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Category: Current Affairs

  • Davis City Council are FOOLS to Declare a Davis Position on Israel-Palestine (this Tuesday Evening)

    The Davis City Council is poised to pass a resolution this Tuesday night (12/12) on Israel-Palestine.

    Last Tuesday a couple of dozen people spoke during general public comment regarding this upcoming resolution. About 95% spoke in favor of a ‘cease fire’ by Israel. The speakers appeared to be organized by Jewish Voices for Peace who had “Not in Our Name” t-shirts, along with several persons of Palestinian lineage. One Jewish man, not from Jewish Voices for Peace, spoke of Hamas as a dangerous organization.

    Most who spoke asked for the resolution by the City of Davis to include a demand a ‘cease fire’. There were several who spoke of the genocide against the Palestinians. This word is a matter of intense debate and emotional weight. Others argue instead that Hamas had ‘genocidal intentions’ on October 7th but lacked the means to carry it out. While word definitions hold no inherent truth, groups of people define words to hold an agreed-upon meaning, and certain words and phrases invoke intense emotional reactions in regard to this conflict.

    I had a clear message for the City Council last week: “Don’t Do It”. As some may know, I stand firm in the belief that cities should only conduct city business and not get involved in national or global issues, no matter how seemingly righteous or important. But the potential repercussions from this resolution goes so far beyond that. This resolution has the potential to damage Davis both within and from without . . . and needlessly. We all remember the long and tortured tale of the Davis Ghandi statue, another dip of the Davis toe into international waters. What could go wrong displaying a depiction of  ‘a man of peace’? What could go wrong with supporting a declaration ‘for peace’?

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  • Mom’s for Liberty Sues Yolo County Library – Let’s Talk About It, Davis! (An Al’s Corner Exclusive) Boogity Boogity

    Yup.  It's happening!   Mom's for Liberty is suing the Davis Library for violating their first amendment rights.

    And what better place to discuss it than on the free Davis bloglet that hasn't banned a bunch of people from its comment section:  Al's Corner!!!

    Welp — Unlike David Greenwald I'm not going to copy most of the article source material and nest that within a few badly-written sentences of my own.  Nope, I'm just gonna give you the link, and you can read it yourself 😐

    Moms for Liberty-Yolo County v. Lopez

    https://adfmedia.org/case/moms-liberty-yolo-county-v-lopez

    Mostly I wanted to scoop the Davis Greenwald on a major breaking local story.   And I don't even get the paltry drippings of a salary to do so.

    But even More Mostly:  let's talk about it, Davis!   This is major shit.

  • Al’s Corner – December 2023 (was some blah blah blah about “Taking Tuesday”)

    SUBJECT:  "Support the Vanguard on #GivingTuesday"  [Monday's Van Guard]

    I have a rule for Taking Tuesday — if someone asks me for money, or even uses the cringe phrase "Giving Tuesday", I never give them any money ever, and furthermore attempt to take money from them.  On Monday, the Van's Guard mentioned giving Tuesday, with open comments.  Did someone not consider that closing comments would be a good idea, given past experience?  Oh, yeah, you got rid of that pesky Alan Miller guy.  Still . . .

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  • I’m Heading Over to the Riley Gaines Shˆt Show

    Go Free Speech!

    Untitled 12

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I love a good shit show!

    I wonder how many cops in riot gear we'll have this time?   (I counted 100 at Charlie Kirk)

    I wonder how many Proud Boys will show up?  (I didn't see any at Charlie Kirk)

    I wonder how many protestors there will be?  (I counted 50 swelling to 100 at Charlie Kirk)

    I wonder how much property damage and confrontations with the police there will be?  (I observed at Charlie Kirk protestors aligned with Cops Off Campus threw eggs at cops, taunted cops with chants against cops, blocks people from entering, insulted attendees as racists and bigots, threw objects such as water bottles at attendees leaving, and as captured on film, smashed in the glass windows on the doors to the RecHall

    Across from the Mondavi Center – Protest begins in the grassy area at 5:30pm, Doors 6:15pm or earlier, Riley Show 7-9pm, After-Crap 9pm.

    Go free speech!   Go non-violet protest!  Protest in any other color!

    Do you also enjoy a good Shit Show?  See you there!

     

  • In Shocking Press Release, Davis College Republicans Oppose Calls of Violence Against People of Jewish Descent

    I found this on the Facebook page of a group calling itself "Davis College Republicans".  This group is stating its opposition to calls of violence against people of Jewish descent and condemns posts by an assistant professor calling for attacks on 'pro-Israel' journalists and their children. 

