Links For Cesar Chavez Day

Today is Cesar Chavez Day, a state holiday in California.  It is, as you might expect, the anniversary of the man's birth, which actually occurred in Arizona.  Known for founding the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) and sometimes called a civil rights activist, there one other thing about him that I learned a few years ago that bears repeating.  It is the subject of the first of the articles linked below.

From National Review, Cesar Chavez was no fan of illegal immigration.

From FrontpageMag, here comes the ICE-man.

From ABC News, there's still no peace deal for Syria.

From The Local DE, Germany's Foreign Minister thinks that a NATO defense spending goal pushed by the United States is "completely unrealistic".

From Politico, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson garners applause in his NATO debut.

From MLive, protesters target a Planned Parenthood facility in which a woman allegedly died from a botched abortion.  (via LifeNews)

From the New York Post and the "Why am I not surprised?" Department, President Trump's former rival doesn't like his proposed budget cuts.

From The Daily Caller, "new evidence" suggests that a corporation illegally funneled money to the re-election campaign of a West Virginia judge.

From the Washington Examiner, the Freedom Caucus state what they want when it comes to repealing Obamacare.

From The Washington Free Beacon, more on the subject of my other post earlier today.

From The Washington Times, this year there will be less wheat and more soybeans.

From KTLA, in Arkansas, plans to carry out executions face an unusual technical difficulty.

From the Express, the Pound gains against the Euro and Spain talks about taking back Gibraltar.

From The Two-Way, Japan makes Captain Ahab proud.

From Gateway Pundit, someone got a lot of rubles, and it's not Trump or a member of his campaign.

From the Daily Mail, a story about three college students charged with prostitution, in which one picture shows someone who looks vaguely familiar.

From CNN, more older people are drinking.

And from Jacksonville(dot)com, someone I once watched play football for Virginia Tech is now an award-winning policeman.

Some Pence For My Thoughts

Vice President Mike Pence (R-IN) has recently drawn quite a bit of media reaction for his statement that he will not dine alone with a woman who is not his wife.  For example, People discusses some "internet reactions" and Adequate Man asks, "What does Mike Pence think happens at restaurants?"  It's interesting that the same people, generally speaking, who accuse President Trump of disrespect for women, based on his 12-year-old comment about grabbing a certain place, also fault Pence for his way of showing respect for his wife.  (I would add that Pence's policy of avoiding the appearance of wrongdoing can also be regarded as an act of respecting women in general.)

This little kerfluffle reminds me of an episode in which a man dining alone with a woman who's not his wife was regarded as a rather serious faux pas.  In 1989, President George Bush the Elder nominated a former Senator named John Tower (R-TX) to be his Secretary of Defense.  The nomination was rejected by the Senate, in part due to allegations of drinking and womanizing by the nominee.  Back then, it seems, socializing with women you're married to was seen as a negative.  An article entitled "John Tower's Rocky Road", appearing in the Los Angeles Times, contains this paragraph:

Jan. 31--Conservative activist Paul Weyrich testifies that on a number of occasions he has seen Tower drunk and socializing with women who were not his wife. He questions whether Tower has the "moral character" for a high Cabinet post.

The Chicago Tribune provides some context to the rejection of former Senator Tower.  There had been some scandals in the then-recent past, causing some Senators to be believe that having a man of flawed character at the top of the Defense Department could lead to even more troubles for the federal government.

In Mexico City, Watch Where You Sit

The people in charge of the Mexico City Metro have come up with an innovative - and bizarre - way to admonish riders against sexual assault.  They have installed some seats that are, shall we say, very masculine - so masculine as to include the defining member.  Only men are allowed to sit there, as indicated by a sign which says, "Exclusivo para hombres".  (Yes, the word "hombres" is in bold.)

Someone posted a picture relating to this story on Twitter, but without any link, but I was able to find some corroboration.  Read more at AdWeek, the Daily Mail, Louder With Crowder and Your Tango.

A Sasquatch's Dozen

Twelve stories which I've run across this morning:

From the Independent, one body part deserves its own museum.

From TribLive, Pennsylvania wants photos for the Wall Of Faces.

From Breitbart Texas, illegal aliens are getting more aggressive.

From LifeNews, a horrifying admission.

From ABC News, your college's commencement could have a musical guest.

From WJLA, near the Capitol, a woman is in custody after ramming a police car.

From Neos Kosmos, guns and ammo are found in a house of worship.

From the Toronto Sun, ISIS supporters work at Canadian airport.  (via Jihadwatch)

From FrontpageMag, sanctuary city officials appear set to keep defying immigration law.

From Politico, Secretary of State Tillerson tells NATO to "show Trump the money".

From The Local DE, in Berlin, Muslims remove their children from a nursery school which has a gay employee.  (via the Geller Report)

And from The Two-Way, Westinghouse files for bankruptcy.  (Full disclosure:  My father worked for Westinghouse, and was laid off when I was a teenager.)

Did Chuck Loose His Cool?

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) reportedly recently caused a scene at a New York restaurant in which he mouthed off to a woman named Hilary, because she had voted for the major candidate whose name does not resemble her own.  She and her husband, Joseph Califano Jr. (who had been President Carter's Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, back when those things were all within a single department) were dining at Sette Mezzo in Manhattan, when the senator allegedly made a scene, yelling, "She voted for Trump".  He then continued his tirade while following the Califanos out the door.  Some witnesses, on the other hand, claim that the conversation was pleasant, and that Hilary's voting for Trump was merely a joke made by her husband.

