Hop off the train or bus, flip the Atwater open, and roll the rest of your commute in style. Driven by a right-sized 250W Promovec rear hub motor and integrated smart battery, it has the power to get you where you’re going in a fraction of the time. - Pro-Movec 250W rear hub drive system - Folding aluminum frame - 8.8Ah smart battery - Shimano Altus 8-Speed shifting - Tektro mechanical disc brakes
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Expect more from your folding bike. With a new dynamic frame design and 18 road ready speeds, the Visc D18 is a star performer on back roads or city streets; bridging the gap between high intensity jaunts and leisurely city outings.
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IN-STORE PURCHASE ONLY Introducing the new BIRIA Electric Folding. Has the appearance of a normal folding bike with the Lithium ion battery hidden inside the frame. With a 500 Watt motor and 36V, 10.4 Amp Samsung battery, it has a range potential of 20-25 miles per charge. It has dual disc brakes with fat tires 20 x 4.0". A USB port is included to charge your phone while riding. This is a pedal-assist electric bike that also has a throttle, but the throttle can be easily disconnected and taken out in minutes. SPECIFICATIONS - FRAME: Biria Aluminum Folding - FORK: Hi-Ten Steel - RIMS: Alloy ultra light with cut-outs - TIRES: 20 x 4.0" - GEAR: 7-speed Shimano - STEM: Aluminum folding adjustable - HANDLEBAR: Aluminum Straight bar - BRAKE: Disc Brakes - Battery: Lithium ion Samsung 36 Volts, 10.4 Amp - Motor: 500 Watt Rear hub Brushless - Range: 20-25 Miles per one battery charge, with pedal assist (Varies with terrain and rider weight) - Speed: 20 miles per hour - Charging Time: 4-6 hours - Saddle: Selle Royal Ultra-Comfortable Gel 55 lbs. (Battery included) - Folding Dimensions: 38 x 18 x 29 inches
The Shortcut is a purpose-built folding bike for the rider who finds their free space is limited. It's compact, lightweight, easily folds away, and can spring into action with the flick of a few levers. The single speed and coaster brake provide a simple, fun, and low-maintenance ride. This Shortcut is the perfect roommate and travel companion!
The Shortcut is a purpose built folding bike for the rider who finds that free space is premium. It's compact, lightweight, easily folds away, and can spring into action with the flick of a few levers. Internal 3-speed gearing gives you just enough options should you encounter a few hills and the coaster brake provides simple speed control. A steel rear rack, front and rear plastic fenders, and a kickstand are included. This Shortcut is the perfect roommate and travel companion!
The Shortcut 7 is a purpose-built folding bike for the rider who finds free space is premium. It's compact, lightweight, easily folds away, and can spring into action with the flick of a few levers. The 7-speed Shimano Tourney drivetrain provides plenty of gears for any uphill travel you may encounter, and linear-pull brakes deliver reliable speed control on the way down. Folded size is 31"L x 27"H x 15"W. A sturdy steel rear rack, plastic fenders, and a steel kickstand are included. This Shortcut is the perfect roommate and travel companion!
The Vista goes where you go—from the house to the train to work and back again. Quick and easy to fold, the Vista features a capable 7-speed drivetrain, weather-managing fenders, a convenient cargo rack, and commute-worthy 20" tires. - TIG-welded alloy frame with locking hinge - Shimano Tourney 7-speed drivetrain - Linear pull brakes for strong stopping power in all conditions - Double-wall rims with stainless steel spokes - 1.5"-wide tires with reflective stripe on the sidewall - Folded dimensions: 90 x 35.5 x 60cm (35.5 x 14 x 24.5")
An eye catcher on the road in shadow black with anodized gold trim, the Ios S9 has a lot to offer. Made to go the extra mile uphill or down with highpressure Kojak tires from Schwalbe, this folding bike’s extras will make tech jockeys smile. Mechanical disc brakes stop-on-a-dime, DAHON Flatpak technology folds flat for narrow storage.
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Don’t fear the flu shot
The nasal spray version of the flu vaccine that many people prefer over the flu shot is not recommended for the coming flu season because it doesn’t offer much protection from the virus, according to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If you’re among the estimated 20 percent of the population that has an extreme fear of hypodermic needles, the lack of a nasal spray option might keep you from getting your annual flu vaccination. That wouldn’t be good for you or for those around you.
The ACIP reviewed several years’ worth of data on the flu vaccine and concluded that the nasal spray had poor or relatively lower effectiveness when compared to injectable flu vaccines.
Kids may be harder hit by this recommendation since the nasal spray accounts for about one-third of all flu vaccines given to children.
Nationwide, the flu virus causes 200,000 hospitalizations and nearly 24,000 deaths each year. Last year, there were about 16,000 confirmed and many more unconfirmed adult flu cases in upstate New York. If more people avoid flu vaccines this season because of needle phobia, those numbers will surely jump.
The flu virus is easily spread, and can be a serious health concern for women who are pregnant, the very young or old, and/or those who have a chronic illness or a medical condition that affects their immune system.
This new recommendation against the nasal spray flu vaccine illustrates how health officials are using data to identify the most beneficial public health policies.
The ACIP recommends annual flu vaccines for everyone 6 months and older. Options to regular needles include an intradermal flu vaccine that is injected into the skin through a tiny, ultra-thin needle. Also available is the jet injector flu vaccine that is completely needle-free. It delivers the vaccine though a narrow, precise fluid stream that penetrates the skin in about one-tenth of a second. These options are available for patients in certain age ranges, so check with your provider to see if one of these may be appropriate for you.
Don’t let a fear of needles get in the way of doing the right thing for your health and the health of those around you.
Richard Vienne, D.O., is Excellus BlueCross BlueShield vice president and chief medical officer

domain: biology


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More than half (52%) of investors say that the value of financial advice has increased post crisis, but less than half (43%) report actually having a planning discussion with their advisor in the past year. Why the disconnect?
According to new research from MMI and Aon in their Advisory Solutions: Expectations and Experiences series, surprising gaps between client expectations and firm delivery continue to challenge the wealth management industry and inhibit client value.
Other key findings:
- A discrepancy exists between client sentiment and advisor perception regarding the importance of topics covered during financial planning discussions. Clients place greater value than advisors (72% versus 53%) on reviewing projected retirement income versus projected living expenses, estimated retirement living expenses (72% versus 51%), and current expenses/savings and investment goals (70% versus 51%).
- Personal values have continued to increase in importance to clients as part of financial planning discussions, but advisors still underestimate the importance of some values to clients. Human rights (60%), social justice (54%), and global environmental protection (51%) are rated by clients as the most important personal values.
“Navigating the pandemic along with a myriad of other events fueled an unprecedented level of uncertainty – pushing many individuals to seek professional financial advice – some for the first time,” says Craig Pfeiffer, President and CEO of MMI. Peter Keuls, Global Head of Wealth Management at Aon, adds: “It’s important to keep in mind that financial advice is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Addressing the unique needs and motivations of each investor is critical in optimizing the planning process.”
Detailed findings from the 2021 Expectations and Experiences research are being released in a series of four reports over the next few months. The first report, which is now available, looks at Delivering Premium Advice and provides action steps for wealth management firms and advisors seeking to deliver a more impactful service that effectively addresses clients’ post-pandemic needs.
We hope you find this new research valuable. If you have any questions, please contact MMI at (646) 868-8500 or email@example.com.

