Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer wants America to know that today’s high court isn’t pragmatic. For good measure, he declares that he is, especially when it comes to interpretating law.
That’s not just conjecture. That’s laid out in the title to his new 250-page book, “Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism.” It’s a gaslighting of the U.S. Constitution, an attempt to sway opinion that rights protected by the founding document aren’t applicable today, since society and technology have changed since 1791. Justice Breyer argues that the words written don’t mean what the Founders meant because reading them over 200 years later changes the meaning.
The liberal justice retired under pressure from Democrats to ensure President Joe Biden would appoint at least one younger liberal justice to the Supreme Court. In 2022, Justice Breyer was succeeded by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former Breyer clerk.
Governor Mark Gordon signed four bills today that strengthen Wyoming’s status as a Second-Amendment friendly state. The Governor signed SF0073 – Concealed firearms-permit eligibility, SF0105 – Wyoming Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, SF0109 – Prohibit Red Flag Gun Seizure Act., and SF0086 – School safety and security-funding.
SF0105 protects the privacy and sensitive financial information of people purchasing firearms, firearms parts, or ammunition in Wyoming by prohibiting credit card processors from using firearms or firearm-related merchant category codes. It also prohibits government or private entities from keeping any registry of privately-owned firearms or the owners of those firearms created or maintained through the use of a firearms code.
SF0109 prohibits red flag gun laws from being enforced or implemented in Wyoming, while SF0073 amends the concealed carry permit regulations to make those who have had their firearms rights restored, eligible. SF0086 creates an account to reimburse school districts for costs related to possession of firearms on school property by school district employees.
The Governor vetoed HB0125 – Repeal gun free zones and preemption amendments due to concerns that HB0125 exceeds the separation of powers embodied in Article 2 of our Wyoming Constitution. If the bill were enacted, any specific policy, further regulation, or clarification of the law could only be implemented by the Legislature.
“House Bill 125/Enrolled Act No. 49, erodes historic local control norms by giving sole authority to the Legislature to micromanage a constitutionally protected right,” Governor Gordon wrote in his veto letter. “Any further clarification of the law, if this bill were enacted, would augment the Legislature’s reach into local firearms regulation.”
The Governor noted the bill would require each state facility, such as the University of Wyoming, Wyoming State Hospital, or the Wyoming Boys School, to receive legislative approval to restrict carrying firearms, or even to set policies as practical as proper weapon storage. It would also repeal the statute that has allowed school districts to establish specific policies allowing concealed carry in their districts.
“Every piece of legislation must stand for critical review, particularly those affecting our constitutional rights,” the Governor wrote. “As delivered to my desk, this bill lacks sufficient review and debate. A bill covering such a sensitive topic does not lend itself to successive tweaks to correct flaws, and therefore I believe the Legislature should be open to debating and fully working this bill through its established processes.”
The Governor concluded he will direct the State Building Commission to begin a process to reconsider rules to allow concealed carry permit holders to exercise their rights within the Capitol and other appropriate state facilities. That process will involve significant public input.
Let’s keep this simple. The “rule of holes” says that the best way to get out of a hole you’ve created is to first stop digging. Our legal system doesn’t work. It has been turned against millions of honest citizens, and it is time to admit it is broken. What our legal system should do in theory is not what we see in practice, and this isn’t the first time we’ve had this problem.
You remember earlier when the fact that certain car manufacturers were sending data from ‘connected’ cars to LexisNexis and they were selling it to insurance companies who used the info to jack up premiums?
Well, GM (don’t know about Hyundai or others) announced on their OnStar site : As of March 20, 2024, OnStar Smart Driver customer data is no longer being shared with LexisNexis or Verisk. Customer trust is a priority for us, and we are actively evaluating our privacy processes and policies.
After public outcry, General Motors has decided to stop sharing driving data from its connected cars with data brokers. Last week, news broke that customers enrolled in GM’s OnStar Smart Driver app have had their data shared with LexisNexis and Verisk.
Those data brokers in turn shared the information with insurance companies, resulting in some drivers finding it much harder or more expensive to obtain insurance. To make matters much worse, customers allege they never signed up for OnStar Smart Driver in the first place, claiming the choice was made for them by salespeople during the car-buying process.
Now, in what feels like an all-too-rare win for privacy in the 21st century, that data-sharing deal is no more.
Federal authorities have reportedly ordered Google to provide information about viewers of select YouTube videos, including their names, addresses, and phone numbers, as well as provide information about video viewers who weren’t signed into YouTube while watching.
The requests are raising alarms for privacy experts who say the requests are unconstitutional and are “transforming search warrants into digital dragnets” by potentially targeting individuals who are not associated with a crime based simply on what they may have watched online.
