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February 2015

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 10, 2015 7 Comments
Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Congressman Juan Vargas (D-CA) have just introduced sweeping revisions to anti-boycott legislation long on the books, in order to counter the global and domestic anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Prior legislation countering the Arab League Boycott arguably did not apply to the BDS movement because BDS is not a country-sponsored boycott. I believe that BDS was structured that way to evade such legislation, and Congress appears to be both tightening the language, and expanding its scope. The Times of Israel reports that the bill is linked to pending U.S.-European Union trade negotiations:
The bill, which has been worked on for over six months, does not authorize any sort of federal response to domestic BDS initiatives, but rather would use free trade negotiations to discourage foreign and international institutions from supporting initiatives to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel. The bill’s sponsors have their eyes on the ongoing negotiations to create a free trade agreement between the US and EU – an agreement that proponents say will be the largest free trade deal in history....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 10, 2015 11 Comments
As threats of congressional boycotts by Democrats swirl, and as his political enemies in Israel and the U.S. seek to use the controversy against him, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just issued a statement that he still plans to speak before Congress next month:
10/02/2015 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued the following statement: "First, on behalf of the people of Israel, I wish to send condolences to President Obama, the American people and the family of Kayla Mueller. We stand with you. Israel’s survival is not a partisan issue, not in Israel nor in the United States. This doesn’t mean that from time to time Israeli governments have not had serious disagreements with American administrations over the best way to achieve the security of Israel. Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, declared Israel’s independence in the face of strong opposition from US Secretary of State George Marshall. Likewise, Prime Minister Eshkol’s decisions at the start of the Six Day War, Prime Minister Begin’s decision regarding the nuclear reactor in Iraq, and Prime Minister Sharon’s decisions to press ahead with Operation Defensive Shield; these were all strongly opposed at the time by American administrations.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 10, 2015 11 Comments
While American "feminists" prattle on about "Manterruptions" and other trivial nonsense, lawmakers in East Java (the island that houses Indonesia's capitol, Jakarta) are considering imposing virginity tests on school girls. Jember's City Council wants to institute virginity tests as a prerequisite for high school graduation. Test would be administered only to girls. According to the Jakarta Globe:
“What surprises us the most is they have had sex several times and with different partners,” Habib Isa Mahdi, a lawmaker from the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), told Detik.com on Friday. “Moreover, the Ministry of Social Affairs said that Indonesia is in an emergency situation against pornography — that’s what drives us to make such regulation.” The idea was first debated during a meeting between the city council’s Commission D and the Jember Education Agency on Wednesday. The council is drafting a regulation on “good conduct,” which includes an article installing a virginity test as a requirement for female students’ graduation. The city council argued the regulation was necessary because many secondary and high school students were engaging in pre-marital sexual activities. Isa claimed that based on the data gathered from local hospitals, around 10 percent of Jember’s approximately 1,200 HIV/AIDS patients were students. The Jakarta Globe could not immediately verify Isa’s claims.
"For the children" -- the leftist control-centric mantra that's now gone global.

Posted by Amy Miller on February 10, 2015 7 Comments
The United States is closing its embassy in Yemen amid the disintegration of the Yemeni government and deteriorating security conditions caused by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. From the AP:
The officials said diplomats were being evacuated from the country on Tuesday and the embassy will suspend operations until conditions improve. Yemen has been in crisis for months with Iran-linked Shiite Houthi rebels besieging the capital and then taking control. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the closure publicly on the record. Marines providing the security at the embassy would also likely leave, officials said, but American forces conducting counterterrorism missions in other parts of the country would not be affected. Maj. Brad Avots, a Pentagon spokesman, would only say that the Defense Department is always assessing security conditions on the ground and the military has evacuation assets available if they are requested by the State Department.
Yesterday, UN-organized peace talks between Yemen's various political factions broke down after reported threats from Houthi rebels. The rebels had previously insisted on imposing their own methods to maintain order, and formed a "presidential council" to rule; the other factions revolted against the idea, but agreed to come back to the talks earlier this week:
The latest round of talks began on Monday after the UN warned it would take unspecified further steps against the rebels if they refused to return to the negotiating table. However, they quickly descended into arguments between party representatives and one of the Houthis' delegates, Mehdi al-Meshaat. According to the New York Times, Mr Meshaat was quoted by a participant as warning the parties: "If you don't behave, we will take appropriate measures against you." The main Sunni Islamist party Islah, whose supporters have fought battles with the rebels, and the smaller Nasserite Organisation promptly withdrew, complaining of "threats". Nasserite leader Abdullah al-Noman claimed the Houthis intended to "impose the choices of the group by force".