domain: news


text:
Houston is the relocation capital of the nation so far this year. The city has been attracting scores of newcomers, many of whom are buying houses.
"It's like a funnel coming in here," said Bill McIlwain, head of the Gary Greene Better Homes & Gardens offices in Houston.
Realtors who specialized in helping relocate employees to Houston say it's hard to make generalizations about the newcomers. They are coming from all parts of the nation and from a variety of companies and industries, including energy, engineering and telecommunications.
Some of the large companies include Air Liquide, Amoco and Amerada Hess. Several smaller firms that supply parts to Houston's Compaq Computer also have opened operations here.
Houston has been the No. 1 destination so far in 1995 for PHH Relocation, which claims to be the largest relocation specialty firm in the nation.
Houston is followed by Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas. Houston ranked No. 3 in the PHH report last year.
"Houston is more and more becoming an international city and that is reflected in their dramatic growth. We are seeing growth and movement to Houston similar to what we saw during its hottest period of growth in the mid-80s," said Margery Marshall, senior vice president of PHH, which is based in Wilton, Conn.
The relocation surge means lucrative home sales for realty companies such as Gary Greene/Better Homes & Gardens, which had exactly 300 relocation- related home sales here during the first seven months of the year, up from 184 relocation sales a year earlier.
Home buyers being relocated to Houston by their employers have shown a preference for homes with quick commute times to work and for patio homes, said DeLora Wilkerson of Henry S. Miller Realtors.
"Patio homes in a good location are very, very popular" among transferees, Wilkerson said.
The relocations have generated many sales in new home communities such as The Woodlands.
The Woodlands has sold 618 new homes so far this year, a record for that project. Fifty-five percent of those homes have been sold to people moving to Houston from out of town.
"We're seeing lots and lots of 'relos' at the information center," said Jack Crumpler, spokesman for The Woodlands. "It's every kind of company on the face of the Earth, almost."
Every week, The Woodlands will sell a few homes to people being transferred to Houston by a major oil firm such as Exxon, Texaco or Chevron. And there will be a similar number from Compaq or Continental Airlines, he said.
Houston is on a pace to add 57,300 jobs this year, up from 29,900 in 1994, said Bill Gilmer, an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank. It will be the best year for job creation in years, he said.
"It's nice to see some growth and say some positive things for the first time in a long time," Gilmer said.
Gilmer said energy companies have been adding jobs, particularly in petrochemicals and plastics. In addition, a lot of construction jobs have been created.
"A thousand jobs a week, that is what the Houston economy is creating, " said Luli Heras, president of the economic development division of the Greater Houston Partnership.

domain: geography


text:
Adapting a comic book to a blockbuster film never ends in a perfect result. So many elements must be moved, deleted, added, and altered to make not only the jump from page to screen but also the leap from a 2-D narrative to movie “real” and convincing story. I was like many of the fans who had read the comic origins of Avengers: Infinity War which was actually entitled Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet. I knew that this first half of the two-part series would end tragically and that Thanos would come off as a complex villain worthy of several think pieces. However, what I didn’t expect was so many departures from the original story. After watching the bonus features on the Avengers:Infinity War DVD, I not only understand the changes, I applaud many of them.
And that’s just one benefit of viewing the film on DVD and Blu-ray.
If you’ve watched the film in theaters, skip the feature when you first open the disc. Go straight to the “Bonus Features” and the “Audio Commentary” and hit play. Immediately, there are introductions by both Russo’s Joe and Anthony and the writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Get your snacks before you start, because the commentary starts with the credits.
Turns out, the film has 23 superheroes who all needed an individual arc, along with the Thanos story and the main theme that ties everyone’s story together. Don’t even begin to say, “this would be easy if they followed Infinity Gauntlet. It’s not that simple. What works for the books do not work when you lift the story onscreen and set the whole thing in motion. The biggest problem was in trying to fit all of it into a feature that wouldn’t require an intermission in part I.
Fans of the Infinity Gauntlet story will love to hear how Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) minions embodied his henchman in the comic. Mephistopheles, Corvus (Michael Shaw), and others were inspirations for the villains who attacked Vision (Paul Bettany) and also the crone that went after Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). There just wasn’t enough time to lay the backstory for these villains, unfortunately.
It was also interesting to hear how they chose the arcs for each character. Of course, Thanos has the main story that ties everyone together, but the commentary on the DVD reveals that they made his arc a simple smash and grab heist in order to make it fit easier with everyone else’s stories. And, the other stories are very complex. Bruce Banner’s (Mark Ruffalo) struggle with his inner Hulk is one of the first we see. The monster is tired of playing second fiddle, which makes Bruce’s entire journey through the film a hilarious inner struggle.
In addition to the ins and outs of adapting the film, the conversation in the commentary goes beyond the usual comments about onscreen shenanigans. The group has a truly intense conversation about how the characters and scenes contribute to the final film, which became wildly successful. For example, going to Wakanda was not something that was set in stone when they began creating and writing the film. Black Panther hadn’t been released, so they had no way of knowing how popular the film and Wakanda would become. However, the group really felt it was the right fit and, I imagine, really had to work to sell the idea. The scene is one that is a favorite amongst fans and set Black Twitter abuzz once it was leaked in trailers.
The DVD contains more than just the commentary. The gag reel is hilarious, and the deleted scenes actually give a better understanding of the film and its characters. I highly recommend watching them both. Just beware that the CGI is half done, so you will have to use your imagination and fill in the holes. The featurettes offer some great behind-the-scenes information that is fun as well. Seeing Josh Brolin running around in a motion-capture suit with a Thanos bust suspended over his head is entertaining in its own way.
The DVD and Blu-ray disc do not have a lot of games, and weird extras we see on the releases these days. It doesn’t need those things. The commentary alone is a goldmine of information for fans and academics, offering a case study of sorts in adapting comics. The complete feature and other bonus features are simple enough to get through with no muss. Avengers: Infinity War is a film with over 23 heroes and one complex villain. It didn’t need to add on other bells and whistles to distract us.
The Avengers: Infinity War DVD and Blu-ray release August 14. The digital download is already available.
What's Your Reaction?
Jonita Davis is a writer, mother, a certified nerd, and writer of Black Girl Nerds. Davis is a critic and journalist. She has been writing for 13 years about the way pop culture and politics affect our lives as parents, women, black women, nerds, and people of this planet.

domain: entertainment


Back in 2010, I posted a brief story about one of the highlights of my childhood, the first time I was able to get a program to successfully compile and run on my Apple IIe clone, the Laser 128.
Here’s the tale again:
I was subscribed to a children’s magazine called “3-2-1 Contact” and in the back of every issue were a couple of programs in BASIC (as in the BASIC programming language). I can still vividly remember one of the most exciting and exhilarating moments of my childhood, perhaps of my whole life. The moment came after seemingly endless hours of trying to get the very first program to run. I knew nothing about how I was supposed to type it in, whether punctuation or case had anything to do with the code, whether the line number needed to be typed and I definitely had no idea what the code meant. Yet, I tried and I tried and I tried until finally, after pressing the “Enter” key at the “RUN PROGRAM”, something happened. Something beautiful. Something amazing. Something that made me jump up and down, hoot and holler, clap and do a little jig. Okay, specifically what happened was so basic and ordinary that no one but I would be impressed. It was the fact that it ran that made me so happy. The program just drew a multicolored box around the edge of the screen and then criss-crossed a multicolored “x” on the screen. It repeatedly drew the box and the x over and over again. It was essentially the most boring screensaver you could imagine. But, the code I entered ran. Brilliant! Genius! I still feel the excitement in my gut when I think about that moment.
from Chasing Rabbits in Stat Class (June 17, 2010)
So, today I was finally able to find the original code by digging around on the web. I can’t believe I actually found a scanned image of the page from the back of the magazine, but here it is:
Here’s the code to copy and paste if you want to try it out yourself:
10 HOME:GR 20 COLOR=1 30 FOR S = 0 TO 39 40 VLIN O,39 AT S 50 NEXT S 60 FOR S = 0 TO 39 70 COLOR = INT(RND(1)*232+1) 80 PLOT 0,S: PLOT S,S: PLOT S,0: PLOT 39,S: PLOT S,39: PLOT 39-S,S: PLOT S,39-S 85 FOR T=0 TO 100: M=T+100: NEXT T 90 NEXT S 100 GOTO 30
Note that I added line 85 just to slow down the rendering on the page.
Are you ready to see that amazing graphic that I created? Again, let me just say that the moment this finally ran, I freaked out with excitement. It was only after hours, if not days of trying to get that code entered correctly. Seeing it again didn’t quite recreate that feeling, but I’m still feeling pretty proud of myself for being able to recreate the graphic from 1987.


text:
Let solve our problem by trending right path.
Recent happening demand an holistic approach and this give much concerns and consideration on country lacking behind the absolute provide modern technology to addressed issues and circumstance around them.
Many questions are on the lips of every individuals as to whom to blame for the problem facing the world. It sound like many are confused but to test the reality so many countries and nation have gone far but still the black are still behind.
While many individuals keep asking why are we still hovering at the same spot or what could be our problem. But to the question asked i would say we are our problem because we tend to be looking for what we are not chance and previledge to be known to us and i would say it anywhere that we are not what we think we are
The only solution for us is to go back to our God and seek for forgive and i hope we might end it well but if we choose those our glutton, irresponsible, unreliable leader we would fail at the end.
May god spare our life in the trouble time.

