Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Olympics Committee Bans Males From Competing in Female Sports

Democrat Mail-In Ballot Strategy At Risk From SCOTUS Election Day Case

Delta Ending Special Services to Congress Until TSA is Funded

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/julian-castro-wont-run-for-governor-texas_n_2542040.html

Mayor of San Antonio one heartbeat away from the presidency?

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 17, 2014 12 Comments

I've seen this coming for a couple of years. Julian Castro, the Mayor of San Antonio, reportedly is being nominated for a Cabinet post to give him the credentials to be Hillary's Veep pick. San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro Is Said to Be HUD Pick in Cabinet Reshuffling:

President Obama is preparing to nominate Mayor Julián Castro of San Antonio as his new secretary of housing and urban development, elevating one of his party’s Hispanic rising stars as part of a cabinet shuffle that has possible implications for the 2016 presidential race, Democrats informed about the plans said on Saturday. Mr. Castro, who has often been mentioned as a potential vice-presidential candidate for the Democrats, would take the place of Shaun Donovan, who would become director of the Office of Management and Budget.... Mr. Castro, 39, won national attention in 2012 as the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention, and he and his twin brother, Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas, have become popular speakers on the party’s fund-raising circuit. Mr. Obama and the Democrats have predicated their future electoral hopes on appealing to the country’s growing Hispanic population as House Republicans have blocked their efforts to overhaul the immigration system.

Scott Conrad also saw this coming, writing in August 2013, Vice President Julian Castro?:

Is Dr. Ben Carson Going to Run for President?

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 17, 2014 7 Comments

A better question might be should Dr. Ben Carson run for president? It's no secret that Dr. Carson enjoys tremendous support from American conservatives. When he spoke at CPAC in March of this year, the audience was sprinkled with signs which read "Run Ben, Run" but that doesn't necessarily form the basis of a campaign. Then again, maybe it does. Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard recently reported...

Ben Carson Moves Toward Presidential Run Ben Carson is warming to the idea of running for president. Since the famous brain surgeon retired last year from Johns Hopkins Hospital, he’s been speaking around the country to enthusiastic audiences. And they’ve affected his thinking about seeking national office. “Over the years, there have been many attempts to get me to throw my hat in the political arena,” Carson writes in his new book, One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future. “I have been offered support from around the country and tremendous financial resources if I decide to run for national office. But I have not felt the call to run.”

Ramesh Ponnuru offered a counterpoint at Bloomberg News...

San Diego wildfires may be “man-caused” climate change disaster

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 17, 2014 8 Comments

As surely as night follows day, a natural disaster will be followed by the assertions of environmental activists that it was caused by "man-made climate change." At this point, six of the now 11 wildfires raging through San Diego county are fully contained. And before the embers have begun to cool, California Governor Jerry Brown offered his eco-activist assessment of its cause.

On Thursday, Governor Jerry Brown asserted that it is settled that climate change is a factor in the wildfires now devastating parts of San Diego County. According to a story in the U-T San Diego, the governor opined, “Despite what you may hear in Washington, climate change is a factor… This is not about theory. It’s not about politics. This is about fires on the ground, people’s homes.” ..Brown, a staunch advocate of climate change theory, recently confirmed that Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is in danger of being overwhelmed by floods due to global warming.

Actually, it looks like some of the wildfires may, indeed, be "man-caused disasters." But not in the way Brown thinks. The Bernardo Fire was caused by a backhoe:

A backhoe in use at a housing construction project near Rancho Bernardo sparked the first large wildfire to erupt in San Diego County this week, authorities reported Friday.

Satanists at Harvard – The devil is in the details

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 17, 2014 20 Comments

Much has already been written about the Satanic black mass which was supposed to take place at Harvard last week but I feel MSNBC's recent participation in the story warrants one more post on the subject. In the video below, MSNBC's Chris Hayes attempts to make some moral equivalency between Satanism, Christianity, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. What he fails to understand and neglects to adequately explain to his handful of viewers is that the outrage over the Harvard black mass wasn't an attempt to squelch the religious rights of Satanists as much as it was recognition of extremely poor taste on Harvard's part. Whether you like the school or not, Harvard is one of the nation's most prestigious institutions of higher learning and is therefore held to a higher standard. In short, people expect better from Harvard. As a spiritual entity, Satanism would not exist without Christianity. The very central premise of Satanism is the rejection and mockery of Christianity, which explains why a host on MSNBC would rush to defend it. One has to wonder if MSNBC would defend free speech and freedom of religion if a group of Harvard students decided to burn a Koran on campus. Jim Geraghty of National Review recently noted the irony...

