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December 2015

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 09, 2015 10 Comments
It's safe to say foreign policy and national security aren't Bernie Sanders' strong points. He doesn't want to talk about ISIS and terrorism, he wants to tell you how millionaires and billionaires are stealing money from the poor. As liberal Washington Post writer Chris Cillizza notes, that's a big problem:
Bernie Sanders doesn’t want to take questions about ISIS. That’s not good. Right on cue, a Sanders spokeswoman on Tuesday morning informed reporters that they shouldn't even ask questions about the Islamic State. We are re-upping this post from Monday, as it is now even more apropos.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on December 09, 2015 21 Comments
Emerging reports indicate Syed Farook made a series of questionable banking transactions in the weeks before he and his wife killed fourteen people in their terrorist attack in San Bernardino. These transactions raise yet again the question of whether financial institutions could play a larger part in interdicting terrorists.  The transactions may have been subject to reporting requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"), but the reports would have come too late. Under the BSA and supporting regulations financial institutions must file Suspicious Activity Reports ("SAR") within 30 days of a variety of large, unusual or structured transactions.  A structured transaction or series of transactions is designed to evade reporting requirements or additional scrutiny.  The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Counsel's ("FFIEC") Examination Manual notes that "[s]uspicious activity reporting forms the cornerstone of the BSA reporting system." According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), the BSA:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 09, 2015 6 Comments
You don't have to like Republican Presidential hopeful Ben Carson to like his campaign's new web ad. "These Hands" began airing Tuesday and unlike contentious political ads, it utilizes positive messaging.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 08, 2015 2 Comments
This would be funny, if it didn't represent a sad reality. We have focused repeatedly not just on incitement to violence in Palestinian society by the Palestinian Authority leadership, but particularly on the indoctrination of children. Here is another example, involving both the PA and children. Israeli customs just seized 4000 dolls being imported to areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The dolls idealized rock throwing and had a rock in hand, as reported in The Times of Israel:
Some 4,000 plush toys of rock-throwing men dressed in Palestinian garb were intercepted Tuesday at the Haifa port by Israeli authorities, who said the dolls were headed for the Palestinian Authority and were part of an incitement campaign. Each toy has its face hidden by a keffiyah, with one arm raised and clutching a tiny toy rock. They hold banners in Palestinian colors proclaiming “Jerusalem is ours” and “Jerusalem we are coming.” Customs officials found the dolls in a container that arrived from the United Arab Emirates and destined for the Palestinian Authority. According to the accompanying paperwork, the shipment was supposed to be clothing, rugs, and plastic products.
Rock throwing is deadly in itself.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on December 08, 2015 10 Comments
The United States Supreme Court will revisit affirmative action in public university admissions on Wednesday, when Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin returns to the high court for the second time. As the Supreme Court previously explained, the University of Texas ("UT") has a two-part admissions system.  First, under Texas’s statutory "Top Ten Percent Law," any student graduating from a Texas high school in the top 10% of their class is automatically admitted. Second, students not admitted pursuant to the Top Ten Percent Law are given numerical Personal Achievement scores by combining academic achievement and a “Personal Achievement Index” (“PAI”).  The PAI:
measures a student’s leadership and work experience, awards, extra-curricular activities, community service, and other special circumstances that give insight into a student’s back-ground. These included growing up in a single-parent home, speaking a language other than English at home, significant family responsibilities assumed by the applicant, and the general socioeconomic condition of the student’s family.
From 1997 to 2003, the PAI had no racial consideration.  UT admissions were entirely race neutral.

