This week we lost Zach Sobiech, who left the world much poorer with his passing. However, he left us a wonderful gift. The Minnesota teen wrote a wonderful song called “Clouds” after learning he had terminal bone cancer. He sang of his hope that “maybe someday I’ll see you again . . . We’ll fly up in the clouds and we’ll never see the end.” The physical end came for Zach this week but his grace and his gift has lifted the hearts of millions.
Archive for the 'Society' Category
Baltimore Police Sued For Allegedly Beating and Arresting Woman Who Filmed Them In Public
Published 1, May 21, 2013 Bizarre , Constitutional Law , Criminal law , Society 28 Comments
We have yet another case of police being accused of beating a citizen for filming them in public. Makia Smith says that Baltimore police beat her up and smashed her camera when they filmed them beating a man in the street. She is now suing the Baltimore Police Department, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts and police Officers Nathan Church, William Pilkerton, Jr., Nathan Ulmer and Kenneth Campbell in Federal Court.
Greek Politician Screams “Heil Hitler” In Parliament During Debate
Published 1, May 21, 2013 Bizarre , International , Politics , Society 9 CommentsThis video appeared last week and shows the extremism of the “Golden Dawn” movement in Greece, which is now reaching out to other European countries. As with Nazism in Germany, the movement has emerged from the economic chaos of Greece to offer hate and violence as a way to express the frustration of the people facing high unemployment and stagnant economic prospects. In the video, you can hear a Golden Dawn member repeatedly screaming “Heil Hitler” in the Greek parliament.
Continue reading ‘Greek Politician Screams “Heil Hitler” In Parliament During Debate’
Obama Recess Appointments Found Unconstitutional By Second Appellate Court
Published 1, May 20, 2013 Congress , Constitutional Law , Courts , Politics , Society , Supreme Court 30 Comments
I have previously testified and written about President Barack Obama’s use of recess appointments, which I viewed as flagrantly unconstitutional. Recently, the D.C. Circuit agreed with that view and found that the Obama Administration had violated the recess appointment powers. Now a second appellate court has joined that view, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. I have two law review articles coming out on these appointments and more broadly the abuse of recess appointment powers in modern presidencies. See Jonathan Turley, Recess Appointments in the Age of Regulation, 93 Boston University Law Review ___ (2013) and Jonathan Turley, Constitutional Adverse Possession: Recess Appointments and the Role of Historical Practice in Constitutional Interpretation, 2103 Wisconsin Law Review ___ (2013)
Continue reading ‘Obama Recess Appointments Found Unconstitutional By Second Appellate Court’
Report: Thousands of French Households Face 100% Tax Under Hollande
Published 1, May 20, 2013 International , Politics , Society 143 Comments
We have been discussing the tax policies of President Francois Hollande’s Socialist government — a record that I have criticized as ruinous from an economic standpoint. A recent report indicates that for some high-earning families — more than 8,000 — the Hollande policies impose a 100% tax. It is the ultimate “eat the rich” policy. Even for those families facing a 75% rate, it is unclear why they would continue to work in the country. Many are not. France is experiencing a flight of both high earners and companies.
Continue reading ‘Report: Thousands of French Households Face 100% Tax Under Hollande’
ALEC in Wonderland, An Act In Two Plays (Part 1)
Published 1, May 20, 2013 Courts , Justice , Politics , Society 15 Comments
By Mike Appleton, Guest Blogger
“Be what you would seem to be-or, if you’d like it put more simply-Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.”
-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
The late Paul Weyrich is generally regarded as the principal architect of the new conservative coalition that emerged with the ascendancy of Ronald Reagan. He was a co-founder of the Heritage Foundation. He even created the phrase “moral majority” for Pat Robertson. But his most important creation was the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in 1973. In the course of 30 years that body has become the most powerful force in state legislative bodies throughout the country.
Weyrich was not a fan of voting rights. “I don’t want everybody to vote,” he said in 1980. “Elections are not won by a majority of the people. They never have from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.” Weyrich understood that voters are problematic for two reasons. First, they are fickle and unpredictable. Second, they cannot be held accountable for their decisions. In short, they cannot be controlled, making democracy an uncertain endeavor.
But Weyrich also understood that lobbying is not an effective antidote to an independent electorate. It is expensive and subject to restrictions and regulations that vary from state to state. ALEC operates in a manner that enables it to surmount those problems. Powerful corporate interests provide the funding necessary to research and draft model bills serving their interests. The approximately 2,000 state legislator members of ALEC sponsor those model bills in their respective states. And the electorate? Well, anyone is free to join and have his or her voice heard by paying an annual membership fee ranging from $7,000.00 to $25,000.00.
As you will see, ALEC’s ability to get its way in spite of the voting public is indeed a wonder to behold. Continue reading ‘ALEC in Wonderland, An Act In Two Plays (Part 1)’
Is It Getting Cold In Here?
