Friday, September 25, 2015

The True Taste of Pakistan

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com








That's what two restaurant owners advertised in their kebab joint in Nottingham, England. Now they have been ordered to pay fines and restitution after some 150 patrons came down with e-coli from fecal infected food. (Hat tip Vlad Tepes)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3247526/Kebab-shop-owners-infected-150-customers-rare-form-food-poisoning-meals-contaminated-human-faeces.html#ixzz3mfA1dmHVhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3247526/Kebab-shop-owners-infected-150-customers-rare-form-food-poisoning-meals-contaminated-human-faeces.html#ixzz3mfA1dmHV

I think their lawyer should have argued that the owners adequately warned the patrons on the front window.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Stop The Flood of Muslim Refugees Coming Here

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Front Page Magazine, Steve and David


On the one hand, we have a president determined to run this country into the ground so he and his Democratic successors can rebuild it in their Utopian fashion. On the other hand, we have John Kerry, one of the biggest fools ever to serve as secretary of state. Together, they are working to join the EU in committing national suicide by flooding our respective societies with more and more Muslims. Daniel Greenfield in Frontpage Magazine reports on the dirty work being done by our leaders.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/260186/kerry-vows-bring-refugee-total-100000-daniel-greenfield

Have we not learned by the Boston Marathon bombing, which was conducted by two refugees from Daghestan? Apparently not.

But here is what we can do.

Support Rep. Brian Babin's bill (HR 3314) described below.

http://babin.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=356

A friend has emailed me a list of Congressional leaders who you can contact along with talking points. I assume these are committee leaders/GOP.

IN THE CONTINUING RESOLUTION: PROHIBIT ALL FUNDING TO BRING SYRIANS INTO THE U.S. UNDER ANY PROGRAM.

REASONS (If anyone asks)

1. SYRIAN REFUGEES POSE AN EXISTENTIAL NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT TO AMERICA:
  • ACCORDING TO THE FBI, SYRIANS CANNOT BE VETTED FOR TERROR CONNECTIONS
  • ISIS INFILTRATION THROUGH SYRIAN REFUGEES IS “A HUGE CONCERN.”ACCORDING TO JAMES CLAPPER, OBAMA’S DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
  • ISIS AND OTHER TERRORIST GROUPS HAVE PROMISED TO EXPLOIT THIS WEAKNESS AND CLAIM TO HAVE 4,000 MEMBERS IN EUROPE ALREADY
2. GULF STATES ARE NOT ACCEPTING ANY SYRIAN REFUGEES, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE MUCH BETTER SITUATED, WITH PROXIMITY, ROOM, RESOURCES and COMMON LANGUAGE.
3. If Congress wants to provide aid to Syrians staying in the Middle East that would be fine, but no money should be spent to bring them to the U.S.


Following are the relevant lists and their contact info.

SENATE LEADERSHIP

Mitch McConnell (KY) – Majority Leader
(202) 224-2541

John Cornyn (TX) – Majority Whip
202-224-2934

Roy Blunt (MO) – Chair, Rules Committee
(202) 224-5721

John Thune (SD) – Chair, Senate Republican Conference
202) 224-2321

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS
Phone: 202-224-7257

Cochran, Thad (MS), Chairman (202) 224-5054 (Offices: http://www.cochran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/offices)
Mitch McConnell, (KY) (202) 224-2541
Richard Shelby, (AL) (202) 224-5744 (Offices: http://www.shelby.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/offices)
Lamar Alexander, (TN) (202) 224-4944 (Offices: http://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/officelocations).
Susan Collins, (ME) (202) 224-2523 (Offices: http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/phone)
Lisa Murkowski, (AK) (202) 224-6665 (Offices:http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/officelocations)
Lindsey Graham, (SC) (202) 224-5972 (Offices: http://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/office-locations)
Mark Kirk, (IL) 202-224-2854 (Offices: http://www.kirk.senate.gov/?p=offices)
Roy Blunt, (MO) (202) 224-5721
Jerry Moran, (KS) (202) 224-6521 (Offices: http://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-info)
John Hoeven, (ND) 202-224-2551 (Offices: http://www.hoeven.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/office-locations)
John Boozman, (AR) (202) 224-4843 (Offices: http://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/office-locations)
Shelley Moore Capito, (WV) 202-224-6472 (Offices: http://www.capito.senate.gov/contact/office-locations)
Bill Cassidy, (LA) (202) 224-5824 (Offices: http://www.cassidy.senate.gov/contact/office-locations)
James Lankford, (OK) (202) 224-5754 (Offices: http://www.lankford.senate.gov/content/contact-james)
Steve Daines, (MT) (202) 224-2651 (Offices: http://www.daines.senate.gov/ scroll to bottom)