Posted by Amy Miller on February 10, 2015 11 Comments
Last week, we reported on news out of Syria that 26 year-old humanitarian aid worker and ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller was killed during a Jordanian air strike. The State Department refused to confirm the message published by ISIS, and experts were quick to point out discrepancies in the group's claim. Today, however, Kayla's family issued a statement to the media confirming the death of their daughter. They didn't reveal how specifically they knew and were convinced of Kayla's death, but a representative of the family told the press that they received additional communication from ISIS. More from NBC News:
"We are heartbroken to share that we've received confirmation that Kayla Jean Mueller, has lost her life," Mueller's parents, Carl and Marsha, and brother Eric, said in a statement. "Kayla was a compassionate and devoted humanitarian. She dedicated the whole of her young life to helping those in need of freedom, justice, and peace." President Barack Obama expressed his "deepest condolences" to Mueller's relatives. "No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla's captivity and death," he said in a statement calling ISIS a "hateful and abhorrent terrorist group." Secretary of State John Kerry said Mueller "represented everything good about the human spirit," and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said "the world is united in condemning" ISIS' "murder and imprisonment of innocents." "As we join Kayla's family and loved ones in their grief, we also celebrate her selfless dedication to helping others," he said in a statement. "Her compassionate spirit will never be forgotten."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 10, 2015 46 Comments
George Bush did not "lie us into war," no matter how many times the media and Democrats claim it was so. But Barack Obama did lie himself into office, when he falsely claimed to oppose gay marriage on religious grounds during the 2008 campaign: In fact, we now know as a fact what we always suspected, that Obama's 2008 position was purely political, so as not to alienate the religious black community, whose enthusiasm and turnout was critical to Obama's campaign. What used to be just a "right-wing" tag line about Obama not being honest about his faith, now is proven by Obama's key confidant and political advisor, David Axelrod as reported in Time, Axelrod: Obama Misled Nation When He Opposed Gay Marriage In 2008 (emphasis added):

Posted by Mike LaChance on February 10, 2015 41 Comments
Due to regulations imposed by Obamacare, some businesses are cutting the work hours of their employees. This was a known, predicted consequence of the Affordable Care Act. Staples is just the latest newsworthy example. Remember, businesses can only try to survive under the given set of rules---but some employees are having a hard time keeping that in mind when they see their pay stubs. Ashley Lutz of Business Insider:
Staples threatens to fire employees who work more than 25 hours a week Part-time Staples workers are furious that they could be fired for working more than 25 hours a week. The company implemented the policy to avoid paying benefits under the Affordable Care Act, reports Sapna Maheshwari at Buzzfeed. The healthcare law mandates that workers with more than 30 hours a week receive healthcare. If Staples doesn't offer benefits, it could be fined $3,000 in penalties per person. Buzzfeed spoke with several Staples workers who revealed their hours have been drastically cut over the past year. Many reported working as few as 20 hours. The workers started a petition on Change.org asking the company not to "cut part-time hours because of Obamacare."
It's terrible that these folks are losing work hours, but it's not unexpected, and it's not the fault of Staples---that's just as far as an employee wants to look when it's suddenly gotten harder to pay the bills and feed their families. You think it's bad now, wait until people start dealing with their tax returns.

Posted by Amy Miller on February 10, 2015 12 Comments
Berg-dog. Club Gitmo. Feeling so...ISIS right now. Every year, the city of Tampa, Florida gathers at the Gasparilla Pirate Festival to soak in a little sun, a little more music, and one too many of those gigantic frozen margaritas. Not exactly the best venue to discuss pressing issues of foreign policy, but still---you'd expect the attendees to have at least a basic awareness of the things that threaten their country at any given moment. Or would you? Maybe not after today. Fox News' Jesse Watters traveled down to Gasparilla to see just how many attendees he could coax into revealing a rudimentary grasp on current events. The results will not shock you. From Fox News Insider:
“Do you think [the administration] should keep Gitmo open or close it?”
“Open, so we can have fun.” “Club Gitmo?” “You know it!”
No. Surely not.
“Do you know what ISIS is?”
“Being alone.”
This is real. This is a thing that is real that has happened and if I have to deal with it, then so do you. Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on February 09, 2015 22 Comments
The White House is nearly ready to send to Congress a piece of legislation that would formally authorize the use of military force against ISIS. This new legislation would expand on provisions provided in the 2002 authorization for military action in Iraq, which only covers portions of the current mission. Via CBS News:
The State Department, Defense Department, National Security Council and the White House Office of Legal Counsel have all participated in the drafting of the document, which outlines the military goals and strategy against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and would seek formal, legal authorization for the mission and other counter-terrorism operations related to the effort. This would be the first move by Congress and the White House to give legal backing to the military effort to degrade and destroy ISIS and represent the first update to US military strategy in a post-9/11 world since the authorization to use military force in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.
This major move comes at a time when many analysts are seeing a change in how coalition forces are responding to the threat ISIS poses both in the Middle East, and across the world. Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill believes that the "tide is turning" against ISIS.