Dear Harvard Satanists: Go to Hell. I Hear You’re a Fan of the Management:

Check Your Own Damn Privilege Week at College Insurrection

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 17, 2014 7 Comments

Checking your privilege is all the rage on college campuses these days. Harvard’s Freshmen May Be Forced into ‘Check Your Privilege’ Training College Theater Production Features “White Privilege” Blame Game Funding for Cornell Student Groups Depends on ‘Diversity and Inclusion Plan’ Of course, if you don't want to check...

Student Newspaper at Loyola U. Apologizes for Calling Suspected Killer of Student an 'Illegal Immigrant'

Faculty Members at U. Wisconsin Donate Massive Amounts of Cash to Democrats Ahead of Midterms

Divinity School in Texas Seeks Prof to Teach Bible From ‘Queer’ and ‘Womanist’ Perspective

Princeton Professors Hold Panel to Discuss Resisting Trump Admin's Anti-DEI Policies

Former Harvard President Claudine Gay to Teach Class on ‘Governance’ of Universities

Civil Rights Office of Education Dept. Opens Two New Investigations Into Harvard

NY Daily News Editorial: “Vile at Vassar”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 17, 2014 12 Comments

In early April, The New York Daily News had a blistering Editorial regarding the anti-Israel Climate at Vassar College, Vassar’s miseducation, focusing on the anti-Israel climate we documented in Anti-Israel academic boycott turns ugly at Vassar. Today the Daily News has another devastating rebuke to Vassar, focusing on the reaction to my speech at Vassar which culminated in the now-infamous posting of a Nazi propaganda poster by Students for Justice in Palestine. I previously knew that the several academic departments which co-sponsored the anti-Israel Max Blumenthal and Ali Abunimah appearance the week before my appearance, would not sponsor me. I did not previously know that college funds were used for the Blumenthal-Abunimah appearance. Read the whole thing. Here's an excerpt from Vile at Vassar:

... Faculty members have joined the depravity. Thirty-nine professors protested after [Vassar President Catharine] Hill properly said in January that Vassar would not join the American Studies Association’s anti-Semitism-tinged call for boycotting Israeli universities. The 39 backed the boycott, with some asserting that Hill’s action “silenced discourse on campus,” as one put it. Duh, they claim they want dialogue while supporting a boycott against dialogue. Then it turned out that the 39 lacked the courage of their convictions. When Cornell University Law School professor Bill Jacobson challenged the entire group to debate the merits of boycotting Israel, they all ducked. So on May 5, Jacobson spoke — without fee — on campus at the invitation of the Vassar Conservative Libertarian Union, which is headed by a Muslim student. The libertarian union had sought co-sponsorships for Jacobson’s talk from numerous student groups and academic departments. All refused, a fact that demonstrates how strongly anti-Israel sentiment holds sway at Vassar, perhaps inducing a climate of fear among those who feel otherwise.

Friday Night Links

Posted by Mandy Nagy on May 16, 2014 3 Comments

Some links of interest for your Friday evening reading and viewing. Expect more pandering to the base...

J Street bars critical student journalist from National Summit

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 16, 2014 13 Comments

On April 28, 2014, I wrote about how J Street issues media Fatwa against its toughest pro-Israel student opponent:

[Daniel] Mael has been a relentless critic of J Street and its college chapters.... One of Mael’s articles even is featured in the trailer for the J Street Challenge.... Considering that The J Street Challenge is one of the biggest thorns in J Street’s side, it’s not much of a guess to believe that Mael’s affiliation with the movie is not popular at J Street...

I noted that J Street had issued a press statement requesting that media and bloggers "distance themselves" from Mael after an incident at Brandeis University, where Mael is a student. Mael alleged that a J Street U member verbally abused him, a claim which was denied. For whatever its reason, J Street corporate headquarters through its communications team got involved in this local dispute (emphasis added):

... we ask that others in the Jewish community and media – even those who don’t agree with us politically – will distance themselves from this blogger and others with a history of conduct driven by malice and deceit. While J Street and J Street U remain deeply committed to a vibrant and respectful campus conversation, there is a line that cannot be crossed. Unfortunately, some questionable bloggers and campus figures have consistently and consciously crossed that line. We will not tolerate harassment of our student leaders, and we see no reason for us to have any further interaction — on the Brandeis campus, online or in other venues — with those peddling in slander. We hope others will make the same determination.

