Facebook selfie leads to conviction in murder case
On January 15, 2018 Cheyenne Rose Antoine, 21, was sentenced to seven years in prison for murdering her best friend, 18-year-old Brittney Gargol. A selfie on the killer’s Facebook page of the two from the night of the killing showed the murder weapon, and ultimately helped secure her conviction. The murder took place in in Saskatoon, a large city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Gargol’s body was discovered on a road by a passerby on the morning of March 25, 2015. A black belt was found next to her body and was presumed to be the murder weapon after an examination of the body. The pair had been out together the previous evening for a night of drinking, smoking marijuana and partying. Antoine initially claimed that that after attending a house party and a few bars, Gargol left with an unidentified man, while Antoine went to see her uncle. Antoine’s story was suspicious and the police dug deeper into her Facebook page for clues. They were stunned when they discovered a picture from the night of the murder in which of the Antoine was wearing the same belt that was discovered next to the victim’s body. As her cover […]
Intel CEO sold millions in stock after Intel flaw discovered
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich sold off a large portion of his stake in the company on November 16, 2016—only months after Google informed the company that there was a significant vulnerability in its popular PC processors. This large stock sale took place before the vulnerability was public knowledge, which opens Krzanich up to allegations of possible misconduct. The sale left Krzanich with just 250,000 shares in the company, which is the minimum required by his contract as CEO. He sold 245,743 shares of stock that he owned outright, as well as 644,135 more shares that were promised to him in his contract. In all, he sold off over $39 million of stock a little over four months after he learned about the flaws in Intel’s processors. The chip vulnerabilities, known as Meltdown and Spectre, could affect billions of devices worldwide that are powered by the company’s microprocessors. These hardware vulnerabilities allow malware to steal information as it is processed on the computer. While running programs are typically not permitted to read data from other programs, malicious software can exploit Meltdown and Spectre to obtain data stored in the memory of other running programs. This could include your passwords stored in […]
Judge Overturns $417 Million Talcum Powder Verdict
On Friday a California judge overturned a $417 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson from a lawsuit by a woman who claimed she developed ovarian cancer after using its talcum powder for feminine hygiene. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maren Nelson asserted that there was jury misconduct and errors in the first trial and agreed to the company’s request for a new trial. This decision follows a jury’s decision in August to award California resident Eva Echeverria $70 million in compensatory damages and $347 million in punitive damages. “We are pleased with Judge Maren Nelson’s ruling. Ovarian cancer is a devastating disease — but it is not caused by the cosmetic-grade talc we have used in Johnson’s Baby Powder for decades,” said Carol Goodrich, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson Consumer, “The science is clear and we will continue to defend the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder as we prepare for additional trials in the U.S.” Mark Robinson Jr., one of Echeverria’s lawyers, said they will file an appeal immediately. “We disagree with the court’s decision,” he said. “A jury of Ms. Echeverria’s peers found the Johnson and Johnson defendants liable. We will ask the appellate court to uphold this […]
Former Teen Bride Wins $16 Million Case Against Polygamous Group
A Utah woman who was married to her cousin at the age of 14 by polygamous cult leader Warren Jeffs has won a lawsuit against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Elisa Wall was awarded $16 million by Judge Keith Kelly, who said in his ruling that the behavior of Jeffs and the religious group “was so extreme that it went beyond all possible bound of decency and is regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized society.” Wall’s attorney Alan Mortensen also stated that the ruling would also allow attorneys to review and investigate the secretive group’s financial information and investments, which will show their property holdings and bank accounts. Mortensen said, “This is hopefully to continue the attack on illegal and criminal conduct so they’ll comport their doctrines to what’s permissible under the U.S. Constitution,” The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which is located on the border of Utah and Arizona, has been targeted on multiple fronts by the federal government in recent years. Wall’s testimony about the marriage helped to convict Warren Jeffs as being an accomplice in rape. While that verdict was eventually overturned, be his now serving a […]
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT PRIVACY RIGHTS WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR SALIVA (BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK…)
