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January 2017

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 15, 2017 34 Comments
We have covered the escalating threats from leaders of and functionaries in the Palestinian Authority that there will be violence if the Donald Trump fulfills his promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Israel's capital, Jerusalem. This is a two-faced move, Palestinian leadership’s two-faced Jerusalem Embassy game:
We reported the other day on the escalating campaign by Palestinian leaders threatening and predicting violence if the U.S. moves our embassy to Jerusalem, Palestinian leadership: There will be violence if U.S. moves Embassy to Jerusalem.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 15, 2017 7 Comments
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, President-elect Donald Trump said he may lift the Russian sanctions and has no commitment to the One China policy:
“If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody’s doing some really great things?” he said.
Trump also said the One China policy remains up in the air "until he saw what he considered progress from Beijing in its currency and trade practices." Yeah, needless to say, those comments did not please Beijing.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 15, 2017 24 Comments
I have chronicled the saga of the California bullet train and its construction since 2012. A report obtained by The Los Angeles Times confirms my concerns about the project's fiscal drain on our state. The review shows that this monstrosity will cost $3.6 billion more than original budget projection.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 15, 2017 27 Comments
The governments in Florida, Washington, and Alabama have begun to consider passing legislation that will allow it to overrule "certain state court decisions." However, some have concerns over this due to separation of powers. Florida GOP Rep. Julio Gonzalez filed two bills that gives the Florida government or the U.S. Congress the ability "to override or nullify court decisions." House Joint Resolution 121 will add an amendment that allows lawmakers to take that step "by a two-thirds vote of each chamber for up to five years after a decision at any level - county, circuit, appeal or supreme court." His House Memorial 125 aims at "Congress to propose a similar amendment, but to the U.S. Constitution, granting Congress the power to nullify federal court decisions." The Washington bill will also allow its legislators "to vote to 'reject the determination of the court,'" if a court rules an act unconstitutional. In Alabama, two legislators have proposed legislation that will not allow a judge to impose the death penalty if the jury recommends life imprisonment.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 15, 2017 24 Comments
The College Republicans at UC Davis invited Milo Yiannopoulos and Martin Shkreli to give a talk on campus which was to focus largely on free speech but the event had to be cancelled because leftists protested and authorities feared violence. This is a perfect example of the 'New Civics' we profiled in a recent post. ABC News in San Francisco reports:

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on January 15, 2017 53 Comments
When it comes to experience in evaluating the quality of leaked allegations, it's hard to beat Bob Woodward of Watergate/Deep Throat fame. So attention must be paid to what Woodward said on today's Fox News Sunday about the so-called Russia dossier on Donald Trump. Woodward called it a "garbage document." For good measure, Woodward said the intelligence chiefs made a "mistake" in briefing on the basis of the dossier, and should "apologize."

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 15, 2017 23 Comments
Singer Jennifer Holliday was planning to perform at Trump's inauguration but her leftist fans didn't like that and waged a campaign to bully her right off the stage. She even apologized. The Wrap reports:
Jennifer Holliday Pulls Out of Trump Inauguration, Apologizes to LGBT Community (Exclusive) Jennifer Holliday has canceled her appearance at Donald Trump’s inauguration event next week, calling her decision to perform a “lapse of judgement.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 14, 2017 8 Comments
I was going to write something profound and deep tonight about the takedown of Legal Insurrection's YouTube account after the Modern Language Association filed three (3) copyright claims with YouTube relating to my coverage of the arguments made at an MLA annual meeting town hall in favor and against the academic boycott of Israel. *Perhaps* it was total *coincidence* that three (3) claims were filed considering that YouTube has a well-known three strikes rule -- three claims and they may remove your channel and account. Which is what happened even before I knew there was a copyright claim by MLA (it never contacted us). *Eventually* we'll find out *why* three (3) claims were filed. I sure hope people are not deleting emails, that would look really bad.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 14, 2017 21 Comments
Trolls gonna troll and who owns the title as World's Biggest Troll? Russian President Vladimir Putin! And the troll strikes again. Russia has invited President-elect Donald Trump's administration to participate in Syrian peace talks with Turkey and Iran later this month. I can hear everyone's head explodes as they use this as more evidence of a cozy relationship between him and President-elect Donald Trump. Or Putin has simply just latched onto the hysteria and wants to cause even more problems.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on January 14, 2017 11 Comments
How puerile can progressives be? Childish enough to taunt someone over his name, and even ascribe ideological views to a person based on his moniker. And here we thought liberals prided themselves on never judging people on their superficial characteristics. On Joy Reid's MSNBC show this morning, Reid, and guest the Rev. Mark Thompson, a talk radio host and civil rights activist, made a point of mentioning AG nominee Jeff Sessions' full name: Jefferson Beauregard Sessions. The presumption is that he was named after Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard. Thompson took things an ugly step further, calling Sessions "a Confederate Attorney General."
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