And at Harper Community College near Chicago...Muslim students' protest closes down art show

Up in Palatine, about twenty miles from me, an art show deemed offensive by Muslims was closed down just hours after it opened.

From the Daily Herald, hat tip to Freedom Folks.

An art exhibit that included photographs of nude Muslim women wearing only a head covering was taken down Thursday afternoon just hours after opening for public viewing at Harper College in Palatine.

Muslim students at the college protested to officials about the pieces on display in Building C.

Several students say the pieces — some showing young Muslim men with machine guns — were downright offensive.

“I think they should rip this down,” student Matt George said.

Another student, Hussein Ali, says a number of Muslim students at Harper now are thinking about leaving.

“The Muslim students are thinking about boycotting Harper because of this,” said Ali, 23, of Schaumburg.

Too bad the artists didn't think of urinating in a bottle and placing a crucifix in it. Oh wait, that's been done already!

Note: Safe to click, the image isn't there.

Technorati tags: Muslims
Harper College

Meanwhile, at Chicago's Loyola University

Just more bizarre stuff from a Chicago Catholic university, this time from Loyola University, a Jesuit School. From the October 6 Chicago Sun-Times. Hat tip to Cal Skinner.

"I say the more human the better," says Loyola's president, the Rev. Michael J. Garanzini. "There's nothing more Catholic than the concept of the sinner/ saint. Most of these works were sponsored by the church, and it would be foolish to believe that the church knew nothing about Caravaggio's crimes or relationships. I believe Caravaggio embodies the faith, warts and all. I see no reason to shy away from that."
(Photo by Jean Lachat / Sun-Times)
ART PREVIEW

'CARAVAGGIO: UNA MOSTRA IMPOSSIBILE'

When: Saturday through Feb. 11
Where: Loyola University Museum of Art, 820 N. Michigan

Of all the artists that you might have expected to be featured in the inaugural show of the new Loyola University Museum of Art, the Italian Renaissance painter Caravaggio is among the most unlikely.

Loyola is, after all, a Catholic university, and Caravaggio was, after all, something of a rogue. Described by contemporaries as both hotheaded and dangerous, he was a convicted criminal who managed to amass 14 convictions in a six-year period alone. He was charged with everything from public nuisance to violent assault; in 1606, he murdered his friend Ranuccio Tomassoni, reportedly because he felt Tomassoni had cheated on a bet over a tennis game. He died in 1610 at age 39, having spent much of the four years following the murder in exile or on the run.

He is also rumored to have been homosexual. Caravaggio's male companion of five years, Mario Minniti, is the model in several of his works. Minniti eventually married and later assisted in securing commissions for his friend, but many art historians view their relationship as more than platonic.

By no means am I saying that Loyola shouldn't exhibit Cavaggio's paintings. But the comments by Father Garanzini are pretty strange considering he is the president of a Catholic university. "There's nothing more Catholic than the concept of the sinner/ saint." Other than the paintings, I just don't see where the "saint" part figures into the equation.

Technorati tags: Loyola
Chicago

How to waste a day...

Well, you could attend this event at the University of Illinois-Chicago, the Midwest Socialist Conference. These posters--without authorization--are up all over the UIC campus, as well as at DePaul.

From Michigan IndyMedia, about this conference:

WORKSHOPS INCLUDE:

* U.S. Imperialism Today: Is the Bush Doctrine Finished?
* What do Socialists Mean By Revolution?
* Hidden from History: The Fighting Tradition of U.S. Workers
* Army of None: Organizing Against Military Recruitment
* Soldiers Rebellions: From Vietnam to Iraq
* Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx
* No Human Being is Illegal: The Fight for Immigrant Rights
* The Revolutionary Legacy of Che Guevera
* The Fire Last Time: Student Movements of the 1960s
* Is Socialism Against Human Nature?
* Israel: The Hijack State
* Abortion Rights: No Apologies, No Restrictions
* System Failure: Why Capitalism Doesn’t Work
* Chavez, Venezuela and the Fight for Socialism
* Introduction to the ISO
* Race and Class Exposed: How Can We Stop Oppression?
* Socialism from Below or Socialism from Above: Marxism vs. Stalinism
* Leninism: Myth and Fact
* Buy It, Read It, Sell It: How We Use Socialist Worker
* Iraq for Iraqis: Why We Defend the Right to Resist
* Leon Trotsky on "The United Front"

Iran watch: You can't reason with them

From Tuesday's Tehran Times:

Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani said here on Monday that the uproar raised by the West about President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s recent anti-Zionist remarks will only encourage Iran to gain access to nuclear technology.

Technorati tags: Iran Israel

Little Marathon Pundit at the Halloween Parade

There's my little soldier in her politically incorrect outfit in her school's Halloween Parade this afternoon.

Yes, she picked the costume herself.

DePaul's Norman Finkelstein: "This whole claim of the new anti-Semitism is a complete fraud"

Yes, he said that.

Meanwhile at DePaul (see below) post, Professor Norman Finkelstein, holocaust minimizer, has seemingly more free speech than suspended Professor Thomas Klocek.

Finkelstein is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Chicago's DePaul University.

From the Palestine Chronicle, an excerpt:

Palestine chronicle--What do you consider the most effective example of the "new anti-Semitism" on American public opinion?

Finkelstein: There are a large number of claims circulating about rampant anti-Semitism on college campuses. When you go actually go through the records, talk to the schools, speak to the deans and so forth, all of these claims turn out to be fraudulent. There's just no record of this so-called rampant anti-Semitism on college campuses.

The most striking example is Columbia University where there was huge hysteria, newspaper editorials, and local politicians all calling for professors at Columbia's Middle East Center to be fired. The president eventually was forced to create an ad hoc committee to look into the charges and after all this hysteria and demands that these professors be fired, all that they could find was in one case in one instance in one day in one classroom after the invasion of Jenin in April 2002. A professor responded heatedly to a student who was defending Israeli tactics. That was it. On the other hand, they did find that pro-Israel outsiders were disrupting the classrooms of these professors, secretly video-taping their lectures and being turned, as the Columbia Report put it, into informers for the pro-Israel lobby. The real story was the harassment of professors who were critical of Israeli policy.

Or course, Klocek is not Jewish and claims of anti-Semitism figuring into the Klocek incident would be a stretch. What is going on at Columbia and DePaul, for certain, is pushing a Pro-Arab, Pro-Muslim viewpoint at the expense of a Jewish or Israeli one.

To state otherwise would be disingenuous, but not I'm certain, disingenuous to the hard-Left and Muslim apologists such as CAIR.

Finkelstein is just dead wrong about Columbia, click here for information on the documentary "Columbia Unbecoming."

Columbia recently established the Edward Said Chair at the Ivy League school, a position funded in part by the United Arab Emirates.

DePaul has a large Muslim student population, as noted here by the American Thinker. Also, on my October 20 visit to DePaul, this by no means is a scientific observation, but heck, I saw a lot of Muslim students--wearing hijabs or kufis--at the Lincoln Park campus of the Catholic university.

In DePaul's case, they're simply pandering to a growing constituency there.

Again, to quote Thomas Klocek, "Free speech is a one way street at DePaul and other universities."

Technorati tags: Klocek
DePaul Israel Chicago Columbia New York Dershowitz

Video of DePaul's Thomas Klocek: "Freedom of speech is a one way street at DePaul and other universities"

This video is from an October 16 Republican Jewish Coalition event that took place in Lincolnwood, IL. Although I was invited, I was unable to attend. Luckily, Grant Crowell of Walking Eagle Productions was there, and video taped Professor Klocek's speech.

The best part? Klocek remarking that one of the Muslim students, a member of the DePaul chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, commenting to him that "Israel was treating the Palestinian people--quote unquote--the same way the Nazis treated the Jews."

Klocek's riposte to the SJP member was that there was a "qualitative difference between the Israel Army targeting known terrorists who have killed their own people...and suicide bombers targeting beaches, cafes, and even Seder dinners, killing indiscriminately Israelis, both Jew and Arab alike." (Applause)

The since suspended professor gives an excellent summary of what has become known as the "Klocek Incident."

The speech is available here or here:

rtsp://dss5.streamhoster.com/grantastic/Klocek-speech_384K_Stream.mov

Real One is required.

Much has been seen in print and on the internet about Klocek. This is, I believe, the first video of Klocek to surface.

Towards the end of his speech, he made this statement: "Freedom of speech is a one way street at DePaul and other universities."

Sad, but true.

Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday Dan Rather

Yes, it's true. On October 31, 1931, Dan Rather was born.

Technorati tags: Dan Rather Halloween

Bush nominates Samuel Alito to serve on SCOTUS

Well, there was a perception that the Bush presidency had been weakened by Plamegate, and this would compel the president to nominate a consensus pick.

That perception was wrong.

Samuel Alito has been nominated to replace Sandra Day-O'Connor on the US Supreme Court.

Technorati tags: Alito SCOTUS Supreme Court

Al Lopez, manager of the 1959 AL champion White Sox, dies at 97

Man, how is that for irony?

From AP:

Al Lopez, a Hall of Fame catcher and manager who led the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox to American League pennants in the 1950s, died Sunday at 97.

Lopez had been hospitalized in Tampa since Friday, when he suffered a heart attack at his son's home, Al Lopez Jr. said.

Lopez was the oldest living Hall of Fame member, said Jeff Idelson, spokesman for the Hall. He caught Bob Feller, Dizzy Dean and Dazzy Vance, but never forgot working as a teenager with Walter Johnson, who won 417 games and possessed a legendary fastball.

Lopez hit .261 with 51 homers and 652 RBIs during a 19-year career in which he was one of baseball's most durable catchers and set the record for most games caught in the major leagues at 1,918. The record was later broken by Bob Boone, then Carlton Fisk.

Lopez was best known for being the only AL manager to lead teams that finished ahead of the New York Yankees between 1949-64. He helped the Indians to the 1954 pennant and, until last week, was the last manager to lead the White Sox to the World Series -- their 1959 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Technorati tags: White Sox Cleveland Indians World Series Baseball

Marathon Pundit sets up second blog: Illinois Marathon Pundit

The main action will be here, and I'll still be doing local stuff on Marathon Pundit, but I'm going to transition a lot of the Illinois stuff onto Illinois Marathon Pundit: The first post I have is about good friend of the blog, Joe Birkett, who may be running for the Republican nomination for governor of Illinois.

It's going to take a while to get this going, so please be patient!

Ward Churchill "PhotoShop" update

The latest from WorldNetDaily.com

Judy Yu, SCC's director of communications, explained the college received only two publicity photographs of Churchill from the public-relations agency handling the professor.

"One had a cigarette in his mouth, and the other had a gun," she said. "Obviously, we cannot support guns, so it was taken out," noting the college also did not wish to endorse smoking by using the other picture. "I would have looked harder for another photograph."

"It's not a news story bound by journalistic integrity," Yu continued, noting the doctored photo was simply part of a promotion to get people to attend the speech.


WorldNetDaily's screen capture of SCC's website shows display of image doctored to avoid showing gun


"If the only other photo is with a cigarette, I guess we'll have a photograph with a cigarette in it," Saunders added with a laugh. "At least it won't be altered."

Hmmm...cigs bad...guns worse. "Little Eichmanns" okay. Got it.

A tipster informs me that copywright violations on the altered photo may have occurred. I can't see Ward Churchill suing, as it could mean he'd get stiffed on his hefty speaking appearance coming from Shoreline Community College. That money, as I noted before, is coming partially from student tuition money.


Technorati tags: Ward Churchill Seattle
PhotoShop

Alan Dershowitz on Tony Snow's Fox News weekend radio show: Preemptive wars and Iran

I caught the end of Alan Dershowitz being interviewed on Tony Snow's Fox News weekend radio program this afternoon on Chicago's WLS.

He said his next book will be called "Preemption: Cutting the Knife Both Ways." I may have gotten the last part wrong.

Professor Dershowitz talked of the importance of, in the right situation, of a preemptive war. Obviously, he commented, Britain and France attacking Germany in the late 1930s would have been the right thing to do.

Dersh is concerned that (and he's not alone in this opinion) that the war in Iraq may have been a bad move in at least this respect: It makes the case for a future preemptive war, Iran comes to mind, the professor said, less palatable.

This next statement jumped out at me:

"The one constant in this discussion is this: Iran must not possess nuclear weapons."

Not sure if I got the quote word for word, but he said essentially what you see above.

By the way, I find myself agreeing more and more with Alan Dershowitz. I don't think I'm becoming more liberal, and I don't think he's becoming more conservative.

It's all part of, I believe, the sea-change in the political landscape in the post 9/11 world.

Some Soldier's Mom blog sounds the alarm: Fred Phelps Westboro cult coming to disrupt a California soldier's funeral

Third Wave Dave in California has sounded the alarm:

Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church, whom a Tennessee newspaper called "a vile cult of losers," is coming to torment the friends and family of Army Specialist Timothy D. Watkins in Yucca Valley CA on November 1. Watkins was killed in Iraq by an IED two weeks ago.

Blogger "Some Soldier's Mom" is the mother of one of the soldiers who served with Specialist Watkins.

From the San Bernadino Sun:

The young man had been passionate about his beliefs since childhood, his father said. He was converted to Christianity at age 5. He carried that through his entire life.

Tim Watkins was heavily involved in the church, taking part in school theatrical productions and working with children at Ironwood Christian Camp in Newberry Springs.

He was part of the ministry of Pacific Baptist College in Pomona and sang with a worship group.

Meanwhile, those jackals from the Westboro Baptist Church feel the need to picket Timothy Watkins funeral, because of American tolerance of homosexuality.

Westboro Baptist Church, incidentally, is not affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (they've repeatedly denounced him) or any other major Baptist organization.

Members of his church mostly consist of his family and in-laws.

The silence of CAIR, continued...

CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has not denounced the--I'm not sure if this word is strong enough--inflammatory comments made earlier this week by the Iranian president, who called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

In July, CAIR was a co-sponsor of a much-publicized fatwa (religious decree) denouncing terrorism.

As for the "wipe Israel off the map comment," we're waiting CAIR.....

Iran's "Wipe Israel off the map" President calls for destruction of the Jewish state.

In something called World Qods Day, the hard-line President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, led a rally in Tehran of 1 million people calling for destruction of Israel.

Earlier this week, he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

MEMRI has translated Ahmadinejad's speech, "A World without Zionism," which is available here.

An excellent source of information from Iran is available on the blog Regime Change Iran.

Bombings in New Dehli

Virtually simultaneous bombings in the capital of India, and designed to kill as many civilians as possible, at least 10 are dead.

Seems like al-Qaeda to me.

Ward Churchill's "PhotoShopped" pic pulled from Shoreline Community College site

Ward Churchill will be speaking at Seattle's Shoreline Community College on November 8, as you'll see here.

Shoreline, publicizing Churchill's appearance there next month, posted a photo of the world's most prominent fake Indian. But they changed a well-known picture of Churchill before placing it on their web site. The well-known pic is on the left. Shoreline Community College digitally-altered that photo, removing the automatic rifle from Ward's right shoulder, if the other one.

A tipster sent me this information, which, indepedent of this blog, Little Green Footballs picked up on.

The same tipster now informs me that the "PhotoShopped" picture is gone from Shoreline's site. Now there is no picture, as you'll see if you click on the above link.

Oh, about my opposition to Ward Churchill: Yes, the man has free speech rights, and everything he as said in the past is, in my opionion, covered by the First Amendment. What I object to is that colleges such as DePaul and Evergreen State College to speak at a high fee, with dollars most likely partially covered by student's tuition money.

It's beleived that Ward Churchill gets anywhere from $3,500 to $5,000 for each on-campus 90 minute rag.

Here's a tip for you, colleges and universities of the world: You can get me for maybe 1/10 of that. And media will be allowed to view my talk, unlike Ward Churchill's DePaul speech.

And, yes, a detail from Ward's DePaul speech was reported in error. But there are plenty of other reprehensible statements that most decent people would find objectionable in his DePaul speech of last week.


Technorati tags: Ward Churchill Seattle
Academic freedom
Liberals in Academia

Star Trek's George Takei (rhymes with hay) is gay

George Takei is gay, so says, the man who played Mr. Sulu on the legendary first Star Trek series.

Well, look for Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church to picket the next Star Trek convention.


Technorati tags: Gay Star Trek Fred Phelps
Westboro Baptist Church

Back home again....

