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Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 01, 2015 20 Comments
A New York State Judge recently denied an attempt by a group acting for Tommy the Chimp to obtain habeas corpus relief. (Full embed at bottom of post.) But in so denying relief, the judge predicted possible future change citing the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the same-sex marriage case. #Seriously. Now we have covered the slippery slope as much as anyone in the area of polygamy and polyamorous clusters, including in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage: But there's the slippery slope, and then there's this slippery slope as reported by Slate: https://twitter.com/Slate/status/627600511492063232 Don't worry, it's not as bad as the tweet makes it sound, depending on what the definition of "bad" is:

Posted by Jay Caruso on August 01, 2015 12 Comments
In the summer of 2011, the GOP candidate sitting on top of the polls was Texas Governor Rick Perry. By October of 2011, it was Herman Cain who was leading the polls with Mitt Romney in second. Rick Perry went into a freefall after his "Oops" moment at one of the what seemed like 1000 GOP debates. Two candidates in the summer of 2011 were languishing at the bottom of the polls: Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Both of whom went on to win primary season races. Santorum won the Iowa caucuses, and Gingrich won the South Carolina primary. As we head into the first GOP debate and into the fall when people will really start to pay attention to the race, it will be interesting to see where the polls start to move. For the last several weeks there have been several tiers of candidates according to the numbers:
  • Top Tier Donald Trump Jeb Bush Scott Walker
  • Second Tier Marco Rubio Mike Huckabee Rand Paul Ben Carson Ted Cruz
  • Third Tier Rick Perry Chris Christie John Kasich Bobby Jindal Rick Santorum Carly Fiorina George Pataki
It's within that bottom tier where I think there may be 2-3 candidates who may be doing much better in the late fall than they are here in late summer.

Posted by Amy Miller on August 01, 2015 8 Comments
While American activists languished in the debris of their Cecil the Lion meltdown/manhunt, people in Calais have been dealing with a perfect storm of union strikes, stampeding migrants, and a resulting travel standstill. Much has been made of the inconvenience to Brits attempting to cross the English Channel for a summer holiday, but the French city of Calais is truly in a crisis. Over the past week, thousands of migrants have flooded secure areas surrounding the Eurotunnel terminal in an attempt to enter the United Kingdom. At least 9 people have died during the attempt since June, and the very crush of those attempting to get close to access points has caused a dangerous and volatile situation in the city. The migrants, coming mostly from Syria, Eritrea, Somalia and Afghanistan, are fighting to get across the channel and into the UK for a variety of reasons---many are seeking jobs, or asylum---but all who come do so because it is statistically easier to remain legally in the UK than it is in France. The BBC created a video explaining things in more detail. Watch:

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 01, 2015 14 Comments
MSNBC has pulled the plug on three shows. The Cycle, Now with Alex Wagner, and The Ed Show will no longer grace the TV screens of the struggling network's viewers. Dylan Byers of Politico broke the story this week:
MSNBC cancels three shows amid transition Alex Wagner and Ari Melber, a "Cycle" co-host and MSNBC's chief legal correspondent, will remain with the network. Ed Schultz, the host of "The Ed Show," will leave the network, as will "Cycle" co-hosts Abby Huntsman, Krystal Ball and Toure. MSNBC President Phil Griffin announced the news in a memo sent shortly after the initial version of this item was published. The cancellations, which have been expected for some time, come as NBC News chief Andrew Lack moves to refashion the liberal cable channel as a straight-forward news and politics offering, at least in daytime. In September, MSNBC will add a 5 p.m. program hosted by "Meet The Press" moderator Chuck Todd, while Brian Williams, the former "Nightly News" anchor, will serve as the network's breaking news and special reports anchor.
In honor of this occasion, NewsBusters has opened up their vault to look for some "worst of" moments from Alex Wagner and Ed Schultz. Here are a couple of examples:

LEGAL INSURRECTION QUICK TAKES

TPUSA Members: UT Tyler Attack Reflects Growing Campus Hostility Toward Conservatives

UT Austin Funds Graduate Student Research on ‘Reproductive Justice’

Texas Tech Regents Eliminate Several Race, Gender Studies Courses

Ransomware Gang Claims Credit for Vanderbilt Cyberattack

Occidental College Hosts Transgender Event That Mocks Trump

Franklin & Marshall College Drops Plan to Adopt 'Gender Neutral' Mascot

SEE MORE

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 01, 2015 37 Comments
Following the shooting of Cecil the lion, the Daily Mail is reporting that his brother, Jericho, has also been shot dead by poachers in Zimbabwe:

Cecil the lion's brother Jericho has been shot dead in a park in Zimbabwe.

The animal was protecting his lion cubs after he was shot dead by Minnesota dentist, Walter Palmer earlier this month, sparking outrage around the world.

Johnny Rodrigues, Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said in a statement: 'It is with great sadness and regret that we report that Jericho was shot dead at 4pm this afternoon.

'We have no further details but will advise as soon as we know more.'

Before his death there had been concerns Jericho would not be able to hold the territory of Cecil's cubs alone and could be chased away by rival lions.

Unprotected, the lionesses and cubs are now under threat and also move away or be killed.

Last week Mr Rodrigues, told the Daily Mail Online Jericho was keeping the cubs safe from any rival males.

