Category: Bob Small

Chester Native E. W. Jackson Seeks Highest Office

Chester Native E. W. Jackson Seeks Highest Office

By Bob Small

E. W. Jackson, who was born 71 years ago in Chester, Pa., has certainly done a lot and now he’s seeking the Republican nomination for president.

He credits his achievements to his biological father reclaiming him when he was 10 years old. A Marine veteran and a Harvard Law School graduate, he practiced law in Boston for fifteen years, and later became a Strayer University adjunct professor.

Jackson went to Harvard Divinity School and was ordained as a pastor. He hosted “Topic Religion” on the radio station WEEI, then ran Boston’s first gospel radio station. Later he was forced into bankruptcy.

He has said, “given the opportunity to do it all over again, I would gladly give nine years of my life to broadcasting the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Though descended from slaves, Jackson is proud to be an American. He is the co-founder of a group called STAND, which started the Forgotten Children Project. Forgotten Children Project

With his wife Theodora, Jackson co-founded the Annual Chesapeake Martin Luther King Breakfast, which has continued for a quarter of a century.

He has written three books, and his latest one is Sweet Land of Liberty — Reflections of a Patriot Descended From Slaves. ”Sweet Land of Liberty: Reflections of a Patriot Descended .

Of Jackson’s many accomplishments is his 2013 GOP run for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, which he lost to Ralph Northam.

He’s very clear about why he’s a Republican, In obedience, evangelical pastor enters race for GOP …

Of the Democrats, he says, “their attitude is they own black people; they own the victim classes they set up”

In the about section of his website, he adds “We patriots do not pretend America is a perfect country, but we are a noble nation”

In the “issues” section, he lists 10 top issues, which are twenty pages but well worth reading.

Under “Patiotism” (Issue # 10), he promises to declare September “American History month” as opposed to the various “hyphenated-American classes”, which he sees as divisive.

Pastor Jackson is another candidate with some original ideas.  Sadly, these will only exist as long as his candidacy does.

Chester Native E. W. Jackson Seeks Highest Office

Truth in Education Controversial Part of CHD Conference

Truth in Education Controversial Part of CHD Conference

By Bob Small

One of the more controversial groups represented at the  2023 Children’s Health Defense (CHD) Conference was Truth In Education (TIE).

TIE says that Comprehensive Sexuality Education commonly taught in public schools “is an assault on the family and the health and innocence of children.”

Of course, this brings back the old problem of parents, as many are, who are reluctant to have that conversation and doesn’t account for the addition of the internet.

  Another issue they oppose is Critical Race Theory (CRT) 

 “Simply put, instruction in Critical Race Theory as presented in Black Lives Matter curriculum and The 1619 Project pushes American students down the road of hate,” says TIE.

As long as the totality of American History is taught, including slavery,  emancipation, including both US Support for Israel and Operation Paperclip  in the curriculum, there would not be a CRT or the 1619 Project.   One wonders if most students even know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, not a Democrat.  

Under the “what can you do” section, they list many good suggestions, including “attend school board meetings and know what is being taught in your school”.

One wishes there would be a line about running for the school board. 

Most local school boards do not require “professionals.” What we need more of are carpenters, factory workers, waiters and waitresses.  In 2005, Mary Gay Scanlon ran for the Wallingford Swarthmore School Board and lost.

She eventually did win an election.  

And how about we teach students to question authority, especially government authority, such as covid mandates and election results that seem unrealistic?

Teachers rarely let their students challenge the things they teach.

“Critical thinking” lessons is too often teachers playing pretend.

“The Socratic education begins … with the awakening of the mind to the need for criticism,” it is said.   This is another way of saying always question.

Lastly, another critique is Why Truthful, Inclusive Education Benefits All Students

Dr. Kesha Moore of LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is quoted: All children have a right to know the truth, to know who they are, to know who they live with, and what their community is like.

So where do we go from here?

Truth in Education Controversial Part of CHD Conference

Dean Phillips, Our First Jewish President?

Dean Phillips, Our First Jewish President?

By Bob Small

Congressman Dean Phillips (D-MN3) , is seeking to be America’s first Jewish president.

