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Posted by David Gerstman on May 07, 2015 7 Comments
Last week Iran's foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif appeared in "a conversation" with columnist David Ignatius of The Washington Post at NYU sponsored by the New America Foundation. There were those in the media who described Zarif as "suave" and "diplomatic," but not everyone was impressed with Zarif's performance. Matthew Continetti went after the supposed moderate in The Appalling Mr. Zarif.
What made Zarif’s appearance all the more nauseating was his pretense of moral standing. He has none. His lecture to the United States took place as his regime held a container ship it had seized in international waters, and as evidence emerged of Iranian violations of U.N. sanctions. It is the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies such as Hezbollah and the Houthis and other Shiite militias that are fomenting and exploiting sectarian conflict in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. Iran’s human rights record is abysmal. Since Zarif returned to government in the administration of Hassan Rouhani, there has been a “surge” in executions in Iran. “The authorities restricted freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, arresting, detaining, and prosecuting in unfair trials minority and women’s rights activists, journalists, human rights defenders, and others who voiced dissent” say the right-wing extremists at Amnesty International, whose most recent report catalogues the torture and cruel and unusual punishments of the Iranian regime. ... At NYU Zarif said America will have to lift sanctions on Iran “whether Senator Cotton likes it or not.” The “polite” and “respectful” audience broke into laughter—at Cotton. “I couldn’t resist,” Zarif said. No troll could.

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Posted by Mike LaChance on May 07, 2015 7 Comments
The Clintons and their defenders are trying to ignore the fact that Hillary used a private email server during her time at the State Department but despite their best efforts, the scandal isn't going away. Josh Gerstein of Politico:
State Dept. official: Hillary Clinton’s email practices ‘not acceptable’ A senior State Department official testifying at the first congressional hearing focusing on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email account for official business called such an arrangement “not acceptable” and said other employees have been warned against it. “I think that the action we’ve taken in the course of recovering these emails have made it very clear what people’s responsibilities are with respect to recordkeeping,” Assistant Secretary of State for Administration Joyce Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I think the message is loud and clear that that is not acceptable.”
Some people in the media are beginning to realize that the Clintons have a transparency problem and that it's impossible to prove their guilt or innocence without the thousands of emails Hillary decided to delete. Meet Jonah Goldberg, political psychic:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 06, 2015 5 Comments
When the Israeli elections were held in March, the result widely was seen as a huge win for Benjamin Netanyahu, because his Likud Party outperformed. But that was Part 1. The second part has taken several weeks to play out -- the formation of a governing coalition of at least 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset (parliament). That took time, and almost didn't happen. Late last night Israel time Netanyahu put the final piece together, as reported in The Times of Israel:
Less than two hours before his deadline was set to expire on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hammered out a deal with Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett, allowing him to inform President Reuven Rivlin that he had successfully cobbled together a 61-seat coalition — the narrowest of Knesset majorities.... In a meeting with Bennett in the Knesset Wednesday night, Netanyahu thanked the Jewish Home party leader for his “efforts during the negotiations and throughout these last weeks.” He also asserted that Israel would have a “strong, stable government,” which he hoped would exceed 61 seats by Wednesday. “’61 seats is a good number. 61-plus is a better number. But it starts with 61, and we will begin with that,” Netanyahu said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us. Good luck to us and to the Israeli nation.” “We support you,” Bennett told Netanyahu. “We will assist you with all of our strength for the sake of the country and the government, because we have no other land. This government can complete its term in office. We will work hard to make sure of that.” Bennett said that the two parties’ negotiating teams would “work all night” in order to finalize the fine points of the deal. Netanyahu was understood to have capitulated to the demands of the Orthodox-nationalist Jewish Home, the final recalcitrant coalition partner, and agreed to appoint Bennett as education minister, MK Ayelet Shaked as justice minister, and another Jewish Home member, Uri Ariel, as agriculture minister.
David Horvitz, Editor-in-Chief of The Times of Israel, notes the disappointment at such a thin margin:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 06, 2015 27 Comments
Days later and establishment media types are still struggling to define the Garland shooting at Sunday's "draw Muhammad" event. CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, son of late New Governor Mario Cuomo, waded into the free speech pool today. Needless to say the ill-fated soirée was short-lived. Whilst debating the merits of the first amendment, Cuomo fired off this misinformed statement: Well, I've read the Constitution and I'm pretty sure no where in the first amendment or elsewhere is "hate speech" excluded from protection. "Hate speech" of course being the term progressives toss around any time words or phrases offend their delicate sensibilities or confront their requisite acquiescence to what Tom Wolff describes as, radical chic.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 06, 2015 33 Comments
Remember when any criticism of a black man running for president was indisputable proof of racism? MSNBC doesn't. Progressives have forgotten everything that happened since the 2008 election and they think we have too. It's already obvious that Dr. Ben Carson, a renowned pediatric neurosurgeon, is not going to get the respect the left gave to America's most successful community organizer. Ken Shepherd of News Busters:
MSNBC Pundit Suggests Ben Carson an Affirmative-Action Case Who Drank the GOP's 'Kool-Aid' According to MSNBC pundit Michelle Bernard -- best known at NewsBusters perhaps because of her insistence that there is a "war on black boys" in America -- savaged newly-announced GOP presidential aspirant Dr. Ben Carson tonight by alleging his success is all owed to "affirmative action." She also suggested that he's a disgrace to his enslaved ancestors and to the black community in Baltimore, where he's lived throughout his career as an acclaimed neurosurgeon...
MICHELLE BERNARD: It is absolutely horrifying. You take one look at him and you say to yourself, well, your ancestors didn't come here on their free will, so how is the Affordable Care Act in any way comparable to slavery? Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina have the same problem. People are going to say, who is the real Ben Carson? The person who probably went to Yale and University of Michigan for medical school because of affirmative action and because of social problems and didn't end up like many of the black men that we see in prison today in Baltimore, where he came from, because of these same social problems.
Here's the video: You don't have to be a brain surgeon to know why Democrats will never be fair to Dr. Carson.

