Alejandro Villanueva throws himself under the bus

In my blog earlier today, I wrote:

It’s a sad day when Steelers player Alejandro Villanueva makes headlines for standing for our Anthem, the coach deplores his decision (while inadvertently exhibiting his support for lockstep groupthink) while the rest of the Steelers hide in the locker room

Now, this lousy development (h/t Conservative Treehouse):

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NFL takes a knee

Cleveland Browns just before the game

photo credit : The Telegraph

UPDATE at 7:04 (see next blog here). 

There’s tons of commentary on the NFL’s growing disrespect for our National Anthem and flag, and by extension, the American people. The essay by Daniel John Sobieski at American Thinker struck me as one of the best. Here’s a short extract:

Those who take a knee were indeed given that right by many who no longer have knees and are privileged to take a knee in a sport paid for by millions of fans who may disagree with them and who paid to see a game, not a protest. Players who take a knee think they are being patriotic, when they are merely being self-indulgent and selfish. Go rent out a stadium and invite people to pay just to see you take a knee and see if anybody shows up. 

The rest is here. Chris Buskirk at American Greatness has another worthwhile take:

Intoxicated with their own sense of self-righteousness today’s athlete-protesters look more like rich drunks spouting nonsense than responsible citizens seeking redress. And in doing so they have popped the sports bubble and reminded us that we should stop idolizing overprivileged millionaire Millennials who disrespect this country, her people, and her history. Millions of Americans have recoiled at the divisiveness brought into sports by people like Kaepernick and Curry. And for this we can thank them.

The rest of Buskirk’s essay is here. 

It’s a sad day when Steelers player Alejandro Villanueva makes headlines for standing for our Anthem; then the coach deplores Villanuevo's decision (while inadvertently exhibiting his support for lockstep groupthink); the rest of the Steelers hide in the locker room; and the Browns lose again -- in more ways than one. 

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How to help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

photo credits: Sky News / Wall Street Journal

Hat tip to cleveland.com for highlighting a near west side organization that is collecting cartons of contribution for Puerto Rico – slammed by Hurricane Maria and now without power, utility services, etc. Here is the link to the San Lorenzo Club’s FB page. I had not heard of this organization before. They are accepting cartons (according to one of the posters) “until Sunday”:

we are collecting for PR until Sunday 12 noon to 8pm. 

Located at 3121 W.33rd Street in Cleveland, 44109. They are accepting canned goods, baby food, clothing, water, non-perishable items, diapers, pet supplies, everything but cash.

Google map is here.

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Issue 2 on Ohio ballots: pharmaceuticals (what IS this issue?)

image credit: MyDaytonDailyNews.com

Cleveland.com reported on the panel forum in Bay Village yesterday that presented pro and the con views of Issue 2, which will be on the ballot state-wide this November. The report was not all that illuminating, so here’s the actual language that voters will see on the ballot (via the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections):

Issue 2 To require state agencies to not pay more for prescription drugs than the federal Department of Veterans Affairs and require state payment of attorney fees and expenses to specific individuals for defense of the law Proposed Law Proposed by Initiative Petition To enact Chapter 194 of the Ohio Revised Code A majority yes vote is necessary for the law to pass. 

To enact Chapter 194 of the Ohio Revised Code, which would: 

• Require the State of Ohio, including its state departments, agencies and entities, to not pay more for prescription drugs than the price paid by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. 

• Establish that the individual petitioners responsible for proposing the law have a direct and personal stake in defending the law; require the State to pay petitioners’ reasonable attorney fees and other expenses; require the petitioners to pay $10,000 to the State if the law is held by a court to be unenforceable and limit petitioners’ personal liability to that amount; and require the Attorney General to defend the law if challenged in court. 

SHALL THE PROPOSED LAW BE ADOPTED?

An Ohio doctor, Dr. Mike Sevilla, posted his page on Issue 2, and it’s a resource to start with, with several links to proponents and opponents of the Issue. And here’s the take posted by the Ohio Pharmacists organization. For what it is worth, a few months ago, Bernie Sanders endorsed Issue 2.

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Update: teaching our history in Ohio schools

 art credit: Mr. Donn's American History

Some Cleveland Tea Party readers will have called members of the Ohio School Board to keep our Founding Documents (Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers) in school curricula. Here’s the Update by Patrick O’Donnell from cleveland.com:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Don't shortchange America's "founding documents," the state school board was told Tuesday, by trying to axe tests that make sure students learn them.

