Never Forgetting 9/11 Video

Federation Law and Klingon Justice

One of highlights of the Museum of Science Fiction's Escape Velocity 2017 Convention was the symposia on the Law and Star Trek. A panel of distinguished lawyers, including a law professor, a partner in a private practice along with a couple of attorneys working in the court system lent their collective wisdom on how legal concepts were applied on The Original Series (1966-1969), The Next Generation (1987-1991), Voyager (1995-2001) as well as several major motion pictures. The discussion consciously avoided the many violations of Star Fleet's Prime Directive, which sought to prevent the imposition of values and technologies by superior space races (i.e. civilization which had achieved warp speed).

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry originally envisioned Star Fleet justice to be meted out as would an  18th Century colonial captain. Under Admiralty Law, the highest in command in an area was the person who wheeled great discretion because of scant communications with Star Fleet Command.  But as Star Trek progressed, it seemed to favor Common Law tendencies to individual rights, guarding due process and being conscientious about justice rather than the blind application of law.

As the session was ending, these words were tested by Klingon Justice. 

[This piece originally was published in DCBarroco.com]

The Legacy of Dirty Harry and the Reid Rule on Senate Filibusters

A legacy of former Senate Majority Leader  Harry Reid (D-NV) was the effective elimination of the confirmation filibuster.  

Under the Constitution, it is the Senate's duty to confirm Executive and Judicial Branch appointments.  Senate rules allowed for confirmations with mere majorities, but needed to obtain 60 votes to cut off debate (Cloture) and preclude a filibuster.  The Cloture vote was intended to prevent endless obstructionism while still giving the minority some say in the proceedings of the Upper Chamber of Congress.

Needing to get enough votes for cloture was an incentive for Republicans to select more moderate appointees which required Senate consent.  But such Senate niceties stopped political steamrolling by Majorities who wished to exercise their unadulterated will.

When the Obama Administration sought to pack the Court of Appeals for DC (aka the DC Circuit), which is the court of authority for regulatory bodies, it ran into trouble when its candidates might not have received the requisite support for a Cloture Vote.  So then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, exercised "The Nuclear Option".  Exercising the Nuclear Option had been hotly debated in the preceding decade, but then Senate Majority Leader  Bill Frist (R-TN) opted not to circumvent tradition. 

Through Parliamentary legerdemain, Reid established a precedent in which he said that all judicial nominees, save Justices of the Supreme Court, would be considered on majority votes and did not have to pass the Cloture Vote threshold.  

The Reid Rule was great when one's party is in control of the Senate and the White House. But in 2017, President Donald Trump will occupy the White House and Republicans have a two seat majority in the Senate.  Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer thinks that he can stymie the Trump Administration through the advice and consent clause as well as any Supreme Court nominations which do not represent progressive Democrat values.  However, Schumer may well rue the Reid rule legacy from Dirty Harry Reid. 

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Salem Radio host Hugh Hewitt had an informative colloquy on the Reid Rule.

 Republicans may not moderate their choices for positions which need to be confirmed by the Senate.  Despite Harry Reid's contention that the "Reid Rule" excludes Supreme Court nominees, it is contented that avoiding Cloture for a Supreme Court nomination would simply be a second application of the Reid Rule precedent.

Hillary Clinton-- "C" is for...?

There was a fury when Libertarian Presidential nominee Gary Johnson (L-NM) blanked on a question about Aleppo.  Representative Justin Amash (R-MI 3rd), who is a libertarian leaning Republican 

The FBI's pre-Labor Day document drop of notes regarding Democrat Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) interview about the Clinton offical e-mails on a private server contained an incredible conceit.

The notes revealed that the former Secretary of State told her FBI interviewers that that she did not realize that a "C" marking of a paragraph in official messages indicated "Classified".  Wags wondered what Mrs. Clinton thought the "C" stood for.

Gary Johnson's Final Jeopardy

In a Presidential election cycle in which many Americans are conflicted about supporting Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton (D-NY) or Republican nominee Donald Trump (R-NY), many voters may be considering a third party candidate.  In some polls, Libertarian Presidential nominee Gary Johnson (L-NM) has been approaching double digits and arguably could qualify for the Presidential debates.

