July 12, 2017 – Mike Fonda describes his experience fighting with the YPG in Syria and the current efforts to raise awareness in the United States to gain support for the fight against ISIS.
Robert Alleva and Michael Fonda, 2 internationalists from the US who came to Rojava to join the fight against ISIS, were arrested by KDP officials and put in the same prison cell with ISIS gangs.
Sunday, August 2, 2015 – News Desk – ANF
Robert Alleva and Michael Fonda, 2 internationalists from the US who came to Rojava to join the fight against ISIS, were arrested and put in the same prison cell with ISIS gangs by KDP officials. KDP officials arrested Robert Alleva, Michael Fonda, Alexandre de Ponte and Russian YPG fighter Semyonov as they were returning to their home countries.
Photo: Militia fighters Ashley Dyball (front right) and American Mike Fonda (front centre). Gold Coast man Reece Harding (back, second from left) was killed in June. (Supplied: Mike Fonda)
Michael Fonda stated that he is from Centreville, Virginia, and his name in Rojava was Demhat Şirvan. Fonda fought in the US army in Iraq and wanted to join YPG in order to fight against ISIS and liberate Kurdish and Arab towns from ISIS occupation. After being released as a result of the diplomatic efforts of the American Embassy in Erbil, Fonda reported that KDP officials held them in the same prison cell with ISIS gangs for 23 days despite the fact that they had told the officials about their membership in YPG. Fonda ended his statements by criticizing the Turkish government’s collaboration with ISIS, and called upon KDP officials to treat better those who were fighting against ISIS.
Robert Alleva is another YPG fighter from the US, and stayed in Rojava for three months to fight against ISIS. Alleva stated that after their arrests, KDP officials told them that they would soon be sent home but the 4 foreign YPG fighters were kept in the same cell with ISIS gangs in a prison in Erbil for 23 days. Alleva said that KDP wanted to set up an example with their imprisonment, and called upon KDP to not treat foreign YPG fighters the way they had been treated. Alleva noted that YPG was composed of Kurds, Arabs, and Christians, and thanked the people of Rojava for their hospitality and struggle for humanity in the face of ISIS barbarism.
Story of Masonic Apron – Found at the Battle of Gettysburg on Culp’s Hill – Harrisburg Lodge Thirty-Six Years Later Discovers Owner and Returns Apron
Gettysburg Compiler, Wednesday, May 5, 1909
Battle of Little Round Top – the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left flank on July 2, 1863, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Lost by one Federal soldier in the sudden shifting of an army corps at Chancellorsville, Va.: found two months later by another at Gettysburg, Pa.: presented to Perseverance Lodge of Masons, Harrisburg, and finally after a lapse of almost forty-six years returned to the original owner. That is the history of a Masonic apron belonging to E. L. Fonda, of Averill Park, New York, which has recently come to light.
The history of the apron unfolds a leaf from the past and brings back again stirring memories of the Civil War. The story of the apron, as far as Perseverance Lodge is concerned, opened at Gettysburg, on July 3, 1863. It was found lying among the rocks on Culp’s Hill, at the conclusion of the second day’s struggle oy John Kunkle of Harrisburg. Mr. Kunkle presented it to Perseverance Lodge on October 12, 1863.
For some years the apron was hung on the lodge room walls, but finally it was taken down and stored with many other relics in a drawer in a cabinet. In March, 1908, Dr. John M. J. Raunick, at that time worshipful master of Perseverance Lodge, in rummaging through the cabinet, came across the old apron. He examined it closely and discovered on the back the stenciled name, E. L. Fonda, and also the name of the Massachusetts manufacturer of such emblems.
Hoping to find the original owner, if he yet lived, Dr. Raunick wrote to Boston, asking if a man of that name lived there or whether any record of the sale of the apron had ever been kept. He received a negative answer. This occurred in March of last year. His next move was to write to the adjutant general of the war department. There also nothing could be learned.
Two letters were next written to the secretary of the war department. In answer to the second he received word that a man answering to that name of E. L. Fonda had enlisted on August 11, 1862, in the 14th New York Infantry, which was a part of the Army of the Potomac.