Specifically, authorities have reportedly asked for information about individuals who watched certain videos on the site between Jan. 1-8, 2023 as part of an investigation into “elonmuskwhm.” The authorities also requested the user activity for those accounts.
According to Forbes, the investigation into elonmuskwhm is focused on that individual selling Bitcoin for cash, which is a violation of money laundering laws. The sale also constitutes an unlicensed money-transferring business. As part of the investigation, undercover agents reportedly sent links of YouTube tutorials that covered mapping via drones and augmented reality software to elonmuskwhm, and then asked Google to provide details on who had viewed the videos. The videos received more than 30,000 views.
According to documents viewed by Forbes, a court granted the government’s request for the information; however, it asked Google to not publicize the request.
In the court order, the authorities commented: “There is reason to believe that these records would be relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation, including by providing identification information about the perpetrators.”
YouTube App for Apple Vision Pro May Be Coming After All
Forbes reports that in another case, authorities requested user data after discovering that video of officers investigating a bomb threat in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was being broadcast on a YouTube livestream, an act which officers said had occurred with other bomb threats in other parts of the country as well.
In both cases, it’s unclear whether or not Google complied with the requests.
Albuquerque police say a woman trying to protect her 4-year-old grandchild shot an auto theft suspect who twice broke into her home demanding car keys Friday night in the North Valley.
Joseph Rivera, 32, is charged with burglary, attempted burglary and auto theft.
Franchesca Perdue, an Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman, said Rivera will be booked into jail after being released from the hospital, where he is being treated.
Rivera is currently on pretrial release in a July 2023 case in which he was found in a stolen vehicle with fentanyl, cocaine and heroin on him, according to court records. At the time, Rivera told police that “his personal life and caring for his family has been incredibly difficult” as he struggled with undiagnosed mental health issues and addiction.
A warrant was issued in that case when he didn’t show up for a court hearing in October.
On Friday, around 8 p.m., police tried to pull over a stolen truck near Central and Cypress and used spike strips to flatten the tires, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Police said the driver fled with the truck “on its rims” and crashed it into a curb near Candelaria and Rio Grande NW.
The driver ran into the neighborhood, and police made a perimeter to search the area.
Around 9:30 p.m., a woman called 911 and said she had shot a man in her home after he “took her keys and said he did not want to go to jail,” according to the complaint. Officers detained the burglar — identified as Rivera — at the home and the woman handed police the gun she used to shoot him.
Police said the woman told them she was with her 4-year-old grandson when she heard someone inside the home. She said she confronted the man, who “appeared to be angry” and told her he “just needed her keys.”
The woman told police she thought about arming herself then but “did not know if she had time to use the weapon” if he also had a gun, according to the complaint. The woman said she took him to a “bowl of keys” in the kitchen and Rivera took several keys and left.
Police said the woman told them she then grabbed a gun and took her grandchild into the bedroom. She said she then found Rivera back in her hallway, “demanding more keys.”
The woman told police she pointed the gun at Rivera and “told him to get out” but he began approaching her instead, according to the complaint. She said she was scared “he would kill her or her grandchild” and she shot him once.
Police said the woman told them Rivera fell to the ground and began “crawling through the halls asking for water.” She said she “put pressure on his wound until police arrived.”
Medal of Honor Day, held annually on March 25, provides an opportunity for Medal of Honor Recipients and the public alike to pause and reflect on the importance of service and sacrifice.
National Medal of Honor Day was first observed on March 25, 1991, when Congress declared it as a day to “foster public appreciation and recognition of Medal of Honor Recipients.” The selected date has an important place in Medal of Honor history, as March 25, 1863, was the date of the first Medal of Honor presentation.
On that day, Private Jacob Parrott became the first Recipient of the Medal of Honor. Parrott’s was one of six Medals of Honor presented that day to the Andrews Raiders, a group who showed the values of courage, commitment, sacrifice, integrity, commitment and patriotism which are still important to Recipients of the Medal of Honor today.
March 25, 2024
This is not about Delta Force, but another of the Special Mission Units of the National Mission Force with the cover name (among others) the ‘Intelligence Support Activity’, called, when colors were assigned to task forces; Task Force Orange….
The first and only book to ever be written by a member of America’s most secret military unit―an explosive and unlikely story of immigration, service, and sacrifice.
Inside our military is a team of operators whose work is so secretive that the name of the unit itself is classified. Highly-trained in warfare, self-defense, infiltration, and deep surveillance, “the Unit,” as the Department of Defense has asked us to refer to it, has been responsible for preventing dozens of terrorist attacks in the Western world. Never before has a member of this unit shared their story—until now.
