Posted by William A. Jacobson
on June 14, 20131 Comment
From a reader in the Alabama part of South Central Pennsylvania:
crowd source request
Taken at a red light (you can see the red light as well as the Prius' brake lights) in the borough closest to Cheney's "undisclosed location" back when ...
Posted by William A. Jacobson
on June 13, 201321 Comments
We've focused on the language wars many times before.
But this time it's different.
Because it's not a dispute over how to characterize the same set of facts -- such as "illegal immigrant" versus "undocumented immigrant" -- but a complete denial of the fact which heretofore has...
Posted by Andrew Branca
on June 13, 201313 Comments
Today the Court continued its preliminary questioning of prospective jurors, moving through 10 candidates by the end of the day. As was the case yesterday, questions were limited to how much exposure the prospective juror had to the case through the media and other channels,...
The U.S. has concluded that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have used chemical weapons in the country's civil war with rebels, U.S. officials said, a determination that could lay the ground for a decision by the U.S. to arm the rebels and take other steps expanding American involvement in the conflict.
The finding comes nearly two months after the White House informed Congress that U.S. intelligence agencies believed with "varying degrees of confidence" that Mr. Assad has used chemical weapons, likely including sarin gas. President Barack Obama has said that the use of chemical weapons by Mr. Assad would cross a "red line" for the U.S.
A senior U.S. official said the determination could be used by the White House to sign off on a proposal to arm moderate Syrian rebels and other measures now under consideration.
The White House acknowledged Thursday the Syrian government has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale a number of times, according to a statement.
The administration also indicated it will increase the "scope and scale of assistance" to rebels in Syria following its acknowledgment that the Bashar al-Assad government has used chemical weapons in the civil war, according to the statement.
The development, announced Thursday by White House Deputy National Security Advisor For Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes, puts the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over President Barack Obama’s “red line” announced in August 2012 promising severe consequences for the use of chemical weapons.
“We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized,” Obama said at the time. “That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.”
Posted by David Gerstman
on June 13, 20136 Comments
1) Fiji rescues UNDOF
With the Syrian civil war moving closer to Israel, Austria has withdrawn its contingent of peacekeepers from the UNDOF.
https://twitter.com/MediaBackspin/status/343639978338816001
Not to worry, Fiji is slated to pick up the slack.
the military from the island country of Fiji who will replace the Austrian peacekeepers...
Posted by William A. Jacobson
on June 13, 201310 Comments
I have been traveling since about 6 this morning.
What did I miss?
Do we have amnesty yet? Has Snowden officially gone over to the other side yet? Is IRS-gate still a "gate"?
Patricia sent me this email:
What do we have to do to ...
Hours after saying the government has "arrived at the end of our patience," Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan agreed Thursday afternoon to meet with a group opposed to redevelopment of the park that is at the center of protests that have rocked Turkey for two...
Protests in Turkey continue this week, as pressure mounts from government for the protests to stop. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told party leaders Thursday, "We have arrived at the end of our patience."
From FOX News:
Turkey's prime minister issued a "final warning" to protesters on...
Posted by Andrew Branca
on June 13, 201311 Comments
THE DAY 4 WRAP-UP POST CAN BE FOUND HERE.
Today we will again be covering the Zimmerman Jury Selection Day Four live, all day, along with a separate end-of-day wrap-up post. To catch up on the lastest events in State of Florida v. Zimmerman, click here to take...
As the NSA story continues to grip the headlines, more facts are coming to light, both about the information that was leaked and about the leaker himself.
Edward Snowden spoke to the South China Morning Post in an exclusive interview Wednesday, resulting in a series of...
Note: You may reprint this cartoon provided you link back to this source. To see more Legal Insurrection Branco cartoons, click here. Branco’s page is Cartoonist A.F.Branco
...
Posted by Andrew Branca
on June 12, 201312 Comments
FOR TODAY'S MOST SHOCKING PROSPECTIVE JURORS, SCROLL DOWN TO E73, R39 & E7, BELOW.
Today the Court continued its preliminary questioning of prospective jurors, moving through 10 candidates by the end of the day. As was the case yesterday, questions were limited to how much exposure...
Posted by William A. Jacobson
on June 12, 20135 Comments
I was pleased to receive a copy of James O'Keefe's new book, Breakthrough -- Our Guerilla War to Expose Fraud and Save Democracy.
The book will formally be rolled out next week, but you can pre-order at Amazon.
Leslie will be doing a full review of the...
Posted by William A. Jacobson
on June 12, 201314 Comments
From Mickey Kaus:
“Multiple triggers”/Legalization is immediate. DHS just has to write border “plan.” The most any “triggers” can possibly do is delay green cards and citizenship.
“90 % effectiveness”/ If not reached, triggers only toothless commission. … Also: “90% effectiveness”–as defined by DHS–is really more like 50%.
“Pay back...
NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander will testify today at a previously scheduled Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on enduring cybersecurity threats. He is expected to face questions during the hearing concerning the recent leaks of details into the NSA's phone surveillance activities.
You can follow livestream video coverage beginning at 2pm EST; follow this post for updates. [UPDATE: The feed has been removed, as the hearing has ended.]
Highlights from the hearing below:
There were other very interesting exchanges between several Senators and Gen. Alexander, most notably with Senators Durbin, Collins and Merkley. You can listen to those audio clips at NPR.
Here's what people were saying on Twitter...
Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked details about the National Security Agency’s surveillance program to the press, gave an exclusive interview Wednesday to the South China Morning Post.
Through a series of articles that have been staggered throughout the day, Snowden tells the outlet...