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Posted by Mandy Nagy on November 14, 2013 2 Comments

In a blog post Thursday, Google said that requests from governments for user information have doubled over three years, as the search giant posted its latest transparency report which also includes added figures on other types of requests specifically from the US government. In a year...

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Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 14, 2013 23 Comments
While everyone has been focused on the Obamacare and Iranian-nuke debacles, the Kurdish region of Syria declared itself autonomous, which combined with the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq and the large Kurdish region in Turkey, may mark a significant step towards the establishment of a Kurdish state. Since the Kurds are not in conflict with Jews (and generally are quite friendly towards Israel), Kurdish national aspirations don't get much attention at the U.N. or elsewhere. No one much cares that Kurds, a truly distinctive cultural identity who number several times the "Palestinians," do not have a nation of their own. As reported by Al Arabiya:
Following a series of military gains, Syrian Kurds in the northeast of the country announced on Tuesday the formation of a transitional autonomous government. The latest declaration comes amid a general strengthening of Kurdish rights in neighboring Turkey, and increasing moves towards independence by Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region. Long oppressed under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his father before him, Kurds view the civil war as an opportunity to gain the kind of autonomy enjoyed by their ethnic kin in neighboring Iraq. The announcement was made after talks in the mostly-Kurdish town of Qamishli, and comes after Kurdish leaders announced plans to create the temporary government in July.
Intra-Kurdish rivalries pose a major danger to the autonomy holding. Turkey, which repeatedly has taken military action against Kurdish separatists (resulting in world silence, unlike when Israel defends itself against outside attack), is not pleased:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 14, 2013 80 Comments
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Humpty together again
Barack Obama just announced a "fix" for the private individual health insurance market broken by Obamacare. After an estimated 5 million and growing policies were cancelled due to Obamacare, Obama said "never mind" and told insurance companies to just keep selling the cancelled policies. "Insurers can extend plans" into 2014. (Transcipt here.) This does nothing to fix the problem, which is a war on plans people like but the Obama administration dislikes. Democrats -- alone and over vigorous objections from Republicans -- broke the individual health care insurance market. It can't just be put back together again under Obamacare. https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/status/401015479198052352 Not only that, but Obamas is doing this unilaterally as an administrative matter, without changing the law. So much for Democrats objections to prior proposals from Republicans that Obamacare was "settled law."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 14, 2013 13 Comments
Immigration reform could pass easily if Democrats did not insist on holding the entire enterprise hostage to their demand for amnesty and  citizenship even for adults who knowingly and deliberately broke our immigration laws to get here.  (Does that make Democrats hostage takers and immigration reform arsonists?) Rationalizing the system by which people legally enter the U.S. so as to accomodate a variety of national objectives, including agricultural and high-tech workforce needs, is the equivalent of a 25-yard field goal. Not a gimme, but pretty close. Enforcement mechanisms are the potential gusts of wind that could throw the ball off course, but those could be overcome. The problem is that Democrats don't want reform, they want amnesty and more Democrat voters. Fundamentally transforming the electorate, not immigration reform, is the Democratic objective. John Boehner just said no to mixing reform and amnesty in one massive bill which mixes good reforms with bad amnesty provisions. The Washington Times reports:
House Speaker John A. Boehner on Wednesday flatly ruled out even entering into negotiations with the Senate on that chamber’s immigration bill, signaling that the issue is dead for this year — and setting up major hurdles for any action before the midterm elections. Emerging from a meeting with fellow Republicans, Mr. Boehner said he won’t be bound by President Obama’s timeline on action this year, and firmly rejected the Senate’s approach, which would legalize most illegal immigrants and rewrite the legal immigration system.

Posted by David Gerstman on November 14, 2013 4 Comments
Let's review some of the administration's diplomatic activity over the past week. Lee Smith:
Haaretz reports that the administration misled Israel regarding the terms of the proposed interim agreement with Iran over its nuclear weapons program. One senior Israeli official explained that on Wednesday Israel had seen an outline that the Israelis “didn't love but could live with.” Thursday morning French and British officials, and not the White House, told the Israelis that the terms had changed and were much more favorable than what they’d been shown previously. “Suddenly it changed to something much worse that included a much more significant lifting of sanctions,” said the Israeli official. “The feeling was that the Americans are much more eager to reach an agreement than the Iranians.”
Natan B. Sachs lays out some of the particulars.
On substance, the Israelis, like the French, appear very concerned about the provisions of the interim deal that: (a) permitted Tehran to continue some uranium enrichment; (b) allowed Iran to continue building the heavy water reactor in Arak (with only an Iranian commitment not to activate it), which would preserve the Iranian short-cut to nuclear capabilities via a plutonium — rather than uranium — track; and, most notably, (c) provided Tehran with incentives that the Israelis see as the beginning of the dismantling of the sanctions regime. Israel’s concern is that the proposed sanctions relief will not, in practice, be reversible, while the Iranian commitments could be easily reversed (and in the case of Arak will not even be halted).
The French objections to the deal led the P5+1 countries to demand more of Iran, so the Iranian team left without a deal to return for consultations.

