As an American of Christian Arab descent, I believe that arming the Syrian rebels is a mistake and will haunt the US in the near future.
The rebels are made up of 2 types of fighters. Some of the rebels are true democracy loving Syrians who want to free their people and nation from tyranny. The majority of rebels, on the other hand, are Syrian and non-Syrian (Al Qaeda) Muslim extremists who want to topple the government to replace it with a strict Islamist anti-western government. These two groups have become comingled and it’s nearly impossible to differentiate between the two. If we support the rebels how we can be sure we are not arming the Islamist extremists?
We can’t.
The Obama Administration’s decision to arming Syria’s rebels will deepen America’s involvement in a war that is being fought along sectarian lines, pinning Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and threatening the stability of Israel and Jordan.
I have spoken with a Christian women and her son who just fled Syria to the US, and they spoke of Christian persecution and mass murder and dismemberment of Christians in Syria. She also said that many of the Rebel fighters are imports from other Muslim nations like Chechnya, and Afghanistan.
There is no such thing as a good outcome of the Syrian uprising. It frightens me to see what is happening in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and other Muslim nations. There are fears that Assad’s stockpile of chemical weapons, believed to be one of the world’s largest, could fall into the hands of Islamic extremist groups.
The only safe solution is not to arm any of the parties, because choosing the lesser of two evils, is still dealing with evil. We need to make sure our allies in the Middle East like Israel and Jordan are safe and supported with humanitarian aid to help the refuges migrating to Jordan. We need to work closely with Israel and build up our defense systems in the region. We must NOT hinder Israel from doing what it believes is in her best interest. A United Nations no-fly zone would make a significant impact to protect civilian life and bring both sides to the negotiating table for a conference set to take place in Geneva in July.
He was best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano and his most famous Monmouth County scenes were in Sea Bright and Asbury Park, but James Gandolfini kept working here after the HBO classic ended in 2007.
Gandolfini starred in the independently produced Down the Shore which was shot in Keansburg, Hazlet and Atlantic Highlands in 2008. The film grossed only $4800 when it opened last April.
While shooting in Down the Shore, Gandolfini shopped at IEI, Victor Scudiery’s retail electronics outlet at Airport Plaza in Hazlet. Scudiery tells us that the actor bought a stereo receiver for his trailer. IEI’s staff let Gandolfini be, not bothering him for autographs or pictures, but they excitedly saved the security footage of his purchase.
This bill is like herpes. It keeps coming back. We’ve been fighting it since June of 2011.
The state legislature is once again looking to authorize public schools to interrogate your children about private family matters and your political views. The IRS, NSA , TSA and Drones can’t catch everything. The government needs school children to spy on their families too. If the schools can get the information from the kids, the federal government sends money.
Assembly Bill A2421 is up for a vote before the full Assembly this afternoon. Call or email you legislators now, right now, and tell them to vote NO. Call or email Governor Christie and ask that he veto the bill if it passes and gets to him. It has already passed the Senate.
The original bill would have removed a requirement that parents provide written consent before schools can ask students questions like this:
(1) political affiliations;
(2) mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student or the student’s family;
(3) sexual behavior and attitudes;
(4) illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior;
(5) critical appraisals of other individuals with whom a respondent has a close family relationship;
(6) legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers;
(7) income, other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under a program; or
(8) social security number.
If this bill become law, schools will simply have to notify parents that the survey will take place. No written consent for their children to participate “voluntarily” will be required.
In an effort to thwart opposition, the sponsors have proposed amending the bill to remove questions about political affiliation, sexual behavior/attitudes and social security number from authorized questions. The amendment would also prohibit the intrusive information collected from being used for marketing or other commercial purposes “not related to education” (drive a truck through that loop hole). The amendment makes the bill no less dangerous or objectionable.