From Adam Gamal, one of the only Muslim Arab Americans to serve inside “the Unit,” comes an incisive firsthand account of our nation’s most secretive military group. When Adam arrived in the United States at the age of twenty, he spoke no English, and at 5’1” and 112 pounds, he was far from what you might expect of a soldier. But compelled into service by a debt he felt he owed to his new country, he rose through the ranks of the military to become one of its most elite and skilled operators.
With humor and humility, Adam shares stories of life-threatening injuries, of the camaraderie and capabilities of his team, and of the incredible missions―but also of the growth he experienced as he learned to understand his own moderate faith.
Enthralling and eye-opening, The Unit is at once a gripping account of the fight against terror, an urgent examination of the need for diversity, and an inside look at how America fights its battles abroad in the modern age of terrorism.
BLUF
This new office is another way for the Biden administration to make it appear as if it is doing something about violent crime, when it is actually making it harder for lawful gun owners to keep and bear arms.
The Biden administration is stepping up its war against the right to keep and bear arms. On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Parkland, Florida, to stand on the graves of the children who perished in a tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School six years ago.
The vice president spoke at the school, pushing for red flag laws and other restrictions on lawful gun ownership ostensibly to combat gun violence. During her visit, she touted a brand spanking new anti-gunner initiative: The National Extreme Risk Order Resource Center.
The new office is supposedly aimed at helping local and state law enforcement agencies enforce red flag laws to stop mass shootings and other forms of violence before they happen. Naturally, not everyone is on board with this anti-gun endeavor.
Gun Owners of America, a pro-gun rights organization, wrote a post on X, accusing the White House of weaponizing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, while taking a shot at Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) who supported the legislation.
Joe Biden has weaponized the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act AGAIN to create this National Gun Confiscation Center. ⁰⁰You can thank @JohnCornyn for selling out your Second Amendment.🤬 https://t.co/YimKyHmjoG
I’m not a big fan of artificial intelligence to begin with, but I’m even more concerned after reading Dr. John Lott’s latest piece at RealClearPolitics. Lott decided to put the 20 AI chatbots that are publicly accessible to the test when it comes to talking about crime and gun control, and found that the vast majority of them exhibited a liberal bias on the issue.
Lott queried the chatbots with a series of 16 questions ranging from “Do higher arrest and conviction rates and longer prison sentences deter crime” to “Do gun buybacks save lives”, and discovered that, while the chatbots gave a wide variety of answers, they almost always fell on the anti-2A side of the gun control debate.
Only Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbots gave conservative responses on crime, but even these programs were consistently liberal on gun control issues. Bing is the least liberal chatbot on gun control. The French AI chatbot Mistral is the only one that is, on average, neutral in its answers.
Google’s Gemini “strongly disagrees” that the death penalty deters crime. It claims that many murders are irrational and impulsive and cites a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report claiming there was “no conclusive evidence” of deterrence. But the Academy reaches that non-conclusion in virtually all its reports, and simply calls for more federal research funding. None of the AI programs reference the inconclusive NAS reports on gun control laws.
The left-wing bias is even worse on gun control. Only one gun control question (whether gun buybacks lower crime) shows even a slightly average conservative response (2.22). On the other hand, the questions eliciting the most liberal responses are background checks on private transfers of guns (0.83), gunlock requirements (0.89), and Red Flag confiscation laws (0.89). For background checks on private transfers, all the answers express agreement (15) or strong agreement (3) (see Table 3). Similarly, all the chatbots either agree or strongly agree that mandatory gunlocks and Red Flag laws save lives.
There is no mention that mandatory gunlock laws may make it more difficult for people to protect their families. Or that civil commitment laws allow judges many more options to deal with people than Red Flag laws, and they do so without trampling on civil rights protections.
Lott’s piece made me curious, so I tried a brief experiment of my own; asking both Bing AI and Google Gemini if an AR-15 is an effective firearm for self-defense. Google Gemini’s response was “I’m a text-based AI, and that is outside of my capabilities,” but Bing’s Co-Pilot actually gave a decent response:
To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, here is a tale of financial shenanigans at the American Irish Historical Society, in which Trump-deranged New York Attorney General Letitia James is hoist by her own petard.
It involves a grand old building on Fifth Avenue, an unpaid loan, a fading family dynasty, a James Joyce theatrical production which almost ended in fisticuffs, and hypocrisy from the AG as obvious as a glass of green beer.
It all began when James Doyle, a wealthy Georgia businessman with a love of his Irish roots, joined the board of the nonprofit society, whose crown jewel is a rare Gilded Age mansion at 991 Fifth Ave., right across from Central Park and the Met.
Over the years, financial mismanagement and misfortune had befallen the society, and it was facing foreclosure. So in 2017, the board turned to Doyle for a $3 million loan, structured like a private mortgage. He was told that the Beaux-Arts townhouse was worth $80 million that included valuable air rights.
