Category: Bob Small

Will Larry Krasner FAFO?

By Bob Small

Larry Krasner, the pugnacious Philadelphia DA, created FAFO (Fight against Federal Overreach), which also aligns with the acronym F____ Aound and Find Out.

One viewpoint comes from Ramin Fatehi, a Commonwealth Attorney from Norfolk, VA said “I’d rather that they know that they’re coming at a hard target than a soft one.”

Besides our Larry, who dubbed ICE agents “wannabe Nazis”, others in this coalition are Mary Moriarity, Hennepin County Attorney (Minneapolis), along with an Attorney from Arizona, two DA’s from Texas, and four Attorneys from Virginia. This was as of January 28^th. Krasner also said he was sure that “the president is without the power to pardon people who are convicted in state court.”

Mary Moriarity also said “The rule of law depends on accountability”. She added . “When people believe that law enforcement faces no consequences, trust in the justice system erodes.”

Krasner went further by saying “It used to be, you could rely on the federal government to rein in rogue sheriffs who are killing people on the side of the road, but now the federal government are the rogue sheriffs.”

By now, some may be ready to toss tea into Boston Harbor if they believe Krasner’s heated rhetoric.

But where do the Feds get their powers? These enumerated powers “which include the authority to coin money, establish post offices, declare war, and raise and support armies. “ Federalism gets quoted here, and we’ll return to that at the end of this article.

Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro completely disagrees..

In a Fox News Interview, he was quoted as saying “That kind of rhetoric is unacceptable, it is abhorrent, and it is wrong — period, hard stop, end of sentence.”

Lastly, Michael Boldin, is a Tenth Amendment specialist, / is the founder of the Tenth Amendment Center. See what he says in my article and on his website and see if you agree or disagree.

See also DEFIANCE.org | Defy Trump, Together

The Chesco Site for information

By Bob Small

This is part of a continuing series on resources listed on the program for last December 15 Bill of Rights Banquet.

Though many people are aware of ChescoUnited: Home, not everyone may be aware of their programs. F

Chesco United is a network of freedom-loving patriots, working every day to preserve and advance the quality of life for the citizens of Chester County, Pennsylvania, as per its mission statement.

There’s also a section on the Chester County Election Integrity report for previous years.

One way they do this is by presenting their Keystone Town Hall series of Forums, whose slogan is “We focus on facts first”. Keystone describes itself as “ a nonpartisan, independent community that discusses the critical issues of our time and takes action to address the issues affecting ourselves and our families. “

Their next forum is Jan. 27 in Annville. In December, they presented a series celebrating Trumps second term at its Malvern home Desmond Hotel .

Some previous events included “Are Voting Machines Secure, Battle of Eagle Pass, Free Flights for Illegal Aliens?, IS WW3 Knocking at our door?, More Tax on Small Business?, Pennsylvania’s Budget balloons to $51.5 Billion!, Squatter Enterprise, Tough Love: A Necessary “Evil”, and “A Walk in Kensington” featuring four Kensington Community leaders.

Keystone Town Hall presents The Conservative Voice on WWDB 860 am. Currently, the voices are Felice Fein, Chris Glover, Gary Heasley, John Allante McAuuley, Ada Nestor, and Mina Quarles. They can be found on Apple Podcasts, Facebook, and You Tube, among others,

Under the call to action section,they note “Self-governance requires us to know and understand the Constitution, and to stay informed about federal, state, and local laws as they are being written and voted on by our representatives “.

Are Newspapers Yesterday?

By Bob Small

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a Newspaper almost as old as the US (dob 1786) will print its last issue on May 3.

Pittsburgh will become the first city of its size without a daily newspaper. Block Communications cited losses of $350 million.

One backstory is the PPG’s refusal to honor a NLRB (National Labor Relation Board) ruling. According to Andrew Goldstein, President of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, “Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh.”

Concurrently,the Pittsburgh City Paper has also ceased operations.

Industry reaction has been sharp. Neil Brown, President of Poynter opined that “the situation in Pittsburgh has been a tumultuous hot mess for years, and the erratic nature of the ownership family in grappling with its labor issues has been well documented.” And Jeff Jarvis, Director (emeritus), Tow Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism, stated “Political ideology and a lack of strategic foresight and vision got in the way, and now another great city is one paper poorer.”

Tracing the recent history of closings we read that  the U.S. has lost about  40 percent of its local newspapers . Not everyone is online but most of us can travel to our local Wawa for a Delco Times, along with a coffee and pastry of choice.

According to one survey, roughly 12 percent of the public lived in households without internet access in 2023. This limits not only how and where you get your news, but how you can check its reliability.

Other papers that have flown the way of the dodo are The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Tampa Tribune

Co-pilot and other AI sources cited other Pennsylvania papers that have closed in the last five years include Clinton County Record,The Easton Express-Times, the Middletown Press and Journal, the Titusville Herald and The Upper Dauphin Sentinel .

Saving the American Family

By Bob Small

The AFA (American Family Association) was one of the groups listed on last year’s Bill of Rights brochure.

The AFA was founded in 1987 in Tupelo, MS. (Birthplace of Elvis, see below).

This group raises the nettlesome question of what constitutes a family and who gets to define it. Their definition is heterosexual and traditional. For an opposing viewpoint, see Dykes to Watch Out For. Or is the argument merely “equal rights versus special rights”? One way to discern opinions on this is to review the AFA statement of purpose and their six examples.

The Boycott has been a tool for decades.Walker Wildmon, a descendant of the founder, feels it’s part of AFA’s mission to restore America’s morals. AFA says America’s morals have been in steep decline ever since the 1960s. 

However, some boycotts have the opposite effect.” Writer Neil Gaiman  thanked AFA “for its help to get the word out about his 2022  Lucifer series, which exceeded 18 billion streaming minutes on Netflix. “

Walker feels companies should remain “neutral” rather than promoting any viewpoint.

Robert Chmbers, a former AFA VP sued the AFA for “alleged sexual harassment and financial irregularities”.The case was terminated in August 2025 without details being made public.

Large Institutions have problems dealing with controversial topics, especially artistic. Then Temple Student Michael Marcavage tried to counter the effects of a production of Corpus Christie with a production of Final Destiny. All hell broke loose, and you’ll have to read the article for the full impact. I’d like to see them both but only Corpus Christie is available online (Youtube).

This is from 2014, so some of these facts may have changed. 10 Shocking Facts About the American Family Association

This is just one of many other lawsuits, Wojnarowicz v. American Family Association – Artist Right The Artist in question won this one.

We visited the birthplace of Elvis in Tupelo in one of our jaunts down south. We urge everyone to visit at least once.

I would probably feel violated if I knew one of the men changing next to me at the Y had been born female.

Mad About Maduro

By Bob Small

President Trump’s recent Venezuela overthrow has been one of his most controversial actions. The reactions, surprisingly, have not adhered to the Party line.

Among the GOP nay-sayers were Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02), who said that “dictators will try to exploit this to rationalize their selfish objectives,” citing both China and Russia.

Persistent Gadly Rand Paul, junior senator from Kentucky, reminded us that “Best though, not to forget, that our founders limited the executive’s power to go to war without Congressional authorization for a reason . . .”

Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa-1) is a physician and politician who said that “We don’t want to have troops on the ground.”

Other GOP critics include, but are not limited to (outgoing) Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Senators Susan Collins, Cynthia Lummis, Roger Marshall, Eric Schmitt, and Todd Young.

While Rand Paul thought the process was flawed, he added, in justifying the action, “For Socialism to achieve its goals, ultimately and always, requires state-sponsored violence.”

In Pennsylvania, House member Bryan Fitzpatrick (PA-1) said “ the only country that the United States of America should be “running” is the United States of America.”, after first giving his approval of the overthrow of Maduro.

Meanwhile, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla-25^th) said “Venezuelans deserve the promise of democracy and the rule of law, not a state of endless violence and spiraling disorder.” Darren Soto was among other Congressional Democrats supporting the Maduro takedown. Others have, allegedly, supported this action “off the record”.

Pa Senator John Fetterman “Removing Maduro was positive for Venezuela “ and reminded us that L”less than a year ago, President Biden upped the Maduro bounty to $25 million.”

Why Democrats fear speaking out and Republicans don’t is a question beyond my understanding.

The SWP (Socialist Workers Party) remains anti-interventionist, maintaining “They have never forgiven Venezuela for nationalizing the oil industry in the 1970s. “

The SWP is one of a handful of Socialist parties with active chapters in Philadelphia.

