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“Regulating campaign speech is not easy. It’s not supposed to be.” Jeffrey Sutton, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals,  Winter v. Wolnitzek , (Aug. 24, 2016). Particularly when the speech is from a judicial election. Can a judge – or any candidate for a judicial office – say the same thing as a candidate for a non-judicial office? Maybe, maybe not.  Williams-Yulee v. Fla. Bar , 135 S. Ct. 1656 (2015);  Republican Party of Minn. v. White , 536 U.S. 765 (2002). Which makes it interesting that the only current nominee for an open seat on a federal appeals bench is being  attacked  for getting it “wrong” in such a case. Would Amul R. Thapar, now a U.S. District Court judge in Kentucky, really “eviscerate what remains of the law limiting the influence of money on politics”, as Ian Millhauser  says today  in Think Progress. Evidence? Thapar’s District Court decision in  Winter v. Wolnitzek , 186 F.Supp.3d 673 (E.D. Ky, 2016) (earlier case:...

It’s been six months since a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, on a 2-1 vote,  upheld Montana’s right to limit campaign contributions . After  Citizens United , the only governmental interest strong enough to over-ride the First Amendment is  quid pro quo  corruption or the appearance of corruption, and the government had to show “objective evidence” of that to justify a limit on speech.  See McCutcheon v. FEC , 134 S. Ct. 1434, 1441, 1444–45 (2014);  Citizens United v. FEC , 558 U.S. 310, 359 (2010). The question in  Lair  was what was “objective evidence” of  quid pro quo  corruption: was evidence about lobbying or campaign contributions enough to show corruption, even though the Supreme Court held in  Citizens United  and  McCutcheon  that “ingratiation” or “access” was not corruption or its appearance? For example, Chief Justice Roberts wrote in  McCutcheon : We ...

Qatar begins taking measures to grant permanent residence to foreigners Qatar's cabinet announced on Wednesday that it was taking steps to pass a bill allowing foreigners to be granted permanent residence permits in Qatar. Qatar's Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Hassan al-Muhannadi said in a statement quoted by Qatar's official QNA agency that the government considered during its session today "taking the necessary measures to issue a draft law on permanent residence card, On the recommendation of the Shura Council on the draft law. "Under the terms of the project, a permanent committee will be established in the Ministry of the Interior, called the Permanent Residence Card Grant Committee, which will consider applications for permanent residency cards for a specified number of persons who meet the conditions specified in the law. Referred to". "The permanent resident card holder may receive treatment and educat...

No #Iran - No sponsor for worldwide #Islamic terror.

Israeli Company Revolutionizes Poultry Farming from Angola to Vietnam The classic chicken-or-egg conundrum does not keep poultry farm designers from the Israeli firm  Agrotop  awake at night. They’re too busy solving other challenges, like how to build a chicken house on the steep Himalayan slopes of Nepal. Or how to construct a 60,000-layer egg house in the Canary Islands on a narrow footprint (half the levels were built underground with a sophisticated ventilation system). Since its founding in 1989, Agrotop has been planning, engineering and constructing poultry and livestock projects in 50 countries –plus feed mills, slaughterhouses and packing centers –suitable for temperatures ranging from -40 to +50 degrees Celsius. The business of livestock construction projects is big and varied, so Agrotop has worked at distinguishing itself from other players and also working cooperatively with other players, says engineer Yaron Zafrani, Agrotop’s vice president for ...

Czech Republic Reopens Honorary Consulate in Jerusalem The Czech Republic on Tuesday reopened its honorary consulate in Jerusalem, after Czech President Milos Zeman said his country wishes to move the Czech embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, The Times of Israel  reported . Founded in the early 1990s, the Czech honorary consulate in Jerusalem was closed in 2016 due to the death of the honorary consul. Czech President Milos Zeman made the announcement at an event in honor of Israel’s 70th birthday last month. He said he hoped to see not only the relocation of the embassy but “many, many institutions: Czech Invest, Czech Trade, Czech Tourism, Czech Center,” which he vowed would all “be transferred from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.” The Czech Foreign Ministry in a statement issued on April 25 confirmed the move. “The Czech Republic has decided to open in May an honorary consulate in West Jerusalem, and before the end of the year a Czech (cultural) center, also in West Jerusa...

After Firing 110 Rockets and Mortars into Israel, Gaza Terror Groups Agree to Ceasefire After firing more than 110 rockets and mortars into Israel over two days, Gaza-based terror groups have apparently agreed to a ceasefire   The New York Times   reported Wednesday. Hamas, the terrorist group that exercises complete military and political control over Gaza, announced that it had returned to the Egyptian-brokered understandings reached to end Operation Protective Edge, Israel’s 2014 war with Hamas. It announced that other terror groups operating in Gaza would also agree to the ceasefire as long as Israel would do so too. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, both of which are backed by Iran, took credit for the attacks against Israeli population centers. Israel did not say that it had agreed to a ceasefire, but that it would not attack unless it is attacked. “I believe there are indirect understandings with Hamas to end this current round,” Israel’s minister of ...