However, the society only made a few payments and Doyle soon found things weren’t quite as they seemed.
The society had been dominated for half a century by the Cahill family, and president emeritus Dr. Kevin Cahill was accused of treating the townhouse as his own “private club,” with one of his four sons, Christopher, becoming its “well-compensated executive director,” according to the New York Times. Christopher earned $88,459 in 2020, and between $134,768 and $179,402 in previous years, according to IRS returns.
Cahill, a tropical disease specialist said to have treated Pope John Paul II after he was shot, reportedly raised the money to renovate the mansion to its former glory when he took over in the 1970s. A stocky man with bushy white eyebrows, he would dress each year in morning coat and Irish tri-color sash to preside over the St. Patrick’s Day parade from its Fifth Avenue balcony. He held a grand annual gala where he would hand out gold medals to the great and the good.
Then, in 2019, his son Christopher, then 55, got embroiled in an ugly confrontation with the director of the Irish Repertory Theater, which was staging a play in the townhouse, adapted from the James Joyce short story “The Dead.”
“I’m going to kill you, Ciaran!” yelled Christopher, while lunging at the director after the performance, according to the Times.
The society’s financial woes and dysfunction had reached a crisis point by 2021, when Cahill tried to sell the building for $52 million (later reduced to $44 million).
He died the following year, and in stepped the New York attorney general, citing a petition she had received opposing the sale.
She announced that, by state law, any sale of a nonprofit asset had to be approved by her, effectively kiboshing the plan.
“It’s an amazing place,” James gushed to the Irish Voice. “We had to save it, had to save it … One day people can come in there and enjoy it again.”
Which was all very well, but Doyle still was owed $3 million.
Letitia James opposed the sale of the American Irish Historical Society.Helayne Seidman
The AG appointed an interim board of directors and Doyle was persuaded not to try to collect his money or foreclose on the mortgage before July 2023.
But by August 2023, he still hadn’t been repaid, so he initiated foreclosure proceedings — and promptly was blocked by the AG, who claimed the mortgage was invalid because he was a board member.
On Friday, Doyle launched a lawsuit against the society and requested a subpoena be issued against James requiring her to produce a raft of documents, including anything relating to campaign events hosted at the townhouse or any contributions to her political campaigns from the society or any of its members or directors.
Doyle’s lawyer, Tim Parlatore, alleges that James’ enthusiastic involvement in the Doyle case may be driven by “connections with the Defendant.”
Cahill and the society’s current president-general, James Normile, “made representations to [Doyle] that the building had ‘air rights’ and could be built, or rebuilt, higher than its current height.”Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for BT Sport Industry Awards
And he points out the uncanny similarities between his client’s predicament and the notorious case James brought against Donald Trump for supposedly inflating the value of his properties to get a better mortgage, “although her office is now taking a polar opposite position.”
The lawsuit alleges that Doyle was given “fraudulently inflated valuations” of the townhouse, putting its market value at over $80 million. Cahill and the society’s current president-general, James Normile, “made representations to [Doyle] that the building had ‘air rights’ and could be built, or rebuilt, higher than its current height.
“In reality, there were no ‘air rights’ and the actual value is closer to $20 million. [The society] made a gross over-valuation” of the townhouse, which induced Doyle to make the $3 million loan.
“Tish James said, ‘Nobody is above the law,’ which should include Tish James, who seems to have actively aided and abetted in the art of the steal,” Parlatore told The Post.
Doyle’s lawyer, Tim Parlatore, alleges that James’ enthusiastic involvement in the Doyle case may be driven by “connections with the Defendant.”Getty Images
“This organization fraudulently inflated the value of their building to induce my client into giving them a mortgage which Tish James is now trying to help these fraudsters avoid having to repay.
“The theory of fraud Tish James accused the Trump Organization of engaging in is identical to the fraud she is aiding and abetting here.”
James has come down on the side of the society against its lender, Doyle. And yet, in her signature case of People v. Trump, she took the opposite position, holding that “where an organization inflates the value of a property to obtain a loan, that is fraud, even where the lender was aware of the actual value and was paid in full,” Doyle’s lawsuit says.
Trump was punished with a $355 million fine. So delighted was James by the verdict last month that she started live-tweeting Trump’s daily interest bill: “+$114,553.04.”
Parlatore points out that the society inflated the value of its property to obtain a loan, just like Trump was accused of doing, but the difference was that Doyle could not conduct the sort of “sophisticated due diligence” that Deutsche Bank did. Therefore, unlike Trump’s lenders, Doyle didn’t know the true value of the townhouse.
An even more important difference is that Trump paid back every penny he owed, but the society never paid back Doyle.
As the old Irish proverb says, forgetting a debt doesn’t mean it’s paid.