domain: sociology


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Children in care in Liverpool still need the care they receive to improve, a recent report has found.
Ofsted inspectors found the city's children's services 'require improvement' in a report which found some areas had shown 'insufficient progress' since the last inspection - despite improvements elsewhere.
The report also says Liverpool has 'struggled to manage the level of demand for children’s social care services' as the number of children it is responsible for has gone up dramatically in recent years.
And it pinpointed heavy caseloads as a key concern for the city.
Cabinet member for children's services councillor Barry Kushner, who called the report an 'accurate assessment', said the council is taking on 16 extra staff to tackle the increased workload.
He said: “Although we’re improving, we know we’ve still got a way to go, but what’s crucial is we know how we are going to get there and have plans in place to address every single area identified by Ofsted for further development.
“Every day, our social work teams are going the extra mile to keep Liverpool’s most vulnerable children safe and, for the most part, they are getting it right.
“Ofsted recognised this too.”
Inspectors found that the number of care leavers in the city who are not in education, employment or training is too high.
Liberal Democrat children's spokeswoman Liz Makinson said 'far more needs to be done' to meet children's needs in the long term.
Councillor Makinson said: “A more child centred approach which also properly considers post care needs is required to ensure that the current situation where less than half of care leavers transition to employment, education or training is improved.”
Councillor Kushner said the council's improvements were impressive when set against the backdrop of austerity, which has seen local authority budgets put under increasing strain.
The report did praise an increase in the rate of progress since the hiring of Steve Reddy as director of children's services and said that recent changes in multiple areas had led to a mood of 'cautious optimism' among staff.
Mr Reddy praised the commitment he has seen from colleagues since he started last year.
He said: “On a daily basis they are going over and above the call of duty, often in very difficult circumstances, to make life better for the children in our care.”
Liverpool currently has around 1,200 children in care, up by 11% from last year.