...and no e-mails with "restraing order" in the subject line. Now, time for more posts.

Ward Churchill: Correct this time

See the below post and the updates. Andrew Marcus' cleaned up version confirms Ward version of the events. It's still a vile speech, and worth listening to when you get the time. This version, minus the drawn out intro, is just under one hour and twenty minutes long.

From the Mental Ward (Churchill).

Don't take this as backpedaling: This is why DePaul and Ward should've allowed the media to report on his speech. Chickens come home to roost in more ways than one.


Technorati tags: Oops
Crow

American Thinker: Ward Churchill denies "Hitler quote"

From the American Thinker...

Ward Churchill is denying to the Denver Post having made remarks at an address at DePaul University, which we reported on yesterday.

Churchill, speaking Thursday night at a Denver forum on academic freedom, said he was misquoted in two articles in The American Thinker, which said Churchill told De- Paul University students that “Hitler exterminated the wrong people.”

“It’s not something I said,” Churchill told about 80 students. They’re “not the brightest bulbs in the world and not the most honest.” [snip]

In the DePaul speech, Chicago attorney Chaya Gil writes about hearing Churchill tell students that Hitler should have exterminated “your American grandparents instead of the Jews.” Jonathan Cohen, a math professor at DePaul, makes a similar reference in another article for The American Thinker. Neither could be reached for comment Thursday.

Churchill said that he was telling the students about the hateful e-mail he received since the controversy broke about his 9/11 statements.

Churchill said he quoted one e-mail that said American Indians should have been exterminated instead of Jews and another that said Churchill’s grandparents should have been sterilized. He said American Thinker writers misquoted him.

UPDATE 10:55 AM:

From the comments: Listening to the audio, it does sound as though he was misquoted. He seems to be reading a piece of email he allegedly received. If he did indeed receive that email, it is unfortunate. I am not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt here though. If he wants to play the victim he’ll have to prove it.

UPDATE 11:15AM: After listening to this tape about a dozen times, Churchill, when he did say "Hitler killed the wrong people" he was quoting from an e-mail. The e-mailer, according to Ward, then said "sterilaztion should've begun with your grandmother."

UPDATE: 11:25 AM: Listen here with Quicktime. It confirms my 11:15 AM update. The words were said, but the context was totally wrong.

Chicago White Sox on Oprah Show live

Right now as I type this post, the White Sox are on the Oprah Show. No bombshells released(although Oprah called Scott Podsednik "that cute Scott"), other than Sox manager Ozzie Guillen says he will be back next year wearing number 13 for the South Siders.

The world champs will be followed on Oprah by George Clooney.

None of the White Sox were crying, even though it was the Oprah Show. We'll have to wait on George Clooney.

UPDATE: 9:18am. It might've been taped yesterday. George Clooney has yet to cry.


Technorati tags: White Sox Oprah George Clooney

Fox News: Scooter Libby, but not Karl Rove, to be indicted

Carl Cameron was just on Fox News with the latest on the Plame story. Scooter Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief-of-staff, will be indicted for his allegedly misleading testimony in front of a grand jury. According to this report, Karl Rove will not be indicted?

Will this end the Left's love affair with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald?

Ward Churchill's DePaul audio available here

Courtesy of Grant Crowell's Walking Eagle Productions. Grant is just, well great.

What I've heard below completely corroborates the prior two posts about Ward Churchill's October 20 speech at Chicago's DePaul University.

Among the things I've heard on the recording, is that Ward Churchill claims he is not a Marxist.

He's right. After listening to the tape, Ward Churchill is a Benito Mussolini style fascist.

This first link is the only one I could open, it's a bit muffled. Turn it up! 11 mb

I couldn't open up the second link this evening. 48mb. Better luck tomorrow?

As for the first link, 15 minutes into it, Ward begins speaking, but like Der Fuehrer, he has a booming voice and you can easily make out what the Fake Indian has to say, or make that, emit.

To quote one of the "friendlies" who was lucky enough to get in, that individual left this voice mail message on my cell phone.

"Well, let me begin with this: "It was pretty horrible."

But worth listening to at the earliest opportunity.

Time again for my "Moby Dick" moment,

"From Hell's heart, I stab at thee..."

UPDATE 9:27 AM October 28: Andrew at the Mental Ward (Chuchill) has a cleaned up, audio version here.

Tomorrow, he promises to chop it up into tasty sound bites.

Another view from the American Thinker on Ward Churchill's DePaul appearance

Ward Churchill speaks on 9/11 and more about the fellow "little Eichmanns" out there.

From Chaya Gil:

He (Ward) spoke about 9/11. He watched it on that day on three channels, and heard them all calling it repeatedly a “senseless” killing. But he knew right away that it was not senseless, there were reasons. Perhaps he wouldn’t agree with the reasons, but it certainly had reasons, it wasn’t “senseless.” The next day, bin Laden listed the reasons: (1) USA killed 500,000 Iraqi children. (2) The Israelis shooting stone-throwing children in Palestine. (3) The presence of Americans in Saudi Arabia. He personally thinks that the third reason is not equal to the first two, although he also doesn’t see any reason why the US should be in Saudi Arabia, still it’s not as good a reason as the first two. So 9/11 wasn’t “senseless.”

The second word we heard repeatedly after 9/11, was “innocent Americans”... Innocent Americans?! The US created the problem, and then blames others for the problem, and pretends to fix it by making the problem even worse. All for economic greed. So those who were killed in the Trade Center were the operators of the US economic power machine. And this is why he called them “3,000 Eichmans.” Not because he tried to compare them to Nazis, but because like Eichman, they haven’t actually killed, but they have operated a killing system. Eichman too never killed a single Jew, he just operated a train schedule to the death camps…. There hasn’t been any problem in the Middle East until Americans interfered and forced the creation of Arab states. All for greed.

More on Ward Churchill later... Oh, it's just going to get worse for DePaul.

Ward Churchill's next speaking appearances:

University of Winnipeg, MB, Canada Nov. 4, 2005
The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA Nov. 7, 2005
Shoreline Community College, Seattle, WA Nov. 8, 2005

Ward Churchill at DePaul: "Hitler exterminated the wrong people"

From the American Thinker's Jon Cohen:

This article is so powerful, it's a crime to excerpt it, but here I go anyway:

The talk turned to his favorite bottom line for evil, Adolph Eichmann. He pointed out that even in Israel they were never able to convict him of personally killing anyone. The Israelis tried but they dropped that charge. Eichmann was someone who did the scheduling for the Holocaust. He was a desk murderer. For Churchill the people who were bond traders in the Twin Towers were not innocent because they participated in the corporate system that is responsible for the vast majority of slaughter in the world. Presumably they were desk killers too. Churchill stated that Hitler exterminated the wrong people. He should have exterminated the audience’s grandparents, not the Jews.

More..

DePaul officials are upset by the fact that they are being attacked by the blogsphere. But they should ask themselves how they got into this mess. Maybe the students have the right to some answers.

1. Why was Churchill invited?

2. Why was the Human Rights Workshop open only to Cultural Center-funded student groups?

3. Why shouldn’t the College Republicans be resentful of the fact that they have been effectively excluded from being funded by the Cultural Center?

4. Why was no media allowed to attend Churchill’s talk?

5. Why were no recording devices allowed in the room?

6. Who is funding this event?

7. How much was the speaker paid?

8. Why should the students at DePaul who are white have their tuition dollars used to pay to have a demagogue like Ward Churchill incite hostility towards them simply because they are white.

9. Why are students being given extra credit for attending?

This is not an isolated occurrence. So far this year the students have had a speech by Norman Finkelstein who stated unequivocally that the 1948 Arab/Israeli war was an ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians by the newly created Jewish state. The fact that the destruction of Israel and the eviction of the Jews was the publicly proclaimed goal of the surrounding Arab states that attacked it was never mentioned. Then Kathy Kelly, the human shield for Saddam and Yasser Arafat, gave a talk on Iraq. In the winter and spring there is to be a program entitled “Confronting Empire”, a series of lectures, conferences and other activities, aimed at “educating” the students. Does anyone seriously believe that with a name like “Confronting Empire” that the program will be objective?

Maybe the DePaul administration needs to take a look at itself and the college’s recent behavior, such as its handling of the Klocek affair instead of blaming the College Republicans or conservative blog sites for their sinking reputation.

And yes, at least some students received extra credit (you mean they do that in college, now?) for attending Der Churchill's spewing.

While the general public had been excluded, as a faculty member I was permitted to attend. I sat down between a student, who was receiving extra credit for attending and doing a write-up, and a faculty member from the School of Education, who was giving extra credit to students from his class who attended and did some kind of unspecified follow-up.

Absolutey disgusting.

UPDATE 11:15AM: After listening to this tape about a dozen times, Churchill, when he did say "Hitler killed the wrong people" he was quoting from an e-mail. The e-mailer, according to Ward, then said "sterilaztion should've begun with your grandmother."

My "spin on this? Ward and DePaul should've let the press in.

Harriet Miers withdraws

It's all here.

This will be a very bad week for President Bush.

One more Sox blogger.....Mr. Right of the Right Place...

How could I forgotten Mr. Right of In the Right Place? Another White Sox blogger.

He's got a Halloween caption contest going on now.

Chicago White Sox: World Series champions.

White Sox win World Series!

Fireworks are going off here in the Chicago area and beyond.

For the first time in 88 years, the Chicago White Sox are the World Champions!!!!

It's our turn!

My best wishes to all Chicago White Sox fans, especially fellow Illinois poli-bloggers Capitol Fax, Respublica, Angry Jolietan, and Guards of Magog.

DePaul's holocaust minimizer Norman Finkelstein coming to Harvard, home of Alan Dershowitz

A Harvard group called Justice for Palestine, has invited DePaul Political Science Professor Norman Finkelstein to Harvard University to speak there on November 3.

There appears to be no relation to this group and Students for Justice in Palestine. The latter group has a DePaul University chapter.

There's a lot to read about here, courtesy of the Harvard Law School Record.

Here is an excerpt:

Which brings us to Finkelstein's second line of writing. Along with his Holocaust/ Shakedown pieces, Finkelstein writes books whose primary object is to analogize Israelis to Nazis. A sample Finkelstein witticism: "I can't understand why Israel's apologists would be offended by a comparison with the Gestapo. I would think that, for them, it is like Lee Iacocca being told that Chrysler is using Toyota tactics."

Hat tip to Sol at Solomonia.

Finkelstein appearing on college campuses is nothing new peddling his latest book is nothing new. What makes this visit interesting is that he'll be speaking at Harvard University, where noted attorney Alan Dershowitz is a law professor.

The two of them have been feuding for years.

Finkelstein, as you'll read here, has been called a holocaust denier by the Anti-Defamation League.

Shoreline College, Ward Churchill's next stop, removes assault rifle from picture

From an anonymous tipster!

Ward Churchill will be speaking at Seattle's Shoreline Community College on November 8. For more details, and to see the altered photo, click here.

Ill. Governor Rod Blagojevich and the World Series

Got this e-mail from Third Wave Dave...all the way from California.

Really enjoyed your post about the Governor at the WS.

(That was a post based on Gov. Blagojevich reportedly being booed and pelted with trash outside Sox Park, courtesy of DownLeft.)

I enjoyed it so much, I called his press office in Springfield and asked the following questions:

1. It's traditional for opposing Governors to bet something on the outcome of the WS. Does the Illinois Gov and the Texas Gov have a bet?

2. Will the Illinois Governor be attending game 3 in Texas this evening?

Answer to both questions was "NO." And they were rather rude too.

Thought you might like to add this tidbit to your blog. Take care.

Of course, this is the same governor who wrote... ``bleeds Cubby blue and wouldn't wear a White Sox cap even if they made the World Series.''

Meanwhile, the veto session of the Illinois State Legislature is underway. More on that...and Blago....later.

Audio interview of FIRE's David French on (the lack of) academic freedom, DePaul, and Thomas Klocek

Grant Crowell of Walking Eagle Productions interviewed FIRE's David French earlier this month.

FIRE defends the free speech rights of students and professors at colleges and universities. It is, in French's words, "non-partisan and non-ideological" organization.

French focuses on academia, because they are "uniquely oppressive institutions in our society."

"Basic religious liberty is under siege on campuses across the country," French added later in the interview.

French also comments that the "vast majority of instances of censorship that we see on campus come from the left."

And of course, the Thomas Klocek free speech speech struggle with DePaul, which French called a "classic violation of academic freedom."

French is tough, deservedly so, on DePaul, stating that "what is absolutely clear is that Professor Klocek was suspended without due process because he offended people whose points of view the university wanted to protect."

In my words, here we go again: Free speech for some.

It's a great interview, but frightening, too.

Listen here. Windows media player required.


Technorati tags: Religious Freedom academic freedom DePaul Academic Freedom

Soxtober surprise: Journeyman Geoff Blum the hero as White Sox win longest World Series game in history

Here's a great story: A guy who's bounced around from team to team the last six years, Geoff Blum, hits a two-out home run in the top of the 14th inning to put the White Sox in front of the Astros--placing the South Siders in almost complete control of the World Series. The Sox are up 3 games to none over Houston and are poised to grab their first World Series crown since 1917.

Time-wise it was the longest game in World Series history--innings wise, it matched a 1916 World Series game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox. Babe Ruth pitched all fourteen for Boston.


Technorati tags: World Series mlb white sox babe ruth baseball

Ward Churchill battle in Seattle

Ward Churchill will be speaking at Shoreline Community College in Seattle in the school's gym at 7:30 pm on November 8.

Says Shoreline Community College, in information likely taken from Ward's press kit...

Ward Churchill (Keetoowah Band Cherokee) is one of the most outspoken of Native American activists and scholars in North America and a leading analyst of indigenous issues. He is a Professor of Ethnic Studies and Coordinator of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado. Churchill serves as Associate Director of the Center for Studies of Ethnicity and Race in America at the institution. He is also co-director of the Colorado chapter of the American Indian Movement and vice chair of the American Indian Anti-Defamation Council.

From an anonymous tipster....

His appearance fee will be paid for by student activity fees.

A protest can be arranged in front of the gym, according to the Director of Student Programs there, says my tipster. Information on contacting him is here. Please by nice, as the individual there I spoke with was quite friendly to me when I called to confirm this information. He didn't hide from me, as did Dr. Harvette Grey of DePaul's Cultural Center.


Technorati tags: Ward Churchill Seattle

DownLeft: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich booed, pelted with garbage by White Sox fans

Yes, this is the same Rod Blagojevich who said he wouldn't wear a White Sox hat even if they were in the World Series.

According to a DownLeft Blog tipster, Blago was not greeted warmly on a chilly Game 1 night on Chicago's South Side.

DownLeft reports:

Our beleaguered "governor" sure doesn't know when to quit....what else is new?A downleft tipster witnessed Blago's arrival to Comiskey (That's US Cellular Field for all you Sox Bandwagon Jumpers) for Game1 on Saturday night.

Upon jumping out of his black suburban surrounded by his entourage Blago decided to do some gladhanding. Things were going pretty well until some real people recognized him.

He was quickly surrounded by a crowd which began booing him...This escalated to the crowd actually pelting him with various objects. While being ushered away by his state police detail a fumbling Blago yelled "At least I didn't raise your Taxes!"..which was met by more boos and jeers from the growing crowd.

Rosa Parks dies at 92

A great woman. RIP. More from AP.

Video of Ward going psycho in Hawaii, "Would you ask George Bush to prove he was White?"

The video link comes my way courtesy of Grant Crowell of Walking Eagle Productions. It shows Ward Churchill completely lose control of his temper as he is challenged on his alleged Native American ancestry at a February press conference in Hawaii.

"That's an irrelevant question...that's an irrelevant question....'

http://www.ward-churchill.com/wc/video/Churchill/churchill-low.mov

And yes, he does cry out "Would you ask George Bush to prove he was white?"

After watching the clip, it becomes apparent why the media was banned at Thursday's Ward Churchill appearance at DePaul.

Grant's another person I got to meet last week because of Ward Churchill's Chicago appearance.

Thanks Ward!


hawaii ward churchill depaulLeft Wing Extremists
the Left Academic Freedom

Palestine Week at University of Virginia, Students for Justice in Palestine invites Norman Finkelstein to speak

This week the University of Virginia is having it's first Palestine Week. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) will host DePaul Professor Norman Finkelstein for a talk Tuesday night, according to the Daily Cavalier.

