Uncategorized

Martin Shkreli In His Own Words

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Former pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli proudly continues his tenure as the industry’s greatest pariah. Speaking before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during a hearing on prescription drug prices, Mr. Shkreli displayed what can only be described as utter contempt for the proceeding and his own hubris.

Mr. Shkreli invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when questioned by the committee, which of course is his right, but throughout the committee’s questioning he demeaned representatives with gestures such as rolling his eyes, playing with a pencil, and giving smirks. It is certain to garner almost equally the infamy of those smirks of Bernie Madoff.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Courts, Science, Torts

Sixth Grade Student Allegedly Removed From School Due To DNA Profile

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

DNA_orbit_animated_static_thumbA California school district faces a lawsuit which has been appealed to the Ninth Circuit were parents of a six-year-old boy having genetic markers for the condition of cystic fibrosis brought suit against the Palo Alto Unified School District claiming the district violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and First Amendment privacy rights of the child.

The case revolves around the issue of genetic discrimination. According to the lawsuit, parents enrolled six-year-old Coleman Chadman at Jordan Middle School. The parents disclosed the genetic marker for Coleman on an interview form requesting information as to the child’s medical conditions. As a result of that disclosure, and other events, Coleman was prohibited from attending school due to DNA markers for cystic fibrosis and not for any condition presently manifesting itself as a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis.

The case demonstrates a worrying problem leading to discrimination based on genetic factors where the expression of certain genes is not a guarantee of having such medical problems yet the discrimination is nevertheless applied.
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Media, Politics, Society

Clinton: I Cannot Be Part Of The “Establishment” As A Woman Running For President

225px-Hillary_Clinton_official_Secretary_of_State_portrait_crop220px-nancy_pelosiDWSPortrait225px-dianne_feinstein_official_senate_photo

 

 

 

 

 

I have found the Democratic debates really interesting to watch. For the first time in my lifetime, these debates actually have some substance and drama. There was a couple of interesting moments last night, including the suggestion by Hillary Clinton that it is out of bounds for Sanders to raise the money that she has taken from Wall Street as a “smear.” I thought that Clinton did a good job on various points with strong responses, including the progressive label issue.  However, one of the most intriguing moments was Clinton saying that it was ridiculous to call her the “establishment” candidate because she is a woman. For many, the Clintons are the personification of the establishment with huge donors, PACs, control of the DNC, and a massive political machine. Even the Washington Post responded with “Come on” to the suggestion that she is not the ultimate establishment candidate.  Yet, Clinton’s point is that she is also the trying to become the first woman president and thus must be considered an outsider candidate. It seemed to resonate with the crowd, though Sanders appears to have tied Clinton in a national poll despite an concerted campaign from Democratic leaders and politicians aligned with Clinton. I thought it would make for an interesting discussion on the blog.

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Bizarre, International, Military, Politics, Religion

Israeli Minister Pushes New Law To Punish Those Who Question Israel’s Commitment to Democracy

Israeli Culture and Sports Minister (and former Brigadier General) Miri Regev has a curious view of democracy. Regev is the author of a “cultural loyalty” bill that would allow fines or withdrawing support for any institution for a host of free speech violations, including “the denial of Israel’s democratic nature.” Thus, the bill would allow Israel to punish those who challenge its commitment to democracy so that Israel can show that it is a democracy. Follow? Let’s try again. If someone denies Israel is a true democracy, they will be punished of using their free speech to criticize the government. Well, the important thing is that it all makes sense to Regev. It is taken from the same oxymoronic lesson book as “the beatings will continue until morale improves” or “destroying a village to save it.”

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Religion, Society

Alleged Terrorist “Deplanes” After Blowing Hole Through Side of Airbus in Somalia

Daallo-AirlinesThe Wall Street Journal is reporting a relatively happy ending to a terrorist attack. Officials reportedly believe that the man who died after being sucked out of a Somali passenger jet in midair on Monday was the man who set off the explosion. He succeeded only in blowing himself out of the plane. Problem solved.

