Category: Society

Constitutional Law, Society

iPhone and Android Tracking You for Apple and Google

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

iPhones and Android smartphones regularly transmit their locations back to Apple and Google. The location information is used for the estimated $2.9 billion location-based services market. Location-based advertising targets consumers with location-specific advertising on their mobile devices.

According to research, the HTC Android phone collects location information every few seconds and transmits the data back to Google several times an hour.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Dolphin Receiver Brandon Marshall Stabbed By Wife — Questions Raised Over His Own Possible Criminal Conduct

The wife of Miami Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall has been charged with stabbing him in the abdomen with a kitchen knife in Florida. The case could become even more complicated not just for Michi Nogami-Marshall, 27, but for Brandon Marshall.
Continue reading “Dolphin Receiver Brandon Marshall Stabbed By Wife — Questions Raised Over His Own Possible Criminal Conduct” →

Congress, Justice, Politics, Society

Senator Dick Durbin We Hardly Knew Ye

Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger

When I hear Illinois Senator Dick Durbin’s name, I usually think of a moderately progressive Democratic Senator.  What I don’t expect to hear from someone with Durbin’s pedigree are statements to the effect that cuts to Social Security are “on the table”.  But that is exactly what he said recently when asked about his work with the so-called Gang of Six. Continue reading “Senator Dick Durbin We Hardly Knew Ye” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Society

Odor Of Marijuana Not Enough For Probable Cause

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has issued an interesting decision concerning the prerogative of police to order a suspect to exit a car after smelling marijuana smoke coming from within. Seems the opinion turned on the Bay State’s decision to  decriminalized possession of less than one ounce of the wacky weed in 2008.
Continue reading “Odor Of Marijuana Not Enough For Probable Cause” →

Academia, Bizarre, Society

Princeton Professor Commits Suicide After Termination of Contract — Raising Questions Over His Treatment By University

There is a very sad story out of Princeton where Professor Antonio Calvo, 45, has committed suicide after the university refused to renew his contract — a decision that not only meant the loss of his directorship of the Spanish program but his having to leave the United States since the move terminated his visa. He had taught at Princeton for ten years.

Continue reading “Princeton Professor Commits Suicide After Termination of Contract — Raising Questions Over His Treatment By University” →

Bizarre, International, Politics, Society

Liberté, égalité, beuverie! French Riot Police Threaten Strike . . . To Protect Their Right To Drink On Job

This is the quintessential French story. Anyone who has gone to France knows that you can expect that someone will be striking and shutting down parts of Paris. However, the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS) police force is taking a stand on a matter of French privilege — the right to drink while on duty. After all, if the French cannot have a glass of wine while fighting terror, the terrorists have won.

Continue reading “Liberté, égalité, beuverie! French Riot Police Threaten Strike . . . To Protect Their Right To Drink On Job” →

Animals, Bizarre, International, Society

Taking Dogs For a Wok: Chinese Animal Activists Stop Truck Load of Dogs Sent To Slaughterhouse

The consumption of dogs in China has long been a point of disgust with many Westerners. Animal rights activists have a particularly difficult time in China, but succeeded this week in forcing action to save hundreds of dogs being sent to a slaughterhouse in terrible conditions on a truck from Henan province.
Continue reading “Taking Dogs For a Wok: Chinese Animal Activists Stop Truck Load of Dogs Sent To Slaughterhouse” →

Bizarre, Society, Torts

The Ultimate Floodgate Litigation: Will MRP Realty Be Liable For the “Great Flood of 2011”?

Now that Georgetown’s Washington Harbor complex has dug out and dried out after the “Great Flood of 2011,” there remains the question of the liability of MRP Realty, the company responsible for raising the flood walls at the complex. The walls were not raised despite forecasts of flooding.

Continue reading “The Ultimate Floodgate Litigation: Will MRP Realty Be Liable For the “Great Flood of 2011”?” →

Bizarre, Congress, Politics, Society

General Electric Profits Up 77% But Company Avoids Paying a Penny in Taxes

President Barack Obama has been unabashed in his close association with General Electric CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt, including naming him to head the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Obama has continued to shower such honors and attention on Immelt despite the fact that GE has avoided paying ANY taxes. Indeed, GE has demanded a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. Now, GE has posted a 77% increase in profits while paying less taxes than any of its factory workers.
Continue reading “General Electric Profits Up 77% But Company Avoids Paying a Penny in Taxes” →

Criminal law, Society

Camden Police Reportedly Fired Over 30 Rounds To Kill 8-Month-Old Puppy — Hitting Homes and Cars in Terrified Neighborhood

We have another controversy over a police officer shooting a pet. Sherronda Aycox’s 8-month old blue pit bull Capone was killed in a hail of bullets that also hit vehicles and houses, including one house with a family inside. This is only the latest in a long list of such cases.
Continue reading “Camden Police Reportedly Fired Over 30 Rounds To Kill 8-Month-Old Puppy — Hitting Homes and Cars in Terrified Neighborhood” →

Bizarre, International, Society, Things That Tick Me Off

Things That Tick Me Off: American Airlines

It is time for another entry in the category Things That Tick Me Off where I vent against absurdities or abuses that I have personally witnessed. (It is remarkably therapeutic). This week’s winner is American Airlines. Months ago, Leslie and I set out to arrange for a trip that would use our carefully saved frequent flier miles to go to England and France with the four kids. It was the trip we had been planning for years once the kids were old enough to appreciate it and we saved over 700,000 miles to achieve the dream under American’s SkyMiles program. What followed as a nightmare in dealing with American, which seems to have made the “bait-and-switch” a structuring corporate principle.

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Bizarre, Politics, Society

Problem Solved? Florida Agency Spends $14,000 For Superhero Capes For the Unemployed

There is a bizarre story out of Florida where officials at an unemployment agency reportedly spent $14,000 to give 6,000 superhero capes to the unemployed. It was part of its “Cape-A-Bility Challenge” featuring a cartoon character, “Dr. Evil Unemployment.”

Continue reading “Problem Solved? Florida Agency Spends $14,000 For Superhero Capes For the Unemployed” →

Bizarre, Politics, Society

Obama (Again) Turns To Al Sharpton in High-Profile Immigration Meeting

President Barack Obama previously drew criticism for his embrace of the controversial Al Sharpton in his re-election effort despite Sharpton’s history of race-baiting and alleged corruption. As if to make clear that his prior appearances with Sharpton were not fleeting mistakes, Obama invited Sharpton to a high-profile meeting on immigration reform and White House officials have pushed him to the forefront of supporters for the President. Putting aside the lack of responsibility shown in embracing a character like Sharpton, I am mystified (again) by the lack of political judgment by Obama and his aides. The President is already facing record low polls which so him as an increasing polarizing figure in American politics. The solution? The White House found one of the most polarizing figures in politics to stand by his side.

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Academia, Bizarre, Politics, Religion, Society

No Einstein: Tennessee Legislator Falsely Quotes Einstein As Embracing Christianity As Thinking Man’s Religion

Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains, TN) is one of the politicians leading the effort to introduce creationism back into schools to rival the teaching of evolution. He may, however, need a bit more time in the classroom on his intellectual sources. As noted on sites like Think Progress, Niceley has confused Albert Einstein with Francis Bacon in his insistence that Einstein discredited atheism and said that a truly thinking man will turn to Christianity.

Continue reading “No Einstein: Tennessee Legislator Falsely Quotes Einstein As Embracing Christianity As Thinking Man’s Religion” →