Since then, two things have happened.

Will Marissa Alexander get second shot at Self-Defense Immunity?

Posted by Andrew Branca on May 16, 2014 21 Comments

Well, three hours of a pre-trial hearing on whether Marissa Alexander should be permitted yet another pre-trial self-defense immunity hearing wrapped up this morning. Rather than bury the lede, here’s the bottom line. No decision.

Instead, Judge James Daniel elected to schedule still another pre-trial hearing on whether Marissa Alexander should be permitted yet another pre-trial self-defense immunity hearing, this one being scheduled for June 10, at 10:00AM. Daniel’s apparent uncertainty about how he would rule was apparently all but palpable in the court room.

On the plus side, Judge Daniel did suggest that at the June 10 meeting to decide whether to have a second self-defense immunity hearing, if the decision was in the affirmative the would likely hold that self-defense immunity hearing that same day.

The firebomb attack (you never heard about) on a bus of Jewish schoolgirls

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 16, 2014 7 Comments

What does not get covered is as important as coverage itself....

Firefighters continue to battle San Diego wildfires as authorities investigate cause

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 16, 2014 3 Comments

Earlier this year, the chilly nation was informed that it was experiencing a "Polar Vortex." Videotapes of many wildfires raging through San Diego county focus on another meteorological event that is now "hot": Firenados.

Helicopters, military aircraft and extra crews, worked the fire, which fire officials said was only 5% contained as it burned 800 acres Thursday morning in San Marcos, home to a California State University campus and a heavily populated area. ...In broad daylight at noon, the fire blackened the skies in one San Marcos neighborhood and sent a “firenado” — a column resembling a tornado with smoke and flames shooting from it — rising and twisting into the air. The blaze forced the university to cancel this week’s commencement and other activities, officials said.

NewStationNation offers a glimpse in its video: Air response has been very effective in battling back the blazes. And, what type of aircraft would you use against a firenado? A jumbo jet of course. The following video shows a DC-10 that has been used to pound the flames with fire retardant.

Woman in Sudan sentenced to death for being Christian

Posted by Bryan Jacoutot on May 16, 2014 23 Comments

This horrific story comes on the heels of a 2014 Pew Research Center report that indicated Christians were the religious group most likely to be persecuted worldwide. CNN reported yesterday that Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, a 27 year old Christian Sudanese woman was convicted of apostasy and sentenced to death by a court in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Ibrahim, who is married, was also convicted of "adultery."

According to the rights group Amnesty International, she was convicted of adultery because her marriage to a Christian man was considered void under Sharia law. She was sentenced to 100 lashes for the second crime.

The story is an example of the extreme religious intolerance Christians are facing in many countries throughout the world, although Sudan's basic human rights violations have been noted by the State Department to be particularly egregious.

The Times and the War on Women

Posted by New Neo on May 16, 2014 12 Comments

Or rather, on this woman:

New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson was abruptly fired from the paper Wednesday, sources familiar with the news informed POLITICO. Managing editor Dean Baquet will take over as executive editor, effective immediately... “I choose to appoint a new leader for our newsroom because I believe that new leadership will improve some aspects of the management of the newsroom,” Sulzberger said. “This is not about any disagreement between the newsroom and the business side.”... Throughout her tenure, Abramson suffered from perceptions among staff that she was condescending and combative... The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta reported that Sulzberger had grown frustrated with Abramson after she pushed for more pay upon learning that her salary was significantly lower than that of her male predecessors.

Abramson apparently alienated some of those with jobs above her and below her. The key figure above her appears to have been Sulzberger. Among the ones positioned below her was the man who has ended up replacing her, Dean Baquet, an African-American who is reported to have been well-liked at the Times and in his previous job. The Abramson firing has caused a big brouhaha and engendered many articles and much blog commentary. But perhaps the most informative is a piece that appeared in New York Magazine. It describes a situation in which Sulzberger never wanted Abramson anyway and gave her the job reluctantly at the outset, only to become more annoyed by her. Much of his annoyance seems to have stemmed from her bluntness in telling some people (one of them being Baquet, whom Sulzberger seemed quite tight with) that they weren't doing their jobs all that well: