Trump Travel Ban Upheld in Full

26 Tuesday Jun 2018

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A year to the date after the temporary affirmance, the Supreme Court found the President still has the Constitutional authority to regulate immigration as determined by law.

THE FULL OPINION

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, foreign
nationals seeking entry into the United States undergo a
vetting process to ensure that they satisfy the numerous
requirements for admission. The Act also vests the President
with authority to restrict the entry of aliens whenever
he finds that their entry “would be detrimental to the
interests of the United States.” 8 U. S. C. §1182(f). Relying
on that delegation, the President concluded that it was
necessary to impose entry restrictions on nationals of
countries that do not share adequate information for an
informed entry determination, or that otherwise present
national security risks. Presidential Proclamation No.
9645, 82 Fed. Reg. 45161 (2017) (Proclamation). The
plaintiffs in this litigation, respondents here, challenged
the application of those entry restrictions to certain aliens
abroad. We now decide whether the President had authority
under the Act to issue the Proclamation, and whether
the entry policy violates the Establishment Clause of the
First Amendment.

…

Under these circumstances, the Government has set
forth a sufficient national security justification to survive
rational basis review. We express no view on the soundness
of the policy. We simply hold today that plaintiffs
have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the
merits of their constitutional claim.

Trump v. Hawaii, 17-965, 585 U. S. ____, at Slip 6 … 43 (June 26, 2018).

This is a major victory for the administration and a blow for the people of the US, if any now – it’s kind of late, who do not desire a new civil conflagration.

Screenshot 2018-06-26 at 12.30.41 PM

Is There a Really Big, Ugly Building in Your Town?

26 Tuesday Jun 2018

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It might just be a big, ugly building. Or, it could be one of the NSA’s special spy centers:

Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. In each of these cities, The Intercept has identified an AT&T facility containing networking equipment that transports large quantities of internet traffic across the United States and the world. A body of evidence – including classified NSA documents, public records, and interviews with several former AT&T employees – indicates that the buildings are central to an NSA spying initiative that has for years monitored billions of emails, phone calls, and online chats passing across U.S. territory.

Big ugly buildings. Big, ugly purpose. Just kidding! Keeping the kiddies safe from cigars or whales or something…

I know I’ve covered this subject before … the first disclosed tower in NYC. Can’t find it. Hmm. Sure the NSA has a record of that somewhere.

Screenshot 2018-06-26 at 11.49.09 AM

The Intercept.

Don’t Cruise Cuba, Don’t Suborn Theft

25 Monday Jun 2018

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Everyone I know, with maybe one exception, that has journeyed to Cuban has been disappointed. Still, I foresee the cruise liner set will still keep going, still keep eating, drinking, “playing,” showing off the tats, gracing the rest with that not-so-unique American obesity. And, yeah, those Cubans from the man on the dock, wrapped in cellophane, in the plexiglass-topped box, are real – real in that they physically exist…

The US Department of Justice [SIC] and some guy in England see the new travel ventures differently.

The United States government knows him as certified foreign claim number CU-2492. But he wants to make a more personal introduction to Tampa Bay.

He is Mickael Behn, a 43-year-old U.S. citizen residing in England, where he works in television production.

And, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, Behn is the rightful owner of Havana Harbor, the cruise ship terminal for Cuba’s capital city.

The harbor was taken from Behn’s family when the socialist government nationalized property without compensation.

So, Behn said, those who book a cruise from Port Tampa Bay to Havana support illegal activity. “This is an American crime on an American corporation,” he said. “Don’t go to Havana.”

The nonprofit Cuban Democratic Directorate recently put up billboards near Port Miami and is running radio ads that say those booking cruises to Cuba support the trafficking of stolen property.

How many damned offices, agencies, and programs can one government have?! Geeze.

Family from Cuba. Theft in Cuba. “American” living in England… I fail to see how this… Nevermind.

This case is especially interesting to a man whose family’s land was similarly confiscated by soldiers, at gunpoint, and without compensation. Do we get a claim? I think I already know the answer there. America and its laws are now for Cubans living in England. Got it.

It used to be a place for Englanders living in America. They’re, we’re completely out of fashion now. Even Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was an author. That is, for the new “Americans” and the tubby, tatted cruisers, someone who produces books. Books are the things they are tossing from libraries. Libraries are buildings taking up real estate needed for more sports watching venues, women’s African diversity centers, buffets, and tattoo shops.