Norman Finkelstein has been called a holocaust denier by the Anti-Defamation League.

SJP is a radical organization, says Front Page Magazine's Discover the Network.

From that site:

The SJP is a group with proven ties to terrorism and the Islamic jihad against Israel, America, and the rest of the non-Muslim world. The group's national conference at the University of Michigan in November 2002 was sponsored by the Islamic Association for Palestine, a group that raises money for the families of suicide bombers. The conference also featured keynote speaker Sami al-Arian, a former professor at the University of South Florida who has been indicted as a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group.

The DePaul Chapter of SJP was one of the two groups who went running to the administration of DePaul University complaining about the views of Professor Thomas Klocek, because his ideas on the Middle East didn't agree with their own.

A little know fact about Sami al-Arian: The former University of South Florida professor--and suspected terrorist--has graced the campus of DePaul University, speaking there in 2002.


uva virginia
sjp

Ward Churchill's Black cousin: "Kill White people"

Well, that's not fair to the phony Indian, because this guy is worse. Ward Churchill dances around the issue, but a one-time instructor at North Carolina State University, Kamau Kambon, goes the Full Monty in genocidal moonbattery: He wants to kill all White people.

From Michelle Malkin's blog. Ironically, she made this post the same day that Ward Churchill spoke at DePaul.

Prior to his call for genocide against white people, Kambon, who owns Blacknific[e]nt Books in Raleigh, told the panel that “we are at war.” He said that white people had set up an "international plantation" for blacks, which made “every white person on earth a plantation master.” He said that, “You’re either supporting white people in their process of death, or you're for African liberation.”

He stressed one point in particular. “White people want to kill us. I want you to understand that. They want to kill you,” he said. “They want to kill you because that is part of their plan.”

Kambon closed his remarks by urging participants and C-SPAN viewers to "get very serious and not be diverted from coming up with a solution to the problem, and the problem on the planet is white people."

Before teaching at NCSU, Kambon was a professor of education at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, a historically black institution. He was given a Citizen's Award in 1999 by the Triangle’s left-wing newspaper, The Independent Weekly. Ironically, Kambon is also an opponent of the death penalty.

Excerpts of Kambon's address may be heard online at the John Locke Foundation's blog site The Locker Room. The full remarks may be found at C-SPAN online (www.cspan.com) by searching the recent programs for "Black Media Forum on Image of Black Americans in Mainstream Media."

His bookstore website, Blacknifecent Books.com, is down--likely due to too many hits on the site, or Kambon's gotten too many e-mails, which crashed his server.

Earlier this evening, Michelle posted an update on Dr. Kambon:

From the chancellor's office at North Carolina State University:

Dr. Kamau Kambon's remarks have received widespread coverage on various websites, blogs and in the media. In some cases, it has been incorrectly reported that Kambon is an employee of NC State. Kambon sporadically taught at North Carolina State University on an as-needed basis. He has not been employed by the university since June 30, 2005. When I learned of his comments, I released the following statement:

The remarks recently attributed to one of our former employees do not in any way represent the values and standards of the university. This type of speech is counter to any reasoned discussion on the issue of race relations, and is absolutely unacceptable in the NC State community.

Thank you for your concern and email.

Sincerely,
Larry A. Nielsen
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic
Affairs

Technorati tags: Ward Churchill North Carolina NC State NCSU

Hurricane Wilma hitting Florida hard

And as always, the best place to check for minute by minute coverage is Michelle Malkin's blog.


Technorati tags: Wilma Hurricane Wilma

Chicago White Sox win again, take 2-0 World Series lead

It was a very exciting game with a lot of lead changes. Although at times, I wishing it was a boring game with an innings 1 thru 9 White Sox lead. Tonight's heroes: Paul Konerko and Scott Podsednik.

About Podsednik: 2005 regular season: No home runs. 2005 postseason: 2 home runs.

Game three Tuesday in Houston.

Ward Churchill's next stop, University of Winnipeg

Canadian blogger Dust My Broom is getting the word out about Ward's Churchill's next college speaking appearance. He links to several Chicago blogs--including this one--that reported on the Ward Churchill carnage in the Windy City.

In an earlier post, DMB gave a "heads up" on Ward Churchill's November 4th appearance in chilly Manitoba.

In other Ward news, MacBigot.com, while proclaiming WC the "Liberal Boob of the Week," posted information on two other upcoming Ward speaking engagements, courtesy of Speak Out Now.

• Nov. 7, 2005 The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
• Nov. 8, 2005 Shoreline Community College, Seattle, WA

These two are public institutions, so it should be much easier, unlike at DePaul, to find out who is funding Ward's speaking appearance, and how much the fake Indian is being paid.

Anyone know some conservative Washington State bloggers? Spread the word.


Ward Churchill Winnipeg
Canada
Seattle

The Mental Ward (Churchill) has a video from the Ward Churchill protest at DePaul

Andrew Marcus is yet another blogger I had the pleasure of meeting Thursday at the Ward Churchill protest at DePaul University.

Here in the Chicago area, there are rumblings of a blogger get-together....more on that if it happens.

In my first post this morning, I wrote about the woman I called "Lefty Gal." Well, you can see her in action, using the "F" word--get the kids out of the room--as she confronts a nice gentleman (he was nice to me) wearing a Rush Limbaugh.com "Club G'itmo" shirt.

Rush, send royalties to Andrew's blog, The Mental Ward (Churchill).

And here is that video, Resist or Die.

And you can listen to that chant, too, "The world can't wait, drive out the Bush Regime."

Once again, I'm not clear on how the counterprotesters connect the Ward Churchill protest to President Bush's policies.

Mascot madness: CafePress.com pulls Peoria Pundit's Bradley University mascot spoof

As everyone who's followed the storied career of Larry Flynt knows, satire is protected by the First Amendment.

CafePress.com, or someone who complained to them about Peoria Pundit's Bradley University "B.U. Fighting Squirrels" tongue-in-cheek logo, needs to be informed about this matter.

Or sheesh, they can stop taking stuff seriously and have a good laugh at the expense of the no-fun-niks at the NCAA.

Click here for Bill Dennis' Peoria Pundit post on this farce, the offending image is there. I'm not posting it here, unless Bill gives me the thumbs up. What CafePress cares about does not concern me.

Go Bradley Braves!!!

UPDATE 7:15 PM CDT: The logo is up, Bill said I can use it.


Technorati tags: Peoria mascots ncaa cafe press

World Series Game 2 tonight!

And my brother has a ticket. Those are three of my nephews; Jack is holding the ticket for tonight's game.

Go White Sox!

More Ward Churchill/DePaul: "The World Can't Wait, Drive Out the Bush Regime"

The photo on the left was taken outside of the DePaul Student Activities Center, where Ward Churchill spoke Thursday.

The second photo was taken two Sundays ago during my Chicago Marathon photoblog.

The banner in the background has the same message as the one on the left.

I'm not sure what the Chicago Marathon, DePaul, or Ward Churchill have to do with the Bush Administration, but the counterprotesters I attempted to engage in conversation weren't the most rational people on the planet.

They should've just stuck with their chant, "The World Can't Wait, Drive Out the Bush Regime!"

See the woman in the long brown hair on the left (of course) side of the banner in the first pic? She's a member of World Can't Wait, a hard Left organization. Among her delusions is her belief that David Horowitz and Bill O'Reilly are forces in America working to drive out free speech. Leftists of course have a deep and understandable contempt for Horowitz: He switched sides and joined the Right.

But give her credit, she's not completely oblivious: Several times she recited the precise web address for one of David Horowitz' projects, Students for Academic Freedom. She's against that, and the groups' Academic Bill of Rights.

But Lefty Gal supports Ward Churchill and free speech. Make sense?

Oh, and about "Driving out the Bush Regime:"

On November 2 last year, we had an election where the "Bush Regime" could've been driven out. As you can see in the banner, November 2 is the date for their rally, the first anniversary of Bush's re-election.

Oh, something else happened on November 2, 2004. Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was murdered as a result of expressing his free speech rights in the form of a movie called "Submission."

I know it's conjecture, but somehow, especially since Van Gogh was a Bush supporter, Lefty Gal would find a way to claim what Van Gogh did shouldn't be protected by free speech laws. Just conjecture, but one I'd bet money on.


Technorati tags: bush ward churchill depaul antibush chicago

Chicago White Sox draw first blood, defeat Houston 5-3

The White Sox looked impressive in Game 1 of the World Series, but there's a lot more baseball left.

Let's give out a big cheer to the new Mr. October, White Sox third baseman, Joe Crede.

In Cuba: White Sox pitchers Jose Contreras and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez are "non-persons"

At the anti-Ward Churchill demonstration Thursday, some of the counterprotesters were openly declaring themselves as Communists, including the man in the hat with the pink sign

These Communists should travel to Las Martinas, Cuba, and hook up with Humberto Contreras--older brother of tonight's starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, Jose Contreras. Maybe they'd learn something.

For instance, in America, famous people who leave here don't become "non-persons."

From the Chicago Tribune. Free registration required.

Thirty minutes before Jose Contreras throws the first pitch Saturday in Game 1 of the World Series, his older brother Humberto plans to ride a horse to a friend's wooden shack, where he will listen to the game clandestinely on a short-wave radio.

There, with the radio resting on a bed, a cigar in his mouth and a bottle of rum nearby, Humberto Contreras will hear the call of each pitch and picture his brother on the mound challenging Houston Astros hitters at U.S. Cellular Field.

"I'm always nervous, but I'm sure he's going to do well," said Contreras, 41, speaking from this impoverished farming community on Cuba's western tip. "It's tough that his family, his brother, can't watch the game."

Although the eyes of Chicago will be on Contreras as he starts Game 1, many Cuban baseball fans will be forced to go to extreme lengths to keep up with the White Sox as they pursue their first World Series title since 1917.

Though citizens of small countries take pride whenever one of their own makes it big on the world stage, Contreras and fellow White Sox pitcher Orlando "El Duque"

Technorati tags: communism cuba castro baseball mlb whitesox world series

Cao: Another blogger I met at the Ward Churchill DePaul event

I just added Cao's blog to the blogroll. She has her photos here and here.

As with most of the anti-Ward protestors, Cao had a verbal altercation with a moonbat, in Cao's case, it was with a young African-American woman.

The rundown on that incident is here. The moonbat (I'm an eyewitness) called Cao, a racist, a KKK member, and a descendant of monkeys swinging in trees. She also claimed "millions" of black people died in New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina, due to, of course, President Bush's racism.

That "monkeys" comment is a common Louis Farrakhan insult directed at Jews in particular, and whites in general.

Technorati tags: Louis Farrakhan Katrina Hurricane Katrina
DePaul Ward Churchill

DePaul's Chuck Suchar's sucky ideas of America as "Empire"

The craziness at Chicago's DePaul University goes well beyond the ill-advised Ward Churchill invite and the disgraceful suspension of Professor Thomas Klocek.

Dr. Steven Plaut at Moonbat Central has another post on DePaul "University," as he calls it.

Interim Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean at DePaul, Chuck Suchar , has some sucky ideas about America. You see, America is an Empire. Capital "E." And the Empire needs to be confronted.

Chuck is a sociology professor, and as much as I'd hate to paint an entire discipline with a broad brush, sociology departments at perhaps every college--with the possible exceptions of Kenyon, Hillsdale, and Rockford, are dominated by the Loony Left.

From Moonbat Central and Dr. Plaut, who quotes Interim Dean Suchar below:

The College hopes through the Theme Series to achieve the following objectives:
to engage in a College wide (and broader) conversation about the current state of and developing trends in the global order, not only for the purpose of advancing a theme of great interest to faculty and students but also to significantly enhance the community of intellect and engagement in the University;

• to promote a wide range of views and participants in this conversation about empire and opposition in its contemporary and historical dimensions utilizing the increasingly global interests of our faculty and students;
• to question the nature of the American role and the role of other nations and interests in the emerging order and consider the forms of appropriate action, engagement and scholarship in light of that assessment.

The College is asking for the following faculty cooperation:

I know that a number of Departments and Programs are already organizing or joining in the organization of events for the Theme Series, and want to encourage your participation in your Department or Program’s planning.

In order to establish a participant base of students and courses for the events, I have asked Departments and Programs with your assistance to identify applicable Winter and Spring Quarter courses under two categories

• Courses that will center on themes related to Empire, current or historical, and the instructors
• courses that will have some component on this theme and the instructors

This will allow us to publicize these courses as Theme Series options for interested students, and to ensure ongoing notification of instructors and students involved in the Series.
If you are teaching one of these courses, I would ask you to consider encouraging or requiring student participation in Theme Series events.

To me, it appears that Chuck Suchar is setting up a Viet Cong type "re-education" camp at DePaul. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration on my part, but clearly Suchar and the other professors involved in the Empire Theme Series are promoting anti-Americanism, plain and simple.

Ward Churchill quote from last night's DePaul speech

From Andrew Marcus' Mental Ward (Churchill) blog. Check out his photos, too.

If you feel especially free tonight, you probably don’t want to do anything – if you’re not, you’ve probably got motive to do something now, it’s on you to figure out what – I’m not your commanding general, Yes? Aside from which I’m not gonna stand here and commit sedition. ….. I’m not a terrorist and I’m not a seditionist – I’ll leave that to Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers, okay? (room laughter) All of whom would be sitting in Guantanamo Bay if they were running around now doing what they did then.

Ward Churchill October, 20, 2005, DePaul University

Andrew was another blogger I got to meet last night.

Maybe there really is a "vast right-wing conspiracy."

John J. Miller's National Review article on DePaul and Klocek finally online

It's on the FIRE site, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

Pariahs, Martyrs — and Fighters Back, Conservative professors in America is the article. The Klocek case is featured, but Miller also discusses other PC attacks on non-liberal academics.

An excerpt:

Klocek’s case is particularly striking because the DePaul administration has left a long paper trail that demonstrates its disdain for his ideas as well as its disregard for the principles of academic freedom. A little more than a week after his encounter with the anti-Israel activists, Klocek found himself summoned to the office of Susanne Dumbleton, a dean at DePaul (who refused to speak to National Review). According to Klocek, Dumbleton said she had received letters complaining about Klocek’s behavior. She wouldn’t show them to Klocek, but the students who wrote them evidently felt “hurt” by Klocek’s attempts to “impose” his views on them.

Dumbleton suspended Klocek with pay and urged him to stay off campus (where he had not only been teaching, but attending daily Mass for years). She did this without arranging the formal hearing that DePaul’s own employment guidelines would seem to require. She also told Klocek not to talk to the media — a prohibition that she did not apply to Klocek’s accusers, or even to herself. “We do not respect the unfair use of faculty power over students,” she said in an interview with the DePaulia, a student newspaper. A week later, with her gag order still silencing Klocek, Dumbleton wrote to the DePaulia: “The university must serve as a forum at which individuals are able to express contrary ideas, debate opposing positions, challenge assumptions, press areas of the unknown, and consider unimagined possibilities.” This was no defense of a besieged Klocek. Instead, Dumbleton was in the process of issuing one of several apologies to the SJP and UMMA students “for the insult and disrespect they had endured.”


Technorati tags: Ward Churchill National Review DePaul Students for Justice in Palestine SJP Chicago

Chicago White Sox win the AL Pennant

Well, old news it is. But it's our first pennant in 46 years, so a repeat posting should be excused! That's Little Marathon Pundit hoisting the flag.

The World Series starts Saturday on Chicago's South Side. (Man, typing that felt good.)

Although DePaul banned the media from the Ward Churchill event, Eileen Bryne of WLS Radio showed up

Yes, that's your humble correspondent Eileen Byrne of WLS-AM 890. She's on the air as I type this post. You can listen to Eileen live on the WLS AM web site.

As I noted last night, the media was banned from attending the Ward Churchill lecture last night at DePaul.

That didn't stop her from showing up and interviewing people like myself outside the DePaul Student Activities Center.

I gave Eileen my card, and asked her to look around for some other stories about DePaul.

Oh, about that media ban. How would DePaul feel if the local media decided to ban coverage of DePaul's sports programs?


Technorati tags: WLS Eileen Byrne DePaul

Red State.org diary on Ward Churchill and DePaul

From Lockstep.