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Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 14, 2013 8 Comments
Martha Robertson is the Democratic candidate challenging Republican incumbent Tom Reed in NY-23, my home district. We have highlighted Robertson many times before regarding her unsubstantiated fundraising claim that "GOP ops" tried to take down her website. Robertson's campaign never has provided proof of that claim, leading to a fair amount of negative local television coverage and even national press attention. The fundraising scandal, which I doubt is over, likely will be overshadowed by a much bigger problem: Robertson is a long-time and vocal supporter of mandates with the ultimate goal of single-payer. In light of the Obamacare debacle, and the inability of the federal government even to set up a website portal, a complete federal government takeover of the health care system is a hard sell. Some of Robertson's speeches were captured on video. Here are some excerpts where Robertson discussed her support for mandates, a government option and ultimately single payer: Nationally, Democrats are being hurt badly by the Obamacare debacle. Not surprisingly, Reed already has started to make Robertson's support for single payer an issue:

Posted by New Neo on November 13, 2013 48 Comments
Why should the Republicans try to pull Obamacare's fat out of the fire by correcting some of its most anger-provoking consequences? DrewM at Ace of Spades HQ asks a Good question:
The GOP has to be seen doing something. That's just reality. Millions of people who played by the rules are losing their insurance and quite possibly their doctors as well. It's simply not an option for a political party to say, "Wow, that sucks for you. Should have voted for us, huh?". Campaigns are about generating future support, not punishing voters for past lack of support... Could this all go south and wind up with the GOP sharing blame for Obama's failure? Theoretically, yes. But doing nothing isn't risk free either.
I've pondered this question ever since I heard that Republicans had suggested a Keep Your Health Plan Act to undo the cancellations and make Obama stick to his promises. Why interrupt your enemy when he might already be occupied in effectively destroying himself? Then again, people are suffering, and a failure to help them will not endear Republicans to anyone except the most die-hard tough-love advocates.

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 13, 2013 15 Comments
Marissa Alexander's motion for bail was left undecided today, when the Judge responsible for the decision decided to delay further action on the matter until January 15, 2014. Alexander's attorney had made a request for bail in anticipation of her re-trial on charges of aggravated assault, using a firearm, against her estranged husband. https://twitter.com/SeniABC/status/400744956736061440 Alexander was granted a new trial early this year after her conviction for aggravated assault (with a firearm enhancement) was overturned on the grounds that the self-defense jury instructions were defective. Alexander's conviction was based on evidence that in the course of a heated argument with her estranged husband she retrieved a handgun from the garage, returned to the interior of the home, and fired a shot past his head and into the wall behind him (while his two minor children stood by his side). The bullet penetrated through the wall and sped across the next room until embedding itself in the ceiling. Some have sought to characterize the shooting as a mere "warning shot" or the "shooting of a ceiling," a characterization we've previously debunked here:  The Myth of Marissa Alexander’s “Warning Shot”. Alexander always seemed a poor candidate for bail given the prior disrespect she has shown the criminal courts. In addition to the core aggravated assault for which she was charged and convicted, Alexander also allegedly induced her estranged husband to submit false exculpatory testimony on her behalf (testimony he later retracted), repeatedly meeting with him in violation of an order of protection intended to keep her away from him and his children. She later assaulted him a second time, albeit this time without a weapon.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 13, 2013 17 Comments
The "official" numbers have been released by HHS:
Some 106,185 people signed up for Obamacare in its first month of operation, a period marred by major technological problems with both the federal and state enrollment websites. Fewer than 27,000 Americans selected an insurance plan through the federal healthcare.gov site, which is handling enrollment for 36 states, according to figures released Wednesday by the Obama administration. The site is still far from fully operational, leaving tech experts racing to get it working by month’s end, as the administration promised. Nearly 79,400 people signed up for coverage through state-based exchanges, with California leading the way with nearly 35,400 selecting a plan. States have also been battling system errors, with Oregon having yet to accept online applications. These figures reflect people who have selected insurance plans through the exchanges, but not necessarily paid for them. Americans have until Dec. 15 to pay if they want coverage to begin on Jan. 1. Open enrollment lasts through March 31.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 13, 2013 14 Comments
Hillary supporters are trying to distance her from the Obamcare debacle. Don't talk about it, she is told.  Meanwhile, Bill is stabbing Obama in the back by telling him to honor his promise to the American people that they could keep their health plan. It's all about the mandate.  Forcing people "into the system" no matter what.  Even when that means they cannot keep their health plan. Democrats who are up for reelection are running from the mandate. But remember, Hillary was more pro-mandate than Obama. Here's more:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 13, 2013 59 Comments
The most sought after facial recognition in memory. The real woman behind this sadly-iconic photo from healthcare.gov was a mystery for weeks:  Healthcare.gov Girl Now she has been located by ABC News. She's a Colombian with permanent resident status who didn't get paid for the photo shoot. She complains that she is being bullied by the publicity:

Posted by 0387erp on November 13, 2013 9 Comments

I received the call in the late afternoon, “do you want to go to BDS 101 at The University of Washington tonight?”

BDS stands for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction of Israel and represents a radical movement bent on the destruction of the Jewish State. The D in BDS should stand for demographic destruction as the core demand of the BDS movement is the flooding of Israel with over five million hostile Arabs. Such an influx would mark the end of a Jewish majority in Israel and thus the end of Israel as a Jewish state. The Anti Defamation League, the American Jewish community’s central human rights and advocacy organization has identified BDS as an anti-Semitic movement .

The  BDS 101 program was held in a lecture hall filled with a mix of Muslim and Progressive students and a small handful of pro-Israel students and community members. The program  featured a four member panel anchored by Stefanie Fox of the anti-Israel group, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and included Cindy Corrie, mother of the infamous Rachel Corrie. Two co-ed hosts from the sponsoring group (SUPER-UW) opened the event by declaring their solidarity with all of the other righteous struggles on the planet “we condemn all injustice” they said.

BDS Poster U Washington

The panel members each on cue took their turn at demonizing Israel. The perky Ms. Fox educated the students that Israel is a rogue apartheid state run by war criminal olive tree killers that must be penalized until in compliance with basic civilized norms.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on November 13, 2013 0 Comments

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is holding a hearing Wednesday morning at 9:30am with top administration Information Technology officials to examine the rollout of HealthCare.gov. You can watch below. Among the issues likely to be addressed at the hearing are security and testing of...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on November 13, 2013 5 Comments
It was a busy day yesterday for Obamacare news, especially as today’s hearing with healthcare.gov IT officials on the Hill has approached.  We’ve collected a small sampling of the day's stories: As the administration prepares to release enrollment numbers later this week, CNN reported the White House lowers Obamacare expectations amid lackluster reports:
The administration is lowering expectations, cautioning the numbers "will be lower than we hoped and we anticipated," White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Tuesday. It is blaming a faulty federally run website that is hindering the ability of consumers to sign up for coverage. "We are working 24-7 to ensure that the site is working smoothly for the vast majority of users by the end of November," said Chris Jennings, deputy assistant to the President for health policy. Unofficial numbers have been calculated, however, and it is estimated that 50,000 people successfully signed up for health coverage through the federal Obamacare website, HealthCare.gov, during the first five weeks of open enrollment, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. That number falls well short of expectations for the period.
As Professor Jacobson noted the other night in highlighting a Washington Post report, the administration will include in its enrollment numbers those who have a plan in their “cart” but haven’t yet paid for it. Obviously, the pressure is on to increase enrollments and quell some of the noise.

Posted by A.F. Branco on November 13, 2013 4 Comments

Note: You may reprint this cartoon provided you link back to this source.  To see more Legal Insurrection Branco cartoons, click here. Branco’s page is Cartoonist A.F.Branco...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on November 12, 2013 5 Comments
The 19 year old suspect accused of hacking into the computer of Miss Teen USA to activate its webcam, take nude photos of her without her knowledge and then threatening to post the photos online, is expected to plead guilty to extortion and computer hacking. From NBC News:
The suspect in the "sextortion" case involving Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf and at least seven other women will plead guilty Tuesday to three counts of extortion and one count of computer hacking under a plea agreement with prosecutors. Jared James Abrahams, 19, of Temecula, Calif., is accused of extortion for allegedly using malicious software known as malware to control the computer webcams of victims and take nude photographs or videos, and then allegedly sending emails to the victims threatening to publish the photos or otherwise harm their reputations.
Abrahams' arrest was made public in September, at which time it was revealed that there were multiple victims in the case.  Wolf expressed surprise at the time upon learning that the person who did this to her was a former high school classmate, though they were not friends in high school. Wolf described in multiple interviews that she first suspected something was wrong when she received a message from her Facebook account that someone else had tried to access her account.  Later that evening, she received an anonymous email that included attachments of nude photos of her in her own bedroom, along with a threat to publish the photos if she did not comply with the sender's demands.
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