Be careful where you spit. More than one state court has ruled that you don’t have full “privacy” rights in your saliva once it leaves your body. If police collect your spit after it willingly leaves your mouth, such collection will also not be considered an “unreasonable search and seizure” under the Constitution (unlike the police searching your home without a court warrant, for instance). An appeals court in Massachusetts has ruled that police can collect saliva off of the sidewalk in order to conduct DNA tests on it while investigating a crime. Investigators were following a rape suspect at the time when they saw him casually spit on a sidewalk. The suspect’s saliva was then collected and turned over to the crime lab. (Once again, this was done without any form of warrant or court order.) Using the DNA gathered from the collected saliva, police in Massachusetts were then able to positively match the suspect’s DNA to a recent rape victim. This provided the critical evidence needed in order to secure a conviction. After his trial, the defendant appealed his conviction – arguing that the gathering of his saliva by the police was an “unreasonable search and seizure” that is prohibited […]
Reduced Prison Sentence for Voluntary Sterilization in Tennessee
Inmates in White County, Tennessee will now be given the option of ending their jail sentence early if they agree to have a birth control implant or a vasectomy. Those who participate in the program will be given a 30 day reduction in their sentence. Both female and male inmates are eligible for the program. The male inmates are being offered vasectomies and the female inmates will be given a Nexplanon implant in their arm. The implant provides three years of continuous birth control and is 99% effective. The procedures are provided free of charge and are conducted by the Tennessee Department of Health. Sam Benningfield, the only judge serving in White County, Tennessee, introduced the program as a way to prevent repeat drug offenders and other criminals from having children. “I hope to encourage them to take personal responsibility and give them a chance, when they do get out, to not to be burdened with children. This gives them a chance to get on their feet and make something of themselves,” Benningfield told Nashville news station WTVF. “I understand it won’t be entirely successful but if you reach two or three people, maybe that’s two or three kids not […]
Husband Robbed Bank to Escape Wife Sentenced to Home Confinement
A 71-year-old man who robbed a Kansas City bank last September to escape living with his wife has been sentenced to six months of home confinement. At the time he claimed that he would rather live in prison than go home with his wife. According to court documents Lawrence John Ripple wrote out a demand note in front of his wife that said, “I have a gun, give me money.” After the teller complied with his demand, he took the money and sat in the bank lobby, waiting for the police to arrive. When a bank security guard approached him, he simply said, “I’m the guy you’re looking for.” During police questioning Ripple explained that he had been arguing with his wife and that he “no longer wanted to be in that situation.” In an affidavit filed in support of the robbery charge an FBI agent wrote, “Ripple wrote out his demand note in front of his wife … and told her he’d rather be in jail than at home.” Ripple and his lawyers now says that his actions last year were a results of a severe bout of depression that he fell into after a 2015 quadruple bypass heart […]
Man Freed After Serving 16 Years in a Case of Mistaken Identity
After spending years denying that he had committed the 1999 purse snatching that landed him in prison, Richard Anthony Jones was finally released on Wednesday. He had served nearly 16 years of a 19 year prison sentence. While serving his sentence Jones had repeatedly heard that there was another prisoner who bore a strong resemblance to him. Not only did they look alike, but Jones discovered that they also share the same first name. Jones suspected that this man may have committed the crime that he was convicted of and contacted the Midwest Innocence Project. They put him in touch with the Paul E. Wilson Defender Project at the University of Kansas, who paired him with attorney Alice Craig. His legal team later discovered that his doppelganger not only shared his first name, but he also lived in the area where the crime was committed. Jones did not live in the area- he lived across the state line. Jones was convicted of a purse snatching in a Walmart packing lot on May 31, 1999. The victim of the robbery, Tamara Scherer, picked him out of a lineup three months after the crime took place. The entire case was based on […]
Florida Man gets 180 Days in Jail for Not Unlocking Phone
A Hollywood, Florida man has been sentenced to 180 days in jail for not giving police officers his cellphone’s passcode upon request. Christopher Wheeler, 41, was taken into custody in a Broward Circuit Court. He insisted that he had provided his passcode to the police officers who were investigating him, but the code that he provided did not allow them to access the device. Wheeler was arrested and charged with child abuse in March for allegedly assaulting his 8 year-old daughter, who prosecutors say he hit and scratched. Detectives believe that his phone could contain pictures that show the injuries that he is accused of inflicting on the girl. A Broward County judge issued a search warrant prior to his arrest. Despite the search warrant, Wheeler refused to provide the passcode. According to prosecutors, Mr. Wheeler’s daughter previously told investigators, “Daddy takes pictures of me all the time with his phone.” On May 12th Circuit Judge Michael Rothschild held Wheeler in contempt. Judge Rothschild handed down the 180-day jail sentence during a hearing in Fort Lauderdale this week. “Should defendant provide a password which unlocks the phone prior to sentencing or thereafter, the court will purge the contempt and vacate […]
Kentucky Judge Refuses to Hear Gay Adoption Cases
