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December 2013

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 14, 2013 3 Comments

Merry Christmas [transliteration: shèng dàn kuài lè] from Nanning, Guangxi Province, China. From Helen: This is in Nanning, Guangxi Province, Wm. Yes, I took it yesterday evening (my time) as I was coming from the local Walmart which is chockfull of Christmas cheer. Everywhere you go, Wm., you...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2013 55 Comments

The years' long Media Matters War on Fox News was intended to destroy Fox News, as expressed by David Brock in 2011: The liberal group Media Matters has quietly transformed itself in preparation for what its founder, David Brock, described in an interview as an all-out...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2013 19 Comments

The big are getting bigger, and better. Michelle Malkin's Twitchy was sold to Salem Communications, which owns Hot Air and Townhall.  Congratulations Michelle for a briliant idea, brilliantly executed. Now, according to Buzzfeed, Salem also will be acquiring Eagle Publishing, which owns Red State and Human Events: Salem Communications, the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2013 10 Comments
We previously have written about the copyright suit by North Jersey Media Group, Inc. (NJMG) against Sarah Palin and SarahPAC based on a Facebook note by Palin commemorating the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001: The Facebook note used an iconic image of three firefighters raising the flag at Ground Zero. Sarah Palin Facebook Page Three Firefighters Image Although the Complaint and Amended Complaint alleged that the photo was used for fundraising, neither of those court filings demonstrated specific fundraising use. Instead, the claim appears to be that anything Palin did for SarahPAC implicitly was fundraising. I expected the case to settle, not because of any inside knowledge, but because the use was not for commercial advantage, and was taken down immediately. There was question as to whether Palin and SarahPAC even received actual notice of a take-down demand. Suit in federal Court was filed just two days after the Facebook entry. Apparently the suit has not settled, because Palin's attorneys filed a Motion to Dismiss in court yesterday. (Full motion and supporting Memorandum embedded at bottom of this post.) In the Motion to Dismiss, Palin and SarahPAC argue:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2013 13 Comments
The murder trial of two Islamic radicals who hacked British soldier Lee Rigby to death on the street continues. We noted how the murderer pictured in so many of the newpaper covers holding a bloody machete argued in his defense that he was a "soldier of Allah" and that he was in a war, Killer of British soldier Lee Rigby: “I am a soldier and this is war” The second murderer decided to offer no defense evidence, as reported by the Daily Mirror, which has a live blog of the proceedings:
The second man accused of hacking Fusilier Lee Rigby to death has refused to give evidence. Michael Adebowale, 22, was due to take the stand to explain the attack on the 25 year-old soldier near Woolwich Barracks in south London. His co-defendant Michael Adebolajo, 28, has already told the court that he tried to decapitate Lee Rigby to protest against British foreign policy. Abbas Lakha, representing Adebowale, told the court: "I call no evidence on behalf of Mr Adebowale." ... The judge sent the jury of eight women and four men away for the weekend and told them the court will contact them by mobile phone when they should return to court. He said there was more legal argument to sort out before closing speeches start but said the case was still due to conclude by Christmas.
Here's video of his capture immediately after the attack:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2013 15 Comments
Lawrence Summers, former President of Harvard University, has commented on the proposed resolution by the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli academic organizations.  The membership voting on the anti-Israel boycott resolution concludes on December 15. For background on the proposed academic boycott and those anti-Israeli "academics" who worked for years on the resolution and then ambushed pro-Israel and/or pro-Academic Freedom members, see my prior posts: Here is the Summers interview with Charlie Rose specifically on the ASA boycott resolution (full interview here, segment starts at 35:00)):
This particular academic boycott is much worse, it is much worse because the idea that of all the countries in the world that might be thought to have human rights abuses, that might be thought to have inappropriate foreign policies, that might be thought to be doing things wrong, the idea that there's only one that is worthy of boycott, and that is Israel, one of the very few countries whose neighbors regularly vow its annihilation, that that would be the one chosen, is I think beyond outrageous as a suggestion.... Charlie, I said some time ago with respect to a similar set of efforts, that I regarded them as being anti-Semitic in their effect if not necessarily in their intent. And I think that's the right thing to say about singling out Israel. If there was an academic boycott against a whole set of countries that stunted their populations in some way, I would oppose that because I think academic boycotts are abhorrent, but the choice of only Israel at a moment when Israel faces this kind of existential threat I think takes how wrong this is to a different level.