HOUSE LEADERSHIP

John Boehner (OH) – Speaker
(202) 225-0600
Link to OH Offices: http://www.speaker.gov/contact scroll to bottom

Kevin McCarthy (CA) – Majority Leader
(202) 225-2915

Steve Scalise (LA) – Majority Whip
(202) 225-3015
Link to LA Offices: https://scaliseforms.house.gov/contact/ scroll to bottom

HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

Harold Rogers, Kentucky, Chairman (202) 225-4601 (Offices: http://halrogers.house.gov/contact/offices.htm)
Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, New Jersey (202) 225-5034 (Offices: http://frelinghuysen.house.gov/contact-us/)
Robert B. Aderholt, Alabama (202) 225-4876 (Offices: https://aderholt.house.gov/contact/offices)
Kay Granger, Texas (202) 225-5071 (Offices: http://kaygranger.house.gov/contact-kay)
Michael K. Simpson, Idaho (202) 225-5531 (Offices: http://simpson.house.gov/contact/ scroll to bottom)
John Abney Culberson, Texas (202) 225-2571 (Offices: http://culberson.house.gov/contact/officelocations.htm)
Ander Crenshaw, Florida (202) 225-2501 (Offices: http://crenshaw.house.gov/index.cfm/officelocations)
John R. Carter, Texas (202) 225-3864 (Offices: http://carter.house.gov/contact-john-nav scroll to bottom)
Ken Calvert, California (202) 225-1986 (Offices: http://calvert.house.gov/contact/)
Tom Cole, Oklahoma (202) 225-6165 (Offices: http://cole.house.gov/office-locations)
Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida (202) 225-4211 (Offices: https://mariodiazbalart.house.gov/contact/offices)
Charles W. Dent, Pennsylvania (202)-225-6411 (Offices: http://dent.house.gov/?p=OfficeInformation)
Tom Graves, Georgia (202) 225-5211 (Offices: http://tomgraves.house.gov/contact/officeinformation.htm)
Kevin Yoder, Kansas (202) 225-2865 (Offices: https://yoder.house.gov/contact/offices)
Steve Womack, Arkansas (202) 225-4301 (Offices: http://womack.house.gov/contact/officeinformation.htm)
Jeff Fortenberry, Nebraska (202) 225-4806 (Officeshttps://fortenberry.house.gov/contact/offices)
Tom Rooney, Florida (202) 225-5792 (Offices: https://rooney.house.gov/contact/offices)
Chuck Fleischmann, Tennessee (202) 225-3271 (Offices: https://fleischmann.house.gov/contact-me)
Jaime Herrera Beutler, Washington (202) 225-3536 (Offices: http://herrerabeutler.house.gov/contact/officeinformation.htm)
David Joyce, Ohio (202) 225-5731 (Offices: http://joyce.house.gov/my-office-locations/)
David Valadao, California (202) 225-4695 (Offices: https://valadao.house.gov/contact/officeinformation.htm)
Andy Harris, MD, Maryland (202) 225-5311 (Offices: https://harris.house.gov/contact-me scroll to bottom)
Martha Roby, Alabama (202) 225-2901 (Offices: http://roby.house.gov/our-district/my-offices)
Mark Amodei, Nevada (202) 225-6155 (Offices: https://amodei.house.gov/contact-us/)
Chris Stewart, Utah (202) 225-9730 (Offices: https://stewart.house.gov/contact/offices)
Scott Rigell, Virginia (202) 225-4215 (Offices: http://rigell.house.gov/contact/officeinformation.htm)
David Jolly, Florida (202) 225-5961 (Offices: http://jolly.house.gov/contact/offices/)
David Young, Iowa (202) 225-5476 (Offices: https://davidyoung.house.gov/contact/offices)
Evan Jenkins, West Virginia (202) 225-3452 (Offices: https://evanjenkins.house.gov/contact/offices)
Steven Palazzo, Mississippi (202) 225-5772 (Offices: http://palazzo.house.gov/contact/officeinformation.htm)



