INFLECTION POINT: Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the Benghazi investigating committee, concedes that there is reason for the continuing inquiry.
Plus, from the comments: “It would appear that Cummings is alluding to some very unpleasant revelations are about to come out and that somehow they will make Hillary look very bad and Obama will be portrayed as a ‘victim’ of her incompetence, mendacity or whatever.”
THE LAST REFUGE: Why Male Gamers Must Defend Their Territory.
SO HER NAME WILL BE BRISTOL MEYER: Medal Of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer to wed Bristol Palin. I wanted to make some sort of explosively funny Bristol-Myers pun, but all I could come up with was a squib.
SALENA ZITO: Jim Webb Tests Populist Message for Possible WH Run.
FUNNY HOW SINCE OBAMACARE, ALL THOSE “EARLY DETECTION” TESTS THEY USED TO PUSH HAVE BECOME BAD: CTA No Better Than Stress Test for Coronary Disease. “Patients with symptoms of coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA) did not have better clinical outcomes than those who had functional testing. . . . Using CTA did not reduce the composite incidence of death, myocardial infarction, hospitalization for unstable angina, and procedural complications at 12 months. Event rates were low in both groups: 164 patients (3.3%) in the CTA group and 151 patients (3.0%) in the functional testing group. Overall radiation exposure was higher in the CTA group compared to the functional testing group, which included nuclear stress testing, stress echocardiography, and exercise electrocardiogram. One third of patients in the functional-testing group had no radiation exposure at all.” I’m not saying this is wrong, I’m just noticing.
NOTE THAT THIS IS HAPPENING DESPITE THE BEST EFFORTS OF THE NARRATIVE POLICE:
Events overseas are upending long-settled expectations about the 2016 presidential campaign.
In the two years after Barack Obama’s re-election, both political parties assumed that the 2016 election would hinge almost exclusively on the economy. As unemployment gradually subsided as a public issue, other economic concerns—such as stagnant wages, low labor-force-participation rates and declining social mobility—came to the fore. Potential presidential candidates in both parties jostled for field position as champions of opportunity for the middle class.
These issues will still be pivotal next year. But the Islamic State militants’ rise, the Russian threat to the peace of Europe and the Iranian challenge to stability in the Middle East have sparked increasing public worries about America’s security. Defense and foreign policy will not be as dominant in 2016 as they were in 2004, but they will be far more important than in 2008 and 2012.
The accumulating evidence from high-quality public-opinion research is hard to ignore. A Quinnipiac University survey released March 4 found that terrorism now trails only the economy as a top public priority: 67% of the American people regard Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, as a “major threat” to U.S. security. The public is not satisfied with the Obama administration’s response to this threat. Only 39% approve of the president’s handling of terrorism (down from 52% a year ago), while 54% disapprove. When it comes to ISIS, the public’s view is even more negative, with only 35% approving.
These sentiments translate into support for much more assertive policies.
People turned on Bush in 2008 not because they thought the war on terror was a failure, but because they thought he’d won.
IF YOU WANT TO BE TRUSTED, YOU MUST BE TRUSTWORTHY: Ebola Vaccine Researchers Fight Public Mistrust. The medical establishment isn’t as trusted as it used to be because it hasn’t been as trustworthy.
TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Naperville coach accused of sexually abusing player at sleepover. “Bail was set Friday at $100,000 for Shakyla Wilson, 22, of Naperville, who is charged with one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, authorities said. Wilson is charged with having sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl from Hill Middle School, where Wilson was volunteering as a girls basketball coach.”
AT AMAZON, Take 20% Off On Outdoor & Hiking Shoes. Summer is coming!
Also, take 30% off on Jewelry.
MY USA TODAY COLUMN is on how David Boren and OU broke the law, and acted dishonorably, to avoid bad press. What’s sad are the ignoramuses in the comments arguing that free speech doesn’t involve saying things that might upset people.
ASHE SCHOW: Georgetown University lawyer details the burden placed on colleges by campus sexual assault policies.
At a panel Thursday discussing campus sexual assault and due process, the general counsel for Georgetown University lamented the constantly changing rules being forced on colleges and universities by Congress and the Obama administration.
“Part of what is hard, honestly, as an institution, is the playing field changes with every OCR resolution,” Lisa Brown, who is also the university’s vice president, said at a panel put together by the American Constitution Society. “You implement the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, then you have the [Violence Against Women Act] reauthorization, then you have [Office for Civil Rights’] Q&A and then you have the White House task force report and you have all these resolution agreements.”
The onslaught of government regulations started in 2011 with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ “Dear Colleague” letter, which reinterpreted Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to classify sexual misconduct as a form of discrimination.
In 2013, after a lengthy battle in Congress, President Obama signed a reauthorization of VAWA, which also added new rules for colleges and universities in regards to Title IX.
Then in April 2014, OCR issued a question-and-answer document regarding Title IX that further clarified the requirements schools must follow in adjudicating sexual assault. At the same time, the White House Task Force created a year earlier by Obama issued its first report with additional requirements.
I hope the next GOP administration will be equally considerate.
BARRIERS TO ENTRY: California to Require 50 Hours of Pro Bono Work For Law Students to be Admitted to Bar.
This is exactly the kind of thing my colleague Ben Barton predicts in his Glass Half Full: The Decline and Rebirth of the Legal Profession. This is part of the “Decline” side. . . .
HE DOESN’T SEEM LIKE A TEA PARTIER, BUT I’M SURE BRIAN ROSS IS DESPERATELY SCOURING FACEBOOK: Protester charged with shooting officers in Ferguson.
HANDS ON with the weird new MacBook.
J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS: Hillary’s Crime: Section 1001.
EBOLA UPDATE: Americans Evacuated From Sierra Leone After Possible Ebola Contact. “The first of a group of 10 American aid workers who may have come into contact with the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone were evacuated on Saturday, American government and aid officials said. They will be the largest group of Americans to have returned home over fears of exposure to the virus since an outbreak in three West African countries was declared last year.”
FASTER, PLEASE: Targeted nanoparticles deliver molecules to resolve atherosclerotic inflammation.
Microscopic drones which can seek outand repair sections of artery damage could signal the future of treatments for heart disease and strokes, scientists claim.
Successful tests of the nanodrones have been carried out in mice – and researchers hope to conduct the first human trials soon.
The tiny particles are 1,000 times smaller than the tip of a human hair, and are designed to latch on to atherosclerotic plaques – hard deposits made from accumulated fat, cholesterol and calcium that build up on the walls of arteries and are prone to rupture, producing dangerous clots.
Once they have attached, they release a drug derived from a natural protein which can repair damage in the body.
In the mice, scientists found that just five weeks of treatment resulted in significant repairs to artery damage while the plaques were shrunk and stabilised, making it less likely for fragments to break off and cause clots.
Fritz Fiedler and I wrote about something similar 20 years ago in our Legal Problems of Nanotechnology: An Overview, which was the first nanotechnology-related law review article ever published.