School board members have been under pressure from across the state to cut how many standardized tests students have to take. Some members have sought to cut any tests not required by the federal government, which would eliminate some math, English and science tests.

It would also wipe out the American History and American Government tests that all high school students must take.

That didn't sit well with some legislators and activists who fought to require these documents to be taught -- and included on state tests -- in 2012. That's when Senate Bill 165, called the "Founding Fathers Act" or the "Founding Documents Act" by some, mandated them.

That means the board can't cut them on its own, but can only ask the legislature to do so.

Don't bother, Senate President Larry Obhoff, a Medina Republican, told the board through an aide Tuesday. He said the legislature won't change the law, regardless of any recommendation from the board.

. . .

Despite more than 90 minutes of debate, most of which centered on procedural issues with motions and amendments, the board took no action on any tests. It delayed any vote until later this year.

Those calls and messages made a difference.

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Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor would end Medicaid expansion in Ohio

image credit: the bull elephant

Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor would end Medicaid expansion 

in Ohio if elected Governor

ICYMI, Cleveland.com reports:

Republican Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor said Monday she would end the Medicaid expansion in Ohio if she is elected governor - a clean break from the man she has served alongside for the last seven years,  Gov. John Kasich. 

As part of her run to succeed Kasich, Taylor unveiled her plan to alter the health care system in Ohio on Monday in Cleveland. She said she would end the Medicaid expansion that resulted in 725,000 more Ohioans receiving health coverage, calling the program unsustainable in the long term.

"Medicaid expansion is fiscally unsustainable and will be ended under a Taylor administration," Taylor said. "I believe that we must identify new, innovative, market-based reforms to address the issues Medicaid currently addresses today. I want to return Medicaid to its original mission of serving the people who need it while incentivizing work and ensuring opportunities for long-term success for those who are able."

. . .

"If Obamacare is not repealed, then I will work very hard with President Trump and Congress to get Obamacare repealed or get the flexibility Ohio needs in a waiver or block grant - call it whatever you want - give us the flexibility to I can implement my plan," Taylor said.

"Call it whatever you want?" How about the Health Care Compact?! Read the rest of the report here.

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Founding of America Documents Curriculum in Ohio

image credit: annenberg classroom

Saving Founding of America Documents Curriculum in Ohio. 

Your Calls Are Needed!

This Action Alert is from our friends at the Ohio Christian Alliance (a number of Ohio groups and organizations are passing along this information; I’m going with the OCA Action Alert because it provides links to the Resolution itself and the School Board members who will be voting):

Liberals on the Ohio State School Board are trying to eliminate American Government and History standards in Ohio.

The State School Board will meet on Sept 18th and 19th to consider a proposal urging the Ohio Legislature to turn the clock back by eliminating the required end of course testing in American Government and History. This will all but destroy what we accomplished six years ago with the passage of the Founding of America Documents curriculum, which guarantees that all 88 school districts teach the founding documents, namely The U.S. Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, The Northwest Ordinance, and The Ohio Constitution in the 8-12th grades with an end of course exam. This threat is serious to eliminate the Constitutional studies in the classroom.

 Click here to contact State School Board members and urge them to vote NO on the resolution.    

 Click here to read the resolution. 

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Cleveland Indians win 22 straight

It's Thursday night. Our Cleveland Indians just extended their winning streak to 22 games, 2nd longest win streak in MLB history!

WOW!

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Dreamers Amnesty

image credit: zazzle

Old news: Speaker Paul Ryan is pro-Amnesty. Yesterday, he had this to say:

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday that it was “not in our nation’s interest” to expel the roughly 800,000 young people protected from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

William A. Jacobson has more on DACA / Dreamer amnesty at Legal Insurrection:

Trump is on the verge of turning a temporary Obama policy deferring enforcement against people here illegally into a full-blown amnesty, which may even go beyond people brought here as children.

Amnesty is the issue on which to oppose Trump, particularly if you support Trump generally. It will kill his presidency, something Schumer and Pelosi correctly diagnosed. Democrats want amnesty for all illegal immigrants and open borders, they’ll take 800,000 as the way to open the door. And they’ll use even the slightest sellout to seek to separate Trump from the people who elected him so as to defeat him on other issues.

