Posted by Andrew Branca
on July 03, 2013172 Comments
Today seemed to begin with a rare and much needed "win" for the State prosecutors. Unfortunately, what followed was a relentless unraveling of that win into a snatching of defeat from the jaws of victory. First, however, we should start with what little good news...
After departing a gas exporters’ summit in Russia on Tuesday, the plane carrying Bolivia’s President Evo Morales was diverted to Vienna, Austria when it was suddenly denied air space by Portugal and France due to suspicions that NSA leaker Edward Snowden may have been on...
Posted by Andrew Branca
on July 03, 2013141 Comments
BREAKING NEWS
State witness Scott Pleasants, a Professor of George Zimmerman's for an online criminal justice course, just testified on cross-examination by O'Mara that Zimmerman's stated career goal was to become and attorney and eventually a State prosecutor.
[caption id="attachment_57510" align="alignnone" width="500"] Professor Scott Pleasants, testifies: "Zimmerman...
Posted by William A. Jacobson
on July 03, 201325 Comments
Update No. 2 -- Morsi removed from power by military in Egypt
-------------------------
The military's ultimatum to Mohamed Morsi expires soon.
We will keep you updated throughout the day, with live video and Twitter feeds, and updates at the bottom of the post
Video livestreams:
On Twitter:
Follow the #Egypt and #June30 hashtags:
Tweets about "#egypt"Tweets about "#june30"Updates:
https://twitter.com/AJELive/status/352500284909563904
https://twitter.com/AP/status/352485661980372992
https://twitter.com/AP/status/352466710470737921
https://twitter.com/DerekStoffelCBC/status/352482790891196417
Posted by Andrew Branca
on July 03, 2013416 Comments
Today we will again be covering the Zimmerman Trial live, all day, with streaming video. Continuing commentary will be posted in the Twitter feed of selected contributors below the first video feed, and breaking news will be added at the bottom of this post.
During the lunch recess, or immediately thereafter, we will post a mid-day update (not just a list of tweets this time!). We'll then follow up with the usual detailed end-of-day wrap up, including video and embedded Tweets, at the usual time in the evening.
This morning Court is expected to start at 8:300AM to hold a hearing on whether George Zimmerman's college records and applications to a VA police academy should be admitted. Once that is done, the trial proper will start.
To see yesterday's end-of-day analysis and video, which describes how Mark O'Mara's cross-examination of Investigator Serino so severely damaged the State's theory of the case, click here:
To see yesterday's mid-day wrap up, which provides analysis and video of the testimony of State witnesses (former Investigator, now) Patrolman Chris Serino, and Federal Air Marshall and self-described Zimmerman best friend Mark Osterman click here:
(NOTE: If you do wander over to the LOSD blog, be sure to come back to Legal Insurrection to comment, as nearly all my time is spent here for the duration of the trial.)
Live Stream Video
WITH COMMENTARY FROM CHANNEL 9 IN SANFORD
[For live-stream video without commentary, see NBC live feed at bottom of this post.]
Posted by David Gerstman
on July 03, 20133 Comments
Not recognizing the Muslim Brotherhood's nature
Two and a half years ago, the New York Times ran an editorial, Mr. Mubarak is put on notice, in which it hailed the opposition to Mubarak's rule and scolded him for failing to heed the public's will.
What if, inspired...
Posted by William A. Jacobson
on July 03, 201312 Comments
From JoAnne:
Thought you might get a kick out of the probably unintentional hypocrisy of these two stickers!
Taken in Coeur d'Alene, ID and, for the record, I was the passenger!
...
The Obama administration has delayed the employer mandate under Obamacare until 2015, citing complaints from businesses about the complexity of some of the law's requirements. Funny what happens when you read the bill to find out what’s in it.
From Politico:
The Obama administration is postponing the...
Posted by Andrew Branca
on July 02, 2013320 Comments
We covered the morning's events with our mid-day update, available here at the link below. If you've already viewed it, be aware that I have just now added to that post the video recordings of the morning testimony, so if you are interested in seeing...
Posted by William A. Jacobson
on July 02, 201323 Comments
Egypt LIVE Updates
Today was the deadline set by the Egyptian military for President Mohammed Morsi to reach an accommodation with the opposition and protesters.
Morsi just rejected the ultimatum, via BBC:
Egypt's president has rejected an army ultimatum that the country's crisis be resolved by Wednesday, amid deadly protests across the capital.
