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October 2014

Posted by Amy Miller on October 29, 2014 10 Comments
Proponents of extensive government regulation over research and consumer industries tout their policies as protection against potentially dangerous or harmful behavior; we've previously covered silly regulations preventing consumers from engaging in a free economy, and described how these regulations do little to actually protect anyone from anything. The real problem with these regulations, however, has less to do with the rules themselves, and more to do with the consequences that befall those who break the rules. Groups like Cause of Action help those who fall under the hammer of big government regulation fight back against overcriminalization and in some cases, recoup their losses. They're currently defending marine biologist Nancy Black after an alleged violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA.) Via Cause of Action (emphasis mine):
She was criminally charged with violating a Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulation prohibiting feeding marine mammals in the wild. Every other alleged violation of this regulation has resulted in relatively modest fines or, in a recent case with far more egregious facts, forfeiture of an old boat. Here, however, the government’s original charges could have resulted in up to 27 years in prison, a $700,000 fine and forfeiture of her research vessel. Ms. Black’s defense team was able to resolve the case through a no-jail plea agreement in which Ms. Black pled guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of “feeding” for which she received 3 years of probation, a $12,500 fine and 300 hours of community service.

Posted by David Gerstman on October 29, 2014 11 Comments
Yesterday Prof Jacobson rightly assessed Jeffrey Goldberg's The Crisis in U.S.-Israel Relations Is Officially Here as describing a crisis "in Obama-Israel relations." Although the White House has offered a disavowal of the profane insult made by one of Goldberg's sources, the full substance of his remarks needs to be rebutted. The offending official explained his boorish insult of Netanyahu :
“The good thing about Netanyahu is that he’s scared to launch wars,” the official said, expanding the definition of what a chickenshit Israeli prime minister looks like. “The bad thing about him is that he won’t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states. The only thing he’s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He’s not [Yitzhak] Rabin, he’s not [Ariel] Sharon, he’s certainly no [Menachem] Begin. He’s got no guts.”
This is utterly false. Bret Stephens pointed out (Google link, emphasis mine):
The real problem for the administration is that the Israelis—along with all the other disappointed allies—are learning how little it pays to be on Barack Obama’s good side. Since coming to office in 2009, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed, against his own inclination and over the objections of his political base, to (1) recognize a Palestinian state; (2) enforce an unprecedented 10-month settlement freeze; (3) release scores of Palestinian prisoners held on murder charges; (4) embark on an ill-starred effort to reach a final peace deal with the Palestinians; (5) refrain from taking overt military steps against Iran; and (6) agree to every possible cease-fire during the summer’s war with Hamas. In exchange, Mr. Kerry publicly blamed Israel for the failure of the peace effort, the White House held up the delivery of munitions at the height of the Gaza war, and Mr. Obama is hellbent on striking whatever deal the Iranians can plausibly offer him.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 29, 2014 7 Comments

NARAL probably didn't intend for their latest radio ad to be butt of every Conservative joke, but that's exactly what happened.

The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL), issued a press release today announcing, "a new $450,000 ad campaign attacking Senate candidate Cory Gardner for his position against birth control. The TV, radio and online ads will run between now and Election Day and will be targeted at young voters, especially young men." "Cory Gardner tries to deceive Colorado voters on his opposition to birth control and his belief that politicians have a right to interfere in our personal, private medical decisions," said Karen Middleton, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado. "These ads highlight how Cory Gardner is on the wrong side of Colorado values and voters, especially young voters." Evidently, men are single issue voters who only care about birth control and in particular, condoms. At least that's the prevailing theory of the Democrats these days. The folks over at The Federalist recorded the radio ad for your listening pleasure:
Dude: They're all out. Lady: Did you try the corner market? Dude: Of course. Lady: Grocery store? Dude: Sold out. Lady: Drug store? Dude: Come on. Lady: So everyone's sold out of condoms? How did this happen? Dude: Cory Gardner banned birth control and now it's all on us guys. And you can't find a condom anywhere. And The Pill was just the start. Pell grants my little brother was counting on for college? Cory cut them. Climate change that everyone knows is weirding our weather? Cory flat-out denies it. Sweat Pea, Cory denies science. Lady: Come on. Dude: This guy has no idea what's going on in the real world. [Wayne's World Scene Changing Music] Narrator: Don't let Cory's world become your world. [Yada yada yada...]