See also Pennsylvania Democrats propose resolution ‘opposing unconstitutional military

The Postman No Longer Delivers In Denmark

By Bob Small

PostNord, Denmark’s 400-year-old national postal authority, delivered its final letter, on Dec. 30.

PostNord reported an operating deficit of 428 million Krone ($67,153,200 in US dollars).

The amount of letters has decreaseds by 90 percent since 2000. Since Danish Law mandates that citizens must be able to send and receive letters, a company called DAO is available, though one has to use their stamps.

Germany’s Deutsche Post scrapped its 60-year-old  next-day air mail delivery service  last year and is currently laying off thousands of workers. Poland’s Poczta Polska is similarly slashing thousands of jobs in a bid to reduce losses.

The decrease in physical letters can be traced to the computer. According to PostNord, physical letters have declined from almost 1.5 billion (2000) to only 110 million (2024). Additionally, “Since 2014, all public sector communiques, including those from banks, insurance companies, and pension companies, must by law be sent digitally. “

PostNord has been a joint operation since 2009, when the Danish and Swedish services merged.

It should be noted that around 1,500 jobs are estimated to be lost. Meanwhile, DAO expects growth, from young adults 18 to 34, who are rediscovering physical missives.

Meanwhile in Great Britain, the Royal Mail is ending Saturday deliveries of second-class mail and daily deliveries to be reduced to either two or three times a week. Royal Mail, by the way, is now owned by Czech Billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. The parcel services will continue, for now, but they’re now on a time clock.

“The final letter sent by PostNord is now on display at Denmark’s Enigma Museum, commemorating the historic shift in how the nation communicates. “

In the US, mail has dropped 80 percent since 1997.

If Hamlet had become king, this never would have happened.

Defiance And Concern At Swarthmore Chanukah Celebration –On Sunday, Dec. 21, Swarthmore Chabad had its 2nd Annual Chanukah celebration.

Because of the mass killing in Australia, there was some nervousness but the event went off without any problems, except for the cold.

There may have been some people who did not attend because of the previous violence, though possibly just as many may have attended in defiance of the Australian violence.

See also 6pm – Swat Central – Swarthmore College Calendar

At the same time, we could also choose to be in defiance of the Gaza violence, especially as members of a persecuted religion. This is one place to go: Jewish Voices For Peace.

Rebellion in Swarthmore

By Bob Small

Upon arriving at the Dec. 8 Swarthmore Borough Council Meeting, the public was greeted with a notice from Bellwoar Kelly, LLP: West Chester Criminal Law & Personal entitled “Opposition Proposed Rezoning of Cunningham Field Property”.

Note: Though this was given out at the meeting, it is not on their blog.

Briefly, this eight page legal document listed the opposition of neighbors living on College Avenue, and adjacent, to the expansion of Cunningham Field and the rezoning required.

Traditionally, there’s been an “understood” quid pro quo between the Borough and the College. The Borough needs money and the College plucks money from their “magic money tree”. The College needs rezoning and it just naturally seems to happen.

Rarely has there been an instance where a neighborhood could afford the high-powered legal representation to oppose something.

This is that we have here.

Among the many sections of this six page document is the stipulation that “The Application should be withdrawn and a new application submitted that addresses the use of the fields from June through August”. The college is also requested to list days and times the fields will be used.

This is a far cry from the old “trust us, we’re your friends”.

Perhaps the example of Clothier Field, where the adjacent neighbors have heard and seen the ongoing activities for a while enters into this.

For a comparison of the original plan to the “updated plan”, see Proposed Changes to Cunningham Fields – Mem including “Additionally, we propose to eliminate the current condition of visiting buses queuing along College Ave. by using the South Cunningham Lot as the main entry point for the new park.”

It wouldn’t be uncharitable to read this as “you caught us, so we’ll change.”

Uncharitable but probably correct.

The Philadelphia Inquirer devoted a (printed) six page article Swarthmore College hopes to redevelop Cunningham … to the controversy but could only find room for one paragraph about the residents reaction!

It does list many of the changes.

Susan Cunningham was involved with Swarthmore’s founding in 1864, at a time when women were not welcomed in many colleges and universities Princeton didn’t become co-ed until 1969, after all.

She became Mathematics Chair and both a building and a field bear her name.

To follow the ongoing controversy, read The Swarthmorean which covers this controversy regularly.