Joe Biden is only the second Catholic president. 

Phillips says he is primarying the incumbent because Democrat voters need an alternative.

“If President Biden is the Democratic nominee, we face an unacceptable risk of Trump being back in the White House,” he wrote on X.

His backstory is fascinating.  He started  as the president of Phillips Distillery, a family business. He was also the co-founder of Penny’s Coffee, a twin cities coffee chain, and was a co-manager of Talanti Gelato, a luxury producer of gelato and sorbet.

Phillips grew up in Minnesota in a Gold Star family; his father died during the Vietnam War. His mother remarried Edward Phillips.

His grandmother was Abigail Van Buren aka “Dear Abby”.

He is currently married to Annalise Glick, with two daughters from his first marriage.

He has a net worth of $65 million, according to Open Secrets.

According to his campaign website  he is the “the only member of Congress who refuses to take any money from PACs, federal lobbyists, or other members of Congress.”

“I live with gratitude for my blessings and was taught that success is not to be measured by how much one collects, rather by how much one shares,” he says.

Unlike many Democratic Candidates , he describes himself as “a responsible gun owner.”

Under Higher Education and Job Training he states “We must treat the underlying problem of college, affordability.”

He also supported the passage of the 2022 Relief for Restaurants and hard-hit small Businesses Act.

“This is the time to meet the moment. This is now and it’s time for a new generation. It’s that simple.”

He also said California Governor Gavin Newson is running a “shadow campaign”

He has been criticized for recruiting defund-the-police activists Alondra Cano into his campaign albeit he has been endorsed by the Minnesota Police and Peace officers Association, Minnesota’s largest Officer organization.

Now, at last, the Democrats have two major candidates.  They can start to think about a debate.

Guess the Vegas odds on that ever happening.

Dean Phillips, Our First Jewish President?

Dimmock, Pa. Was Concern At Georgia Conference

Dimmock, Pa. Was Concern At Georgia Conference

By Bob Small

Reviewing some of the 50-plus materials gathered at the 2023 CHD (Children’s Health Defense) Conference in Savannah, GA. I decided to start with materials from Pennsylvania. 

As a formerly practicing Green, I was familiar with Dimmock Environmental Research Center.

Dimmock is in Susquehanna County and is infamous for fracking gone wrong. 

Dimmock Environmental quotes Section 127 of the Pa. Constitution which says “The People have a right to clean air, pure water.”.

The documentary Gaslands provides one introduction to the problems and can be watched free online.

Gasland (2010) | Watch Free Documentaries Online 

Cabot Oil and Gas, now Coterra, pleaded no contest to 15 criminal charges in June 2020 and agreed to pay millions for new water system in Dimock

“There were failures at every level,” then attorney General Josh Shapiro  said. “The local elected officials where someone would normally go, ignored them. The regulators whose job it is to set the boundaries for industry to operate in, failed.” 

Ray Kemble, a resident of Dimmock, said “The higher-ups of these companies, they should be going to jail.”

Environmental Attorney Rich Raiders, who is also a petroleum engineer, said “industry workers from Texas and Oklahoma came to Pennsylvania without any knowledge of the state’s unique geology and didn’t bother to find out. “

For a full recap of the 2010 settlement see  Dimock, Pennsylvania Residents to Share $4.1 Million, Receive Gas. 

However, former Gov. Wolf decided to again allow fracking in Dimmock last year. See Pennsylvania lifts ban on gas production in polluted village

One reason may be that  “Pennsylvania is the nation’s No. 2 gas-producing state after Texas, and Susquehanna County, where Dimock is located, produces more natural gas than any other county in the state. “

Not everyone agrees with this decision, as the Pennsylvania Green Party informed me, as they are part of the Better Path Coalition.   Better Path Coalition

However, the whole promise of clean energy may not be as economically feasible as promised.

