A new watchdog report revealed this week that U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has conducted dozens of unauthorized undercover investigations into illicit cigarette sales, misused $162 million in profits, and lost track of at least 420 million cigarettes.
Category: Society
Body cameras have been credited with not only uncovering police abuse but generally improving the conduct of officers in relation to the public. Recently in Las Vegas, controversial shootings have led to the demand of such tiny cameras. However, the Protective Association representing Las Vegas police has announced that it pushed through an agreement with Sheriff Doug Gillespie to make the wearing of such cameras optional for officers — an option unlikely to be taken by most police officers.
Continue reading “Las Vegas Union Pushes Through Deal That Bars Mandatory Use Of Body Cameras”
Millions of Americans struggle on a daily basis to afford medicine in the United States which is the highest in the world. Many seek affordable drugs by driving to Canada or seeking medicine (as well as medical care) in India. Yet, one of the first things that President Obama did in the new health care law was to cave to a demand by the powerful pharmaceutical lobby to drop provisions guaranteeing cheaper medicine. The lobby then got Congress to block two measures to guarantee affordable medicine. With billions at stake, Congress and the White House again yielded to the demands of this industry, which is sapping the life savings away of millions of families. Given this history, many are concerned about a meeting planned between Obama and the Prime Minister of India. Public interest groups object that Obama is threatening retaliation against India in the hopes of blocking one of the major alternatives for families in acquiring affordable medicine. Congress has also again responded to industry demands for pressure in India to change its laws and, as a result, raise the cost of medicine. Doctors Without Borders, a highly respected medical group, has denounced the effort of the Obama Administration as threatening basic health care for its own citizens and those around the world.
Continue reading “Obama To India: Block Production Of Low-Cost Generic Drugs . . . Or Else”
Tired of the worn out Best Man speeches? Check this out. These two brothers were asked to serve as best men at a third brother’s wedding. They decided to make a video in response.
Continue reading “Don’t Leave Us, Brother: The Ultimate Wedding Music Video”
In torts, I often discuss the collateral consequences for same-sex couples not having recognized marriages from intentional infliction of emotional distress claims (which are limited to close family members in seeking third-party claims) to spousal immunity claims. Kentucky last week demonstrated the problem for such couples with the opinion below. Bobbie Jo Clary (left) and her domestic partner, Geneva Case, claimed spousal immunity on the basis for a civil union in Vermont in 2004. However, Judge Susan Schultz Gibson ruled that they could not claim spousal immunity in a criminal case because they do not have a marriage recognized under Kentucky law. It is an example of the type of “full faith and credit” cases that could lead to a showdown before the Supreme Court. Normally, states are required to give full faith and credit to the contracts from other states, including out-of-town marriages.
Continue reading “Same-Sex Couple Denied Protection Of Spousal Immunity In Kentucky Murder Trial”
Investigative journalist Eric Schlosser has uncovered near disaster of epic proportions after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request confirmed that a 4 megaton nuclear bomb almost exploded over North Carolina in 1961 — an explosion that would have been 260 times more powerful than Hiroshima and would have devastated the United States. What is amazing is that, once again, the government used classification laws to hide that fact that it almost destroyed the large part of the country and was saved by a simple low-voltage switch that fortunately was able to deactivate the armed bomb. The details were hidden for over fifty years by the government.
There is a case in Michigan that captures what many parents complain is a child protective system that strips away basic due process rights and at times defies both logic and controlling authority. There may be no better example than the treatment of Gordon “Steve” and Maria Green after their 6-month-old baby girl, Bree, was taken away from them. The reason is the determination that the parents have marijuana in the house. It was not hard for the case worker to find: the Greens have a right to medical marijuana protected under state law. That did not matter to the Department of Human Services however and their baby was taken away from their Lancing home.
Continue reading “Michigan DHS Takes Baby From Home Due To Parents Use Of Legal Medical Marijuana”
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s office clearly has a lot of crime to address when its officers are arresting people for “walking on the wrong side of the road.” That is what Bobby Wingate says happened to him. He says that the officer punched him and threatened to taser him for the heinous offense.
