CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Chicago Tribune: Concealed carry enters second year in the Southland.

Hayes, who previously opposed the law, also said he noticed suburbanites who now have concealed carry licenses seem to be less fearful of crime and more confident in community safety.

“Law enforcement has two goals: reduce crime and reduce fear of crime,” Hayes said. “This seems to have an impact on law-abiding citizens adjusting to their fear level by confidence and knowledge.”

Lutger said he liked having a gun on him because police don’t always arrive on time.

“It’s a great equalizer if you’re attacked or if you have a bunch of thugs that rob you or want to kill you,” Lutger said. “This is strictly for self protection of myself and my family.”

Well, yes. Plus:

In the year of concealed carry permits in Illinois, there have only been a couple incidents involving legal gun owners that have created headlines. In July, a concealed-carry permit holder in Crestwood tried shooting at a fleeing armed robber, hurting no one but forcing a police officer to duck for cover. In Chicago a member of the military who had a concealed carry permit shot and wounded an armed man who fired into a crowd on Chicago’s Far South Side.

Nevertheless, Hayes said he stopped opposing the concealed carry law when he realized that the past year has not resulted in the level of violence some anticipated.

Yeah, funny: The antigun folks always predict that the streets will run red with blood, and somehow they’re always wrong. But they never change their story.

SO, BASICALLY THE COCKPIT DOOR IS LOCKED AND WE’RE HEADING TOWARD THE MOUNTAIN: U.S. Caves to Key Iranian Demands as Nuke Deal Comes Together: Limited options for Congress as Obama seeks to bypass lawmakers.

HARRY REID won’t run for re-election.

Senator Harry Reid, the tough tactician who has led Senate Democrats since 2005, will not seek re-election next year, bringing an end to a three-decade congressional career that culminated with his push of President Obama’s ambitious agenda against fierce Republican resistance.

Mr. Reid, 75, who suffered serious eye and facial injuries in a Jan. 1 exercise accident at his Las Vegas home, said he had been contemplating retiring from the Senate for months. He said his decision was not attributable either to the accident or to his demotion to minority leader after Democrats lost the majority in November’s midterm elections.

It doesn’t suggest huge enthusiasm for 2016.

ASHE SCHOW: Mob Justice And The Obama Administration:

When someone faces a trial by media, the default public position of the Obama administration has been to support the prevailing narrative. But in three recent high-profile cases, subsequent federal investigations have overturned the conventional wisdom and vindicated the people pilloried for questioning it from the beginning. . . .

Just two weeks ago, the media had another narrative dismantled — the whole notion that unarmed Ferguson resident Michael Brown had put his hands up in surrender but was shot anyway by police officer Darren Wilson.

The narrative spun last summer and fall was that Brown did not fight with or charge at Wilson, as Wilson and some witnesses claimed. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder proclaimed that the Department of Justice would hold its own investigation of the Brown shooting, despite a grand jury refusing to indict Wilson. Sure enough, DOJ found that Brown had charged and fought the officer before being shot. Based on its finding, the DOJ declined to bring criminal charges against Wilson.

And just a week before the DOJ declined to charge Darren Wilson, the department declined to charge George Zimmerman with civil rights violations. . . .

The point here is that in example after example, the prevailing narrative sold by the media and social justice activists has been disproven after an investigation of the facts. When it comes down to it, it’s cheap and easy for Obama to say something in public to show solidarity with popular opinion. But having to back up that same popular opinion in a legal proceeding — or in Bergdahl’s case, by ignoring a possible crime — is often impossible.

But they wait until the press fever has died. And the Zimmerman hysteria was allowed to burn until after the 2012 elections, while the Ferguson report didn’t come out until after the midterms. In both cases, the mob anger was exploited in an effort to energize black and lefty votes.

THAT REUTERS STORY ON CAMPUS SEX ASSAULTS THAT I LINKED YESTERDAY is looking pretty bad. See the updates to the post.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, NIXONIAN ADMINISTRATORS EDITION: Murky Inquiry Targets Critic of N.Y.U. Role in Abu Dhabi, and a Reporter. “New York University’s fraught tenure as an intellectual prize of the Middle East has taken a new and mysterious turn: A private investigator has been making inquiries about an N.Y.U. professor who criticized the exploitation of migrant workers building the university’s campus in Abu Dhabi. The same investigator, working for an as-yet unidentified party, has also sought information on a reporter for The New York Times who wrote last year about the harsh conditions endured by those workers.”

The university disavows all knowledge of this operation.

THE HILL: Gun debate heats up in Senate budget battle.

Gun rights groups are rallying their members behind a series of budget measures aimed at strengthening the Second Amendment and restricting gun control efforts.

