Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

/var/www/vhosts/legalinsurrection.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/bridge-child/readFeeds.incFALSE

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 14, 2015 5 Comments
On Saturday, June 13, 2015, I was fortunate to take a tour of the Reagan ranch, high in the hills above Santa Barbara, California. The 688-acre ranch is now owned and maintained by the Young America's Foundation, which also has a Reagan Ranch Center in downtown Santa Barbara where there are exhibits regarding his life. The tour was part of a two-day conference for a small group of faculty to talk about issue of being conservative on campus. We took the 45 minute ride which culminates in a white-knuckle drive up a road winding along the side of the mountain. Reagan Ranch Satellite Map Region As you can imagine, maintaining the full secret service and military presence at the location when President Reagan was there was quite an undertaking given the difficult access and surrounding woods and hills. The ranch was an amazing place to visit.

LATEST NEWS

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 13, 2015 43 Comments
In July 2013, Obama's "Department of Housing and Urban Development [created a] regulation broadening the obligation of recipients of federal aid to 'affirmatively further fair housing'."  Translation: in order for cities and states to continue receiving federal aid, they must begin diversification of their wealthier suburbs and neighborhoods by building Section 8 government housing in these areas.
Stanley Kurtz at The Corner compared the HUD regulation proposal to San Francisco's "Plan Bay Area" initiative:
In the face of heated public protest, on July 18, two local agencies in metropolitan San Francisco approved “Plan Bay Area,” a region-wide blueprint designed to control development in the nine-county, 101-town region around San Francisco for the next 30 years. The creation of a region-wide development plan–although it flies in the face of America’s core democratic commitment to local control–is mandated by California’s SB 375, the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008. The ostensible purpose of this law is to combat global warming through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. That is supposedly why California’s legislature empowered regional planning commissions to override local governments and press development away from suburbs into densely-packed urban areas. In fact, the reduction of greenhouse gases (which Plan Bay Area does little to secure) largely serves as a pretext for undercutting the political and economic independence of California suburbs.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 13, 2015 9 Comments
As a direct result of Obama's amateurish, quasi-idealistic, and completely ideological failings in Iraq, we will almost certainly end up sending ground troops back in order to undo the damage wrought by the failed Obama doctrine. Obama knows this, of course, and his plan is to run out the clock rather than make the decision that needs to be—and will be—made by the next president.  The National Journal reports:
On using U.S. combat troops? In a detailed interview with The Atlantic, Obama made his view clear. "If they are not willing to fight for the security of their country, we cannot do that for them," he said, but added that he's committed to training Iraqis over a "multi-year" period. How many, exactly, is "multi?" State Department official and ISIS expert Brett McGurk laid that out on NPR: "It's a three-year campaign to degrade the organization." Three years marked from mid-2014, of course, falls after Jan. 20, 2017, the date Obama leaves office. Translation: The strategy is to avoid sending ground troops for the remainder of his term. So stop asking.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 13, 2015 18 Comments
Hillary Clinton announced her intention to run for president back in April with the release of a video but apparently, that wasn't the real launch of her campaign. The second and all-new launch happened today on New York's Roosevelt Island which, ironically, used to be called Welfare Island. Attendees were told to expect 'airport style security' for the event. Luckily for Mrs. Clinton's staff, it doesn't look like they had to worry about crowd overflow:

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 13, 2015 22 Comments
Carly Fiorina sat in the "Center Seat" Thursday night on Special Report with Bret Baier. They ought to call the segment the "Hot Seat" as it offers viewers and the pundits on the panel a chance to ask the candidate tough questions in a close setting. Fiorina took questions about herself, her career, the campaign and a host of other issues every candidate is facing for 2016. Topics include jobs, healthcare, government surveillance, foreign policy, and reclaiming feminism. It's worth pointing out that Fiorina took more questions in this 17 minute segment than Hillary Clinton has taken in the last two months. If you watched the video to the end, you heard Fiorina talk about the left's monopoly on the term "feminism" and its meaning. She gave a speech Thursday night where she expanded on this point.