Published 1, May 19, 2013 Constitutional Law , Free Speech , Politics , Religion , Science , Society 39 Comments
by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
That free speech is under attack by the governments local and Federal should be manifestly apparent from the stories that have appeared of the last few years here at Res Ipsa Loquitur. In articles from our host, myself and my fellow guest bloggers, we’ve seen open attacks on free speech as a right proper, attacks on anonymous political free speech, the prosecution and persecution of whistleblowers and the erosion of shield laws protecting reporters and attacks on free speech and pluralism in general in the form of blasphemy laws just to name a few of the threats that have come to our attention. What is most troubling is that the Federal government has stepped up their efforts to outright infringe upon the free speech rights of citizens and the press and chill the right however possible. Free speech is critical for the function of democracy. Without dissent, there can be no debate, only the dictates of the strong over the weak which is by definition tyranny. That is one of the reasons that it was so important that the Founders protected it in the 1st Amendment. However, they felt in particular that the freedom of the press was a not just free speech, but a very special kind of free speech that merited both special mention and protection in the 1st. The 1st Amendment reads in relevant part:
Congress shall make no law [. . .] abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”.
As we know, there are legitimate reasonable restrictions on free speech such as defamation, incitement and threats (particularly threats of violence). So before we look at the two present instances of the chilling of free speech – one a local story about a graduation and one the national story concerning the DOJ accessing the phone records for hundreds of reporters working for the Associated Press – let us first ask examine what is meant by the term “chilling free speech”.
by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
Bring me a plate of whatever and something wet to drink!
A friend of mine sent me this picture. I know that apathy is a problem for a great number of our fellow citizens, but come on. Sure, it’s silly, but do you think this is clever? Is it indicative of a larger problem with the American mindset? Both? Or do you just not care?
From DSM-I to DSM-5 in the Legal System: Mental Illness Issues in the Courtroom
Published 1, May 19, 2013 Criminal law , Justice , Lawyering , Science , Society , Testimony , Uncategorized 37 CommentsTags: DSM-5, insanity, mental health, mental illness
Submitted by Charlton Stanley (Otteray Scribe), guest blogger
Dr. Isaac Ray
The relationship between mental health and the legal system is a turbulent one at best. One major problem is they speak two different languages. For example, insanity is a legal term found nowhere in any psychiatric or psychological diagnostic manual.
There are several key words used commonly by both professions, but which have quite different meanings. The words “validity” and “reliability” are part of the vocabulary of science. To a scientist, the word validity means that a test measures what it claims to measure. When a test is intended to measure depression or anxiety, the user can assume it measures depression and anxiety.
Reliability refers to the repeatability of a test or measurement. If we give the same test to the same subject several times, all the scores will fall within the standard error of measurement 95% of the time.
When an attorney uses the word validity, it means, Binding; possessing legal force or strength; legally sufficient.
The legal interpretation of the word reliability suggests the subject matter is trustworthy, and that one can rely on it. However, when a scientist says something is reliable, it means whatever is being tested will get the same results with every retest, within the Standard Error of Measurement.
An examination of the literature of both professions reminds us of the quip attributed to George Bernard Shaw, “[We] are two peoples divided by a common language.”
When I was in graduate school, a well-known attorney gave an invited lecture to the student body. The speaker made several sweeping generalizations about the mentally ill; all of them displaying a stunning ignorance of facts. Then he turned his venom on those in the mental health professions, referring to mental health professionals scornfully as, “Soul doctors.” I would like to say people like him are rare, but they are not. I have known judges who, quite literally, did not believe in mental illness. We had one of those in our area who, mercifully, retired a few years ago. People like that remind me of those misogynistic knuckle-draggers who don’t believe there is such a thing as rape.
Now, back to the stormy relationship between the legal system and mental illness.
Continue reading ‘From DSM-I to DSM-5 in the Legal System: Mental Illness Issues in the Courtroom’
Detroit On Brink Of Bankruptcy . . . Sends Pension Fund Trustees To Hawaii For Conference
Published 1, May 17, 2013 Bizarre , Politics , Society 20 Comments
The City of Detroit has left whole areas without street lighting and even proposed allowing buildings to burn rather than spend the money on fire fighters. The mayor has called it quits and even an emergency manager appears close to throwing in the towel on the city. However, Detroit’s two public pension funds (long accused of gross mismanagement) are sending four trustees to Hawaii at the cost of $22,000 as an educational trip.
Colorado Schools Sued By Custodians For Using English Instructions
Published 1, May 17, 2013 Academics , Politics , Society , Torts 97 Comments
There is an interesting lawsuit against an academic institution in Colorado. Spanish-speaking custodial workers at the Auraria Higher Education Center in Colorado are suing over the failure of the Center to give them instructions in Spanish — alleging that they have faced unsafe conditions over the use of English rather than Spanish. The case suggests that the use of Spanish can not only be legally required but that the use of English can constitute a type of unsafe workplace.
