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Posted by Amy Miller on February 01, 2015 10 Comments
There's something bizarre about seeing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promoting himself in a lighthearted campaign ad; but the latest spot from the Likud party brings a nice slice of humanity into an otherwise-bitterly contested election, and offers up a laugh or two in the process. Via the Israel National News:
"Look, it's either me or Tzipi [Livni] and Buji [Herzog],” he explains to the bewildered couple. The couple immediately protests that their children would need to babysit Herzog, and not the other way around. In addition, “by the time we return we'd have no house... he'd even hand over the carpets” – a play on the Hebrew words “shtichim” (carpets) and “shtachim” (territories). As for “Tzipi” – the woman says she doubts that she would stay in the same place for two hours, and Netanyahu agrees she would probably have gone over to the neighbors' by the time they returned. This, of course, is a swipe at Livni's frequent migration from one political party to another. At one point in the video, Netanyahu can be seen sitting in the couple's living room, watching Likud's earlier, banned campaign video, which featured Netanyahu as a kindergarten teacher trying to control rowdy children, who played the roles of Livni, Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid, Jewish Home's Naftali Bennett and Yisrael Beytenu's Avigdor Liberman. The video was banned because of the illegal use of child actors, but it seems the new video is a spin-off of sorts. When the couple returns and greets him with the word "Shalom" - hello - but also the word for "peace", Netanyahu responds "but not at any price."
You can watch here:

Posted by Amy Miller on February 01, 2015 10 Comments
I don't know about you, but after a wild week in politics, I'm more than ready for a little queso, a few silly commercials, and maximum football saturation. For those of you who, like me, have chosen to forego an expensive cable TV subscription in favor of a long term relationship with Netflix, NBC sports is offering a free livestream of Super Bowl XLIX, pre- and post-game coverage, and the halftime show. Katy Perry, Tom Brady, and Gronk---oh my! Although commercials will not be streamed, you can watch them here immediately after they air. A few have already been released, including this piece of adorableness involving not one, but TWO cats and their antics:
Post by BuzzFeed Video.
Enjoy the game---and the break from politics! UPDATE: Halftime report, brought to you by puppies and dads!

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 01, 2015 4 Comments
Rasmea Odeh is the Palestinian woman convicted of the 1969 Supersol supermarket bombing in Jerusalem which killed two Israeli students, Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner.  Rasmea also was convicted of the attempted bombing of the British Consulate. [caption id="attachment_106215" align="alignnone" width="600"]http://www.investigativeproject.org/4634/part-3-spinning-a-terrorist-into-a-victim-rasmieh (Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner)[/caption] Rasmea lied about her past on her immigration and naturalization papers, and was recently convicted by a federal jury in Detroit.  The brother and niece of Joffe attended the trial. The evidence against Odeh was overwhelming on both the murder and immigration charges, as I documented in my post, Rasmea Odeh rightly convicted of Israeli supermarket bombing and U.S. immigration fraud:
If this were just another immigration fraud story, it would be unremarkable. Regardless of whether Rasmea’s Israeli conviction and prison time were deserved or just, they happened and needed to be disclosed in response to clear questions on immigration forms. Case closed. But there is another story here, in which Rasmea, her attorneys and supporters seek to exonerate Rasmea in court and in the court of public opinion by trying to relitigate Rasmea’s 1970 conviction, and the history of the Middle East conflict going back to the creation of the State of Israel.

Posted by David Gerstman on February 01, 2015 3 Comments
I wasn't looking for anything more than a screenshot when I came across Senator Tom Cotton's (R-Ark.) statement last week (embedded below) before the Senate Banking Committee. But when I heard him speak about Iran's "...nasty habit with their proxies of killing Jews all around the world." I made a mental note of the statement and went back later. The statement was part of a larger argument against the nuclear negotiations with Iran, but what Cotton was establishing in stark terms is that Iran is America's enemy. The enmity can be seen not only by its words but by its actions too:
"Iran is a radical Islamist theocracy whose constitution calls for jihad and its leaders have honored that constitution for 35 years, killing Americans in 1983, killing Americans in 1996 ... having a nasty habit with their proxies of killing Jews all around the world, in Argentina, in Bulgaria, in Israel and most recently, controlling or exerting dominant influence over 5 different capitals in the Middle East, Tehran, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, and now, Sanaa..."