Or it may be;  Go Green Without Going Broke: Affordable Tips for …

The internet has at least five articles on each opinion.  

https://www.gpofpa.org › an_essay_against_fossil_fuel_pipelines 

An essay against fossil fuel pipelines – Green Party of Pennsylvania

Dimmock, Pa. Was Concern At Georgia Conference

Fighting the Medical Industrial Complex

 Fighting the Medical Industrial Complex

By Bob Small

Recently, I read that Children’s Health Defense (CHD) was kicked off Facebook and Instagram. Having been at the Second Annual CHD conference, I wondered who was really spreading medical disinformation, they or the US government, specifically one Anthony Fauci.

Everyone I met and the speakers I heard, and the films seen at the conference in Savannah, GA, Nov 2-5, all spoke of receiving not misinformation but suppressed information. These were regular Americans who felt they had been lied to. Of course, our government never lies. You can ask it!

From that left-wing conspiracy journal The New York Times: The C.D.C. Isn’t Publishing Large Portions of the Covid 

Never Again is Now Global is a documentary film series by Holocaust survivor Vera Sharav.

Another important film is Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe (2016). At the conference I watched the sequel to this film, which was quite alarming, discussing many of the adverse effects that children may have suffered from Vaccinations.

The Defender is the online newsletter published by CHD.

Like any group, the CHD has both detractors and its supporters.

The arm  known as CHD-TV also produces many videos.

CHD has been sending a bus called Vax-Unvax on a tour throughout the country, interviewing people in each location who have suffered vaccine-related injuries. It is still touring. 

Stories of the vaccinated is an article that discusses some of these bus interviews.

Interview 1839 – A Million People Need to Share This … is an audio interview with some doctors affiliated with CHD about issues regarding the WHO (World Health Organization) and its recent conduct regarding vaccination protocols.

Of course, you can find a plethora of media articles that attempt to discredit CHD.

Everyone should study all sides of the vaccination issue and make up their minds.

The “lamestream” media will try and make up your mind for you. Do you remember “weapons of mass destruction” and “the light at the end of the tunnel”? I thought you might.

Thanks to Carol and Don Kennedy who also attended this conference and shared their insights.

Fighting the Medical Industrial Complex

 Fighting the Medical Industrial Complex

Frankie Lozada Wants To Be First Hispanic President

Frankie Lozada Wants To Be First Hispanic President — Frankie Lozada wants to be our next President, the first Hispanic president.  Frankie, a New York Democrat, feels he is qualified to be the “next leader of the best country in the world”. 

He says that “poverty is the largest illness that plagues America”.

Frankie recently joined Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in addressing the Hispanic Chamber gala in Savannah,Ga..

A former firefighter, his resume can be viewed here.

He previously ran for Congrees in New York’s 5th District.

He says he wants Medicare for all and to “encourage competition among pharmaceutical firms” 

He was one of the few Democratic candidates to quote the Bible which came up during a discussion of immigration citing  Matthew 25 31-40;  “I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me”. 

“For a country that was founded on religious freedom, we have strayed away from our values when we deny our own neighbors at the border and beyond,” he said.

He also suggests a “credit forgiveness program.”

Regarding prison reform he said prisons are intended to be rehabilitation centers but have “punishment facilities that embezzle money from our government.”

“The United States has a 68 percent rate of recidivism,”he says.

See also his extensive responses on Ballotpedia’s candidate connection survey.

Now, why should anyone consider any of these lesser-known Democratic Candidates?  After all, Joe Biden is scheduled to run again. 

Well, Biden appears to have various “issues”, and there are not a plethora of well-known candidates seeking the Democrat nomination. 

RFK Jr. running as an independent, after all, and  Politics1.com has demoted Marianne Williamson to the “ other Democrats” list, which the political equivalent of the Reading Phillies.

Shades of Woodrow Wilson

Could it be time for the Democrats to look elsewhere. 

Can they?

Election Day 2023 In Swarthmore Pa

Election Day 2023 In Swarthmore Pa

By Bob Small

So we –me and Paula my wife — spent Tuesday, Nov 7, at our polling place on Rutgers Avenue, in the Cades Building in Swarthmore, Pa.  We were handing out information on behalf of two Republicans running for Borough Council. Did I really say Republicans? To paraphrase Admiral James Stockdale “Who am I and what am I doing here.?”

This started with there being a special election for Swarthmore Borough Council.

