With the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, various auction items are being offered to the highest bidder. Last week, an admission ticket for the voyage fetched $56,250 while a menu on the ship sold for $31,250. There is one item on the menu however that caught my eye and curiosity.
Continue reading “They Never Finished Their Capons: Titanic Menu Sold in Auction”
Clayton Keith Dovel, 36, is the latest Transportation Security Administration baggage inspector arrested for theft. Dovel was found with stolen iPads from luggage of passengers snatched at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
Continue reading “TSA Inspector Arrested For Stealing iPads”
The United States achieved a major victory last week by avoiding the title as the fattest nation on Earth. That distinction goes to the wealthiest nation on Earth: Qatar where half of the population is obese and seventeen percent are suffering from diabetes.
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger
As one who was taught by Benedictine nuns in a Catholic elementary school, I grew up with some strange and possibly severe restrictions on what the nuns called “mixing” the boys and girls. More recently, when my adult children were in school, the Diocese of Rockford forbade Altar boys being on the altar at the same time as Altar girls! With that background, I thought I had seen it all. However, the State of Tennessee has just beaten that sorry record of over restrictive rules for school children. It seems that Tennessee state senators, in their infinite wisdom have updated their already suspect abstinence based sex education law by suggesting that holding hands is a gateway to sex. Continue reading “The Dangers of Holding Hands”
By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Which ethnic subset of American teens is most likely to become substance abusers and thus possessors of illegal drugs, alcohol, or tobacco?
a. Caucasians; b. Hispanics; c. African-Americans.
If you answered “c” you are wrong and probably Caucasian. Large-scale national surveys like the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) find that African-Americans are significantly less likely to have substance use disorders than their White counterparts. Continue reading “Profiling The Profiler: The Unflattering Mirror”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Harvard Law School professor Einer Elhauge writes that the very first Congress, in 1790, passed a law that included a mandate that ship owners buy medical insurance, but not hospital insurance, for their seamen. That Congress included 20 framers and was signed by another framer: President George Washington. In 1792, Washington signed another bill, passed by a Congress with 17 framers, requiring that all able-bodied men buy firearms. In 1798, Congress, with 5 framers, passed a federal law that required seamen to buy hospital insurance for themselves.
Why weren’t these examples cited by the Solicitor General during his oral argument?
Continue reading “Did The Founding Fathers Back Health Insurance Mandates? (Updated)”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Click to enlarge. Solution below the fold. Good luck.
First the Italians took credit for discovering America hundreds of years after Vikings landed on Newfoundland. Now, it appears that the Viking landers discovered life on Mars in 1976, but were once again overlooked. The Genovese have already filed claims that they were it first. It would however explain why there were no valuables or life found on the planet decades after the Vikings land.
Continue reading “Eric the Red [Planet]? New Analysis Claims Vikings Found Martian Life”
Jury selection began yesterday in Greensboro, N.C., in the federal trial of former presidential candidate John Edwards. Because of the extremely prejudicial aspects of Edwards’ infidelity while his wife was battling cancer, voir dire and pre-trial motions in limine will be critically important in the case. Equally important will be the legal basis for the campaign finance charges in the case over the use of third-party funds to hide his affair with Rielle Hunter. In my view, the charges stretch the law too far but the government will still have to convince a jury. The greatest danger for the defense remains the prejudicial elements and how they may warp the jury’s view of the facts and legal standard.
Continue reading “Jury Selection Starts In Edwards Case with Controversial Campaign Finance Charges”
Fox News and Newt Gingrich (who once held a Fox contract) are exchanging blows today after Newt Gingrich accused Fox of an overwhelming bias in favor of Mitt Romney and, even worse for diehard Fox fans, said that CNN offered more balanced and fair coverage. Fox responded that Gingrich was auditioning for “a CNN gig.” That might be a needed job after Gingrich’s $500 check to enter the Utah primary bounced. Now Gingrich is selling the names and addresses of his donors to the highest bidder.
Continue reading “Gingrich: Fox News Is Not Fair Or Balanced”
My colleague and fellow torts professor, Roger Schechter, came across this perfect gift for the law student or lawyer who has everything. Do they have a Palsgraf teeshirt? Well, they need one.
Continue reading “Looking For That Perfect Gift From Your Legal Love Muffin? Look No Further”
In Illinois, Boots has walked from a bizarre death sentence. Boots was the pet of Georgia Lee Dvorak of Berwyn, Illinois. When Dvorak died, she specified in her will that 11-year-old Boots should be put to death. However, the executor of her $1.3 million will — the Fifth Third Bank — could not get themselves to euthanize the friendly cat. So they went to court and got the language set aside in a rare judicial intervention.
After the bruising battle for the top opinion blog in past years, our regulars have been planning to prepare for this year’s competition. However, I am sorry to report that as of this morning I have decided to shelve the plans for a Turley Blog Death Star. Due to these lean times of downsizing and layoffs, the Death Star is no longer financially practicable in light of the recent report by Lehigh students that the star will cost $852 quadrillion. With current revenue generation from advertisements at zero, we will have to focus on other methods of seeking a competitive edge against Volokh Conspiracy, Ann Althouse and the rest.
Continue reading “Note to Bloggers: The Turley Blog Death Star To Be Shelved”
The second degree murder charge of George Zimmerman has received widespread approval. I am in Fort Worth to speak to the Fort Worth Lecture Foundation this afternoon. However, I am receiving a lot of calls on the basis for the charge. I must confess that I am not optimistic on the chances of a conviction unless the special prosecutor has undisclosed evidence to meet the high standard under the state law. As I discussed on BBC last night, there are substantial challenges to make such a charge stick in this case.
We have followed the growing trend toward criminalization of speech in the West. This morning we have another such story out of Germany over a cover on the Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche, on the increasing numbers of Roma in Switzerland. The cover shows a Roma boy pointing a gun and critics have called for the magazine to be banned for racial incitement. There is ample reason to debate the merits of the cover story, entitled “The Roma are coming.” However, once again, there is a move to ban unpopular speech rather than allow free speech to be its own disinfectant.
Continue reading “Roma Advocates Seek Ban Of Swiss Magazine Over Incitement”