It should not take longer than a few minutes to blast through these calls. If you live in a state where one of these members resides, be sure to call that member in every single one of his/her offices. FURTHERMORE, CALL YOUR PERSONAL GOP REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATORS WITH THE SAME MESSAGE. You can find their contact information here:

Thursday, September 17, 2015

University of California Regents Conference

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


This week I attended parts of two days at the University of California Regents meeting held at UC Irvine. My main purpose in going was to participate in the public comments forum (Sept. 17) when the main issue of discussion was intolerance on campus. There had been a move to have the university implement the State Department's definition of anti-Semitism. Pro-Palestinian groups were in opposition. If I am not mistaken, the proposal was initially made  by UC President Janet Napolitano. In response, the UC provost and vice provost wrote up a proposed statement of principles on intolerance, which was very general and did not specifically mention anti-Semitism. The pro-Palestinan forces support this draft and those (like me) who are complaining about campus anti-Semitism are opposed to it.

I also attended yesterday (Sept. 16) when the topic of discussion was a proposed union contract with the university that concerned different university workers including physicians, interns, nurses and others. The reason I attended was not because I was interested in the issue, rather because I wanted to get a feel for how the meeting proceeded. I noted that during the public comment portion, Napolitano paid attention to the speakers (who were limited to one minute). Today, she was distracted about half the time and seemed not to be paying attention to some of the speakers.

Today, I was the first speaker on the list. (Again, we had one minute to speak.) I read from a prepared paper (which was a mistake because about half way through my hands began to shake holding the paper. That's old age for you.) Here is the text of what I said:

 "My name is Gary Fouse,  I am an adjunct teacher in the UC Irvine Extension. I am also the co-author of a  letter to  President Napolitano signed by over 100 UC faculty expressing alarm at campus anti-Semitism, asking that the university confront this problem and adopt the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism.

 The Israel-Palestinian debate has led to an atmosphere where many Jewish students who support Israel are often spending their college years in a climate of intimidation- not just from pro-Palestinian students, but in many cases from professors in the classroom.

The problem is not neo-Nazis or skin heads; rather it is the  pro-Palestinian lobby such as the Students for Justice in Palestine, BDS promoters, and their faculty allies. Every year, these groups invite speakers to campus, some of whom  cross the line from legitimate criticism of Israel to  attacking Jews as people. Over the years here I have seen and heard it first hand right here on this campus.

I thought that the regents were going to consider adopting the State Department definition of anti-Semitism. Are you instead going to pass some vague resolution opposing intolerance in general?  That would be useless.

 I ask you as a concerned Gentile to treat anti-Semitism with the same seriousness as you treat intolerance against other groups."

There were about 50 people listed to speak, some of whom didn't show up. I would say over half of the speakers were from the Jewish side. Tammi Rossman-Benjamin of the AMCHA Initiative spoke as well as several Jewish students including the president of Anteaters for Israel. I noted that one speaker from the other side was from the National Lawyers Guild in Los Angeles. A couple were from Jewish Voice for Peace including former B actress Estee Chandler (Don't ask me what movies she was in. I had never heard of her.) . Later, while the regents were discussing some inane topic, I was whispering with my friend and she turned around to give us the "shhhh" I told her to shut up. She did it with other people as well.

But I digress.

After the comments from the audience, there were a couple of other issues discussed, one of which was sexual assault. I will deal with that in a separate posting. As for the issue we were all there for, there was a presentation by UC Provost Aimee Dorr and Vice Provost for Diversity and Engagement Yvette Gullatt, who were responsible for drafting the proposed statement of principles. Dorr said they had decided not to identify specific victim groups out of concern over inclusion. (I am paraphrasing.) Gullatt explained that the statement defined intolerance. Their comments were quite forgettable.

What was interesting were the comments by the regents who weighed in after the public comments. Most of them who spoke made it very clear that they felt the draft essentially said nothing and that there was a responsibility to specifically address the issue of anti-Semitism since it was the Jewish students and community who brought the issue forth. Here are some notes as to the regents who weighed in. ( I am paraphrasing.)