Continue reading “Jacksonville Man Sues After Arrest For “Walking On Wrong Side Of The Street””
We have previously discussed the wholesale attack on free speech principles in France from limits on religious garments to stripping the Internet of anonymity to attempting to criminalize historical accounts. The most recent case involves a woman who named her boy “Jihad” and then dressed her three-year-old in a sweater with the words “Je suis une bombe – I am a bomb” on the front, along with his name and ‘Born on September 11th’ on the back. She was given a suspended jail sentence for “glorifying a crime” — it is a crime that is only punishable if you disregard the most fundamental principles of free speech. It turns out that the boy was born on September 11, 2009.
We have another example of a teacher being disciplined for an act of free speech in his private time. I have previously written about the increasing scrutiny given public school teachers in their use of social media sites. University of Kansas Associate Professor of Journalism David Guth has been placed on administrative leave after posting an anti-NRA tweet following the recent Navy Yard shootings that killed 12 people. Guth tweeted” “blood is on the hands of the #NRA. Next time, let it be YOUR sons and daughters. Shame on you. May God damn you.”
Continue reading “Kansas Professor Under Fire For Anti-NRA Tweet”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
In the Public Interest (ITPI), which describes itself as “a comprehensive resource center on privatization and responsible contracting,” released a report this month titled CRIMINAL: How Lockup Quotas and “Low-Crime Taxes” Guarantee Profits for Private Prison Corporations. The report provides information about “the prevalence of prison occupancy guarantee provisions in prison privatization contracts.” ITPI said that it had “identified 77 county and state-level private facilities nationwide and collected and analyzed 62 contracts from these facilities.” Of the contracts that ITPI reviewed, 65% contained occupancy requirements that ranged between 80% and 100%–with 90% being the most frequent quota guarantee.
ITPI found that the states of Arizona, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Virginia were locked into contracts with the highest occupancy guarantee requirements. All four states had quotas requiring an occupancy rate between 95% and 100%.
We just passed the 17,000,000 mark last July but this afternoon we hit 18,000,000, according to WordPress. Congratulations everyone.
Submitted by Charlton Stanley (aka Otteray Scribe), Guest Blogger
Sixty-five year old North Carolina family therapist John Rosemond was having a day much like any other day last May, until he opened the certified letter from the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. In a Cease and Desist letter, the Kentucky Attorney General advised him the Kentucky psychology licensing board had determined that by publishing an advice column in the Louisville Herald-Leader, he was practicing psychology without a license. The letter warned him that if he did not cease and desist, he faces criminal penalties which includes both fines and jail time. The Attorney General thoughtfully enclosed an affidavit which John was to sign and return, promising that he would forever give up his life of crime.
You read that right. John Rosemond, syndicated columnist, is being threatened by the Commonwealth of Kentucky that he might face stiff fines and jail unless he stopped writing his advice column in Kentucky newspapers. Naturally, John did what any self-respecting reporter or columnist would do. He got a lawyer. He contacted Jeff Rowes of the Institute for Justice who agreed to take the case, and last July 16, Mr. Rowes and local counsel, Richard Brueggeman, Esq., filed a 45-page lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Continue reading “Kentucky Psychology Board vs. the First Amendment. Oh My!”
By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
I’ve seen some tough music reviews but 54-year-old Witchy Woman Vernett Bader takes the cake. Incensed by her housemate’s incessant playing of top Eagles tunes like Hotel California, Lyin’ Eyes, and Life in the Fast Lane, Bader grabbed a 14-inch “steely knife” and cut her 64-year-old victim several times on the arm and hand. This One of These Nights left Bader charged as a Desperado and facing a sentence for aggravated criminal domestic violence and her victim with a Hole in His World. The night’s Peaceful Easy Feeling was Already Gone when both parties became so intoxicated that they could not agree on the music. Proclaiming “I Don’t Want To Hear Anymore,” Bader downed her last Tequila Sunrise and went for the blade after her victim told her to “shut up” and thus starting her on her not so Long Road Out Of Eden.
Continue reading “Taking It To The Limit: Woman Cuts 64-Year Old Housemate For Playing Eagles Music”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
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