Year: 2014

Society, Things That Tick Me Off, Travel Blog

Things That Tick Me Off: Vegas “Resort Fees”

220px-NYNY2010220px-Wi-Fi_Logo.svgYes, it is time for another installment of “Things that Tick Me Off,” the category where I allow myself that chance to vent about something that is so annoying that I must vent to retain my sanity. Over the years, I have complained about the mounting fees on planes and hotels (here and here). A particular pet peeve is the fact that high-end hotels routinely charge for wi-fi while lower priced hotels do not. When I stayed overnight in Vegas, I encountered the latest scam by hotels – a bait and switch made possible by sites like Expedia. I stayed at the New York, New York hotel and it was my first encounter with the “resort charge” for “free wi-fi.” This followed an equally misleading notation about the Renaissance Hotel which not only did not provide free wi-fi in the room but my stay included the “disappearance” of my fitbit watch for good measure. When I travel, I often leave notes for myself in the future and anyone who may be interested. So here it is.

Continue reading “Things That Tick Me Off: Vegas “Resort Fees”” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Torts

Connecticut Dentist’s License Is Suspended After Elderly Woman Dies During The Extraction of 20 Teeth In One Session

220px-Dental_office-1The dental license of Dr. Rashmi Patel has been suspended in Enfield Connecticut after a horrific session with Judith Gan, 64, ended in her death. Patel reportedly extracted 20 teeth in one session and Gan became unresponsive and then died.

Continue reading “Connecticut Dentist’s License Is Suspended After Elderly Woman Dies During The Extraction of 20 Teeth In One Session” →

Criminal law, Society

Cinema Verité: Ohio Prisoner Convicted Of Copyright Infringement Shown Pirated Movies In Prison

220px-Ride_Along_posterlorciRichard Humphrey, 26, of North Ridgeville, Ohio was sentenced to 29 months in prison for selling pirated copies of movies in 2010. Once in prison, Humphrey was a bit surprised when he sat with other prisonsoners watching clearly pirated movies shown by the state. One can certainly understand his confusion, particularly when it came out that prison officials had knowingly used pirated movies like “Ride Along” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” before they were released on DVD.

Continue reading “Cinema Verité: Ohio Prisoner Convicted Of Copyright Infringement Shown Pirated Movies In Prison” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Politics, Society

Michigan City Moves To Criminalize Swearing

250px-Downtown_Brighton_Michigan_Grand_River_Avenuenicubunu_open_mouthFor many years, I have questioned the constitutionality of criminalizing swearing (here and here and here and here). As many know on this blog, I do not like profanity and we delete such comments on this site. However, we are a private site. The issue changes dramatically when people are arrested for foul language and subject to penal sanctions. It is part of the criminalization of America where pet peeves of politicians are ramped up to criminal offenses to make a point. The latest such move is found in Brighton, Michigan (shown here on Main Street) where police will be charging people with disorderly conduct for swearing. They just will not say what will constitute criminally foul language.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Society

Federal Court Holds Hearing On Potential Sanctions and Special Master’s Investigation In World Bank Protest Case

200px-World_Bank_Logo.svgThis afternoon, United States District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan will hold a hearing in the Chang litigation over the mass arrests during the World Bank/IMF protests. The hearing was called to specifically explore the possible sanctions to be imposed against the District of Columbia and the status of the Special Master’s investigation and litigation. Since I am co-lead counsel with my colleague Daniel Schwartz of Bryan Cave, I have been circumspect in any public comments in the case. However, to reduce calls to my office, we have been posting the relevant information and filings for hearings in the case. The hearing will be held at 11:30am in courtroom 24A on Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.

Continue reading “Federal Court Holds Hearing On Potential Sanctions and Special Master’s Investigation In World Bank Protest Case” →

Criminal law, Society, Torts

Ohio Woman In Injured When Police Throw Her To Ground, Pry Open Her Mouth, And Arrest Her . . . After Taking Tylenol

article-2629393-1DDF609500000578-147_634x461Below is a disturbing video from the Summit County (Ohio) jail where Siobhan Householder, 35, is shown being thrown to the ground and having her jaw pried open by deputies because she had taken Tylenol while waiting in a prisoner-holding room. She was merely at the jail to have a warrant lifted so she did not appear in custody. Indeed, she was left with her purse, soda, and other items as she waited. What followed was highly shocking.

