Month: June 2026

Swarthmore 9 Go On Trial June 29

Swarthmore 9 Go On Trial June 29

By Bob Small

Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators have been doing encampments at Swarthmore College. Specifically, they are targeting the Swarthmore Board of Managers and asking them to divest from Cisco which works with the Israeli military. The demonstrators, of course, have the right to“peacefully” protest. Only two of the Swarthmore nine are actually connected with the college with only one being a current student.

Their trial will be happening soon.

The matter stems from a May 3, 2025 incident which was broken up by some 30 police officers from several departments.

It would have been a great time for a bank job, one thinks.

On Aug. 19, the College Judiciary Committee suspended the Swarthmore student involved for the Fall Semester. .

There were almost 40 comments when I looked at the linked article, with alumnae coming down on both sides.

This case has been covered by MSN, among other national news sources.

There has begun the start of a nascent academic boycott with the looming trial.

Delco District Attorney Tanner Rouse has stated that all of the nine have been offered the opportunity to have the charge lowered to a summary offense, which would not require jail time.

As of this writing, all have refused.

The College cites increasing concern by members of the College community, which led them to feel “compelled to seek assistance from the Swarthmore Borough Police Department to end the encampment.”

The college denies that they can reduce the pending charges.

Cisco, by the way, is the world’s largest networking company and provides Swarthmore’s campus-wide VPN and cybersecurity infrastructure. This means it is installed on every single student, faculty, and staff member’s personal device.

Meanwhile, Swarthmore College President Val Smith praised Trump’s HB 1 Bill ”because it included $20 million for Swarthmore. “

As someone with a previous history of civil disobedience, for various causes and under various administrations, and who may yet return to this mode of protest, I always wanted to go to trial, to plead my cause, but never had the choice.

Full confession, the most is spent in jail was but a half a day. Hopefully, the “Swarthmore 9” will come to their senses and avoid taking up the jail cells needed for “real criminals”.

See also

DEMAND SWARTHMORE DROP CHARGES FOR THE SWAT 9

Mom Gets Prison For Battle With Judge After Losing Kids

Mom Gets Prison For Battle With Judge After Losing Kids — Sadiyyah F. Young was sentenced to 11 ½ to 23 months in Montgomery County jail,after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of stalking, forgery, and identity theft concerning a dispute with Common Pleas Court Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy and some social workers.

She also got by three years probation and a ban from using X.

Judge Demchick-Alloy had placed Ms. Young’s children in foster care following a divorce.

We’ve written about Judge Demchick-Alloy.

Here we describe how she threw a mother in handcuffs when she had an epileptic seizure during a one-side custody battle over her four kids.

The hubby had money and connections.

She didn’t.

Yes, the mom ended up losing.

Here, Judge Demchick-Alloy presided over a hearing concerning a mom who fled to California with her kids to escape an abusive ex.

Charges were dropped and the mom got custody.

That the courtroom was packed with media and activists may have had something to do with the outcome, though..

Pennsylvania’s family court system is filthy. Just read the stories here for the evidence.

Mom Gets Prison For Battle With Judge After Losing Kids

Benefit For Fletcher Fox

A benefit for Fletcher Fox, who suffered much in his young life and is now battling cancer, will be 1 p.m to midnight June 20 at the LNC Event Center, 1725 Huntingdon Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006.

There will be food vendors, craft tables and 10 bands with the music starting at 2 p.m.

Also, an evening light show.

Tickets are $42.50 in advance and $50 (plus fees) at the gate.

Fletcher spent his teenage years at  Logan River Academy in Utah and the Chamberlain International School in Massachusetts institutions noted for abusing their charges. Fletcher was among the victims.

Read some of his story here.

He was ordered into the system in 2012 during a bitter divorce against his will of his mother Renee.

He escaped the system when he turned 18.

Despite being diagnosed as he received a degree in Associates Degree in Business from Delaware County Community College in 2021 and bachelors in psychology in 2023, both with honors.