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Posted by Amy Miller on May 06, 2015 14 Comments
In politics, there's no such thing as a tiny mistake. Even the silliest moments become "gaffes" at the behest of overeager journalists looking to "break" the Next Big Scandal©. There's no avoiding it; what matters is how you deal with it. Carly Fiorina knows how to deal with it. When Fiorina took the plunge into the 2016 presidential pool, her team discovered that somewhere down the line, whoever was in charge of these things had neglected to buy CarlyFiorina.org. What's worse, the person who had managed to secure the domain is currently using it to lambast Fiorina's tenure at HP:
“Carly Fiorina failed to register this domain. So I'm using it to tell you how many people she laid off at Hewlett-Packard,” the page reads, followed by 30,000 sad-face emotions that it says represents one person that lost their job. The Hill later reported that an employee at the Service Employees International Union, which regularly donates to the Democratic Party, created the website. He told The Hill that he made the site entirely on his own time with his own resources late last year and that it had nothing to do with his employer.
During her recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Meyers brought it up---and was promptly taken to school. Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on May 06, 2015 0 Comments
Today, 32 people died trying to escape Yemen. Houthi rebels fired a shell at their boat as it pulled out of port in the strategically-crucial gulf city of Aden. Overnight, fierce fighting had broken out in the al-Tawahi district between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and militia forces loyal to (deposed and yet back again) President Hadi. It was a territorial struggle; even more may have died on the ground as Saudi airstrikes attempted to push the Houthi back even further. This isn't a "crisis"; it's something else entirely. Secretary of State John Kerry has pledged $68 million in new U.S. aid to Yemen, and is working on securing a "pause" in the fighting so that humanitarian workers can get food, fuel, and medicine to civilians caught in the crossfire. We'll see. Maybe they'll give it to him.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 06, 2015 11 Comments
Bowdoin College Student Government held an unprecedented all-student referendum, sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine, for a full academic and cultural boycott of Israel (not just "divestment" from certain companies). Bowdoin is one of the most elite Liberal Arts colleges, ranked 5th by U.S. News & World Report. The referendum was held after SJP managed to get 20% of the student body to sign a Petition calling for a boycott. Our prior posts have the full background: In order to pass, one-third of the 1915 students needed to participate in the vote, and two-thirds of those voting needed to vote in favor. The results have just been officially released in an email from the student government president:
Dear Students, The voting for the student referendum has now closed. The number of voters reached the necessary quorum of 1/3 of the student body but only 14% voted in favor of the referendum, therefore it does not pass. The results are as follows: In favor: 228 votes, 14% Opposed: 1,144 votes, 71% Abstaining: 247 votes, 15% Total Votes: 1,619 votes, 85% of the student body Thank you to everyone who voted.
This is a particularly crushing blow to the boycott movement, with 150 fewer students voting in favor than signed the Petition.  This reflects that many students were pressured into signing the Petition and also were misled as to the nature of the boycott. That 85% of student body participated reflects that the student body spontaneously rose up against this threat to academic freedom.