Mohammed Morsi insisted on his constitutional legitimacy as president and said he would not be dictated to.
It is clear he expects the military to depose him in the coming hours, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Cairo
This week, The Frontier Lab published the results of months of research into why some Republicans are refusing to go by the label "Republican," choosing to identify as anything but. I was the Research Director for this study, which applied a research approach called "Behavioral...
A judge ruled Monday that a Wikileaks “Most Wanted Leaks” list can be used as evidence in the military trial against Bradley Manning. Prosecutors have contended that the list, as well as several tweets from Wikileaks, would serve in part as proof that Manning’s actions...
Posted by Andrew Branca
on July 02, 2013164 Comments
Motion to Strike Key Serino Testimony Most Damaging to State
The Court opened today with a request from Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda, before the jury was present, to ask Judge Nelson to strike perhaps the most telling blow from yesterday's testimony from former Investigator Chris...
Opponents and supporters of Egypt's president have gathered in the capital, Cairo, as the deadline set by a protest group for him to leave power passed.
Tamarod (Rebel) had given Mohammed Morsi until 17:00 (15:00 GMT) to resign or face a civil disobedience campaign.
The ultimatum was issued on Monday, hours before the military itself warned it would intervene unless he reached an agreement with the opposition.
Mr Morsi criticised the statement, saying it "might cause confusion".
The president met the head of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, for the second day in a row on Tuesday. They did not give any details of the talks, which also included Prime Minister Hisham Kandil.
Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr resigned on Tuesday, bringing to six the number of ministers to leave the cabinet since the outbreak of mass anti-Morsi protests on Sunday. The cabinet spokesman, Alaa al-Hadidi, also quit, state media reported.
Other state institutions also undermined Mr. Morsi’s grip on the state, with a court ruling ordering the removal of the Morsi-appointed prosecutor general, Talaat Abdallah, and moving to reinstate a prosecutor first appointed by President Hosni Mubarak before his ouster.
Also on Tuesday, Egypt’s largest ultraconservative Islamist group and its political arm, the Nour party, joined the call for early presidential elections and the formation of a caretaker cabinet.
Posted by Andrew Branca
on July 02, 2013542 Comments
Today we will again be covering the Zimmerman Trial live, all day, with streaming video. Continuing commentary will be posted in the Twitter feed of selected contributors below the first video feed, and breaking news will be added at the bottom of this post.
During the lunch recess, or immediately thereafter, we will post a mid-day update (not just a list of tweets this time!). We'll then follow up with the usual detailed end-of-day wrap up, including video and embedded Tweets, at the usual time in the evening.
[caption id="attachment_57359" align="alignnone" width="347"] Defense Attorney Mark O'Mara cross-examines Sanford PD Investigator Chris Serino, 7/1/13[/caption]
This morning Court is expected to start at 9:00AM, with the continuing cross-examination of State witness Investigator Chris Serino, who at the time of events was the lead investigator into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Our two live video feeds and scrolling Twitter feed of selected commenters can be found just below these introductory comments.
To see yesterday's end-of-day analysis and video, which describes how Mark O'Mara's cross-examination of Investigator Serino so severely damaged the State's theory of the case, click here:
To see yesterday's mid-day wrap up, which provides analysis and video of the testimony of State witnesses Dr. Hirotaka Nakasone, FBI speech expert, Police Officer Doris Singleton, and the direct examinaton by Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda of Investigator Chris Serino, click here:
(NOTE: If you do wander over to the LOSD blog, be sure to come back to Legal Insurrection to comment, as nearly all my time is spent here for the duration of the trial.)
Live Stream Video
WITH COMMENTARY FROM CHANNEL 9 IN SANFORD
[For live-stream video without commentary, see NBC live feed at bottom of this post.]
Twitter Feed:
(My tweets can be identified as coming from @lawselfdefense.)
Posted by William A. Jacobson
on July 02, 20139 Comments
We have noted time and again that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's hostility towards Israel seemed pathological, not political.
It's not just Erdogan. The Turkish Foreign Minister has praised the martyrs against Israel.
Now the Deputy Prime Minister has has suggested a Jewish conspiracy behind the protests centered...
Posted by William A. Jacobson
on July 01, 201328 Comments
A follow up to the Supreme Court's decision in Fisher v. U. Texas.
John Yoo writes at National Review (emphasis mine):
Some conservatives are probably taking heart that the Court, by seven to one, reversed the lower court, which had upheld UT’s explicit use of racial preferences in...