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Bizarre, Society

Intern Becomes Internet Sensation After Falling Asleep At First Day At Work

56b2714b1a00009c01ab1f5fThis is why I love this country. An intern starts with a tech startup and falls asleep. The response? A group picture of course. What followed was a hilarious series of photoshops of the now famous but nameless intern. The guy even has his own teeshirt as an inspiration to us all.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics

Goldman Sachs CEO and Clinton Donor Warns That Sanders Creating A “Dangerous Moment”

BernieSandersLloyd_Blankfein_CEO_Goldman_SachsWe recently talked about how a poll showing that 17 percent of the federal government workforce would resign if Donald Trump were elected. It seemed to me a perfect pitch for Trump to make to conservatives that he has already delivered on shrinking the size of government. Now Bernie Sanders may have been given the greatest possible gift from a past donor for the Clintons. The CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, has given an interview and warns that Sanders is “dangerous.” If that is not the next political ad from the Sanders campaign, they are asleep at the switch.

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Bizarre, Society

No Car For You: Tesla’s Musk Punishes Customer For Critical Posting By Canceling His Car Order

Elon_Musk_2015Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 5.56.33 PMHere goes any chance I have in getting a Tesla. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is at the heart of an interesting controversy after he punished a customer for a critical posting about the badly planned launch event for the new model. Musk appears to have a rather authoritarian view of critics like an automotive version of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld.

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Bizarre, Lawyering, Society

Voir Dear: Court Summons Potential Jurors With Referral To Sex Hotline

170px-Sound-Powered_Telephone_SystemsThere is voir dire and then there is voir dear. The court in Pascagoula, Mississippi, sent out a jury summons this month but, when prospective jurors called the telephone line, they found themselves speaking to a sex hotline. It does not help that the Clerk’s name is Randy but he is really really sorry.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Society

Critics: UConn to Create Black-Only Housing (Updated)

University_of_Connecticut_Seal.svgThe University of Connecticut is under fire this week after a report that it would create a living space segregated by race. The school is concerned about the lower graduation rate for black students. So it has arranged for black-only housing to try to maintain a more supportive environment. Others call is segregation and a return to pre-Brown v. Board of Education values. The university has insisted that it is not a separate dorm and that the reports have been overblown, as discussed on Snopes.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics

Leading Egyptian Cartoonist Arrested After Satirizing Ally Of President El-Sisi

sisi-mouseIt seems like our allies in Egypt and Turkey have a particular intolerance for cartoonists and satirists in their parallel crackdowns on free speech. In Turkey, the Miss Turkey was arrested for repeating a satirical comparison of President Erdogan to Gollum. In Egypt, a teenager was jailed for cartoons of Muhammad and a leading businessman was attacked for a cartoon of Micky Mouse with a beard. Then there was the three-year sentence given Amr Nohan, a 22-year-old law graduate for posting a Facebook image of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with Mickey Mouse-style cartoon ears (shown left). Now a leading cartoonist Islam Gawish, 26, has been arrested in Egypt by the hyper sensitive el-Sisi government.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Truck Driver In Massive Salmon Spill Claims “Auto-Brewery Syndrome”

salmon2n-2-webWe recently discussed the case of the New York teacher who was found to suffer from “auto-brewery syndrome” in the dismissal of a DUI offense. The rare intestinal disorder is caused by a saturation of yeast in the system of some people (which is why it is also called “gut fermentation syndrome”). Now, truck driver Ray Lewis is claiming that he also suffers from the condition after his conviction for drunk driving. Lewis not only crashed his truck near Eugene Oregon but spilled some 11,000 salmon across the highway.

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Bizarre, Torts

Ant Simulator Developer Pulls Plug On Game After Accusing Partners Of Spending All Of The Money On Booze and Strippers

antsim1There was an interesting admission from a leading game developer this week. Eric Tereshinski, main developer of Ant Simulator, announced the cancellation of the game and his resignation after the spending of the available money for development. The reason? Tereshinski said that his business partners spent the money on booze and strippers. His partners in ETeeshi were Tyler Monce and Devon Staley.

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Uncategorized

Trump Delivers on Pledge To Shrink Government

Few candidates can say that they can guarantee to deliver on pledges made on the campaign. However, unlike past candidates who have pledged to shrink the federal government, Donald Trump can show that he has already delivered with the result of the recent survey by Government Business Council that found at roughly 1-in-4 federal employees would consider leaving their jobs if Donald Trump is elected president.

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Bizarre, Torts

English Student Demands Lifetime Supply Of Kit Kats After Being Sold “Defective” Bars Without Wafers

200px-KitKat_logo.svgKings College Student Saima Ahmad, 20, has informed Nestle that she is demanding compensation for the “monetary and emotional loss” associated with her recent purchase of KitKat bars. To her continuing horror, she found that eight of the bars contained no wafers inside.

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