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Category Archive 'The Law'
15 Jun 2023
Daniel Penny and Alvin Bragg
Well, one month ago, I predicted that the Manhattan DA’s Office would read the statute to the Grand Jury thereby deliberately throwing the case, and that the charges against Daniel Penny would be dismissed.
Silly me! I had based my prediction on my own experiences with the same DA’s Office forty years ago this year. Once again, I find that America has changed dramatically in the course of my lifetime and, as always, for the worse.
Back in the 1980s, then as now, NYC was a corrupt democrat party machine-run one-party state. The democrats were liberals then, but they were cynical, corrupt, pragmatic liberals. Today’s democrat party sometime ago surrendered power to commie crazies like Bill de Blasio and professional race-baiters like Alvin Bragg.
The 1980s DA’s Office backed off and threw the case against me by informing the Grand Jury what the law actually says partly, I expect, because it was the right thing to do, but probably more significantly because it had been made clear to them that prosecuting me would bring down on their heads huge amounts of controversy and public criticism.
The 1980s guys were primarily pragmatists. Alvin Bragg is an ideologue whose career is built upon whipping up the emotions of his homies over all sorts of imaginary grievances. He can no more pass up the opportunity to depict that deceased deranged black criminal as a martyred victim than a rat can pass by a piece of cheese sitting on the trigger of a trap.
It is no fun, I can tell you, living with a possible upcoming criminal trial and facing big time legal costs for a defense, while contemplating (even a minority possibility of) conviction and imprisonment.
Happily, Daniel Penny’s Legal Defense Fund on GiveSendGo has, as of right now, amassed $2,883,009, and the law really is on his side. If he really goes to trial, the statute will for sure be read to that jury.
The Laws of New York > Consolidated Laws of New York > CHAPTER 40 Penal > PART 1 > General Provisions > TITLE C > Defenses > ARTICLE 35 Defense of Justification
Justification; use of physical force in making an arrest or in preventing an escape
4. A private person acting on his or her own account may use physical
force, other than deadly physical force, upon another person when and to
the extent that he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to
effect an arrest or to prevent the escape from custody of a person whom
he or she reasonably believes to have committed an offense and who in
fact has committed such offense; and may use deadly physical force for
such purpose when he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to:
(a) Defend himself, herself or a third person from what he or she
reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical
01 Jun 2022
Law & Crime:
[A] three-judge panel of a state appellate court found that certain invertebrate animal species, including bees, are legally contained under the same umbrella definition as “fish” under the terms of the Golden State’s homegrown Endangered Species Act.
Four different bumblebee species are facing dire odds in the country’s most populous state. That danger mostly comes from the activities of huge agricultural interests. In 2019, the California Fish and Game Commission moved to protect those bees, the Crotch, Franklin’s, Western, and Suckley’s cuckoo, by designating them as endangered, threatened, and candidate species under three sections of the CESA.
Almond growers, citrus farmers, cotton ginners, and other agricultural groups sued. They argued that the CESA does not allow the Commission to designate any insects as endangered, threatened, or candidate species because insects are not included in the statute’s enumerated categories of wildlife entitled to such legal protections.
The Commission countered, saying that the definition of fish can and should encapsulate bees and other similarly situated invertebrates because, in part, it already does in practice. At least one species of shrimp, snail and crayfish are listed under the CESA. The listing of the Trinity bristle snail is particularly instructive, the Commission argued.
That’s because the snail, the commissioners note, does not even live in the water and was categorized as “threatened” in 1980. The way the snail got on the list was by being classified as a “fish.” Since the bristle snail is a terrestrial species, the Commission argues, “fish” cannot be limited to animals that inhabit a marine environment.
Read it and weep:
Almond Alliance of California et. al. v. fish and Game Commission et. al.
We conclude a liberal interpretation of the Act, supported by the legislative history and the express language in section 2067 that a terrestrial mollusk and invertebrate is a threatened species (express language we cannot ignore), is that fish defined in section 45, as a term of art, is not limited solely to aquatic species. Accordingly, a terrestrial invertebrate, like each of the four bumble bee species, may be listed as an endangered or threatened species under the Act. . . .
If we were to apply the noscitur a sociis canon to the term invertebrate in section 45 to limit and restrict the term to aquatic species, as petitioners suggest, we would have to apply that limitation to all items in the list. In other words, we would have to conclude the Commission may list only aquatic mollusks, crustaceans, and amphibians as well. Such a conclusion is directly at odds with the Legislature’s approval of the Commission’s listing of a terrestrial mollusk and invertebrate as a threatened species. Furthermore, limiting the term to aquatic would require a restrictive rather than liberal interpretation of the Act, which is also directly at odds with our duty to liberally construe the remedial statutes contained therein. We thus decline to apply the statutory interpretation canon here.
Ilya Somin, writing at (T)Reason magazine, says: “The ruling is not as ridiculous as it sounds.”
Which explains, of course, just how driveway puddles get to be “Navigable Waterways,” and growing wheat to feed animals on your own farm (Wickard v. Filburn) can be “Interstate Commerce.”
Clearly you don’t really have to be a full-fledged liberal statist to become this intellectually addled. This kind of extreme casuistical thinking can apparently be transmitted to soi disant Libertarian professors by mere contagion resulting from their hanging around the sort of intellectual pestholes known as law schools.
29 Dec 2021
Fox News (not the Babylon Bee) reports on another democrat milestone in establishing Racial Equity.
Washington state lawmakers introduced a bill this month that would reduce penalties for drive-by shootings with the aim of “promoting racial equity.”
The bill, introduced by Democratic Representatives Tarra Simmons and David Hackney ahead of the state’s 2022 legislative session, would eliminate drive-by shootings as the basis for elevating a first-degree murder charge to aggravated murder in the first degree, which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
Drive-by shootings were added to the list of aggravating factors for murder charges in 1995. Other aggravating factors include the murder of law enforcement officers, murders committed by inmates while they are behind bars, and murder-for-hire schemes.
Seattle police responded to a third shooting incident Tuesday evening in the 200 block of Yesler Way in the Pioneer Square neighborhood in September.
Seattle police responded to a third shooting incident Tuesday evening in the 200 block of Yesler Way in the Pioneer Square neighborhood in September. (Seattle Police Department)
The aggravating factor that the bill would eliminate reads: “The murder was committed during the course of or as a result of a shooting where the discharge of the firearm… is either from a motor vehicle or from the immediate area of a motor vehicle that was used to transport the shooter or the firearm.”
Rep. Simmons, who represents a district in western Washington, argued that “it’s clear that it was targeted at gangs that were predominantly young and Black.”
“I believe in a society that believes in the power of redemption,” she told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Murder is murder no matter where the bullet comes from but locking young people up and throwing away the key is not the answer.”
26 Apr 2021
Last night, as soon as I pasted in the URL for this John Derbyshire post on the Derek Chauvin verdict and hit POST, instantly, up popped a “THIS VIOLATES FACEBOOK COMMUNITY STANDARDS AND CANNNOT BE POSTED” notice.
Well, I have a work around: the URL to my post quoting Derbyshire will upload.
The jury’s verdict itself was absurd. Derek Chauvin did nothing wrong. The best case here was made by retired lawyer Harold Cameron over at Revolver News a week before the verdict came out:
When Floyd continued resisting arrest after being placed in handcuffs, Chauvin didn’t beat him with a baton. He didn’t taze him. He didn’t put in him a chokehold. He put one knee on what the prosecution is now optimistically calling Floyd’s “neck area” and waited for the ambulance to come save Floyd’s life … The worst that could be said is that he didn’t simply let Floyd go because he was still complaining about being unable to breath, just as he had been since the beginning of the encounter. The state’s case so far boils down to a collection of experts equating that to murder.
[ Derek Chauvin Did Nothing Wrong, April 13, 2021]
Hamilton also reminds us of the size discrepancy between Chauvin, who weighs a slight 140 lbs., and Floyd, 230 lbs. and all pepped up on chemical stimulants. If you have ever been involved in a close-quarters struggle for physical mastery with another adult, you’re impressed that Chauvin managed to subdue Floyd.
In the famous kneeling video, Chauvin has a look of being somewhat pleased with himself. I would have been, too.
Aside from that look of muted pride, I thought from the beginning, and still think, that Chauvin did not at all have the appearance of someone who was aware he was doing something wrong.
Come on: If you are doing something grossly wrong, something that might end another person’s life, you know you are, and it will show.
Chauvin’s entire affect in that video was of someone who’s done an unpleasant job, and believes he’s done it rather well.
How does that square with the charges as presented? Following the verdict, Jared Taylor just referred readers to Judge Peter Cahill’s instructions to the jury before they deliberated [Read: Judge’s instructions to Derek Chauvin trial jurors, Washington Post, April 19, 2021]
He quoted several phrases taken from those instructions, which Judge Cahill in turn took from the statutes under which Chauvin was charged, and asked:
Did the prosecution really prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Chauvin “intentionally inflicted substantial bodily harm”? That he was “perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life”? That he “consciously [took] chances of causing death or great bodily harm”? Was this “[un]reasonable force in the line of duty in effecting a lawful arrest or preventing an escape from custody”?
Jared, ever the punctilious gentleman and scholar, added: “I wasn’t in the courtroom, so I can’t answer these questions …”
But he knows perfectly well, of course, that they answer themselves: No, absolutely not.
So, to quote from Lady Ann, another virgin has been tossed into the volcano to appease the hungry god.
16 Apr 2021
Our Law is based on the English Common Law, and the pertinent case is The King v. Hodgson, “a knave who feloniously and maliciously starts a ‘chain reaction’ of acts dangerous to human life must be held responsible for the natural fatal results of such acts.” — 1 Leach 7, 168 Eng. Rep. 105 (1730), which principle was upheld in Commonwealth v. Almeida. –362 Pa. 596, 68 A.2d 595 (1949), cert. denied, 339 U.S. 924 (1950).
24 Sep 2020
In the liberal stronghold of the Atlantic, Minnesota Law Professor Alan Z. Rosenshtein warns his fellow lefties that the time of liberal goals being legislated from the bench is drawing to an inevitable close.
[T]he Warren and early Burger Courts painted a vivid, alluring picture of what justice by judiciary could look like. And even if liberals understood, deep down, that those two decades were an aberration in American legal history, the Court has given them just enough victories since then to keep the dream alive. For lawyers and law professors, there is also the simple matter of professional vanity: If the Supreme Court is the vanguard of American justice, then judges, and thus the lawyers who argue before them and the scholars who analyze (and, when necessary, chastise) them, are the nationâ€™s most important professionâ€”the priests and elders of the civic religion that is American constitutionalism.
Fundamentally, though, many liberals loved the Supreme Court for the same reason they loved the law: a vision of universal harmony and justice brought about by reason and persuasion, not the brute forces of political power. Victory in the political arena is always incomplete and uncertain, not to mention grubby. Politics appeals to our baser instincts of greed and fear and competitionâ€”which, of course, is why it is so powerful. By contrast, lawâ€”whether through â€œneutral principlesâ€ or â€œreasoned elaborationâ€ or elaborate moral theories, to name a few of the core organizing ideas of 20th-century legal theoryâ€”holds out the promise of something objective, something True. To win in the court of the Constitution is to have oneâ€™s view enshrined as just, not only for today but with the promise of all time.