Continue reading ‘Colorado Schools Sued By Custodians For Using English Instructions’
Mickey Louse: New York Moms Hiring Disabled People To Skip Lines At Disney
Published 1, May 17, 2013 Bizarre , Media , Society 36 Comments
One of the longest (and unresolved) complaints with Disney is that families pay an obscene amount to get into “The Happiest Place on Earth” only to face ridiculously long lines that severely limit the number of rides that they can enjoy. Disney actually makes money off the inconvenience by selling “guides” and offering fast passes. However, it is not the only one making money off its lines. New York City moms are reportedly hiring disabled people to pose as family members so that their kids can go to the front of lines. The cost: $1000 a day for your own personal line-cutting wheelchaired person.
Continue reading ‘Mickey Louse: New York Moms Hiring Disabled People To Skip Lines At Disney’
Man Uses Private Drone To Spy On Neighbors
Published 1, May 16, 2013 Bizarre , Constitutional Law , Criminal law , Society , Torts 30 Comments
There was an interesting confrontation in Seattle this week where a man flew a drone just feet away from a family home. The drone was camera-equipped and the mother called police. Before the man left, he insisted that he had a right to use a private drone to surveil his neighbors. No it is not John Ashcroft’s neighborhood. I wanted to clarify a couple of points before others take to the air for some private snooping.
Continue reading ‘Man Uses Private Drone To Spy On Neighbors’
It was not that long ago that we passed the 15,000,000 view mark but we have now done one million better, according to WordPress. In addition, we just passed the 11,000 post mark on the blog. Congratulations everyone.
Couple Refuses To Allow Police To Enter Home Without Warrant . . . Police Kick Down Door and Taser Couple
Published 1, May 16, 2013 Constitutional Law , Criminal law , Society 103 CommentsThis video shows a confrontation between a couple in Cotati, California and police after the police were called to investigate a domestic violence complaint. The couple tells the police that they were simply yelling in an argument and refused to allow the police to enter without a warrant. The police respond by kicking down the door and tasering the couple.
Satanic Tweets: Head of Saudi Religious Police Warns Citizens That Use of Twitter Destroys Chance For Heaven
Published 1, May 16, 2013 Constitutional Law , Free Speech , Politics , Religion , Society 49 Comments
Sheikh Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the head of Saudi Arabia’s religious police, has gone public with a renewed attack on the use of social media sites, particularly Twitter. He warned citizens that the use of sites like Twitter guarantees that the user “has lost this world and his afterlife.”
Gosnell Agrees To Waive Appeal To Avoid Death Penalty
Published 1, May 15, 2013 Criminal law , Lawyering , Society 27 Comments
Convicted Philadelphia abortion doctor has reached an agreement with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty: he has waived his right to appeal in exchange for a sentence of life without parole. I have no problem with the conviction of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, who performed late abortions in violation of state law under the most gruesome and horrific conditions. However, the use of the threat of the death penalty to waive appeal is a serious concern for civil libertarians.
Continue reading ‘Gosnell Agrees To Waive Appeal To Avoid Death Penalty’
One Drink Maximum: Administration Moves To Lower Blood Alcohol Level To .05
Published 1, May 15, 2013 Criminal law , Politics , Society 85 Comments
Many defense lawyers and drivers have complained that the blood-alcohol level used by states is too low and allows charges for relatively low amounts of alcohol consumption. Nevertheless, it appears that the National Transportation Safety Board will recommended that all states drop the blood-alcohol level at which motorists can be charged with driving drunk to .05, down from the current rate of .08. That will mean that an average woman will cross the threshold with only a single drink. For men, it will be a two drink maximum.
Continue reading ‘One Drink Maximum: Administration Moves To Lower Blood Alcohol Level To .05′
I wanted to post this on Sunday for all of our mothers, but here is a belated Happy Mother’s Day anyway.
Nixonian or Obamaesque? Obama Administration Spied On Associated Press Editors and Reporters
Published 1, May 14, 2013 Congress , Constitutional Law , Courts , Criminal law , Free Speech , Lawyering , Media , Politics , Society 286 Comments
I recently published a column on how Barack Obama has publicly assumed many of the powers that were once cited as the basis for the investigation and attempted impeachment of Richard Nixon. One of those areas was the Obama Administration’s crackdown on journalists. This week Attorney General Eric Holder appears to have yet again added to this ignoble record. It appears that the Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press. This disclosure follows another recent disclosure that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeted conservative groups associated with the Tea Party. Yet, once again, most Democrats remain silent in a type of cult of personality where principle is discarded in favor of loyalty to the President.