LEGAL INSURRECTION QUICK TAKES

Howard U. Appoints Ibram Kendi to $3 Million Endowed Chair Position

Connecticut Might Issue Grad Student Loans to Offset Trump Limits

Study Finds Most Popular U.S. Graduate Degrees Not Worth the Money

UPenn Celebrates 'Gender Equity Week' With Safe Sex Trivia Night

Leftist Hero Cesar Chavez Erased From Colleges Across the Country

Faculty Book Club Selection at Portland State U. Highlights ‘Awful Scourge of White People’

SEE MORE

Posted by Andrew Branca on June 13, 2015 37 Comments
Prosecutors in the case of six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray continue their farcical efforts to deny evidence to the officers' defense counsel, according to a report yesterday in the Baltimore Sun. The deadline for Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby's office to meet its discovery obligations to the defense is Friday, June 26, now less than two weeks away. Granted, it is possible that some discovery is still being gathered.  Other evidence, however, is explicitly available right now, such as Gray's knife, his autopsy results, and surveillance video of the scene. There seems no rational basis for delaying the sharing of such evidence with the defense for another two weeks, except that the sharing will expose that the prosecution utterly lacks the evidence needed to support the charges it has brought against the officers. Indeed, the notion that the State simply lacks the evidence to support its charges is not an unusual one.  The Baltimore Sun just ran a poll asking people that exact question:
Do you believe the Baltimore prosecutors have the evidence to support the harshest charges against the officers who interacted with Freddie Gray?
The results as of the writing of this post? Over 88% responded "No," as shown in the featured image, above. Inspires confidence, no?  No.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 13, 2015 22 Comments
I returned to La La Land. Just before taking the drive up to Santa Barbara for a small get together of faculty sponsored by the Young America's Foundation. We're taking a tour of the Reagan Ranch on Saturday. Spotted the bumper sticker in the Featured Image while still in L.A. As I said three years ago, OMG, it really is La La Land. Bumper Sticker - Los Angeles - Obama Biden 2008 and 2012_Redacted Takes a special kind of person to keep both '08 and '12 Obama-Biden bumper stickers on the car. I take that back. It takes a completely not-special person The good news is that I had a chance to reunite with frequent Legal Insurrection commenter LukeHandCool.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 12, 2015 13 Comments
Convicted killers Richard Matt and David Sweat are still on the run after escaping a maximum security prison in upstate New York late last week, but investigators have since revealed that they suspect a prison employee aided in the convicts' flight. Joyce Mitchell, 51, was arrested yesterday and charged with Promoting Prison Contraband in the 1st Degree and Criminal Facilitation in the 4th Degree. If convicted, she could face up to eight years in prison. Via Fox News:
Earlier, [District Attorney Andrew] Wylie said Mitchell, a supervisor in the prison's tailoring shop, brought "contraband" into the prison but he declined to elaborate on what, specifically, she gave the men. The Albany Times-Union reported late Thursday that Mitchell told New York State Police she gave Matt, 48, and Sweat, 34, access to a cell phone and smuggled tools into the prison.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 12, 2015 61 Comments
When I first saw the story break on Twitter about Rachel Dolezal's politically unfortunate natural skin color, I set out to write some sort of think piece about how the racial movement in America has become so convoluted that activists would now rather alter their appearances than admit to any sort of connection with anglo heritage. Then, I thought about it some more and concluded that giving this issue the actual intellectual treatment wasn't really worth the time. In case you've been hiding from the Internet, Rachel Dolezal, 37, identifies as an African-American woman and is the president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP. A Howard U grad and civil rights activist, she's spent the majority of her career positioning herself as a fierce advocate for equality. I said "identifies as" because she's not African-American at all---and she just got called out for it. Behold:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 12, 2015 17 Comments
Last month we discussed feminist angst over summer blockbuster, Jurassic World. Evidently, the film's traditional gender roles were another tool of the patriarchy to keep women in the kitchen... or something. It should be noted that in an age where gender roles are a matter of choice, if one chooses to go the traditional route, the decision should be applauded. But when has any leftist faction ever employed ideological consistency? In any case, back to Jurassic World.

Be forewarned: Spoilers ahead, though I've tried to keep them vague.

If you enjoyed Jurassic Park, you'll love Jurassic World. I fully expected a modern redux of the original dino-park dream turn nightmare, but was pleasantly surprised. Jurassic World holds its own with plenty of subtle and not so subtle nods to its predecessor. Before the film hit the silver screen, there was much ado about the film's traditional gender roles -- at least among the feminists. Based on the trailer alone, they decried the portrayal of a stiff-shirted woman who needed the help of a man (heaven forbid!).