But eventually liberals lost faith that the Court would interpret the Constitution in their favor. What started as a trickle of disillusionment grew throughout the 1980s and â€™90s and became a torrent when Roberts became chief justice in 2005 and led the conservative wing to undermine a number of liberal legal priorities, from gun control to campaign-finance law to voting rights. Although many liberal lawyers still dutifully fight in federal court to protect rights where they can, they do so with the increasing understanding that they are simply delaying the inevitable. And legal scholars have gradually given up on the Court as a guarantor of constitutional values, advancing theories of popular constitutionalism or progressive federalism to serve as a counterweight to the Courtâ€™s conservative transformation. Whatever was left of the Courtâ€™s sacred aura as above partisan politics was ripped away by Mitch McConnellâ€™s denial of a vote to Merrick Garland in 2016 and the bitterness of the confirmation hearings over Brett Kavanaugh two years later.
The clearest sign that many liberals are giving up their remaining idealism about the Court is that, for many moderate Democrats (not to mention those on the progressive left), court packing has gone from a fringe theory to not just a viable option but a moral imperative if Joe Biden wins in November and the Democrats take back the Senate.
09 Sep 2020
Fuzzy, but Rittenhouse is identifiable.
The liberal Chicago Tribune strokes its chin, and pondering Kyle Rittenhouse’s chances in court, leans heavily in the direction of conviction.
Could prosecutors show that Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, committed an unlawful act that provoked attacks on him? If so, the law holds that he would have to show he exhausted his chances to flee or otherwise avoid being harmed before shooting, attorneys said. And whomever was the aggressor, Rittenhouse would have to show he reasonably believed he had to shoot to prevent his death or serious injury. …
Videos show that Rittenhouse was among numerous civilians armed with rifles who interjected themselves into the protests, property destruction and looting that followed Blakeâ€™s shooting. Kenosha County prosecutors have charged Rittenhouse with murder, first-degree reckless homicide and four other counts. …
Liberal commentators have argued that Rittenhouse needlessly killed two people after wading heavily armed into unrest over police violence against African Americans. New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie wrote that, â€œRittenhouse should not have been there, and we should agree â€” all of us â€” that the shooting should not have happened.â€
It is interesting that liberals consider Rittenhouse agreeing to protect a friend’s business and property from looting and destruction amounts to “interjecting himself” and “[he] should not have been there,” while they seem to see no problem at all in persons rioting and committing arson being there. All the culpability for the “shooting [that] should not have happened” belongs to Kyle Rittenhouse, not to the rioters who attacked him.
Once again, we find that Leftism constitutes a systematic inversion of values and of reality.
Wisconsin Right Now has an interesting report bearing on the issue of provocation.
The criminal complaint charging Kyle Rittenhouse with two counts of homicide leaves out a key point: Why Joseph Rosenbaum, a convicted sex offender, was chasing the 17-year-old in the first place.
Two eyewitnesses interviewed by Wisconsin Right Now say Rosenbaum was enraged because Rittenhouse, and others, were using fire extinguishers to put out an arson fire in a dumpster that Rosenbaum, and others, were trying to push toward police squad cars.
They also believe that Rosenbaum may have been determined to rob Rittenhouse because the teenager seemed like the â€œweakâ€ member of the herd and had walked off by himself. They think this because they say Rosenbaum, 36, â€œintricatelyâ€ tied his shirt around his face, they believed to conceal his identity. Whether that would have been the case is obviously an unknown, but it was their perception.
The two eyewitnesses, Justice and Dylan Putnam, were willing to put their names to it. Videos also back up pieces of what they told us. Thereâ€™s video of Rittenhouse with the fire extinguisher, video of Rosenbaum pushing the burning dumpster, and, of course, video of Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse down and cornering him behind a car before Rittenhouse opened fire.
â€œKyle took a fire extinguisher from someone,â€ said Justice Putnam, who added that she saw him trying to put out the arson fire in the dumpster. â€œThat started the altercation.â€
Wouldn’t it be hilarious to listen to a prosecuting attorney trying to argue that Rittenhouse “provoked” his attackers by trying to put out an arson fire?
02 Sep 2020
Commentator “Austrian” writes, at AR15.com forums:
By now the majority of you will have seen or heard of the pair of engagements in Kenosha, Wisconsin (hereinafter the “Engagements”) between one Kyle Rittenhouse and a number of other individuals, some recently departed, others now unfortunately unable to operate a keyboard with any efficiency, particularly when proper capitalization is required of their typewritten text. In the wake of these encounters it is quite something to see the degree of bad information, misinformation, and disinformation that has showered the socialinterwebsitetubes, particularly from a tactical and legal perspective.
On the tactical side, it is surprising that matters seem so distorted, since the Engagements must rank among the most comprehensively filmed deadly force CQB incidents in some years (and one of the only engagements in recent memory involving an AR system). In fact, despite the poor lighting conditions, the mobile nature of the camera operators (none, to my knowledge, trained combat photographers), and the chaos of small unit action that will be familiar to anyone who has been in the midst of it, it is possible to view the most cogent parts of the engagement in vivid detail, from multiple camera angles, and with stereo sound. On the legal side, well, many new expert commentators may lack a formal law degree, but they did stay at a Holiday Inn Express (7887 94th Ave, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, 53158) and probably ordered several on-demand Better Call Saul episodes the night before the Engagements besides.
Given the sudden merger of two subjects of great interest to me, and a five hour phone call I had with an old acquaintance now an employee of the Federal Government of the United States based not far from Wisconsin, I could not but look into the Engagements more carefully. Having done so, I could not but type up my analysis. Having done so I could not but seek a forum for publication.
Rittenhouse prevailed in at least four physical encounters, at least one if not two of which involved contests for control of his weapon by larger, presumably stronger assailants. …
In the initial encounter with Short Bald Subject, Rittenhouse can be seen turning at least once to face the pursuing Short Bald Subject after Short Bald Subject hurled an object at Rittenhouse. In that quick turn it is possible that Rittenhouse brought his rifle barrel to bear. Short Bald Subject seems to hesitate, but continues to come on just as strong thereafter, charging Rittenhouse at full tilt. I would be at pains to articulate an argument that Rittenhouse did not reasonably believe that force was necessary to avoid a physical confrontation.
..that he faced imminent…
You don’t get a lot more imminent than an adult male charging you at full tilt, especially as close as Rittenhouse permitted Short Bald Subject to approach (1.0-1.5 meters from the look of it).
…danger of death or great bodily harm…
It is entirely reasonable, within the context of civil unrest, mob action, and a lack of any real police presence, to expect that a full on physical fight with a determined adversary will result in your great bodily harm. I would expect that Rittenhouse’s own exposure to police cadet programs and training would make this reasonable belief by him easy to establish based on what he may have learned in such programs, but anyone watching the news or even vaguely aware of the propensity for mob violence in cities facing unrest (and Kenosha in particular) would be reasonable in fearing great bodily harm or death if they are jumped in that context. Ironically, Rittenhouse’s own words in the prior video interview, that he was armed because he might have to go “into harm’s way” is a good piece of evidence vis-a-vis his state of mind at the time.
…and, that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent said harm.
Again, Short Bald Subject was not stopping for anything. Given the video evidence of Short Bald Subject’s disposition at the Ultimate station earlier, I suspect any third party will be able to safely infer that the prison-hardened Short Bald Subject did not intend to give Rittenhouse an over-the-knee spanking. …
In the video of the chase immediately before Engagement 2 Rittenhouse can be clearly seen looking behind him, obviously registering the number of pursuers he faced. If he had any doubts about their intentions the blow delivered to the rear of his head by White Shirt (a Misdemeanor Battery in Wisconsin) should have made them clear. When Rittenhouse fell to the ground and turned to face his attackers he had a view of at least a dozen individuals approaching him, including the four primary assailants.
..that he faced imminent…
While Red Backpack is deterred by the sight of the barrel of the rifle coming to bear and therefore receives no fire, in each of the cases where Rittenhouse used deadly force (Light Pants, Huber, Grosskreutz) Rittenhouse fires when contact is either imminent or already initiated.
…danger of death or great bodily harm…
An attempted drop kick to the head (White Pants), a skateboard-wielding assailant fighting for control of Rittenhouse’s weapon (Huber), and a handgun carrying assailant that fakes surrender to try and gain tactical surprise (Grosskreutz).
Nearby an individual with a blunt instrument held upward. A group of pursuers who had chased Rittenhouse two or three blocks already shouting out things like “Get his ass!” and who swarmed on him when he fell.
…and, that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent said harm.
Rittenhouse’s attackers were undeterred by the presence of and then even the discharge of his weapon. Still two of them (Huber and Grosskreutz) attacked. …
Effective slings are essential elements of weapon retention in CQB and the correct setup is a huge equaliser even against melee encounters with larger adversaries. This is a lesson for me in particular. I have resisted sling systems in the past.
Don’t rely on firearm discharges or pointing to deter opponents determined to close distance with you.
Not that you needed reminding, but rifle stopping power is far superior to handgun stopping power. All three subjects Rittenhouse scored clear hits on were out of the fight immediately. One (Grosskreutz) melted down even though he had ample means to continue the fight. Grosskreutz is only alive today because of Rittenhouse’s amazing (perhaps even naive) restraint. I don’t know of any tactical instructor that wouldn’t counsel a follow-up shot to center mass on Grosskreutz immediately after the arm-strike.
If attacking an individual armed with a firearm do not flinch no matter what. If you commit to grappling with a rifle or pistol holder you have to see your attack through. Four larger, assailants, one armed with a blunt instrument (skateboard) and one with a handgun were unable to subdue a nearly prone Rittenhouse because they shied from the muzzle blast at key moments. Had Grosswreutz followed through with his initial charge after the fatal center mass hit on Huber, Rittenhouse would likely have been subdued.
27 Aug 2020
Jennifer van Laar, at Red State, explains what Justice as administered by minority left-wingers elected with George Soros-funding looks like.
Last week we brought you the story of Nichelle Holmes, a Deputy District Attorney in California who made social media posts proclaiming â€œWe want more than a citation for vandalismâ€ for the couple who painted over a Black Lives Matter mural in her jurisdiction. The office has now charged the couple with a â€œhate crime.â€
Holmesâ€™ boss, Diana Becton, is in her first term as elected District Attorney, one of a number of district attorneys heavily supported by lefty billionaire George Soros. Sources tell RedState that as soon as Becton took over she implemented major changes in the way the office was run and in the way crimes were charged and how aggressively cases were prosecuted. One recent change, which Iâ€™ll address further in a moment, has to do with charging people for â€œlooting,â€ which is basically stealing during a state of emergency (i.e., protests or riots).
Becton is BFFâ€™s with St. Louisâ€™ Kim Gardner and Chicagoâ€™s Kim Foxx, whoâ€™ve been in the news for their terrible policies. This week she co-authored a Politico op-ed with Gardner, Foxx, and two other Soros-funded DAâ€™s explaining their philosophy and 11-point plan for further ruining Americaâ€™s cities.
The quintuplet started off by sharing their completely inane understanding of the origins of our justice system (apparently not understanding that criminal legal systems pre-date the colonization of North America):
â€œOur criminal legal system was constructed to control Black people and people of color. Its injustices are not new but are deeply rooted in our countryâ€™s shameful history of slavery and legacy of racial violence. The system is acting exactly as it was intended to, and that is the problem.
â€œWe should know: Weâ€™re Black, weâ€™re female, and weâ€™re prosecutors. We work as the gatekeepers in this flawed system. And we have some ideas for how to fix it.â€
Say what? And the fact that theyâ€™re the gatekeepers is scary as hell â€“ not because of their skin color or their gender (wait, is gender actually a thing anymore?), but because they want to remove the blindfold from Lady Justiceâ€™s eyes.
Instead, these prosecutors place a duty to enact societal change upon their deputies and believe they must â€œrectify past wrongsâ€:
The decisions that prosecutors make can either work to rectify the inherent harms in the legal system or perpetuate them. Part of our responsibility, as elected public servants, is to be self-aware and recognize that we are part of the problem. It is our moral and ethical duty to start advancing racial equity-minded policiesâ€”and community advocates and voters should hold us accountable for doing so.
