Kemberlee Kaye is the Senior Contributing Editor of Legal Insurrection, where she has worked since 2014 and is the Director of Operations and Editorial Development for the Legal Insurrection Foundation. She also serves as the Managing Editor for CriticalRace.org, a research project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation.
She has a background working in immigration law, and as a grassroots organizer, digital media strategist, campaign lackey, and muckraker. Over the years Kemberlee has worked with FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, James O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and US Senate re-election campaigns, among others.
Kemberlee, her daughter, and her son live a lovely taco-filled life in their native Texas.
You can reach her anytime via email at kk @ legalinsurrection.com.
Jonathan Gruber testifies before an unimpressed Congressional Oversight Committee...
Today, however, that gratitude seems to be dwindling. The services have weathered several years of deep cuts in funding and tens of thousands of troops have been unceremoniously given the boot. Many still in uniform and seeking to retire from the military fear the same fate, as those cuts are not yet complete. A Military Times survey of 2,300 active-duty troops found morale indicators on the decline in nearly every aspect of military life. Troops report significantly lower overall job satisfaction, diminished respect for their superiors, and a declining interest in re-enlistment now compared to just five years ago. Today's service members say they feel underpaid, under-equipped and under-appreciated, the survey data show. After 13 years of war, the all-volunteer military is entering an era fraught with uncertainty and a growing sense that the force has been left adrift. One trend to emerge from the annual Military Times survey is "that the mission mattered more to the military than to the civilian," said Peter Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University who studies the military. "For the civilian world, it might have been easier to psychologically move on and say, 'Well, we are cutting our losses.' But the military feels very differently. Those losses have names and faces attached to [them]."Look at how dramatically morale has shifted in the last five years:
CNN projects Bill Cassidy (R) defeats Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) in #LAsen. Final Senate BOP: 54R 46D pic.twitter.com/eL7yH4bnd0
— Robert Yoon (@robyoon) December 7, 2014
To Our Readers: Last month, Rolling Stone published a story titled "A Rape on Campus" by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, which described a brutal gang rape of a woman named Jackie at a University of Virginia fraternity house; the university's failure to respond to this alleged assault – and the school's troubling history of indifference to many other instances of alleged sexual assaults. The story generated worldwide headlines and much soul-searching at UVA. University president Teresa Sullivan promised a full investigation and also to examine the way the school responds to sexual assault allegations. Because of the sensitive nature of Jackie's story, we decided to honor her request not to contact the man she claimed orchestrated the attack on her nor any of the men she claimed participated in the attack for fear of retaliation against her. In the months Erdely spent reporting the story, Jackie neither said nor did anything that made Erdely, or Rolling Stone's editors and fact-checkers, question Jackie's credibility. Her friends and rape activists on campus strongly supported Jackie's account. She had spoken of the assault in campus forums. We reached out to both the local branch and the national leadership of the fraternity where Jackie said she was attacked. They responded that they couldn't confirm or deny her story but had concerns about the evidence. In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced. We were trying to be sensitive to the unfair shame and humiliation many women feel after a sexual assault and now regret the decision to not contact the alleged assaulters to get their account. We are taking this seriously and apologize to anyone who was affected by the story. Will Dana Managing Editor
He said investigators found a map that included 34 locations marked as targets in McQuilliams' possessions. The majority of the locations were either government buildings, including the ones that he attacked, or financial institutions, Acevedo said. The map included two churches. Investigators also found a book, "Vigilantes Of Christendom," the police chief said. Inside the book was a handwritten note that discussed McQuilliams' rank as a "priest in the fight against anti-God" people, Acevedo said. According to Christopher Combs, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Antonio division, McQuilliams had mentioned to some people that he was upset because he couldn't find a job and because, in his view, immigrants were able to get more services than he was. Authorities believe McQuilliams acted alone.
In the wake of events in the last weeks, including the non-indictment in the killing of Mike Brown and the senseless killings of Akai Gurley in New York and 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, our communities are hurting and justifiably angered. What gives us hope in this moment of pain and anguish is the thousands of people who have poured into the streets of America to demand change.
From the #ShutItDown actions that have blocked major highways and intersections to the #BlackoutBlackFriday protests,the message is clear: No more business as usual. We can no longer do what we have always done and cooperate with a system that does not respect Black Lives. We will only get the change we want if we disrupt the daily order and insists that Black Lives Matter. If that means shutting down the entire country, that’s what we’ll do.
On Monday, Dec 1st people around the country will be walking out of their schools and places of work in solidarity with Ferguson communities across the country effected by police violence.
Where? It can be any central location at your school or the area where you work . Consider if there is a place that has relevance to social justice such as a monument, chapel, or scene of previous protests.
"Hands Up" refers to early reports that suggested Mike Brown had his hands up in the air as a sign of surrender when he was shot by police officer, Darren Wilson. Later, it was revealed this was not true.
Participants of "Hands Up Walk Out" were encouraged to post photos of their events online.
Not surprisingly, the largest turnouts seemed to have occurred at ivy league campuses and leftist organized marches, but even those were not particularly large. The rest? They were itty bitty. Take a look:I'm sure lots of other people took better pictures than this, but here is a glimpse of #HandsUpWalkout @Yale pic.twitter.com/76kUiy47Se — Heidi Knoblauch (@heidiknoblauch) December 1, 2014
Two juveniles are in custody Sunday, suspected in the death of a man beaten with hammers on a St. Louis street.
The victim, 32-year-old Zemir Begic, suffered injuries to his head, abdomen, face and mouth, according to police.
He was unconscious by the time officers arrived. Begic was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
"Investigation revealed the victim was traveling in his vehicle when several juveniles approached his vehicle on foot and began damaging it.
"The victim exited his vehicle and the juveniles began yelling at the victim and striking him with hammers. After the assault, the juveniles fled the scene on foot," read an incident report.
Two suspects were later located and taken into custody, police said. They are 15 and 16.
A motive for the attack was not immediately clear. An investigation is ongoing.
Some reports indicate race has already been ruled out as a motive for the violent attacks, while others say motive is as of yet unclear. Police are still looking for two other suspects, a 16 year old black male and a 15 year old hispanic male, according to Fox News St. Louis.
According to Channel News Asia:
Restaurant-goers in Singapore can expect to be served by autonomous flying robots – the world’s first commercial attempt – by the end of next year. Infinium-Serve, the autonomous flying robotic waiters, will be first launched at one of Timbre Group’s five outlets in Singapore. Infinium Robotics CEO Woon Junyang estimated the project to cost a “low seven-figure sum” for the five outlets, subject to final negotiations and certain variables of the actual deployment of the robots. Infinium Robotics signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Timbre Group on Oct 31. Both companies are seeking productivity-related government grants to help offset deployment costs. Mr Woon said he is confident that such robotic solutions will help alleviate the Singapore’s labour crunch. Introducing this technology into restaurants would take away mundane tasks of serving food and drinks, and allow human waiters to focus on higher-value tasks such as getting feedback from customers, he said. “This will result in an enhanced dining experience which will eventually lead to increased sales and revenue for the restaurants,” he added. A prototype of Infinium-Serve was showcased to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the inaugural launch of the National Productivity Month in early October.
"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next," said Lucas, chairman and CEO of Lucasfilm, in a statement. "It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers."J.J. Abrams is both a writer and director for the latest Star Wars installment with an assist from George Lucas and Lawrence Kasden on the screenplay. Kasden was a co-writer for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Carie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill make appearances in The Force Awakens (although they're not show in this trailer).
Remembering the voice of conservatism...