Saudi Arabia Orders Man To Receive 300 Lashes And Six Years In Jail For Helping Woman Convert To Christianity
Published 1, May 14, 2013 Criminal law , International , Religion , Society 30 Comments
Saudi Arabia has added yet another infamous case of religious intolerance and hatred after a Lebanese man was given 300 lashes with a whip and sentenced to six years. His crime? Simply helping a Saudi woman who wanted to convert to Christianity. While Saudi Arabia continues to object to any slight of Islam in Western Countries, the Kingdom continues to deny the human right of people to choose their faith — and impose medieval punishments for those who try to exercise their faith under the Sharia system. The woman fled the Kingdom in the hope of being able to worship the God of her choice.
Ancient Mayan Pyramid Destroyed For Gravel In Belize
Published 1, May 14, 2013 Bizarre , Criminal law , International , Society 19 Comments
In a true crime against culture, a construction company in Belize City has destroyed one of Belize’s largest Mayan pyramids to use it for gravel for road fill. Archeologists and locals say that there is no way that the company officials were unaware of the historical meaning of the pyramid when they took backhoes and bulldozers to it. Before they succeeded in eradicating the structure, locals took pictures showing the center of the pyramid still standing with a Mayan room exposed at the top.
Continue reading ‘Ancient Mayan Pyramid Destroyed For Gravel In Belize’
Sign of Our Times: The New Normal?
Published 1, May 13, 2013 Academics , Bizarre , Criminal law , Politics , Society 86 Comments
This is a sign from Union Grove, Texas where licensed and trained teachers and administrators now carry a firearm. Is this sign supposed to convince killers to move down the road to the less defended school?
Oregon Man Acquitted After Arrest For Stripping Before TSA . . . TSA Responds By Bringing Its Own Charge
Published 1, May 13, 2013 Bizarre , Criminal law , Free Speech , Lawyering , Media , Politics , Society 68 Comments
I have previously written about how the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) set out to create a crime never approved by Congress: the crime of making a joke in an airport about security issues. The TSA has long appeared to chafe at the notion of an agency dependent on Congress or the public for its authority. That appears the message being sent to John E. Brennan. You may recall Brennan from a story last year when he stripped in the Portland International Airport in protest of increasing invasive TSA security measures. He was cleared by a judge who found his stripping was a form of protest. However, the TSA was clearly miffed by decision of the judge, so Brennan was pulled into the administrative abyss by TSA with an agency charge. It appears that, if the law will not punish a citizen, TSA will.
There are many pet lovers on this blog and the article below reaffirms your pet-loving lifestyles is not just emotionally but physically good for you. The American Heart Association (AHA) issued a scientific statement last week saying owning a pet may help to decrease obesity, blood pressure and cholesterol. Notably, for those of us who are dog lovers, dogs showed the greatest benefit for pet owners in terms of health benefits.
Continue reading ‘Study: A Pet A Day, Keeps The Doctor Away’
Tax Havens For the Wealthy, But What About the Rest of Us?
Published 1, May 12, 2013 Congress , Criminal law , International , Justice , Media , Politics , Society , Uncategorized 43 Comments
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger
Recently, the ICIJ, better known as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released a report detailing hundreds of thousands of off-shore companies whose sole product or service is to hide income from many countries tax authorities. “A cache of 2.5 million files has cracked open the secrets of more than 120,000 offshore companies and trusts, exposing hidden dealings of politicians, con men and the mega-rich the world over.
The secret records obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists lay bare the names behind covert companies and private trusts in the British Virgin Islands, the Cook Islands and other offshore hideaways.
They include American doctors and dentists and middle-class Greek villagers as well as families and associates of long-time despots, Wall Street swindlers, Eastern European and Indonesian billionaires, Russian corporate executives, international arms dealers and a sham-director-fronted company that the European Union has labeled as a cog in Iran’s nuclear-development program.” ICIJ.org Continue reading ‘Tax Havens For the Wealthy, But What About the Rest of Us?’
Plastic Fantastic Recycled Revisited
Published 1, May 12, 2013
Constitutional Law , Criminal law , Free Speech , Politics , Science , Society , Supreme Court
52 Comments
by Gene Howington, Gust Blogger
As previously discussed in the column “Fantastic Plastic?“, the advent of cheap 3-D printing (or additive manufacturing) is changing the nature of how we can manufacture anything including guns. At the time the original column was written, a pioneer in additive manufacturing of guns – Defense Distributed of Austin, Texas – was making headlines for using this technology to make lower receivers for AR-15 style assault rifles. Although in the proof of concept stage, Defense Distributed had rapidly shown that they could make such a component capable of firing over 600 rounds before stress failure. I speculated that such a weapon was not as threatening due to size and some materials constraints and that even more dangerous was the possibility of all (or nearly all) plastic handguns and other easily concealable weapons that escape normal detection techniques.