GET WRITTEN PARENTAL CONSENT. Educators get that consent for field trips, etc. The argument that it is too difficult to get for intrusive survey is bull.’ Assuming” that parents are just not paying attention is as disingenuous the telemarketer assuming you will love that ginzu knife they’re giving you for a ‘free trial.’
The proponents of the bill want to allow schools to employ a scamming tactic referred to as “negative consent.” That’s the technique that telemarketers use when they offer you a product or service for “free” for 30 days. If you don’t take affirmative action to cancel the “free trial” your credit card is charged monthly until you catch up with the scammers and cancel.
Part 5 of James Gandolfini’s 2004 interview with James Liption of the Actor’s Studio. At the 5:16 mark, Lipton asks Gandolfini what he hopes God will say to him when he gets to the pearly gates.
Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie released the following statement tonight on the tragic passing of New Jersey native James Gandolfini:
“It’s an awful shock. James Gandolfini was a fine actor, a Rutgers alum and a true Jersey guy. I was a huge fan of his and the character he played so authentically, Tony Soprano. I have gotten to know Jimmy and many of the other actors in the Sopranos cast and I can say that each of them are an individual New Jersey treasure. Mary Pat and I express our deepest sympathies to Mr. Gandolfini’s wife and children, and our prayers are with them at this terrible time.”
Now that she survived Steve Lonegan’s challenge to her petitions, it worth getting to know the political novice who was able to get 2,285 nominating signatures in three days, Dr. Alieta Eck. That was a task that was too much for many seasoned politicians.
From the looks of how the Special Election Senate race is shaping up, Newark Mayor Cory Booker is going to win in a landslide anyway. Booker has a huge lead over Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Congressmen Frank Pallone and Rush Holt in the independent polls for the Democratic nomination. Lonegan is within striking distance of Pallone, Holt and Oliver in the Monmouth University Poll released last Friday, but loses to Booker by 16 points.
The only hope for a Republican to win the Senate seat in October is for someone other than Booker to be the Democratic nominee or for Booker to be badly wounded, politically, in a bloody Democratic primary. That doesn’t look like it is going to happen.
So far, Pallone and Holt are playing nice. Pallone is sending out emails asking people to recruit their friends to ‘Like’ his facebook page and volunteer for his campaign. Holt is posting on facebook asking non-Democrats to change parties in order to vote for him in the primary. If Oliver is doing anything, we haven’t noticed.
No one is mentioning all the shootings in Newark this week, that, if they were happening in Marlboro or Newtown, CT would be making national news. No one is asking Booker for his travel schedule or where he spends his weekends. Pallone tried to make an issue of Booker’s relationship with Governor Chris Christie, but Democrats seem to like Christie more than they like Pallone. No one is making an issue of Booker’s relationship with Wall Street, because Wall Street is investing a ton of money in Newark.
Administrative Law Judge Edward J. Delanoy, Jr rejected the Steve Lonegan for Senate campaign’s challenge to Dr. Alieta Eck’s nominating petitions for the August 13, 2013 Special Republican Senate Primary this afternoon. Barring an appeal by the Lonegan campaign, Eck will be on the primary ballot. Delanoy’s order can be downloaded here.
Dr. Alieta Eck is on the GOP Special Senate Primary Ballot.
At the conclusion of the hearing on the matter yesterday, Lonegan’s attorney, F. Michael Daily, withdrew his challenge based up a failure to collect 1000 signatures from registered Republican or unaffiliated voters, leaving the challenge only to the veracity of Eck’s witnessing of the petitions.
Delanoy found that Eck may have failed to physically witness approximately 50 of the 371 signatures she collected on June 9 at her church in Somerset, but that even if she did not physically witness them, she had a right to cure the defect in her petition books. He further ruled that curing the defect was not necessary because, even if she had not verified all 371 signatures collected at the church, she still had more than the 1000 signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot.
Delanoy found that Eck acted in good faith and that Daily presented no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing on Eck’s part.