Working from within, we have begun the steps to rectify past wrongs. We are implementing policies that include declining to prosecute minor offenses, overturning wrongful convictions, refusing to take cases from officers with a history of racial bias and expunging marijuana convictions. And we are currently working within our own offices to make the system fairer and more just.
Becton, the Contra Costa County DA, is already putting â€œracial equity-minded policiesâ€ in place and enforcing them in her office. The following â€œLooting Guidelinesâ€ document was provided to RedState by a confidential source and verified as authentic by a separate source familiar with the officeâ€™s policies. [see below]…
So, letâ€™s get this straight. Deputy District Attorneys and/or the countyâ€™s law enforcement officers are supposed to go through a flow chart, including a psychological and financial analysis, to determine if looting charges should be filed?
This is whatâ€™s happening in the Bay Area right now.So, letâ€™s get this straight. Deputy District Attorneys and/or the countyâ€™s law enforcement officers are supposed to go through a flow chart, including a psychological and financial analysis, to determine if looting charges should be filed?
This is whatâ€™s happening in the Bay Area right now.
And if the property owner points a gun at looters, these DAs will indict for assault.
01 Apr 2020
Adrian Vermeule, Ralph S. Tyler, Jr. Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School.
He looks cherubic and harmless, doesn’t he? Well, he rejects the framers’ goal of limited government, preferring the promotion of morality and “the common good.”
He expressed his new vision of illiberal Dworkianism in a recent editorial in the Atlantic, titled “Beyond Originalism.”
Originalism comes in several varieties (baroque debates about key theoretical ideas rage among its proponents), but their common core is the view that constitutional meaning was fixed at the time of the Constitutionâ€™s enactment. This approach served legal conservatives well in the hostile environment in which originalism was first developed, and for some time afterward.
But originalism has now outlived its utility, and has become an obstacle to the development of a robust, substantively conservative approach to constitutional law and interpretation. Such an approachâ€”one might call it â€œcommon-good constitutionalismâ€â€”should be based on the principles that government helps direct persons, associations, and society generally toward the common good, and that strong rule in the interest of attaining the common good is entirely legitimate. In this time of global pandemic, the need for such an approach is all the greater, as it has become clear that a just governing order must have ample power to cope with large-scale crises of public health and well-beingâ€”reading â€œhealthâ€ in many senses, not only literal and physical but also metaphorical and social.
Alternatives to originalism have always existed on the right, loosely defined. One is libertarian (or â€œclassical liberalâ€) constitutionalism, which emphasizes principles of individual freedom that are often in uneasy tension with the Constitutionâ€™s original meaning and the founding generationâ€™s norms. The founding era was hardly libertarian on a number of fronts that loom large today, such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion; consider that in 1811, the New York courts, in an opinion written by the influential early jurist Chancellor James Kent, upheld a conviction for blasphemy against Jesus Christ as an offense against the public peace and morals. Another alternative is Burkean traditionalism, which tries to slow the pace of legal innovation. Here, too, the difference with originalism is clear, because originalism is sometimes revolutionary; consider the Courtâ€™s originalist opinion declaring a constitutional right to own guns, a startling break with the Courtâ€™s long-standing precedents.
These alternatives still have scattered adherents, but originalism has prevailed, mainly because it has met the political and rhetorical needs of legal conservatives struggling against an overwhelmingly left-liberal legal culture. The theory of originalism, initially developed in the 1970s and â€™80s, enjoyed its initial growth because it helped legal conservatives survive and even flourish in a hostile environment, all without fundamentally challenging the premises of the legal liberalism that dominated both the courts and the academy. It enabled conservatives to oppose constitutional innovations by the Warren and Burger Courts, appealing over the heads of the justices to the putative true meaning of the Constitution itself. When, in recent years, legal conservatism has won the upper hand in the Court and then in the judiciary generally, originalism was the natural coordinating point for a creed, something to which potential nominees could pledge fidelity.
But circumstances have now changed. The hostile environment that made originalism a useful rhetorical and political expedient is now gone. Outside the legal academy, at least, legal conservatism is no longer besieged. If President Donald Trump is reelected, some version of legal conservatism will become the lawâ€™s animating spirit for a generation or more; and even if he is not, the reconstruction of the judiciary has proceeded far enough that legal conservatism will remain a potent force, not a beleaguered and eccentric view.
Assured of this, conservatives ought to turn their attention to developing new and more robust alternatives to both originalism and left-liberal constitutionalism. It is now possible to imagine a substantive moral constitutionalism that, although not enslaved to the original meaning of the Constitution, is also liberated from the left-liberalsâ€™ overarching sacramental narrative, the relentless expansion of individualistic autonomy. Alternatively, in a formulation I prefer, one can imagine an illiberal legalism that is not â€œconservativeâ€ at all, insofar as standard conservatism is content to play defensively within the procedural rules of the liberal order.
This approach should take as its starting point substantive moral principles that conduce to the common good, principles that officials (including, but by no means limited to, judges) should read into the majestic generalities and ambiguities of the written Constitution. These principles include respect for the authority of rule and of rulers; respect for the hierarchies needed for society to function; solidarity within and among families, social groups, and workersâ€™ unions, trade associations, and professions; appropriate subsidiarity, or respect for the legitimate roles of public bodies and associations at all levels of government and society; and a candid willingness to â€œlegislate moralityâ€â€”indeed, a recognition that all legislation is necessarily founded on some substantive conception of morality, and that the promotion of morality is a core and legitimate function of authority. Such principles promote the common good and make for a just and well-ordered society.
To be sure, some have attempted to ground an idea of the common good on an originalist understanding, taking advantage of the natural-rights orientation of the founding era. Yet that approach leaves originalism in ultimate control, hoping that the original understanding will happen to be morally appealing. I am talking about a different, more ambitious project, one that abandons the defensive crouch of originalism and that refuses any longer to play within the terms set by legal liberalism. Ronald Dworkin, the legal scholar and philosopher, used to urge â€œmoral readings of the Constitution.â€ Common-good constitutionalism is methodologically Dworkinian, but advocates a very different set of substantive moral commitments and priorities from Dworkinâ€™s, which were of a conventionally left-liberal bent.
Common-good constitutionalism is not legal positivism, meaning that it is not tethered to particular written instruments of civil law or the will of the legislators who created them. Instead it draws upon an immemorial tradition that includes, in addition to positive law, sources such as the ius gentiumâ€”the law of nations or the â€œgeneral lawâ€ common to all civilized legal systemsâ€”and principles of objective natural morality, including legal morality in the sense used by the American legal theorist Lon Fuller: the inner logic that the activity of law should follow in order to function well as law.
Common-good constitutionalism is also not legal liberalism or libertarianism. Its main aim is certainly not to maximize individual autonomy or to minimize the abuse of power (an incoherent goal in any event), but instead to ensure that the ruler has the power needed to rule well. A corollary is that to act outside or against inherent norms of good rule is to act tyrannically, forfeiting the right to rule, but the central aim of the constitutional order is to promote good rule, not to â€œprotect libertyâ€ as an end in itself. Constraints on power are good only derivatively, insofar as they contribute to the common good; the emphasis should not be on liberty as an abstract object of quasi-religious devotion, but on particular human liberties whose protection is a duty of justice or prudence on the part of the ruler.
The framers were, of course, conscious that the new Republic would be composed of thirteen colonies, founded at different times by different groups of people for different reasons with differing cultures, economies, and dominant religious denominations. They were living in a time in which the disastrous European Wars of Religion loomed large in memory, and they had drawn the rational conclusion that attempts by the State to control the conscience of the individual with regard to opinion and forms of conduct not impacting others were both tyrannical and futile.
Professor Vermuele thinks otherwise. Having ascended to an eminent position in the modern academical meritocratic order, he considers himself wiser than Madison, Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, and the other framers, and he obviously believes his own contemporary apprehension of morality and “the common good” is better than theirs, and superior as well to that of the 330 million other living Americans whom he is prepared to instruct and coerce.
Personally, I am no more interested in being ruled by Platonic Guardians of the Roman Catholic Integralist bent than I am by being ruled by bien pensant left-wing sophisters like the late Ronald Dworkin.
15 Nov 2019
Judges Andrew Adams, Sabrina Bell and Bradley Jacobs.
NPR describes an unfortunate situation involving three Indiana judges where things got a bit out of control that might happen to anyone:
Back in May, three Indiana judges got into a fight. It was the crescendo of an incident brimming with colorful details: a gaggle of judges drinking the night before a judicial conference, a failed attempt to visit a strip club called the Red Garter, a brawl in the parking lot of an Indianapolis White Castle.
The altercation apparently started sometime after 3 a.m., when one of the judges, Sabrina Bell, raised a middle finger at two men yelling from a passing SUV, and ended after one of those men shot two of the judges.
In between, the three judges took a number of actions that “discredited the entire Indiana judiciary,” according to an opinion posted by the Indiana Supreme Court this week, suspending the judges.
The court found that the three â€” Andrew Adams, Bradley Jacobs and Sabrina Bell â€” had “engaged in judicial misconduct by appearing in public in an intoxicated state and behaving in an injudicious manner and by becoming involved in a verbal altercation.” Adams and Jacobs engaged in further judicial misconduct “by becoming involved in a physical altercation for which Judge Adams was criminally charged and convicted.”
The document lays out the events as soberly as possible, but the details remain spicy:
“While in town to attend a statewide educational conference for judicial officers, 10 hours before the program convened, Respondents walked the streets of downtown Indianapolis in a heavily intoxicated state. When Judge Bell extended her middle finger to a passing vehicle, neither Judge Adams nor Judge Jacobs discouraged the provocation or removed themselves from the situation.”
The three had ended up at a White Castle after trying to go to a strip club at 3 a.m. and finding it closed. A fourth judge went into the White Castle, while Bell, Adams and Jacobs stood outside.
Two men in the passing vehicle, Alfredo Vazquez and Brandon Kaiser, parked their car after the gesture from Bell.
Bell and Vazquez traded further insults. A physical altercation ensued among the four men, with Adams and Vazquez allegedly hitting and kicking each other as Jacobs and Kaiser wrestled on the ground. Kaiser then allegedly pulled a gun and shot Adams once in the stomach and Jacobs twice in the chest.
Adams and Jacobs were both seriously wounded and required emergency surgeries; Jacobs was hospitalized for two weeks.
Bell tried to stop the fighting by pounding on the door of White Castle for help and calling 911 once shots were fired.
While at the scene, Bell was recorded on video telling police detectives something akin to “I feel like this is all my fault,” though the opinion notes that Bell “was intoxicated enough that she lacks any memory of the incident.”
Kaiser, who allegedly shot Adams and Jacobs, has been charged with 14 crimes related to the brawl, including four charges of felony aggravated battery, according to The Indianapolis Star.
The court suspended both Jacobs and Bell for 30 days without pay. Adams, who pleaded guilty in September to one count of misdemeanor battery, is suspended for 60 days without pay. He was sentenced to 365 days in jail but was required to serve only two.
In the White Castle incident, the court said, the three judges “gravely undermined public trust in the dignity and decency of Indiana’s judiciary.”