Posted by Anne Segal on December 13, 2013 6 Comments

According to the left-leaning Sunlight Foundation, "Thanks in part to outgoing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, gun control groups could match or outspend gun rights forces in 2013 electoral contests, and are heading into 2014 with formidable campaign war chests." It was Bloomberg, via his "Mayors against...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 12, 2013 59 Comments
We reported on the 6-year old boy who was suspended for "sexual harassment" for kissing a girl in class on the hand and cheek. The school has since downgraded the charge, and dropped the "sexual harassment" claim. That always was a ludicrous charge given the age of the students involved, and likely the result of federal guidelines putting funding at risk for districts that do not address sexual harassment. James Taranto has an extensive column about that:
Clearly buffoons are in charge of the school and the district, but what does that have to do with Obama? The answer is that these buffoons are following orders from Washington. In April 2011 Russlynn Ali, then assistant education secretary for civil rights, issued a directive in which she threatened to withhold federal money from any educational institution that failed to take a hard enough line against sexual misconduct to ensure "that all students feel safe in their school." The directive's preamble declared: "The sexual harassment of students, including sexual violence, interferes with students' right to receive an education free from discrimination and, in the case of sexual violence, is a crime." ... "If a school knows or reasonably should know about student-on-student harassment that creates a hostile environment, Title IX [of a 1972 civil rights law] requires the school to take immediate action to eliminate the harassment, prevent its recurrence, and address its effects," Ali wrote. The music teacher and other school officials were faithfully if ridiculously executing that command when they investigated the tip from the kids who tattled.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on December 12, 2013 19 Comments

The House is expected to vote soon on the budget deal. You can watch live on C-SPAN. We'll update this post accordingly. UPDATE:  Budget deal was approved.  Final vote on Ryan/Murray Budget in House: 332 Yes, 94 No (Rs 169 yes - 62 no; Ds 163 yes...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on December 12, 2013 19 Comments

A tweet to a local TV news anchor in Florida from a man who says it was intended as a joke has landed that man in hot water with the law. From the Palm Beach Post: A tweet to a local television news anchor landed a Lake...

Posted by David Gerstman on December 12, 2013 4 Comments
One of President Obama's pitches for re-election was "Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive." Or as the President said, slightly more elaborately, in a speech shortly before his re-election:
Remember, in 2008, we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Today, our businesses have created nearly 5.5 million new jobs. (Applause.) The auto industry is back on top. (Applause.) Home values are on the rise. (Applause.) We’re less dependent on foreign oil than any time in the last 20 years. (Applause.) Because of the service and the sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform, the war in Iraq is over. The war in Afghanistan is winding down. Al Qaeda is on the run, and Osama bin Laden is dead. (Applause.) So we’ve made real progress these past four years.
Yes, Al Qaeda is on the run.

To Yemen:

Yemen which has been in a state of political turmoil since the ouster of its long time dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is facing two insurgencies in the north: one are the Iran backed Houthi separatists and the other are Salafists. Both groups are fighting each other as well as Yemen's central government.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 12, 2013 3 Comments

We have written extensively about the so-called Prawer-Begin Plan to redevelop Bedouin communities in the Negev desert. (added) The Plan never was official Israeli policy. It simply was a bill advancing through the Knesset but never fully approved and never law. The Plan would have included relocating...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 12, 2013 33 Comments
I should have been more all over the budget deal reached between Paul Ryan and What's-Her-Name-From-Way-Over-There. I've been trying to understand both the details and the big picture. One thing I have noticed is that the mainstream media is loving it, REPUBLICAN SCHOOLYARD FIGHT! (Today's ALL CAPS courtesy of Jim Geraghty.) From Rick Klein at ABC News, Boehner’s Big Blast (ALL CAPS added):
It will be remembered for a message: This was the time that REPUBLICAN LEADERS SAID TO THEIR FRIENDS, CUT IT OUT. “This is ridiculous,” House Speaker John Boehner declared of the opposition brought forward by an array of his erstwhile allies – Club for Growth, Heritage Action, the Koch brothers, and -by implication- senators including Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Tom Coburn, and even Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn. The agreement set to pass the House today is significant but ultimately minuscule. It buys two years’ of budget peace, but in a familiar fashion: BY AVOIDING THE TOUGH STUFF (taxes, entitlements…).

Posted by A.F. Branco on December 12, 2013 7 Comments

Note: You may reprint this cartoon provided you link back to this source.  To see more Legal Insurrection Branco cartoons, click here. Branco’s page is Cartoonist A.F.Branco ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 11, 2013 37 Comments

I had a conversation on Twitter today with Professor Claire Potter, the subject of the post Tenured radicals cannot be trusted with our academic freedom. Potter first forcefully and repeatedly opposed the academic boycott of Israeli educational institutions proposed by the American Studies Association because it...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 11, 2013 29 Comments
Just days ago we reported that George Zimmerman’s girlfriend wanted to drop charges and filed a court affidavit denying that any crime was committed. Prosecutors just announced that the State will drop charges.  Zimmerman's ankle monitor was removed and he is a completely free man now. Via AP:
Prosecutors say they will not file domestic violence charges against George Zimmerman after his girlfriend said in a sworn statement she did not want to pursue the case. State Attorney Phil Archer in Seminole County said in a statement Wednesday that Samantha Scheibe's decision not to cooperate and the lack of other corroborating evidence made a successful prosecution unlikely. Zimmerman had faced charges of aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief following a Nov. 18 incident at the central Florida house he shared with Scheibe. She initially told police Zimmerman pointed a shotgun at her face, then recanted in an affidavit filed this week. Zimmerman was acquitted last summer in the shooting death of unarmed, black teenager Trayvon Martin. The case sparked a nationwide debate about race and self-defense laws.
https://twitter.com/JeffWeinerOS/status/410888409184358400
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