Kentucky judge W. Mitchell Nance, a family court judge In Barren and Metcalfe counties, has announced that he will no longer hear adoption cases that involve “homosexual parties.” Kentucky state law allows gay couples to adopt. In explaining his refusal to hear these cases, Judge Nance cited an ethics rule that states that a judge must disqualify himself from a case when he has a personal prejudice or bias. Nance clarified in an issued court order that “as a matter of conscience” he believes that allowing a “practicing homosexual” to adopt would “under no circumstance” promote the best interest of the child. Gay-rights advocates said they are astounded by Nance’s order. Dan Canon, a Louisville lawyer who helped ensure the right of same-sex couples to marry in Kentucky, said, “The bottom line is if this judge can’t fulfill his duties because of his duties because of his personal biases, he should resign.” On the opposite side of the issue, The Family Foundation of Kentucky, a nonprofit organization that advocates for socially conservative legislation, defended Nance’s decision. “If we are going to let liberal judges write their personal biases and prejudices into law, as we have done on issues of marriage […]
Suspected Serial Killer Prompts New South Carolina Real Estate Law
Starting in 2020 people who sell or manage real estate in South Carolina will have to undergo a background check to renew their license. The law, signed by Gov. Henry McMaster, requires real estate agents, property managers, brokers, and their supervisors to undergo a fingerprint-based check every third license renewal, or every six years. “Hopefully, it will make people more secure,” Rep. Chip Huggins, R-Columbia, the bill’s main sponsor, said Monday. “This is the result of a terrible situation.” This law was prompted by the case of Todd Kohlhepp, who was arrested after authorities found a woman who had been missing for months chained by her neck in a storage container on his property in a rural part of the state. The remains of her boyfriend, as well as the remains of a couple who had disappeared previously, were also found on his property. Authorities said that Kohlhepp also confessed to a 2003 cold case where four people were murdered in a motorcycle shop. Kohlhepp had a criminal history prior to receiving his real estate license in 2006. As a teenager he was convicted of raping his 14 year-old neighbor at gunpoint and threatening to kill her siblings if she […]
Tesla Dumps Annoying Customer
I never believed that old business adage, “The customer is always right,” especially when directly dealing with customers. I’m apparently in good company, as Tesla Motors just lowered the boom on a complaining customer. Stewart Alsop, a venture capitalist who ordered a Tesla Model X SUV, was invited to the model’s September 2015 launch. After attending the event, Alsop complained on his online blog that the event started almost 2 hours late and did not provide food. In addition to his partnership in a venture capital firm, Mr. Alsop held several editorial positions at business and trade magazines and was an editor-in-chief and executive vice-president of “InfoWorld,” a magazine for Information Technology experts. Despite Mr. Alsop’s impressive credentials, Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk, called Alsop, disagreed with at least some of Alsop’s remarks and canceled his Tesla Model X SUV order. Alsop was taken aback and said so on his blog, recounting the phone discussion, the event and the Tesla’s desirability. Alsop also remarked that his revelation of the phone discussion probably means he will never be allowed to buy a Tesla. Elon Musk’s response to Alsop’s criticism is a benefit, I suppose, of offering one of the hottest […]
Lack of Money Guts Right To an Attorney
The lack of money can gut the right to counsel. That is one reason the indigent are provided with lawyers in criminal cases. However, Utah is one instance in which money matters have trumped justice. Utah and Pennsylvania are the only 2 states in which local counties must bear the financial burden of providing counsel to people who are too poor to hire an attorney to represent them in criminal matters. All other states fund their indigent counsel programs at the state level. In Utah, the burden on many local counties is just too great. As a result, those counties simply make do by failing to provide counsel for misdemeanors where there is supposedly no threat of jail and contracting with a local attorney on a fixed fee contract to represent however many cases may arise. However, the right to assistance of counsel in criminal matters is guaranteed by the U. S. Constitution’s 6th Amendment, as this YouTube video briefly explains:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDFwSi6ICm4 This arrangement causes a slew of problems. Though some misdemeanor cases may appear to pose only an immediate threat of jail, defendants often face non-lawyer judges who do, in fact, send them to jail with no representation by counsel. […]
Preserving The Grand Canyon
After more than 140 years of uranium mining, the Grand Canyon Trust and others are stepping up to preserve the magnificent natural canyon from the poisonous runoff of uranium mining. Uranium/radium ore within the U. S. was first discovered in the late 19th Century in the gold mines of Colorado. Since that time, uranium has been increasingly mined in the U. S. During World War II, the Manhattan Project used American-mined uranium (along with that of other countries) to produce our first nuclear weapons. Today, mined uranium is primarily used to fuel nuclear power plants. An unfortunate byproduct of uranium mining is dangerous uranium levels in natural aquifers, sources of water for every living thing in their vicinities. According to the U. S. Geological Survey, 15 springs and 5 wells in the Grand Canyon watershed have toxic uranium levels. The National Park Service also reports that uranium mines, whether still open or long-closed, have poisoned drinking water with uranium concentrations more than 1,000 times the safe maximum. An example of the struggle between the mining industry and conservation forces is on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOhvkAMQdVo Counteracting the poisonous effects of uranium pollution, in 2009, the Secretary of the Interior imposed a 20-year ban […]
