrows were raised recently by the fact that the MSU/UCI website was advertising an October 16 orientation event (since removed). What was that all about if they were suspended in October?


So guess what? Goodbye MSU-Hello Alkalima!




Yes, there is a new organization on campus this fall. Alkalima, which is also the name of the MSU's quarterly publication, is now on the UCI campus. Whether they will be there the following quarter is open to question. Last week, they had a booth on campus during the first week's orientation event. If you go to the MSU/UCI website and click the link to "Register here for College Day 2010", you will be transferred to Alkalima-Muslim Students at UCI-with lots of stuff being announced.


Here is the wording from Ms Cornish's letter to the MSU in May 2010 announcing the suspension decision (subject to appeal)




iii "No current executive officer listed on the Dean of Students registration application form will be allowed to act as an authorized signee for any other student organization at UC Irvine during the period of suspension."


The issue of starting another organization is not addressed in the final decision.


Now I would never insinuate that Alkalima is just a cover for the Muslim Student Union under another name until the suspension runs out in 10 weeks. However, I would like to ask a few questions.


Just questions.


Were there meetings and negotiations between the MSU attorney(s) and Mr Gomez during the appeal process between May and August 2010?


Just a question.


Did those meetings involve a settlement as to the final punishment of MSU whereby the MSU would not file a lawsuit against the university?

Just a question.


Has UCI, in effect, given a tacit "wink wink, nod nod" ok for the MSU to operate under a different name during the fall quarter?

Just a question.

Is Alkalima receiving UCI funding this quarter?


Just a question.


Of course, it is hard to deny a religious group permission to organize on campus for joint religious support and purposes. However, can we expect a political event to be held by Alkalima this quarter, say, for example, if the Viva Palestina convoy (currently in progress) ends in another violent incident in the Middle East?


Just a question.


Will there be a campus group named Alkalima during the winter quarter, when the MSU is back in operation?


Just a question.


Has the MSU made UCI look silly?


Just a question.