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 29, 2014 7 Comments
We reported on the case of convicted Palestinian terrorist Rasmieh Odeh (aka Rasmea Yousef), who is charged with falsely filling out her naturalization application by failing to disclose her conviction in Israel in the late 1960s on terrorism charges in connection with a supermarket bombing. Odeh sought to contest that Israeli conviction as part of the current fraud trial, but the court rejected the request finding that whether or not she was justly convicted in Israel would not be relevant to her duty to disclose the conviction. The Judge completely rejected various means by which Odeh sought to introduce her alleged torture and confession, and ruled that Israeli records of the conviction could be introduced, Devastating pre-trial rulings against Rasmieh Odeh in naturalization prosecution. The result of the court's ruling left Odeh with no viable defense. All the prosecution has to do is introduce the Israeli conviction and then her application which doesn't disclose the conviction. While supporters of Odeh are screaming that this is an injustice, the Judge explained the legal authority behind his decisions in great detail. Odeh could have disclosed the conviction when applying for naturalization with the explanation that it (allegedly) was the result of torture, but instead she made a false statement that she had no conviction. That is the sole legal issue, regardless of how much Odeh's supporters claim the long arm of Zionism is persecuting her. The Court just issued its Order with regard to the Final Pretrial Conference (embedded at bottom of post). The Court (i) denied Odeh's request for a postponement, noting that the case originally was scheduled for trial January 2014, and (ii) denied defendant access to Jury Questionnaires based on a local court Rule. The Court also rejected oral motions at the conference on the very issues the Court previously rejected in writing:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 29, 2014 16 Comments
Last year at this time we noted the Harvard Institute for polling showed a shift in Millennials' allegiance, Harvard Survey: Obama and Obamacare push Millennials support off cliff:
Havard’s Institute of Politics just released a devastating study showing a massive drop in support among Millennials for Obama and Obamacare. Bottom line is that Millennials don’t like Republicans, but for the first time they don’t like Obama and Democrats almost as much. Here is the key finding in the Executive Summary (at pp. 5-6):
Additionally, we found that a majority (52%) of 18- to 29- year olds would choose to recall all members of Congress if it were possible, 45 percent would recall their member of Congress (45% would not) and approximately the same number indicate that they would recall President Obama (47% recall, 46% not recall).
Harvard IOP just released its 2014 Fall Survey, and the results show Millennials abandoning ship:
... slightly more than half (51%) of young Americans who say they will “definitely be voting” in November prefer a Republican-run Congress with 47 percent favoring Democrat control – a significant departure from IOP polling findings before the last midterm elections (Sept. 2010 – 55%: prefer Democrat control; 43%: prefer Republican control). The cohort – 26% of whom report they will “definitely” vote in the midterms – appear up-for-grabs to both political parties and could be a critical swing vote in many races in November.... Overall, President Obama’s job performance among America’s 18-29 year-olds has fallen from 47% (April 2014) to 43 percent (53%: disapprove), the second-lowest rating in the IOP polls since he took office (41%: November 2013). Among 18-29 year-olds saying they will “definitely be voting in November,” the president’s job approval rating is 42 percent, with 56% saying they disapprove....
http://www.iop.harvard.edu/sites/default/files_new/fall%20poll%2014%20-%20exec%20summ%20final.pdf The enthusiasm gap in favor of Republicans also is dramatic:

Posted by New Neo on October 29, 2014 51 Comments
Kaci Hickox is back home in Maine. But she's as defiant as ever:
Kaci Hickox, the nurse who was quarantined at a New Jersey hospital despite exhibiting no Ebola symptoms after arriving from West Africa, won't follow the quarantine imposed by Maine officials, her attorney said tonight. "Going forward she does not intend to abide by the quarantine imposed by Maine officials because she is not a risk to others," her attorney Steven Hyman said. "She is asymptomatic and under all the protocols cannot be deemed a medical risk of being contagious to anyone." Hickox will abide by all the self-monitoring requirements of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state of Maine, Hyman said.
But I wonder how many people in Fort Kent, Maine are going to be eager to attend her "Welcome home, Kaci" party? Now that Christie has washed his hands (metaphorically speaking) of Hickox---which is beginning to look more and more like a savvy decision---what will LePage of Maine do? Treat her with kid gloves, perhaps:
Maine requires that health care workers such as Hickox who return to the state from West Africa will remain under a 21-day home quarantine, with their condition actively monitored, Gov. Paul R. LePage said in a statement. "We will help make sure the health care worker has everything to make this time as comfortable as possible," he said.
The comments to the linked article are uniformly angry. Typical is this: "She makes it REALLY easy to hate her." And that's among the nicer ones. From some of the statements in this article, however, it sounds like Maine may be ready for a legal battle with Hickox:

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 29, 2014 10 Comments
Elizabeth Warren appeared on The View on Tuesday and gave ringing endorsement to Jeanne Shaheen for working so hard for the people of... Vermont. From the Washington Free Beacon:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) gave an impassioned endorsement of senator Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.) on Tuesday’s The View. The only problem was that she forgot which state Shaheen is from. Warren touted Shaheen’s historical significance, but made a crucial slip-up when trying to sell her case to Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O’Donnell (as if they needed convincing): “The only woman in the history of the United States who has been both a governor and a Senator,” Warren said. “Independent, out there working for the people of Vermont.” Unfortunately, Shaheen is running for re-election in New Hampshire.
Here's the moment on video: You can watch the extended version here. You'll notice Warren doesn't correct herself and neither does anyone else. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post is seeing a pattern:

Posted by Amy Miller on October 28, 2014 18 Comments
Democrats have used a lot of gimmicks over the years to gain support and votes for their candidates, but their latest efforts to use sex to sell their decidedly unsexy candidates might just win the award for Most Ridiculous Millennial Outreach Gimmick of 2014. Students at North Carolina State University won a contest with Cosmopolitan magazine to have "party bus" filled with models transport students to and from the polls on Election Day. Yes, really. From the Washington Post:
“On Election Day, a bus decked out with snacks, swag, and models (hi, this is Cosmo) will roll up to North Carolina State University, the winner of Cosmopolitan.com’s first-ever party bus contest,” the magazine said. “The bus will shuttle students back and forth to a nearby polling location so students can vote.” The university was entered into the contest by sophomore Camden Willeford, Cosmo said. “This election is not a light matter here in NC,” he said. “The weight is on the students of North Carolina State University.”

Posted by Amy Miller on October 28, 2014 5 Comments
Last year, U.S. Embassy officials in Russia made headlines after reports surfaced that Embassy worker Ryan Fogle had been publicly arrested and accused of espionage. Now, more U.S. officials are coming forward with reports that Russian operatives are using Cold War-era surveillance tactics to keep an eye on foreign diplomats. In an ABC News exclusive, U.S. officials overseas spoke with reporters about what life is like for a diplomat in one of the most highly-surveilled countries in the world. Stories of slashed tires and hacked e-mails---things that happen during local elections in the United States, if we're honest---have given way to escalating surveillance tactics that remind officials of once-bygone KGB tactics. Via ABC News:
"Security services have traditions of behavior. Certainly, our hosts in Moscow do. They are employing old techniques and patterns of behavior that are familiar," said James Collins, the U.S. ambassador to Russia from 1997 to 2001 and now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ... "Right now, I think we are in a hostile environment in Moscow where the authorities are indeed sending the message that Americans are to be considered with suspicion," Collins said. Galeotti, the expert on Russian security, said the return to Soviet-era tactics are a symptom of power shifts within the Russian government. "It reflects a wider swing back to the good old KGB days, as some of the veterans would think of them -- days in which the Soviet security services were much more sharp elbowed and the intelligence community could operate with fewer constraints," he said.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 28, 2014 53 Comments
Rewind to a few months ago when we reported that McDonald's appeared to be testing touchscreen ordering devices:
McDonald’s employees who picketed for a better living wage (whatever that means) may come to regret that decision. According to a Redditor, a McDonald’s in Illinois replaced their cashiers with machines.  The machines appear to be the cousins of the ones found in grocery stores, big box stores, and CVS that allow customers to complete transactions.
It turns out McDonald's is no longer merely testing the devices but is planning widespread implementation. Tanking profits are forcing fast food chains like McDonald's to reconsider how much their front line employees are worth, particularly when these employees continue to demand more money. According to the Wall Street Journal (emphasis added):
If there’s a silver lining for McDonald’s in Tuesday’s dreadful earnings report, it is that perhaps union activists will begin to understand that the fast-food chain cannot solve the problems of the Obama economy. The world’s largest restaurant company reported a 30% decline in quarterly profits on a 5% drop in revenues. Problems under the golden arches were global—sales were weak in China, Europe and the United States. So even one of the world’s most ubiquitous consumer brands cannot print money at its pleasure. This may be news to liberal pressure groups that have lately been demanding that government order the chain known for cheap food to somehow pay higher wages. The McDonald’s earnings report on Tuesday gave a hint at how the fast-food chain really plans to respond to its wage and profit pressure—automate. As many contributors to these pages have warned, forcing businesses to pay people out of proportion to the profits they generate will provide those businesses with a greater incentive to replace employees with machines.
Enter the machine:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 28, 2014 11 Comments
You don't need polls to tell you that there is a fearful, ornery mood out there. But it is confirmed by the polls, and Democrats are the primary recipients of that anger. We wrote about this a week ago, Election 2014: America “completely out of control” and “women feel unsafe”. The mood does not appear to be getting any better. From CNN:
Nearly 7 in 10 Americans are angry at the direction the country is headed and 53% of Americans disapprove of President Barack Obama's job performance, two troubling signs for Democrats one week before the midterm elections, a new CNN/ORC International Poll shows.... The CNN/ORC poll shows that 30% of Americans are "very angry" and 38% are "somewhat angry" about the way things are going in the country, while 31% expressed "no anger" at all. CNN Polling Director Keating Holland notes the 31% of "very angry" Americans matches the mood of the country in 2010 when Republicans took back control of the House. In next week's election, the emotion of anger could be a motivating factor in driving out GOP voters. While 36% of Republican voters said they are "extremely" or "very enthusiastic," about voting this year, only 26% of Democrats use that language to describe themselves, in the CNN/ORC poll.
From The Washington Post, voters are taking their anger out on Democrats:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on October 28, 2014 23 Comments
I am going to go out on a limb and project that there are going to be historic election results on November 4th that would have been unimaginable until this August, when reports on Ebola coming to this country began filling the news. This has transformed the women that Democrats have historically relied on, "soccer moms", into "health and safety moms". Because I am both a mother and an environmental health and safety professional, other mothers question me on the latest news related to both Ebola and the potentially deadly Enterovirus D-68. Every last one of those women say that we should have had travel bans, mandatory quarantines, and that the administration isn't being completely candid in its reports related to these pathogens. For example, there is news that the New Jersey nurse quarantined after returning from work with Ebola patients in Africa was just released:
A nurse who was quarantined at a hospital in New Jersey after returning from West Africa was released Monday, her attorney said. Kaci Hickox, who told CNN the quarantine was violating her rights, was discharged after testing negative for Ebola. Hickox was put in isolation Friday after returning to New Jersey from a month in Sierra Leone. Her quarantine, part of a days-old policy the governors of New York and New Jersey instituted for all health care workers who've had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa, has been criticized widely by health care experts. On Sunday, she spoke by phone with CNN's Candy Crowley and Elizabeth Cohen. "This is an extreme that is really unacceptable, and I feel like my basic human rights have been violated," Hickox said. She said she was flummoxed as to how New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has no medical training, could describe her as "obviously ill."
This video summarizes the story from CNN:

Posted by Andrew Branca on October 28, 2014 59 Comments
A group purporting to be part of "Anonymous" claims that it has insider information from two independent sources with knowledge of relevant secret internal police communications that Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted in the killing of Michael Brown. It further reports that this non-indictment is to be made public on or before November 10, 2014, and both regional law enforcement and the Missouri National Guard are being prepared for widespread civil unrest.  (A PDF of the post is embedded below, or it you prefer, the Pastebin file is here.)(h/t Gateway Pundit). I confess to no great familiarity with Anonymous, and I certainly share the expectation that there will be no indictment of Officer Wilson (on what evidence?), but I also feel obliged to note that I find the overall tone of the post to be lacking in credibility. For one thing, more than half of the post is spent not discussing the evidence on which the Grand Jury might be basing it's decision--indeed, evidence is not mentioned at all--but rather is devoted to discussion of Wilson personally in the period following the shooting of Mike Brown. Claiming, for example, that he still lives in the area, that he has just closed on a home, that his girlfriend is newly pregnant with their first child, that he has changed his appearance.  None of that could have the slightest relevance in the grand jury's considerations.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 28, 2014 24 Comments
Back in September, Prof. Jacobson asked How long before Bill Maher is banned on campus? It turns out the answer is... about a month. Greg Piper of the College Fix reported yesterday:
UC-Berkeley students try to derail Bill Maher from speaking at graduation Comedian, pundit and HBO host Bill Maher is scheduled to speak at the University of California-Berkeley’s December graduation, and students are already lining up to get him disinvited, citing his controversial remarks on Islam, the Daily Californian reports:
The Change.org petition was authored by ASUC Senator Marium Navid, who is backed by the Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian Coalition, or MEMSA, and Khwaja Ahmed, an active MEMSA member. The petition, which urges students to boycott the decision and asks the campus to stop him from speaking, has already gathered more than 1,400 signatures as of Sunday. … “It’s not an issue of freedom of speech, it’s a matter of campus climate,” Navid said. “The First Amendment gives him the right to speak his mind, but it doesn’t give him the right to speak at such an elevated platform as the commencement. That’s a privilege his racist and bigoted remarks don’t give him.” … “(Jon) Stewart and (Stephen) Colbert are critical of religion, too, but Bill Maher has, on several occasions, said to rise up against religious people and religious institutions and take action,” Ahmed said.
Here's an example of what's gotten Maher into trouble with Berkeley students. (language warning – NSFW) If you watched the video, you may have noticed that Maher mentioned Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
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