I assume this was a summary of the more extended argument Cotton made Friday in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal (Google link). After referring to Iran as America's "negotiating 'partner'" Cotton wrote:

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Posted by Amy Miller on February 01, 2015 23 Comments
Let the circus begin. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker brought down the house at the Iowa Freedom Summit last week; and ever since then, everyone from grassroots activists, to the mainstream media, have upped the chatter regarding his chances to move to and stay at the front of the field and seize the GOP nomination. According to Public Policy Polling, Walker has for the first time burst though into double digits (although those numbers include the possibility of a Romney candidacy). He's not on top yet, but he's getting there:
He's reached that level of support despite having the lowest name recognition of any candidate we tested, which is a pretty good indication that when voters get to know him they're coming to like him. Walker's near 3:1 favorability rating among those who have heard of him is second only to Carson. Things are headed in the right direction for Walker.
On ABC 'This Week,' Martha Raddatz did her best to make Walker say something stupid about Marco Rubio, Syria, immigration, football (BREAKING: he likes it,) and his own breakout performance:
World News Videos | ABC World News Was he perfect? No, but you can see what Raddatz was doing. Bam-Bam-Bam goes the hard-hitting interviewer!

Posted by Amy Miller on February 01, 2015 8 Comments
ISIS militants have reportedly released a video showing the beheading of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. Goto is the second hostage to be executed this month after negotiations broke down between ISIS and the Japanese government. From the Associated Press:
"I feel indignation over this immoral and heinous act of terrorism," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters after convening an emergency Cabinet meeting. "When I think of the grief of his family, I am left speechless," he said. "The government has been doing its utmost in responding to win his release, and we are filled with deep regret." He vowed that Japan will not give in to terrorism and will continue to provide humanitarian aid to countries fighting the Islamic State extremists. The White House released a statement in which President Barack Obama also condemned "the heinous murder" and praised Goto's reporting, saying he "courageously sought to convey the plight of the Syrian people to the outside world." Obama applauded Japan's "steadfast commitment to advancing peace and prosperity in the Middle East and globally, including its generous assistance for innocent people affected by the conflicts in the region."
According to Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Japan will increase its humanitarian aid to the region, but will not offer its Self-Defense forces in the fight against ISIS, or join air raids.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 01, 2015 50 Comments
Many moons ago, all the way back in 2013, The Wasau Daily Herald published an article. That article contained an interview with the Wisconsin Governor. Among the many topics discussed was federal immigration reform. "People want to come here and work hard and benefit, I don't care whether they come from Mexico or Ireland or Germany or Canada or South Africa or anywhere else, I want them here." Walker told the Wasau Daily Herald editors. At a time when the loudest voices on the right were screaming for border security while ignoring the major issues with our current immigration infrastructure, Walker took a somewhat different approach and one more akin to Senator Rubio's attitude on immigration reform. Walker explained that restructuring our immigration system should help mitigate the constant flow of undocumented aliens.
"I think there's got to be a way, not only do they need to fix things for people who are already here or find some way to deal with that, there's got to be a larger way to fix the system in the first place, because if it wasn't so cumbersome, if it wasn't so long of a wait, if it wasn't so difficult to get in, you wouldn't have the other problems that we have with people who don't have legal status here in the first place. the 11 million," he said. "You hear some people talk about border security and a wall and all that, to me, I don't think you need any of that if you have a better, saner way to let people into the country in the first place."
One of the reporters then asked, "Can you envision a world where with the right, penalties, and waiting periods, and meet the requirements. where these people could get citizenship?"

