Kurt Kaiser has accused an unnamed prostitute in New York of stealing his stash of uncut diamonds after having sex in a hotel room. In the world’s most self-evident statement, Kaiser, 47, reported that “I woke and thought ‘I’ve been screwed.’”
Continue reading “Gem Trader Alleges Hooker Stole His Jewels”
Like millions of people in this area, I was thrilled to watch the Discovery fly around Washington on its piggyback ride to the Air and Space Museum. The shuttle first flew directly over my car on George Washington Parkway at an extremely low altitude. It was amazing to see it from directly below at what seems like less than a 1000 feet. I then saw it from different spots while driving in D.C. It was awesome.
A former student of mine sent me this disturbing story about students at Jack Robey Junior High School in Pine Bluff being pepper-sprayed when they failed to go to their classes fast enough after lunch. One mother says that her daughter suffered a severe allergic reaction to the spray.
An elderly Florida couple in Sanford, Florida is living through a nightmare after director Spike Lee sent their address to his 250,000 followers on Twitter — wrongly stating that this was the address of George Zimmerman, the man who killed an unarmed black teen, Trayvon Martin, in Florida. It was a uniquely stupid act by Lee and invited the very type of vigilante response that Zimmerman has been accused of. The question is whether there is liability for such negligence as David McClain, 72, and his wife Elaine, 70, live in fear of threats and packages arriving at their home.
The House of Representatives has passed a controversial tort reform bill that contains serious flaws that would limit recovery of people harmed or kill by acts of malpractice. H.R. 5, the “Protecting Access to Healthcare Act” would impose a cap of $250,000 that would severely cut the damages of victims and make it far more difficult for such victims to secure contingency counsel. THe bill passed 223 to 181 with seven Democrats joining Republicans to pass the bill.
Continue reading “House Passes Tort “Reform” Measure That Would Slash Recovery By Medical Malpractice Victims”
Former Navy SEAL Don Shipley is outraged. Barry “Bear” Silverman has been running a business called “Tactical Deterrence” in Broward County that allegedly sells SEAL training by people who falsely claim to be former SEALs. Such profiteering on the SEAL experience should go to . . . well . . . Shipley who runs his own faux SEAL training camp in Virginia. Shipley has filed a lawsuit that is basically Stolen Valor meets Stolen Value on who gets to sell the SEALS.
Continue reading “Stolen Value: Former Seal Sues Fake Seals Over Selling Seal Experience”
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has been suspended without pay for the 2012 season by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was banned indefinitely for the team’s infamous bounty system on opposing players. However, Goodell said that he will review Williams’ status after next season. While I used to live in New Orleans and often cheer on the team (when the Bears are not playing), I think Williams should have received a lifetime ban and I am not sure Payton did not also deserve such a ban over the disgraceful practice. I also do not understand why the defensive line players who took this money have not also been punished, but Goodell said that he will address them separately. Goodell did fine the Saints $500,000 and took away their second-round draft picks this year and next year — sending a clear message to all teams.
In Sanford, Florida, a family has buried a teen killed by a “watch captain” in a gated community on February 26th. However, question remains not only about the killing of Trayvon Martin, 17, but why the shooter, George Zimmerman, 28, has not been charged. Zimmerman reported a suspicious character to 911 and was expressly told by the police not to confront the individual. Instead, he pursued Martin and shot him — claiming that the shooting was in self-defense. [UPDATE: A statement reportedly from the Zimmerman family denies that he confronted Martin].
I have previously written about my view of the clear negligence committed by Virginia Tech University in the 2007 campus massacre as well as the gross unfairness created by a state cap on damages for the families of dead students and faculty. I have also criticized the university’s litigation posture and steadfast denial of such negligence. Now a jury has added its collective voice to this criticism — finding Virginia Tech not only negligent but awarding the families of two Virginia Tech students $4 million each in a duty-to-warn case. However, due to the state’s imposition of a cap, these awards are likely to be reduced to a mere $100,000 each for their dead children. For parents like Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde, the cap must be a terrible insult as the calculation of what the state believes their child is worth in the face of lethal negligence by the school.
The Arizona Senate has overwhelmingly passed the so-called “wrongful birth” bill — a piece of legislation that not only strips citizens of core torts protections but is based on a legal mythology of abusive litigation. The law would prevent lawsuits against doctors who withhold information on health problems of a fetus — even withholding the information intentionally.
We have previously looked at the liability questions surrounding injuries and deaths linked to herpes transmissions from Rabbis during ultra-Orthodox circumcision rituals known as metzizah b’ peh. During the ceremony, the rabbi or mohel removes blood from the wound with his mouth. The latest tragedy occurred with the death of a two-week-old boy in Brooklyn who contracted herpes from the Rabbi. In 2005 another infant died from the same alleged transmission from a rabbi. This could raise a difficult question on defining the “reasonable rabbi.”
Continue reading “The Reasonable Rabbi Standard? Brooklyn Prosecutors Reportedly Investigate Rabbi Who Transmitted Herpes To Baby In Circumcision Ceremony”
Scott Lupien insists that he is the ultimate conservationist. According to the article below, Lupien, an American fluent in Chinese, takes wealthy Chinese to Canada where they can see magnificent Polar bears up close . . . and kill them and turn them into rugs. The , Lupien is a professional hunter who is “teaching the Chinese about conservation” by leading trips to shoot down male polar bears. He insists that his customers respect nature: “Each hunter is allowed to kill one male only. We then turn them into rugs.” On his website, however, Lupien says that the story is false raising an interesting question of potential defamation.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has called on Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke to sue Rush Limbaugh for calling her a “slut” and a “prostitute” on his radio show. Hoyer insists that the reprehensible comments are also actionable libel. He is half right.
Continue reading “Bad Advice: Hoyer Encourages Fluke To Sue Limbaugh For Defamation”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
This week Huffpost ran an article titled:“IBM’s Role in the Holocaust — What the New Documents Reveal”, written by Edwin Black. The article was a followup to Mr. Black’s book “IBM and the Holocaust” published in 2001. As Mr. Black puts it justifying this particular article:
“Newly-released documents expose more explicitly the details of IBM‘s pivotal role in the Holocaust — all six phases: identification, expulsion from society, confiscation, ghettoization, deportation, and even extermination. Moreover, the documents portray with crystal clarity the personal involvement and micro-management of IBM president Thomas J. Watson in the company’s co-planning and co-organizing of Hitler’s campaign to destroy the Jews.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edwin-black/ibm-holocaust_b_1301691.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
These are of course pretty serious charges being made about one of the world’s most famous companies and about its founder. While I will present the nature of these charges and the specificity of the author’s alleged proof in the piece, it really is not my focus to condemn IBM one way or another, or even to vouch for the truth of the article. I will provide a link that offers a different perspective on these charges and will leave it to you the reader to decide what you think of them. My real purpose here is to discuss the necessary amorality of Corporations and what effect that amorality has upon nations and people. Continue reading “A Corporate Tale”
The Church of Scientology is trying to dampen down another scandal from a former high-ranking member. Debbie Cook ran the church’s Flag Base in Clearwater, Florida for 17 years. A former “captain”, Cook has offered testimony and given interviews detailing alleged physical abuse by church leader David Miscavige as well as a hellish trailer known as “the hole” for bad scientologists. It has been a bad period of Scientology which recently saw a French court uphold its fraud conviction in France.
Continue reading “Former Senior Scientology Officer Testifies Against Church Head David Miscavige”