Munich-2022 Version

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

  "Good news, mein Fuehrer. Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi are in Munich."

                                             

Well, this has to be reassuring. Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and Barbara Lee have joined Kamala Harris in Munich to meet with our allies and reassure them of.....whatever. President Biden has decided to send his A Team to Munich since, after all, he is the B Team.

  "I have here in my hand, a paper signed by Putin........"

                                      

The last farce that took place in Munich was in 1938 when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain "pulled peace out of the fire" with his infamous sell-out of Czechoslovakia. That was the one that saved the world from WW2, if you recall.

This makes Ukrainian President Zelenskiy's decision to leave Ukraine and attend the Munich confab all the more confusing. Maybe this is his way of getting out of town while the getting is good. He certainly doesn't need to be in Munich to hear Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi prattle on about "economic sanctions in our time!" What does he think they are going to do, vote Ukraine into NATO?

It's a sad situation all the way around. Having people like Harris and Pelosi going to Munich of all places is just adding to the humiliation.

Is the University of Chicago a Brown University?

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Back in 2005, I published my third book, Erlangen: An American's History of a German Town. My reason for choosing the Franconian (N Bavaria) town of Erlangen was that I had spent almost three years there as a US Army Military Policeman in the 1960s. I developed a strong attachment to Erlangen, and after my army service, I returned several times and ultimately decided to write a history of the town. 

Erlangen is also a university town and home to Friedrich-Alexander University, notable for its medical department and historically famed as a center of Lutheran theology. Many of Germany's greatest Lutheran theologians taught there, and I know of at least 3 or 4 who are buried in Erlangen.

An unfortunate part of its history was that it was the first university in Germany where Nazi students formed a student organization, (the NS Studentenbewegung-National Socialist Student Movement) in 1923 and achieved a majority in student government (1929). This was in the days before Hitler took power in 1933. Hence, they acquired the moniker, the "Brown University".

Indeed, as Hitler and his party were struggling throughout the 1920s and early 1930s to gain power in Germany, one of their first targets was the universities. Hitler made a total of 5 speeches in Erlangen between 1923-1931, largely due to the presence of the university. In 1931, the famed writer and later exiled dissident, Thomas Mann, spoke at Erlangen, and his speech was disrupted by the Nazi students. In addition, Hitler's student followers engaged in acts of intimidation against their opponents including of course Jewish students and Jewish professors, whose classes they boycotted and occasionally disrupted. This happened, of course, at other universities. 

Why do I bring this up? Certainly not to denigrate the present-day University of Erlangen nor present-day Germany. It is because I have seen similar agitation in US universities against today's generation of Jewish students-especially if they support the Jewish state of Israel. 

That is because the well-organized and well-financed Palestinian movement is alive and well on US college campuses as Israel is regularly demonized. pro-Palestinian activists fight to gain seats in student governments while trying to keep Jews out. In recent years, we have witnessed the latter effort at UCLA, USC, and UC Santa Cruz. I wrote about them on this site. Anti-Israel events on campuses all over the country are the order of the day while any pro-Israel event can expect to be disrupted by today's latter-day Brown Shirts.

And who are these Brown Shirts in the 21st century? In my opinion, we are talking about the various chapters of the Muslim Student Association on campuses around the country and their sister organization, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the latter organization open to non-Muslim students as well including some misguided Jewish students on the left of the political spectrum. 

SJP's tactics of bullying and disruption have been well documented at more universities that could be listed here. On more than one occasion, I have applied the moniker The Brown University to Brown University itself due to harassment of Jewish students at that Rhode Island institution. I know some would accuse me of resorting too often to Nazi comparisons in writing about current anti-Semitism on our campuses. But the harassment, bullying, disruption, and intimidation that I have personally witnessed brings back the specter of what was going on in German universities in the years before and immediately after Hitler took power.

Of course, things got infinitely worse in Germany for Jews later in the 3rd Reich, and we have not reached that level of horror yet. But as we witness the awful resurgence of anti-Semitism worldwide, it is important to note that in the US, at least, its point of origin has been within our universities. During my 18 years teaching part-time at UC Irvine, I personally witnessed it many times. I've seen how they try to intimidate Jewish students. They've tried to intimidate me-unsuccessfully.

In my case, I had the advantages of age, life experience, and my position as an adjunct teacher on campus to deal with the intimidation. But the average 19-20 student usually doesn't possess those advantages. I've seen time and time again how Jewish students try to "dialogue" with these people. They are routinely unsuccessful. It is a losing tactic.

