Corp Reform - Not Tort Reform

What is it with Alabama Judges?

First we had Judge Moore and the Ten Commandments debacle.  Now we’ve got another judge ordering litigants to pray?  

The ACLU complaint said McKathan dropped to his knees and prayed aloud during a court hearing in February. He told the 100 people in the courtroom that he was not afraid to call on the name of Jesus Christ, witnesses said, and ordered all to join hands and pray, according to the complaint filed soon after the hearing.

Source: Complaint against judge praying in court - CNN.com

Faith is very important and belongs in many places.  But in the court isn’t one of them.  Sheesh.

Technorati tags: McKathan, Alabama judge, prayer

This is why I love The Onion

Technorati Tags: The Onion,John McCain,Subtlety

Gun Control Activist Was an NRA Spy; Think There Are Any Reform Spies?

Certainly, the companies funding the “reform” movement have the money to hire spies/moles/cutouts/whatevers.  Think any of them actually are?

Mother Jones magazine has revealed a well-known activist in the gun control movement is actually a secret spy for the National Rifle Association and the gun lobby. Over the past decade, the woman, Mary Lou Sapone, managed to become active in almost every single major gun violence prevention organization. Sapone, who went by her maiden name Mary McFate, helped organize the Million Mom March in 2000 and oversaw the lobbying efforts of States United to Prevent Gun Violence.

Source: Democracy Now! | Leading Gun Control Activist Exposed as Gun Lobby Spy

Technorati Tags: Gun control,spies,tort reform,conspiracy theories

Ignorance is death

Can you believe this stat?

Sara Hunt, who has joined national law firm Shoosmiths to head its Birmingham Personal Injury team, believes a lack of awareness means the likes of builders, plumbers and joiners remain exposed to asbestos.

Used widely as a building, insulating and fireproof material from the 1950s to the 1980s, asbestos is highly carcinogenic.

Hunt, who has 10 years’ experience as a personal injury lawyer, said: “There remains a lack of awareness about the dangers of asbestos.

“A recent survey by The British Lung Foundation revealed that of 399 tradesmen questioned, only 12% knew that asbestos could cause mesothelioma, an asbestos related cancer.” (Emphasis added.) 

Source: Thousands still exposed to asbestos danger warns specialist

Technorati Tags: asbestos,mesothelioma,U.K.

I Love Tort!

Forgive me for channeling Brick from Ron Burgundy (I love lamp!), but this news video about a tortoise named tort reminded me of the panda footage in the movie.  Minus the bears, of course.

 Source: digtriad.com | On The Wild Side: Galapagos Tortoise

A legal analysis of Garfield minus Garfield

I love the site, and am glad to see that not only is it permissible, but that Jim Davis loves it too.

First, however brilliant G-G may be, it’s clearly infringement. The refurbished strips reproduce most of a copyrighted graphical work, and the fact that they aren’t complete reproductions can’t save them. G-G’s likely answer to this is that the infringement is defensible via the fair use doctrine, and by my lights this argument is a clear winner. G-G foundationally transforms Garfield from being about the lazy cat’s mediocre wisecracks to a sad tale about Jon’s social isolation; if that’s not transformative, I don’t know what is. Nor does G-G supplant the market for the original strip; if anything, it’s revived interest in traditional Garfield, and the comic strip is now looking to partner with the website. Looked at in another light, G-G almost certainly falls into the favored category of parody as defined by the Supreme Court in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose, 510 U.S. 569 (1994). The Court held there that parodies (derivative works that mock the original) tend to be fair uses, while satires (derivative works that use the original as a vehicle to mock something else) tend not to be. The parody/satire has few if any supporters in the academy, but I think the best way to understand it is in terms of necessity. Parodying a work requires that you refer to and incorporate part of it (you can’t, for example, make fun of the Garfield comic strip without using characters from the strip itself). But satirizing some social phenomenon using a popular but unrelated work doesn’t require the unlicensed infringement of the latter (hence courts have rejected, e.g., a parody of the O.J. trial expressed by means of a “Cat in the Hat” theme).

Source: PrawfsBlawg: Garfieldlessness

Technorati Tags: PrawfsBlawg,Garfield minus Garfield,G-G

Trolls and the duty to rescue

Thanks to Concurring Opinions, I came across this excellent article in the NYTimes about trolls.  Not just regular trolls, like I’m sometimes accused of being, but the kind of trolls who steal your identity to try and ruin your life.  One of my favorite parts of the article is about “Weev.”  The guy shows up in an old-school Rolls Royce (which can be had very cheaply, btw.  Someday I’ll buy one to reenact the old Grey Poupon commercials.)  Weev claims to be part of a secret hacking group called “the organization,”which supposedly makes $10 million a year and can destroy anyone’s life.  Personally, I think they should have named it SPECTRE. But I did just get to see Dr. No in a movie theater, so I’ve got James Bond on the brain.