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 12, 2015 28 Comments
Friday, House Democrats bucked President Obama when they voted to torpedo "trade authority." As Amy wrote this morning:
The debate surrounding congressional approval of “fast track” trade authority has officially taken a swan dive through the looking glass. Obama wants it. House republicans want it. Democrats, for the most part, are ready to vote “no”—their union backers are making them more nervous than the White House ever could—even if it prevents their president from advancing more legacy-building legislation.
This afternoon, the AP reports with Nancy Pelosi at the helm, House Democrats sunk President Obama's trade authority hopes. From Yahoo News:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 12, 2015 31 Comments
Electronic medical records were supposed to save doctors' time and improve results by putting your entire medical history in one place. Two major problems. First, it doesn't work. What takes a physician a couple of minutes to write on your chart now can become a burdensome scroll through computer screens:
Government regulators are backing down from many of their toughest requirements for doctors' and hospitals' use of digital medical records, just as Congress is stepping up its oversight of issues with the costly technology. Under the Affordable Care Act, doctors and hospitals are being pushed to switch from paper to electronic records.... The federal government has spent about $28 billion in incentives to help doctors install and use EHRs, also called EMRs. But these digitized records remain the bane of many doctor and patient relationships in the Louisville area and across the nation, as physicians stare at computer screens during consultations.... Electronic health records "have made our lives harder" without improving safety, said Jean Ross, co-president of National Nurses United. Last year, the nurse union called on the FDA "to enact much tougher oversight and public protections" on electronic health records use.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 12, 2015 6 Comments
A docudrama called Sing a Little Louder is based on a powerful true story from World War II. Set in World War II Germany, the film tells the story of a young German boy who's church was located next to the train tracks. Every Sunday at the same time, trains taking Jews to death camps passed by the church. One day, a train broke down. The cries and screams of the Jews being carted away were so loud, the pastor instructed the choir to sing louder to drown them out. Juliana Taimoorazy, the film's executive producer and President of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, says the church in the West is no different than the small German church. While Christians in the Middle East are being persecuted and slaughtered for their faith, Christians in the West are singing a little louder.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 12, 2015 27 Comments
Our humorless and intellectually superior friends on the left listened to what Jerry Seinfeld said about political correctness and proved his point in exactly the way you'd expect. Progressives can't abide a celebrity with Seinfeld's gravitas criticizing their culture of microaggressions and limits on free speech so naturally, he must be discredited. MSNBC's Alex Wagner discussed the subject with her guests and for the most part, they dismissed Seinfeld's concerns because after all, he's rich. Matthew Balan of NewsBusters:
Shorter MSNBC: Seinfeld's Jab at 'Creepy PC' Isn't Valid Because He's Rich Alex Wagner, along with her three liberal guests, ripped Jerry Seinfeld on her MSNBC program on Wednesday, for his blast at "creepy" political correctness. Wagner hinted that Seinfeld had "fallen behind the times." New York magazine's Annie Lowrey mocked his critique: "I kind of roll my eyes at Jerry Seinfeld. You know, he's a billionaire – like I don't feel sorry for him if people don't laugh hard enough at his jokes."
Here's the video:

Posted by Amy Miller on June 12, 2015 17 Comments
The debate surrounding congressional approval of "fast track" trade authority has officially taken a swan dive through the looking glass. Obama wants it. House republicans want it. Democrats, for the most part, are ready to vote "no"---their union backers are making them more nervous than the White House ever could---even if it prevents their president from advancing more legacy-building legislation. More from the AP (emphasis mine):
Obama himself, who's been unusually personally engaged on a bill that could amount to the biggest achievement of his second term, paid a surprise visit to the annual congressional baseball game Thursday night for some 11th hour persuading. Obama arrived as Democratic and Republican lawmakers faced off at Nationals Park and was greeted with chants of "TPA! TPA!" from the GOP side — the acronym for the Trade Promotion Authority fast track bill. He brought beer and visited with lawmakers on both sides. Earlier, in a closed meeting in the Capitol, top White House officials implored Democrats not to deny Obama the trade authority. Such a vote, they said, would block needed trade expansion for the nation and sink a major priority of the Democratic president.
It really happened---I was there to see it: obama flake annotated
MORE POSTS
Accessibility by WAH