Lonegan’s spokeswoman, Nachama Soloveichik said, “We had serious concerns about the origin, collection, and notarization of Dr. Eck’s petitions and those concerns continue.”
Soloveichik did not know if Lonegan plans to appeal Delanoy’s ruling. The Star Ledger is reporting that Eck’s attorney Ted Maciag said that Lonegan is appealing the decision to Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, the New Jersey Secretary of State.
There was a Monmouth County twist to Delanoy’s ruling. He cited the case of Scudiery vs. Falzone from 2010 when then Monmouth County Chairman Victor Scudiery challenged Mark Falzone’s primary petitions for a bid against Congressman Frank Pallone.
Assemblywomen Caroline Casagrande, left, and Mary Pat Angelini, in Long Branch this morning for Mayor Schneider’s endorsement of Gov Christie
While touring Oakwood School, a non-profit, non-sectarian New Jersey Private School for the Disabled that serves adolescents with Asperger/Autism in Tinton Falls last March, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande learned that the school’s enrollment had declined after the State instituted its cap on school superintendents’ salaries.
One of the exceptions to the superintendents’ salary cap are bonuses awarded for academic excellence. An administrator at Oakwood tipped Casagrande to the notion that superintendents could be keeping special needs students in their schools, to the academic and social detriment of the special needs and ‘normal’ students, in order to snag those $25,000 bonuses.
Freehold Regional High School District earned unwelcome notoriety for its largess with its previous superintendent, the phony Doctor H. James Wasser. Wasser’s replacement Charles Sampson, has a clause in his contract rewarding him for reducing the number of special needs students assigned to out-of-district schools like Oakwood, according to a December 2012 article in the News Transcript, a weekly newspaper serving Colts Neck, Englishtown, Freehold Borough and Township, Manalapan and Marlboro.
Hundreds of Monmouth County residents got the hell off the beach this morning to witness Adam Schneider, the Democratic Mayor of Long Branch, endorse Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, for another four year term leading the Garden State.
Guv Chris Christie accepting Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider’s endorsement. Photo by Art Gallagher. Click for larger view.
Christie was swarmed by boardwalk visitors anxious for a photograph and to shake his hand as he exited his vehicle outside of McLoone’s Pier House. It took him 20 minutes to work through the crowd while making the short walk to the veranda for Schneider’s announcement.
Schneider declared that he is a proud Democrat who took the difficult step of making a cross party endorsement because “Christie doesn’t care what national Republicans think, he is working for the people of New Jersey.”
Schneider said mentioned to a Christie staffer, Christopher Stark, that he might vote for the governor at a meeting in January after Christie chastised House Republicans, particularly Speaker John Boehner, for holding up legislation authorizing federal relief for Superstorm Sandy recovery.
“He wrote that down,” Schneider said of Stark, “I knew I would be hearing from the governor. He called from his cell phone, not a government phone number.”
After agreeing to endorse Christie, Schneider called 30-45 of his Democratic friends to give them the news before it became public. “Some were disappointed. Most said, What’s taken you so long?”
The Communist Party in China used tanks and violent force upon its own people to eliminate political dissent. Barack Obama and the IRS in a highly organized manner used the full might of the Federal Government in collusion with a harassment campaign waged by Left-wing organizations to accomplish the same chilling ends here in America.
Are we Americans worthy of the freedoms that we enjoy? If so, then explain why you aren’t angry at the blatant and well documented lawlessness of the Obama administration and with the IRS that he so maliciously used to intimidate his opponents, dating as far back as 2008?
There are many of you reading this column that are elected officials. You swore an oath to protect the Constitution. Whether you are a local official, a state official or representing us in Congress, you should be storming Capitol Hill or the State House in Trenton, demanding to know how such gross abuses of power, never seen before in America, will be punished. Students of history will quickly recognize that such tactics have been used in China, as well as in Nazi Germany to successfully crush political opposition.
By Bader George Qarmout
By: Ernesto Cullari