If you have sons in college or thinking about college, READ THIS---------The Strange Justice Of Campus Rape Trials

Or if you care, at all, about the direction of our legal system. 
About the "Star Chambers" festering on our college campuses.
READ THIS!
The Strange Justice Of Campus Rape Trials

Now that college hearings on rape and sexual assault are much in the news, particularly for their arbitrary procedures and unjust results, there's a basic question to answer: 
why are colleges doing this at all? 
Why do they need to develop their own investigative and punishment procedures to duplicate a process that already exists in the criminal justice system?

Sexual assault is the only violent crime routinely investigated by college disciplinary tribunals. Imagine, for instance, the outcry if colleges claimed a right to investigate murders or attempted murders by students that occurred on campus. 
Neither the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) nor the activists that have demanded weakened procedural safeguards have ever offered a convincing answer to this question: why should a college disciplinary system clearly unsuited for investigating murders nonetheless be tasked with meting out justice for alleged sexual assaults. 

Nonetheless, as OCR made clear most recently in its settlement with SUNY, the agency believes that colleges have an independent duty to investigate claims of sexual assault--even when law enforcement concludes that the accuser is lying.

Two high-profile pieces from earlier this year touched on the absurdity of failing to treat sexual assault as the crime that it is. 
Writing in the Times' "Room for Debate," the Student Press Law Center's Adam Goldstein noted the odd concept of a major felony being "investigated and adjudicated by amateurs, in secret, without subpoena powers, a right to representation, or any kind of due process controls."  

Moreover, he added, figures on all sides of the debate should understand that "when the best case outcome of the campus disciplinary process [expelled from school, but with 'a rapist walking the streets'] is the worst case outcome of the criminal justice process, you have to ask: 
What is this process for?" 
Goldstein closed with a simple message: colleges should "leave justice to the justice system."

It's "hump day"!

History for December 18-Glory Hallelujah!

History for December 18 - On-This-Day.com:

1865 - Slavery was abolished in the United States with the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution being ratified.

OK. He wants to borrow more money from China. Put the debt on the children's "credit card. And spend, spend, spend. Obama: Income inequality "the defining challenge of our time"

Anyone think that'll work?
At all?
Even a chance at success?

Obama: Income inequality "the defining challenge of our time" - CBS News:
"Mr. Obama also said he would work to 
improve college affordability, expand the availability of preschool,
protect collective bargaining for unions, and
urged Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and raise the minimum wage.

He stopped short of identifying a new minimum wage number – “we just want it to be higher,” a White House official told CBS News, indicating the president could settle for something between his $9.00 suggestion made in his 2013 State of the Union address and a $10.10 wage proposed by Democrats in Congress.

Speaking broadly about entitlement programs, Mr. Obama said more should be done to help the long-term unemployed, whose benefits are set to expire three days after Christmas, and encourage private saving for retirement."

And these numbers do NOT include benefits or retirement. Summer vacation. Lifetime job security.........How much teachers get paid — state by state

And consider if .......say, aircraft mechanics, had the same "success" rate in their endeavours.

How much teachers get paid — state by state:
"How much do teachers across the United States get paid?
Here is data, state by state, collected from the National Center for Education Statistics by Jon Boeckenstedt, associate vice president at DePaul University in Chicago.
The data are for 2013 and represent the estimated average annual salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools. "

Never trust the media. NEVER---------Just to Clarify

Even when they intend to tell the truth (or so this reporter alleges) the "editing process" (or some other "error") can destroy the truth.
Amazing how many of those "mistakes" happen these days.
Do your own homework!
Just to Clarify | The Volokh ConspiracyThe Volokh Conspiracy

A New York Times story out on Judge Leon has me quoted as saying:

“He’s very passionate,” said Orin S. Kerr, a professor at the George Washington 

University Law School and a defender of the N.S.A.’s surveillance programs, who said he found the judge’s ruling short “on legal reasoning.”

Just to be clear, I told the reporter that this specific opinion was passionate, not that Judge Leon is passionate. The reporter specifically asked me if I thought Judge Leon was passionate, and I declined to answer on the ground that I didn’t know Judge Leon or his decisions well enough to feel comfortable characterizing him or his work as a whole.

Second, I am not a defender of the NSA’s surveillance program. Contrary to the reporter’s characterization, I think this program violates the FISA statute. I just happen to think that the program is consistent with existing Fourth Amendment precedent; it is fine under the Constitution but is hard to square with the statutory text.

UPDATE: The reporter contacted me and explained that the problem was in the editing process; the original version made clear that I was commenting just on the opinion, but that was lost in the editing process.

Michigan? Not so good------Economic Freedom of North America 2013

Economic Freedom of North America 2013:
"Today, the Fraser Institute released the ninth edition of its annual report, Economic Freedom of North America 2013.
Taking into account the size of government, takings and discriminatory taxation, and labor market freedom, the report measures how government restrictions impact economic freedom in the countries of North America.
Once again, the Canadian provinces are besting the U.S. states in terms of average level of economic freedom.

Read or download the report below, and tell us:
How does your state rank this year?"

OMG, AlGore's invention is killing us! Plants won't grow near Wi-Fi routers, experiment finds

Plants won't grow near Wi-Fi routers, experiment finds:
"It's not difficult to understand the appeal of Wi-Fi.
This revolutionary technology, which has been commercially available since 1999, eliminates cabling and wiring for computers, reduces cellular usage charges and allows us to connect to the Internet from anywhere with a signal.

Despite these benefits, however, studies continue to show that the radiation generated by wireless routers is negatively affecting our health.
I
n fact, the British activist website Stop Smart Meters recently published a list of 34 scientific studies demonstrating the adverse biological effects of Wi-Fi exposure, including studies linking it to headaches, reduced sperm count and oxidative stress.
The latest research into the dangers of Wi-Fi, though, comes from a surprisingly humble source: Five ninth grade female students from Denmark, whose science experiment revealed that wireless radiation is equally as devastating to plants."

Socialized medicine has been tried. In many countries. It doesn't work---Obamacare's Future: Britain Rejected Treatment for 450k Elderly, Disabled

Obamacare's Future: Britain Rejected Treatment for 450k Elderly, Disabled:
"As America heads down a similar path of a government take over of its healthcare system, Britain's state-run healthcare service has been slowly cutting costs resulting in 40 percent of the nation's elderly patients losing services.
The changes have come in an effort to save money for the government.
"More than 450,000 frail elderly and disabled people," The Telegraph's John Bingham reported on December 15, "who would until recently have received state-funded care have been shut of the system because of pressure to cut numbers, a stark new report concludes.""

Democrats Have Maxed Out the Race Card

Democrats Have Maxed Out the Race Card - The Daily Beast:
"“I was just thinking, to me, in 2010, the Republican infighting took a particularly dangerous tone because it wasn’t just about infighting anymore.
 It was about taking our country back with the resurrection of the Tea Party. 
And it was very, very racial, whether any of them will admit it or not.”"

OMG, the Denver Post has lost (the liberal) Mediaite! The Ugly Mindset That Led Denver Post to Sanitize Arapahoe Shooter’s Political Beliefs

Children matter not.
It's the ideology.
It's the control.
It's the power!
The Ugly Mindset That Led Denver Post to Sanitize Arapahoe Shooter’s Political Beliefs | Mediaite

This was not an unsupported bit of reporting. The Associated Press backed up the Post’s findings. “Students said Pierson held communist views and liked to discuss current events and issues, offering his own solutions,” the AP reported. “None said Pierson was bullied for his beliefs.”

When confronted about the decision to stealthily cleanse the piece on this shooter’s politics, Denver Post senior editor Lee Ann Colacioppo revealed a particularly insidious mindset behind the decision: “We decided not to have another student apply a label to the shooter — a label the student likely didn’t even understand,” she wrote.

So, the shooter can have vivid and informed opinions on gun laws, on policy debates in Washington, and on arcane economic theories, but the term “socialist” is far too complex a notion for a high school student to grasp? 
If Colacioppo thought this admission would shed light on her perfectly defensible logic, she accomplished precisely the opposite effect.

True class-------Duck Dynasty Star Ducks Barbara Walters Interview--to Go Hunting

Duck Dynasty Star Ducks Barbara Walters Interview--to Go Hunting | CNS News:
"Radar Online is reporting that Robertson bailed on Walter’s ‘Most Fascinating People’ interview last month for the ABC network.
Walters talked with other members of the Robertson family, and Phil’s wife, Miss Kay, reportedly told her that the 67-year old founder of Duck Commander would rather shoot ducks than do the interview.
Walters says on-air that she has, “never been superseded by a duck before.”"

This may be an option with Obamacare!

"

Facts can be inconvienent things------Basic Facts of Growth and Development

Basic Facts of Growth and Development | MRUniversity:
"Some basic data on development, both across countries today and through time. 
We make use in this video of the excellent tool Gapminder made famous by Hans Rosling."

Another example of where institutions matter in economic development: growth miracles and growth disasters. Right after WWII, Japan was one of the poorest countries in the world. But by the 70s and 80s, it was growing as fast as the United States. On the other hand, Argentina was at one point one of the richest countries in the world, but has more recently seen a declining growth rate. For more, fast forward to 6:35 in this video:

Haven't some earned enough? Judge Takes Steps to Criminalize the Rich

Judge Takes Steps to Criminalize the Rich - John Ransom - Townhall Finance Conservative Columnists and Financial Commentary - Page 1:
"Rich kids are so privileged, so oblivious, that they can develop a type of mental disorder that makes them no longer responsible for their actions or aware of consequences. 
At least that is the conclusion of one judge in Texas who handed down a light sentence to a teen involved in a drunk driving accident that resulted in death.

“When a lawyer argued that a 16-year-old involved in a fatal drunk-driving collision in Texas suffered from ‘affluenza,’” reports Discovery.com, “or being so privileged by his rich parents that he wasn’t capable of distinguishing the consequences of bad behavior, many eyebrows were raised.
But it seemingly convinced the judge, who issued a minimal sentence to the teen whose car killed four people.
Ethan Couch was ordered to probation and alcohol treatment, but will not go to jail.”

While in the case cited above it helped the defendant escape more severe consequences for his actions, it sets a precedence that says that money is a type of mental disorder from which society has to protect itself."

A spoof. Sorta. Wait til they see their checks after Obamacare......Man Returns To Work After Vacation With Fresh, Reenergized Hatred For Job | The Onion

Man Returns To Work After Vacation With Fresh, Reenergized Hatred For Job | The Onion - America's Finest News Source:
"EUGENE, OR—Arriving back at work after a two-week winter vacation, local marketing assistant Matthew Bueso told reporters Monday he was happy to return to the office with a fresh and rejuvenated loathing for his job.
“It’s always nice to get away for a few weeks, clear my head, and come back invigorated with a newfound disgust for my place of employment and the various responsibilities of my thoroughly depressing job,” said Bueso, 38, noting that his time away had inspired him to complete mind-numbing administrative tasks, engage in idle discussions with his aggravating coworkers, and listen to bullshit inspirational speeches from his boss with a rekindled sense of anger and despair. 
“I’m rested, my batteries are recharged, and I’m ready to despise my entire professional life more intensely than ever before!”
At press time, a revitalized Bueso was furiously balling his fists at the sound of a nearby coworker’s loud typing."

Actually, it's simple. Barry's just waitin' for them to up the ante-----All Isn’t Calm, All Isn’t Bright

All Isn’t Calm, All Isn’t Bright - GOP
OBAMACARE THREATENS A RELATIONSHIP THAT WAS ONCE SO TENDER AND MILD

In September, The White House Rejected Labor Union Leaders Request That Union Health Plans Be Eligible For ObamaCare’s Health Subsidies. 

“The Obama administration on Friday told labor union leaders that their health plans would not be eligible for tax subsidies under ObamaCare next year. 

A White House official said the Treasury Department has concluded that such an exemption is not possible under the Affordable Care Act. 

The labor unions have been asking that their union plans, known as Taft-Hartley plans, be eligible for premium subsidies the way plans on the new insurance exchange will be.”

 (Byron Tau and Jennifer Haberkorn, “W.H. Rejects Labor’s Bid For ObamaCare Exemption,” Politico, 9/13/13)

• Following A Meeting With The White House About ObamaCare’s Negative Effect On Its Members, Union Leaders Were “In No Mood To Talk To Reporters.” 
• “Labor officials met privately with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Labor Secretary Tom Perez on Friday afternoon to press their case that the Affordable Care Act will have consequences for the benefits of union employees. … Union officials emerged from the meeting in no mood to talk to reporters after more than an hour of closed-door consultations with the president and administration officials.” 

Hmmmm, the MSM sorta decided not to make a big deal about this. What a shock! Republican Wins Democrat Seat in Kentucky Running Against Obamacare

Plus, add another hot conservative to the long list!
Republican Wins Democrat Seat in Kentucky Running Against Obamacare - Red Knuckle Politics:
"Tuesday night in Western Kentucky’s 7th District, Republicans moved closer to flipping the house and taking control in 2014.
Suzanne Miles defeated Democrat Kim Humphrey by just 112 votes in a special election to give Republicans 46 seats in the 100-member house.
This was a huge upset and a huge win for the GOP because Miles had been trailing Humphrey by 6 points in recent polling.
Even more important is that this win gives Republicans the momentum they need to gain control of the State House, which they haven’t controlled since 1921."