But ex-Gov. Gary Johnson appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe and was asked a commander in chief type foreign policy question about Aleppo.


 Some may consider this a gotcha question but for a Syrian city which has been savaged for years by ISIS and Assad forces, it reveals a lack of preparation and gave no solace to prospective supporters. It was effectively sounding like one drew a blank in Final Jeopardy.  Sorry.

Mark Levin on Populism and Ethanol

As Republican Presidential Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has risen to the top in some polling in Iowa, Donald Trump sees his huuuuuge lead being challenged.  Thus, Trump goes on the attack of his challenger, by noting that Cruz has opposed ethanol subsidies.

This line of attack got under the skin of Mark Levin, who has mostly been supportive of the brash billionaire's upsetting the GOP establishment's apple cart. 

Levin went on a rant to educate listeners about the odiousness of ethanol mandates and subsidies and sought to educate Trump on the right sort of populism.

Paris Attacks: Solidarity Against Barbarism

Friday November 13th was a busy night in the City of Lights.  Paris was hosting a friendly soccer match between the French and the German national teams in which French President Francois Hollande attended at the Stade de France. Former American Vice President Al Gore was conducting a "Live Earth" a marathon 24 hour webcast concert to raise consciences about Climate Change at the foot of the Eiffel Tower featuring luminaries like Duran Duran.  The Eagles of Death Metal, a southern California rock band was playing the storied Bataclan music hall. And the bars and cafes in the 11th arrondissement were packed with revelers.

But Paris was rocked with a half dozen coordinated bombings and shootings.  A terrorist tried to come late to the soccer match in Saint Denny but was turned away by security, hence he blew himself up outside of the Stade de France.  Several minutes later, his comrades in arms exploded their suicide vests nearby.  This was a probable assassination attempt against President Hollande with the intent to kill more from the potential of 80,000 spectators.

Five minutes after the bombings at the soccer match, gunmen with submachine guns began shooting people in the sidewalk cafes and bars in the 10th and 11th  arrondissements.  

But where the most carnage occurred was at the Bataclan Music Hall in which several terrorists took hundreds hostage, killing at least 80 with many more critically injured. These barbarians deliberately shot spectators in wheel chairs one by one.  If there was any doubt as to the motivation of these savages, they shouted Allahu Akbar( ("God is Great" the war chant of jihadists)  and "Free Syria" as they reloaded and continued their atrocities.

The world sought to show solidarity through gatherings of remembrance and sympathetic light displays. Yet some protested these humanistic expressions as the same consciousness does not occur when lives are lost by Palestinians or in Africa.  Black Lives Matter activists reached out to social media to proclaim "F#ck Pray for Paris".  And after some progressive politicians like socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) made pro forma expressions of sympathy, they still maintain that Climate Change is more of a threat to the world today than radical Islamist terrorism. 

Hence it is ironic to consider the irony that Duran Duran kicked off the "24 Hours of Reality" with "What Are the Chances?" to pressure the Climate Change Summit which is scheduled to be held in Paris at the beginning of December.  The ponderous lyrics muse about our place in the world.  Yet idealists perseverate on the theory of anthropogenic global warming over a 100 years yet ignore the danger which is right down the boulevard. 

So, what are the chances Of seeing an uptick of violence from forces creating chaos and tyranny? ~Quite likely.  But what of solidarity against barbarism? The foundation exists amongst those who love liberty and the value of individuals. Alas, it is unknown how those noble sentiments will hold up during the Storm.

Mike Huckabee on Fluid Sexuality

There's More Than a Snowflake's Chance that Ted Cruz is Running for the White House

At this point of the 2016 Presidential election cycle, most prospective Presidential nominees are playing coy about their intentions to run for the White House.   Many media personalities will jocularly try to get a story by coaxing the candidate to declare his or her intentions on the air.  Serious candidates need to sound interested to prospective supporters, yet not proverbially put the cart before the horse by declaring not at a time and place of their own choosing. 

So Glenn Beck's exchange with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) at the end of a lengthy radio interview included the obligatory "ask".  However, the junior senator from Texas gave a memorable deflection.  

When some politicians claim quote their children, it sounds as if the kids were cued off of a teleprompter. An infamous example was President Jimmy Carter's alleged exchange with daughter Amy about the dangers of nuclear war during a 1980 debate with Ronald Reagan. 