"I have fallen into the habit of starting my morning by reading Chris Muir's Day by Day, and this morning's strip tipped me to a new Ward Churchill story. This one involves DePaul University, and their local College Republicans.According to this account, DePaul invited (paid) Churchill to speak last night at their Cultural Center. When students began to question the selection of Churchill, Cultural Center director Harvette Grey refused to disclose the funding source for the lecture, and banned some students from the center, specifically banning the College Republicans from a post-lecture workshop on Churchill's views (lecture topic: human rights for people of color).

For all the posturing about free speech rights, the University has been presenting a fairly restricted worldview. In addition to the Churchill lecture, the school has been in the news recently for suspending Adjunct Professor Thomas Klocek for arguing with members of Students for Justice in Palestine at a school-sponsored event. In the name of giving a lectern to alternative viewpoints, though, they have hired noted Holocaust denier Norm Finkelstein into their Poli-Sci faculty.

I did not attend DePaul, but I know that if this took place at my former college, I would reply to the annual request for donations with a pledge to support the school when the school returned to supporting all points of view, not just the views of the current faculty and Dean. DePaul does have a handy "notes from alumni" message board where former students can let the administration know how they feel about the direction the school is taking."

Thanks for tip about the message board, LS.

Chris Muir's "Day by Day" on Ward Churchill and DePaul

Chris' Day by Day blog is here. If you click there, and then on the cartoon, you'll be able to e-mail it to friends. Or enemies.

Clicking on the cartoon on this blog should make the cartoon bigger.

DePaul professor to me: "I would never allow you in my classroom"

Pictured here are Chicago bloggers "Freedom Folks," also known as The Bald Chick and Jake Jacobsen. As we were awaiting the departing audience from Ward-a-palooza, the three of us were talking casually about--well, who knows what--but during this idle time, a short, 50ish olive-skinned woman with thick glasses approached us and pointed to Jake's sign, and said "If you were in there (Ward Churchill's speech), you would've learned something about free speech."

We didn't even know Churchill's talk had ended, and here we were already being heckled! And besides, we did want to be "in there" with Ward!

Jake responded to the woman that not only did he support free speech, he also supported Ward Churchill's free speech rights.

Jake just didn't think that DePaul should be paying Ward big bucks to speak there, in light of his "Little Eichmanns" comments and the like, as well as his shady academic reputation (plagiarism and fabrication for starters.)

There was some back and forth between them, and then I asked the woman, "What about Thomas Klocek's free speech rights?"

"Who," she said?

I gave her a brief rundown of Thomas Klocek's attempt to exercise his free speech rights while he was a DePaul professor.

(For more on Klocek, click here.)

She then told me, "I'm not familiar with all the details of that case."

I told her I was, and responded to her "DePaul fired Klocek when he spoke of things far less controversial than what Ward Churchill has said."

Her reply was, "You're not well informed on this story."

(Obviously she didn't recognize me as the "Marathon Pundit." Friends--and several enemies--of the blog recognized me right away.)

My response to her: "Have you ever spoken with Tom Klocek? Well I have! Several times. I've met with him, too."

It then became clear that this was a woman who was unaccustomed to being un-upped, because what she then said next completely astonished me:

"I would never allow you in my classroom."

Free speech at DePaul.

Oh, do you think I made this story up? The Freedom Folks were there. Was the woman lying about being an instructor at DePaul. Possibly. But remember Occam's Razor. The easiest explanation is usually the most credible.

Free speech at DePaul. Catch the spirit!

If anyone knows the identity of this woman, please leave that information in the blog comments.
Is she Professor Kay/Kaye? (See the post below this one.)

UPDATE Oct 21 11:15PM CDT: Freedom Folks offer their take on "The Teacher."

My favorite part is here:

The moral of the story? She was a teacher! Couldn't this alleged teacher read English? (Jake with FF is referring to his sign way up on this post.) Is this who's teaching our children? I'm more concerned about her being an idiot than a crusty old lefty!

Who is Professor Kay at DePaul?

While attempting to enter Ward-a-palooza tonight at DePaul, one of the DePaul security staff announced, "Would Professor Kay's (Kaye?) students please form a line here." Who is this Professor? Was it part of a class assignment for the students to attend Ward Churchill's lecture? If anyone knows, please leave this information in the comments.

I asked some of the DePaul Republicans if they knew who this person was, but they didn't.

UPDATE Oct 21 10:50am CDT: See the comments for this post. A suspect, I repeat, a suspect and only a suspect, has been identified.

The face of the angry Left

I believe this guy, "Purple Hair," is the "Beer not bombs" guy who left a paranoid rambling on my "Later today...Ward Churchill at DePaul photoblogging..." post. The hair color didn't show up perfectly in this photo. Anyway, at the end of Ward Churchill's DePaul emission, "Purple Hair" gave the phony Indian an immediate standing ovation, according to a friend-of-the-blog who got inside DePaul's Ward-a-palooza.


UPDATE 12:35 AM October 21: Blog commentator Liberty or Death informs us that Purple Hair is DePaul student Matt Muchowski "aka scribbler. I'm surprised he didn't get arrested today, he usually does."

And why is he called "Scribbler?" His chalking an Chagall modern art sculpure with anti-war slogans in 2003 probably is the reason. This story, from Chicago Indymedia, is hilarious, although it's not meant to be.

From that article:

Police arrested DePaul student Matt Muchowski at around 11AM this morning at the Chagall statue on Washington west of Dearborn, allegedy for chalking anti-war slogans on the statue.

It goes on...

"He was writing anti-war slogans with chalk," said one activist. "If that's an arrestable offence, then the police have truly shut down legitimate dissent in this city."

People like "Purple Hair/Scribbler" can't be reasoned with in any fashion.

UPDATE 12:50PM Oct. 21. A second commenter on this blog has identified "Purple Hair" as Matt Muchowski.

Ward Churchill at DePaul...."Illegal Immigration to America began in 1607"

That's what an attendee at the Ward Churchill DePaul speech told me the fraud Indian said tonight. There's a lot more to blog about, but I'm going to take it one step at a time.

I wasn't able to get into the meeting...I was close--ten feet from from Room 314 in DePaul's Student Activities Center.

I shouldn't feel bad. No media was allowed in. None. That's the way Ward wanted it. While I was being turned away, DePaul security also told a reporter from Loyola University's WLUW to leave. Visiting that station's web site, I'd think that this guy might've been very supportive of Ward Churchill.

The protest outside was entertaining. And I got to meet some people I've only spoken with on the phone or exchanged e-mails with from home. More on this later

There was a question and answer session, but that was a farce. One witness told me numerous questions, on 3 by 5 cards or something like that, were submitted to a moderator. That moderator chose the questions to ask the phony Native American.

So much for "free speech" at DePaul. The DePaul brass might call that a cheap-shot, but remember, Ward's been paid a large amount, estimated by some at $5,000, to speak at the school. As for the question-and-answer format: DePaul would probably respond, "That's the way Ward wanted it."

That's a feeble excuse. If DePaul's administration had any guts--and it's unlikely they do--they'd tell Churchill, "Hey Ward, you're getting paid several thousand dollars for 90 minutes of work. A lot of that money comes from student tuition dollars. Answer some damn questions directly from the audience! If you don't like it, then stay in Boulder and we'll keep that money."

But that makes too much sense.

Later today...Ward Churchill at DePaul photoblogging...

Look for my first posts around 4:30pm.

Next stop: DePaul's Lincoln Park campus...

In about a couple of hours I'll be at DePaul's Lincoln Park campus for the Ward Churchill event.

It will be photoblogged early on on Marathon Pundit...

or click here...http://sapyea7.blogspot.com/

Let me make this clear, Ward Churchill does have free speech rights. But that does not mean DePaul should spend tuition money from students to pay him to for his hate rants.

And let's not forget that suspended Professor Thomas Klocek's free speech rights.

Press release on Ward Churchill from the American Indian Movement

Sent by a tipster....

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT
GRAND GOVERNING COUNCIL
MINISTRY FOR INFORMATION
P.O. Box 13521 Minneapolis MN 55414
612/ 721-3914 Fax 612/ 721-7826
Email: aimggc@worldnet.att.net
Web Address: www.aimovement.org

Ward Churchill is scheduled to speak at De Paul University, Chicago IL on October 20, 2005. Churchill has caused a public furor over his loathsome remarks about the 9-11 tragedy in New York. AIM's Grand Governing Council has been dealing with Churchill's hateful attitude and rip-off of Indian people for years.

The American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council, representing the National and International leadership of the American Indian Movement once again is vehemently and emphatically repudiating and condemning the outrageous statements made by academic literary and Indian fraud, Ward Churchill in relationship to the 9-11 tragedy in New York City that claimed thousands of innocent people’s lives.

Churchill’s statement that these people deserved what happened to them, and calling them little Eichmanns, comparing them to Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who implemented Adolf Hitler’s plan to exterminate European Jews and others, should be condemned by all.

The sorry part of this is Ward Churchill has fraudulently represented himself as an Indian, and a member of the American Indian Movement, a situation that has lifted him into the position of a lecturer on Indian activism. He has used the American Indian Movement’s chapter in Denver to attack the leadership of the official American Indian Movement with his misinformation and propaganda campaigns. He has deceitfully and treacherously fooled innocent and naÔve Indian community members in Denver, Colorado, as well as many other people worldwide. Churchill does not represent, nor does he speak on behalf of the American Indian Movement.

DePaul should be aware that in their search for truth and justice, they have hired a fraud to speak on Indian activism is in itself a betrayal of their goals.

WaBun-Inini, aka, Vernon Bellecourt
Ojibwa Nation, Executive Committee Member & Director Council on Foreign Relations
American Indian Movement

Ward Churchill Day in Chicago

Well, Mayor Richard Daley hasn't issued a proclamation, but the second generation DePaul alum still has a few hours make such a declaration to honor Ward Churchill's return to his native Illinois.

On the other hand, Daley's son Patrick recently enlisted in the Army, and "Da Mare," not known for his easy-going personality, could go ballistic if he finds out that Ward Churchill is staining the DePaul campus tonight.

I don't have his e-mail address as I do Ward's, but Mayor Richard M. Daley can be reached at:

Office of the Mayor
Address: Office of the Mayor
City Hall - 121 N. LaSalle, Room 507
Chicago, IL 60602
Facsimile: 312-744-8045

Also, don't forget, Todd Beamer, the Flight 93 hero, is also a DePaul alumnus.

Technorati tags: daley

Convicted East St. Louis $10 per vote official predicts more indictments

The latest is here from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (free registration may be required) about this virtually ignored story.

Before his conviction, Kevin Ellis was the head of the agency in charge of housing inspections in East St. Louis.

In June, Ellis, Charles Powell, Jr. (then head of the ESL Democratic Party) and three others were convicted for the part in a vote fraud scheme--votes were bought for $10 a person.

Outside of an AP story or two, the national media has completely overlooked this violation of the one of the cornerstones of our society: free and fair elections.

Ellis predicts more East St. Louis indictments.

Hat tip again to Cal Skinner.

Thanks to Cal Skinner for the story tip.

World Series set: Chicago White Sox against the Houston Astros

Congrats to the Houston Astros for making it to their first-ever World Series. The White Sox are rested and ready. Go Sox!

Technorati tags: White Sox Astrosbaseball
World Series

Marathon Pundit to report on, participate in DePaul Ward Churchill protest

Okay, this Little Eichmann will be at the Ward Churchill protest at DePaul's Lincoln Park Campus.

I have a number of duties assigned to me, which I'm not releasing online.

The protest will be taking place at the DePaul Student Center at 2250 N. Sheffield, near the Fullerton Avenue Red Line stop.

Friends: This is what I'll be wearing, a White Sox hat and an Illinois jacket, with my old friend Chief Illiniwek on the viewer's right. Say "hello!"

As for the Chief, I wonder what Ward thinks about him?

I'll be doing some photoblogging on Mobile Marathon Pundit. Most of the pictures will be early, as it'll get dark around 6pm.

Ward's DePaul spewing is open to DePaul students and faculty only. I have not given up on sneaking in. It may not be easy, but even the local media has been banned, or at least their cameras and tape recorders have, according several "friends of the blog."


Technorati tags: Ward ChurchillDePaulChicagoProtest Warriors

Press release: FREE SPEECH FRAUD AT DEPAUL UNIVERSITY, Groups to protest speaking event with Professor Ward Churchill

October 18, 2005 – Chicago, IL – The DePaul College Republicans, supported by several other Chicago-based Republican organizations and Jewish Groups, will be publicly protesting DePaul University’s paid speaking invitation to controversial professor Ward Churchill, scheduled to speak this Thursday, Oct 20th, 5:30 pm at the University’s Cultural Center on its Lincoln Park Campus.

Churchill is to be DePaul’s headline speaker on the subject of human rights for men of color . The CU Professor has received major attention for an essay he wrote shortly after the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, where a noted DePaul alumni was one of its victims killed. Churchill’s paid speeches argue that the attacks were a retaliation for a 1991 bombing raid on Iraq and U.S. support of economic sanctions against Iraq following the Persian Gulf War. He referred to the people killed at the World Trade Center as "little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the Twin Towers," referring to Adolf Eichmann, who carried out Adolf Hitler's systematic extermination of the Jews during World War II. (The essay was later included in his book, On the Justice of Roosting Chickens.) Churchill has since gone on a paid, nationwide speaking tour arguing that “more 9/11’s are necessary,” for the “fragging of U.S. officers by their own troops,” and to have the “U.S. off the planet, out of existence altogether.”

The crux of Churchill’s argument says that for the world to become a better place, American capitalists should be disposed of through violent means because they drive the instruments of worldwide oppression.

While the DePaul administration is actively supporting this event with student fees, they have recently punished students and faculty for exercising their own free speech rights and academic freedom by expressing viewpoints counter to Ward Churchill and his supporters, including suspending DePaul Professor Thomas Klocek (who has filed suit against the University) for entering into an argument with Muslim student groups over their anti-Semitic and anti-Israel brochures.

When a concerned student, Nick Hahn, inquired of the Administration as to why Ward Churchill was invited to speak at DePaul and how he was being funded, he was met with great hostility and denied any information. Executive director of the Cultural Center, Dr. Harvette Gray, reportedly responded by saying, “I’m the Executive Director of the Cultural Center and I don’t have to explain to you!” before storming out of the meeting. Hahn was then banned from entering the Cultural Center and barred from contacting Dr. Grey, under orders of Dean of Students Greg MacVarish.

Churchill is currently under investigation by the University of Colorado for allegations of “plagiarism, misuse of others' work, falsification and fabrication of authority,” and copyright theft. Churchill is also denounced by first amendment groups such as FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), Colorado Governor Bill Owens and the Coiorado State Legislature, The National American Indian Movement (AIM), and numerous American Indian tribal nations, including the Indian nations that Churchill falsely claimed enrollment in (most recently with the Ketoowah Band of Cherokee in Oklahoma).

“This is a crisis for DePaul students, whom are exteremely concerned about the use of school funds to grant a terrorist sympathizer a pedestal from which to speak.” Says Joe Blewitt, President of the Depaul College Republicans.

The level of discrimination against the College Republicans and other “politically correct” student groups on DePaul campus has run rampant. Flyers made by the College Republicans, depicting some of Churchill’s more outrageous quotes were denied approval by the Student Life office, on the grounds that they were “propaganda”. (Even though they were verbatim quotes from Churchill’s books and an actual, undoctored photo on one of Churchill’s book covers.)

The DePaul College Republicans were crossed off the attendee’s list for a workshop to be held the following day on the 21st which would address Churchill’s views. (The Cultural Center, after crossing the group off, added new attendance rules ex post facto.)The DePaul College Republicans and fellow supporters will be holding their protest both outside and inside the DePaul Student Center, starting at 5 pm.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Joseph Blewitt, President(708) 323-8654 or DePaulGOP@gmail.com

Technorati tags: Ward Churchill Thomas Klocek Chicago DePaul Republican

Leftists planning counterprotest at DePaul Thursday 5PM (Ward Churchill appearance)

Well, at least I know where to find these guys....from Chicago Indymedia.

The Activist Student Union (ASU) of DePaul University is calling for all people concerned with defending Ward Churchill's views and with defending academic freedom, to rally at DePaul.

Churchill was invited by DePaul's Cultural Center and the ASU to speak because of his political views and his history of standing up and fighting for human rights and dignity.

