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December 2015

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 13, 2015 19 Comments
The UN Climate Change conference is wrapped up yesterday. After two weeks of world leaders opining mindlessly, protesters heckling speakers, and participants enjoying lavish French cuisine, bureaucrats agreed to squander billions of dollars to solve a non-existent problem.
In a landmark move, 195 nations agreed Saturday evening to adopt an historic pact to halt global warming that for the first time asks all countries to reduce or rein in their greenhouse gas emissions. ...In the “Paris agreement,” countries commit to keeping average global temperatures from rising another degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) between now and 2100, a key demand of poor countries ravaged by rising sea levels and other effects of climate change. They are also committed to limiting the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same levels that trees, soil and oceans can absorb naturally, beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100.
Yet, this landmark pact has no mechanism to punish countries that don’t or can’t contribute toward that goal.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 12, 2015 16 Comments
Tibor Rubin passed away a few days ago at age 86. I didn't recognize the name when I saw some articles about his passing. Now I'm glad I've done some research. Tibor Rubin was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President George W. Bush in 2005. That would have been remarkable in itself, since the award is so rarely given. But the award was not for service in Iraq. It was for service in the Korean War.  Stars and Stripes reported at the time:
Just minutes after Tibor Rubin received his medal of honor at a White House ceremony Friday, he announced he still wanted to do more for his country. “I’m working on my second Medal of Honor,” the Korean War veteran said, smiling proudly. “This country has done so much for me. I never figured this was going to happen. I’m just as happy as I can be.” ....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 12, 2015 44 Comments
I noticed this Facebook comment on the page of a local Ithaca liberal Democrat, on a post criticizing Donald Trump:
Donald Trump looks like the warm-up act. Whoever follows him from the Republican party looks reasonable (and sane) by comparison.
The commenter didn't use the term, but she was describing how Trump has moved The Overton Window. The Overton Window has been described as follows:
The Overton window is a political theory that refers to the range (or window) of policies that the public will accept. The idea is that any policy falling outside the Overton window is out of step with public opinion and the current political climate, and formulated to try and shift the Overton window in a different direction, or to expand it to be wider.
Has Trump moved the Overton Window? That's a theory advanced the other day by David French at National Review (h/t Instapundit):

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 12, 2015 16 Comments
Trump Derangement Syndrome is in high gear among the GOP establishment and even more so among those on the left.  In a jaw-dropping story, an ACLU board member took to Facebook to urge people to massacre people who support Trump.  This person has since resigned in disgrace. CBSDenver reports:
A board member for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado has resigned after urging people to kill supporters of presidential candidate Donald Trump. Loring Wirbel’s Facebook post was captured by The Daily Caller – a right-leaning online newspaper. The post states, “The thing is, we have to really reach out to those who might consider voting for Trump and say, ‘This is Goebbels. This is the final solution. If you are voting for him I will have to shoot you before Election Day.’ They’re not going to listen to reason, so when justice is gone, there’s always force…”

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 12, 2015 21 Comments
Conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza visited Amherst College in October and engaged in some voluntary debate with a small audience. One student asked two very long questions which, combined with D'Souza's responses, make up the bulk of the video below. The first question is about American foreign policy in the Middle East and D'Souza dispenses that issue fairly quickly. The second question has to do with social justice and racial privilege.

Posted by Sarah Rumpf on December 12, 2015 15 Comments
Technology can often be both a blessing and a curse, as one driver found out when her smart car's safety features ended up implicating her in a hit-and-run accident.

Smart car + hit-and-run = Police on your doorstep

The combination of GPS navigation and automatic reporting is what spelled trouble for Cathy Bernstein, a 57-year-old resident of Port St. Lucie, Florida. According to report by the Washington Post, a Ford automobile driven by Bernstein was reportedly in an accident and the "911 Assist" feature automatically called emergency dispatchers to report the accident. This safety feature is supposed to help alert first responders when someone may have lost consciousness in an accident, but in Bernstein's case, the system ended up informing the authorities that there had been an accident and -- perhaps the most crucial factor -- providing her exact location. WPBF-ABC noted that the 911 Assist call came right after local police responded to a reported hit-and-run accident in the area that injured a woman named Anna Preston, and reported more details about how Bernstein was caught:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 12, 2015 4 Comments
You may recall that in mid-September we reported on an effort by the left-wing Israeli "human rights" group B’Tselem to game the voting for the Dutch Human Rights Tulip Award. The Tulip Award carried a 100,000 Euro bounty. Despite already having a massive budget, much of which is from European sources, B'Tselem went for the Award despite much needier and less well-endowed nominees for whom that money would have made a big impact. B'Tselem is a darling of the  left because its job, like most foreign-funded NGOs, is to get up every morning to find something wrong with Israel and Israeli society. Those NGOs, who have a microscopic focus on Israel while turning a blind eye to Palestinian society, are a key part of the international propaganda war on Israel. This disproportionate scrutiny on Israel was justified by the Dutch Foreign Minister as appropriate because Israeli should be held to the same standards as European countries. NGO Monitor is a prime source for information on this NGO-led propaganda campaign. B'Tselem launched a campaign to get its supporters to vote in the online poll being run by Human Rights Tulip, from which three of the six final nominees would be selected. Three would be wild cards selected by the nominating committee.

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 12, 2015 2 Comments
According to polling rules set for Republican primary debates, Rand Paul may find himself demoted to the lower tier while Christie comes back to the main stage next Tuesday. Steven Shepard reports at Politico:
Rand Paul could be booted from main debate stage Rand Paul, once considered the main contender for the anti-establishment GOP vote, will likely be pushed off the debate stage next week when CNN announces the lineup for the fifth Republican forum. Chris Christie, however, has clawed back in the polling thanks to a rebound in New Hampshire, virtually ensuring he will be promoted to the main event in Las Vegas on Tuesday, according to POLITICO’s calculations...