The American press is SCUM! When the Press Makes Life or Death Decisions

When the Press Makes Life or Death Decisions | The Volokh ConspiracyThe Volokh Conspiracy

When the Press Makes Life or Death Decisions

by Stewart Baker on December 16, 2013 2:29 pm

The Associated Press recently ran a long story about Robert Levinson,  a former FBI agent who disappeared while in Iran.  Levinson later showed up in Internet photos suggesting he was a hostage.  The AP story made clear that the former agent had a long relationship with the CIA and was likely working on a CIA project when he went to Iran.

That means the AP story was a potential death sentence for Levinson.  How did AP decide whether to release such dangerous information?  Well, here’s what its executive editor said (emphasis added):

In the absence of any solid information about Levinson’s whereabouts, it has been impossible to judge whether publication would put him at risk. It isalmost certain that his captors already know about the CIA connection but without knowing exactly who the captors are, it is difficult to know whether publication of Levinson’s CIA mission would make a difference to them. That does not mean there is no risk. But with no more leads to follow, we have concluded that the importance of the story justifies publication.

Short version: Unless someone proves this story will kill Levinson, it’s too good to sit on.

California Union Pays Only 1.7% of Income in Taxes, Yet Demands Corporations "Pay Their Fair Share"

California Union Pays Only 1.7% of Income in Taxes, Yet Demands Corporations "Pay Their Fair Share" - Kyle Olson - Page 1:
 "The CFT’s 2013 LM-2 financial report reveals the union received $21,866,549 in “total receipts.”
That type of annual revenue is probably on par with a lot of big corporations.
And the union certainly acts like a corporation in the manner in which it compensates top employees:

·Jeffery Freitas, Secretary-Treasurer - $166,664
·Daniel Martin, Executive Director - $150,557
·Kenneth Burt, Political Director - $140,102
·Fred Glass, Communications Director - $139,456
Yet the union only paid $371,150 in “direct taxes.” Labor unions are categorized as non-profits by IRS rules and therefore are immune from income taxes.

So these numbers reveal the union paid 1.7 percent of its income in “direct taxes.” 
Does that qualify as its “fair share?”"

Yes Virginia, there is a ....difference.

Presidents of Davenport, Hope among highest-compensated private college leaders in Michigan, survey shows

Presidents of Davenport, Hope among highest-compensated private college leaders in Michigan, survey shows | MLive.com:
"Davenport President Richard Pappas received $645,480 in total compensation between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012. That’s up from $581,564 the previous year."

A lot of GOPers would like to return this "gift"........

It is impossible to be an honest person and support Obamacare. Unless you are a moron. Usually both...... -5 Things Obamacare Teaches You About Liberals

5 Things Obamacare Teaches You About Liberals - John Hawkins

1) It's inherently dishonest: In many ways, Obamacare is a typical liberal program. .......it's a standard liberal program that makes promises it never intends to keep and does more damage than good. 

2) Results are irrelevant: Barack Obama promised that if you like your insurance, you can keep it. He said the same thing about your doctor. He claimed Obamacare would REDUCE the cost of health care, save the average person money and provide universal coverage. Not only are all of those promises untrue, but it's hard to miss the fact that no one on the Left SEEMS TO CARE. 
.......whether a liberal supports a program doesn't have anything to do with whether it works or not.

3) It penalizes success: So, in order to help a relatively small number of people, liberals are perfectly willing to penalize Americans -- who worked hard, played by the rules and took care of themselves -- with much higher costs and lost plans. This is standard operating procedure for liberals who act as if doing well enough to live your life free of welfare, food stamps and government nannies is "cheating."

4) It doesn't work: .....You think a billing dispute with an insurance company is unpleasant? Wait until you're hashing it out with the IRS. You don't like to deal with your insurance company? Wait until you have a problem with your insurance and can't get it corrected until you get approval from a government agent. Our government is slow, stupid, arrogant and generally unfriendly to consumers. The more government you have in your life, the more unpleasant your life is likely to be.

5) There are no trade-offs: Liberals seem to be incapable of mentally comprehending trade-offs. So instead, they present Utopian visions of how life would look in a perfect world and offer that up as a political alternative to the messy, oftentimes unpleasant reality we live in. That would be fantastic if Santa Claus, Star Trek replicators, and genies were real, but when you seek heaven on earth, you're more likely to start wandering towards hell.