A study by the Mailman School of Public Health in Columbia University in New York estimates that half of both men and women in the U.S. will be obese by 2030 if current trends continue. Currently, 32 percent of men and 35 per cent of women are obese. Our cousins in England will not be far behind — with rates of obesity of 41-48 percent for men and 35-43 percent for women by 2030.
Continue reading “Study: Half of Adult Population in U.S. To Be Obese By 2030”
Category: Society
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
In the years, I’ve spent commenting here at Professor Turley’s blog, I have presented myself as an honest person, sensible and with humane beliefs. Many regulars think of me as sort of a blog “elder statesman” and one who has a rational view of the world. There are of course others, fewer in number I assert, who think me a fool and a knave, which shows you can’t please everyone. Professor Turley himself has expressed fondness related to my tendency to be honest and open about myself personally.
Yet through all of these years here, I have harbored a secret belief that I’ve avoided mentioning for fear that the esteem in which I’m held, will disappear in an avalanche of ridicule and disappointment. I have to admit that to a retired old guy on the wrong side of sixty years, my place here has provided comfort to my self-esteem and certainly the feeling that I can still find things in life to accomplish. To those who haven’t realized the obvious yet from my writings, I have my vanities and indeed my insecurities, so being a guest blogger has stroked those needy aspects of my ego. Since I’ve received much gratification from this, I have been loath to be completely honest about one of my more deeply held beliefs. I came across an article that impels me to break my silence and reveal this belief here and now. While in the eyes of some reading this blog, it might lower their opinion of me and expose me to ridicule, I must finally admit to you my dirty little secret.
With Rick Perry taking the lead in the Republican primary, tort reform is expected to be, again, a major campaign issue. I have long been a critic of efforts to cap damages and I have seen firsthand how these caps often lead to families being unable to secure counsel in fights with big companies. Now, Perry is claiming that his “reforms” have led to 21,000 more doctors coming to Texas. The article below shows how this claim is entirely unsupported.
Continue reading “Eleven Out of Ten Doctors Agree: Perry’s Shaky Math on Tort Reform”
State Rep. Phil Hinkle , R-Indianapolis, is in a rather curious position. He admits that he paid a young man $80 to come to his hotel room for a good time but insists that he is neither gay nor guilty of any criminal act. He has refused to resign after being stripped of his committee chairmanships. Hinkle is viewed as an anti-homosexual legislator and has been outspoken in his opposition to same-sex marriage.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Law is being sued for age discrimination by tax professor William J. Brown. Brown, 73, first began at Pitt in 1968 and earned tenure at that institution. After 30 years, he left to accept a post as director of the Graduate Tax Program at Duquesne’s business school. When he returned in 2006, he alleged was blocked to returning as a full-time faculty member by a decision of the law school to seek younger faculty members.
Continue reading “Law Professor Sues Pitt For Age Discrimination”
We previously followed the case of Madera (Ca.) officer Marcy Noriega, who shot and killed a handcuffed suspect, Everardo Torres, in the back of a cruiser — after mistaking her semiautomatic pistol for her Taser. Now, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that Torres’ family can bring a lawsuit against the officer. Previously, Chief U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii ruled that the officer had complete immunity from lawsuit in such a circumstance.
Continue reading “Ninth Circuit Rules Family Can Sue California Officer Who Shot Handcuffed Son In Back of Cruiser”
The last few years have been replete with stories of fraudulent and possibly criminal acts for banks in the mortgage crisis. Thousands have lost their homes and faced financial ruin. The Administration is yielding to demands from lobbyists for the banks and particularly targeting Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, in demanding support for a deal that would offer just civil fines rather than criminal penalties.
We have another rather bizarre infringement action based on a fairly common symbol. The State Bar of Wisconsin has sued LexisNexis over its use of an online logo that looks like its own symbol. Once again, as with prior lawsuits by Apple and other organizations, I fail to understand the tightening stranglehold of infringement actions over the use of common symbols and terms. The column is a standard symbol for lawyers and schools. In my view, the Wisconsin Bar is showing poor judgment in litigating such an issue — particularly when there is little danger of confusion for observers.
Continue reading “Pillar Envy: Wisconsin Bar Sued LexisNexis Over Use of Column Symbol”
Former McDermott Will & Emery partner Bruce Paul Golden is facing disbarment in Illinois after officials learned that he had allegedly lied about his income on a financial aid form for a private school. The school is Francis W. Parker, one of the most affluent schools in Chicago. I graduated from Parker’s traditional rival, Latin School of Chicago. Both are ridiculously expensive, but Golden is accused of actually altering his tax forms to establish a base for support.
Roy Lester, 61, has filed a rather novel challenge against the New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Lester is a bankruptcy lawyer who has worked as a Long Island lifeguard as a second job. He has filed an age discrimination suit based on the requirement that he wear either a speedo swimsuit or, alternatively, a loose-fitting swimsuit. He insists that he should be allowed to wear swim jammers and that the denial of his choice constitutes age discrimination. Lester is a bankruptcy lawyer and this lawsuit indicates that he is better suited for that field than constitutional and discrimination law.
Continue reading “Swimsuit Lawsuit: Bankruptcy Lawyer Sues New York Over Swimsuit Requirements in Lifeguard Tryouts”
South Carolina Dale Richardson has been arrested on charges that he is a serial rapist who kidnapped women and assaulted them in a trailer behind his Freedom Free Will Baptist Church.
Continue reading “South Carolina Pastor Charged With Serial Rapes Of Women Behind Church”
For months, critics have observed that the rebels in Libya contains worrisome elements of religious extremists and that the rebel forces have been accused of war crimes (as have the government forces). The concern is that, like our work in Afghanistan (ultimately helping Al Qaeda and the Taliban), we have little understanding of who we are bringing to power in Libya in our intervention into that civil war. That concern is magnified this week by the release of the draft constitution, which (unless changed) would make Sharia law the governing law of Libya.
Continue reading “Proposed Libyan Constitution Would Make Sharia The Governing Law”
Industry lobbyists and political allies are launching a full court press against the closure of highly polluting coal-fired plants across the United States this month. The effort dovetails with the focus of Republican candidates like Bachmann, Gingrich, and Perry to demonize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and even call for its elimination. However, this move has been delayed too long and is expected to save thousands of lives. The story is the latest example of how industry is able to treat such health risks as abstractions while fighting to keep such plants operating.
Continue reading “Industry Launches Campaign Against Closing Outdated Power Plants”
Even wonder how those lobbyists let candidates know where the money is coming from? A camera caught a Bank of America executive quietly assuring Gov. Rick Perry of the support of the Bank of America.
Continue reading “Bank of America Executive Caught Promising Perry Support”
This week, Atlantic Magazine ran a story on Rick Perry, Manly Man — a piece exploring how Perry is known to emphasize his manliness — both physically and verbally. The magazine considers how well the macho image will play across the political spectrum. However, that may be the least of the problems for the Perry camp. Word has now reached our shores of the selection of the Scots, not the Americans, as the world’s most manly specimens. Now, I take nothing from the Scots. It takes a lot of guts to wear kilts in a cold, wet climate. However, the world’s manliest? Followed close by the English? I fully expect this to become a major issue in the presidential election: the manliest gap.
Continue reading “The Manliness Gap? Scottish Men Selected As World’s Most Manly”