As the Senate debates the federal government’s 2016 budget, Republicans and gun advocates are pushing for a number of amendments that would expand concealed-carry laws and block the Obama administration from issuing what opponents call a “backdoor” ban on guns. . . .

The Senate is looking at a number of various pro-gun amendments that would expand concealed carry laws and block future gun control initiatives.

For instance, an amendment from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) would block “any legislation that would place further restrictions on the right of law-abiding Americans to own a firearm,” according to the senator’s office.

The amendment would block gun control measures seeking to ban semi-automatic weapons and magazines, and create a national gun registry, unless they have support from two-thirds of senators.

The recent attempt by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to ban certain types of armor-piercing ammunition used in AR-15 rifles is still fresh in the minds of many Republican lawmakers.

The ATF dropped its bid to ban this high-powered ammunition earlier this month, but Republicans and gun rights groups are concerned the agency may try to revive the ban in the future.

In response, Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and David Vitter (R-La.) are pushing an amendment that would prohibit the ATF from attempting to ban bullets that are primarily used by hunters and sportsmen.

The Gun Owners of America and National Association for Gun Rights are both actively lobbying lawmakers in favor of these measures and urging their members to do the same.

Good.

RABBI DEMANDS: Let Jews Defend Themselves from Terrorism.

The recent atrocities remind of us of a time in Europe when Jews were prohibited from mere possession of a firearm. In response to street fighting in Germany in the 1920s, the Weimar Republic enacted stringent gun laws that gave the government discretion to deny permits to “untrustworthy” persons and to register and confiscate guns for “public safety.”

Adolf Hitler conveniently inherited this gun control scheme when he seized power in 1933. He quickly disarmed and crushed his political enemies, notably the Social Democrats.

As the Nazi dictatorship consolidated its power, anti-Semitic measures followed. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were adopted, depriving Jews of the rights of citizenship. Shortly thereafter, Werner Best, second in command to the Gestapo, issued a directive to all police authorities stating that “firearms in the hands of the Jews represent a considerable danger for the German people,” and thus no gun permits should be issued to them.

By the autumn of 1938, Hitler’s henchmen were preparing to launch a major pogrom. Jewish assets were confiscated. To ensure that they could not resist the onslaught that was to come, police throughout Germany ordered the Jews to surrender all firearms. Since the firearms were registered, the police knew who had them. The many who complied lined up at police stations to turn in their guns, after which they were interrogated by the Gestapo. Those who did not had their houses searched and were arrested.

Rather than surrender their guns, they should have opened a no-limit hunting season on Nazis. People who want to take your guns away aren’t doing it for your benefit.

WENDY MCELROY: ‘The Hunting Ground’: Reaping Profit from Rape Hysteria.

When the ‘documentary’ “The Hunting Ground” premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, it was advertised as a “piercing, monumental exposé of rape culture on campuses.” In fact, its objectivity and perspective have been systematically dismantled since then. The film is best understood as a volley in the campus consent wars now raging across North America. It is part of a manufactured and coordinated hysteria about campus rape that imposes a politically-correct agenda and strips accused male students of due process rights.

Peel back the panic and you will often find profit. Some PC advocates profit from the power and prestige that being a savior can bring. The New York Times article “An Unblinking Look at Sexual Assaults on Campus: ‘The Hunting Ground,’ a Film About Rape Culture at Colleges” (Jan. 25, 2015) quoted the Democrat Senator from California, Barbara Boxer, as declaring “[Y]ou’re going to see it in response to this film. Believe me, there will be fallout.” The article indicated that Boxer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) are pushing legislation that could ride into law on a wave of emotion created by “The Hunting Ground.”

Political careers, administrative jobs, government grants, book and lecture contracts are just some of vast financial benefits that rest upon continuing the “rape culture” crusade on campus.

Yep. “Rape culture” may be a myth, but the rape hysteria industry is very real. Plus:

The most remarkable aspect of the recipient list, however, is the apparent lack of any grants to groups that focus on preventing rape or sexual assault. The names of recipient organizations drive this conclusion. A single grant to Planned Parenthood is as close as NEO seems to come to funding sexual health or safety. And, yet, the “Take Action!” cry from “The Hunting Ground” states that NEO ensures “that your tax-deductible donation supports student-led campaigns, public education, policy reform, and prevention approaches.” Wouldn’t that goal best be ensured by an organization with an established track record on sexual assault? There are many of them out there.

The 2013 form is similar in its disclosed disbursements; no apparent grants go to organizations that address rape and sexual violence, let alone rape on campus. The vast majority of recipients reveal that NEO has an entirely different focus. Only a few recipients have sufficiently ambiguous names to allow the possibility that they deal with rape in some manner.