Fletcher had to take remedial classes at DCCC due to the poor education received at the other institutions.

The ending would be happy but Fletcher was found to have colon cancer in August 2025 which had metastasized to the liver.

“It’s been a hell of a year,” said Renee. “They botched the surgery.”

She said the last several blood tests have indicated improvement, however.

“We are not out of the woods yet, ” she said.

Humble Win In 50th District Primary

Humble Win In 50th District Primary

By Bob Small

In the third of four Pennsylvania house incumbents to lose to a Primary Challenger, Republican Bud Cook lost by over 300 votes to Waynesborough Council President Ben Humble in the primary for the 50th District.

Humble is the project manager with Humble Flooring and Decorating Center.

Cook, first elected in November 2016, was seeking his sixth term.

The 50th District consists of Greene County, along with four townships and 20 boroughs of Washington County.

The Democratic candidate will be Lois Bower-Bjonson of Scenery Hill.

Cook sponsored legislation that would Primary results spell the end for four PA House incumbents, “bar public officials from lobbying if they’re convicted of a crime”.

Humble wants to create a state-level DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency.

Cook also sought to replace property taxes with “alternative funding models” to raise money.” He previously was a council member in West Virginia, etc.

Cook echoes many with his concerns “ about the strain large data centers can place on our energy grid, water resources, and local infrastructure, especially in rural communities. “

Ben Humble has a diploma from Jefferson-Morgan High School and 30 years experience as a businessman, and a volunteer fireman.

State Senator Camera Barlotta (R- 46) gave the Humble campaign $1,030, but the money was returned. See also below.

In 2020, Bud Cook was among 26 Pa House Republicans who called for“the reversal of Joe Biden’s certification as the winner of Pennsylvania’s 2020 electoral votes in the 2020 United States Presidential election”.

For a discussion of the Barlotta “alleged influence” for Ben Humble, see Why is local politics in Washington County so cutthroat?

Also see

I had high hopes for Ben Humble. He screams he is not …

Meet Ben Humble

Was Keith Harris Too Conservative For The 195th?

Was Keith Harris Too Conservative For The 195th?

By Bob Small

Keith Harris (D-195) becomes a one-term state representative following this year’s primary. He was defeated by social worker Sierra McNeil. The third candidate was Kenneth Walker, Jr, formerly a public school teacher and an assistant program manager for the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Public Safety.

McNeil received 53.4% to Harris’s 27.3%. .This is the general election in that the GOP has neglected to run anyone for this office and any alternative party candidate has little chance.

According to his campaign website, Harris “earned a certificate in Liberal Arts education through the Act Now program at Philadelphia Community College from in 1982.” He also mentions his work on the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network. He was previously sergeant at arms for The Philadelphia City Council.

Sierra McNeil had the support of the Philadelphia Working Families Party, which masquerades as an independent party, but actually votes with the Democrats.

Harris stopped following the party line on Immigration and other bills, which may have led to his defeat.

McNeil is Pennsylvania President of the The National Association of Social Workers.

She supports HB 554 which would allow the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to join the Social Work Licensure Compact . There are seven states in the SWLC, with twenty others having pending Legislation. This could eventually allow social workers to apply for multi-state licenses.

Not everyone thinks this is a good idea. The Social Work Compact is bad public policy .“ Psychotherapynotes.com feels that this removes participating states’ ability to ensure that a social worker has state-specific legal knowledge before being allowed to practice there. “. There are a number of other concerns brought up in this article,

For instance, would a Social Worker from Iowa know what a Wawa on “the pike” means, what a “Booth’s Corner” is, and wouldn’t they expect Delaware County to have a few hospitals?

Similarly, what would a Pennsylvania Social worker not know, that you don’t want to work in Vermont because they’re the only state without a Dairy Queen?


See also

Sierra McNeil

Pennsylvania Democrats and Republicans .