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October 2016

Posted by Leslie Eastman on October 23, 2016 40 Comments
The members of the California National Guard are awesome. These soldiers are on the frontlines of the huge wildfires this state frequently experiences. They have been called upon to deal with the riots and civil unrest that sometimes plague our cities. They have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan during our "War on Terror". Now, the Pentagon is asking the men and women to repay enlistment bonuses they received.
Short of troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago, the California National Guard enticed thousands of soldiers with bonuses of $15,000 or more to reenlist and go to war. Now the Pentagon is demanding the money back.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 23, 2016 61 Comments
It's been a while since I've written about the Senate, but as the prof did an analysis of the GOP keeping the House, I am revisiting the question of whether or not the GOP can keep the Senate.  As a recap:  The Democrats need to win five Senate seats to win back the majority, only four if Hillary is elected and Kaine, as VP, holds the tie-breaking vote.   Republicans, by contrast, are defending 24 Senate seats to the Democrats' 10. As the professor noted, "In the case of the Senate, it will pave the way for Hillary to push through disastrous judicial nominations. And yes, expect Majority Leader Schumer to raise the nuclear option to the Supreme Court level if Democrats control the Senate by even a single (tie-breaking) vote." This holds true even if Trump wins the White House and the GOP loses the Senate.  Without the Senate, Trump won't be able to get the type of justice/s confirmed that he promised.  They simply won't make it through a Democrat-controlled Senate.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 23, 2016 7 Comments
Author and commentator Christopher Hitchens passed away in 2011, but his work is still highly revered. Hitchens was smart and walked a fine line between the right and left. He began his career describing himself as a socialist but became very conservative on some issues over time. In terms of academia, he pretty much predicted where we are now all the way back in 1994. In the clip below, he's making an appearance on the Charlie Rose show and he warns of a time when students will think of the university as their mother and father. He also warns against the culture of victimhood. Again, he was way ahead of his time. This is a short but very enlightening clip.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 23, 2016 5 Comments
Anyone who enjoyed stand-up comedy in the 80's and 90's will certainly remember Kevin Meaney whose routine usually revolved around his parents protesting his jokes by saying "that's not right" and warning him "we'll lose the house." Meaney passed away Saturday at the age of 60. At the time of this writing, the cause of death hasn't been determined. The Hollywood Reporter has the story:
Kevin Meaney, Veteran Stand-Up Comic, Dies at 60 Kevin Meaney, a veteran stand-up comedian and actor, has died. He was 60. Meaney's agent confirmed that he was found in his home in Forestburgh, N.Y., and that an autopsy is pending.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 22, 2016 21 Comments
While the polls mostly look grim for Trump as of today, two weeks can be a lifetime in politics. At some point do down-ballot Republicans all but concede that Hillary will win, and argue that a vote for the Republican House or Senate candidate is needed as a check and balance on future President Hillary? That's what Republican are accused of already doing in the Missouri Senate race, which by many accounts may determine who controls the Senate. The current polling shows Republican Roy Blunt very slightly ahead, but it's now considered a toss-up. The AP reports, GOP Senate Ad Acknowledges Clinton Likely to Win:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 22, 2016 44 Comments
The internet moves from object of hate, to object of hate. Perhaps a prime example was Justine Sacco, who after tweeting an ambiguous, clearly satirical message about AIDS that some people interpreted as racist, found herself the subject of an internet hunt -- all while she was on an airplane to Africa. By the time she landed, she had been fired from her job, and people tracked her airplane and confronted her at the airport when she landed. The writer for Gawker who started the whole thing apologized years later. Certainly there have been many other such examples, but the Sacco incident stands out. I don't know if it will reach Sacco proportions, but there is an internet "outrage" gaining momentum against a guy in Barrington, RI, who wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper complaining about older women who wear yoga pants:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 22, 2016 49 Comments
I thought Trump did a good job in the third and final presidential debate, but as the prof noted, Trump just can't seem to help himself from saying that one thing that will dominate headlines for the next however long and effectively obscuring the important, valid, and meaningful things he has to say. A quick internet search of Trump's first 100 days speech pulls articles entitled "Trump threatens to sue accusers while laying out plan for first 100 days" from NBC News and from CNN, "Trump makes 'closing argument,' again attacks accusers. I'll spare you the scathing headlines from those outside the "unbiased, straight news" outlets  reported by purported "journalists" at NBC and CNN.  Yes, Trump did attack his accusers and threaten to sue them during his first 100 days in office, so it's not all that remarkable that it's making headlines . . . and driving the narrative against Trump.  Yet another completely avoidable self-inflicted wound. But let's move on.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 22, 2016 5 Comments
On Friday, New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law NY State Senate bill S6340, making it illegal in the state of New York to advertise "for the use of dwelling units in a class A multiple dwelling."  This law is aimed at Airbnb, a San Francisco-based homestay network that coordinates the rental of private properties by the homeowners. Not unlike Uber, a transportation network, Airbnb eliminates the often union-driven marketplace for a given service; with Uber it's taxis and with Airbnb, it's hotels.  And as with Uber, unions are not happy with the explosion of Airbnb and lobbied in New York state for the passage of this law that establishes a minimum of at least 30 days for peer-to-peer rental of private property and provides for fines up to $7,500 for those in violation. The Hill reports:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo banned short-term rentals on Airbnb after he signed a bill on Friday making it illegal to list unoccupied apartments on the service for stays under 30 stays.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 22, 2016 16 Comments
A Legal Insurrection reader who I know to be involved in internet security issues sent me the following explanation of yesterday's attacks that slowed down many major websites. That person asked to keep his name private because of his work position. Here is his explanation sent to clients of the firm he works at: Our entire senior technical team and I have read through the intelligence on the DDOS attack today against DYN. It resulted in massive internet outages on the east coast and eventually the west coast. This was actually several separate escalating attacks.
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