The following article from The College Fix on what is going on at the University of Chicago is reminiscent of what was going on in German universities in the lead-up to 1933 when Hitler took power. 

https://www.thecollegefix.com/dont-take-shtty-zionist-classes-uchicago-students-for-justice-in-palestine-says/

If you are a student of the history of the Third Reich, which I am, you can look back to the 1920s and early 30s when Nazi students were boycotting classes taught by Jewish professors and agitating to get them removed from their positions. After Hitler took power, they were successful.

Today, we have little Brown Shirts agitating against the hiring of Israeli professors and against any classes that would present Israel in a positive light as opposed to the propaganda and indoctrination delivered by the pan-Arab, anti-Israel, anti-West professors of the various Middle East Studies departments and their useful idiot allies. These modern-day Brown Shirts are trying to stop their universities from having any relationships with Israeli universities. They routinely disrupt pro-Israel events and try to shut them down. They are against free speech when it comes to their opponents. And to the great shame of our universities, the administrators have turned a blind eye. They have refused to punish offenders. They have enabled the trouble-makers and the anti-Semites. The institution where I taught for 18 years-UC Irvine- is no exception.

The University of Chicago needs to tell SJP in no uncertain terms that they will not censor speech or classes they don't like on campus. SJP is a despicable organization. That they count a few Jewish members in their ranks is irrelevant. They are still Brown Shirts.

Italy: New Year's Eve in Milan

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Brings back memories of New Year's Eve in Cologne

Duomo in Milan

Arguably, the two most spectacular and iconic cathedrals in Europe are the Dom in Cologne, Germany and the Duomo in Milan, Italy. I have been fortunate enough to have visited both, and since I lived in Milan for 5 years in the 1980s, I am quite familiar with the Duomo.

Dom in Cologne

Unfortunately, both now share shameful episodes in their recent past. It was New Year's Eve 2015-2016 when hundreds of young men, basically all of Middle East origin, stormed the square between the Cologne cathedral and the train station, molesting dozens, if not hundreds of women while the police could not or would not do a thing.

New Year's Eve, Cologne 2015-16

Now, a similar, if somewhat smaller episode has occurred steps away from the Milan Duomo, where a teenage girl was accosted and groped by about 30 young men she described as being "of foreign origin" during the New Year's Eve celebrations.

The below article from Il Giornale is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/milano/19enne-molestata-milano-notte-capodanno-almeno-30-aggressori-1999312.html

"Surrounded and molested by 30 foreigners". The horror just steps away from the Duomo.

I January 2022-14:43

Reportedly of foreign origin, as reported by the victim, the attackers who surrounded a girl near the Duomo Square

by Francesca Galici

It was a little after one-thirty am on New Year's Eve when a girl was surrounded and molested by about 30 boys near the Royal Palace in Milan, right in the middle of the city, a few steps from Duomo Square. The 19-year-old tried to defend herself using the purse she carried with her, which, however, was grabbed by her attackers as she tried to push them off.

This is the recounting of the girl, who reported to the police that she was groped and that at a certain point, the group reportedly tried to undress her. Fortunately, numerous police officers were in the area, who quickly received the alarm of the young girl and were able to immediately intervene.

At the sight of the uniforms, the attackers dispersed in several directions making their escape. The girl was immediately treated by the officers, and for her, aside from the huge fright and shock, there were no further serious consequences. The girl told the investigators that the group of attackers were presumably of foreign origin. 

The incident has brought to light an age-old problem of security common to all large cities on New Year's Eve. It was in 2016 in Cologne, Germany, that 90 women reported being subjected to molestation and violence on the part of some 1,000 drunken men, described by the victims as "apparently of Arab origin".

Violence on New Year's Eve

In this same zone, a short distance from where the 19-year-old was attacked, shortly before dawn, another episode of violence was recorded in a brawl which led to the injuries to a few young men. According to the initial reconstructions, it seems that an 18-year-old was stabbed in the neck by a 16-year-old at the height of a dispute near Duomo Square. The 18-year-old is now being treated at the Milan Polyclinic in serious condition. First responders found him in a pool of blood, and his condition immediately appeared to be very serious, such that the young man is fighting between life and death.

