The Philippines is viewed as having the most persistent poverty in Southeast Asia. Schools are underfunded and social programs spotty in many areas. For that reason, it is maddening to see the government of President Rodrigo Duterte pull a gratuitous publicity stunt by crushing two dozen valuable classic and luxury cars worth over $1.2 million. Rather than sell the cars and fund schools or hospitals, the Duterte officials stages a show in which a bulldozer destroyed the cars to send a message against tax evasion.
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We have been discussing the identification of words as “microaggressions” on college campuses 
We have previously discussed the courage of women in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other Muslim nations in fighting sexist rules that prevent them from engaging in basic acts or pursuing their own futures. As I have said before, these women are the most inspiring civil libertarians of our generation — risking jail and beatings to fight for equality. That struggle is evident in the dozens of arrests of women in Iran who are pulling off their headscarves in public in Iran to fight for the individual choice in wearing the religious cover. One activist Masih Alinejab has gone further to denounce Western feminists and reporters who celebrate the selling of a Barbie doll with a veil while giving minimal attention to actual women fighting the mandatory wearing of such items.
I have previously criticized the President for his use of Twitter to attack those conducting the Russian investigation and various critics. Many of these tweets are in my view clearly inappropriate and distinctly unhelpful to his legal team. Indeed, today the Hill posted 
According to Stanford University students, one of these flyers is a public service and one is hate speech. There is a controversy at Stanford University reported by College Fix over the distribution of the flyer on the right — a satirical jab at posters encouraging students and faculty to report any ICE activity. It is clearly satirical and political, but some Stanford students declared it to be hate speech and filed complaints with the university that they now felt unsafe and threatened on campus. The flyers were removed by residential staff. 
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the controversy over the four-page memo continues to simmer in Washington. The memo will not change the course of the Mueller investigation. It may lead however to new investigations. Indeed, 
Reed College has r
I will be discussing the memo today 
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the move by the House Intelligence Committee to release the four-page memo on alleged FBI abuse. The FBI has objected that “omissions” have made the memo “inaccurate.” However, that does not sound like a classification defense. Indeed, a long-standing objection is that the intelligence agencies classify material that is embarrassing or damaging to the agency politically. Since the memo reportedly deals with the use of the dossier for a FISA warrant, it would seem possible to draft a memo that did not compromise methods and sources. We will soon likely know, according to reports that President Donald Trump has reviewed the document and decided to release it. He is ultimately the final word on classification status in the Executive Branch.
We 
We previously discussed the controversial decisions to drop the “
The plot thickened last night over the anticipated release of a four-page memo from the House Intelligence Committee. California Rep. 
There is another disturbing report alleging that, despite all of the damage caused by President Donald Trump allegedly asking former FBI Director for a pledge of loyalty, he asked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein whether he was “on my team” before Rosenstein testified before Congress. Notably, in the hearing, Rosenstein was asked “Is it ever appropriate for a president of the United States to demand a Department of Justice official or FBI director to take a loyalty pledge?” He replied “I don’t have any opinion about that. Nobody has asked me to take a loyalty pledge other than the oath of office.”
A District Court judge in Kansas has handed down a major free speech victory this week in striking down the state law requiring all state contractors “to certify that they are not engaged in a boycott of Israel.” We have 
According to Bloomberg, FBI Director Christopher