Amnesty is the gateway drug to a failed Trump presidency.

NeverTrump Republican are particularly ecstatic on social media today. They want nothing more than for Trump to fail so they can proclaim “I told you so.” They thrive on being out of power. Schumer and Pelosi are NeverTrump Republicans’ best friends right now.

When Trump was elected, my reaction was that there was great opportunity, and I’d support him when his policies were good, and oppose bad policies. Amnesty is a bad policy. It goes to something more than the rule of law, it goes to whether we have a country.

Particularly if you support Trump and want his positive policies to succeed, you need to oppose an amnesty sellout.

NumbersUSA has posted several Action Alerts over the past few days. One recommended action is to let Speaker Paul Ryan know where you stand on DACA (Dreamers) amnesty:

We're hearing from a number of NumbersUSA activists that Speaker Ryan's voicemail is full. You can also contact his office by filling out the contact form on his website:

http://www.speaker.gov/contact

An accessible background essay on the case against Dreamer amnesty is on the American Thinker blog here. 

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Following up on Hurricane Irma

photo credit: CNN.com

The Cleveland-based charity that collected food and household goods for Harvey victims in Texas does not have a stuff-the-truck project for South Florida on their current calendar. As I see it, truckloads -- and planeloads -- of food, water, and household goods would be sorely needed in the central rural areas of Florida and also various Caribbean islands that were destroyed (Virgin Islands, Barbuda, etc). Supplies and manpower are already coming in on military and private transports.

So on this one, some Cleveland Tea Party people may decide to write a check. There's a rated list of charities at Charity Navigator.  Our household is going with Samaritan's Purse, as they are going into the Caribbean as well as Florida.  They have their own cargo plane and their Charity Navigator rating is excellent.

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Free Speech Week at Berkeley Sept 24-27

Remember what happened when Milo Yiannopoulis was scheduled to speak at Berkeley last February?

Photo credit: SFGate

It was cancelled. Breitbart Radio just announced:

Milo Plans Four-Day Extravaganza At Berkeley For Free Speech Week

Yesterday, Pamela Geller’s blog ran this headline:

Pamela Geller To Speak at Milo’s Free Speech Week at Berkeley, Joins Steve Bannon, Ann Coulter, David Horowitz

That’s already a powerhouse line-up that will be impossible to ignore. (Berkeley is already looking for safe spaces to protect poor snowflake students from the presence of Ben Shapiro.) I plan to follow this, as it could be a watershed moment for First Amendment rights.

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Go Vote

image credit: eventbrite.com

GO VOTE!

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Remembering 9/11

image credit: 963wdvd.com

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Hurricane's silver lining

Restaurants, chefs rally to help feed those affected by Harvey

Photo and caption credit: Houston Chronicle

Don Surber finds the silver linings in Hurricanes:

The people of Houston and elsewhere in Texas showed a cooperation that shamed the politicians. Guys in boats were trolling their neighborhoods searching for people to rescue. . . .

A nation drunk on politics suddenly was watching people struggle to survive four feet of rainfall.

That was sobering.

America changed. Instantly.

His column is here. And I hope he's right.

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Another step toward censorship: Diamond and Silk

image credit: Mint Press News

Recently, Cleveland Tea Party blogged on the cancellation of Pamela Geller’s PayPal account on her blog. There are other blatant examples of attempts to shut down discussions, but I just found this one, from last month:

Diamond and Silk rip YouTube, 

say 95% of videos demonetized over Trump support

Those of us who love watching these two gals in their support of all matters Trump should be flabbergasted and aghast. And it’s getting worse. According to the report in the Washington Times, here’s YouTube's chilling explanation:

News of the largely demonetized channel comes less than two weeks since the company announced plans to fight inappropriate content.

“We’ll soon be applying tougher treatment to videos that aren’t illegal but have been flagged by users as potential violations of our policies on hate speech and violent extremism,” the company announced Aug. 1 on its official blog. “If we find that these videos don’t violate our policies but contain controversial religious or supremacist content, they will be placed in a limited state. The videos will remain on YouTube behind an interstitial, won’t be recommended, won’t be monetized, and won’t have key features including comments, suggested videos, and likes.”

"Inappropriate content?" “Our policies on hate speech and violent extremism”? “Controversial religious or supremacist content”? Who is making these judgments?

Enough patrons called and pressured PayPal into reinstating Pamela Geller’s account. 

Long term solution for YouTube and other Google powered platforms: trust busting? DOJ or FCC?  Short-term solution? From a web search:

How to Contact YouTube Support

By phone: (650) 253-0000. This is Google's catch-all phone number and can also be used for YouTube inquires.

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Spot the Media Bias

Following FLOTUS fashions may not be a top priority, but the coverage provides such a vivid illustration of the dishonesty corruption in the media today. This screen shot from Philly.com was posted recently by a reader at Conservative Treehouse; I had missed it.

The headlines are bad enough. But if you cannot embiggen the image to actually read Fashion Editor Elizabeth Wellington's captions below the two photographs (by tapping on the image itself), click to see it on your screen here.

Related: Remember last week’s media meltdown over Melania’s stiletto heels as she walked from the White House to the chopper en route to boarding Air Force One to fly to Texas?

Oh, the horror of it all. Where is her respect for the job at hand? Smelling salts, please. Er, she is showing her respect for the White House and her role as FLOTUS.

Behold the media’s double standard:

 photo retrieved from Tradition in Action

Do you remember seeing this image of FLOTUS disembarking from Air Force One? It's easy to access on your search engine, but this photo did not exactly make the media rounds at the time. (Sorry if you can't find your Eye Bleach.)

Gif source here.

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Standing for the flag or kneeling with some of the Browns

Sometimes it’s the little things that you can do. Cleveland.com reported on the President of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association Steve Loomis’s announcement that officers would not participate in opening ceremonies with the Cleveland Browns:

Cleveland's police union will not be holding the American flag for a pregame ceremony for the Brown's first game Sept. 10, Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Steve Loomis said late Friday.

Union members had planned on participating in the flag ceremony for the first game on Sept. 10 until some Browns players kneeled during the National Anthem before a preseason game, Loomis said in an interview with cleveland.com.

The players not standing for the national anthem is offensive because of the sacrifices that people make that allows these guys to enjoy the success that they have, Loomis said. While they're benefiting from protection of the flag they are kneeling in disrespect of it, he said.

Joining the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association out of respect for our flag is “the union that represents the city's dispatchers, EMTs and paramedics.”

Cleveland.com also reported on Police Chief Calvin Williams’s response:

we as Cleveland Police Officers strive to open the lines of communication with all of our citizens--athletes and enthusiastic Browns fans alike. Who are we kidding?! We are CLEVELAND!! And we stay strong together. We stand together. 

Moving forward, I can tell you that we within the Cleveland Division of Police are in communication with the Cleveland Browns Organization as we have been in the past. We want to hear from our players, the fans and our citizens of this great city. We want to bridge the gap. We want to talk.

I look forward to a continued partnership with our CLEVELAND athletes, our community and a great BROWNS season!!!"

Loomis respects our flag and National Anthem and takes a stand. As I see it, Cleveland Police Chief Williams is not taking that stand. 

You can email both Steve Loomis and Chief Williams to let them know what you think:

• Steve Loomis at <Steveloomis[insert the ‘at” symbol]aol.com>
• For Police Chief Calvin Williams, click here and choose “City Services” and “Division of Police” in the drop-downs. 

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By the Book: The Strange Death of Europe

Amazon cover

Just finished Douglas Murray’s frightening must-read The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam. If America needed another wake-up call, this is it.  This book examines the paramount problem of today: uncontrolled immigration. And from all angles, based on his research and his extensive travels, particularly in Europe. 

Murray covers history, philosophy and religion, Islam and Christianity, demographics, cultural suicide, political correctness, ideologies, political landscapes, corruption, voter preferences vs government “leaders”, humanity, immigration pros and cons, good stories, bad stories, as well as the what-do-we-do-now and current dilemma scenarios. His conclusions about Europe are a preview of coming attractions here in the USA. 

And it's cheap on Kindle.

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Happy Labor Day

art credit: pinterest

Happy Labor Day!

The Cleveland Air Show on Labor Day weekend

Always thrilling and very noisy.

  

Note: Final performances tomorrow.

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Tech Giants War on Free Speech

art credit: pamelageller.com

Are we losing our First Amendment Rights?