Read the full story at Page Six, which is a section of the New York Post.  When looking for other sources for this story, all that I've found refer back to Page Six, but I will also link the article from the Daily Mail, because it has some good pictures.

Various And Sundry

As the work week starts off, here's some things in the news:

That's not a golf ball, it's a hail stone.

What happens in a dismemberment abortion?

In an not-too-unexpected development, tourists abandon London.

Meanwhile in the Netherlands, someone doesn't want a new mosque.

But in Iowa, residents welcome the new mosque.

AG Sessions: Comply with the law.

My Pennsylvanian coal mining ancestors wouldn't like this idea.

Daniel Greenfield:  Here's what the left wants.

60 votes?  Not so fast, Chuck.

This quarterback has a Bear in his family tree.

In Pakistan, a man changes his religion, with the government's permission.

In Australia, one imam would not allow such conversion.

In England, an imam keeps his job after admitting slapping children.

An Indonesian man heads home after serving 6 months in a Saudi jail.

The Soviet Union's plan to attack NATO.

A woman is accused of "mansplaining".

My response to this claim would start with "Hey Joe".

"Earth-like waves" are found in the Sun's atmosphere.

The Trump stock rally stumbles.

Judge Gorsuch will have to wait a while.

And to finish, if you don't want a cat or a dog, try one of these.

Some Sense On The Westminster Attack

While running down my Twitter stream, I found a Tweet referring to an article in National Review by Andrew McCarthy, in which he opines on Islam, Muslims, and the recent attack on Westminster Bridge and near Parliament.  He opens with an interesting observation.

It was a careful choice of words, Bernard Lewis being nothing if not careful.  In 2004, the West audibly gasped when its preeminent scholar of Islam famously told the German newspaper Die Welt, “Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century,” if not sooner. 

Listen carefully.  He did not say that Muslims will be the majority population in what is still recognizably Europe. No, Professor Lewis said “Europe will be Islamic.”  [italics as in original]

The state of affairs Lewis predicted for Europe was true of the Middle East about 900 years ago when the Crusades were launched.  If my sense of history is correct, the areas invaded by the Crusaders had a Christian majority population at that time, even while being under Islamic rule.  In other words, such an arrangement in Europe is not only foreseeable, but has a historical precedent.  McCarthy also observes, with respect to "Western political and opinion elites":

They cannot help but project onto Islamic beliefs and practices their own progressive pieties - which take seriously neither religion nor the notion that there is any civilization but their own.

I have long held the opinion that in reality, Islam is similar to, but in some ways worse than, what the left accuses conservatism of being.  For example, Islam's attitudes toward women and gays are not only opposite to those of the Western left, but by any standard of proportionality, are also clearly harsher than those of the Western right.  But enough of my $0.02, read the full story.

Another Car Collides With Pedestrians In London

Earlier tonight in the Islington area of London, four people were injured when a car plowed into them.  After the collision, two men got out of the car and fled on foot.  One man was arrested soon afterward.  One knife was found in the car, and another on the pavement nearby.  Police are saying that this event is not terrorism.

In view of what happened earlier this week on Westminster Bridge, I'd say that this incident being a copycat crime shouldn't yet be ruled out.

Read more at the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Sun and the Mirror.  (The Daily Mail reports three people injured, the other links say four.)

Friday Links

Some things going on, as the weekend approaches:

From ZeroHedge, get a grip, everyone.

From FrontpageMag, if you support illegal immigration, register as a foreign agent.

From Fox Business, Keystone XL gets a presidential permit.

From InfoWars, double standards, anyone?

From Fox10, in Alabama, fewer spring breakers are getting arrested.

From CNET, the creators of the movie Life wanted to make their alien "as scientifically accurate as possible".

From The Corner at National Review, which is it, Chuck?

From AhlulBayt News Agency, a Canadian attempting to join ISIS is arrested in Turkey.

From Sky News, more on the London terrorist.

From the Independent, the face of the London terrorist.  (Like the man incorrectly identified as the attacker, he doesn't look "Asian" in any sense that I'm familiar with.)

From ANSA, this weekend, do not fly anything over Rome.

From Gatestone Institute, the West should stop siding with criminals.

From The Pickering Post, some historical perspective on Mohammed.

From Fox News, 29 Mexican prisoners tunnel their way out.

From Townhall, President Trump is right to want Big Bird's head on a platter.

From LifeNews, the House Rules Committee votes to defund Planned Parenthood.

From The Daily Caller, Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin says that the Trump administration is ready for tax reform.

And from Road Show, a billboard that purifies the air around it.

London Terrorist Named

The name of the terrorist who carried out yesterday's attack in London has been released, along with the names of the three people he killed.  The perpetrator was Khalid Masood, who was born in the county of Kent, and who had a previous criminal record.  The victims were Kurt Cochran, an American from Utah who was celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary, Aysha Frade, a teacher in London who had relatives in Spain, and police officer Keith Palmer, who was stabbed before his fellow officers shot the attacker.  Cochran's wife was injured and hospitalized.

Read more at The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Irish Times and ABC News.

UPDATE:  The links now indicate that a fourth victim has died, but have not stated his name.  He was a 75-year-old man.