Posted by David Gerstman on December 08, 2015 12 Comments
In the early days of blogging there was a blog called Oh, that liberal media, which regularly exposed instances of liberal media bias. In fact in the early days of blogging that was one of the top achievements of the blogosphere, to point out the easy political bias most supposedly objective news sources engaged in. I used to think that the blogosphere would serve as a necessary corrective to the media, but that hasn't happened. In recent years, I don't think that the criticism has had the same effect, even if in some ways the media cocoon has worsened. I think that conservative media critics have convinced all those who can be convinced of the bias and now either people accept the bias because they agree with it or look to alternative news sources because they don't trust the MSM. And the MSM started paying less attention to the criticism. Most of those who were persuadable have been persuaded. (As far as those who deny that such bias exist ... it's hard to deny when prominent journalists have boasted of the bias.) But I still believe that it's possible for the media to jump the shark. At some point the media will show that they are so hopelessly out of touch with most voters, that even non-ideological types would cease to believe them.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 08, 2015 10 Comments
The State Department's recent legacy of international embarrassment remains firmly intact. Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) has a formidable online presence which they use to spread propaganda, recruit new jihadis, and collect information. Called "Think Again Turn Away" (yeah, we have no clue how they came up with that either) the State Department launched its own overt-education initiative to combat ISIS on social media as part of an Integrated Strategic Counterterrorism Communications Initiative created by Executive Order in 2011. Coming from the same people who think an influx of jobs would deter jihadis from strapping bombs to their chests, the results are about what you'd expect. According to the Washington Post, "review by outside experts cast new doubt on the U.S. government’s ability to serve as a credible voice against the terrorist group’s propaganda, current and former U.S. officials said." You mean to tell me The ABCs of Daesh is not an effective way to combat radical Islamic terrorism? GTFOH.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 08, 2015 84 Comments
Monday, Presidential hopeful Donald Trump called for, "complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." Republican leadership spoke out against Trump's remarks Tuesday. "I do not comment on what's going on in the presidential election; I will take an exception today," said Speaker Paul Ryan. "This is not conservatism. What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for and more importantly, it's not what this country stands for."

Posted by Andrew Branca on December 08, 2015 46 Comments
UPDATE (2:17pm): The prosecution has rested its case, Judge Williams denied a defense request to dismiss the charges, and the court has recessed for the day. The defense will begin presenting its case to the jury tomorrow.  None of today's testimony for the State was particularly notable. The legal arguments remain clear, and the State's case about weak as their refusal to release evidence to the public had suggested. As reported by the Baltimore Sun the State's position is:
Chief Deputy State's Attorney Michael Schatzow said Porter showed a "callous indifference for life" when he deviated from department policies. Defense attorneys have said other police officers routinely break such policies, but Schatzow said those officers should not be considered "reasonable."
I've noted frequently in covering the Freddie Gray maelstrom that I'd yet to see any evidence that any of the officers had committed an actual act that could be the basis for the most serious of the charges brought agains them--including, in the case of van driver Officer Goodson, second-degree murder.  And now it seems we know why:  the State hasn't any. Also as reported by the Baltimore Sun, the defense position is:
Gary Proctor, one of Porter's defense attorneys, said prosecutors had not proved that Porter's failure to seatbelt or seek immediate medical attention for Gray rose to a "gross, wanton, deliberate" act necessary to prove involuntary manslaughter.
I look forward to the defense's presentation of its case beginning tomorrow.

Posted by Miriam Elman on December 08, 2015 8 Comments
A controversy brewing in St. Louis progressive activist circles sheds light on how the anti-Israel movement’s effort to demonize Israel by hijacking the Black Lives Matter agenda is intensifying. At issue is an offensive poster and cartoon featuring the image of a prominent St. Louis Rabbi Susan Talve. Both were circulated last week on social media by HandsUp United, a “social justice organization” based in Ferguson, Missouri. The anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace is supporting the effort to demonize Rabbi Talve, and the vile anti-Israel cartoonist Carlos Latuff has created a cartoon meme that is spreading. This is all part of an effort to turn Black Lives Matters into an anti-Israel movement, an increasing focus of anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists.

Targeting St. Louis Rabbi Susan Talve

Rabbi Susan Talve, who leads St. Louis’ Central Reform Congregation, is a well-known and nationally respected figure in St. Louis’ interfaith community and in the Ferguson protest movement. Last year, she was named one of America’s most inspiring rabbis by the Forward. For years she’s taken a leading progressive position on racial issues in the United States. Since the Michael Brown fatal shooting in Ferguson, just outside St. Louis, in August 2014, she’s also voiced opposition to racial profiling and policing policies at numerous public events.