In all, 10 brawls were recorded yesterday near the center of Milan. The work carried out by police, in riot gear, was important, guarding Duomo Square and the surrounding areas, trying to reduce the gatherings, but it was impossible to avoid the formations of young men. Moments of tension were also recorded in the outer areas, like Gae Aulenti Square, (and) sometime after midnight, patrols responded to an attack suffered by two young men by seven foreigners. The two young men, ages 18 and 19, were transferred in code yellow to Fatebenefratelli Hospital in Milan with injuries to the head and chest, caused by broken bottles.

EURO Language Police

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

It's not just on this side of the Atlantic that the left is attempting to re-write the English language. The insane European Commission, representing the multi-lingual EU, is now embarking on their own quest to set new rules for its member states and their own languages.

The Italian newspaper, Il Giornale, has obtained a copy of an internal communication from the European Commission setting out new guidelines for the use of language.  

The below article is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/cronache/follie-ue-l-inclusivit-vietato-dire-natale-e-chiamarsi-maria-1992290.html

In Europe, forbidden to say "Christmas" and even to call oneself Maria

28 November 2021-16:53

The internal document of the (European) Commission: No to the use of "Miss" or "Mr", just religious references  and Christian names

Francesco Giubilei

If they had told us and we had not read it in black and white in an official communication from the European Commission, we wouldn't have believed it because the contents of the new guidelines for "inclusive communication" are incredible. In a document for internal circulation, of which Il Giornale has come in exclusive possession, entitled, #Union of Equality, European Commission Guidelines for Inclusive Communication, the criteria to adopt for members of the Commission in external and internal communication are laid out. As written in the forward, the Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, "We must always offer an inclusive communication, ensuring thus, that everyone is appreciated and recognized in all of our material independent of gender, race, or ethnic origin, religion, or creed, disability, age, or sexual orientation."

To accomplish this, the European Commission lays out a series of rules that don't just cancel conventions and words always used, but also contradict common sense. It is forbidden to use common words like "workers or policemen" or use the masculine pronoun as a predefined pronoun, it is forbidden to organize discussions with only one gender represented (only men or only women) and further, it is forbidden to use "Miss or Mrs" except to make it explicit who the recipient of the communication is. But that's not all: You cannot open a conference addressing the public with the usual expression, " Gentlemen and Ladies," but you must use the formal neutral, "Dear Colleagues". 

The document focuses on specific areas like "gender", "LGBTIQ", "racial and ethnic" themes, or "cultures", lifestyles, and beliefs" with a table indicating what can and can't be done based on the intent to regulate everything creating a new language that doesn't allow for spontaneity: "Pay attention not to always mention the same gender first in word order, or to address men and women differently (for example, a man by family name and a woman by first name)" And further, "When choosing images to accompany your communication, make sure that women and children are not represented in a domestic setting or in passive roles while the men are active and adventurous". 

A desire to cancel the male and female genders that reaches paradoxical levels when the Commission writes that it is necessary to avoid expressions like, " Fire is the greatest invention of Man", but it is correct to say, "Fire is the greatest invention of humanity". It is obvious that behind the redefinition of language lies the desire to change European society, our customs, and traditions as seen in the chapter dedicated to "culture, life-style, or beliefs". The European Commission wants to emphasize "avoiding assuming that everyone is Christian" since "not everyone celebrates the Christmas holidays (...) it is necessary to be sensitive to the fact that people have different religious traditions". There is, however, an enormous difference between respect for all religions and being ashamed of or canceling the Christian roots that are at the base of Europe and of our identity.

In the name of inclusivity, the European Commission goes so far as to cancel Christmas suggesting that the phrase, "the Christman period can be stressful:" not be used, rather to say, "The vacation period can be stressful". A desire to eliminate Christianity that goes further with the recommendation to use generic names instead of "Christian names", so instead of "Maria and Joseph are an international couple," you need to say, " Malika and Giulio are an international couple". Reaching the contempt of the ridiculous is that which requires (us) to counter the negative connotation of words like colonialism: It is forbidden to say, "the colonization of Mars" or "human settlement on Mars", better to use, "send humans to Mars". When tragedy gives way to farce.

Netherlands: Where Is the Greatest Threat to Public Safety?

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Hat tip Dagelijkse Standaard. Translation by Fousesquawk.