Norman Pattiz said that when he read the statement, he asked himself, "What is this? It doesn't say anything." He added that it was necessary to recognize those who brought this (issue) up. He said it was insulting to disregard them and that it was a disservice to them because it was they who brought the issue to their attention.

Bruce Varner said that the statement did not deal with the specific issues.

Bonnie Reiss said that while free speech was important, it was equally important to protect the students. She referred to the reported anti-Jewish incidents and said, "We hear you. We need to tell you we hear you." She added that  the statement did not do that.  Finally, she stated that the  political debate (Israeli-Palestinian)  had led to acts of hate against one group-the Jews.

Next was a student regent, Abraham Oved, a Jew. He opened by referring to the "flawed language". He noted that he had tried to consult with the authors of the statement but was rebuffed. He did not support the statement. It did not do justice to those victimized and he referred to those who ask why the UC campus climate is the way it is. Oved was very eloquent.

Next was the speaker of the California Assembly Toni Atkins. She opened by saying that both the assembly and the senate had asked (the university) to do more. She said that they could do better, hit the right points, and find the right balance.

John Perez, a former assembly speaker, said that the statement basically said nothing, and that he feared a whitewash which would't even mention anti-Semitism. He also added that when he was in the assembly, he met with many student groups (by ethnicity). He said that the only time he was met with resistance from the university was when he asked to meet with Jewish students. He was told he would have to meet the Jewish students together with other groups. He added, however that he did not support the State Department definition being applied to the university.

Deputy Regent Marcela Ramirez essentially said nothing of substance, just the usual politically-correct buzz words. She listed three important points for her-free speech, bigotry and education.

Richard Blum (husband of Senator Dianne Feinstein) said that if they didn't get this right, he was going to get complaints from his wife and added that punishment should be addressed. That was it.

Hadi Makarechian said he agreed with Blum as to punishment. That was it.

Janet Napolitano finished by basically saying nothing . She mentioned diversity and the need "to get it right." She said that not all would agree with the final product. She took no stand.

After all that, it was announced that "this was the beginning of a process", a consultative process to be performed by a working group of students, faculty, chancellors and stakeholders. It will be led by Regent Eddie Island.

That was it. The regents continued on with other business as  most of the audience left, some like me, to be interviewed by the news media. In my case, I was interviewed by the Orange County Register. I would also like to note that as I was leaving the room, the aforementioned speech monitor Estee Chandler was still sitting in the front row-and talking with a couple of her pals.

What does it all mean?

It appears that our efforts might produce some results, but it is too early to tell. I was quite encouraged by the comments of most of the regents who spoke on the issue. Whether the final statement will adopt the State Department's definition of anti-Semitism, I don't know. I suspect that it will contain some reference to anti-Semitism. My fear is that it will simply be a listing of all the -isms including anti-Semitism. That is not enough. Anti-Semitism on UC campuses dwarfs any other form of bias. It is the most serious, and it must be specifically addressed. I should also note that no representative from any other minority group spoke to express grievances.

And what a dressing down for the provost and vice provost. In my view, they deserved it. Their statement is a joke. The University of California is chock full of policy statements expressing opposition to all forms of bias. They have diversity and inclusion officials on every campus. What would this proposed statement add?

And what happened to Napolitano? She initially proposed adopting the State Department definition. Has she changed her mind? If so, why? We will have to wait and see on that.







Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Shameful 9-11 Revisionism in Academia

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Paul Sperry and Creeping Sharia

"Poems from Guantanamo-Detainees Speak"


The below article by Paul Sperry in the NY Post focuses on 9-11 revisionist classes being taught at the University of North Carolina and other universities. It is where students are taught that the worst single atrocity in US history should be blamed not on the actual perpetrators, but on ourselves.

http://nypost.com/2015/09/06/revisionist-history-of-911-being-taught-to-our-college-students/

And what is the University of North Carolina English Department doing with  "Post-colonial studies"? Answer: In order to accommodate America-hating professors like Neel Ahuja.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Hatem Bazian's Latest "ISIS Is Not Islamic" Piece

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com



Hatem Bazian is a professor at UC Berkeley. When he is not agitating and making public speeches against Israel, he is complaining about Islamophobia. That means that part of his job description entails convincing the rest of us that the atrocities being committed by ISIS  have nothing to do with Islam. That leads him to write this latest piece for Lamp Post Productions, a site for American Muslim scholars and activists.


http://www.lamppostproductions.com/isis-compounded-ignorance-criminal-not-theology-dr-hatem-bazian/


In this piece, Bazian condemns ISIS for their acts especially focusing on their practice of using sexual slavery of Yazidis and others. he criticizes their use of Islamic texts to justify their crimes. At the end, he goes into his predictable references of Western slavery, the invasion of Iraq, the of companies and yes,- those neo-cons like Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Pearle.