The quote from Caroline Cruz certainly sounds like a six year old's logic.  While the quip intimated that the family blesses Senator Cruz intention to throw his hat in the ring, it also served as a light hearted feint to the question of declaring. 

Running for President is a grueling effort to constantly travel, raise funds, react to opposition in real time and try to project a positive prospective policy.  Many politicians refrain from continued combat in the political arena to supposedly spend more time with family.  It is a twist to conventional logic to a family to encourage a campaign to gain a back yard for a dog.

Yes Caroline, there is more than a Snowflake's chance in Texas that Ted Cruz is running for the White House. But now was not the time to color in that picture and say it with surety. 

Prince Charles on the Persecution of Christians

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, recently wrote Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Raphael Sako of Baghdad in order to show support for Christians and members of other faiths suffering  barbaric persecution at the hands of Caliphate Jihadists operating under the banner of ISIS, ISIL or the "Islamic State".  

But this was not the first time that the Crown Prince of the United Kingdom has spoken out against the persecution of Christians by Islamists in the Middle East.  He spoke out about the dwindling number of Christians in the birthplace of Christianity in December, 2013.

In May 2014, Prince Charles authored an opinion piece for the pan-Arabic publication  Asharq Alawsat  in which the Prince of Wales urged:

Now is the time to re-double our joint efforts to stress what binds the three Abrahamic faiths together and, as Christians, Jews and Muslims, to express outrage at what tears us asunder.  In doing this, it is important to remind ourselves that an emphasis on love of neighbour and doing to others as we would have them do to us are the ultimate foundations of truth, justice, compassion and human rights...

Alas, ISIS rampage in Iraq against Christians, Yazidis and even Shiite Muslims who do not believe the same way that these radical Islamists see the world  have created enormous turmoil and suffering.  

Greg Gutfeld on Politics

For those who can stare into the cacotopic cyber crystal ball and see what is in store for Obama's America, witness the Mo-Town Owe-Town Fugue.

Alec Baldwin Vents About NYC

Alec Baldwin was upset the other day after being arrested for bicycling the wrong way on Fifth Avenue near Union Square.  Since the star of 30 Rock was not carrying ID and the cops did not fall for the "Do you know who I am?" routine, NYPD procedure mandated that he was taken to the police station.  Baldwin lived up to his mercurial reputation, so he was cited both for a traffic violation and a charge of disorderly contact.

When Baldwin was released, he took to Twitter to vent.  It is dubious if his social activism will have the popular appeal of #BringBackOurGirls.

A Taiwanese animation studio prepared a tongue-in-cheek concept video chronicling Baldwin's bicycle adventure.



One wonders if Baldwin's bilious blurtations were just an emotional cathartic, if this was a deeper critique of the Nanny State wrought by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the current progressive  Mayor Bill DeBlasio, or if Baldwin has finally concluded that big brother government onerously impinges on individual liberty.

Gosnell: The Movie--Trying to Tell the Story of an American Serial Killer Which Strikes Too Close to Home

[L] Ann McElhinney and [R] Phelim McAleer

Last spring, husband and wife veteran filmmakers Phelim McAleer and Anne McElhinney were publicizing their feature documentary Fracknation as the murder trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell was occurring in Philadelphia.  McAleer was amazed at the lack of coverage of a prolific serial killer that murdered two women in botched late term abortions in unsanitary conditions, used a brutal snipping technique to kill a thousand children beyond the legal limit for abortion and also dealt prescription drugs.

Yet the national mainstream media ignored the Gosnell case, dismissing it like a local murder case while lavishing attention on the concurrent Jodi Arias murder trial. McAleer did man on the street interviews in California to learn about what the public knew about sensational murder trials.

As Katherine Graham, the former publisher of the Washington Post, proclaimed: "What we cover and what we don't matter a lot...The power is to set the agenda."  Fox News commentator Greg Gutfeld recently speculated about the reasons why most of the mainstream media (including Fox) did not cover the Gosnell trial closely:

"The reason why they don't do this one is not because the evil is so grotesque.  It's that it's too close to a moral choice they've made.  That's what it's about.  It's not that like, ah it's so hard to do something on this man who butchered babies.  It's because it's too close to the pro-choice mindset."

