At Start of NATO Summit, Trump Renews Push for Allies to Increase…

Yup - we were duped. Ya' got me, Sacha. Feel better now? - I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick "humor" of the British "comedian" Sacha Baron Cohen, enabled and sponsored by CBS/Showtime.

Facebook Gave a Russian Internet Giant a Special Data Extension

Yup - we were duped. Ya' got me, Sacha. Feel better now? - I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick "humor" of the British "comedian" Sacha Baron Cohen, enabled and sponsored by CBS/Showtime.

July 11 roundup

"Expensive new licensing requirements and the bureaucratic headache of implementing" new regulations are expected to reduce further the number of agencies offering international adoption to U.S. families [ Liz Wolfe, Reason ] And don't forget to mark your calendar and, if you can attend in person, register for next week's July 19 Cato conference on adoption policy , at which international adoption will be one focus; Report confirms again what I wrote nearly a year ago: many persons are being held in jail longer under Maryland's ill-thought-out venture in restricting cash bail [ Lynh Bui, Washington Post , my WSJ piece last September , more ] Online data protection episode is just latest instance of how California initiative process can put disturbing leverage in private hands [ Cathy Gellis, TechDirt ] "The cans now read 'NON-TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT ALMA MATER IPA' with no other ... (more)

Ex-FBI Lawyer Lisa Page Will Defy Congressional Subpoena

Former FBI attorney Lisa Page will defy a congressional subpoena to appear for a deposition on Wednesday, her lawyer said in a statement. The House Judiciary and House Oversight & Government Reform Committees issued the subpoena to Page, who has been at the center of controversy over anti-Trump text messages that she exchanged with Peter Strzok, the former deputy chief of the FBI's counterintelligence division.

Scotus Interruptus: a Lifetime Political Appointment, Much Like Being Married To Bill Clinton

Another Supreme Court Justice, slightly right-of-center swing vote Anthony Kennedy, has decided to retire. In a contentious and closely watched Supreme Court vote, the justices decided 5 to 4 to get him an ice cream cake for his retirement party.

‘People Will Die’: Yale Students, Faculty Outraged Brett Kavanaugh Might End Abortion

Yale Law School students and faculty wrote and signed an open-letter to the dean Tuesday, criticizing Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court and saying that "people will die if he is confirmed." The authors and signers of the letter asked Yale Law School Dean Heather K. Gerken to "use your authority and platform to expose the stakes of this moment and the threat that Judge Kavanaugh poses."

Nicaragua violence escalates: Papal Nuncio, Bishops, and clergy…

On Monday, July 9, the violence was directed against the Nicaraguan clergy, who have been denouncing the Ortega dictatorship's violent repression of dissent. Meanwhile, Pope Francis , was quoted by a Nicaraguan bishop as saying he was "worried" about the crisis, and as having encouraged the bishops "to continue forward in accompanying the suffering people and continue the work of dialogue."

Eleventh Boy Freed From Cave As Rescuers Start Third Day Of A Huge Mission

Rescuers reportedly pulled all 12 boys and their coach from deep within a cave complex in northern Thailand as officials embarked on the third day of the international operation. Eight of the 12 boys who had been trapped within the flooded cave were freed during the first two days of the operation, which is spearheaded by Thailand's Navy Seal Team.

Giuliani Will Seek Discovery on Angry Democrats in Special Counsel: I …

Giuliani Will Seek Discovery on Angry Democrats in Special Counsel: I Bet 2 or 3 of Them are Texting Horrible Things About Trump Former New York City Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani joined FOX and Friends on Monday morning to discuss the ongoing Mueller witch hunt. Rudy told the FOX and Friends crew he doubts the president will sit down with the Mueller to be interrogated since there has been no revelation of any crime.

Woman dies following exposure to nerve agent in Amesbury

Woman dies following exposure to nerve agent in Amesbury - BST - Detectives have launched a murder inquiry after a woman who was exposed to the nerve agent Novichok in Amesbury, Wiltshire, died in hospital this evening, Sunday, 8 July. - She has been formally identified as 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess, from Durrington.

Jilted Former EPA Aide With Sordid History Takes Full Credit For Pruitt’s Resignation

A former EPA aide who said outgoing Administrator Scott Pruitt railroaded him is taking credit for the Oklahoma Republican's resignation from the agency following a slew of probes into his spending habits. "I hate to take a credit for a man losing his job, but I guess I'd have to say that I take the credit," Kevin Chmielewski said Friday in an interview with The Hill.

Giuliani: Mueller Investigation Is ‘The Most Corrupt…

President Donald Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, characterized Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as the "most corrupt investigation" he's ever seen. The former New York City mayor is referring to texts from FBI agents that show political bias against the president.

NBC Hands Warren A Safety Net, Gives Her An Excuse To Refuse DNA Test

An NBC News fact-check may give Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren the cover she needs to further explain her repeated refusals to take a DNA test that would prove the Native American ancestry she has claimed to have. DNA tests are not widely accepted as proof of tribal citizenship - in part because the DNA could not show a specific tribe, only some genetic markers from Native people - and are more unreliable for Native Americans than for other ancestral regions.

Times Editorial Board: Let’s Have a Gang War

Remember the good old days when the Left pretended to worry about "eliminationist rhetoric"? Now, they don't even pretend to worry about a Bernie Sanders volunteer trying to murder Republican Congressmen. Yesterday's New York Times editorial on the judiciary illustrates how far around the bend the Democratic Party has gone: With Republicans controlling the Senate and the judicial filibuster dead, the Democrats' odds of denying President Trump a second Supreme Court appointment are slim.

Obama DHS Sec Rebukes Dems: Abolishing ICE ‘Would Compromise Public Safety’

Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson pushed back against Democrats calling for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to be abolished in a Friday op-ed published in the Washington Post . The op-ed, titled, "Abolishing ICE is not a serious policy proposal," likened demands to abolish ICE to a hypothetical demand from those who wanted to end the Vietnam war by abolishing "the entire Defense Department."