One of the candidates, Rob  M. Jordan, had contacted me and I shared my years of expertise, such as it is, from involvement with Green Party Politics.  Surprisingly, he followed my guidance, and both GOP Candidates made it on the ballot. 

This was the first time in decades that there was a contested election for Swarthmore Borough Council!  For some more perspective, see A Republican In Swarthmore.

So we spent the day and night, 8 to 8, asking people to “be part of history, vote in a Swarthmore Borough Council contested election.”

Usually, you could only vote for the Democrat.  Or not. Are elections for the Beijing City Council like this?

At any rate, several Democrats engaged with me during the campaigning. They know us from attending almost every Borough Council Meeting –we even received a citation for this — and considered Green and harmless. 

When one elected official, as part of his harangue, asked me why I would dare be doing this, I mentioned Swarthmore Council members who promised to vote against the Condo but ended up voting for it.

At least 80 percent of the public comment on this issue was against.  

Also mentioned was Council’s inability to prevent PECO doing massive replacement of trees for their new and taller electrical poles..

 Swarthmore has boasted about been a “tree city”.

Cell phone tower trees are not a replacement.

My candidates lost getting around 5 percent of the vote.

We consider it both a “new beginning” and a consciousness-raising”.

On Wednesday, I transitioned my voter registration from Green to Republican.

Election Day 2023 In Swarthmore Pa

Election Day 2023 In Swarthmore Pa

4 Seek 2 Seats For Pennsylvania Superior Court

4 Seek 2 Seats For Pennsylvania Superior Court

By Bob Small

Two seats are up on Pennsylvania Superior Court  and those seeking them are Maria C. Battisa and Harry F. Smail Jr. on the Republican ticket; and Jill Beck and Timika Lane on the Democrat one.

The court was established in 1895 and is one of two statewide intermediate appellate courts. It hears appeals in criminal and most civil cases from county courts of common pleas; and matters involving children and families.

Terms are 10 years and the court is headquartered in Harrisburg.

Maria C. Battista

Maria C. Battista received her Juris Doctorate from Ohio Northern University. She has worked with the Pennsylvania Coalition of Nurse Practitioners and currently works for the Judge group in Wayne, Pa..

 She has been endorsed by the Pennsylvania FOP.

Jill Beck

Jill Beck is a graduate of Duquesne Law School. She has worked at Kids Voice a private nonprofit representing Allegheny County abused, at-risk, and neglected children.  At Blank Rome, she was co-chair of their working group aimed at protecting the right to protest. She worked for a decade as a clerk with Justice Christine Donahue.  She has also focused on representing “low-income criminal defendants.” Shlives in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh with “her husband, two children, and  their rescue dog”.

Timka Lane

Timika Lane has her law degree from the Rutgers University of Law-Camden. She was elected to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas  in 2013 and has also served as a chief legal counsel for the Pennsylvania Senate.  Her philosophy is that “litigants are not just names on a pleading”. 

She sees the greatest threat to the practice of law as  “ keeping up with the changes of technology and its effect on traditional methods of litigation.” 

She also worked for Habitat for Humanity during Hurricane Katrina,.

Judge Harry F. Smail Jr.

Harry F. Smail, Jr. has been a Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court judge since being appointed by Gov. Tom Corbett in 2014. He attained his Duquesne University of Law Degree while working as a full-time Probation/Parole Officer.  He has also worked for the Federal Public Defender’s Office of indigent defendants.

‘I do not legislate from the bench; rather, I apply and enforce the law as intended as the third branch of government providing the checks and balances that make our government functional,” he said.

He is a member of The Federalist Society 

He states his opinions “have a 97 percent affirmation rate.”

He said that his decisions about setting aside ballots without the required dates were affirmed by Commonwealth Court and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

He lives in Westmoreland County with his wife and  two daughters. 

Swarthmore Protest Silences Israeli Speaker

Swarthmore Protest Silences Israeli Speaker

By Bob Small

We went to the Peace and Conflict Studies Speaker Series on Oct. 24, at Lang Performing Arts Center at Swarthmore College. 

There was conflict, though, and it was not peaceful.

