2011 May 23 - Headline News

Last night AIPAC delegates heard one of the most important presentations given at a plenary session, although this morning, the major papers seem to not have reported on it. I’m referring to the address by Rep. Eric Cantor, which you can watch here and read here. The House majority leader, a Republican member of Congress from Virginia, received a huge ovation that far exceeded anything received by President Barack Obama, although a large part of AIPAC’s delegates are undoubtedly registered Democrats.

In a heartfelt and moving presentation, Cantor succeeded in exposing the deep flaws in President Obama’s earlier speech - he was careful not to mention his name, although everyone knew to whom he was addressing his remarks.

Here is what he had to say about the issue of Iran’s fundamental threat:

http://pajamasmedia.com/ronradosh/2011/05/23/eric-cantor-gives-aipac-delegates-a-lesson-on-which-political-party-really-supports-israel-and-americas-alliance-with-the-jewish-state/

Some years ago, Stanley Kurtz took a hard look at the reporting of foreign gifts to American universities, at a time when he was concerned that Title VI Sec. 1011f might be gutted by a democratic House. (20 USC 1011-Sec. 1011f requires colleges and universities to disclose foreign donations and contracts valued at $250,000 or more, and the Department of Education annually posts them online on its website.) He offered some sound warnings about not tarring all those gifts or recipients as improper while calling for vigilance about the possibility of undue influence on these institutions by the vast sums of foreign - largely Arab - funding.

On March 25, we revisited the issue, suggesting that universities should adopt a code of conduct that requires professors who are the recipients of such grants, or working under contract with outside donors, to disclose that information in public fora.

In mid-April of this year, the Department of Education completed its update of the report of the foreign gifts to American colleges and universities and published it a few days ago. The report is cumulative dating back to 1995 when Congress required the accumulation and publication of such data.

Our latest search combed the records from 2007 to the latest report, looking at all gifts from the Middle East, Malaysia, and Indonesia (predominantly Muslim countries) which totaled $50,000 or more, and all contracts involving these countries which were in excess of $5 million. Reviewing the record, there have been eleven gifts or contracts which met those criteria from Arab states to American universities from June 2010 to mid-April and none from Indonesia or Malaysia.

[more...]
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/from-the-muslim-world-big-donations-to-american-colleges/

Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a New York City hotel maid, “Don’t you know who I am! Don’t you know who I am?” while pinning her down during the alleged sexual assault, law enforcement sources close to the investigation told FoxNews.com.

That and other details of the maid's complaint to police emerged Monday as police reportedly confirmed that disgraced ex-International Monetary Fund boss Strauss-Kahn's DNA was found on the maid's shirt.

Authorities were able to match a DNA sample taken from Strauss-Kahn with semen on the shirt, law enforcement officials told the Wall Street Journal. Someone briefed on the ongoing investigation confirmed to FoxNews.com that Strauss-Kahn's DNA was found on the maid's uniform.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/23/exclusive-dsk-told-maid-dont-you-know-who-i-am-during-alleged-sex-attack/#ixzz1NEbpvieM

This DAY in History:

May 23, 1934:
Police kill famous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde

On this day in 1934, notorious criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are shot to death by Texas and Louisiana state police while driving a stolen car near Sailes, Louisiana.

Bonnie Parker met the charismatic Clyde Barrow in Texas when she was 19 years old and her husband (she married when she was 16) was serving time in jail for murder. Shortly after they met, Barrow was imprisoned for robbery. Parker visited him every day, and smuggled a gun into prison to help him escape, but he was soon caught in Ohio and sent back to jail. When Barrow was paroled in 1932, he immediately hooked up with Parker, and the couple began a life of crime together.

After they stole a car and committed several robberies, Parker was caught by police and sent to jail for two months. Released in mid-1932, she rejoined Barrow. Over the next two years, the couple teamed with various accomplices to rob a string of banks and stores across five states--Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico and Louisiana. To law enforcement agents, the Barrow Gang--including Barrow's childhood friend, Raymond Hamilton, W.D. Jones, Henry Methvin, Barrow's brother Buck and his wife Blanche, among others--were cold-blooded criminals who didn't hesitate to kill anyone who got in their way, especially police or sheriff's deputies. Among the public, however, Parker and Barrow's reputation as dangerous outlaws was mixed with a romantic view of the couple as "Robin Hood"-like folk heroes.

Their fame was increased by the fact that Bonnie was a woman--an unlikely criminal--and by the fact that the couple posed for playful photographs together, which were later found by police and released to the media. Police almost captured the famous duo twice in the spring of 1933, with surprise raids on their hideouts in Joplin and Platte City, Missouri. Buck Barrow was killed in the second raid, and Blanche was arrested, but Bonnie and Clyde escaped once again. In January 1934, they attacked the Eastham Prison Farm in Texas to help Hamilton break out of jail, shooting several guards with machine guns and killing one.

Texan prison officials hired a retired Texas police officer, Captain Frank Hamer, as a special investigator to track down Parker and Barrow. After a three-month search, Hamer traced the couple to Louisiana, where Henry Methvin's family lived. Before dawn on May 23, Hamer and a group of Louisiana and Texas lawmen hid in the bushes along a country road outside Sailes. When Parker and Barrow appeared, the officers opened fire, killing the couple instantly in a hail of bullets.

All told, the Barrow Gang was believed responsible for the deaths of 13 people, including nine police officers. Parker and Barrow are still seen by many as romantic figures, however, especially after the success of the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/police-kill-famous-outlaws