domain: law


text:
By Kevin Curran
At the heart of the e-book is Shakespeare’s fascination with questions which are primary to either legislations and philosophy: What are the assets of organisation? What counts as an individual? For whom am I in charge, and the way a long way does that accountability expand? what's actually mine? Curran publications readers via Shakespeare’s responses to those questions, paying cautious recognition to either historic and highbrow contexts.
The result's a booklet that advances a brand new conception of Shakespeare’s inventive dating to legislation and an unique account of law’s function within the moral paintings of his performs and sonnets. Readers attracted to Shakespeare, theater and philosophy, legislations, and the background of rules will locate Shakespeare’s criminal Ecologies to be a vital resource.

domain: library


text: My Ameraucana (more like EE) chicks are 6 weeks old now. I went out to the coop this morning, and noticed that this one was attempting to crow, and upon further inspection, I found spur bumps, not to mention the fact that the comb is pinking up, and larger than the others. This bird has always been bigger than the other chicks. I'm pretty sure she's a he, but I would like opinions. This one has always run the brooder, but is a very nice bird, always lets us pick it up, and doesn't fuss much. He/she is a beautiful bird, but if it's a roo, I need to find it a home, because this will make roo #4.

domain: pet


text: In 5 acres of native forest beside Egmont National Park nestles this modern Swiss alpine-style B&B. The trio of rooms includes the third floor deluxe "Alpine Room," with glorious mountain views from a separate lounge area. On the second level two ensuite rooms "Tui" and "Fantail" (named for two of the native birds you'll encounter in the delightfully landscaped garden) open out to balconies where you can enjoy your morning coffee. Cooked or continental breakfast is included. The lodge has a log staircase, wood-burning fire, and wooden deck.


This project was to remove an old retarder including all controls and deteriorated concrete components; stabilize the substructure by compaction grouting; and installing a new retarder including mechanical and electrical controls and concrete structure repair.
Project Team and Stats
- Location: Little Rock, AR
- Start Date: December 2014
- Completion Date: May 2015
- Owner: Union Pacific Railroad


- The Fiscal
- What We're
- What You
NEW YORK — Michael A. Peterson, President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, commented today on the Congressional Budget Office's Budget and Economic Outlook update:
"Today’s CBO report confirms that the era of declining deficits is over. For the first year since 2009, deficits as a share of GDP are on the rise again. Although deficits have declined from the high levels of the financial crisis, we continue to have a structural mismatch between spending and revenues, and it’s about to get a lot worse.
“The 2016 fiscal year illustrates the fundamental fiscal challenge that we face: entitlement spending and interest costs are growing much faster than revenues. Between 2015 and 2016, CBO projects that revenues will grow by $26 billion, while spending will grow by $178 billion, increasing the deficit by $152 billion. Mandatory programs and interest costs represent the vast majority — 93% — of the spending increase.
“Unfortunately, this is a trend that will only get worse in the coming decades if we don’t address it. As the baby boom generation retires, the debt grows, and interest compounds, our debt and deficits will reach unprecedented and dangerous levels. CBO makes clear that this fiscal outlook hurts our economy, crowding out investment, slowing the growth of productivity and wages, and reducing the flexibility to respond to future crises.
“As the election season continues, our fiscal situation demands attention — because it’s our economic future that’s at stake. The 2016 campaign is a perfect opportunity for a serious conversation between voters and candidates about the many solutions available to put our nation on a more sustainable and prosperous path.”


text:
We're proud to offer a range of performing arts activities including:
- extra-curricular clubs including two fantastic choirs, drama club and orchestra.
- individual and group instrument lessons for a large number of students
- opportunities to perform in the community at events such as festivals and celebrations
- whole school concerts and performances
We also benefit from being part of the Ark Schools Network and their excellent network-wide music programme. Designed to foster a life-long love of music, the Ark Music Programme offers a wealth of experience for all pupils at all levels, including an annual Music Gala where pupils have the opportunity to perform at a national level.