United Nations Immunity From Lawsuits
The UN is currently involved in two federal lawsuits challenging its longstanding immunity under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. In early 2010, Haiti endured a 7.0 earthquake with more than 50 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or worse. The death toll was estimated as high as 160,000, the injury toll was far higher, and hundreds of thousands of residences and tens of thousands of commercial buildings were destroyed or badly damaged. As is its custom, the UN sent help. Unfortunately, since October 2010, Haiti has also endured an ongoing cholera outbreak that has killed more than 8,000 people and sickened more than 700,000 people. Haiti blames the UN for bringing cholera to Haiti when the UN went to assist recovery from the 2010 earthquake. Cholera is a bacterial infection that normally occurs in places with poor sanitation and causes severe vomiting and diarrhea that can lead to dehydration and death. Both a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a Yale report revealed evidence that UN peacekeepers are responsible for spreading cholera in Haiti. They believe that a UN peacekeeping force from Nepal allowed human waste from their base to leak into […]
Automakers and Government Reach Safety Agreement
In an historic accomplishment of collaboration and concern for consumers, sixteen major U. S. automakers and the federal government have reached an accord to advance auto industry safety and lay the groundwork for future partnership. The alliance began in December 2015 between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and a Who’s Who of American automobile manufacturers, including General Motors Company, Ford Motor Company, Honda Motors Company, Toyota Motor Corporation, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Daimler AG, BMW AG, Nissan Motor Company and Hyundai Motor Company. During the past month, team members have exchanged principles for collaborative efforts to enhance auto and traffic safety, based on their extensive expertise and mutual concern for the public. The cooperative combination of their suggested principles and open communication shaped the team’s plan, finalized as of January 11, 2016. The voluntary agreement was formally unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show on January 15, 2016 via a mutual release composed by the NHTSA and the sixteen auto manufacturers. A video of the announcement can be accessed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBxv37n02nw The agreement is modeled on the U. S. aviation industry’s relationship with government regulators: a model of cooperation and transparency that has resulted in significantly increased safety for […]
Texas Sues the EPA Again
In October 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued new guidelines for ozone pollution limits from 75 parts per billion to 70 parts per billion; therefore, Texas sued the EPA for the 23rd time since early 2008. High ozone pollution harms the most vulnerable people: children; the elderly; and sufferers of heart and lung ailments. Furthermore, researchers at Houston’s own Rice University found that during peak ozone pollution, heart attack risks increase by up to 4.6% and asthma attack risks increase by up to 10% when ozone levels are 50 – 70 parts per billion. Consequently, the EPA’s advisory committee urged an ozone limit as low as 60 parts per billion. Despite the recommendation, the EPA adopted rules allowing higher pollution levels that would be more acceptable to industry. According to the EPA the new standard of 70 parts per billion could cost industry approximately $1.4 billion/year by 2025 but the health benefits of lowering pollution levels far outweigh the cost. A YouTube video setting forth the EPA’s new ozone pollution standards can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/user/USEPAgov Meanwhile, Texas hired its own experts to the tune of $1.65 million. Those experts, at Massachusetts’ Gradient Corporation issued 2 study reports arguing that […]
Suit To Remove “In God We Trust” From Currency
Michael Newdow is quite a guy. He is an attorney, an emergency medicine doctor, a reverend in the Universal Life Church and a relentless advocate of the separation of church and state. Newdow previously unsuccessfully sued the federal government at least twice to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Now he is suing the federal government to remove “In God We Trust” from U. S. currency. Newdow’s logic for attacking “In God We Trust” is presented in a series of YouTube videos, starting with this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEknKMWY844&list=PL7CC5B0160D83B7FE Claiming that the use of “In God We Trust” on U. S. money is unconstitutional because it violates the separation of church and state, the suit is brought in behalf of 40+ Plaintiffs, including Michigan Atheists, the Norther Ohio Freethought Society and others from Ohio and Michigan. Defendants include: the U. S. Congress; The United States Of America; Jacob J. Lew, Secretary of The Treasury; Rhett Jeppson, Principal Deputy Director, United States Mint; and Leonard R. Olijar, Director, Bureau of Engraving And Printing; The 112-page suit was filed in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on January 11, 2016. The complaint can be accessed here: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2681345/Currency-Lawsuit.pdf The suit requests […]
Is Bottled Water Really Just Tap Water?