Were it not for right-wing attacks that have included threatening letters to the staff at the Cultural Center and a letter from the Governor of Colorado urging DePaul to cancel this event, this speaking engagement would be open to all.

We must take a stand against those who wish to silence progressive voices, and fight so that Churchill's message is heard.

Where: At the corner of Belden and Kenmore. From the Fullerton el- one block south and one block west. This is outside the Student Center where Churchill will speak.

Email: asu_depaul@yahoo.com

My note: Here is that letter from Colorado Governor Bill Owens.

Technorati tags: Enemy Enemies
Ward Churchill DePaul Chicago

DePaul's Academic Terrorism: Extremism, Ward Churchill, and Thomas Klocek

Courtesy of artist and film maker Grant Crowell.

WLS-AM Chicago Talk Radio's Eileen Byrne on Ward Churchill's DePaul apperance

WLS-AM, a mostly conservative talk radio outlet in Chicago, has a great late-morning host in Eileen Byrne.

From her WLS blog:

Friday, October 14, 2005
*****Ward Churchill to Speak at DePaul University******

Attention all Little Eichmanns! I am working on getting in to an event where Ward Churchill is speaking. I called Deborah Rowe about this...told her about the fact that the USA Bashing Professor is going to be a speaker at DePaul on October 20th. Called the media relations office...they seem quite nervous that the media is calling them about this! Anyway, Deborah is helping me try to get credentials and make sure you tune in on Monday for the details! Have a good weekend. See you then! Tune in...9am sharp!

Two new blogs, both anti-Ward Churchill, added to blogroll

Here they are: The Mental Ward (Churchill) and Freedom Folks.

Both are out to scalp DePaul University. From DePaul's perspective, these new blogs must seem to be like attacking Indians in a John Ford film--they just keep popping out of nowhere.

Visit both.

Technorati tags: Ward Churchill DePaul

John J. Miller on that Rhode Island RINO Lincoln Chafee

Lincoln Chafee for good reason is generally referred to as a RINO, a Republican in Name Only. The Rhode Island Senator has flirted with bolting to the Democrats and seems to oppose President Bush more than he supports him.

John J. Miller, who in the latest print edition of the National Review wrote so eloquently about the Thomas Klocek/DePaul case, analyzes in NRO the 2006 primary race in the Ocean State been Chafee and his more conservative challenger Steve Laffey, the mayor of the small city of Cranston.

Hat tip to Pat Curley of Brainster, who adds his own analysis.


Technorati tags: Lincoln Chafee Rhode Island
DePaul Thomas Klocek

Ward Churchill: Bomb making instructor

Following up an a post from late last week involving Ward Churchill's probable Weather Underground terror ties, I found this nugget in a February Rocky Mountain News article:

Wednesday, AK Press had nine books and four CDs in stock by Churchill, who claims authorship of 24 books. The professor has a long history of controversial remarks, including telling a local newspaper in 1987 that he taught the Weather Underground how to make bombs, the Daily Camera said earlier this month.

And to think, despite his past, Ward Churchill was granted tenure by the University of Colorado.

Or maybe he received tenure because of this past.


Technorati tag: Ward Churchill

New trial denied for the East St. Louis $10 per-vote Democrats

Thanks Cal Skinner!

Free registration to the Kansas City Star may be required. This is the latest news on this vastly underreported story.

A federal judge has upheld guilty verdicts for the former chairman of the East St. Louis Democratic Central Committee and four others convicted of a vote-buying scheme.

U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy on Monday denied motions for acquittals and new trials for former party head Charles Powell Jr.; precinct committee members Jesse Lewis, Sheila Thomas and Kelvin Ellis; and City Hall worker Yvette Johnson. All were convicted June 29.
Their attorneys had argued that statements made by two prosecution witnesses were either perjured or so critically defective that they deserved to be stricken.

During the trial, prosecutors relied on secretly recorded audiotapes in which they said those accused could be heard talking about paying $5 per vote in the Nov. 2 election.

Shrewd and admirable negotiating skills by the East St. Louis Democrats brought the price per vote up to $10.

Somehow, Karl Rove will be blamed for this, I'm sure.

PETA paying protestors to picket Ringling Brothers

I can assure you none of the protestors at the upcoming anti-Ward Churchill demonstration (see below) will be paid to picket the F-Troop Indian's speaking engagement.

PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, must be getting desperate, they're offering to pay people $10 in Amazon gift certificates to protest the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus when it comes to the Chicago suburb of Rosemont next month.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Animal rights activists are offering 10 bucks per person to protest the opening of the Ringling Bros. circus in Rosemont -- an offer the circus says shows the movement is desperate and ineffectual.

"Feeling a little low on cash? PETA's here to help!" Stephanie Wood, activist liaison for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, writes in an e-mail.

The payment comes in $10 gift certificates to Amazon.com. The organization is offering the cards to the first hundred people who help protest at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont on Nov. 2.

PETA has been busy in the Chicago area. Chicago Alderman Mary Ann Smith, is sponsoring an ordinance that will effectively ban elephants within Chicago's city limits. PETA has endorsed Smith's proposed legislation.

UPDATE 10:30AM CDT: Posted in the comments anonymously, PETA Kills Animals.

Technorati tags: PETA Ringling Brothers

Coming to DePaul University Thursday: An anti-Ward Churchill protest

As regular visitors to Marathon Pundit know, Ward Churchill will be speaking at DePaul on Thursday, October 20. I will be there with my camera, taking pictures similar to this one.

That picture comes from a March anti-Ward protest in Whitewater, WI.


Technorati Tags: Ward Churchill Protest Warriors DePaul

Work of an unhappy Chicago Cubs fan?

I took this picture this afternoon inside the Jewel/Osco supermarket on Golf Road in Niles, just north of Chicago. Lots of Cub fans in that area. Cantaloupes are cheap in Niles, at least.

Anyway, it's Sox, plural AND singular.

The "GoGo" is okay, as it's an homage to the 1959 AL Champion "Go-Go" White Sox.

Technorati tag: White Sox

Governor Blagojevich in 2004: "Wouldn't wear a White Sox cap even if they made the World Series.''

From AP, via Free Republic:

The governor's impassioned defense of his baseball loyalty came in response to questions about a story in Thursday's (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald, which cited a column published under his name in The Sporting News this month. The ``My Turn'' column says he ``bleeds Cubby blue and wouldn't wear a White Sox cap even if they made the World Series.''

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1143543/posts

So, what's it going to be, Blago?

Blagojevich is Governor of Illinois until at least January, 2007

Technoratic tags: Blagojevich Rod Blagojevich White baseballworld series

Ill. Governor Blagovevich's approval ratings at 35 percent

From AP

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's job approval rating has rebounded a bit since May - to 39 percent - but only about one in three registered Illinois voters wants to see him re-elected next year, according to poll released Monday.

The Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows only 35 percent of Illinois voters supporting a second term for the Democratic governor. That is only a bit higher than the 33 percent voter support for a second term he received in a similar poll in May. That poll in May gave Blagojevich a job approval rating of 35 percent.

Hillary problems: Lawsuits and a strip club

Tip from Cal Skinner:

From the New York Sun:

A lawyer for Senator Clinton urged a California state appeals court Friday to give the senator a second chance to end her involvement in a politically nettlesome lawsuit stemming from a star-studded and star-crossed fund-raising gala for her 2000 Senate bid.

During the hour-long hearing, Mrs. Clinton's attorney, David Kendall, asked a three-judge panel to order a lower court to reconsider its denial of the senator's motion to dismiss the case under a California law that allows certain suits involving political campaigns or matters of public controversy to be terminated at an early stage.

"We respectfully submit that the court was in error here," Mr. Kendall said.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2001 by an Internet entrepreneur, Peter Paul, who alleged that President Clinton reneged on a deal to work for Paul's companies, Stan Lee Media and Mondo English, after leaving office. Paul claimed that as part of the deal, he agreed to provide Mr. Clinton with $10 million in stock, $5 million in cash, and a $1 million donation to the president's foundation, and to pay more than $500,000 to underwrite the costs of a fund-raising concert for Mrs. Clinton that was held in August 2000.

Due to an apparent breakdown in vetting procedures, the Clintons and their aides were unaware that, in the 1970s and 1980s, Paul was convicted of three federal felonies, including drug and fraud charges. Those facts emerged in the press a few days after the gala, causing embarrassment to Mrs. Clinton's campaign.

And there is this, my favorite part...

The New York Sun was the only news organization that attended the arguments Friday, but about a dozen law students from an appellate advocacy class at the University of California at Los Angeles made a special visit to see the Clinton case. Some said they enjoyed the spectacle of Mr. Kendall, a prominent Washington attorney who has handled such weighty matters as Mr. Clinton's impeachment, arguing over filing deadlines and mailing mishaps.

There is a Chicago links in this story..... Mr. Levin was also once part owner of a strip club, Thee Doll House. Feminists such as Hillary generally are opposed to such exploitative enterprises.

Levin also used to run the politically connected firm Tru-Link.

Peter Paul was the go-between, according to this article, between the Hillary camp and former strip club owner Levin.

Hillary
Hillary Clinton

Chicago White Sox win American League Pennant!

For the first time in 46 years, the Chicago White Sox are the American League Champions!

It's our turn!

Robb of Running at the Mouth Blog sets marathon PR

Ohio blogger Robb K. of Running at the Mouth ran a fabulous marathon today in Columbus, a 2:51, beating his personal marathon record by four minutes.

That's 6 minute and 32 seconds pace per mile. Fabulous.

Technorati tags: Running marathon Ohio

Ward Churchill, supporter of "fragging" US military officers

From June in WorldNet Daily, original source was the Pirate Ballerina web site.

University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill suggested to a forum on conscientious objection they might be more effective in opposing war if they supported the "fragging" or killing of line officers.

As reported by the "Pirate Ballerina" blogsite, during a Portland meeting on resistance to military recruiting, Churchill, famous for comparing Sept. 11, 2001, victims in the World Trade Center to "little Eichmanns," twice suggested anti-war activists should support those who kill their officers.

"For those of you who do, as a matter of principle, oppose war in any form, the idea of supporting a conscientious objector who's already been inducted [and] in his combat service in Iraq might have a certain appeal," he said. "But let me ask you this: Would you render the same support to someone who hadn't conscientiously objected, but rather instead rolled a grenade under their line officer in order to neutralize the combat capacity of their unit?"

Later, in a question-and-answer period, Churchill was asked whether the trauma "fragging" inflicts on that officer's family back home should be considered, he responded: "How do you feel about Adolf Eichmann's family?"

Graphic courtesy of Free Republic.


Technorati tags: Ward Churchill military
DePaul

Chicago White Sox on the verge...

...of their first American League Pennant since 1959, as they defeated the Los Angeles Angels to take a 3-1 ALCS lead.

Pictured here is that 1959 squad. That's old Comiskey Park in the background.


Technorati Tag White Sox

Welcome back Moonbat Central Readers

And thank you Dr. Steven Plaut. The Moonbat Central post is here. And on the left hand side of the page, there is an Amazon link to one of his novels, The Scout.

New link added to blog roll: Pirate Ballerina, a Ward Churchill site

I've added another link to Marathon Pundit, Pirate Ballerina. Everything you need to know about Ward Churchill is here.


Technorati tag: Ward Churchill

Morton Grove: Local heroes

I live in Morton Grove, IL. Today there will be an outdoor fundraising event for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

People in Morton Grove have been already been collecting clothing for the Hurricane victims.


Technorati tags: Katrina Hurricane Katrina

Google cache catches DePaul's Cultural Center with some sneaky editing

Looks like Dr. Harvette Grey, head of the DePaul Cultural Center, is up to some chicanery in publicizing Ward Churchill's upcoming hate rants at DePaul next week.

Sent my way by an anonymous tipster:

Old post: (I added the bold print.)

October 20, 2005
Lecture: Ward Churchill -Open to DePaul Community
(5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Student Center 314-A)

October 21, 2005
Multicultural Human Rights Education Workshop
(2:00 p.m.--4:30 p.m., Student Center 314-B) -Ward Churchill
For Student Organizations Only

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:c9HKxOXFAgEJ:studentaffairs.depaul.edu/culturalcenter/events.html+&hl=en&client=firefox-a

New Post:

October 20, 2005
Lecture: Ward Churchill -Open to DePaul Community
(5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Student Center 314-A)

October 21, 2005
Multicultural Human Rights Education Workshop
(2:00 p.m.--4:30 p.m., Student Center 314-B) -Ward Churchill
Open to Student Organizations which are supported by Cultural Center's Allocation Fund.

http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/culturalcenter/events.html

It's apparent Nick Hahn, of the My Political Agenda blog was right when he made remarks about this "lockout" to Caplis and Silverman of KHOW Radio in Denver.

Dr. Harvette Grey, pictured above, is clearly trying to keep the DePaul Republicans, as well as any other Ward Churchill opponents, out of the second event.

Tuition money, including that of DePaul Republicans, is partially funding Ward Churchill's appearance fee for the DePaul events.

Does DePaul have no shame?

Oh, looking at Dr. Harvette Grey's biography, she has a Masters from Northeastern Illinois University's Center for Inner City Studies. That department, is led by Conrad Worrill, a well-known slavery reparations zealot.

That's not to say Grey supports the unpopular--outside of college campuses--idea of slavery reparations. But last week Dr. Grey's DePaul Cultural Center hosted a slavery reparations proponent, Chicago Alderman Dorothy Tillman, who spoke to DePaul students about this issue.

culturalcenter@depaul.edu

Technorati tag: Ward Churchill

DePaul student's Denver radio interview follow up: A rat is smelled, and does Ward have a Weather Underground link?

Pictured (the picture has somehow been deleted) in the dark jersey is DePaul hoopster Raymon Caplis, playing shortly before Christmas in 1951 under legendary Blue Demon Coach Ray Meyer.

Caplis is fighting for the ball with Kentucky's Clifford Hagan.

Hagan, like Ray Meyer, would later be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

It looks like Caplis got the ball, but Kentucky won that game.

And what does that picture have to do with DePaul and Churchill? On Tuesday, a very well-poised blogger Nick Hahn, a DePaul political science major and Republican, was interviewed by KHOW Denver's Dan Caplis, son of ex-Blue Demon basketball player Raymon Caplis. Yeah, the guy in the picture!

Caplis' co-host, Craig Silverman, also participated in the radio interview.

Just like that 1951 tussle for the ball, there is a struggle going on at DePaul University; this one is about free speech. Students like Nick are strongly objecting to DePaul paying Ward Churchill an undisclosed but likely princely sum to come to DePaul to spew his hate speech. Yes, this is the same Chicago school that suspended Thomas Klocek one year ago for expressing his free speech rights, or at least his attempt to express them on DePaul's campus last fall.

As many others have, Caplis and Silverman took note of the irony of what I call "free speech for some" occurring at DePaul University.

Nick had some intriguing comments. The interview, available via Nick's blog, is here.

For starters, Hahn wants to put up some anti-Ward Churchill posters, with actual Ward quotes on those posters. The school wouldn't let Hahn post them, because the posters have been called "propaganda" by DePaul administrators. Yes, actual Churchill quotes are deemed "propaganda" by DePaul.

Hahn also noted that he and others have been "denied the right to protest (against Churchill) in any public forum."

He confirmed that DePaul "student money and donations" are paying Churchill for his DePaul appearance. Tuition at DePaul, as at all private universities, is not cheap.

Dr. Harvette Grey is the head of DePaul's Cultural Center, and has been, in my words, stonewalling Nick Hahn and the DePaul Republicans in their attempts to be included in some way in the Churchill appearance.

Of course, they'd prefer Churchill have his DePaul invitation rescinded.

Grey--and no one else--according to Nick, invited Ward to speak there.

Hahn asked if his group could participate in a panel with Ward Churchill; he was told that the panel was "only for human-rights organizations."

So, the DePaul Republicans are not a human-rights organization, at least according to Dr. Harvette Grey. Based on what I heard in this interview, I'll make the jump and assume that it's possible she thinks that Republicans oppose human-rights.

Early in the interview, Caplis and Silverman played a tape, where Churchill brags about resisting arrest in Chicago, during which he assaulted a police officer. Ward says he "rammed (the police officer's) head into a concrete post."

Lovely.

As for the "I smell a rat" comment by Caplis (or was it Silverman?), one of them surmises that there is a past tie-in between DePaul's Harvette Grey and Ward Churchill. These weren't the exact words, but why else would she invite Ward to DePaul, considering the nasty baggage that accompanies him? Why damage DePaul's reputation?