Posted by New Neo on May 06, 2015 1 Comment
Passengers appeared to have noticed nothing out of the ordinary, but Alps-crash copilot Andreas Lubitz had practiced his descent-programming skills on a previous flight. He apparently waited until the pilot stepped out of the cabin, after which Lubitz set about his nefarious business:
Over the course of three or four minutes, Lubitz...designate[d] "100 feet" as the selected flight level. He did this several times, while the pilot was out of the cockpit. But this was just after the plane had already begun its descent. After each occasion that he chose "100 feet" he then corrected himself and entered the correct flight level. The course of the plane was not altered at all.
So no one noticed at all. Here's how it went: LubitzProgram

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 06, 2015 16 Comments
Forget about brunch, flowers, and sweetly worded, glitter-laden greeting cards this Mother's Day. One unfortunate soul lucky mother will get a very special surprise this Mother's Day -- a phone call from Hillary Clinton on your behalf! Though it's not clear whether that call will come from a Blackberry or an iPhone, or how many devices she has to choose from... Taking a break from her grueling yoga-filled schedule, Hillary will set aside a few minutes to chat it up with your Mom.

Posted by Andrew Branca on May 06, 2015 150 Comments
[NOTE: This post has been updated with a relevant statement released yesterday from Prosecutor Mosby's office, and embedded at the bottom of this post.] As Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby continues her efforts to convict six police officers of serious felonies--including depraved-heart second degree murder and multiple counts of manslaughter--in the death of Freddie Gray continue, those charges are already being subject to challenge, and looking increasingly vulnerable. The Baltimore Sun reports that the defense attorney for Edward Nero, one of the officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, has filed a motion for an independent inspection of Gray's knife, which formed the basis for the probable cause underpinning Gray's arrest. (h/t commenter MouseTheLuckyDog) The motion is embedded at the bottom of this post.

Arrest Timeline: Charges Against Officer Nero, In Context

It is perhaps worth stepping through the timeline of Officer Nero's participation in the arrest and transport of Freddie Gray, and juxtapose that against the five criminal charges brought against him. (Note: we're recounting the timeline "facts" as reported by the New York Times.)  All events occur on April 12, 2015 8:39:12 AM Officer Nero, Lieutenant Brian Rice, and Officer Miller are on bike patrol in a high-crime/drug area of Baltimore, and spot Freddie Gray--a known convict and career street-level drug dealer--acting suspiciously. This raises the reasonable suspicion needed to justify a "Terry stop," (commonly known as stop-and-frisk), and the officers seek to do so with Freddie Gray. (For more details on a "Terry stop," see Was Freddie Gray’s Arrest Lawful? Almost Certainly.) Gray observes the officers approaching and flees their lawful stop, further establishing reasonable suspicion. The officers pursue. 8:39:52 AM Freddie's flight from the lawful Terry stop lasts only 40 seconds before the officers bring him to a halt. (Humorously, the New York Times describes the end of this flight and pursuit as Gray "surrendering to" the pursuing officers.  I guess the NYT forgot how to spell "captured by.") 8:40 AM The officers prone out Gray and handcuff him, all perfectly lawful and consistent with securing the safety of a Terry stop. Prosecutor Mosby claims that at this point Gray requested an inhaler, and was not provided one.  She does not indicate her evidence for this claim, nor whether the officers or Gray even had an inhaler in their possession that they could have offered Gray, nor whether the officers have a legal duty--or are even medically qualified--to provide medical assistance to a suspect.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 05, 2015 12 Comments
We've featured many videos of the street harassment that accompanies Walking While Jewish in many European cities, including Paris, Copenhagen, Malmö and parts of Britain. So here is a change of pace. Chabad, the Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish organization, has emissaries and houses on campuses and locations around the world. It is not a proselytizing group. It doesn't seek to convert anyone, focusing instead on bringing Judaism to Jews.
"Everything in this world was created for a divine purpose. All forms of modern technology can and should be harnessed to make the world a better place and, in the case of Jews, to spread Judaism in the widest possible manner." as quoted in The New York Times "No Jew should ever be lost to the Jewish people, no Jew must ever be lonely." as quoted in The Jewish Week
The campus Chabads are particularly fantastic, in my experience. Non-judgmental, welcoming, and enthusiastic (that's an understatement). Major shout out to the folks at Cornell Chabad and the recently opened Chabad of Clinton (NY), servicing my alma mater, Hamilton College. Chabad produced a video of one of its Rabbis spending 10 hours walking through Montevideo, Uruguay.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 05, 2015 40 Comments
Sunday, a couple of wanna-be jihadists' attempt to silence free speech at a "draw Mohammad" event were foiled. The Garland tragedy provided many causes for concern. But for the authors of this Washington Post article... well, they're most put off by the rudeness of Pamela Geller and event organizers who (gasp!)... haven't apologized? Now, one would think members of the media, particularly media employed by a legacy establishment such as the Washington Post, would applaud those who stand firm against the enemies of free speech. Alas... Sadly, the headline isn't the worst part of the article published late yesterday evening. Sandhya Somashekhar, the article's author went so far as to suggest the event was intentionally designed to "bait" Mohammad image loyalists. "If the contest was intended as bait, it worked," she wrote. Somashekhar also attempted to draw a parallel between the always provocative Pamela Geller and the fact that tension in the local Muslim community is quite high... even though the shooters began their fatal trek in Phoenix, Arizona, according to police.

