The travel ban falls. . . for now
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Trump administration’s halt on immigration from seven majority Muslim countries saying that the administration had not proven the threat to national security. While there are points to be made on both sides of this issue which will likely be taken up by SCOTUS, a key issue to watch is what is made of the Ninth Circuit’s assertion that those who are in America illegally have due process rights. What SCOTUS makes of this particular provision is worthy of attention.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/09/us/politics/appeals-court-trump-travel-ban.html?_r=0

An historic, contentious vote
In an historic moment, Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie breaking vote for Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary. Never before has there been a tie vote on a cabinet appointment. While ideological issues divide Republicans and Democrats on issues of education, DeVos struggled by any measure in questioning before Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The ideological ramifications are quite evident since President Obama used the Department of Education to force social issues, particularly the issue transgender rights through the now infamous dear colleague letter.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/senate-to-vote-today-on-confirmation-of-betsy-devos/2017/02/06/fd4b7e9c-ec85-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html?utm_term=.38a665dbcfaa

Well, that didn’t take long
In the wake of the Boy Scouts announcement that they would begin accepting transgendered scouts, the National Organization for Women has renewed its call for the Scouts to accept girl members. Given that the Scouts are already accepting biological females and are in a habit of capitulating, its hard to see how this doesn’t end with female scouts.
https://apnews.com/31ba0df11fd046edb53cde18f0f626d0?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP

You can’t make this up
Just as a reminder of how dumb people can be, take the instance of a man who faked his own kidnapping in order to get money from his grandmother. Apparently asking wasn’t working any more.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FAKED_KIDNAPPING_ALABAMA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-02-09-07-49-25

Just for fun
Non-Sequitor