Twitter is atwitter at the news:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 01, 2015 31 Comments
Over the years, Obama has lamented the fact that he's not a king, an emperor, or a dictator and has stated that it would be "so much easier to be president of China."  He also stated no fewer than 22 times that he does not have the authority for executive amnesty . . . before doing it. Apparently recognizing the limitations of being the president of the United States, Obama can't help musing about a third term.  He thinks he'd win. Watch:

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 01, 2015 39 Comments
DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews this week and to Matthews' credit, he asked her a tough question. First, the two were discussing Bernie Sanders and the role he should play in the next Democratic National Convention. Then Matthews asked Schultz to explain the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist and things got very interesting. Josh Feldman of Mediate describes the exchange:
Matthews asked Wasserman-Schultz if, even if he loses, Sanders would have a place at the DNC convention, seeing as how he’s really popular with the base and could fire up a Democratic audience before the election. She said he should get to speak, but Matthews kept prodding away to see if he would be allowed to speak in primetime instead of “when nobody’s watching.” Wasserman-Schultz talked up his “progressive populist message” that people like, when Matthews asked her point-blank, “What’s the difference between a Democrat and a socialist? I used to think there was a big difference. What do you think it is?” Wasserman-Schultz ducked the question, but Matthews pressed her and said, “You’re the chairman of the Democratic Party. Tell me what’s the difference between you and a socialist.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 01, 2015 4 Comments
This Part 2 of the vehicle from Ithaca. (Part 1 here) At least she has a sense of humor. Bumper Stickers - Ithaca - Read English Thank Soldier Part 2 Bet she's a Pat Benatar fan:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 31, 2015 19 Comments
Today was one of those terrible days I'm glad I was traveling for. That seems to be a pattern for me; I was traveling on the day of the Newtown, CT school shooting, and other incidents that I don't have time to dig out of the archives. Very early, before 5 a.m. Eastern (when I left the house,) I saw tweets about a firebombing of a house near Nablus in which a very young child, Ali Dawabsheh (one and one-half) was murdered. While the perpetrators have not been captured as of this writing, the Israeli government and IDF are calling it an act of "Jewish terrorism." The word "revenge" was spray painted on the wall in Hebrew. Ali's father Saad and mother Riham, and 4-year-old brother Ahmad, are in the hospital in very serious condition with life-threatening burns. The attack was condemned by all facets of Israeli society including the Prime Minister and political leaders, as well as Jewish organizations around the world. There is a lot of soul searching going on.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 31, 2015 28 Comments
This week, the Center for Medical Progress released its fourth Planned Parenthood sting video. This video, like those before it, shows undercover activists teasing out evidence suggesting that Planned Parenthood is in the business not only of providing abortions, but selling the resulting "fetal tissue" for profit. Via WaPo:
Like the three previous releases from the Center for Medical Progress, the latest video contains accusations of illegal and unethical activity: First, it argues that Planned Parenthood profits from compensation as part of fetal parts donations; and second, that clinics may alter procedures to provide more intact specimens, in violation of established ethical standards for fetal parts collection. “We have to kind of see the baseline of how things are getting extracted now and see if we can do any work with them to maybe be more gentle,” Ginde says in the video. She adds that the clinic has little control over whether specimens come out intact or not, but adds, “Sometimes, if we get, if someone delivers before we get to see them for a procedure, then we are intact.” ... In another portion of the video, the undercover actors are allowed to observe the specimen collection process inside a Planned Parenthood clinic. “Do people do stuff with eyeballs?” Ginde asks the undercover actor. Later, a medical assistant notes that a specimen is “another boy.”
Watch:

Posted by Jay Caruso on July 31, 2015 9 Comments
The book 13 Hours, based on events on the ground in Libya on September 11, 2012 has been adapted for the big screen and the movie will be released in January, 2016. Mitchell Zuckoff, the author of the book opted, instead of trying to wrap a narrative around the book, basically just told the story of what happened on the ground, leaving politics largely out of it. The film was directed by Michael Bay which will be a departure of sorts for him. While Bay has directed fun, popcorn style action movies with lots of explosions, the subject matter here is much more delicate. It's real and four Americans were killed including the Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. The real question is: How will it be received by Democrats, particularly, Hillary Clinton? Here is the trailer:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 31, 2015 50 Comments
Though it's seemingly impossible to discuss the tragic tale of Cecil the lion without invoking a comparison war, there is an entire part of this story that those with their hair ablaze forgot to consider -- what do Zimbabwean's think? It appears I'm not the only one pondering the African perspective. While Americans are calling for the extradition of the dentist who killed Cecil the lion and the hashtag #lionlivematter was trending on social media, Zimbabwe had one question -- what lion?

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 31, 2015 43 Comments
File this under: Things that would be hilarious if they weren't real life and cross-reference under Not The Onion. As if Hillary Clinton using a personal email account and home brewed server while serving as Secretary of State weren't inept enough, Clinton's private attorney is running around with a thumb drive full of classified info. You read that correctly -- a thumb drive. flashbam Mind you, Clinton has sworn time, and time again that no classified information was transmitted via her personal email account. Which, as we've noted repeatedly begs the question -- how the hell did she do her job?! In any case, the Inspector General debunked the whole "I did not send classified information from my email account" claim. And now we learn that her attorney has a pocket-full of classified info.

Posted by New Neo on July 31, 2015 11 Comments
After all the false leads in the year and a third since Malaysian Flight 370 vanished, we now have a real possibility that a piece of it has washed ashore, a sort of cryptic message in a bottle that may have drifted thousands of miles from wherever the plane's gravesite---and that of its 227 passengers and 12 crew---lies. Unofficial reports are that the piece is indeed from a Boeing 777, the type of plane involved in the disappearance, and that there are no other 777s that are unaccounted for. Experts have been dispatched to identify it further and more exactly, aided by a number that was found on it which might be some sort of component number. The item appears from photos to be similar to a plane part known as a flaperon, which is a lightweight piece of an aircraft wing that "has sealed chambers, making it buoyant." The buoyancy could help explain how it ended up on an island. Notice that the place it was found is named Saint-Andre de la Reunion Island, otherwise known as Reunion Island---a fitting name for the site of a plane's re-entry from the land of the lost into the realm of human awareness.
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