In case you don’t follow Pamela Geller, she specializes in defending the right to free speech and, in particular, threats to free speech presented by jihad and sharia law. Geller is fearless, and she is under perpetual death threats.

Quite recently, subsequent to the Southern Poverty Law Center putting another target on her back, her access to PayPal was withdrawn. Enough readers complained, and PayPal backed down and restored access. Now it’s Google search drives and YouTubes that are limiting her right to free speech. 

If you do not bookmark her website, you might never hear about this. Jihad and sharia law may not be your particular focus, but your right to free speech is probably toward the top of your priority list. It would be for any Tea Party person. We already know that under the previous administration, the weaponized IRS targeted all sorts of conservative and liberty groups. It's getting worse.

Check out Pamela Geller’s chilling Sept. 2 report here. A few extracts:

My website and posts have been scrubbed from Google search. Fourteen years and over forty thousand posts. Google Adsense has banned my account. Google is blacklisting and has admitted to working with alt-left smear groups to silence opposition. And it’s not just me, it’s all criticism of jihad and sharia.

Facebook has blocked my news-feed. My twitter account is shadowbanned. I have been blocked from uploading videos to YouTube [as] punishment for 2007 video on jihad (and YouTube demonetized all of my videos). Paypal suspended me until an outpouring of condemnation and outrage forced a reversal.

Is this really America?

Read her full report here. Scroll down the article for readers' suggestions on what we can be doing to reverse these dangerous developments. It’s OUR problem!

And for Geller’s equally chilling report on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Aim in Life to Destroy These Groups Completely,” click here.

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September 3: National Day of Prayer for the Victims of Hurricane Harvey

photo credit: Firenews

From the White House website:

President Donald J. Trump Proclaims September 3, 2017, as a National Day of Prayer for the Victims of Hurricane Harvey and for our National Response and Recovery Efforts.

Whether you are a church-goer or not, consider packing up a carton to send down to Texas of non-perishable foodstuffs, unopened toiletries, and other items needed by those whose homes are flooded. Details in a previous blog here. And I found one website with street addresses in Texas should you decide to ship yourself: click KBTX. It includes lists of items needed at each drop-off location.

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Ways to help Hurricane Harvey victims

image credit: crowdrise

The Texas clean-up efforts, especially in the Houston area, are underway, and I found a helpful list of organizations on the Fox 8 Cleveland page that can help Northeast Ohioans help Hurricane Harvey victims.

Many of the efforts are still ongoing (the list was initially published on Aug 29). Note: A lot of the usual relief organizations, including the Red Cross, were requesting cash rather than in-kind donations. We chose the Mira Family Charity, even though they were so overwhelmed with donations that they could not (as of Friday) arrange pick-up of non-perishable food, clothes, etc., so a friend of ours drove the carload of goods to their Payne Ave. drop-off point.

Below are some of the places Fox 8 lists, where you can drop off items to help.

The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland has scheduled a special second collection, the weekend of September 9-10 at all Masses. The funds will be channeled directly to Catholic Charities USA which is on the ground and assisting the flood-ravaged area.

Mario's Barbershop at  7526 Broadview Rd. in  Parma is collecting water, diapers, and non-perishable food.

The City of Stow is helping the Texas Diaper Bank provide much-needed diapers to families. The city will accept donations of diapers or money at Stow City Hall on 3760 Darrow Road.   Stow will also collect at the annual Summer Blast Sept. 2 and 3 at Silver Springs Park. Stow City Council will be taking donations at the council booth.

Mira Family Charity - Operation Help Houston is holding a stuff the truck campaign Wednesday, August 30 through Friday, September 1. All donations can be drop off at Tenable Protective Services 2423 Payne Avenue. Cleveland Ohio 44114. Between 7am and 6 pm thru September 1st. If you need items picked up, call (216) 401-5148. [Note: Pretty sure this organization is scheduling a second Stuff-the-Truck next week. Give them a call.]

Middleburg Heights businesses (Sips & Such, Euphoria Vapor and M of Hope) have organized a drive for the following non-profit organizations in Texas: Houston Food Bank, The Texas Diaper Bank, Austin Pets Alive, SPCA of Texas. Drop off is at 7535 Pearl Road in  Middleburg Heights Wednesday through Saturday from 7 am - 9 pm. Click here to see a list of items they need.

The list at Fox 8’s page has more giving opportunities. The webpage suggests checking back for updates.

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