Continue reading “Ohio Woman In Injured When Police Throw Her To Ground, Pry Open Her Mouth, And Arrest Her . . . After Taking Tylenol” →

Animals, Environment, International, Society, Torts

Toxic Treats: Chinese Dog Treats Linked To Over 1000 Deaths

blind_dogChina's flagWe have had a steady stream of tainted food and defective products from China, which is notorious for its lack of environmental and product safety enforcement. Now, more than dog deaths are believed to be linked to “toxic treats” from China and, given the under-reporting of such deaths, the number could be far higher. There have been roughly 5000 complaints since 2007 about jerky treats and pet deaths or illnesses.

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Congress, Politics, Torts

Civil Penalties For General Motors Capped At $35 Million For Defective Ignition Switches

800px-Chevrolet_Cobalt_LT_sedan150px-General_Motors.svgI previously wrote about the growing controversy over the delay of General Motors in dealing with its defective ignition switches — a defect that appears to have caused multiple deaths. Now the company has agreed to pay a $35 million civil penalty for delays in responding to defect. If this seems ridiculously small, it is. The fine is the largest that can be imposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) under a federal law protecting companies from higher penalties. The Administration is trying to get Congress to approve the Grow America Act, which contains an increase of fines for the most serious violations from $35 million to $300 million.

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Uncategorized

Sandy Hook Truther Steals Peace Sign from Connecticut Playground Honoring the Memory of Newtown Shooting Victim

Sandy_HookSubmitted by Elaine Magliaro, Weekend Contributor
I’m sure the readers of this blog remember the Newtown massacre that occurred in Connecticut on December 14, 2012, when twenty students and six adults were shot and killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Not long after that tragedy, conspiracy theorists began to spread stories about the massacre being a hoax. In January of 2013, Gene Rosen, a man who had sheltered six children during the massacre, began receiving calls from people he didn’t know accusing him of lying about what had happened that day…and of his being a “crisis actor.”

At that time, Rosen didn’t know what to do. He said, “I’m getting hang-up calls, I’m getting some calls, I’m getting emails with, not direct threats, but accusations that I’m lying, that I’m a crisis actor, ‘how much am I being paid?’” Someone even posted a picture of his house online. It was reported that Google+ and YouTube accounts were created in his name. Messages about him appeared on white supremacist messages ridiculing him as the “emotional Jewish guy.” In addition, in dozens of blog posts and videos, people claimed that Rosen was a fraud. He even received an email that purported to be a business inquiry, which taunted him asking, “How are all those little students doing? You know, the ones that showed up at your house after the ‘shooting’. What is the going rate for getting involved in a gov’t sponsored hoax anyway?”

Continue reading “Sandy Hook Truther Steals Peace Sign from Connecticut Playground Honoring the Memory of Newtown Shooting Victim” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Supreme Court, Testimony, Uncategorized

Did The Justice Department Lie to the Supreme Court…And Get Away With It?

US-DeptOfJustice-Seal_svg

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)- Weekend Contributor

Thanks to the disclosures made by whistleblower Edward Snowden, we now know how far our government went to hide the warrantless surveillance by the NSA. “If you blinked this week, you might have missed the news: two Senators accused the Justice Department of lying about NSA warrantless surveillance to the US supreme court last year, and those falsehoods all but ensured that mass spying on Americans would continue. But hardly anyone seems to care – least of all those who lied and who should have already come forward with the truth. Continue reading “Did The Justice Department Lie to the Supreme Court…And Get Away With It?” →

Bizarre

Man Wearing Bulletproof Vest Says “Shoot Me” And Dies From Gunshot Wound

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

First Bulletproof Vest TestAn old fortune cookie meme reads: “A fool and his wearing of body-armor is soon departed.” But apparently this wisdom did not make it to Honea Path, SC in time where Blake Wardell and some friends were inside a garage where he found a bulletproof vest.

