International, Military, Politics

Trump Orders U.S. Troops To Pull Back In Syria. . . Leaving Kurdish Allies To Mercy of The Turks

In a move that reportedly shocked U.S. military and diplomatic officials, President Donald Trump suddenly caved to Turkish demands and ordered U.S. troops to pull back from the areas held by our Kurdish allies. The move is being widely denounced by both Democrats and Republicans as an abandonment of allies who have fought along side with us for years. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., denounced the “impulsive decision” by Trump and said that this could be “a disaster in the making.” The authoritarian president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is of course delighted and is expected to invade Syria now that U.S. troops are pulling back. Nikki Haley, Trump’s former United Nation ambassador, put it bluntly in saying that Trump was leaving our Kurdish allies “to die.” Likewise, Senate Majority Leader denounced the move and declared that it “would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime. And it would increase the risk that ISIS and other terrorist groups regroup.”

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Politics

Federal Court Rejects Trump Effort To Block Release Of Tax Returns

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in New York has rejected the effort of President Donald Trump to block a subpoena of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., for his tax returns. As I noted when the action was filed, the position of the President that he cannot be subject to any criminal process of any kind while in office is extreme and unsupportable in the Constitution. The full opinion is below.

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Columns, Constitutional Law, Politics

Casual or Cowardly? Pelosi Takes Dangerous Road To Impeachment

Below is my column on the curious footing of the impeachment “inquiry” against President Donald Trump. The failure to hold a vote of the full house has left many of us wondering what Speaker Nancy Pelosi was actually announcing in her press conference. The Judiciary Committee had been calling their proceedings an “impeachment inquiry” for weeks but Pelosi held a press conference with great fanfare to announce the commencement of an inquiry. Now Pelosi has finally responded to criticism and said that she may still hold a floor vote — again fueling questions of what the press conference was about to being with.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Oregon Woman Slashes Throat Of Man At Taco Bell . . . Receives Only Seven Years

Oregon seems to have a rather generous criminal code. Caley Mason, 22, tried to murder a man by slitting his throat at a Taco Bill. She then fled the scene and left 48-year-old Jason Luczkow to die with an 8-inch gash across his face and throat. He survived with the help of 100 stitches. Her boyfriend was also arrested. Mason however was given just seven years after pleading guilty to second-degree assault. I fail to see the justice in that sentence for the victim.

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Animals, Environment, International

Hell’s Abyss: Five Adult Elephants Die In Effort To Save Calf

Elephants are remarkably intelligent and communal animals. They often exhibit the same attachments as humans to members of their herd. That attachment led to tragedy this week when most of a herd died in Thailand while trying to rescue a calf at a waterfall. This terrible loss should educate people about these animals and the savagery of hunting them. I have repeatedly denounced  killing giant elephants and other forms of trophy hunting. From the killing of Voortrekker (“Pioneer”) to countless other elephants, these magnificent animals are being killed for the vanity and thrill kill of wealthy hunters.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics

#IMPEACHMITTROMNEY: Trump Appears To Call For The Impeachment Of Mitt Romney In Tirade of Personal Attacks

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) recently stated what many have observed in the wake of the Ukraine call disclosures — the push by President Donald Trump for Ukraine (and now China) to investigate his political rivals is unacceptable. The response from President Trump was both personal and perplexing. He denounced Romney as a “pompous ass” and seemed to call for his impeachment — even though there is not only no impeachment provision for a sitting U.S. Senator and Utah does not even have a recall provision. Sen. Susan Collins (R, Maine) has also made measured but critical comments recently.

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Bizarre, Media

“So You Write Propaganda, Right?”: Journalist Files Complaint Against Customs and Border Protection
Customs and Border Protection Shoulder Patch

There has been a disturbing trend of complaints from journalists who allege that they were harassed entering the country by CBP officers about their coverage of President Donald Trump and related issues. The latest complaint is particularly egregious if true. Journalist Ben Wilson says that he was forced to admit that he “writes propaganda” to gain entry back into the country. The encounter, which is presumably on tape, is chilling in its lack of professionalism and abuse.

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Environment

Nature’s Reclamation Project: A Closed Campground With Fall Colors
A USFS sign reading CAMPGROUND CLOSED with arrow pointing toward entry

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

We as a rather insular species often forget that nature tends to get along well when left to its own devices, while a human construct such as bureaucracy tends to languish and fail when permitted equal liberty.  I found credible proofs to both when traveling on business recently–a former Forest Service campground, abandoned apparently due to red tape and yet showing quite clearly that nature still moves on.  And it does so vibrantly.

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Columns, Criminal law, International, Politics

Mischief or Misfud? Barr Calls Reveal Ongoing Investigation, Not Incrimination

Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the allegations that Attorney General Bill Barr is now somehow “implicated” in the Ukraine controversy because he spoke with counterparts in England, Italy, and Australia about assisting in the investigation by U.S. Attorney John Durham. If those calls were truly about the Durham investigation, it would be entirely proper for Barr to ask for such assistance. I have always maintained that the Congress has a legitimate interest in investigating the Ukraine controversy. However, the chorus of recriminations on the Barr matter reveal the hype triggering much of the hypoxia.

Here is the column:

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International

Apple Pulls Crowd-Sourced App Used By Hong Kong Protesters

Apple has been repeatedly accused to yielding to the demands of China in its censorship and access control demands. Now, even after a protester was shot, Apple has removed a crowd-sourced app developed by protesters to track the location of demonstrations and police. The app however is still being offered by Google.

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Bizarre, International, Politics

Egyptian Speaker Cites Hitler As Model For Infrastructure Leadership
Portrait

Ali Abdel Aal, Egypt’s parliamentary speaker, triggered an outcry after he used Adolph Hitler as a model for infrastructure leadership. Abdel Aal explained “Hitler had his mistakes, but what allowed him to expand eastward and westward was that he created a strong infrastructure.” Well, that and a combination of war crimes, genocide, and wanton destruction. Most people do not start with the good roads on that list of notable elements of Nazi rule.

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Uncategorized

Giuliani Suggests Suing Over Impeachment

Rudy Giuliani, personal counsel to President Donald Trump, declared yesterday that he has received advice by experts to sue members of Congress over impeachment efforts. If true, their expertise must be in areas other than constitutional law or impeachment. Such a lawsuit would be frivolous and it is unsettling that Giuliani would put any credence into such fringe advice.

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Uncategorized

Tlaib Calls Upon Detroit Police To Only Hire Black People To Run Facial Recognition Programs

I recently spoke to the federal biometric conference in Tampa. For that reason, a story out of Detroit stood out. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., MI.) called upon the Detroit Chief of Police James Craig to only black people as analysts to run their facial recognition program. Not only would such hiring violate anti-discrimination laws but it is based on a racially questionable assumption. The Police Chief called the suggestion “racist.”

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Academia, Constitutional Law

Federal Judge Upholds Harvard’s Race-Based Admission Criteria

As previously discussed the controversy over the race-based criteria used Harvard University’s undergraduate admissions program and whether it discriminates against Asians. Not only do the criteria limit Asian-American students to 20 percent of the class but the plaintiffs alleged that such students are routinely given low scores on “personal ratings” to further reduce their admission numbers. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston has now rejected those claims and upheld the admissions criteria, writing in the 130 page opinion that “The court will not dismantle a very fine admissions program that passes constitutional muster, solely because it could do better.” This case could prove a major new challenge to race-based admissions as it now works up to the court of appeals.

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