Of course, that reputation has been severely damaged in the last six months since the Klocek story escaped the DePaul campus.

Caplis and Silverman didn't play the entire Chicago Ward Churchill tape, but they claim that Churchill was taking part in a rally that put the local sheriff in a wheelchair. That sheriff would be Richard Elrod, then a lawyer for the City of Chicago. Elrod later became Cook County Sheriff.

That Chicago riot was part of the "Days of Rage," organized by the domestic terrorist group The Weather Underground, in October 1969

I'm plan to e-mail this post to Dan Caplis, and ask him to put that entire Ward Churchill "Chicago Tape" online.

Does Ward Churchill have a Weather Underground link? It wouldn't surprise me.

Again, the KHOW segment is on Nick's blog here. It's not a "sound bite" replay, but that makes this posting perfect for the weekend.

Technorati tag: Ward Churchill

Chicago White Sox top Angels, take 2-1 series lead

Well, this one there not going to blame on the umpires. The White Sox beat the Angels 5-2. Starting Sox pitcher Jon Garland totally controlled "the Halos;" the Angels were never in the game.

Right now I'm enjoying another Ozzie Guillen post game press conference. These are not to be missed.

Free DePaul: New blog supporting suspended DePaul professor Thomas Klocek

It's right here.

Or you can bookmark the site, http://freedepaul.blogspot.com/

If you have a blog, feel free to link to Free DePaul.

The first post is from Professor Klocek himself.

I'm back from my Scenic Byways journey

Okay, I took a few days off which brought me (see Mobile Marathon Pundit) all the way to South Dakota, just north of Valentine, Nebraska.

Yes, it was a Scenic Byways journey.

Valentine is just west of the 100th meridian, so I officially made it to The West. Seeing that ponderosa pine grove (a western tree) in the Niobrara River Valley was quite moving.

Valentine is the county seat of Cherry County. That county is possibly the most remote pocket of real estate in the continental United States.

Cherry County is huge land wise, 5,961 square miles. Three states are smaller than that, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island. But just 6,148 lived in Cherry County in 2000, according the us US Census Bureau--one-third of them in Valentine.

Nebraska's Sand Hills dominate Cherry County, just as the Sand Hills dominate one fifth of the Cornhusker State.

My journey took me through Illinois and Iowa too. I visited President Reagan's Boyhood Home in Dixon, IL as well as his birthplace in nearby Tampico.

Those last two have been on my "to do" list for years.

I just dropped off the film for my "real photos." Look for some great Sandhill shots.

Technorati tags: Nebraska Ronald Reagan Reagan Great Plains

A few days off as I travel the rural Midwest

I'm on vacation from my day job this week, and post-marathon, I'll be doing a lot of sitting down, and driving, as I take a trip to some out of the way parts of the Great Midwest.

I've got a lot of great posts here, so scroll down for some excellent reading material.

Photoblogging? YES!!!!

Where in the World will Marathon Pundit be? Find out below on Mobile Marathon Pundit.

http://sapyea7.blogspot.com/

DePaul student writes DePaulia Op-Ed opposing upcoming Ward Churchill visit

I have a lot of recent DePaul posts, including a Marathon Pundit exclusive from yesterday. Scroll down for those.

DePaul student Derrick Wlodarz wrote an Op-Ed expressing his opposition to Ward Churchill's appearances at Chicago's DePaul University next week. The site is down this morning, the latest DePaulia, the October 7 edition, should be online today or tomorrow. Click here, then go to the Op-Ed page to read Derrick's piece. Last night the prior edition of the DePaulia was up. So if you can't find it, please be patient.

Pictured above is from the print version of the DePaulia.

UPDATE 5:45PM CDT Friday, Oct. 14: The online version of Derrick's article is up, and it's here.

An excerpt:

“I want the state gone: transform the situation to U.S. out of North America. U.S. off the planet. Out of existence altogether.” These are not the remarks of an al-Qaeda spokesman; they came from the mouth of Ward Churchill during a magazine interview this past April. According to Ward, 9/11 was the result of “gallant sacrifices of the combat teams.” He believes the attacks on 9/11 weren’t enough, and in order to even the playing field with the United States, the terrorists would need to “at a minimum, have to blow up about 300,000 more buildings and kill something on the order of 7.5 million people.” This is absolute filth, the kind of language you would never expect to hear from a former college professor.

Chicago White Sox to face LA Angels in ALCS

The Los Angeles Angels defeated the New York Yankees last night and will play the Chicago White Sox tonight in Game One of the American League Championship Series on Chicago's South Side.

The Chicago Tribune (free registration required) has an excellent piece about their "curse," the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. A must read for baseball fans.

DePaul student to be guest on Denver's KHOW Radio to talk about upcoming Ward Churchill appearances

Nick Hahn, a DePaul freshman, will be a guest on the Caplis and Silverman Show on KHOW Denver 630 AM Tuesday afternoon. He'll be talking about Ward Churchill's October 20 and 21 speaking appearances at DePaul University.

Caplis and Silverman are not big fans of Ward the phony Indian, according to Nick.

My Political Agenda is Nick's blog, and he's done a great job covering the Ward Churchill mess at DePaul.

The Caplis and Silverman airs each weekday from 3PM to 7PM Mountain Time.

You can listen here live Tuesday afternoon.

Marathon Pundit exclusive: John J. Miller of the National Review on the Klocek case

This will be in the next print edition of the National Review. John J. Miller offers his take on the free speech struggle facing suspended DePaul Professor Thomas Klocek.

NATIONAL REVIEW, OCT. 24, 2005 ISSUE NR SPECIAL: EDUCATION 2005

Pariahs, Martyrs, and Fighters Back Conservative professors in America

Finding himself on the wrong side of the Israel-Palestine divide, and with the administration refusing to show even a flicker of sympathy, Klocek didn't know how to respond. He just wanted his job back. He had taught at DePaul for nearly 15 years as an adjunct member of the faculty, and never in this time, according to the school's administration, had anybody complained about his behavior. But now Dumbleton was finding all kinds of reasons to label him persona non grata. In a November 10 letter, for example, she accused Klocek of being "occasionally disoriented or unfocused," perhaps owing to a "changing regimen of medication." (Dumbleton's Ph.D. is in English, not psychiatry.) She indicated that Klocek could teach one more class, but only if it were monitored, a condition that an increasingly desperate Klocek was willing to accept. Some time later, however, Dumbleton seemed to discourage it. "She told me she couldn't guarantee the behavior of the students," says Klocek. "She was basically threatening me with protests." He decided against returning to DePaul, and in June he filed a lawsuit against his former employers. "This is one of the most brazen violations of academic freedom that I've seen," says David French of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a watchdog group.

John J. Miller writes not only about Thomas Klocek, but also of the difficulties faced by others who've express something outside of the hard-Left political groupthink.

Miller is one of the more popular writers for National Review, and I'm sure this article will make it on to National Review Online. Here is a collection of his recent NR and NRO articles.

UPDATE 9:15PM John J. Miller is the co-author (with Mark Molesky) of the book "Our Oldest Enemy-A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France." I read the book last year, and their reasoning is quite solid. Click on the link on the lower left hand side to learn more about this terrific book.

Chicago Marathon photoblogging updated with captions

I just updated Mobile Marathon Pundit's Chicago Marathon photoblog, adding captions that greatly assists in putting the pictures into context for those who did not run in yesterday's Chicago Marathon.

Even if you've already visiting the companion site, click here again!

Time to go run

Yes, I'm going out running now. 3 miles, slow. Very slow. Have to work that soreness out of my legs. Tomorrow, I'll take a day off. For those people who say, I'm nuts, I'll beat you to the punch:

Guilty as charged!

UPDATE 2:00PM CDT: I made it back from my 3-miler in one piece. 10 minute per mile pace.

Braves-Astros 18 inning factoid from the Chicago Tribune

It's not on the online edition of the Chicago Tribune, but the print version of today's Trib had this nugget of information on the 18 inning win in the NL Division Series by the Houston Astros.

Writes the headline editor of the Chicago Tribune:

Breaking down the Astros' 18 inning 5-hour-50 minutes victory Sunday:

31,134 finished the Chicago Marathon in less time, (1,795 did not.)

Man, that was a long game.

Missouri reporter: Our blogs are better than Illinois' blogs

Diane of Respublica, a Collinsville, IL blogger, was faithfully following my Chicago Marathon photoblogging. Thanks, Diane.

Yesterday, she had an excellent post about a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article about blogging.

Jo Mannies of the Post-Dispatch, is well, clueless. This is what Respublica wrote--with quotes from Mannies in bold--about that article:

Mannies also discounted Illinois bloggers by writing: "Illinois hasn't seen such growth. In fact, one of the most active bloggers tracking Southern Illinois politics, "archpundit.com," is based in Missouri." This is just such baloney, if anything Illinois in general and Southern Illinois in particular, has seen a phenomenal growth of blog sites watching state and local politics. I can name names, but it is just as easy for a reader to look at my right sidebar under "Illinois Blogs" and those links are just a drop in the bucket. Illinois bloggers are familiar with each other and supportive of each other, linking stories and following up with encouragement and disagreement.

The funniest statement in the article is this from Mannies' media expert: "it will increasingly become the job of traditional journalists to "separate the wheat from the chaff" that's floated on blogs." Gosh, that is what blogs have been doing a lot of the time to "traditional journalists".

Hey, I could name a at least a dozen excellent Illinois blogs, and name an equal number of Illinois issues that have been brought forth into the public eye by Illinois bloggers.

Jo Mannies: What a maroon.

"Runaway Bride" runs away from Chicago Marathon?

Jennifer Wilbanks of Duluth, GA, better known as the "Runaway Bride" was an entrant in today's Chicago Marathon. But it appears she didn't show up, or shall I say, she ran away from, instead of running past the starting line.

Click here to double check. You never know, I could be wrong.

Her assigned bib number was 37278

Kastor, Limo win Chicago Marathon

My photoblogging focused on the back-of-the-packers, or as Mick Jagger once sang in Salt of the Earth, the "common foot soldiers" in today's Chicago Marathon. As for the elite runners, here is a summary of today's race from SI.com.

Politicizing the Chicago Marathon

You may not be able to read the back of this runner's shirt too clearly, but marathoner Daniel Feinberg, race bib # 43411, of Phoenix, AZ, chose to write "F.U. Bush" with a peace sign below that.

This was taken at Mile 24 in the race.

As I've remarked before, leave it to the Left to ruin and politicize everything.

There was a large anti-Bush banner that I saw twice during the race, pictured (sort of) on the in the second photo. I didn't get a great shot (I was running, of course, but the banner said something along the lines of "The World Can't Wait for the End of the Bush Regime..."

Finally, a woman handed me a banner promoting a November 2 anti-Bush rally about as soon as I exited the finishers area.

On the positive side, I've gotten calls and received a lot of e-mails from friends who set new marathon personal records today.

And a lot of people in the race, simply had an enjoyable, if somewhat excruciating, experience.

Tomorrow? Run, and begin training for my next marathon. Marathon #28.

Chicago Marathon 3 hours and 30 minutes

Well, I'm done. I completed my 16th consecutive Chicago Marathon. (I've run a total of twenty-seven 26.2 milers).

This year, I was part of a pace team sponsored by New Balance.

My three-man team (Gary, Iain and myself) were assigned a goal to run a 3:30 marathon. More importantly, our goal was to help other runners run a 3:30 marathon.

The three of us finished together, running an official "chip time" of 3 hours and 30 minutes and 10 seconds. And we had a nice pack of runners with us running their 3:30 marathons.

26.2 miles, and we were just 10 seconds off pace.

A 3:30 marathon translates into an average of 8 minutes per mile.

Oh, that sign? The three of us each carried one the entire race.

That's me at about two minutes before the start. The photoblogging is over. Results? Interesting. The majority of the photos were taken while I was running--stated more directly, during the race, I didn't stop to take a pictures.

Considering that, and considering the pics were sent and published in real time during the Chicago Marathon, I think the results were pretty good.

Here, once again, is Mobile Marathon Pundit and the results of my live photoblogging.

Know people who ran the Chicago Marathon? Look for their results here.

Finally, Robb Kestner of Running at the Mouth sent me a "Good Luck" e-mail to me Friday. He's running the Columbus Marathon next Sunday. Good luck to you, Robb!

Technorati tag: Marathon

Let the Chicago Marathon photoblogging begin

Just pinned my number on my singlet shirt, #16019.

Click here to see my photoblogging, or cut and paste this URL: http://sapyea7.blogspot.com/

The first posts should have some text, during the race, the photos take over!

Jay Ambrose's latest column: 2 professors, 2 stories and 1 tale of political correctness (DePaul, of course)

Jay Ambrose has sharpened his pen and slices away at the PC forces at DePaul University:

Ward Churchill, the let's-pretend Indian who rode political-correctness to a departmental chairmanship at one university, will soon be spouting his anti-American, murderer-friendly hatred at another university, one where they brand you a racist and shut you up if you don't toe the politically correct party line.

For the rest of the column, read here (free registraton required.)

Oh, our favorite F-Troop Indian, Ward Churchill was in Denver today, protesting a Columbus Day event in the Mile High City.

Hat tip to Brainster.

UPDATE 10PM CDT: Found this on a Free Republic thread: dpalumni@depaul.edu

Goes to the DePaul alumni address, of course.

Protest against Ward Churchill's DePaul appearance being planned

This comes our way from the conservative web site Free Republic.

Operation infinite freep... Protest Ward Churchill at DePaul on Oct 20th

Ward Churchill is returning to the Midwest on October 20th. This time, he is going to a much more liberal bastion, DePaul University. He is not welcomed there by most of the people, however. We will be assisting local freepers and DePaul College Republicans in showing, once again, that fake Indians who dishonor the victims of 9/11 and our troops are not welcome.

Here is a flyer from Depaul University detailing when Ward Churchill will be coming, and where to go.

Chicago White Sox win first post-season series since 1917

Well, patience has been rewarded. The Chicago White Sox swept the defending World Series Boston Red Sox in the best-of-five series.

To give you some perspective of how long ago that was, an emperor ruled over Austria-Hungary then, a sultan ruled the Ottoman Empire, and the Kaiser ruled Germany.

And Helen Thomas became White House correspondent for UPI that year.

On a another note, Mr. Right, a die-hard White Sox fan like myself, has an excellent White Sox and baseball-futility post on his The Right Place blog.

Todd Beamer, who said "Let's Roll!" on Flight 93: Does Ward Churchill think this DePaul alum is a "Little Eichmann"

Heroic Todd Beamer was not in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. But he led the famous "Let's Roll" charge into the cockpit of Flight 93, which crashed that same day in Pennsylvania after being hijacked by al-Qaida terrorists.

He was a DePaul grad, earning his MBA from the Chicago school in 1993.

So, does October 20 and 21 DePaul speaker Ward Churchill think Todd was a "Little Eichmann?"


Technorati tags: 9/11 Ward Churchill September 11

DePaul's DeBeverly DeHillibillies

It seems, according to Max Flack, that hillbilly mentality can help explain the madness going on at DePaul University. Wait, no, Uncle Jed, Granny and Jethro had more common sense that Dean Susanne Dumbleton and University President Dennis Holtschneider.

Maybe they were hillbillies, but the Clampett clan wasn't stupid.

Of Dean Susanne Dumbleton, who was in charge of the School of New Learning at DePaul, where suspended professor Thomas Klocek taught.

Everyone remembers how broken-hearted poor Jethro Bodine was when he came home from his first day in the 6th grade at Oxford Grammar. It was bad enough to be called a hillbilly and a redneck but when the school linguists accused Granny Clampett of wearing combat boots that was going too far. So what if Granny wore boots like the ones Clint Eastwood wore in Korea, they didn’t have to say so. And they wrecked Jethro’s Three Stooges lunch bucket by repeatedly slamming their heads against it. They also went bobbing for fresh seafood in Jethro’s crawdad bucket; dented that too. Jethro was disconsolate for days. It was months before the school authorities could get up the nerve to let Jethro back in school.