In this instance, we have a case of science rapidly catching up with speculation. Last week Defense Distributed released the following video of their plastic handgun design. The only metal component of the weapon is the firing pin. It is called (rather dramatically) the Liberator.
In a move that is not entirely unexpected as self-described crypto-anarchist Cody R. Wilson and his company Defense Distributed continue to push both the boundaries of the technology as well as gun laws, the government took action. It is no secret that escalation often begets escalation. Is this the first salvo by the government in their dealings with Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed?
Criminalizing Mental Illness: Jails, Hospitals, or On the Street?
Published 1, May 12, 2013 Criminal law , Justice , Society , Uncategorized 34 CommentsTags: mental illness
Submitted by Charlton Stanley (Otteray Scribe) guest blogger
What is wrong with this picture? According to figures obtained from the Department of Justice, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) reports that back in 1999, sixteen percent of the prisoners in State and Federal jails and prisons had a diagnosable major mental illness. These diagnoses include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, or some other mental illness that can be classified as “severe.” Based on the number of known prisoners, this means there were roughly 283,000 persons with severe mental illnesses locked up in Federal and State correctional facilities, and that was 13 years ago. It has gotten worse since then. At the end of 2011, 2,266,800 adults and approximately 71,000 juveniles were incarcerated in Federal and State prisons, and jails. That is 2,337,800 incarcerated inmates. If the sixteen percent figure holds, and there is no reason to believe it hasn’t, there are now about 374,000 mentally ill inmates in correctional facilities. “Correctional facility” is an oxymoron when it comes to providing treatment. According to both law enforcement and mental health groups, the percentage of mentally ill being locked up is growing, not decreasing.
By way of contrast, public psychiatric hospitals have a patient population of 70,000 with similar severe mental illnesses. Want to know something else scary? Thirty percent of those patients are classified as forensic patients. They are awaiting trial, or so in need of treatment the prison system cannot cope with them. This was something I saw when I worked at the Mississippi State Hospital on the forensic unit. We would get prisoners from the State Department of Corrections that could not be managed adequately on the psychiatric unit at the penitentiary. Almost all State and Federal correctional facilities now have special units for the mentally ill, or with mental or physical handicaps. County jails nationwide do not usually provide mental health care at anything more than the most superficial level.
Furthermore, law enforcement officers are increasingly becoming first responders to people with severe mental illnesses in crisis. That is not working out very well for the police or the public, as we have seen in numerous stories reported on this blog. I talk to many sheriffs who are both angry and frustrated their jails are filling up with the mentally ill. They do not have the trained staff or the facilities needed to care for the mentally ill. At the same time, access to mental hospitals is becoming increasingly difficult.
Continue reading ‘Criminalizing Mental Illness: Jails, Hospitals, or On the Street?’
A Meditation on Fear
Published 1, May 11, 2013 Academics , Animals , Environment , International , Politics , Religion , Science , Society , Uncategorized 54 CommentsSubmitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
Sometimes I’ll be watching something and a thought will occur to me and it will stick in my mind and lead me into a meditation on a more global idea that remains with me as I try to puzzle it out. A train of thought set off this week was a TV program in which a person had to deal with aging and it was clear that their fear of their own mortality that controlled their actions. The program is forgotten and unimportant in this piece, but it did start me spending much time extrapolating the implications from that situation. This represents the rude beginnings of a theory I’ve developed, sans research, on why many people respond the way they do to the world, especially in a sociopolitical sense. Feel free to attack it, because it is merely a product of my tangled thought processes and in truth I don’t even know if it is particularly original, or the result of my synthesis of much I’ve learned and read through the years.
Noticeable human development began at least a million years ago in an apelike creature that was small and relatively weak, considering the predatory creatures that surrounded it. Life was a tricky proposition for that creature and the act of merely staying alive consumed its time. I would think that almost all of its day was spent in a state of fear, causing adrenalin rushes and hyper sensitivity to its environment. Those with the most fear, sensitivity and intelligence survived enough to pass on their genes to the coming generations, thus continuing the evolutionary cycle. As time and evolution passed enormous changes in brain size and other factors turned this fragile being into an omnivore predator that mastered the food chain. Yet still remaining were the instincts of fear and hyper-vigilance, since life even at the top of the food chain remained brutal and short. Those instincts protected us well until a next evolutionary step that took us to a whole new level, leaving us as unquestioned masters of life on this planet. That step is what some are calling a social evolutionary process. When humans began to band together into larger groups their place in the world increased exponentially. This “social evolution” changed the Earth and continues today, but nevertheless we are still primarily ruled by fear and by hyper-vigilance. Let me take you where this thought has led me and perhaps you can show me the flaws in my nascent “theory” and provide me with respite from its repetition in my brain. Continue reading ‘A Meditation on Fear’
New Jersey Sexual Assault Case Highlights Abuse Of Alleged Victims In The Orthodox Jewish Community
Published 1, May 10, 2013 Bizarre , Criminal law , Politics , Religion , Society 26 Comments
We have previously discussed the harassment and abuse of families in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods who have accused religious figures of sexual abuse. Like Catholic and other Christian communities, the Jewish community is facing its own scandal over the response to these allegations. This ongoing controversy is at the heart of a case in New Jersey where a leading counselor and Rabbi stands accused of molesting a 12-year-old boy — and members of the Orthodox community are accused of a campaign of harassment against the boy and his family for going to the police.