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 01, 2015 3 Comments
Finally, a little good news to share with Legal Insurrection readers about epidemics. It looks like we're declaring victory on our "War with Ebola". Recall that after after outrage at this administration's "Keystone Cop" style response to America's first Ebola patient, President Obama appointed political operative Ron Klain as Ebola Czar. He was slated to leave office in March, but now that date has been pushed up:
Ron Klain, the Obama administration's point man in the fight against the Ebola virus, will leave the administration on February just shy of three months after he stepped in to coordinate the government's response to the crisis at home and abroad. In an interview on "Face the Nation" in late December, Klain said that the American people should be "proud" of the work done by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and praised the generosity of Americans who had traveled to West Africa to help provide medical treatment and other services. The World Health Organization said Wednesday that the fight against the disease had moved to a "second phase" focused on ending the epidemic rather than slowing transmission. There were fewer than 100 new confirmed cases last week in the three hardest-hit countries since the end of June 2014.
It is standard practice of political operatives to take modestly good news about a small battle and declare outright victory in a war. So, let's take a look at the number the World Health Organization has reported. While the number of cases on one West African region has fallen, there are troubles elsewhere on the continent:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 31, 2015 13 Comments
David Goldman, aka Spengler, has written extensively about demography. In 2011 we highlighted his argument that Israel is an emerging demographic superpower:
Like the vanishing point in a perspective painting, long-term projections help us order our perceptions of what we see in front of us today. Here’s one to think about, fresh from the just-released update of the United Nations’ population forecasts: At constant fertility, Israel will have more young people by the end of this century than either Turkey or Iran, and more than German, Italy or Spain.
Israel Demographic Chart Spengler Article In The Asia Times, he highlights Iran's demographic death grip of high STD-caused infertility and plummeting birth rates, The Strategic Implications of Iran's STD Epidemic (h/t MidEast Forum):
In the 5th Century BC, the "Persian disease" noted by Hippocrates probably was bubonic plague; in 8th-century Japan, it meant the measles. Today it well might mean chlamydia. Standout levels of infertility among Iranian couples, a major cause of the country's falling birth rate, coincide with epidemic levels of sexually transmitted disease. Both reflect deep-seated social pathologies. Iran has become a country radically different from the vision of its theocratic rulers, with prevailing social pathologies quite at odds with the self-image of radical Islam.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 31, 2015 4 Comments
Do you enjoy long wait times at the Department of Motor Vehicles? If you live in California, you're in luck. So many illegal immigrants are now applying for driver's licences that wait times are absurd. CBS News in Los Angeles reported (h/t Weasel Zippers):
Some Motorists Wait Months For DMV Appointments After Immigrants Law Goes Into Effect The Department of Motor Vehicles is so overwhelmed with requests for new driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations that it can take up to three months to get an appointment or a half-day wait in the lobby. A DMV spokesman told KCAL9 Political Reporter Dave Bryan there has been a crush of applications for new licenses for undocumented immigrants, a program that began earlier this month. The spokesman said the DMV is working to address the problems, but some people are having to take a day off of work to handle a 15-minute transaction. At the Hollywood DMV office, where they handle drivers license issues, the long lines outside and packed waiting areas inside are testimony to the long, grueling process that California drivers have to endure before getting service. For example, Jose Quiroz’s DMV ordeal spanned two days of waiting patiently with his family to have his license renewed. “Yesterday, I was here for four hours standing outside, and when I got to the front line they said that they were not taking us in no more,” Quiroz told Bryan. “And now I am back here again, because I am here to fix my license, and I have been here five or six hours.”