There is a recent furor over admissions by bottled water brands that their relatively expensive product actually comes from tap water, labeled P.W.S. or Public Water Source. Aquafina, the world’s largest brand of bottled water, which is owned by PepsiCo, recently changed its label to include PWS due to the influence of Corporate Accountability International. Corporate Accountability International is a Boston-based watchdog organization established during the 1977 Nestle baby formula boycott. After the success of its Nestle boycott, Corporate Accountability International continued to demand corporate accountability. The organization’s latest targets include bottled water brands. Corporate Accountability International’s web site can be accessed here:https://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/ CAI did not single out Aquafina for pressure. The organization is also pressuring Coca Cola Company for transparent labeling on it Dasani water brand. Dasani is tap water, no differently and no less than is Aquafina. However, customers claim they understand that Aquafina and Dasani are tap water but are purified through reverse osmosis, ultraviolet and ozone sterilization So, what’s the big deal? The big deal is twofold: cost and pollution. The cost of purified tap water is quite high. More than 60% of bottled water sales are in single 16.9 oz. bottles. Relative to the average […]
The Resilience of Internet Echo Chambers
The internet is rife with rumors and hoaxes, in case you didn’t notice. Worse yet, those of us who’ve used the internet since the early 1980’s see many more rumors and hoaxes than we saw several decades ago. That does not bode well for the internet, as its trajectory is toward even more rumors and hoaxes. Some internet users and publications have taken it upon themselves to debunk rumors and hoaxes; however, they apparently toil in vain due to the internet echo chambers. An internet echo chamber is a situation in which internet users have their beliefs reinforced and amplified by initial transmission and repetition in an enclosed system, where different views are underrepresented. An explanation of the internet echo chambers is accessible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cp4CF1pUdI Using an extreme example to make my point, a person who believes that the Holocaust never happened tends to read articles, message boards and blogs and otherwise converse with others who also believe that the Holocaust never happened. They’re not interested in seeing proof that the Holocaust happened. The presence and resilience of internet echo chambers was studied by the Laboratory of Computational Social Science at IMT Lucca. Researchers spent 5 years analyzing 54 million […]
Are Cops’ Informal Requirements Extortion Or Favors?
One Philadelphia traffic cop recently endured a firestorm of criticism and possible criminal charges due to a deal he posed for a driver of an unregistered vehicle. The officer offered to let the motorist go with a warning if the motorist bought several $10 tickets to an annual fundraiser for policemen and firemen. If the motorist did not buy the tickets, the officer would take his car. The motorist bought 3 tickets for $30 and went on his way. The officer also remarked that the motorist’s pink windshield wipers, a symbol of the fight against breast cancer, made the motorist look like a “fruitcake.” The encounter was taped and the police officer was in a great deal of trouble, reassigned to desk duty and forced to hand over his service weapon. A YouTube video of the encounter is accessible here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C32xpVFL9xg Once the video “went viral,” there was a lot of discussion about the traffic stop. The anti-gay slur was deemed just plain bigotry while the ticket sale was deemed a favor by some but extortion by others. I’m on the fence about the ticket sale. Perhaps I have had too few negative experiences with law enforcement but I lean toward […]
CDC Reports Decrease in Still-Troublesome Diabetes
The U. S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has good news and bad news: – rates of new adult diabetes cases have steadily decreased, from 1.7 million in 2009 to 1.4 million in 2014; but – the number of new cases has more than tripled since 1980. Though diagnosed diabetes cases have significantly risen in 35 years, the past six years has seen a marked decrease in newly diagnosed diabetes cases. Some experts believe the recent decrease in newly diagnosed diabetes cases is due to relatively recent emphasis on healthy diet, exercise and awareness about diabetes. Diabetes afflicts approximately 29.1 million adult and minor Americans. According to the CDC’s data, which admittedly uses a small representative sample for Black and Hispanic communities, the ethnic breakdown of Americans diagnosed with diabetes is: – 7.6% of Whites; – 9% of Asians; – 12.8% of Hispanics; – 13.2% of Blacks; and – 15.9% of Native Americans. According to Dr. Edward Gregg, Chief of Epidemiology and Statistics at the CDC, the relatively recent decrease is encouraging but we must still deal effectively with the high incidence of diabetes in the United States. The greatest decrease has occurred among young white males; however, Dr. Gregg […]
CIA Focusing on Missions Instead of Divisions
