DNA EVIDENCE ISN’T PERFECT. “The criminal justice system’s reliance on DNA evidence, often treated as infallible, carries significant risks.”
Archive for 2016
May 26, 2016
FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMED: Living with Parents Now Number One Option for 18-34 Year Olds.
Hectoring them on the joys of Obamacare also an option.
IN FLORIDA, it’s open season on lionfish.
They’re delicious.
AT AMAZON, Spring Into Summer With Nerf Guns.
LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY, UNCANNY VALLEY EDITION: This woman has had SIX RIBS removed to look like Jessica Rabbit. “People often come up to me and say, ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like a cartoon.’ But for me that’s a compliment, that’s what I want to achieve.”
SO WHAT’S IT DOING IN ALZHEIMER’S PATIENT BRAINS: Human amyloid-beta acts as natural antibiotic in the brains of animal models.
JOHN SCHINDLER: Game Over: EmailGate Just Crippled the Clinton Express. This isn’t a right-wing conspiracy—the FBI will unravel it all.
Any foreign intelligence service worth its salt would have had no trouble accessing Ms. Clinton’s emails, particularly when they were unencrypted, as this column has explained in detail. Yet Hillary was more worried about the American public finding out about what she was up to via FOIA than what foreign spy services and hackers might see in her email.
What she was seeking to hide so ardently remains one of the big unanswered questions in EmailGate. Hints may be found in the recent announcement that Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, the former head of the Democratic National Committee and a longtime Clinton intimate, is under FBI investigation for financial misdeeds, specifically dirty money coming from China. In fact, Mr. McAulliffe invited one of his Beijing benefactors over to Ms. Clinton’s house in 2013. Not long after, Chinese investors donated $2 million to the Clinton Foundation.
That an illegal pay-for-play-scheme, with donations to the Clinton Foundation being rewarded by political favors from Hillary Clinton—who when she was secretary of state had an enormous ability to grant favors to foreign bidders—existed at the heart of EmailGate has been widely suspected, and we know the FBI is investigating this case as political corruption, not just for mishandling of classified information. That certainly would be something Ms. Clinton would not have wanted the public to find out about via FOIA.
As is their wont, Hillary’s loyal defenders are denouncing the State IG report as yet another “nothingburger,” adding with customary conspiratorial flair: “there are some real questions about the impartiality of the IG.” In this take, we are supposed to believe that the head of State’s IG office, appointed by President Obama, is a clandestine GOP operative.
Such escapism masquerading as hot takes won’t work anymore. Even The Washington Post, hardly a member of the VRWC, has conceded that EmailGate is a certifiably big deal, and “badly complicates Clinton’s past explanations about the server.” Its editors went further, issuing a blistering statement castigating Ms. Clinton’s “inexcusable, willful disregard of the rules.” They minced no words: “Ms. Clinton had plenty of warnings to use official government communications methods, so as to make sure that her records were properly preserved and to minimize cybersecurity risks. She ignored them.”
Although Post editors were at pains to state that Ms. Clinton had not broken any laws with her gross negligence at Foggy Bottom, the issue remains open.
Yes, the Post editors pulled their punches, and it was still damning. The reality will be moreso.
Here are some related thoughts from Austin Bay. And here are some more.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Steve Green grills up a few thoughts on Scotch and steak.
I prefer mine grilled to medium Balvenie. How ’bout you?
THE HIDDEN SCIENCE OF ELEVATORS: How powerful algorithms decide when that elevator car is finally going to come pick you up.
KATIE COURIC RESPONDS TO DECEPTIVE EDITING CHARGES IN GUN DOCUMENTARY:
You know, it’s easy to be cynical about the MSM, but I think it’s refreshing to see an ex-CBS journalist finally owe up to the misleading editing techniques her profession so routinely employs.
WELL, WHEN YOUR ONLY TOOL IS A SMEAR MACHINE. . . . Kirsten Powers: Hillary Smearing Voters She’ll Need Later.
WHEN MALE IS FEMALE, BLACK IS WHITE, AND OLD IS YOUNG: Peder Zane explores the meaning of the Obama Administration’s absurd interpretation of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition of discrimination “on the basis of sex”:
A dispute about bathroom rights turned into a Pandora’s box of philosophical riddles about the nature of identity and the meaning of truth on May 13 when the Departments of Justice and Education issued a letter prohibiting “discrimination based on a student’s gender identity.”