Paul Cliteur is a Dutch law professor and writer. In this piece in the Dagelijkse Standaard, he points out how the Dutch media ignores the jihadist threat and prefers to talk about the threat from the extreme right-even though the latter has committed no attacks in the country.

 https://www.dagelijksestandaard.nl/2021/10/column-paul-cliteur-ook-een-rassenoorlog-is-erg-hoor/

Paul Cliteur Column: "A race war is also bad, you know"

By Paul Cliteur, 27 March 2021

Wout Willemsen raises an interesting point in DDS (Dageljkse Standaard): "Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, the National Coordinator of Counter-Terrorism and Security (NCTV) states in the new threat assessment that jihadism still remains the biggest threat against the Netherlands. Nevertheless, the NCTV places the focus on the "right-extremist corner", although there is no concrete evidence for an attack".

Willemsen correctly states that the NCTV, with every new report on the threat assessment, actually comes out structurally with the same story, namely: "Jihadists are still the greatest danger, but at any moment, the right-extremists can also do something."

That also applies to the AIVD, by the way. The same story. Sometimes, it almost seems as if these services must conclude with some regret that the extreme right has not carried out an attack in the Netherlands. Extreme left, again, unfortunately. Volkert van de G., who murdered (Pim) Fortuyn. Jihadism also: Mohammed B., who murdered Theo van Gogh. Also, Unfortunately.

For extreme right attacks, on the other hand, one must look elsewhere to "illustrate the danger". To Norway (Breivik). Or even further away: New Zealand (Brenton Tarrant, see Jesper Jansen in "Diversity, Identity in the Culture Wars").

Fleur Verbeek and Max de Haan conclude the same in Elsevier and show how the various news services tackle the subject: "NOS, RTL Nieuws, and Trouw all chose in their headlines and most important (content/idea) angles (to write about) young, right-extremists, who are in a race war."

In short, the fog that has been erected by the NCTV and AIVD is working: The media completely ignores the most important cause of the violent threat, namely jihadists.

The question is then what inspires the NCTV and the AIVD. Do they realize they are walking on eggshells by naming the real causes of the insecurity? Do they know that the wokies all love to hear that the county is full of racists who want to unleash a new race war? And do they just say, "Yes, it could be"?

Let us conclude with a passage that Verbeek and De Haan quote from the NCTV report: For example, on 23 September, 9 jihadists in Eindhoven were arrested. The highly educated men between 18-31 years of age are suspected of the preparation and training for a terrorist attack. During a movie evening, one of them spoke of the death or kidnapping of Mark Rutte, Geert Wilders, and Thierry Baudet. The General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) had the group under observation."

Sorry, NOS, RTL, and Trouw, we cannot, unfortunately, conclude anything else. But a race war is also bad, you know? And could happen, right? You never know, after all. 

Attacks on our Border Patrol

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in New English Review.

 As if the scenes this past couple of weeks in Del Rio of 15,000 Haitians storming our border with Mexico were not bad enough, the unconscionable attacks upon our Border Patrol officers by the left and the media are enough to turn your stomach. From Joy Reid at MSNBC to Ilhan Omar, DHS head Alejandro Mayorkas, Kamala Harris, and others took one look at the BP officers on horseback, reins flapping, to quickly conclude that they were whipping the poor Haitian migrants and "bringing back memories of the days of slavery". Talk about a rush to judgment!

And on Friday, President Biden, speaking at a press conference and "answering" a question about the situation at Del Rio, went on to crucify his own Border Patrol, saying that "those people will pay," and "There will be consequences". It was shocking, especially given the fact that the slow-thinking president had a couple of days to digest the situation and realize that nobody was being whipped. Yet, he went right along with his leftist handlers and joined the chorus. Meanwhile, Mayorkas has ordered that the officers be placed on administrative leave and removed horses from any efforts to control the flow of migrants across the river and onto our shores.

As a former federal agent (DEA),  I cannot imagine how our Customs and Border Control agents continue to work under these conditions, where they are given no support from their superiors and the administration in Washington, and now see their very jobs-and freedom- under threat just because they were doing their jobs. All because the media and the ruling Left cannot or do not want to see the difference between whips and horse reins.

So what comes next for the officers on horseback? Will they be disciplined, fired, even be prosecuted and sent to prison? In the same breath that Biden announces an investigation is underway, he states that "those people will pay" and "there will be consequences". Is he the judge, jury, and executioner? At the same time, that hapless hack, Mayorkas, assures reporters that "they know how to conduct an investigation". With the president already promising punishment. That's how the Biden DHS will conduct the investigation.