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the organization established in 1947 to gather and analyze information, give intelligence assessments and carry out covert activities, is radically restructuring itself, as of March 2015. The CIA is traditionally divided into: the National Clandestine Service, for collection; the Directorate of Intelligence, for analysis; the Directorate of Science and Technology, for technology; and the Directorate of Support, for support services. However, the agency intends to morph those divisions into 10 centers, each focused on a geographical area or issue and each combining a multidisciplinary team of information collectors, analysts, scientists and support staff. The new focus will be on missions rather than divisions. Particularly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, experts criticized the CIA and other intelligence gathering/security agencies for their inability to effectively gather, analyze, share and use information about the country’s enemies. The 9/11 Commission report, in particular, stated that a “smart” government “would integrate all sources of information to see the enemy as a whole” using “all-source analysis” to “inform and shape strategies to collect more intelligence.” The CIA took steps toward that kind of synthesis before 9/11, when it established the Counterterrorism Center in 1986. The Center was designed to transcend the […]
DOJ Seeks Removal Of Restrictions On Cybercrime
Federal prosecutors and privacy advocates are currently battling over a Department of Justice (DOJ) proposal for obtaining search warrants more easily in order to locate and hack into computers. The DOJ contends that the ability of cybercriminals to commit crimes anonymously from concealed locations anywhere in the world severely hampers their ability to find, catch and prosecute these criminals. Drug traffickers, identity thieves, child pornographers and others using computers in the commission of their crimes hide themselves and their whereabouts in order to thwart law enforcement. Consequently, the DOJ is requesting a change in federal criminal procedure. The current procedure for obtaining a search warrant requires that the judge issuing the warrant do so only in the district where he/she serves. This presents an obvious problem in cybercrime when criminal investigators do not know the location of the computer or criminal. The DOJ proposal calls for greater flexibility in that a judge in a district where “activities related to a crime” have occurred may issue warrants to search computers outside his/her district. DOJ lawyers stress the need for flexibility allowing remote searches of criminals’ computers and for investigating botnets, networks of virus-infected computers oblivious to judicial district boundaries: “There is […]
Chicago Police Torture Victims Get Compensation
From the 1970’s – the early 1990’s Chicago police used a “midnight crew” to coerce confessions from 100+ black men by beating, suffocating, electrocuting, handcuffing to immobile objects for days, holding guns to their heads, shooting their pets and otherwise torturing them. In an effort to put that terrible time behind the City, on May 6, 2015, Chicago’s City Council unanimously voted for History’s first reparations package for victims of “racially motivated police torture.” The ordinance earmarks $5.5 million for compensation of: up to $100,000 per victim, job training, mental health care and counseling, and possible college tuition assistance for their families. In addition, the ordinance issues a public acknowledgement of the torture, a formal apology by the City Council, authorizes a memorial to the victims and mandates insertion of information about the infamous period into Chicago Public Schools’ 8th and 10th grade History. In a clear case of “Justice delayed is justice denied,” survivors of deceased torture victims are not eligible for reparations; only still-living victims may collect. The notorious “midnight crew” was headed by Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge, who served in the Chicago Police Department from 1970 to 1993, rising through the ranks and receiving 13 commendations […]
Movement to Abolish the Money Bail System
The American money bail system is under relentless attack, now led by a non-profit Washington, DC legal clinic’s class action suit seeking to abolish the cash bail system as unconstitutionally unfair to non-wealthy suspects. Our current cash bail system is widely used in state and local courts, where a person charged with even nonviolent crime can be required to post money or property to allow his/her release from custody and ensure his/her continued appearances in court. If the person appears in court as required, the bail is returned. If the person fails to appear, he/she is subject to arrest and forfeiture of bail. People who have sufficient property or money to post bail and appear as required incur no bail debt. However, people who do not have sufficient property or money to post bail must either stay in custody or use a bail bondsman. Bail bondsmen typically charge 10% of the total bail amount as a fee that the person owes, with interest, whether or not the case against him is dismissed and whether or not he is eventually acquitted. Consequently, if the court sets bail at $100,000, the person must pay a fee of $10,000, plus interest, for the […]
Hedge Fund Vultures or Victims?
