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.

Continue reading “iPhone and Android Tracking You for Apple and Google” →

Politics, Religion

Gov. Rick Perry Wants Texans to Pray for Rain

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) has proclaimed Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. He didn’t ask for any prayers to end the drought or put out the wildfires, he just asked for prayers for rain in the state of Texas. While looking at the weather radar tonight, it was raining somewhere in Texas, so I guess it worked. It’s a miracle.

Continue reading “Gov. Rick Perry Wants Texans to Pray for Rain” →

Bizarre, Religion

Sean Hannity, Bill Donohue, & The War on Easter: The Turley Blog Edition

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

All you Christian warriors out there best make ready for battle! Sean Hannity and the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue are now claiming that there is a war on Easter. “Oh no!” you say. “Who would do such a thing?” Why, Lady Gaga, comedian Ricky Gervais, and a few other dastardly demons—that’s who.

I even heard it through the grapevine that the CEO of Easter Bunnies, Inc., is hopping mad. I was told that he’s organized his bunny brigade and worked in co-operation with the president of Hatchling Chicks Corporation to devise a plan to go after anti-Easterites like Lady Gaga and Gervais.

Get your trebuchets ready! I’ll bring eggs. We’re planning to meet in Mister MacGregor’s garden tomorrow at the first light of dawn. We’ll shell the hard-boiled enemies of Easter ova and ova again until they surrender. They won’t know what hit them.

Continue reading “Sean Hannity, Bill Donohue, & The War on Easter: The Turley Blog Edition” →

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” →

Politics

Standard & Poor’s Downgrades Outlook On US Debt

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

You remember Standard & Poor’s, they’re the credit-rating agency that blessed the fraud-based mortgage securities issued by Wall Street banks with AAA ratings, deceiving gullible investors around the world. Senator Carl Levin (chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations) recently named this company a “key cause” of the economic crisis.

Continue reading “Standard & Poor’s Downgrades Outlook On US Debt” →

Politics, Religion

Ayn Rand and Christianity

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

The GOP hearts Ayn Rand. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and his father Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), all mention the works of Ayn Rand as being influential in their lives. Even Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas references her work as influence in his autobiography. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, is an acolyte of Rand’s thinking and knew her personally.

I would like to focus on one aspect of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, and its implications for Christianity.

Continue reading “Ayn Rand and Christianity” →

Animals, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering

Ohio: Let Sleeping Police Dogs Lie

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Twenty five year-old Ryan James Stephens will probably never be confused with actors Rex Harrison or Eddie Murphy but he may be the new Dr. Doolittle. Stephens has been charged with violating Cincinnati’s ordinance prohibiting citizens from “talking” to police dogs.

Continue reading “Ohio: Let Sleeping Police Dogs Lie” →

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” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Torts

Fast Food, Slow Rescue: McDonald’s Employees Shown Standing By As Woman Is Repeatedly Attacked In Restaurant

The disturbing video below shows a women being beaten by two other women as McDonald employees do virtually nothing to help her. While a manager makes a minimal effort to stop the fight, he then walks away and does not offer help to the woman on the ground. The girls then return and resume the beating. Other employees are shown doing nothing but watching the scene. The attack occurred in Baltimore, Maryland. The victim has now been identified as Chrissy Lee Polis, 22, who has been identified as a transgender woman. A manager at the Rosedale McDonald’s said she was “not allowed to speak to a reporter.”
Continue reading “Fast Food, Slow Rescue: McDonald’s Employees Shown Standing By As Woman Is Repeatedly Attacked In Restaurant” →

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” →

Bizarre, International

British Tourist Catches Falling Baby in Florida

Helen Beard, an English tourist in Orlando, caught more than a tan in Florida this week. Beard showed that legendary English backbone when she caught a 2-year-old child who fell from a fourth-floor balcony of at the Econo Lodge on International Drive in Orlando. Beard is an inspiration to us all and a fine representative of that stalwart people of Britannia.
Continue reading “British Tourist Catches Falling Baby in Florida” →