Just as the Obama administration and the Eric Holder DOJ threw ATF under the bus for the  Operation Fast and Furious fiasco, which was no doubt concocted in Washington, the Biden administration is throwing the Border Patrol under the bus when the videos are clearly exculpatory. It is a disgrace. Neither Biden nor Harris have bothered to spend any time on the border, yet they sit in Washington and condemn the actions of the BP officers who have been put in an impossible situation by the ineptitude and negligence of the Biden administration, which have led to the mess in Del Rio.

Meanwhile, out of 15,000 arrivals, only about 2,000 have been sent back to Haiti, according to DHS, (Mayorkas initially was unable or unwilling to give the numbers when questioned before Congress.) while the remainder are being "processed for removal", a euphemism meaning that they are being transported to points unknown around the US, released, and told to appear later before an immigration judge. The fact is that very few will show up. And all this while several BP officers now have to worry about their careers and their very freedom as Biden promises, "they will pay".

It is all beyond disgusting.

Joe BIden's "Extraordinary Success"

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in New English Review. 

Every time Joe Biden steps in front of a camera, it just gets more pathetic. This week's episode, where he announced the final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, was classic Joe Biden. In the face of this unmitigated disaster, Biden actually bragged about the withdrawal, calling it an "extraordinary success"! He rattled off the numbers of people evacuated. He defended his actions and pointed the finger of blame at Trump. This was classic Biden. It's what he has done for 50 years in Washington. This man has never admitted he was wrong about anything. No, Joe Biden is always the smartest guy in the room. In reality, he has spent five decades being wrong about everything. In truth, he is an empty-suit blowhard.

If you want to characterize the performance of our troops at Kabul airport along with the State Department people on the ground in getting 120,000 people onto planes and out of Afghanistan as extraordinary, that part I will agree with. They did a phenomenal job, especially given the circumstances they were given to work with by their leaders in Washington- at the White House and the Pentagon.

What was not an extraordinary success was how our leaders brought this evacuation about. The scenes of tens of thousands of desperate people outside the gates of the airport trying to pass through Taliban roadblocks was not an extraordinary success. Having 13 US troops and almost 200 Afghan civilians killed by a suicide bomber is not an extraordinary success. People falling to their deaths from the wheel wells of departing planes was not an extraordinary success. Leaving our allies in the lurch and unprepared to evacuate their own personnel and Afghan allies was not an extraordinary success. Leaving American citizens behind in order to adhere to the August 31 deadline was not an extraordinary success. Leaving behind some 80 billion dollars in military vehicles, weapons and other equipment is not an extraordinary success.

I do not blame the troops on the ground and the diplomats who stayed to the last for the above. All this would have been avoided had our leaders properly planned and organized this withdrawal. They put those on the ground at Kabul in an impossible situation, and the latter performed heroically under the circumstances.

But there was Biden defending his actions while avoiding the main point. Very few Americans are outraged because he decided (as did Trump) that it was time to end our fighting in Afghanistan and let the Afghans defend their own country. Yes, once we took care of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and once Usama bin Laden was dead, we should have gotten out. Establishing a Jeffersonian democracy in Afghanistan should never have been a consideration. Yes, it would be great if Afghan women and girls had equal rights and go to school, etc (let alone not be executed in soccer stadiums), but it is not for American soldiers to die to bring that about. Sorry, it just isn't.

No, Mr Biden; it's not that you ended our military involvement in Afghanistan. It is the bungling, incompetent manner that you and your top advisors and military leaders (Secretary of Defense Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Milley)  organized the withdrawal.

In the coming days and weeks, we will hear about one Taliban atrocity after another, likely some committed against American citizens left behind. That will not help Biden's standing. In addition-and I want to say this carefully- we don't know as yet just who these 100,000+ Afghans who were evacuated are. We are told they are interpreters, embassy workers, those who worked with our forces, and Afghans with dual citizenship. If so, I have no issue with that. We have a moral duty to save all of those people.

But how many will turn out to be people who don't fall into those categories? There are already reports coming out that the US and European countries are discovering people who got out who are Taliban members (France) or those on terror watch lists. Countries like Sweden, Germany, and Austria are dealing with a massive crime problem with young Afghan men who have arrived unaccompanied in the past few years. Aside from the Afghans in the categories I mentioned, we need to be very cautious before we open the floodgates to massive Afghan immigration. There is no valid reason why neighboring countries or other Muslim countries should not accept these people. Let them all live happily under Sharia law.

As for Biden, in just 8 months, he has surpassed any and all previous presidents who history has regarded as failed presidents. That is an extraordinary achievement. But it is not an extraordinary success.