At any rate, I read this passage and realized that this guy should go to law school.  He’s already figured out the concept of duty to rescue.

…I asked Fortuny whether a person is obliged to give food to a starving stranger. No, Fortuny argued; no one is entitled to our sympathy or empathy. We can choose to give or withhold them as we see fit. “I can’t push you into the fire,” he explained, “but I can look at you while you’re burning in the fire and not be required to help.”

Source: Magazine Preview - Malwebolence - The World of Web Trolling - NYTimes.com

Technorati Tags: trolling,trolls,NYTimes,Concurring Opinions,privacy

Lying with Statistics – Cat Food Edition

Only with statistics can 31% = 8 out of 10.

Advertising Standards Authority (UK): 26 March 2008, Adjudication over Cat Food Advertisement (Iams Cat Food). More worthwhile statistics from Procter and Gamble:

The advertisements stated:

1. "Vets know catering to all your cats' different needs isn't easy ... 8 out of 10 vets recommend Iams
2. Voted No.1 recommended dry cat food brand available in supermarkets
3. Small print at the bottom of the ad stated "*Based on an independent survey of vets at the Congress of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association on complete dry cat foods available in supermarkets (April 2007)".

The Advertising Standards Authority noted that:

1. The survey asked vets if they would recommend any dry dog food, dry cat food or wet cat food brands. Only 31% of the participating vets (31% of 334) in fact recommended Iams.
2. Furthermore, the survey questions allowed participants to select a number of brands; they did not select only one brand.
3. Two other brands had more recommendations but these brands were available in pet food shops.
4. 80% of vets who recommended a brand of dry cat food available in supermarkets included Iams amongst the selection of products recommended, but not necessarily over those other products

Source: Scientific Misconduct Blog

Is Philip Morris buying scientists?

Anyone who has seen The Insider or Thank You For Smoking (a comedy, but a good one) knows that tobacco companies like to put scientists on the payroll.   Seems a little odd to have such a super secret contract, though:

Alan Finder at the New York Times  has, pardon the bad pun, a smokin' good story about entangled relationships, cigarettes, secrecy and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).  To what do I refer?  VCU signed a contract with Philip Morris to conduct research, but the catch is that there is a mega-gag order.  Professors aren't allowed to discuss or publish their results without the permission of (guess...) Philip Morris.  If someone (say, a journalist) asks someone at the university about this agreement, university officials are required to decline comment.  The inquiry is then passed along to the company.  Apparently intellectual property rights emerging from any discoveries from such research belong to Philip Morris, not the university researchers.  Until this story broke, it appears that the vast majority of faculty and students were unaware of this contract, maybe due to its potential for negative public relations.

Source: Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look

It’s official, white guys no longer have a monopoly on being nutjobs

Growing up in Vegas, I met quite a few nutjobs who lived in the desert.  According to them, I had no legal obligation to pay taxes, the Constitution prohibits drivers licenses, and of course, you can easily renounce your citizenship and form your own country right here in the USA.  All of those nutjobs were older white guys.  Looks like their crazy rants have been picked up by other races now:

A few minutes after 10 a.m., United States District Court Judge Andre M. Davis took his seat and began his introductory remarks. Suddenly, the leader of the defendants, Willie Mitchell, a short, unremarkable looking twenty-eight-yearold with close-cropped hair, leapt from his chair, grabbed a microphone, and launched into a bizarre soliloquy.

“I am not a defendant,” Mitchell declared. “I do not have attorneys.” The court “lacks territorial jurisdiction over me,” he argued, to the amazement of his lawyers. To support these contentions, he cited decades-old acts of Congress involving the abandonment of the gold standard and the creation of the Federal Reserve. Judge Davis, a Baltimore-born African American in his late fifties, tried to interrupt. “I object,” Mitchell repeated robotically. Shelly Martin and Shelton Harris followed Mitchell to the microphone, giving the same speech verbatim. Their attorneys tried to intervene, but when Harris’s lawyer leaned over to speak to him, Harris shoved him away. 

Source: Too Weird for The Wire - Kevin Carey