Puerto Rico is in big financial trouble with hedge funds owning 24 – 50% of the territory’s debt, which is intimately connected with whatever isn’t nailed down in the territory. As we mentioned in a previous article a “hedge fund” is a way of pooling investments that dynamically uses numerous strategies domestically and globally to generate high investment returns. It is somewhat similar to a mutual fund in that it pools assets and is professionally managed; however, it is more of a mutual fund for the very rich. Some hedge funds are called “vultures,” buying distressed debts for fractions of their face values from governments in trouble, and then reaping big rewards by successfully pressing for repayment at face value plus interest. Vulture hedge funds have bought up distressed debt in Greece, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Detroit, Michigan because the practice is so lucrative. An explanation of the hedge fund process in Puerto Rico is accessible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j68t1sYk-1o Puerto Rico, which is constitutionally unable to file for protection in bankruptcy, would have to destroy the balance of its economy in order to pay the hedge funds owning its distressed debt. Consequently, the territory’s governor is begging for U. S. Congressional […]
Fast Track Trade Bill Showed GOP Can Work with Dems
The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (“Fast Track” trade bill), S. 995 and H.R. 1314, has made strange political bedfellows. The pro and anti “Fast Track” forces are so mixed that they’re tough to explain without charts. The Bill would give the President increased power for a period of 6 years to negotiate and bind the U. S. to trade deals with foreign nations. President Obama has pressed for passage of the bill, which would help him finish negotiations for a 12-country Pacific Rim trade pact, and assist him in current negotiations with European countries. He is adamantly opposed in this regard by Senator Elizabeth Warren, a prominent Democrat who normally sides with the President. Warren claims that the provisions could allow a future President to undermine laws such as the Dodd-Frank banking regulations, even if they have very little to do with trade. A number of legal scholars and other Democratic Congressmen agree with Warren. Meanwhile, a majority of Congressional Republicans agree with President Obama and support the bill. In fact, on May 19, 2015, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, took steps to close the debate on the bill and bring it closer to a […]
Drones and Power Companies
Let’s face it: if you eliminate people, you save a lot of time and money. This is a lesson eagerly learned by U. S. utility companies who are itching to use drones for dangerous, time-consuming and expensive work. A futuristic-looking example of utility drones can be seen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5sVcwBKLeU U. S. electrical companies, for example, believe that drones have great potential for inspecting remote, often dangerous power lines and transmission towers. To that end, the Electric Power Research Institute held a 3-day workshop in the Catskill Mountains to assist several utilities in selecting the optimum drones for their needs. At first blush, the cost seems high but it is inexpensive compared to using human labor. The system currently tested by Consumers Energy of Michigan costs approximately $10,000 and its sensor attachments range from $3,000 – $100,000+. However, the cost of human inspection, mapping and measurement is $300,000+ per year. Consequently, the drone is an attractive cost-cutting measure. Though enthused about the drones, U. S. utilities are somewhat hampered by federal regulations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has strict requirements for commercial users: – The operator must be a licensed pilot; – The drone must be operated in the pilot’s sight […]
More Zero Frills Flying
Just when you thought air travel couldn’t get less comfortable, American Airlines announced in late 2015 that the Company will introduce “no frills” flights in 2016. Deemed an effort to compete with the no frills flights offered by Spirit and Frontier, the move by the world’s biggest air travel company is considered a “tipping point” for the “no frills” movement in air travel. Spirit and Frontier are apparently cutting into American’s business by snatching up fare-conscious travelers. Though American’s announcement excludes specifics, some experts believe “no frills” will compete with existing Spirit and Frontier routes and will mean: – No seat assignments until 60 minutes before boarding; – No refunds; – No exchanges; – No loyalty miles; and – Higher checked bag fees. The announcement was lauded by the editor of Cheapflights.com, who stated, “More competition, like we’re seeing here, generally means good things for consumers, including more options, lower prices and a range of service.” Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation announced that consumer complaints rose 20.3% for the first half of 2015 compared to the first half of 2014. Most complaints were reportedly about lost luggage, missed connections and delayed flights and most were directed at American, United and […]
New York Stops Judges From Practicing Medicine
On September 25, 2015 New York Governor Cuomo signed a new law stopping drug court judges from interfering with medication-assisted treatment (MAT) of defendants. The bipartisan bill (S.4239-B/A.6255-B), passed with strong support by both houses in June 2015, affirms both the seriousness of the nation’s and New York’s drug problem and the state’s commitment to effective treatment. Prior to the law’s enactment, judges in the state’s 146 drug courts could essentially practice medicine from the bench, requiring defendants to abstain from using doctor-prescribed medications such as methadone and suboxone to avoid prison. This practice undercut effective drug treatment, sometimes with tragic results: in 2014, a drug court judge forced a defendant off obviously effective MAT; in a matter of weeks, the defendant died of a heroin overdose. The bill’s sponsorship and passage were spurred by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) February 2015 shift in policy, stating that drug courts would not receive federal funding if they continued to force addicts off treatment medications. The ONDCP announcement was made by the nation’s current Drug Czar, Michael Botticelli, who pointed out, “[W]e have highly effective medications, when combined with other behavioral supports, that are the standard of […]