Here's the video report:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 31, 2015 17 Comments
Leaks of classified and politically-charged intelligence information often are purposeful. So what to make of simultaneous leaks to The Washington Post and Newsweek Magazine that the CIA helped Israel assassinate Hezbollah master terrorist Imad Mughniyah, responsible for killing more Americans in terror attacks than anyone else prior to 9/11, and continued to work to kill Americans in Iraq and elsewhere. He also was involved in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of CIA Beirut station chief William F. Buckley (not the author), and reportedly sent video of the torture to CIA headquarters. Washington Post graphic Imad Mighniyah This was thought to be a purely Israeli operation. Some of the details leaked also contradict prior claims as to how the assassination was carried out -- instead of a bomb planted in a headrest, it was planted in the spare tire in the vehicle. The Washington Post reports, CIA and Mossad killed senior Hezbollah figure in car bombing:
On Feb. 12, 2008, Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah’s international operations chief, walked on a quiet nighttime street in Damascus after dinner at a nearby restaurant. Not far away, a team of CIA spotters in the Syrian capital was tracking his movements. As Mughniyah approached a parked SUV, a bomb planted in a spare tire on the back of the vehicle exploded, sending a burst of shrapnel across a tight radius. He was killed instantly.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 31, 2015 2 Comments
The FBI is seeking a man named Ghazi Nasr Al-Din for connections to Hezbollah. He is believed to be in Florida. WPTV News reported:
The FBI is looking for Ghazi Nasr Al-Din and believes he could be in South Florida He was just added to the bureau’s seeking information terrorism list. The agency wants to talk to him about his fundraising efforts with Hezbollah contributors. Hezbollah is an Islamic militant group. Nasr Al-Din is 5 foot 7 and weighs about 175 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion. He speaks Arabic and Spanish and he has dual citizenship in Lebanon and Venezuela. If you see him call the FBI’s toll-free tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800- 225-5324) or contact your local FBI office.
Here is the the official FBI wanted poster:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 31, 2015 8 Comments
Tomorrow is the Super Bowl between The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. "Deflate-Gate" is deflating. While there are rumors that the ball-boy may have done it, there doesn't appear to be a history of such shenanigans:
Brady, too, has denied wrongdoing, amid an NFL investigation into allegations that 11 of 12 balls he used in the first half of a 45-7 rout of the Colts in the AFC Championship game were underinflated. His denial rang true not only to a couple of former Patriots quarterbacks but an ex-ball boy who spent a number of seasons helping Brady select the balls he used in games. The former ball boy, who asked not to be identified because he is building a new career and does not want to become entangled in the national frenzy over Deflategate, said he never heard Brady express interest in the air pressure of game balls. “The only thing I knew about his preferences were that he chose the balls that were more broken in and the ones he liked the grip of,’’ the ex-ball boy said. “He never said anything about inflation levels.’’ Nor did anyone else in the Patriots organization mention game-ball inflation levels to him, the former ball boy said.
And science (!) makes the Patriots' climate change explanation plausible:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 31, 2015 27 Comments
We have reported extensively on the dangerous tactic of blockading the San Mateo - Hayward Bridge, including abandoning cars and draping a Palestinian flag across the roadway at the highest span point. Hundreds, if not thousands, of motorists were trapped on the bridge, with no way out and no way for emergency vehicles to exit. While ostensibly a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day #BlackLivesMatter protest, the event was completely hijacked by anti-Israel activists: [caption id="attachment_113857" align="alignnone" width="600"]https://twitter.com/farah_salazar/status/558214869648814080 (via Farah Salazar Twitter)[/caption] In a recent post, I noted that this how dangerous this tactic was, and how it differed from other protest road blockages:
While the protest ostensibly was about the #BlackLivesMatter movement and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, it was hijacked as so many such protests are by the anti-Israel contingent, just like in Ferguson and to a lesser extent in New York City during the Eric Garner protests. Subsequent to that initial report, we have learned that it was much worse than originally thought. The tactics used were designed to cause maximum traffic disruption and mayhem, including protester cars being abandoned on the roadway, resulting in several car crashes and emergency vehicles being blocked. The activists used a dangerous tactic of blocking both directions initially, making the scene inaccessible initially to emergency vehicles... It’s nothing short of a miracle that there were no serious injuries and that no ambulances had to be redirected, as happened in Boston, or worse, were stuck in the traffic jam.
It turns out my fears were realized, as the parents of a three-year old girl in medical distress have threatened suit against Stanford University, whose students constituted most of the blockaders (h/t Instapundit via The College Fix). The Stanford Daily student newspaper reports:
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