The letter defines gender identity as “an individual’s internal sense of gender.” It also states “there is no medical diagnosis or treatment requirement that students must meet as a prerequisite to being treated consistent with their gender identity.” . . .
Sex is a biological fact. Almost everyone is born with distinct physical markers that define us as male or female.
Gender is a social construct that refers to the fluid range of expected behaviors taught to boys and girls. . . .
Though the administration might have the best of intentions, its fusion of sex and gender raises complex questions. Race, for example, is even more of a social construct than gender. Men and women will always be biologically distinct, but race is almost entirely an invention. It wasn’t too long ago that Italians, Jews and Aryans were considered separate races. . . .
Similarly, if one’s sex is a choice, why not one’s age? As 60 becomes the new 40, we increasingly see age as an attitude rather than a number. If I believe I am 65, what basis do you have for disagreeing with me? . . .It might sound absurd, but, given that logic, why can’t a white person claim the benefits of affirmative action or a middle-aged man demand Medicare and Social Security?
Exactly. If I feel like a 25 year-old black male today, who has a moral or legal basis to challenge this self identity? And if they dare to do so, they are “discriminating” against me based upon my age, race and gender.
Orwell would be so proud of today’s totalitarian progressives: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
As a legal matter, however, interpreting a 1964 law that bans discrimination “on the basis of sex” as banning discrimination “on the basis of sexual identity” is patently absurd. The 11 brave States that have filed a lawsuit challenging the Obama Administration’s newfound construction of the 1964 Civil Rights Act will ultimately prevail, as congressional intent drives statutory construction.
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): A reader sends this takeoff on the #ManEnough4Hillary campaign.
DON BOUDREAUX: Still Putting At Risk the Well-Being Only of Other People.
ENFORCING LEGAL LIMITS ON GITMO TRANSFERS: My Daily Caller oped discusses the forthcoming transfers of one-third of the remaining 80 Gitmo detainees, and how Congress might enforce the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act’s limits on such transfers.
DEPAUL UNIVERSITY FACES BLOWBACK OVER ITS SHAMEFUL AND ABUSIVE TREATMENT OF GAY CONSERVATIVE MILO YIANNOPOULOS:
Over 5400 one-star reviews, and the one from Milo is a gem.
TEXAS: IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? Two Texas Lawmen in Tyler Track the Billions Spent to Rebuild Afghanistan.
SEN. MIKE LEE AND REP. MARK WALKER: Make Government Accountable Again. “Our bill would, for the first time, require Congress to set a regulatory burden budget for each federal agency. So, for example, if Congress established a $200 billion regulatory budget for the Department of Energy, and if the cumulative compliance costs of all existing DOE regulations totaled $190 billion at the time that Congress approved their budget, the Department would have $10 billion of regulatory-cost authority remaining for any new regulations to be issued in that fiscal year.”
It’s a good bill, but I’d prefer withdrawing rulemaking authority from agencies entirely and requiring that any regulations be introduced in, and passed by, Congress before having binding effect.
EUGENE KONTOROVICH: Peter Thiel’s funding of Hulk Hogan-Gawker litigation should not raise concerns.
GOODBYE, #PAJAMABOY. Hello, #ClapChap.
SOONER OR LATER, “REAL” LIFE EVENTUALLY CATCHES UP WITH MONTY PYTHON: The Guardian profiles “The men who live as dogs: ‘We’re just the same as any person on the high street:'”
It’s easy to laugh at a grown man in a rubber dog suit chewing on a squeaky toy. Maybe too easy, in fact, because to laugh is to dismiss it, denigrate it – ignore the fact that many of us have found comfort and joy in pretending to be animals at some point in our lives.
Secret Life of the Human Pups is a sympathetic look at the world of pup play, a movement that grew out of the BDSM community and has exploded in the last 15 years as the internet made it easier to reach out to likeminded people.
Here’s a sample of the upcoming documentary, airing on Britain’s Channel 4, and no doubt coming soon to streaming services such as Netflix:
I wonder how the men who live as dogs would get on with the men who live as mice?
Found via Power Line; exit quote: “Whether you want to belong to the human race is now a matter of personal preference.”
IN THE MAIL: The Far Empty.
Plus, today only at Amazon: Up to 50% off Puma Athletic Shoes.
And, also today only: Over 75% off on PuraSleep 10 Inch CoolFlow Memory Foam Mattress – Made In The USA – 10-Year Warranty, all sizes.
KNOW YOUR PLACE, PEASANT! Obama snaps at reporter asking about Clinton’s emails.