Then Dr. Raunick wrote to the adjutant general of New York and the Grand Lodge of Masons in that State. They could impart no further information. A third letter to the war department brought an answer referring him to the pension department.
It was at this point that the doctor received the most encouragement. From the pension department he learned that E. L. Fonda lived in Waterbleit, New York. Four letters Dr. Raunick dispatched to Waterbleit. Not one was returned and no answer was received. The fifth letter the doctor made very strong and insisted upon a reply.
A short time afterwards, namely, March 17, 1909, a letter was received from Averill Park, N. Y. It was written by Edward L. Fonda himself. He said that he had received a package of several letters, written by Dr. Raunick and was now answering the first. He also stated that he intended looking at once into the cause of delay.
The Craftsman believes that a Masonic Apron is the most essential physical representation of a man’s commitment to the Craft.
“I moved from Waterbleit to Aver hill Park a short time ago,” wrote Mr. Fonda. “I was born in West Troy, now Waterbleit, Albany county, New York, on March 11, 1831. I bought the apron in 1853, after I had joined the Pawtucket Lodge, Lowell, Massachusetts, and remember distinctly wearing it for the first time at Bunker Hill, when the statue was unveiled there to General Joseph Warren.
“I enlisted in the 14th New York Infantry in 1862 and we were assigned to the Army of the Potomac. The apron I had with me, stored in my knapsack. On May 1 our regiment was transferred across the Rappahannock river to join the rest of the army. This was the opening day of battle of Chancellorsville, and in the hurry of forming I lost my knapsack. I did not miss it until in the midst of the fighting, hours later, and I never expected to recover it.
“I took part in the battle of Gettysburg, where you say it was found. Our regiment was stationed at Little Round Top. My full name is Edward Learned Fonda, and I now reside on a farm a few miles from Averill Park.”
Through this letter and several sub sequent ones Dr. Raunick had no trouble in identifying the owner and finally the matter was placed before Perseverance Lodge. It voted unanimously to present the apron to the original owner. The apron was sent to Mr. Fonda on April 15, 1909, and two days later a letter of fervent thanks was received from the happy veteran.
“The apron,” he wrote, “is nearly as good as new and I must thank Perseverance Lodge for taking such excel lent care of it. My wife had pressed it and fixed the frayed ends and we have it hanging in the parlor.
In his letter Mr. Fonda enclosed a photograph of himself and this was hung with a photograph of the apron in Perseverance Lodge room, nicely framed.
It is the hope of Dr. Raunick that even after the lapse of years he can find somebody who can bridge the gap between May 1, 1863 and July 3, 1863. Was it a Confederate or a Federal soldier who dropped the apron at Gettysburg? Will the answer ever be given?
The apron is of white satin with an area of about 24 inches by 18 inches. It is embroidered with blue and upon it is painted a square and compass, the symbol of Masonry.
An MBA candidate created an organization to increase literacy in Uganda.
by Kimberly Burton, 20 September 2016
St. Mugaga Secondary School library is one of the nine libraries the Literate Earth Project has opened throughout rural districts of Uganda since 2013, with two more openings slated for this year.
During a service trip Jeff Fonda took to Uganda, he worked in a school with no textbooks. Instead, every student was given a hand-written version of a textbook for their classes. “It’s a crazy process, they actually hand copied each book over and over again,” Fonda said. “It was great they had the text, but they had no formalized pictures or graphs.”
Fonda, a first-year master’s of business administration student, was inspired by his experiences in Uganda to found the nonprofit called The Literate Earth Project, an organization that helps Ugandan children get access to books and increase literacy. Other than the hand-copied textbooks, students had no books to read for pleasure. Fonda soon discovered the school’s headmaster had approximately 15 books in his office and decided to show them to the students. “With these books and atlas, they were seeing pictures of new people, trees, buildings, things they had never seen before,” Fonda said.
Information about sports in particular were of interest to them, Fonda added. “They were asking things like, ‘What is this sport?’ They had never seen tennis before. ‘What is this racket for?’” he said. This is when his revelation occurred, he said. “You could see the wheels were going in their heads,” Fonda said. “That experience of seeing the real need for knowledge and how it spurred these other thoughts and conversations was amazing.”
