Archive for 2024

June 28, 2024

DON SURBER ON YESTERDAY’S SEC DECISION: Americans 6, Deep State 3. “The SEC used its in-house administrative law judge to fine George Jarkesy $300,000 and to confiscate another $685,000 from him. There was no jury. Well, you don’t need a calculator to determine that $985,000 is more than $20. Mister Jarkesy sued for his 7th Amendment right to a jury trial. He fought all the way to the Supreme Court.”

Plus:

The vote to force the government to prove its case in an actual court of law was 6-3. The dissent written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor actually made the case for the majority opinion.

She wrote, “The majority claims that its ruling is limited to ‘civil penalty suits for fraud’ pursuant to a statute that is ‘barely over a decade old,’ ante, at 18, n. 2, 22, an assurance that is in significant tension with other parts of its reasoning. That incredible assertion should fool no one. Today’s decision is a massive sea change.

“Litigants seeking further dismantling of the ‘administrative state’ have reason to rejoice in their win today, but those of us who cherish the rule of law have nothing to celebrate.”

Of course we want to dismantle the administrative state. We’re American citizens, not British subjects.

Too many grafters and grifters depend on it, though.

Posted at 9:44 am by Glenn Reynolds on Jun 28th, 2024

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Russian spy satellite reportedly continues suspicious maneuvers.

Slingshot reports that the satellite, which has been in orbit for just over a year, has been positioning itself near several communications satellites in what appears to be an ongoing signals intelligence-gathering mission.

Luch 2’s latest move, flagged by Slingshot’s automated tracking system, was a “large maneuver” on June 23 that would indicate that the satellite is moving towards an Intelsat communications satellite.

Audrey Schaffer, Slingshot’s vice president of strategy and policy, said the company “has had eyes on Luch 2 since it was launched in March 2023, and our machine learning algorithms have predicted its next move.”

The company is forecasting that Luch 2’s next object of interest is the Intelsat 1002 communications satellite.

Practice runs for attacking the West’s satellite comms?

We have plenty of rapid-launch capability, thanks to SpaceX. We need to make having plenty of backup birds a priority.

Posted at 9:40 am by Stephen Green on Jun 28th, 2024

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: WOWZA — We Should Know by Sunday Brunch if Joe Biden Is Stepping Down. “The reaction from the leftist talking heads was telling. They knew that they’d just witnessed a bloodbath and didn’t attempt to hide it. There was immediate talk of the Democratic big money people freaking out all through the debate and a discussion about whether Biden would soon be asked to step down as the nominee. It was like a family panic over an aging elder. The family had been in denial for years, then gramps made a scene at Thanksgiving.”

Posted at 9:09 am by Stephen Green on Jun 28th, 2024

BULLIES: China Massively Increases Fighter Jet Flights Above Taiwan.

According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, there were consecutive double-digit numbers of People Liberation Army aircraft operating around the island in the past week. On Monday, Taiwan said that 23 PLA aircraft and seven PLA ships were detected over the past day.

The number of Chinese planes flying near Taiwan hit double-digits on June 18 and remained at that level into this week. China regularly conducts patrols in the area, but according to one report, the numbers of planes and ships involved are higher than they have been in recent years.

The stepped-up patrols are taking place in the wake of the latest US arms sales to Taiwan. The Biden administration has agreed to sell Taipei Switchblade 300 and ALTIUS 600M-V drones at an estimated cost of $360 million.

In the last few years, China has dramatically stepped up the number of flights violating Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Previously: “Here is a rather simple fact: inside the procurement system we have – including kludge workarounds like DEPSECDEF Hicks’s ‘Replicator’ – if you believe that the window of greatest vulnerability for war with the People’s Republic of China is 2027 to 2032, which after initial skepticism I have grown to think is correct, then we will go to war with what we have now.”

Posted at 8:38 am by Stephen Green on Jun 28th, 2024

IT’S NOT THAT THEY REALIZED HE WAS SENILE AND INCOMPETENT, IT’S THAT THEY REALIZED THEY COULD NO LONGER HIDE IT: Morning Greatness: Biden Debate Performance Has Democrats Freaking Out.

Flashback: Time for Consequences: The “Cabal” who bragged about rigging the 2020 election stuck us with an incapable president at a time of crisis. Examples need to be made.

UPDATE:

ANOTHER UPDATE:

Posted at 8:31 am by Glenn Reynolds on Jun 28th, 2024

RETURN ON INVESTMENT: $190 billion in federal relief raised achievement — but not very much.

“The per-dollar returns of ESSER, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, measure up poorly in comparison with those of previously studied efforts to boost achievement,” writes Mahnken.

“The impact was small,” said Dan Goldhaber, the lead author of the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) study. “Only 20% of ESSER money was even earmarked for learning loss, and I don’t think there was a lot of oversight of whether that 20% was well spent.”

The Education Recovery Scorecard, led by Stanford sociologist Sean Reardon and Harvard economist Thomas Kane, found very similar results.

Still better than this: Chicago Doubles Education Spending, Tragedy Ensues.

Posted at 7:36 am by Stephen Green on Jun 28th, 2024

JACK DUNPHY: When Can a Police Officer Disobey an Order? “I didn’t witness the incident, nor have I spoken with anyone present, so what follows is pure speculation, albeit based on more than 40 years in law enforcement, more than 30 of it with the LAPD. The first thing to keep in mind is that in the LAPD, Sundays are the least busy days of the week and therefore the most lightly staffed. What’s more, the officers who are on duty on Sundays are often the least experienced, this owing to the fact that officers higher in seniority are given preference in selecting days off and that most of them choose to be off on weekends.”

Posted at 7:00 am by Stephen Green on Jun 28th, 2024