Posted by New Neo on February 09, 2015 12 Comments
Obama is getting ready to shoot down the Keystone pipeline bill in the first of what promises to be a blizzard of vetoes of legislation the current Congress is planning to pass. Never mind that the Keystone bill passed with bipartisan support in the Senate 62-36 (nine Democrats joined) and in the House 266-153 (28 Democrats joined; although there will have to be another vote in the House within the next few days to align the two bills, it is expected to go similarly). From The Hill:
Still, if Obama vetoes too many bills, especially ones with Democratic support, Republicans could have success portraying him as partisan and unwilling to negotiate. “One veto doesn’t make him obstructionist,” said James Thurber, a professor of government at American University. “Now maybe after 3, 4, 5 vetoes, then they could start painting him that way.”
Portraying him. Painting him. Not, of course, that he is that way. Here's a statistic: since January, Obama has issued eight veto threats. That's "the most ever for the start of a new Congress." Obama thinks this projects strength, and to his supporters it most definitely does. When the Republicans---even when in the majority in the House, and even with Democratic support---tried to block something Obama was attempting, their actions were painted as unreasonable and stubborn obstructionism. Now, when Obama plans to block what a Republican-majority Congress has done, even when those Republicans have a significant amount of support from moderate Democrats, it's a show of strength and resolve.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 09, 2015 6 Comments
This bitter battle takes place in the South Pacific, with Malaysia in one corner, and Indonesia set and ready across the ring. According to the Jakarta Globe, the Indonesian government threatened a Malaysian cleaning company with legal action over an ad. The ad, which appears to promote a Roomba-like vacuum machine, pitches the vacuum by enticing would-be customers to "Fire Their Indonesian Maid." The Jakarata Globe reports:
Armanatha Nasir, spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said on Thursday that the ministry had requested the company make a public apology, or face possible legal action. “We’ve sent a letter telling the company to make an apology in three different Malaysian newspapers of at least half a page,” Armanatha said. “If they don’t do it in the next seven days, we’ll definitely take the next legal step.”
Then the embassies got involved. The Straits Times explains:

Posted by Amy Miller on February 09, 2015 12 Comments
The Republican primary race is neck-and-neck; Jeb Bush is still on top, but other top picks for the nomination are closing in. A new Bloomberg Politics poll out of New Hampshire shows that, although Jeb Bush is leading (for now,) those numbers don't necessarily translate to confidence and overall popularity with primary voters.
Even if Bush should overcome those doubts to prevail in what is shaping up as one of the most wide-open Republican primaries in the state's recent history, the poll suggests that he is deeply unpopular with likely general-election voters. It's a worrisome sign for his campaign in a battleground state that both parties have targeted during the past several presidential elections.
Of course, Hillary is on top in her race:
The poll also shows former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dominating her potential Democratic rivals. Clinton, who won the state’s presidential primary in 2008, is the first choice of 56 percent of Democratic primary voters. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who has said she isn't running, is second at 15 percent, while Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont both have 8 percent.
This poll is the first run since Mitt Romney dropped out of the race for good. Even with Bush on top, some analysts are wondering why he hasn't pulled further ahead of the other candidates based on his superior name recognition. Should Bush be worried? Fox News contributor and former Reagan campaign manager Ed Rollins says "no," and explains why, at this point, it's still a "wait and see" game for top tier candidates:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 09, 2015 43 Comments
Houston area Black Panther leader, Quanell X, is changing his tune after training with the Missouri City Police Department. Quanell X is Houston's own personal Al Sharpton. Wherever an incident can be construed as race-related, Quanell X is there with his activists, rambling to local news crews about the violence inherent in the system. Or at least he was before what appears to be a sincerely eye-opening experience. Recently, Quanell agreed to train with the Missouri City Police Department, located in a suburb of Houston. The experience dramatically altered Quanell's perception. "Wow. Damn," he said, after unloading countless paintball rounds at a mock suspect who was refusing to stand down in a routine traffic stop scenario. Quanell went through four scenarios where he was required to, "shoot, hold fire, or use his taser," KHOU News reports. "Shoot him in the leg? I was very close because he kept coming," an obviously distressed Quanell said.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 09, 2015 6 Comments
I am happy to see that King Abdullah's robust response to ISIS terror is not being debated for its proportionality; and while I hope that these new metrics are eventually applied to Israel, a look at Egypt indicates that it may soon follow Jordan's lead in the "proportionate" reaction to the savagery of Islamic extremists. As the United Nations engages in more "brokered talks" among Yemen's political factions, including the Iranian-backed Houthis who recently took over power in in that country, Egyptian officials have expressed their concerns. The head of the Egypt's Suez Canal authority, obviously not comfortable with relying on the United Nations, says that the country will respond militarily if the head of thewaterway is blocked by Yemeni militants.
The head of Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said Wednesday his country would send troops to Yemen in case extremist groups attempt to block Bab Al-Mandab strait that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported. Lieutenant General Mohab Mamish said that Egypt "will not accept" closure of the waterway which "directly affects the Suez Canal and national security." Mamish said events in Yemen are under constant review and that the military is ready to intervene if the strait is blocked. Most ships that pass through Bab Al-Mandab are either going to or coming from Egypt's Suez Canal, one of the country's main sources of income and foreign currency flow.
A close-up image of the area shows that Egypt has reasons to be concerned: the nation takes in $5 billion annually from the canal.

Posted by Casey Breznick on February 09, 2015 22 Comments
Due to the alarming outbreak of measles across the country, so-called “anti-vaxxers” are coming under extreme criticism. As well they should be. I won’t delve into the particulars of the measles outbreak--Legal Insurrection’s Leslie Eastman offers more analysis and some solutions. I’m more interested in the narrative surrounding “VaccineGate.” Of course, the mainstream media has been fervently trying to frame the anti-vaccination crowd as a collection of screw-balled libertarian Tea Partiers. It’s a slam-dunk narrative, so they think, because conservatives and libertarians are naturally opposed to big government and, for the most part, are skeptical of government actions, programs, and mandates in general. As the mainstream media tries to make out anti-vaxxers as Ted Kaczynski disciples who so-happen to vote Republican, it is gradually coming to light that the anti-vaccination crowd is actually quite bipartisan, and that the whole movement was started by liberal-progressives in southern California. Comedian, actress, and Playboy model Jenny McCarthy is perhaps the most notable anti-vaxxer. In Ithaca, New York, a bastion of liberalism which some call “ten square miles surrounded by reality,” vaccination rates at elementary schools are well below state averages. Some local schools, both public and private, have measles vaccination rates below 90%, whereas the state average is 95%.

Posted by Amy Miller on February 09, 2015 13 Comments
Since February 2014, the Russian military has been taking steps to secure portions of eastern Ukraine; forces successfully annexed the Crimea, and Russian separatists in Ukraine have continued their attacks. Nations including the United States have advocated for providing Ukrainians with the means to defend themselves---that means tanks, weapons, and training---but Russian officials claim that such a move would constitute a threat to national security. The situation is quickly devolving, but world leaders are still holding out a sliver of hope that a compromise can be reached. At the Munich Security Conference this past weekend, Vice President Joe Biden met with European leaders to address continuing Russian aggression in Ukraine. Via CNN:
Biden met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko earlier Saturday to discuss the situation in Ukraine. "We must judge ... any future agreement with Russia by the actions Russia takes on the ground, not by the paper they sign," Biden said. "Given Russia's recent history, we need to judge it by its deeds, not its words. Don't tell us, show us, President Putin. Too many times President Putin has promised peace and delivered tanks, troops, and weapons." While he's echoing much of what White House press secretary Josh Earnest has been saying during recent daily press briefings, neither Biden nor President Barack Obama has weighed in directly this week since tensions escalated. He would not discuss the possibility of U.S. ground troops in the region, but re-asserted the Ukrainian people's right to defend themselves. "We will continue providing Ukraine with security assistance, not to encourage war, but to allow Ukraine to defend itself," he said. "Let me be clear: We do not believe that there is a military solution in Ukraine. Let me be equally clear: We do not believe Russia has the right to do what they're doing."
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