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 08, 2015 6 Comments
Carly Fiorina was on The O'Reilly Factor last night and was asked by Bill O'Reilly how she would deal with the ISIS problem as president. Fiorina began by reacting to President Obama's lackluster Sunday night speech and pointed out the insanity of pushing climate change and gun control as a response to terrorism. She then got into specifics such as the sharing of intelligence. She pointed out that the Patriot Act is 14 years old which equals generations in terms of technology. She suggested retaking ground from ISIS, increasing our bombing activity, working with allies in the region and more. Bill also asked her about Donald Trump's suggestion of a temporary ban on Muslim immigration, with which she strongly disagrees. Watch the whole segment below:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 08, 2015 19 Comments
Another day, more chilling information about the San Bernardino terrorists.  The terror duo reportedly left bombs behind that were intended to detonate when first-responders arrived at the scene. Fox News reports:
Bombs left at a Southern California social services facility by the gun-wielding radical Muslim couple who killed 14 and wounded 21 were set to go off when first responders arrived, Fox News learned on Monday, in a vicious strategy often seen in the Middle East. None of the pipe bombs left at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino by Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik in Wednesday's attack detonated, but the technique has investigators very concerned, sources told Fox News. "This was meant to kill more, but also scare other future responders to attacks," a source with inside knowledge of the investigation said. "This was meant to get into the minds of medics and officers who are arriving first on scene."
Watch the report:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 08, 2015 10 Comments
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Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 07, 2015 13 Comments
"This neighborhood should not be part of war zone. This neighborhood should not be a battle ground, so why is it?" asked Sen. Ben Sasse standing outside of the site where the San Bernardino terrorist attacks took place. "Because we're an open society. We're a free society and our enemies hate freedom." Sen. Sasse explained.

Posted by Sarah Rumpf on December 07, 2015 159 Comments
Presidential candidate Donald Trump sucked up all the media oxygen yet again on Monday when his campaign released a statement calling for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." Many on Twitter assumed at first that the statement was a hoax, but it was tweeted by Trump senior adviser Dan Scavino, and then posted on Trump's website and retweeted by Trump himself, who called it "a very important policy statement on the extraordinary influx of hatred & danger coming into our country." Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski confirmed to the Associated Press that the intention was for the ban to apply to "everybody," including both immigrants and tourists. The Hill asked Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks if this would include Muslim-American citizens who were currently abroad, Hicks replied by email: "Mr. Trump says 'everyone.'" https://twitter.com/JonahNRO/status/673987103232012289 Trump also retweeted several tweets from David Brody with the Christian Broadcasting Network that described his proposed Muslim ban as an act of "bravery" that would likely "give him a boost with evangelicals."

Posted by Jonathan Levin on December 07, 2015 11 Comments
After enduring decades of condemnation for “illegal" settlements in the West Bank, Israel is preparing a formal legal defense for general distribution. The forthcoming report is being produced under the auspices of Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely and is expected to build upon a 2012 report by the Levy Commission that concluded West Bank settlements were consistent with international law. The Levy Report was named for its lead author, former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Edmund Levy, and formally titled "The Commission To Examine The Status Of Building In Judea And Samaria." The Israeli government only released its conclusions and recommendations in English, but third parties have translated the legal arguments. Perhaps due to its limited release, the Levy Report garnered little attention outside of Israel. The Levy Report argues that Israeli settlement of the West Bank is legal for two independent reasons. First, the Levy Report concludes that the legal argument against settlements, Article 49 of the Geneva Convention, is inapplicable. Article 49 prohibits deportation or transfer of the occupier's own population into the occupied territory. The Levy Report quotes noted legal scholar Eugene V. Rostow*:

Posted by Andrew Branca on December 07, 2015 44 Comments
Cross-examination of Medical Examiner Carol Allan, continuing from last Friday, was the highlight of this fourth day of the trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter over the in-custody death of Freddie Gray. The officer is charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. Prosecutors based these charges on their claim that Porter was negligent for not seat belting Gray into the police van following his arrest, a task the Baltimore Police Department did not officially require for all of it's 160 year history until a few days before Gray's injury. They also claim that Porter was negligent because of his alleged failure to seek medical care for Gray when the arrestee asked for help. The defense argues that mere police regulations are not properly the foundation for felony criminal charges, and that Porter in fact showed concern for Gray's welfare but did not perceive Gray to be seriously injured until later in the van's travels to the police station, at which time Porter did request medical assistance.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 07, 2015 55 Comments
Following the San Bernardino terrorist attack that resulted in the murder of fourteen, Lynch made clear her concern was not for the victims nor the rise in violent terrorism attacks. Her concern? Hate speech.
When we talk about the First amendment we [must] make it clear that actions predicated on violent talk are not American. They are not who we are, they are not what we do, and they will be prosecuted.
Rightly, those Constitutionally concerned flipped a lid. Monday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch expanded on comments she made last week.
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