Dr. Susanne Dumbleton would never have tolerated such foolishness. She would have leapt to Jethro’s side in an instant. Susanne is dean of the School of New Learning at DePaul University, the home of the famous Blue Demon basketball team, and when she heard what Professor Thomas Klocek did to those poor Palestinian kids at a Student’s Activities Fair last September, she blew her stack. She went after that rascal like a chicken after a June bug, like Big Brother after Winston Smith, like Uncle Joe after a kulak That kind of thing had to be nipped in the bud. DePaul’s PC Code had to be upheld. And there was no time to waste—no time for such silly nonsense as a hearing. And Klocek didn’t get one; he was, forthwith, suspended with pay.

And what heinous PC crime did Klocek commit? It seems that a student organization, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), had set up a table at the Activities Fair. They were dispensing literature calling for divestment from Israel and an end to apartheid and repression. Apartheid and repression are bad. Everyone will agree with that. It’s what happened to Jethro at Oxford Grammar. He was being oppressed and apartheid. But the SJP doesn’t give a hang about people like Jethro or the many victims of apartheid and oppression suffering under the yoke of their co-religionists in the Gaza Strip, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. They were after Ariel Sharon and his running dog, George W. Bush.

And of DePaul President Dennis Holtshschneider?

Max Flack writes:

The Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, DePaul’s eleventh president and an ardent supporter of neo-Nazi Holocaust denier, Norman Finklestein, was so upset he just had to put pen to paper. Holtschneider wrote a letter to the Denver Rocky Mountain News. “Klocek acted in a belligerent and menacing manner toward students who were passing out literature,” he wrote. “He (Klocek) raised his voice, threw pamphlets at students, pointed his finger in their faces…DePaul offered to give Klocek a spring quarter assignment if he met with the students to apologize…He refused.”

Jethro also refused to apologize. Three Stooges lunch buckets are almost as rare as anatomically correct Shirley Temple dolls though not as highly prized. Should Klocek have apologized to DePaul’s teacher’s pets? No. No one should apologize for protesting the distribution of hate literature. Klocek denies shouting, throwing paper or making obscene gestures. He denies calling anybody a little Eichmann. And without a hearing no one will ever know. Maybe Holtschneider couldn’t find enough kangaroos on short notice.

Obviously, Mohammed and his pals were not accustomed to a non-Muslim addressing them in a non-deferential tone. The spineless bowing and scraping, the supine acceptance of Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance, the abject surrender to the most trivial and frivolous demands of groups like SJP by hundreds of university administrators just like Dumbleton and Holtschneider have given Muslim students the wrong impression of Yankee Doodle and G.I. Joe. The Cump Shermans and Alvin Yorks preserve freedom by winning wars in the face of incredible adversity; the Dumbletons and Holtschneiders lead disastrous retreats into slavery and dhimmitude. They are Internationalists, Europeans, not Americans.

Maybe Uncle Jed should have sent Jethro to DePaul instead of to Oxford Grammar—there’s not much difference in the intellectual atmosphere and the kids would be more Jethro’s size. Naw—sooner or later Granny would hear about those nasty Blue Demons and would descend on the campus with a hickory switch. Eventually, she would get to the source of the problem—Dumbleton and Holtschneider.

The whole post is here.

Chicago Marathon Expo photoblogging

Just got back from the Chicago Marathon Expo at the McCormick Place Convention Center.

Remember, to check in here early Sunday morning to see my LIVE photoblogging of the Chicago Marathon.

Here are today's expo photos.

My Political Agenda blog receives letter from Colorado Gov Bill Owens denouncing Ward Churchill's upcoming DePaul visit

My Political Agenda, a new blog, has gotten off to a brilliant start. In this post, you'll find a letter from Colorado Governor Bill Owens:

Here is an excerpt:

All decent people, whether Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, should denounce the views of Ward Churchill. Not only are his writings are outrageous or insupportable, they are at odds with the facts of history. Ward Churchill has besmirched the University of Colorado and the excellent writing, teaching and research of its faculty. Why let him besmirch DePaul as well?

Brilliant work, Mr. Hahn. Great blog, too.

Ward Churchill is scheduled to speak at Chicago's DePaul University on October 20 and 21.

Moron DePaul's Norman Finkelstein

With all this Ward Churchill stuff going on, somehow this FrontPage Magazine article about DePaul's Norman Finkelstein escaped my usually attentive eyes.

But Sol at Solomonia posted it. His is a good blog.

From Jacob Laksin at FrontPage:

The name Norman Finkelstein is not exactly synonymous with serious scholarship. A professor of political science at Chicago’s DePaul University, Finkelstein has been widely denounced as a flamboyantly anti-Semitic crank for writing books like The Holocaust Industry, his 2000 jeremiad alleging that Holocaust survivors were “cheats” who had fictionalized their past out of a “greedy” desire to collect reparations. When not calumniating against Holocaust survivors, Finkelstein actively promulgates his theory about a global Jewish conspiracy, its alleged initiates running from the late Leon Uris to Stephen Spielberg. He counts neo-Nazis among his staunchest defenders. Even a passing familiarity with Finkelstein’s resume suggests that no publisher of any repute would publish his books.

There are, as it turns out, exceptions. The largest academic publisher on the West Coast, The University of California Press, has not only signed off on the publication of Finkelstein’s latest effort, Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History, but it has been unstinting in its defense of the book, hailing the virulent broadside against defenders of Israel and Jews generally and the liberal Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz specifically as a model of scholarly achievement.

There's more...

Nothing fits the mold better than the anti-Israel prejudices of the hard left. On the press’s website, the endorsements for the book read like a who’s who of the Israel-bashing far left. There’s a glowing tribute from the dean of academic radicalism, Noam Chomsky, who calls Beyond Chutzpah a “very solid, important and highly informative book,” filled with “considerable historical depth and expert research.” Meanwhile, the far-left academic Avi Shlaim, who has likened Sharon to a terrorist and lauded Yasir Arafat for fighting Islamic extremists, hails Finkelstein’s book for its meticulous attention to detail. That both are Jewish has not escaped the press’s attention. In an interview with Frontpagemag, Hooper hastened to note “that in fact we have only received high praise so far from very many distinguished Jewish scholars.”

(Alan M.) Dershowitz is impatient with that line of defense. “One of the most offensive things they are saying in their defense is that they have the support of Jews. Our staff is Jewish, the people who endorsed the book are Jewish, some of our best friends are Jewish. Well, Norman Finkelstein proves that a Jew can be an anti-Semite,” he says. In the end, Dershowitz has little doubt about why the press published Beyond Chutzpah. “I think they have a double standard for judging the hard anti-Zionist right than they would for David Duke and the far right. But David Duke and Norman Finkelstein are the same,” he says. “Except that Duke is slightly brighter."

Bold print emphasis is mine.

Ward Churchill update from Moonbat Central: Maybe you Can Strip Tenure from a Moonbat After ALL?

From good friend of the blog Dr. Steven Plaut of FrontPage Magazine's Moonbat Central.

It seems upcoming DePaul University guest speaker Ward Churchill, might, just might be forced to look for a new job in a few months.

(Scroll down to my Ward Churchill post from yesterday to view my take on the insanity of DePaul inviting Churchill to speak there.)

Plaut cites an article from Indian Country Today.

BOULDER, Colo. - Charges of research misconduct against controversial Colorado University professor Ward Churchill are moving ahead as the CU-Boulder faculty assembles a special Investigative Committee. A final decision on Churchill is expected within five months.

University officials announced Sept. 9 that seven of nine original charges deserved further investigation. Two others, including the charge that the professor misrepresented himself as a tribal member to gain academic advancement, fell outside of the committee's jurisdiction, said CU-Boulder spokesman Pauline Hale.

The 11-member Standing Committee on Research Misconduct will refer the seven charges to a special committee now being selected. University officials declined to comment on the selection of the new committee or its makeup, citing ''strict confidentiality requirements,'' but did say in a statement that the committee could have a chair and three to five members, and ''would be expected'' to make a report 120 days after it convened.

The committee will be named in early October. The seven charges include ''alleged instances of plagiarism, misuse of others' work, falsification and fabrication of authority,'' said the CU-Boulder statement.

It goes on...

According to UC-Boulder, the committee could reach one of three conclusions:

" Finding of misconduct;

" Finding of no culpable conduct, but serious research error; or

" Finding of no misconduct and no serious research error.

In the event of a finding of research misconduct, the university provost could impose potential sanctions ranging from warning to dismissal. Other actions could include a reprimand, reduction in pay or suspension.

I wonder if Churchill will cover the inquiry against him in his October 20 & 21 DePaul presentations?

Not so fast on Harriet Miers....

For those conservatives panicking over President Bush's pick of Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the US Supreme Court, there is hope: Molly Ivins is against it.

Fred Phelps' Westboro backlash: Oklahoma legislator proposes funeral protest ban

Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church continues to gain enemies.

A Republican Oklahoma legislator has proposed a law to ban the protests at funerals. I know, free speech....free speech.....

But they can protest any other time. The stuff Phelps and his cult of losers is not what the founding fathers had in mind when the Bill of Rights was passed.

From KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City:

(Paul) Wesselhofft, R-Moore, is proposing to make it a misdemeanor offense to picket or otherwise demonstrate within 500 feet of where a funeral is being held and within two hours of the time a funeral is to begin or to end.

"I am not regulating content of speech," he said, adding that protesters can still exercise their First Amendment Rights, just not at a funeral.

"Grieving families have rights, too," he said.

Yes, they do.

Tomorrow, Fred Phelps and his "church" will picket a funeral in Port Huron, MI.

White Sox win Game 2, series moves to Boston

The Chicago White Sox overcame a four run deficit and beat the Red Sox this evening in Chicago. The South Siders are up 2 games to none in the best-of-five series.

No time to be overconfident, as five game series are scary entities, even when up by two games.

Ward Churchill and DePaul University

As regular visitors to this blog know, renowned aca-demon Ward Churchill will be returning to his native Illinois and speak at Chicago's DePaul University on October 20 and 21.

(The second event, I believe, is not open to the public.)

Information, courtesy of the DePaul University Division of Student Affairs' Cultural Center, is available here on their web site.

Here is the "Psycho" Ward stuff:

October 20, 2005
Lecture: Ward Churchill -Open to DePaul Community
5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Student Center 314-A)

October 21, 2005
Multicultural Human Rights Education Workshop (2:00 p.m. 4:30 p.m., Student Center 314-B) -Ward Churchill– For Student Organizations Only

I sent an e-mail to culturalcenter@depaul.edu and asked them to clarify whether student or university funds were being used to pay for Churchill's presumably hefty speaking fees. Also, as for the 2nd function, I inquired whether it was mandatory for student organizations to attend this little-publicized event. I identified myself and informed them of my DePaul blogging. Anyway, they never got back to me.

Back to Ward: Armed with nothing more than a master's degree from the school now known as the University of Illinois-Springfield, Churchill parlayed that into a tenured professorship at the University of Colorado (CU) in Boulder, later becoming chairman of the Ethnic Studies Department at CU.

Now, to become a tenured professor without a Ph.D. is rare, and generally only artists, novelists, or renowned politicians and the like receive that honor. But Ward pulled it off. How? Largely by claiming he was an American Indian, a claim that has been quashed by this article, part of a week long series on Ward Churchill, from the Rocky Mountain News.

So Ward Churchill apparently lied to get his tenured position. Is this a lesson the administration of DePaul wants to pass on to the students there? Misrepresenting yourself gets you ahead in life?

Then there is the issue of Ward's alleged plagiarism. Churchill's "defense" on this charge, according to the Rocky Mountain News, is that he took another writers work, refashioned it as a "re-write man," then published "his" finished product as his own.

What would happen to a DePaul student who pulled a stunt like this?

Oh, then there is the charge that Ward Churchill fabricated sources to support a spurious claim that the US Army purposely spread small pox among North Dakota Indians in the 1830s. Once again, the Rocky Mountain News reported, the facts are not kind to Ward Churchill.

And if a DePaul student made up sources for a paper, what would be the consequences for that student?

There have even been charges that Ward Churchill's artwork is based on that of another artist, as CBS 4 Denver reported.

I hope my point is clear. What kind of university would allow someone like Ward Churchill to speak--at a fee--on its campus? One where I wouldn't want to send my daughter.

Okay, the rascal Churchill does have free speech rights. A Churchill essay, presumably written by Ward himself, contained passages that dramatically ended Ward's days as a relatively anonymous campus Leftist.

From the Rocky Mountain News:

In an essay titled "Some People Push Back - On the Justice of Roosting Chickens," Churchill argued the attacks were retaliation for a 1991 bombing raid on Iraq and U.S. support of economic sanctions against Iraq following the Persian Gulf War.

He referred to the people killed at the World Trade Center as "little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers," referring to Adolf Eichmann, who carried out Adolf Hitler's systematic extermination of the Jews during World War II.

In the previous post, you can read about how little respect DePaul has for the free speech rights of the professor it suspended last year, Thomas Klocek.

DePaul celebrates and pays Churchill. But suspended Klocek.

This article from FrontPage Magazine by Joel Mowbray, puts the Klocek and Ward Churchill stories in perspective.

DePaul seems to be stonewalling on Thomas Klocek free-speech case

I received this press release yesterday. I'm not an attorney, but in short, DePaul's stance here doensn't pass the smell test. And of course, in my opinion, it was DePaul who made this case pretty darn smelly in the first place. I've got a copy of DePaul's motion for protection.

Does anyone besides me think that DePaul could be dragging their feet here?

Oh, this will not be my only DePaul post today, as a native Downstate Illinois man will speak at DePaul on October 20, something others have found "ironic." That gent's identity can be found below.

From that press release:

DePAUL UNIVERSITY SEEKS TO CONCEAL DOCUMENTS
FROM PUBLIC SCRUTINY IN FREE SPEECH BATTLE

For Immediate Release

October 4,2005
tc@tcpr.net

Chicago…About one year ago, Professor Thomas Klocek’s out-of-class debate with Muslim student groups led to his suspension without a hearing. DePaul University followed up with negative publicity about him, which defamed Klocek’s reputation. Now, after Klocek filed a slander law suit, DePaul’s attorneys are working to keep court documents secret. Last week, DePaul University filed a motion for entry of a protective order asking that information it provides on the case not be made public. Among the words used to explain why DePaul did not want the public to see the documents was “embarrassment.”


Previously, DePaul said publicly that Klocek was “unprofessional[1],
had “health issues thatwere affecting his teaching[2]
and his opinions were “erroneous assertions.[3]

DePaul also seeks to censor information from future depositions in this case.

“Their request looks like a cover up. They want to block the public from seeing entire documents, not just specific confidential or sensitive information like names or phone numbers. Klocek never got to see the written evidence against him that resulted in his suspension and caused his name to be defamed,” said Klocek’s attorney, Andy Norman of Mauck & Baker. “DePaul University went public in newspapers across the country telling its side of the story against Klocek. Now that there’s an opportunity for the public to know the truth about why Klocek was really suspended, DePaul wants to hide that information.

“Klocek got the boot after discussing the relationship among Arabs, Christians and Jews in the Middle East at a Catholic University. Yet, later this month Ward Churchill, portrayed by many in the media as one of the most notorious professors in America, is scheduled to speak freely at DePaul University. How ironic.”

NOTE: Complete protective order is available upon request.
# # #

1 Holtschneider, Rev. Dennis H. (2005, April 8). Letter to Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
2 Holtschneider, Rev. Dennis H. (2005, April 9). Speakout: Instructor’s Ouster at DePaul Clarified. The Rocky Mountain News
3 Dumbleton, Susanne (2004, October 8). SNL Seeks to Resolve Situation; The DePaulia

Runaway bride to run in Chicago Marathon

Looks like (scroll down two posts) I picked a good Chicago Marathon to photoblog. Jennifer Wilbanks, the infamous Georgia woman best known as the "Runaway Bride," will be running the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, according to Bill Zwecker of CBS 2 Chicago.

It's unlikely this story is a hoax, because according to Marathon Guide.com, Jennifer Wilbanks of Gainesville, GA ran the 2002 Chicago Marathon, completing the event with a time of 4:16:47.

And go here to the Chicago Marathon site, you'll find Jennifer Wilbanks of Duluth, GA as a registrant for Sunday's race.

Suburban pro-Israel weekly gets threat in mail

Sad to say, stuff like this happens all of the time. What makes this case unusual, the newspaper in question, Reklama, is a Russian-language publication.

From the Chicago Tribune, free registration required.

The FBI is investigating complaints that a Russian-language newspaper based in Northbrook received threatening mail and phone calls in response to its pro-Israel editorials.

Employees at Reklama, a weekly publication, reported to Northbrook police that they received a threatening postcard Aug. 25, said FBI spokesman Ross Rice. The police faxed a copy of the postcard to federal officials, he said.

Officials confirmed that the postcard contained a picture of rebels with rocket launchers and letters clipped from magazines that spell out a message in Farsi, which is spoken in Iran and parts of Afghanistan.

Marathon Pundit to photoblog Sunday's Chicago Marathon LIVE

Sunday I'm running the Chicago Marathon. Unlike my previous 15 Chicago Marathons, I'll be photoblogging it LIVE while I'm running it!!!!

Here it is, the new Mobile Marathon Pundit blog. (Right now, not much is happening there.)

And here is the URL: http://sapyea7.blogspot.com/

The race starts at 8am Central Daylight Time.

Among the highlights of the race that I will attempt to capture will be: The 40,ooo person start, Chicago's Loop, Lincoln Park, "Boys Town," the Gay area (are you reading this Fred Phelps?), the Loop again, Little Italy, the Mexican American neighborhood of Pilsen, Chinatown, White Sox Park, McCormick Place, Lake Michigan, and the finish in Grant Park.

I'll be photoblogging it with my Motorola RAZR V3 camera phone.

Weather permitting: If it rains, I'll have to bail on the photoblogging.

After the race, I'll be holding court in the Chicago Area Runners Association tent (south of Balbo, east of Columbus) in the Charity Village.

Fred Phelps' Westboro cult to picket third Upper Midwest funeral this week: Port Huron, MI next

On Wednesday, as you'll read a couple of posts down, Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church will picket two soldiers' funerals in Ripon, Wisconsin. Both men were members of the National Guards' 127th infantray regiment.

Tee Bee of the Guide to Midwestern Culture blog has gotten the word out up there about Phelps and Ripon.

While enjoying the fall colors of the Upper Midwest, Phelps and his Westboro crew will travel to Port Huron, Michigan (traveling through Chicago area to get there...hmmmm..) to disrupt another funeral.

The services for Army Sgt. Casey Howe will be held in Port Huron Friday afternoon. Here is that tasteless flier.

Hey Phelps! From hell's heart I stab at thee...

White Sox beat Red Sox, win first home post-season game since 1959

The Chicago White Sox drew first blood against the Boston Red Sox this afternoon on Chicago's South Side, pummeling the defending world champs 14-2

It was the first post-season win for the White Sox since game one of the 1959 World Series.

One down, two to go.

Fred Phelps' Westboro Church headed to Ripon, WI Wednesday

My travels have taken me to the small central Wisconsin town of Ripon, best known as the place where the Republican Party was founded in 1854.

Tomorrow the town faces the likely arrival of a hate group, Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church.

Two funerals will take place in Ripon tomorrow for soldiers killed in Iraq: Sgts Michael Wendling and Andrew Wallace will be laid to rest.

Westboro's disgusting flier is here.

Last week Phelps' "vile cult of losers" attempted to disrupt a soldier's funeral in Yakima, WA.

An editorial about that event can be found here.

UPDATE 11:00 PM CDT: Our good friend in Wisconsin, Tee Bee, has posted this on his blog, Guide to Midwestern Culture, and he's cross posted it on the Badger Blog Alliance too.

If Phelps shows up, he'll be confronted with by a crowd of patriotic Americans. Thanks Tee Bee!

Also, for those not familar with Ripon, it's pronounced "Rippin."

George Ryan Trial: Fawell returns to testify

After a three day weekend, the George Ryan corruption trial picked up where it left off--with former top Ryan aide Scott Fawell returning to the witness stand.

The Daily Herald reports.

Also, look for updates in CBS 2 Chicago's George Ryan trial blog.

Sad news: Peoria Pundit suspends his blog

One great blogger from the Heartland is Bill Dennis of Peoria Pundit. He's been out of work for a few months, and is going through an understandably tough time.

He admits he can't afford the Internet connection. There's a PayPal button on Peoria Pundit, although he confides that he has other bills that must come first.

This guy has talent: Someone hire him now!

UPDATE Oct 5: Fixed the bad link. Sorry, Bill.

Happy New Year to our Jewish readers

Hopefully 5766 won't be another "difficult" year for Israel and Jews throughout the world.

French Muslims adapt French arrogance, demand "French" Ramadan moon sighting

As I've remarked before, I could make this stuff up, but frankly, that'd be too much work.

From Islam Online.net:

French Muslim leaders have called for "independence" from their native countries in sighting Ramadan’s moon, saying the annual event should be purely French.

"Moon sighting by the French Council for Muslim Faith (CFCM) shouldn’t be influenced by home country affiliations," Wahid Mansour, the chairman of the Pakistani Cultural Coordination Center, told IslamOnline.net Monday, October 3.

He charged that CFCM officials fix the beginning of the holy fasting month in France to their native countries.

"Pakistanis, for instance, automatically follow the start of Ramadan in Pakistan," he said.
Ahmet Bakan, the head of the Turkish Milli Gurus, agreed.

"French Muslims should be self-independent and sight the Ramadan’s moon from France," he stressed.

The silence of CAIR

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, as I noted in my Sunday post, issued a fatwa denouncing terrorism. As far as condemnations go, it was pretty lame--for instance, it didn't denounce any single terrorist group by name, you know, Hamas, al-Qaida, or Jemaah Islamiyah.
The latter group is believed to be an al-Qaida linked organization, and they're believed to be the terrorists behind Saturday's suicide bombings in Bali.

Go to CAIR site: Do you see any mention of the attacks? Yes, their fatwa is there, but no mention anywhere, as of this writing, of those attacks.

Phony fatwa.

New York Times on William F. Buckley's 1965 run for Mayor of New York

Found this on Brainster's site, a long but good read on National Review founder Bill Buckley's futile but entertaining run for Mayor of New York City in 1965 that appeared in Sunday's New York Times.

Buckley, in his recently released autobiography Miles Gone By, devotes a humorous chapter to the '65 run.

Although it was a pretty good article, this being the New York Times, the main point is of course missed.

"Republican" John Lindsay won that election, and put in place the pieces that led to New York City's near-bankruptcy 1975. Buckley and Lindsay's Democratic opponent in that 1965 race, Abe Beame, by then was mayor, and was left holding the stinking mess Lindsay left for him.

Beame was a one-termer, replaced by Edward I. Koch in 1977.

Lindsay and Beame, who both passed away a few years ago, are pretty much forgotten entities now. Buckley powers on, and when his time to pass on comes, he won't be forgotten.

Battle of the Sox: Red vs. White

Two charter members of the American League will battle it out starting tomorrow on Chicago's South Side.

Go White Sox!

We have our curse too. The 1919 Black Sox Scandal. They're pictured here.

Time to break the curse!

UPDATE: The Wolf from Guards of Magog has some excellent analysis in the comments page, although those pictured Sox did win some home games in the infamous 1919 series. The John Sayles film Eight Men Out is a greatly underrated movie, almost ruined by Cub fan and uber-liberal tape-recordist Studs Terkel, who overacts and attempts to make himself the centerpiece of the film.

Harriet Miers named by Bush to succeed Justice O'Conner

This just got announced.

Chicago Che chic: Murderous Communist thug honored by mural at public school

This morning I took a minor detour into Chicago's Uptown neighborhood while driving home from my local running club's weekly run. I took this photo outside the Joan F. Arai Middle School at 900 W. Wilson Avenue.

The entire caption reads "Uplift Social Justice."

The signage in front of Arai lists it as an "Uplift" school, although I couldn't find out what that meant on the Chicago Public Schools web site.

So here we have our tax dollars at work honoring this "champion" of social justice, Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

Does the Arai school have any lessons on Guevara in it's curriculum? If so, I think it's a safe bet that it doesn't include anything like this--courtesy of the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.

Writing about Che:

"...whose legacy includes both ordering and conducting executions and founding forced labor camps. "Guevara . . . quickly gain[ed] a reputation for ruthlessness; a child in his guerrilla unit who had stolen a little food was immediately shot without trial," writes Pascal Fontaine in "The Black Book." Guevara also wrote in his diary about executing peasant Eutimio Guerra, a suspected informant, with a single .32-caliber shot to the head. Guevara, in his will, praised the "extremely useful hatred that turns men into effective, violent, merciless, and cold killing machines." He tried to spread the havoc caused by the Cuban revolution in other countries from Africa to South America, rallying for "two, three, many Vietnams!"

Guevara oversaw executions at La Cabana prison; some of those executed were his former comrades who wouldn't relinquish their democratic beliefs. "To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary," he said. He didn't assuage his barbarity by being a brilliant statesman, either, helping drive the economy to ruin as head of Cuba's central bank and minister of industries. "Though claiming to despise money," writes Fontaine, "he lived in one of the rich, private areas of Havana." Guevara told a British reporter after the Cuban Missile Crisis that the nukes would have been fired if they were under Cuban control--which would have wasted all of those future American suburban revolutionary wannabes.

Joan F. Arai Middle School, Chicago. "Uplift Social Justice."

Principal Barbara F. Hayes can be reached at bhayes@cps.k12.il.us

Ouch! DC 10-miler becomes an 11-miler because of a suspicious package

Next Sunday I'm running the Chicago Marathon. I hope what happened in Washington today doesn't happen in Chicago next week.

From AP:

A 10-mile race that had attracted about 20,000 runners grew by a mile Sunday when a suspicious package under a bridge prompted organizers to change their route.

The Army's annual "Ten-Miler" road race from Arlington, Va., to Washington and back became an unofficial "fun run" when a Washington police harbor unit found the package under the 14th Street Bridge, a part of the route.

Before runners reached the bridge, race organizers decided to turn them back, said Tara McCabe, a spokeswoman for the Military District of Washington.

Police examining the package later said it was harmless, police spokesman Sgt. Joe Gentile said.

Indiana: More union corruption

There is corruption taking place at a northwest Indiana carpenters union local. And the leader, make that the former leader of the Indiana Democratic Party, had a hand in it.

Shocking!

From AP:

Dissident members of a troubled carpenters union allege hundreds of thousands of dollars in union dues are missing from a fund it managed, and leaders of the local acknowledged a federal investigation into the matter.

A petition distributed at northwest Indiana work sites calls on the national leadership of the International Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners to remove Senior Business Agent Aaron Carlberg and Senior Organizer Carl Lakomek from the Indiana Regional Council of Carpenters "for their culpability in this matter."

The petition appeared as the U.S. Labor Department investigates the local union following its loss of $10 million in the Coffee Creek investment scandal that brought down union trustee Gerry Nannenga and former Indiana Democratic Chairman Peter Manous, among others.

Carlberg told The Times of Munster for a story today that Labor Department officials are investigating allegations that a former union employee stole the money. He denied that he or Lakomek committed any wrongdoing.

You always here the Democrats squealing about Enron, WorldCom, etc. But they're always mum on stories--and there are no shortage of them--about union corruption.

Al-Qaida linked group tied to Bali blasts--where is CAIR?

Well, I hate to say it, but this is what I thought originally: Al-Qaida, or an al-Qaida linked group, was behind yesterday's TERRORIST (scroll down a couple of posts to see why I capitalized it) attacks in Bali.

Of course, in the terrorists' warped thinking, the bombings are justified, because they're attacking westerners and "enemies of Islam." As of this writing, twelve of the fatalities have been identified as Indonesians, probably all of them were Muslims.

That brings us to Council on American Islamic Relations, better known as CAIR. Shortly after the London 7/7 bombings, but just short of three years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, CAIR sponsored a fatwa, or religious decree, forbidding terrorism.

It was at best a "good start," because no group or individual was by name condemned in the fatwa.

Visiting CAIR's web site just now, there is no condemnation of the Bali bombings, no denunciation of al-Qaida or the Indonesian al-Qaida group likely behind those attacks: Jemaah Islamiyah.

Here's your big chance, CAIR.

Marathon Pundit #2 blogger about Israel?

Well, maybe. According to the Elder of Ziyon blog, who did a topic search on Israel, that is what came up:

The Truth Laid Bear has evidently started a "topic list" for blogs where you can see postings on specified topics, somewhat like Technorati's tags. TTLB also ranks blogs within a topic. For reasons I cannot quite fathom, here are the top 20 blogs that talk about Israel according to their algorithm:

1. Power Line
2. Marathon Pundit
3. Desde Sefarad
4. Apropos Of Nothing
5. http://directorblue.blogspot.com/
6. Spartacus
7. Jewish Current Issues
8. The Politburo Diktat
9. Daniel in Brookline
10. GayandRight
11. Elder of Ziyon
12. Soccer Dad
13. Donklephant
14. Bird of Paradise
15. Doubting Thomas
16. This Blog Is Full Of Crap
17. PoliPundit.com
18. Drink this...
19. THE DAILY BLITZ
20. Der Blatt

I went to TTLB and tried to recreate Elder of Ziyon's results, with no luck; perhaps I'm not using their system correctly. Sure, I've mentioned Israel a lot in my blogging about the Thomas Klocek case and the Norman Finkelstein controversies, but #2 behind Power Line?

Probably a mistake. Where is Solomonia? IsraPundit?

But it looks pretty cool to me on a quiet Saturday night. Especially for a native South Side Chicago Irish Catholic guy.

Arab News: 92% of Saudi Internet users regularly try to access forbidden websites

Well, I'm not sure what the message is here, but clearly, on some levels, perhaps many, there is Saudi dissatisfaction of the Wahabbi regime.

From the Arab News:

Of the estimated 2.2 million Internet users in the Kingdom, the majority regularly try to access forbidden or indecent material, Arab News has learned.

“Of those who log on to the Internet, 92.5 percent are trying to access a website that, for one reason or another, has been blocked,” said Dr. Mishaal Al-Kadhi, acting general manager of the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST).

KACST is not only the Internet gateway for the Kingdom but also acts as a filter for unsuitable material. The official said that pornographic material was one of the main items on the city’s “black list” which also includes gambling, terrorism and politics as well as anything contrary to Islamic beliefs.

Actual Islam Online.net headline: At Least 32 Killed in "Terrorist" Bali Blasts

Some people just don't get it. Why the quotation marks?

Some do get it, such as the Indonesian president. From that Islam Online article:

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono strongly condemned the Saturday's bombings.

"This is clearly a terrorist act ... We will catch the perpetrators and punish them," Yudhoyono told an impromptu news conference in Jakarta , adding he would go to Bali on Sunday.

Phelps' Westboro cult protests Yakima, WA funeral: Maryland next?

Here they go again, Fred Phelps' and his Westboro Baptist Church invaded eastern Washington state, to picket another funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq.

Sgt. Larry Morrison was laid to rest yesterday in Yakima. But Phelps' losers showed up to disrupt the proceedings.

From the Yakima Herald Republic:

In a move seemingly calculated to outrage, a small band of religious extremists from Kansas gathered outside Sgt. 1st Class Lawrence Morrison's funeral Friday, shouting at his family and insisting that God is killing soldiers to punish homosexuality.

About a half-dozen members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., waved homemade signs saying "To (sic) Late to Pray," "God Hates You" and "Thank God For Dead Soldiers."

They were countered by some 120 members of Operation Thank You, a Tri-Cities organization that attends military funerals to support families. They gathered across the street, waving flags and shouting out the protesters.

Apparently, Phelps' group was a no-show at their threatened protest of a soldier's funeral yesterday in Vermont.

This coming Monday, the loons from Kansas are planning to disrupt the funeral of Sgt. William A. Allers III in Joppa, MD.

One more time, borrowing from Herman Melville's Moby Dick:

From hell's heart I stab at thee...

Brutes lash out again, at least 19 die in Indonesia terror attacks

Another reminder that free society (see previous post) is being attacked by radicals.

From AP:

Bombs exploded almost simultaneously Saturday in two tourist areas of the Indonesian resort island of Bali, killing at least 19 people and wounding 51 others, police and hospital officials said.
The victims included at least two Americans.

The blasts at Jimbaran beach and a bustling outdoor shopping center in downtown Kuta "were clearly the work of terrorists," police Maj. Gen. Ansyaad Mbai, a top Indonesian anti-terrorism official, told The Associated Press.

A receptionist at the Graha Asih Hospital close to Jimbaran Bay said at least eight bodies were in the morgue, and doctors were treating at least 13 other people.

"It's a horrible scene," the receptionist, Komang, said.