Apple filed a motion today saying the Department of Justice has no right to make it hack into iPhones.

Apple argues that not only does it not even know exactly how to create the software in question, the larger issue is the bad precedent of allowing the FBI to compel it, or any other tech company, to write code against its will.

“If Apple can be forced to write code in this case to bypass security features and create new accessibility, what is to stop the government from demanding that Apple write code to turn on the microphone in aid of government surveillance, activate the video camera, surreptitiously record conversations, or turn on location services to track the phone’s user?” asks the brief. “Nothing.”

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Hillary Clinton did not write the 1994 Crime Bill, officially titled the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, H.R. 3355, Pub.L. 103–322. She wasn't in the Senate when it passed. She did not coin the phrase juvenile "superpredator." The attention being given to an activist criticizing her remarks in 1996 is, as usual, overblown.

"Superpredators" was an idea created by Former Bush Drug Czars William Bennett and John Walters, along with former Princeton professor and Bush advisor, John J. DiIulio Jr., in a book titled "Body Count" (Simon & Schuster, 1996). It was widely repudiated by almost everyone shortly thereafter, but not shortly enough to avoid affecting the Democrats' crime agenda in Congress.

Ted Kennedy twice referred to the discredited term during remarks to Congress in 2004, once when advocating for the assault weapons ban and once when advocating for the Democratic version of an anti-gang bill (over its Republican rival, S. 1735, the Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act.) On the assault weapons ban: [More...]

ISIS published video today of its training camp, Abu Hamza Al Muhajir, in Fallujah. In addition to running through fire, the recruits do somersaults while holding a large rifle, ending up in perfect position to fire. This is an Abu Wahib move. The child recruits trained in Raqqa also perform the somersault maneuver.

I don't link to ISIS videos, so please don't put links in comments. But I am curious as to news about Abu Wabib, I haven't seen any in a while.

Our last open thread is full. Here's a new one, all topics welcome.

NPR has published Apple's Feb. 17, 2016 response to a federal magistrate judge in New York who requested information the day before on instances in which the Feds are seeking assistance unlocking encrypted data on iPhones. You can view it here. The case is In re Order Requiring Apple Inc. to Assist in the Execution of a Search Warrant Issued by the Court, No. 15-MC-1902, Eastern District of New York. The Magistrate Judge is Jamie Orenstein, who has long been concerned about the privacy intrusions inherent in government requests for cell phone data. Here's an example from last October. [More...]

Harry Reid has endorsed Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.

Reid said he took pains to remain neutral in the competition between Clinton and Bernie Sanders so he would not be accused of rigging the caucuses.

John Kasich is not dropping out.

Kasich's campaign is running a strategy that relies on surviving through the March 1 Super Tuesday contest and winning Michigan's March 8 primary. Kasich says people need to "chill out" because there's a "long way to go" in the GOP nominating contest.

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Bernie Sanders seemed very tired tonight at the Democratic town hall.

Hillary is on now. She was just asked about going to a women's college by a law student who presupposes that no one takes women seriously. Is this really 2016? Maybe the law student secretly prefers John Kasich who talks about his supporters who left the kitchen to work on his campaign.

I'm just as tired of the Levi jeans ad with Alicia Keyes touting women and Weight Watchers' "empowering" ads with Oprah.

What is up with these women law students and their "woe is me" attitude? Law schools today are half female. When I went to law school, there were 5 or 7 females out of a class of 200 and I didn't feel discriminated against. I had the same opportunities as every other student. My advice: Get over it. Pick a different career. Celebrate what you have instead of whining and maybe people will take you seriously. Stop feeding victimhood. [More...]

Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

Emma Colonel Aispuro, the 26 year old beauty queen wife of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, gave an extensive interview to journalist Anabel Hernandez. It aired on Telemundo last night.

The purpose of the interview: Emma says she fears for El Chapo's life due to the unbearable conditions under which he is now being held.

The close captioning on Xfinity was pretty bad, but here's what I understood her to say [This is from memory, I didn't take notes during it]: [More...]

Hillary Clinton flew from Nevada to Texas late yesterday and gave a speech at Texas Southern University. (She had a coughing fit, and for about a minute, her voice was a whisper. Did no one have a bottle of water to give her? )

Lines were long and people were enthusiastic to see and hear from the presidential candidate in person.

She hit every topic a few times, from discrimination against the LGBT community, to racism, the criminal justice system, income inequality, immigration, education, etc. She hit Bernie Sanders hard, saying he shouldn't be making promises he can't keep -- like his promises of free tuition for all. (He can't make it happen with the current Republican Governor of Texas.) She said we shouldn't be raising taxes of the middle class. [More...]

Jeb Bush suspended his campaign tonight following his dismal performance in South Carolina.

Jeb blew through $150 million. He had the largest war chest of any Republican. His campaign was an epic fail. Whose fault is it? Those who encouraged him to run, those who ran his campaign, or the boring Jeb himself?

The TV coverage tonight is all about South Carolina, there's very little about Nevada.

I could only stand to watch under a minute each of Rubio and Cruz' speeches. I think they will be irrelevant after the southern states are done. Republicans in the big states like New York and California will figure out that Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio or any evangelical is unelectable in November against any Democrat. This country is just not going to elect a radical right extremist as President. [More...]

Hillary Clinton bested Bernie Sanders today in the Nevada Democratic caucuses. As of now,
Hillary has 52.5% to Bernies 47.4% with 86% of the vote in. The LA Times reports Bernie won the northern Nevada counties that Obama took in 2008, while the Washington Post says her support among African-Americans was very strong, and Bernie did pretty well among Latinos.

But according to preliminary entrance polls reported by CNN, she won among black Democrats by a whopping 76 percent to 22 percent. African Americans made up 13 percent of the electorate, according to the entrance poll, while 19 percent were Hispanic and 59 percent were white. Sanders held an eight-point edge among Hispanic voters, who accounted for roughly 1 in 5 caucus-goers, and the two candidates split white voters about evenly.

The LA Times also says Hillary won the casino vote. The Caesar's precinct chair says the vote was 190 for Hillary and 81 for Sanders. More on this from the Wall St. Journal. Here's a photo of Bill in the Caesar's ballroom at caucus time: [More...]