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Wall-e. Diet Files.

Six Years of Mad Ravings

24 Sunday Jun 2018

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Happy anniversary! Six years ago commenced the blogging excellence you know as this “highly respected web log,” http://www.perrinlovett.me.

It started with THIS Simple Post.

Screenshot 2018-06-24 at 4.03.06 PM

Before a months-long hiatus, we visited upon the legal workings of Obamacare. You know, the law the GOP was going to repeal replace amend live with. The more things change…

1,820 posts later and the fun continues! Thank you all for all of your support. Here’s to another six great years.

The ravings will resume shortly… Have a great remainder of your weekend!

-Perrin

They Really Do Need a Stinking Warrant – Good News for the Fourth Amendment

22 Friday Jun 2018

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Today comes a reversal of a sad trend I’ve been following, here, since at least June of 2016. I’ve rarely been happier about being wrong – I had predicted an affirmance.

Yet, I was right about the overall trend against freedom:

The worn-out line of the sheep goes: “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.” Two problems there: 1) you don’t know what they consider “wrong”, and; 2) how about when the government is wrong? What then? Move to a freer country? There are at least ten out there – one right next door to the U.S. Sit in your house and do absolutely nothing? That can be considered an indication of criminal intent or an invitation for a “welfare check-in” by the police.

The odds are you do not have anything to worry about. Obey the government in general, don’t make any waves, and they will probably leave you alone. Probably was not what the Founders had in mind with the Bill of Rights though. They desired protection from ALL government overreach.

Today, the Supreme Court put this issue to rest in a 5-4 decision upholding the right against unreasonable searches. Thank you, Justice Roberts and the Liberals.

2. The Government did not obtain a warrant supported by probable
cause before acquiring Carpenter’s cell-site records. It acquired
those records pursuant to a court order under the Stored Communications
Act, which required the Government to show “reasonable
grounds” for believing that the records were “relevant and material to
an ongoing investigation.” 18 U. S. C. §2703(d). That showing falls
well short of the probable cause required for a warrant. Consequently,
an order issued under §2703(d) is not a permissible mechanism for
accessing historical cell-site records. Not all orders compelling the
production of documents will require a showing of probable cause. A warrant is required only in the rare case where the suspect has a legitimate
privacy interest in records held by a third party. And even
though the Government will generally need a warrant to access
CSLI, case-specific exceptions—e.g., exigent circumstances—may
support a warrantless search. Pp. 18–22.

819 F. 3d 880, reversed and remanded.

Carpenter v. The Empire, No. 16–402, 585 U. S. ____, at Slip. 3-4 (June 22, 2018).

THE WHOLE OPINION

download (1)

cnet.com.

Good news to start the hot weekend.

More good news: TPC is now available in print!

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TPC/MBM/Facebook.

From TPC, Today: Who Separates Kids?

21 Thursday Jun 2018

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My latest at TPC: on the illegals, the kids, etc.:

…
This is an ongoing trend of which you are surely aware. America (and the West) is currently undergoing the largest mass migration of humans in recorded history. Since 1965, when US immigration and naturalization law was … tweaked… scores of millions of newcomers have come forth, changing the face of our country. Europe has seen a similar phenomenon.

 

Trump is correct about the Dems, at least as it concerns their affinity for bad policy. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Keep Families Together Act, S. 3036, as currently (poorly) drafted would literally exempt almost all parents (illegals, immigrants, or citizens) in the country from federal criminal prosecution. Given what’s become of federal law and law enforcement, that may not be such a bad idea; I doubt it’s what the author originally intended, however.

 

Much of this mess can be traced back to another Democrat’s bad law. Emanuel Celler’s hideous Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 shifted America’s immigration and demography from the traditional to the radical and the globalist. Celler, Ted Kennedy, and other proponents at the time lied when they assured the nation that nothing would change.

 

And, when did liberals start caring about immigrant children and keeping them together with families in the United States? You might recall the following picture and the young child, Elian Gonzalez, featured therein – the one crying and with the submachine gun aimed at him – courtesy of Bill Clinton and Janet Reno:

 

Recall Feinstein’s defense of Elian? Me neither. Historycollection.co/CNN.
…

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AT TPC

 

More on the New Age of After Literacy

21 Thursday Jun 2018

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Building on what I mentioned the other day, Linh Dinh has some more depressing news for readers and writers.

I was just interviewed by two Temple journalism students, Amelia Burns and Erin Moran, and though they appeared very bright and enterprising, with Erin already landing a job that pays all her bills, I feel for these young ladies, for this is a horrible time to make and sell words, of any kind, and the situation will only get worse. We’re well into postliteracy.

With widespread screen addiction, hardly anyone buys books or newspapers anymore. My local newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer (Inky), no longer has a book review section. Its retired editor, Frank Wilson, was never replaced. Frank had three of my books reviewed, Night, Again, Fake House and Blood and Soap, but the last was in 2004.

We’re both right, kind of, about books sales. I say the sales are up. They are, or were the last time I checked, by the numbers. He’s right in that the quality of WHAT is sold has utterly collapsed. I think most buy the books now to have something to rest those screens on. Newspapers are dying.

Welcome to postliteracy, America.

idiots

Yep. Is this “legal” under Article 13???

 

Garfield at 40 and Happy Summer

21 Thursday Jun 2018

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Missed this the other day. The world’s favorite cartoon cat turned 40 on Tuesday.

And, Jim Davis says he’s “still trying to get it right.” So, if you’re having problems with a project, consider that the best selling comic creator in the world is having the same issues, four decades in.

The 40th Birthday Strip!

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Jim Davis, 6/19/2018.

Also the first official day of Summer, 2018. Have some lasagna.

Severe Obesity a Severe Problem

21 Thursday Jun 2018

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This isn’t good. Not overweight. Not obese. Severely Obese – a growing trend:

Severe obesity rates have been on the rise nationwide since the turn of the century, disproportionately affecting children and adults in rural communities, two U.S. studies suggest.

Researchers examined data on height and weight collected from 2001 to 2016 for adults 20 and older and for youth ages 2 to 19. Severe obesity rates were higher in rural areas for youth as well as for men and women, while overall rates of obesity were higher only for rural women, researchers report in JAMA.

In rural communities, severe obesity rates more than tripled for men and more than doubled for women during the study period, while climbing 29 percent among young people. Obesity rates in rural areas, meanwhile, rose about 9 percent among children and teens and about 36 percent for adults.

A 36% increase in less than a generation. Maybe lay off the processed foods?

 

 

 

The Art of the Postmodern Word Salad

20 Wednesday Jun 2018

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The trend in the US and much of the world is towards lower IQs. The US is also witnessing a steep decline in the quality of education. Something like half the population is functionally illiterate. Thus, it is somewhat surprising that, over the past few years, more and more folks are reading or at least buying books.

What are they reading? A giant percentage of book sales fall among adult coloring books (yeah) and romance novels. The latter category does require the minimal mental synthesis of words. But, what do those words mean? If you’ve browsed the stacks in a coffee shop toy store bookstore lately, then you’ve probably noticed the mass emergence of “postmodern literature.” Simply put, this involves the use of big words, without context, to wow the simple-minded and smugly reassure the nuevo elite trash. Much is said, nothing is communicated. Perfect for the Twitter Age.

Here’s a Website that showcases computer-generated literary gobbledegook.

2. Consensuses of defining characteristic

The main theme of von Ludwig’s[2] essay on socialist
realism is the dialectic, and eventually the absurdity, of postcapitalist
class. In a sense, Sontag promotes the use of Debordist situation to modify and
challenge language. Many theories concerning a self-fulfilling totality may be
revealed.

“Class is part of the futility of consciousness,” says Lacan; however,
according to Cameron[3] , it is not so much class that is
part of the futility of consciousness, but rather the genre of class. It could
be said that Sontag’s analysis of socialist realism holds that the raison
d’etre of the writer is significant form, but only if art is distinct from
truth; if that is not the case, Debord’s model of cultural situationism is one
of “patriarchial narrative”, and thus responsible for elitist perceptions of
society. If presemioticist construction holds, we have to choose between
Debordist image and capitalist objectivism.

It even adds footnotes. Use it to impress your boss. You’ll feel smarter, smugger instantly.