Ugandan Vice President Edward Ssekandi and LEP Founder Jeff Fonda
The Literate Earth Project was officially formed in 2011. In 2013, Fonda and his organization opened their first library in Uganda. In that same year, they also received a LEAP grant from BetterWorldBooks. LEAP grants are given to organizations with “game-changing” ideas to “help advance a compelling literacy project,” according to its website. “We watched [the first library] for a year and half to see it’s successes and failures,” he said.
After Fonda and other individuals from the organization saw the library was working, they began to open more libraries throughout the country in 2014. In the past two and a half years, The Literate Earth Project has opened nine libraries in areas like the Rakai, Masaka and Wakiso districts of Uganda. The organization will also open two more this year. “As long as we are able to keep up funding, we’re actually on pace to open four to six libraries per year and we would like to continue at that pace,” said Alex Moore, project’s chief operating officer.
The need for books in Uganda is evident through the requests for the organization’s libraries. The Literate Earth Project has a list of about 50 schools that have been okayed to receive libraries, but hundreds have made requests. To ensure success, the organization has a vetting process where staff visit the school to assess its needs. They make sure the teachers and community are going to get involved, and that the books will actually be used by the students.
In the past, to raise awareness for the program, Fonda has met with Uganda’s Vice President, H. E. Edward Ssekandi. Ssekandi has implemented policy to aid in increasing literacy in Uganda. Fonda said he hopes to expand the program to the many schools on their waitlist, but the organization doesn’t have money for the books themselves. By applying for grants, starting college clubs and hosting events like the Let’s Get Literate 5K Run, they have started to raise more money for their efforts. “We’re constantly looking for new partnerships so that we can kind of work together with other organizations that might provide solar energy or computers to schools,” Moore said.
Fonda, who is interested in eventually starting a club on Main Campus connected to his nonprofit, hopes to continue focusing on Uganda due to the serious demand for libraries. “I’d like to say we can change the whole world, but right now our goal is to change Uganda,” Fonda said. “The demand is insatiable [there].”
Kimberly Burton can be reached at kimberly.burton@temple.edu.
By Nancy Dillon, New York Daily News, Thursday, April 7, 2016
An in-flight riot over a noisy boom box is causing more turbulence for Spirit Airlines. (March 9, 2016) Three passengers involved in the cabin clash last month sued the carrier Thursday claiming it fueled the flap with copious amounts of alcohol and failed to protect them from injury. The tail-end of the incident was filmed by other passengers, and wild video of women slapping and grabbing each other over seatbacks quickly went viral.
Gloria Allred announced a lawsuit against Spirit Airlines beside her clients, from left, Lisa Zampella, Tykisha Diadato and Danielle Fonda-Thomas, who were all involved in a fight on board the carrier’s plane.
“I am upset that the Spirit Airlines failed to protect us, disregarded our safety, and instead continued to serve the women in front of us alcoholic beverages even though they were clearly intoxicated and behaving aggressively,” passenger and plaintiff Tykisha Diodato said in a statement Thursday.
Diodato and her friends — fellow plaintiffs Lisa Zampella and Danielle Fonda-Thomas — say they were on the March 9 flight from Baltimore to Los Angeles for a long-awaited vacation. They claim three other female passengers seated near them got drunk during the flight, blared music from a blue tooth speaker for hours, sang loudly and stood and danced in the cabin, their lawyer Gloria Allred said at a press conference in New York.
When asked hours into the flight to lower the volume of the music, the rowdy passengers did so for a few minutes but then cranked the volume even higher, Allred said. Shortly before landing, a female flight attendant who allegedly danced to the women’s music earlier in the flight returned and provided them with additional rounds of alcoholic beverages despite their aggressive behavior, the plaintiffs claim.
The tail-end of the incident was filmed by other passengers, and wild video of women slapping and grabbing each other over seatbacks quickly went viral.
Upon touching down at LAX, the drunk women allegedly began shouting offensive and racist remarks and made the first move in the violent scuffle, Allred said. “F–k white people!” they yelled, according to Allred. “What are these f—ing people going to do?” Allred said her clients were “offended by these racial remarks.”