No wonder the iconoclastic website SAVE (Stop Abusive and Violent Environments) inquired after “the propriety” of “The Hunting Ground” being used to fund raise for NEO. SAVE asks, “exactly how much of movie-viewers’ donations will be used to underwrite Michele Lord’s excessive salary?” Or used by NEO to pursue partisan issues like immigrant rights? Or used by NEO to encourage people to vote Democrat?

Another question needs to be answered. If, in fact, NEO is using “The Hunting Ground” as a fund raiser, did NEO finance its development in any manner? Is there a connection between director Kirby Dick and NEO? The source of funding is difficult to uncover. Indeed, even how much the ‘documentary’ cost to make is something of a mystery. Mojo lists the budget for “The Hunting Ground” as “N/A.” Other sources claim it was $1.8 million.

The possibility of “The Hunting Ground” being a fund-raiser for social justice causes unrelated to rape is disturbing.

It’s Potemkin villages all the way down with these people.

CHANGE: “Tokyo has commissioned a massive new warship, its biggest since World War II.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: The Economist: Lawyers Beware: The Accountants Are Coming After Your Business.

I’D LIKE TO SEE MORE EVIDENCE FOR THIS CLAIM: Co-Pilot of Germanwings Airbus Was MUSLIM CONVERT …’Hero of Islamic State’?

HMM: ‘Space nets’ aim to capture threats to satellites and spacecraft.

WHY GUN RIGHTS FANS SHOULD SHOP AT KROGER’S. Kroger knows that MomsDemand is just another Bloomberg-funded astroturf group. Why listen to them?

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: Wesleyan student: My college discriminates against fraternities. We’re suing.

Their arguments attempt to portray fraternities, including the DKE house where I live, as bastions of ‘white male privilege.’

Not only is this an unproductive and unfair ad hominem attack, it is entirely inaccurate: two-thirds of our organization is on financial aid (compared to less than half of the campus as a whole) and 12 percent is African-American (as opposed to 7 percent of the entire campus). . . . At first, it was suggested that fraternities promote sexual assault. Yet the university’s own safety report states that 13 out of 15 forced sexual assaults in 2013 occurred in the university’s own co-ed dorms.

University administrators tend to be totalitarians by inclination, and their biggest objection to fraternities probably isn’t even that they are associated with Evil White Males, but rather that they are alternative power centers, and university administrators don’t want any alternative power centers.

AND, AS WITH “BAN BOSSY,” IT’S BECAUSE THOSE WORDS DESCRIBE HER PERFECTLY: Here Are The Words Hillary’s Supporters Won’t Let You Say. Hmm: Polarizing, Insincere, Entitled, Calculating, Disingenous. . . . Well, yeah, I can see why Hillary supporters don’t want those words used.

IT’S COME TO THIS: Obama: Hey, ObamaCare Was The Republicans’ Plan!

WIRED: Top Gear Shouldn’t Go on Without Jeremy Clarkson. He should start his own show, and steal the audience.

PRACTICING FOR PROMOTION TO THE PRESIDENTIAL PROTECTION DETAIL: DEA agents had ‘sex parties’ with prostitutes, watchdog says. “Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly had ‘sex parties’ with prostitutes hired by drug cartels in Colombia, according to a new inspector general report released by the Justice Department on Thursday. . . . The stunning allegations are part of an investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general into claims of sexual harassment and misconduct within DEA; FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the U.S. Marshals Service. The IG’s office found that DEA did not fully cooperate with its probe.” Unlike the Colombian hookers, who. . . . Oh, hell, you can figure out the rest.

AT MSNBC, THE RACISM NEVER STOPS: “MSNBC apologized after a guest said, ‘nothing says “let’s go kill some Muslims” like country music.’ Ebony.com senior editor Jamilah Lemieux made the comment in regards to presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz’s remarks on ‘CBS This Morning’ that he switched from rock to country music after 9/11.”

LIFE IN THE OBAMA ERA: Things Fall Apart.

FIVE PROPOSALS for reforming the TSA.

On a more serious note, I’d just flat out abolish it. It’s a waste of time and money, all in the service of “security theater” rather than security.

UPDATE: Convicted terrorist Sara Jane Olson went through TSA Pre-Check. “Convicted domestic terrorist Sara Jane Olson, 68, of St. Paul, was allowed to go through TSA’s expedited security screening known as TSA Pre Check last year, despite her criminal background. And when a TSA Agent at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport recognized Olson, and alerted a supervisor, his concerns were ignored.”

Like I said. . . .

ED DRISCOLL: Synthespians: The Dawn Of The Digital Actor.

AT AMAZON, take 30% off Jewelry.

Also, take 20% off watches.

And, 20% off new Spring shoes, for men, women, and kids.

MY PREDICTION: THE NUMBER OF NUKES IN EUROPE WILL INCREASE. The Future of NATO’s Nukes.