Stephen Hawking Joins Academic Boycott Of Israel
Published 1, May 10, 2013 Academics , International , Politics , Religion , Society 120 Comments
Leading Physicist Stephen Hawking has created an international stir by joining a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and travel to Israel after sending a letter declining an invitation to attend the President’s Conference. While Cambridge originally claimed that Hawking was not attending due to his health, Hawking sent a letter to Israeli President Shimon Peres saying that he was in fact boycotting Israel due to its Palestinian policies.
Continue reading ‘Stephen Hawking Joins Academic Boycott Of Israel’
Mao’s Millionaires: The New Red Nobility Of China Includes A Familiar Family
Published 1, May 9, 2013 Bizarre , Media , Politics , Society 14 Comments
We recently discussed China’s new Red Nobility Class that rules the purportedly Communist nation as friends rake in billions in profits from businesses assisted by local party leaders in land seizures and non-enforcement of environmental laws. The inherent conflict with Communist values was brought to a new level with the disclosure that the granddaughter of Mao, Kong Dongmei, and husband Chen Dongsheng ranked 242nd with personal wealth estimated at five billion yuan (£524 million) on a rich list released this month by New Fortune, a Chinese financial magazine.
Continue reading ‘Mao’s Millionaires: The New Red Nobility Of China Includes A Familiar Family’
Police Officer Tells Man That He Has Planted Drugs On People In The Past And Threatens Him With False Arrest . . . But Later Returned To The Force
Published 1, May 9, 2013 Bizarre , Criminal law , International , Politics , Society 19 CommentsRecently, a video emerged showing a Canadian police officer in Durham threatening a man in 2011 with planting drugs on him and saying that he has done so before. The profanity laced tirade of the officer was posted on YouTube in which he not only threatens to plant drugs but to beat up the man. The police, however, say that the officer was “disciplined” . . . and then returned to duty. It is unclear what it takes to be fired as a police officer in Durham. The police seem more upset with the profanity than the fact that the officer is captured admitting to planting drugs and threatening an illegal act. The Toronto Star identified the officer as Constable Jamie Ebdon. Here is the punishment . . . he was docked two days’ pay. [Warning both the transcript and the video contain graphic language]
Video: Brazilian Police Helicopter Sprays Street With Machine Gun Fire In Pursuit Of Fleeing Car
Published 1, May 9, 2013 Criminal law , International , Society 15 CommentsThere are some helicopter stunts that capture our attention for their bravery and skill as with the recent mountain rescue in Norway. The Rio police in this video present a far less admirable side to helicopter operations. The video shows a helicopter spraying a street in Rio with machine gun bullets — continuing to fire even as pedestrians are shown near the ricocheting bullets.
Below is today’s column in USA Today. Aidan and I had a ball in Chicago from going to Hot Doug’s for hot dogs to Ed Debevik’s for hamburgers (and seeing our favorite waiter “Biscuit.). I even went into my old school Joseph Brennemann Elementary on Clarendon. But the highlight was taking Aidan to his first game at Wrigley, a major rite of passage for any Chicago native or Chicago progeny.
Meet Jeremy Drew, America’s Hope For The Future
Published 1, May 8, 2013 Criminal law , Society 66 CommentsThis YouTube video has gone viral showing Jeremy Drew, 12, confronting a police officer in Vegas about his illegally parked motorcycle. The officer parked illegally to buy a soda and Jeremy Drew asks him why he felt that he could park illegally and asked for his badge number. The officer refuses, even though all officers are supposed to allow citizens to see their name and badge number.
Continue reading ‘Meet Jeremy Drew, America’s Hope For The Future’
China’s Pink Dolphin Population Reportedly Near Extinction Due To Pollution
Published 1, May 8, 2013 Animals , Environment , Politics , Society 55 Comments
China’s runaway pollution is close to forcing one of the most beautiful creatures into extinction. The Hong Kong Dolphin Society is reporting that the population of rare Chinese white dolphins (known as pink dolphins for their unique color) are almost wiped out. A tragic picture was captured recently of one of the few remaining mothers trying to support her dead calf in the waters outside of Hong Kong — the victim of extreme pollution in the Pearl River Delta.