The topic was Israeli Security Policy.   The attempted speaker was Dr. Barak Mendelsohn from Haverford  College and the Israeli IDF

However at the beginning, members of various protest groups  left en masse chanting loudly. though not always in sync. Then continued chanting outside of the auditorium.

They did not have identification on their handouts.  It’s not like we did it in the sixties, eighties, or even this century. The chants were incomprehensible but they made speaker in comprehensible too.

We worried about Jewish students in the audience, who might of felt fearful.

We learned some background from the Swarthmore College Phoenix;

The three listed organizing groups for and Oct. 12 event, and we assume, the Oct. 24 event were Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP); The Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) which is the campus section of Democratic Socialists of America; and Swarthmore African-American Student Society (SASS)

 There were three other unlisted groups implied.

Dr Sa’ed Atshan, the chair of Peace and Conflict series responded by e-mail, to my query about the disruption.

“Thank you so much for being present and for this feedback. We’d love to have you with us again in the future,” he wrote.

He was not present during this event. Frankly, we didn’t see any Swarthmore Public Security either albeit we were later told that they were there.

Now, being nothing if not thorough, I emailed Visualizing Palestine, which was named on the sign expressing my concerns. Visualizing Palestine. The conversation led to a contact with Visualizing Impact.

The best way to explain Visualizing Impact is that they provide the signs for Visualizing Palestine and would equally provide signs for a visualizing Israel group.  They seem not to have any agenda except profit.  For one of many critiques of this kind of group, see Pros & Cons of Data Visualization: the Good, Bad, & Ugly 

Lastly, read  Our Protests Should Be More Thoughtful in The Phoenix.

This said everything that I felt.  Including “ But working to silence someone is never an avenue towards justice.”

I  wanted to hear the questions to Dr. Mendelsohnn from the  protesting group.

Swarthmore Protest Silences Israeli Speaker

Swarthmore Protest Silences Israeli Speaker

Winds of change in Swarthmore?

Winds of change in Swarthmore?

By Bob Small

We attended a  “meet and greet”, Oct. 19, for the two GOP Candidates in the Swarthmore Borough Special Election, Nov. 7. 

This election was necessitated by the resignation of two Democratic Borough Council members, Sarah Graden and Francine Halderman.

It’s been many years since the Republican Party has meant anything in Swarthmore. There was an enthusiastic audience, despite the Phillies playing in the NCLS.

The Republicans are Rob M. Jordan and Bill Pearce.  They explained why they were running in a letter published  in the Oct. 20 Swarthmorean.

“Our Council’s financial decisions are causing great concern.  Overspending, a draw down  of reserves, and the Mayor’s ominous warning of a looming budget crisis have left us burdened with a 9 percent tax hike in 2022 and a 10 percent tax hike this year – with an even higher jump possibly to come shortly.”

They also mentioned  “the erosion of civility and accountability in leadership”.

They noted that the GOP is not merely the “party of grievance”. The candidates said they want to “preserve our cherished Tree Canopy from PECO Deception”.

They said they also want to“increase the exceptional quality of  life that defines our community,” and to embrace “intelligent zoning and forward thinking planning.”

They said at the event they feared Swarthmore would turn into Lansdowne if the current board’s agenda was not checked.

Rob Jordan is a Villanova University Economics Graduate and has worked as a senior healthcare executive.  He is a member of the Don Guanella Park Master Plan Advisory Committee and is president of the Board of Directors of Saint Joseph Family Hope emergency housing center.

Bill Pearce is a graduate of Drexel in Chemical Engineering. He also has a masters of education from Rutgers, and an MBA from Tulane.

After a 35 year career in what he describes as “global business development”, he moved to Swarthmore.  At the time of COVID, he joined the Widener University SBDC(Small Business Development Center) where he is a business consultant and international trade specialist. 

He recently joined the Goldman Sachs 10 K Small Business Program at Community College of Philadelphia.

We’ve had two decades of one-party rule in Swarthmore.  As long as there’s only one choice, whether Democrat or Republican, this  feels more like dictatorship than democracy.

Winds of change in Swarthmore?
Bill Pearce and Rob Jordan,