First of all, to the casual reader you might want to applaud Bazian for his strong condemnation of ISIS and their horrible acts. Yet, I note that only late in the article does he even mention the Qu'ran, preferring the term "classical sources". I would take that to mean the Ku'ran, the hadith and the sunnah. He also uses the term "Prophetic tradition", which I would take to mean the hadith and sunnah. Nowhere does he use the name Mohammad. Is he trying to avoid the reader thinking about what Mohammad would say or do about such practices? He does admit that the Qu'ran neither explicitly condones or condemns slavery, but conveniently omits those references to "those that your right hand possess", references to a Muslim man having sex with captive/slave women.

Another point that Bazian omits is that Mohammad is considered the ideal man by Muslims. Whatever Mohammad did is the ideal to strive for. The Qu'ran is the word of Allah according to Muslims, transmitted to Mohammad the Messenger through the angel Gabriel (Jibril). And those references to the 55 Islamic countries that outlaw slavery? What Bazian forgets to mention are the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and Northern Sudan, which both still practice slavery-the only two countries in the world to do so. Thus, the following quote from the article is not completely true.

"The sources from the past are still available, with extensive records of cases pertaining to slavery, but the first question that must be asked is, what is the present-day ruling on slavery in the Muslim world? Slavery is prohibited, and only ISIS and its followers are calling for it to be brought back." 

And if Bazian thinks that only ISIS is engaging in rape and atrocities against non-Muslims, he might want to speak to non-Muslims in Egypt, Pakistan, Libya, Iran and many other Islamic countries where non-Muslim minorities are being persecuted-not to the extent of the Islamic State, but persecuted nonetheless. The plain fact is that in the Middle East as a whole, there is a systematic program of genocide against Christians in progress, which seems to have eluded Bazian's notice.

But to Bazian, in the end, it is always the fault of the West and the US in particular that the Islamic world is in flames. To be fair, it is not unreasonable to argue a causal connection between our overthrow of Saddam Hussein and ISIS. But what would have happened had the Iraqis themselves overthrown Saddam?  The Libyans (albeit with Western help) overthrew Qaddafi, and look at the result there. What will follow in Syria if and when Assad falls? If ISIS prevails, will that be solely the fault of the West? 

And as to those references to Wolfowitz, Pearle and the "neo-cons', Bazian knows full well this is code language for-you guessed it- the Jews.  As the Nazis used to say, "der ewige Jude"-the eternal Jew.  Of course this is the same man who reportedly told a college audience a few years ago they should count the Jewish names on the campus buildings. This is the same man who once called for an intifada in the US.

Nobody wants to hold all Muslims accountable for ISIS. Yet we cannot ignore what is happening to Christians, Yazidis, Shia and others who are being butchered like cattle in the Middle East in the very name of Islam. We have every right to discuss this phenomenon and the origins of Islam to figure out why this is happening and why we are all at risk. It is not enough to condemn the savagery of ISIS. Bazian tells us not to blame Islam. Then who are we to blame as more and more Western Muslims answer the call to join this evil movement called ISIS? If you read the "classical texts" and the "Prophetic tradition", you just might conclude that ISIS is following the pure Islam as Mohammad saw it the day he died.

Bazian concedes that Muslims throughout history have practiced slavery and rape,( as have followers of other religions). Yet he contends that their rationalizations for these actions based on religious texts are erroneous. Unfortunately, ISIS can point to specific verses and sayings in the Qu'ran, hadith and sunnah that provide their "justifications" . But in a broader sense, can we not agree that when an ideology demonizes and de-humanizes groups of people (as the Qu'ran, hadith and sunnah do with non-Muslims) then murder and other violations of human rights are only a step away?