Continue reading ‘China’s Pink Dolphin Population Reportedly Near Extinction Due To Pollution’
We Are Just Not Reaching That Girl . . .
Published 1, May 8, 2013 Bizarre , Criminal law , Society 42 Comments
Yesterday, the photos of teens arrested for underage drinking were published in the local newspaper in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. The tenth teen seems to have missed the memo on appearing contrite for your mugshot. It reminds me of that Far Side Cartoon of the guy whistling in hell and the Devil saying “We just aren’t reaching that guy.”
Texas Fertilizer Plant Has Only $1 Million Insurance To Meet An Estimated $100 Million In Damages
Published 1, May 7, 2013 Politics , Society , Torts 43 Comments
Gov. Rick Perry has long proclaimed Texas as a state favorable to business and has limited environmental protections and regulatory rules. Just how favorable is evident in the news that West Fertilizer Co. had only $1 million in insurance after an explosion that killed 15 people and injured 200 — and caused an estimated $100 million in damages. The insurance lobby has long opposed mandatory insurance laws and this case may be an example of the public cost of that success.
Disabled Couple Sues To Live Together In Public Housing
Published 1, May 7, 2013 Constitutional Law , Politics , Society 27 Comments
I was interviewed recently on an interesting case out of New York where Paul Forziano and Hava Samuels are suing to be able to live together in public housing. The problem is that they are mentally disabled and the state says that it cannot accommodate mentally disabled married couples. It is a case that pits constitutional rights for married couples (as well as disability protections) against a state’s discretionary decisions on budgetary and facilities management.
Continue reading ‘Disabled Couple Sues To Live Together In Public Housing’
Judge In Casey Anthony Case Publicly Proclaims His Belief In Her Guilt and Dishes On Case
Published 1, May 7, 2013 Courts , Criminal law , Lawyering , Media , Politics , Society 28 Comments
Judge Belvin Perry appears to believe that, as Oscar Wilde advised, “the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.” Perry decided to get his 15 minutes of fame by granting an interview on the Casey Anthony murder trial during which he attacked Anthony as “very manipulative.” I will remind you that Anthony was acquitted of the first-degree murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. There are also judicial ethical rules meant to bar such commentary by judges. The question is whether the state bar will take action after this grossly inappropriate interview. Perry is the chief judge on Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit.
Illinois Woman Arrested For DUI After Celebrating The End Of Her Prior DUI Suspension
Published 1, May 7, 2013 Criminal law , Society 23 Comments
Meet Erin James, 58, of Brookfield, Illinois. She was pulled over and found with a blood alcohol level that was twice that of the legal limit. That is bad enough. However, James exclaimed that she was just out celebrating . . . the end of her probation on her earlier DUI conviction and the return of her driving privileges.
Karzai’s Bag Men: CIA Promises To Continue Monthly Cash Deliveries To Karzai
Published 1, May 6, 2013 International , Military , Politics , Society 35 Comments
We previously discussed how the CIA has delivered millions in cash in bags to the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Karzai’s family and friends are have been denounced as openly corrupt. Despite these reports of grotesque corruption, the money continues to flow into Karzai’s pockets even as he attacks the U.S. and Americans as “demons”, and moves to shift alliances to Iran and China. The news of the CIA’s bag men produced outrage among many, but once again the objections over the corruption and waste in this country has no effect on the CIA. Karzai insisted that the cash keep flowing and even went public to say that the CIA assured him that the deliveries to him would continue regardless of the objections of U.S. citizens.
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Jury Awards Family $20 Million Against Toys R Us For Slide Injury
Published 1, May 6, 2013 Courts , Lawyering , Society , Torts , Uncategorized 7 Comments
Toys R Us has vowed to appeal a $20 million verdict in Massachusetts in favor of the family of Robin Aleo who was killed after slamming her head on a concrete pool deck when a 6-foot inflatable pool slide deflated. The major issue in the appeal is likely to be the argument that the slide did not comply with federal safety standards. Toys R Us claims the federal standards were written for solid slides and that inflatable slides did not exist when the regulations were written.
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Florida Rejects $350 Million in Corporate Welfare For The Miami Dolphins
Published 1, May 6, 2013 Politics , Society 54 Comments
Something extraordinary happened in Tallahasee this week. The legislature actually turned down a demand for hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate welfare for the Miami Dolphins. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross descended on the capitol with an army of lobbyists and pocket legislators to muscle through the package to upgrade his stadium at public expense. They did all of the formulaic moves seen in other states where legislators have opened the treasury to billionaire owners: they lined up unemployed people who would get jobs, Dolphin fans supporting their team, and politicians standing with the owner. This time however legislators balked and actually voted the public rather than their personal interest.