However, McAleer and McElhinney were so haunted by the Gosnell trial that they backed away from other crowd-source funded projects so as to make a movie about Gosnell.  Yet Anne & Phelim Media encountered more velvet gloved censorship by Kickstarter, which claims to not curate projects but would not allow them to describe their dramatized movie idea as being about a mass murderer who killed a thousand children as it allegedly violated community standards which Kickstart "encourages and (selectively) enforces".  McAleer believes that it is within Kickstarter's right to not facilitate funding but that it should be forthright that it is due to the project matter not a transparent lie about community standards which it does not enforce for sundry other offensive projects.

So they moved their crowd-source funding efforts to Indiegogo, where they have raised $1.2 million  of a fixed target $2.1 million.  If they do not make their designated funding mark by May 12th, the money reverts  back to the prospective investors.

There is already an excellent documentary film 3801 Lancaster, which interviews victims of Gosnell's House of Horrors.  So McAleer and McElhinney want to make dramatized version of the Gosnell story which would run on the Lifetime  Movie Network rather than a feature documentary to reach a wider audience.

 It is easy for seaboard elitists to dismiss a film about Gosnell as just being by religious zealots with pro-life propaganda, which is a touch charge to apply to McAleer and McElhinney. In addition, this dismissive instinct ignores how Dr. Gosnell was a racist as he gave his white patients much better and cleaner abortion services than his clients of color.

A film about Gosnell must also include a political angle.  Former Governor Tom Ridge (R-PA) was elected as chief executive of the Keystone State as a moderate Republican.  The governor's office made it clear that the Commonwealth should do nothing to impede abortion services, so Gosnell's clinic was not properly inspected for 17 years, despite gruesome reports and several deaths. 

Gosnell's clinic was raided because Gosnell was writing prescriptions like a pell mell pill mill for Oxycotin and the ilk.  That raid permitted police to stumble upon an unsanitary abortion butchery, where Gosnell kept severed limbs as trophies.

Hearing the filmmakers promote their project, it is clear that they yearn to tell a compelling true story about a prolific American serial killer and pull back the curtain on details which a progressive public would rather ignore.

If one wishes to help actuate the Gosnell movie project, one can contribute to the efforts at www.gosnellmovie.com.  Those who contribute $25 will get a DVD of the film.  But the filmmakers also implore people to contribute anything to show that people care.

Sharpton Frames Easter Message Through Obama Crucified and Rising Again

The Reverend Al Sharpton gave an unusual Easter message on the Tom Joyner Show.  Sharpton tried to be ecumenical to reach out to Christians, Jews and atheists with an anti-materialist message to remember the reason for the season.

Sharpton alluded to every man challenges where people feel crucified. Sharpton encouraged folks to rise above their suffering and not become like the disease they fight. Sharpton closed his secular preaching by alluding to an alleged crucifixion of Barack Obama.  The Reverend claimed that he was not comparing Obama to Jesus but for every crucifixion there is a resurrection for those who believe.

So the question is on the orthodoxy of Reverend Al Sharpton's Easter message that to every crucifixion there is a resurrection for those who believe, so rise above your unearned suffering.

Did Rev. Al Sharpton correctly convey the Easter Message?
	Yes
	No
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For those who want to hear more of Reverend Sharpton's preaching, you will not find him in church but on PoliticsNation, 6 PM et on MSNBC. 

What Does It Mean to Be GOP?

After Republicans succumbed to the bipartisan siren song in the joint budget by House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI 1st) and Senate Budget Committee Chair Senator Patty Murray (D-WA),  Tea Party types and the Conservative base is flummoxed.  The measure passed   332-94 in the House and passed cloture 67-43 in the Senate.

The first real budget that has been passed by Congress during the Obama Administration also promised to not cause another government shutdown.  However, this two year budget came at a cost of surrendering all real Sequestration savings which were won in August 2011 for fictional accounting rounding errors in a decade.  It also took away a tool from the Senate minority of requiring cloture votes for future budgetary increases.  In addition, it raised outlays by government employees and beneficiaries such as combat veterans for health care.  But there were no government programs cut. Yet despite the modest budget proposal, House Speaker John Boehner attacks conservatives and cries "Are you kidding me?" when questioned if he could have gotten a better deal.

This Pyrrhic political by the GOP calls to mind what they really stand for.  Is the GOP in Washington dominated by the Cocktail Party, which goes along to get along and will not stand up against programs which they will campaign against during the general election?   Does the G.O.P. still stand for the Grand Old Party? Maybe it should mean Get an Orthopedic Procedure sometimes called spinal replacement therapy.



h/t: Dana Summers

Two Minor Earthquakes in Seattle

[L]Saints QB Drew Breiss, [C] Seahawk DE Michael Bennett  12/02/2013

The last  NFL Monday Night Football game pitted the New Orleans Saints (9-2) against the Seattle Seahawks (10-1) at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.    Many sports writers, including hometown ESPN sports personas were betting against the Seahawks in this battle against NFC leaders.

However, Seattle  took control early in the game due to fumble recovery by  Seahawk Defensive End Michael Bennett who then ran the football 22 yards for a score.

 

 The stomping in the stands and the eruption of cheers by the 68,387 Seahawk fans generated a sound which measured  137.6 decibels, which set a Guinness Book of World Record outdoor stadium record.   Seismologists from the nearby University of Washington estimated that the cheering generated between a 1 to 2 magnitude earthquake which could have been felt outside the stadium.

The Seahawks went on to victory at 34-7, increasing their record to 11-1.

The second minor earthquake occurred during an after game interview when Michael Bennett was interviewed by 710 ESPN Radio Seattle personality Jim Moore.  The sports broadcaster expressed chagrin that he thought that the Saints would win.  When the humbled host asked the Michael Bennett how wrong he was, the defensive end’s answer was another amusing earthquake.




When Obamacare becomes a punch-line amongst jocks even in the bluest of blue states like Washington, the political  ground may be shifting even in the Pacific Northwest. 

Commie Bear on Obamacare

[L] Commie Bear [R] Buck Sexton

Commie Bear, the Special Correspondent to the Buck Sexton Show, had a devastating diagnosis of Obamacare.





Interesting that the Russian word for good  "хорошо" sounds similar to "horror show" in English. Perhaps there is something lost in translation. Or perhaps socialized medicine is a "good" that should not have been translated into American politics. 

h/t: Buck Sexton 

Obama's Clumsy Salutes to Servicemen

President Obama stint as the Commander-in-Chief have come with some curious verbal snafu's when saluting presumed servicemen.

Sean Penn Cruz-ing for a Political Bruising (sic)

That Maui Wowie from 1982 must have been pretty chronic to inspire such pearls of wisdom to seek the to commit Congress-critters with whom Penn disagrees into insane asylums.  And to suggest that the Executive Branch has such authority makes Mr. Hand's one-on-one history tutoring moot.

Of course, Fast Times on Richmond High was a 1982 movie, and Sean Penn was play acting a stoner surfer there who had delusions of grandeur.  This recent appearance on Piers Morgan was meant to be taken seriously and Sean Penn was playing himself.

Penn was promoting his activism for Haiti.  But in the same breath of supporting his altruistic cause, he chooses to insult the electorate and the Tea Party while slandering Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).

 [T]he way peoples perception of political positions are, is a direct reaction to their lack of, of their education which is a huge problem that we're dealing with in the country.

and between of an uneducated people and the solipsism of people like Ted Cruz and their party.
 It's a poisonous thing and these things with what we talked about with, you know, this is why this period of time, this is one of the things that's so fascinating to me in Haiti.

Penn's political pronouncements with Piers Morgan do not sound very coherent.  But he was not on a script and TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States) was otherwise occupied.

But I hate to break it to the activist/actor but if you are trying to raise funds for Haiti, you are insulting many of the people who AEI's Arthur Brooks argues are the most charitably inclined as individuals.  But maybe after Penn's  J/P HRO group received $8.75 million from the World Bank for Haitian relief, maybe he does not need more friends.

After Penn's "Crazy" diatribe on Piers Morgan Live,  people can figure out who got wasted.  Res ipsa loquitur-- the fact speaks for itself.

Motown Metanoia

Why didn't we see this before the bankruptcy and the fat lady figurative sang the Motown Owe-Town Fugue?