    Furthermore, this group is doubling-down on its commitment to the principles of free speech and open dialogue, but also believes that there are limits to these principles when the speech includes threats of violence and harm against any group or individual. 

    Most shockingly, this group says that it remains dedicated to upholding the values of civil discourse, open debate, and respectful dialogue, and firmly believes that disagreements should be met with discussion and understanding, not with threats or intimidation.

    Now that we are aware that a group exists on the UC Davis Campus with values such as these, and openly states these values, the question for all of us in Davis is:  what are 'we' going to 'do' about 'it' ?  😐

    If you don't believe me that a group with such values could exist so close to us, on our beloved UC Davis Campus, here is their press release, in their own words:

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    Davis College Republicans
    October 23, 2023
    Contact: James Murray, Communications Director
    daviscollegerepublican@email.com

    Davis College Republicans Oppose Calls of Violence Against People of Jewish Descent

    DAVIS, CA- In the past week, Assistant Professor of American Studies Jemma Decristo posted tweets advocating for attacks against, pro-Israel Journalists, and their children. Davis College Republicans unequivocally denounce and condemn these posts.

    On October 10, Decristo posted a tweet containing disturbing language expressing threats to "Zionist journalists" who "have houses with address, kids in school" and "they should fear us more," ending the post with emojis of a knife, an axe, and blood.

    The Davis College Republicans wish to make it abundantly clear that we unequivocally denounce and condemn these posts. While we hold firm to the principles of free speech and open dialogue, we also believe that there are limits to these principles. Threats of violence and harm against any group or individual are entirely unacceptable and fall far outside the parameters of protected speech.

    We stand in agreement with the official statement released by UC Davis, emphasizing the importance of protected speech within our community. However, it is crucial to stress that the tweets in question do not align with this protection, as they promote violence and fear. In order to maintain a respectful and intellectual discourse within our society, we must collectively reject such violent rhetoric.

    Davis College Republicans remain dedicated to upholding the values of civil discourse, open debate, and respectful dialogue. We firmly believe that disagreements should be met with discussion and understanding, not with threats or intimidation.

    DCR is a local College Republican organization dedicated to growing the conservative movement on the UC Davis campus and in surrounding counties. For more information visit our Facebook and Instagram pages @DavisCollege Republicans.

  • Al’s Whatever Thing (Formerly Al’s Corner) – October 2023

    image from www.sparkysonestop.com

    Not much going on in Davis these days . . . coming up short on starter topics . . . #sigh# . . . anyone?

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  • Anatomy of an Article: That Wake Up Call was a Wrong Number (Al’s Curiousity Corner #4)

    SUBJECT: "Commentary: A Wake Up Call"  (Wednesday's Blavis Blansplard)

    Only DG could get a robo-call about solar panels from a call center in India and think it was a a wake-up call.  I was rummaging through the trash behind Vanguard Headquarters on Thursday evening at 8:17 p.m. and found the recipe for the article.  As a public service I am posting it here:

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  • Al’s Corner – September 2023

    image from www.sparkysonestop.com

    This volume of Al's Corner is dedicated to the celebration of the Davis Vanguard's National Issues Open Discussion Page.  Of course, this page isn't open to me, or several other banned people.  Nor, in practice, is it a discussion.  Let's do some stats and declare a winner:

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  • Wingnut Advocates for Nuclear Mosquito Control

    Screenshot 2023-09-02 071056by David Abramson
     
    Steve, who previously spoke to the City Council advocating that we ban all the leaves from Davis returned this past Tuesday to give public comment in support of the pesticide spraying of the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito Vector District, particularly supporting the aerial spraying over our cities and encouraging them to develop even larger pesticide bombs to eliminate the mosquitos once and for all.
     
    I am personally outraged that Steve and the Sacramento Yolo Mosquito Vector Control District believe that mosquito activity warrants dumping pesticides on our heads several times per weeks.
     
     

  • Vanguard Bias and Censorship Leads Another Longtime Commenter to Quit the Site

    by Ron O
     
    Well, after several years of commenting on the Vanguard it has finally come to this – I quit.
     
    When I first started commenting, the Vanguard allowed a wide variety of comments (and viewpoints) without even requiring that commenters use their own names.  It was a lively environment with a wide variety of viewpoints, no arbitrarily-enforced comment limits, and the ability to post comments without pre-cenShorship – as others have labeled it (in reference to Don Shor).  Though it seems highly likely that David Greenwald also moderates comments, and is ultimately responsible as the operator of the site.
     
    Ironically, the changes that the Vanguard has implemented since those earlier days have not addressed the problems that they claimed to be addressing, whether it's continued personal attacks, doxing, or (perhaps most importantly) – refusing to post comments that the simply don't like.

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