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Report: Twenty Percent of First-Graders In Taipai Have Asthma and Fifty Percent Have Rhinitis
Published 1, May 6, 2013 Environment , Politics , Science , Society 12 Comments
We have previously discussed the unhealthy pollution in China, particularly air pollution that has set records in the last couple years in Beijing. The situation is little better in Taipei, where a recent report found that more than 20 percent of first-graders suffer from asthma and 50 percent have allergic rhinitis, the inflammation of the mucous membrane inside the nose. The findings of the Taiwan Association of Asthma Education reflect the human cost — particularly among children — of pollution — a cost often ignored even in this country by politicians who espouse economic over environmental values.
The Second Amendment and John Albert Prather
Published 1, May 6, 2013 Justice , Military , Politics , Society 96 CommentsBy Mike Appleton, Guest Blogger
I first heard of John Prather sometime in 1957. We were living outside of La Luz, New Mexico, a village near Alamogordo. My father was working on a guided missile project at Holloman Air Force Base at the time. Prather was a cattle rancher and I followed his story over the next few years with a mixture of boyish awe and admiration.
Prather was born in east Texas in 1873, and moved with his family by covered wagon to New Mexico ten years later. He took up ranching in the 1890s, raising both cattle and mules, supplying the latter to the army during both world wars and acquiring the nickname “Mule King.” By the 1950s, Prather had accumulated 4,000 acres stretching from the foothills and fertile mesas of the Sacramento Mountains into the arid desert of the Tularosa Basin, and held grazing leases from the government on another 20,000 acres. Rough-edged, but gentle, he built his ranch house by hand and grew pecan trees. Prather was one of the last pioneer settlers in New Mexico Territory and looked forward to passing on what he had created to his children. But the government had different ideas. Continue reading ‘The Second Amendment and John Albert Prather’
Kent State 43 Years Later
Published 1, May 5, 2013 Academics , Courts , Criminal law , Free Speech , International , Justice , Media , Military , Politics , Society 69 Comments
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
Yesterday was the 43rd anniversary of the day when time stood still for me. As a freshmen in college at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, I was stunned to learn of the killing of 4 young people by the Ohio National Guard during protests on the campus of Kent State University. The protestors were using their First Amendment rights to voice their opinion on the United States participation in the Vietnam War and the military’s recent incursion into Cambodia upon orders from then President Richard Nixon. Those events not only scarred me, but they also opened my eyes to the power of the government and more importantly, the power of the people. Continue reading ‘Kent State 43 Years Later’
You Say You Want a Revolution?
Published 1, May 4, 2013 Congress , Constitutional Law , Courts , Criminal law , Environment , Free Speech , International , Justice , Media , Military , Politics , Religion , Science , Society , Uncategorized 205 CommentsSubmitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
My opinion of the situation in this country is obviously grim if one looks at the themes I tend to write on. As I see it we are either fast becoming a Corporate Feudal Police State, or already have achieved that dubious distinction. I am in favor of a movement towards reversing this situation. There are some issues that can resonate with most Americans and any movement seeking to reverse the anti-Constitutional trends afoot in the U.S. today must find the means to go beyond the falseness of the Left/Right, Liberal/Conservative ideological inanity. We have a corporate two party system, run by an oligarchic elite, whose base disagreement is how to treat those 99% of us, who in their view are the American Peasantry. The Republican Corporatists in effect believe that the majority of Americans should be left to their own devices, while the Democratic Corporatists mildly look for palliatives that won’t disturb their benefactors who are really in charge. Some may say my viewpoint is a radical one and this is possibly so, though the definitions of “radical” have blurred through the years. In my life I’ve spent a number of years as a political activist in one form or another and as I approach the age of 70, I think that my experiences have taught me much about political activism and the potential dangers it brings to the people at large. Right now I find two issues that frighten me for the sake of the future and how my progeny will experience it. The first is the notion of a coming police state and the second is the prospect of a violent, revolutionary upheaval in reaction to it. In other words I see we the People of the United States being between the proverbial “rock and a hard place”. Continue reading ‘You Say You Want a Revolution?’
Bring Out Your Reds, Bring Out Your Reds: Florida Sheriff Invites Neighbors To Turn In People Who “Hate The Government”
Published 1, May 3, 2013 Constitutional Law , Criminal law , Politics , Society 71 Comments
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has reached $1 million for a new violence prevention unit and has used it to call on neighbors to inform the police if any neighbors have been saying hostile things about the government. “We want people to call us if the guy down the street says he hates the government, hates the mayor and he’s gonna shoot him . . . What does it hurt to have somebody knock on a door and ask, ‘Hey, is everything OK?’ ” I have no problem with calling police if someone says that they are going to shoot someone. However, expressing hate for the mayor or government is a core part of free speech and the visit by the police can be viewed as having an obvious chilling effect on speech. He wants $3 million to expand the program.
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