This Holt Bladeworks Specter V3 is in excellent conditions. Blue anodized, checkered pattern, nude hardware. It has only a couple very minor marks, overall outstanding conditions, has a great action, complete with box, Selinko card, detent adjustment tool.
The Specter has beautifully sculpted 3D milled handle scales, and an almost complete mirror-polished blade. The pocket clip looks very nice as well, and it is made for right handed. The back spacer, has a very good look, and fits well with the knife design. The gorgeous blade itself was just lovely. A simple and well executed flat grind drop point blade. Perfectly symmetrical, and even provided a proper plunge grind that will make it easy to sharpen the entirety of the blade. CPM 20CV is of course a phenomenal blade steel.
- Blade Length: 3.6 inches
- Blade Width: .9 inches(mid-point)
- Blade Steel hardened to 61C with cryogenic treatment
- Handle Length: 4.5 inches
- Handle Width: 1.07 inches
- Overall Length: 8.15 inches
- Blade Material. 20CV.
- Handle Material. Titanium.
- Locking Mechanism. Frame Lock.
- Deployment Mechanism.
- Country of Origin. USA.
- Weight: 3.6 ounces


WASHINGTON – A bitterly-divided House panel Wednesday approved new work and job training requirements for food stamps as part of a five-year renewal of federal farm and nutrition policy.
The GOP-run Agriculture Committee approved the measure strictly along party lines after a contentious, five-hour hearing in which Democrats blasted the legislation, charging it would toss up to 2 million people off of food stamps and warning that it will never pass Congress.
The hard-fought food stamp provisions would tighten existing work requirements and expand funding for state training programs, though not by enough to cover everybody subject to the new work and training requirements.
Agriculture panel chair Michael Conaway said the provisions would offer food stamp beneficiaries “the hope of a job and a skill and a better future for themselves and their families.”
At issue is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which provides food aid for more than 40 million people, with benefits averaging about $450 a month for a family of four.
The food stamp cuts are part of a “workforce development” agenda promised by GOP leaders such as Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., though other elements of the agenda have been slow to develop.
“The timing is just perfect, given the fact that we have more than five million jobs that are open and available,” said Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., who said the GOP provisions would cement “a pathway to opportunity” for the poor and “give them better access to skills-based education.”
But Democrats said the provisions would drive up to two million people off of the program, force food stamp recipients to keep up with extensive record keeping rules, and create bulky state bureaucracies to keep track of it all – while not providing enough money to provide job training to all those who would require it.
“This legislation would create giant, untested bureaucracies at the state level. It cuts more than $9 billion in benefits and rolls those savings into state slush funds where they can use the money to operate other aspects of SNAP,” said Rep. Collin Peterson, of Minnesota, top Democrat on the panel. “Let me be clear: this bill, as currently written, kicks people off the SNAP program.”
Currently, adults 18-59 are required to work part-time or agree to accept a job if they’re offered one. Stricter rules apply to able-bodied adults without dependents between the ages of 18 and 49, who are subject to a three-month limit of benefits unless they meet a work requirement of 80 hours per month.
Under the new bill, that requirement would be expanded to apply to all work-capable adults, mandating that they either work or participate in work training for 20 hours per week with the exception of seniors, pregnant women, caretakers of children under the age of six, or people with disabilities.
In addition to food stamps, the measure would renew farm safety-net programs such as subsidies for crop insurance, farm credit, and land conservation. Those subsidies for farm country traditionally form the backbone of support for the measure among Republicans, while urban Democrats support food aid for the poor.
The legislation has traditionally been bipartisan, blending support from urban Democrats supporting nutrition programs with farm state lawmakers supporting farm programs.
The measure mostly tinkers with those programs, adding provisions aimed at helping rural America obtain high-speed internet access, assist beginning farmers, and ease regulations on producers.
“When you step away from the social nutrition policy much of this is a refinement of the 2014 farm bill. So we’re not reinventing the wheel. That makes it dramatically simpler,” said Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., a former chairman of the committee. “Most folks are generally satisfied with the fundamentals of the farm safety net.”
That satisfaction has helped fuel speculation that this year’s renewal of food and farm programs will fail because just a short-term renewal of current policies would satisfy many lawmakers. The Senate is taking a more traditional bipartisan approach that’s sure to avoid big changes to food stamps.
The House measure also would cut funding for land conservation programs long championed by Democrats, prompting criticism from environmental groups. At the same time, it contains a proposal backed by pesticide manufacturers such as the Dow Chemical Co. that would streamline the process for approving pesticides by allowing the Environmental Protection Agency to skip reviews required under the Endangered Species Act.
The panel adopted by voice vote a proposal by Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., to prohibit the slaughter, trade or import or export of dogs and cats for human consumption in the United States.


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NZ advice industry celebrates high achievers
The Financial Advice New Zealand conference last week handed out awards for outstanding achievement.
William Tieu won the financial literacy award for his use of Tik Tok and Instagram to inform people about financial options. He has 92,000 TikTok followers and hundreds of Instagram followers.
“While my primary focus is mortgages, I address broader financial challenges, especially during economic fluctuations. I believe in providing a solid foundation through first principles on social media, emphasising budgeting, deposit-saving, property leveraging, and understanding their own individual financial position,” said Mr Tieu, who previously worked as a civil engineer.
He is a financial adviser with Goldsmith Mortgages, according to his LinkedIn page.
Rival Wealth financial adviser Tim Fairbrother received the community impact award for his commitment to the Wairarapa area. He helped charities and community organisations set up low-fee investment vehicles to provide financial security when their usual fundraising events could not be held because of the covid pandemic.
Personal Investment Centre Director Stephen Redwood was presented with the Tate Scholarship in recognition of obtaining Certified Financial Planner status, an international accreditation that represents the highest level of achievement in the financial planning profession.
Financial Advice New Zealand member David Whyte received a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the industry. He has been an advocate for the professional body for more than 35 years and holds several board positions in and outside the sector.
“There are numerous examples of commitment to the financial advice profession, and it was difficult to narrow it down to one person,” Chair Heather Roy said. “We have awarded this prestigious honour to David Whyte for the significant contributions he has made to our profession over the course of his career. David’s leadership and dedication have had an enormously positive impact on the sector.”


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Lot: 1.21 acre
4290 Weaver Street Wonderful builder/developer opportunity in close-in Smyrna/Vinings with Atlanta skyline city views and on the Silver Comet Trail! . The assemblage of 1.208 acres of level land is zoned for both R-20 and RA-5, is ideal for Single Family Homes or 6 Carriage style Homes. The setting is steps away from the Playground and St. Benedicts Church & School and is super convenient to highway access to downtown/midtown, the Atlanta airport, easy walk to shops, restaurants with Vinings Village and Buckhead just a few minutes away. Very few building opportunities left in the area with so many attributes, so don't let this slip away! Great low Cobb County taxes and it's outside the Smyrna City limits!


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|In the Time of the Butterflies|
In the Time of the Butterflies
In the Time of the Butterflies is a fictional recounting of the Maribel family of the Dominican Republic. The family is notable for having three of four sisters run afoul of dictator Rafael Trujillo, or “El Jefe,” paying for their actions with their lives.
Julia Alvarez, who spent much of her childhood in the Dominican Republic, wrote the book to bring the story of these courageous women to a wider audience. In her postscript she writes:
“To Dominicans separated by language from the world I have created, I hope this book deepens North Americans’ understanding of the nightmare you endured and the heavy losses you suffered – of which this story tells only a few.”
The novel is framed by the only living sister, Dedé. She is the caretaker of her sisters’ memories, and the one interviewed about their lives, by journalists and curious tourists. It is one such casual visitor that calls her up and asks if she can come over for a visit to ask about the sisters, setting up the novel.
The story itself is told by each of the four sisters in alternating chapters. It covers their early lives, when as young girls even the thought that someone might overhear a comment that could be interpreted as anti-Trujillo interrupts family time on the porch and sends everyone scurrying inside for safety.
Minerva is the most focused activist of the sisters. She was the first to speak out against Trujillo, and the one to never waver in what she knew to be right. However, Alvarez does a good job in showing that she’s still human, not a mythological hero. She gets scared and discouraged at times, but she knows what has to be done.
All of the women have strong, identifiable personalities. They may have been involved to varying degrees, and for varying reasons, but they all are drawn realistically. Alvarez has certainly succeeded in making these celebrated sisters easy to relate to but still more than capable of inspiring others to action. When they were assassinated, the country was in an uproar. Their deaths were one of many events that led to the downfall of Trujillo’s regime. The United Nations chose the date of their deaths, November 25, as the day of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Fortunately, most of us in the US are relatively safe from violent government reprisal when we engage in protest (mostly). So in the spirit of the Maribel sisters, tell me: How do you speak out against injustice?
Want more like this? Try:
- Junot Díaz, The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. Very different style, but it also covers the Dominican Republic under Trujillo.
- Edwidge Danticat, The Dew Breaker. Set in Haiti, the DR’s neighbor on Hispaniola, around the same time as In the Time of the Butterflies. This time the dictator is Duvalier. This novel is more like a series of interconnected short stories.

domain: literature