Posted by Amy Miller on May 05, 2015 17 Comments
We live in a culture obsessed with digital presence. When I joined Facebook in 2003, I never imagined that over a decade later I'd use the platform to network with bosses and clients, connect with family, and participate in discussions and debates with people half a world away. I definitely never anticipated having to scrub seemingly-innocent pictures and status updates from that platform before I applied to law school, and again from Twitter before I began my job hunt. Single life. Job. Marriage. Kids. Death. Online is everything; it can prop us up, take us down, and turn into an obsession if we're not careful. Appearances are everything, and in a time when the smallest step out of line (never mind something actually scandalous) can draw fire that ruins careers, marriages, and lives, paranoia isn't just justified---it's expected. Enter the "selfie arm." (Scroll up to the featured image and soak it in.) This little slice of horror is a piece of social commentary on the "selfie stick," which you've seen if you've gone anywhere near a tourist trap in the past six months. (It allows the holder to hold their phone farther out from the subject of the selfie, ensuring a photo that is apparently 150% more badass than a normal selfie. Or something. Don't ask me---I don't get it.)

Posted by Amy Miller on May 05, 2015 15 Comments
"Cinco de Mayo," a holiday currently being celebrated on patios all across North America, marks the date the Mexican military defeated the French in the 1862 Battle of Puebla. For American politicians, the day presents an opportunity to test out budding Latino outreach programs. Well, at least one politician. Jeb Bush is taking advantage of the day to flex his impressive Spanish language muscles and close ties to the Latino community via a new video pushed out on Facebook and YouTube. The video, pushed out by Bush's Right to Rise PAC, features some the same stripped-down, message-centric style that we've seen politicians like Marco Rubio use in the past. Check it out:

Posted by Amy Miller on May 05, 2015 9 Comments
It's not just those lunchtime margaritas messing with your brain---John Kerry finally did something productive. John Kerry went to Somalia. He's the first U.S. Secretary of State ever to do it, and the most senior U.S. official to make the journey since President George H.W. Bush went in 1992 as part of a massive humanitarian operation. The country---and especially the capital of Mogadishu---is so unstable that Kerry was unable to leave the heavily-fortified airport. He met there with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and other civil leaders, and released a video message to civilians discussing the importance of reclaiming a functioning government. From NBC News:
Kerry was greeted upon arrival in Mogadishu by Somalia's President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who called the visit "a great moment" for his nation. "I'm glad to be here," Kerry said, asking if the president had spent a "long time" waiting for his arrival. "It's worth waiting," Mohamud replied. ... A senior State Department official said the "historic" visit would "send a strong signal" to the Somali people about U.S. commitment to the nation. "It will send a strong signal to al Shabab that we are not turning our backs on the Somali people and that we will continue to engage with Somalia until we bring al Shabab's terror to an end," the official said ahead of the visit.
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