According to, wait for it….Deputy Coroner Don McGowan, Blake asked someone to shoot him. Not wanting to miss such an opportunity another guest fired a small caliber firearm at him. The bullet missed the Kevlar panel of the vest and struck Blake in the heart, killing him.

But the intrigue was not about to stop there.

Continue reading “Man Wearing Bulletproof Vest Says “Shoot Me” And Dies From Gunshot Wound” →

Courts, Lawyering, Media, Science, Society

GM Speak

By Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor

gmrecallLoose lips sink ships and auto manufacturers, too, it seems. Lost amid much of the commotion on Friday surrounding GM’s agreement to pay the largest possible fine ($35 million) for failing to recall defective ignition switches in its Cobalt car line which are linked to 13 deaths already, was a 2008 presentation GM made to its employees.  Made during the public bailout of GM by American taxpayers, the presentation obviously was designed to thwart plaintiff’s discovery in similar product liability law suits. The mandatory video outlaws certain words from GM’s internal correspondence which are routinely used to demonstrate exactly what the auto giant knew and when it knew it in court. These internal memos are crucial to determining  the then prevailing sentiment about auto safety issues by the people who knew it best — the engineers and scientists who design and test the cars.

Burned already by damaging emails, GM directed its employees to refrain from words like, “Hindenburg,” “powder keg,” “Titanic,” “apocalyptic,” “You’re toast,” and “Kevorkianesque.” They weren’t too keen on certain phrases either, like “This is a lawsuit waiting to happen,” and “Unbelievable engineering screw-up.” The masters at GM found such language to be “examples of comments that do not help identify and solve problems.”

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Academia, Society

School Made Third Grade Student Pay To Use Bathroom

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Evergreen Public School District LogoThe mother of a third grade girl attending Mill Plain Elementary School in Vancouver, Washington is demanding changes in a school room program where students are required to pay to use the bathroom. The program was to be a lesson in money management where students received and worked for Monopoly Money to buy items in the classroom but the teacher required a payment of M$50.00 in order to use the bathroom.

Jasmine Al-Ayadhi told reporters her nine year old daughter, Reem, did not want to pay to use the bathroom and ultimately had an accident, causing her both discomfort and having to endure teasing by other children. In agreeing with the need to teach children the value of money Jasmine said, “Work for your money, to earn it, to buy like a little toy or a little squirt gun or a little ball. When it comes to a bathroom issue, when a child has to pay money to use the bathroom – that’s wrong. It’s inhumane. That’s a health issue.”

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Constitutional Law, Courts, International, Justice, Politics, Religion, Society

Sudanese Judge Imposes Death Sentence On Woman Who Allegedly Converted To Christianity And Later Married

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Merriam's WeddingA twenty seven year old Christian woman, who is presently eight months pregnant, has been sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy and adultery. Having been born to a Muslim father, the Sudanese government contends that Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, was Muslim and that she later converted to Christianity before marrying her South Sudanese husband, a Christian. Sudanese law considers marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims to be invalid. Under Sudan’s interpretation of sharia, a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man and any such relationship is regarded as adulterous. Thus, her pregnancy is considered to be resulting from an adulterous relationship, punishable by one hundred lashings.

Judge Abbas Mohammed Al-Khalifa sentenced Meriam to death and declared:

“We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged,” The judge addressed her by her father’s Muslim name, Adraf Al-Hadi Mohammed Abdullah.

Ms Ishag reacted without emotion when the judge delivered the verdict at a court in the Khartoum district of Haj Yousef. Earlier in the hearing, an Islamic religious leader spoke with her in the caged dock for about 30 minutes. Then she calmly told the judge:

“I am a Christian and I never committed apostasy.”

Amnesty International said Ms Ishag was raised as an Orthodox Christian, her mother’s religion, because her Muslim father was absent.

Continue reading “Sudanese Judge Imposes Death Sentence On Woman Who Allegedly Converted To Christianity And Later Married” →