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 12, 2015 6 Comments
Orphaned after her parents were killed in an arson attack, eight-yet-old Safyre is hopeful this Christmas. She has one wish this year -- to receive as many Christmas cards as people are willing to send. Inside Edition has the story:

Posted by Anne Segal on December 11, 2015 19 Comments
This past Wednesday night, GOP consultant Frank Luntz discussed the results of his "focus group" with Donald Trump supporters, concluding that their enthusiasm for the candidate is unshakeable. From the Washington Post to National Review and FOX News, much is being made of the focus group participants' unwavering support for Trump even when presented with negative ads and statements from the candidate, including Kasich's ad comparing Trump to Hitler. The wearying theatrics of Frank-Luntz "focus groups" are one of the speed bumps we viewers have to navigate during the election season. I am resigned to the fact that producers think someone still marvels at the "dials" and the Price Is Right aspect to it all. Why we shouldn't pay any attention to this focus group:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 11, 2015 4 Comments
Following the terrorist attacks in Paris last month, Congress is considering legislation designed to strengthen the existing Visa Waiver Program of which France is a particpant and, "help prevent terrorists from entering the United States," said Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Subsequent investigations of the Paris attackers revealed a troubling trend -- homegrown extremism. With countries like France breeding a new generation of terrorist, easy accessibility to the United States is once again under the microscope. But, will the bill (in its current form) actually bolster security or is it a feel-good fix?

The existing Visa Waiver Program

Foreign nationals holding citizenship from any of the 38 participating countries (there are a few other qualifying factors) are able to bypass consular processing in order to request entry to the U.S..

Posted by Andrew Branca on December 11, 2015 35 Comments
Today the defense wrapped up their case in the “Freddie Gray” trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter. The jury has been dismissed for the weekend, and closing statements will be completed on Monday. I would not be surprised if the jurors went into deliberations Monday afternoon, or Tuesday at the latest. In brief, it appears to have been another terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for the State’s prosecutors. For a detailed analysis of the legal issues in the case, see yesterday’s post: Freddie Gray Trial: Defense Witnesses Further Crush State’s Case.  As in our previous posts, the following is based largely on the reporting from the Baltimore Sun. Officer Porter on trial for involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment following the in-custody injury and later death of local community drug dealer Freddie Gray. Gray had suffered an 80% cleavage of his spinal cord while traveling in a police van after being arrested, from which injury he would die some days later.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on December 11, 2015 12 Comments
Notwithstanding a modest consensus that affirmative action is doomed after Wednesday's arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, there are hints the Court might delay a substantive decision, dissatisfying all parties. For background on the case, see Legal Insurrection's preview, here.  The full transcript of Wednesday's oral arguments is here. There were a number of tense and emotional moments both between the Justices and the parties' attorneys and among the Justices themselves.  From the tenor of the questioning, it is likely the University of Texas's ("UT") admissions system will be struck down despite its minimal reliance on race, if the case is decided on its merits.  If so, the result may explicitly or implicitly ban affirmative action on the basis of race in public university admissions. But the Court, including presumptive deciding vote Justice Kennedy, repeatedly returned to procedural issues.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 11, 2015 22 Comments
In stark contrast to French president Francois Hollande's strong response to the Paris terror attacks, Obama gave a half-hearted address to the nation four days after the San Bernardino terror attack . . . and busied himself with gun control. According to the AP, the Obama administration is working on an executive order that would "close the gun show loophole":

President Barack Obama's advisers are finalizing a proposal that would expand background checks on gun sales without congressional approval.

White House adviser Valerie Jarrett says the president has asked his team to complete a proposal and submit it for his review "in short order." She says the recommendations will include measures to expand background checks.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 11, 2015 17 Comments
Investigations are continuing into the terrorist couple, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who slaughtered 14 coworkers in San Bernardino and were planning to kill the first responders with explosives. The quest for clues has led to a local lake:
An FBI dive team was searching a lake Thursday near the site of the terror attack in San Bernardino, California -- a spot where investigators were told the shooters spent time. The FBI would not discuss the specific evidence it was looking for, but said it was seeking "anything that had to do" with the shooting. ....The investigators appear to be combing an area near the shallow edge of the lake. The water is so murky that divers cannot actually see through it, so they are largely feeling their way through.
Investigators had received indications through leads that at some point they came to this park, though they didn't specify exactly what was being sought when reporters queried them.

Posted by David Gerstman on December 11, 2015 22 Comments
If you ask me what the most important article in The New York Times of the past week, it would not be the front page editorial advocating stricter gun control. That editorial was important in terms of the mindset of the Times, but had little real new value. The most significant new article in The New York Times during this past week was Friday's analysis of the nuclear deal with Iran. The article is a devastating indictment of the administration and its zeal to reach a nuclear deal with Iran at all costs. To be sure the reporter, David Sanger, an excellent journalist, presented the administration's positions respectfully. But there's no getting around that however President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry justify their capitulations, they are willing to lift sanctions on Iran without requiring Iran to come clean about its past illicit nuclear research. In the wake of last week's IAEA report about Iran's past nuclear research, the administration is reportedly satisfied that Iran has provided the IAEA with enough information to close the investigation into Iran's past nuclear work and move ahead to the implementation of this summer's nuclear deal. The administration's rationale is that "preventing a nuclear-armed Iran in the future is far more important than trying to force it to admit" its past illicit nuclear research.
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