“Ms. Fonda-Thomas politely informed them that their language was inappropriate in front of children. Unprovoked, one of the intoxicated female passengers stood up, turned around, and began to batter and assault Ms. Fonda-Thomas,” Allred said. A second intoxicated passenger also began to attack Fonda-Thomas — and that’s when Diodato and Zampella rushed to her defense and also suffered physical injuries, Allred said. “It was not a mutual combat situation as some have described in prior reports,” Allred said.
“Because there is a lawsuit we are not at liberty to describe the specifics of their injuries,” Allred told the Daily News when asked to elaborate on her client’s alleged physical trauma. She said her clients are seeking compensatory and punitive damages at trial. A Spirit spokesman denied the charges in a statement to The News.
Allred said her clients are seeking compensatory and punitive damages at from the airline at trial.
“The flight had just landed at LAX and the flight attendants were in their jump seats as required by law. When the fight began, our flight attendants immediately moved to break it up. It is not our practice to over-serve alcohol to anyone,” Spirit spokesman Paul Berry said Thursday.
Fonda-Thomas called the experience a “nightmare.” “On that flight we became victims to a very bad situation and negligence of the airline. It was the first time in my life that I felt unsafe on public transportation,” she said.
“The flight attendants failed to take control of the situation before it got to the point where we were physically attacked, humiliated, and escorted off the plane as if we were criminals.” Zampella said the flight crew should have stopped serving the women and ensured a peaceful flight for all passengers. “I fear for anyone who travels with this airline that obviously doesn’t take their passengers’ safety seriously,” she said in a statement.
From the George S. Bolster Collection of the Saratoga Springs History Museum
Posted: 02/07/16, 1:00 AM EST
From the George S. Bolster Collection of the Saratoga Springs History Museum
MONDAY, FEB. 7, 1916
Saratoga Lake is being overfished in the winter to the detriment of summer fishing and should have a longer closed season to preserve the fish stock, according to a New York angler quoted in today’s Saratogian.
In a letter to the editor of the New York Press, Murray R. Fonda recommended that fishing in Saratoga Lake be governed by the same schedule that applies to Lake George.
In Lake George, the fishing season for pike, pickerel and wall-eyes runs from June 16 through December 31, leaving the lake closed to ice fishers most of the winter. By comparison, Saratoga Lake is open for fishing for all but two months each year, its season running from May 1 to March 1.
“I can state from personal experience that I have found the fishing poorer at Saratoga Lake every successive summer for the past four years until last summer the game was hardly worth the candle,” Fonda wrote, “and until the fish are better protected there and the fishing consequently improves I would not advise my brother anglers to seriously consider Saratoga Lake.”
Saratoga Lake Postcard 1914
The Saratoga Lake Association has already considered conservation measures, but despite his admiration for Mayor Walter P. Butler, who is also the Association president, Fonda feels that the changes proposed last December 27 were inadequate to the situation.
“The only remedy favorably considered by the [conservation] commission seems to be the elimination of night fishing through the ice and the limiting of each person to five tip-ups [i.e. bait lines] instead of the fifteen now allowed.”
To put this recommendation in perspective, Thomas C. Luther, who lives at the south end of the lake, told the commission that there were “about two thousand” tip-ups just in the vicinity of his place.
“Though this protection is good as far as it goes, it is entirely inadequate even as to winter fishing,” Fonda wrote.
Since Saratoga Lake is just a fraction of the size of Lake George – “You could in fact put it into one of the big bays of Lake George” – Fonda believes that Saratoga Lake has more need of a shorter fishing season. “Other things being equal, the smaller the lake the more protection is needed, for the less chance is there for the fish to escape destruction.”
IN THE RED. The organizers of the Russian Symphony Orchestra concerts at the Convention Hall last Saturday will end up losing approximately $500, according to manager Alfred Hallam. Poor sales for the afternoon concert, attended by 902 people compared to the 1,373 who attended the evening show, are blamed for the shortfall.
Robert Alleva and Michael Fonda, 2 internationalists from the US who came to Rojava to join the fight against ISIS, were arrested by KDP officials and put in the same prison cell with ISIS gangs.