Porter Ranch Gas Leak May Be Traceable
A missing safety valve may be at least one reason for a continuous massive leak of 128,000 pounds of methane per hour in California’s San Fernando Valley, resulting in the months-long evacuation of 1,700 Porter Ranch families and closure of 2 area schools. A YouTube video of the gas leak, shot with an Optical Gas Imaging camera, is accessible here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejlOI1iACXw According to a suit filed by Porter Ranch residents against Southern California Gas Company, a “deep subsurface valve” located 8,500 feet below the surface was reportedly removed and replaced in 1979 at the Company’s Aliso Canyon well. However, it has recently come to light that the Company actually chose not to replace the old, leaking valve because it was not a “critical well.” Thirty-six years later, on October 23, 2015, the well began to leak, though the invisible gas leak’s source was not discovered for months. According to engineers, the leak probably originates from a hole in a 7-inch diameter pipe 500 feet below the surface and according to the suit, an adequate “deep subsurface valve” would have prevented the leak. Evacuated Porter Ranch residents have complained of nausea, lethargy, nosebleeds and headaches, among other maladies, from the gas leak, […]
Well-Armed Militia Seizes Federal Building and Lands
An uneasy peace between some Oregon ranchers and U. S. authorities regarding a federal wildlife refuge was shattered by the armed seizure of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by an armed civilian militia on January 3, 2016. According to the militia leader, Ammon Bundy, as many as 100 armed civilians occupy the Refuge headquarters, located approximately 30 miles south of Burns, Oregon, and intend to stay for years. The criminal seizure of federal property and criminal possession of firearms and dangerous weapons in a federal facility were supposedly spurred by the resentencing of 2 convicted arsonists, Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven Hammond. The Hammonds were convicted of committing arsons in 2001 and 2006 on federal lands on which the Hammonds had leased grazing rights for their cattle. At jury trial, the Hammonds claimed the 2001 arson was merely a controlled brushfire to clear weeds; however, multiple witnesses testified that the 2001 arson was committed to cover up the illegal slaughter of several deer on federal land. The 2006 arson conviction arose from the Hammonds’ fires on federal land in direct defiance of a federal burn ban. The mandatory minimum sentence for arson on federal lands is 5 years’ […]
Who The Hack Is Ashley Madison?
When I first heard the name “Ashley Madison,” in mid-August 2015, I thought she must be just another young celebrity who hates America and licks donuts. Boy, was I wrong! When “Impact Team” hacked into the Ashley Madison web site, pulled personal information of 39 million users and revealed a lot of that information on the web, I discovered “her” identity. Ashley Madison is commercial web site with the slogan “Life is short. Have an affair.” The site “secretly” caters to people who seek extramarital affairs. I am told that women do not pay to enter and exit the site, though men pay for both (Surprise!) The site sounds quite like a local bar with a perpetual “Ladies Night,” allowing women free admission to attract paying men. That ploy still works, apparently, as tens of millions of men paid for the service. Furthermore, most of the women on that site are reportedly professional sex workers or just plain fake women. The wily “Impact Team” of hackers compromised the site on July 15, 2015. Then, when the site refused the demand to completely shut down, the Impact Team posted many users’ personal information, including: names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, the last […]
China’s Third Industrial Revolution
Those of us who attended grade school in the 1960s will remember hearing of China’s 5-year plans. Some of us (including Yours Truly) thought those 5-year plans for China’s “leaps forward” went the way of Mao Tse-tung. Not so. In late October 2015, China’s Premier Li Kequiang announced the nation’s 13th 5-year plan. The plan is for China’s third industrial revolution, heavily based on information technology. While China expanded its economic growth to huge quantities, the Premier now seeks to transition from quantity to quality of growth. Two symbols of China’s third industrial revolution are “Jack Ma” and his “Alibaba Group,” an e-commerce company with several successful internet-based businesses. Alibaba’s description of itself is accessible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TeamAlibaba This noticeably higher quality of growth is supposed to come from: – Evaluating the country’s local, regional and national authorities on their “green” achievements; – Releasing significant amounts of credit into its economy; – Linking manufacturing and the country’s infrastructure through “Internet Plus” or the “Internet of Things”; – Wise recycled or circular use of waste; and – Lessening urban concentration. Why would China seemingly suddenly be interested in environmentally friendly “green” accomplishments, recycling and all the rest of it? It’s supposedly because […]
Voting Rights Battle in North Carolina
Several civil rights groups led by the League of Women Voters of North Carolina are awaiting a decision in the trial of League of Women Voters of North Carolina, et al. vs. North Carolina, a case with potentially great impact on voting rights in the 2016 elections. In its 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision, the U. S. Supreme Court struck down several provisions of the Voters Rights Act of 1965, particularly Section 4, which requires that states with histories of racial discrimination obtain pre-approval from the federal government or a federal court for voting procedure changes. The history of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is accessible on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4XtZ-tIzIA With the death of that Voting Rights provision, North Carolina passed several changes to its voting procedures: – Eliminating same-day voter registration; – Reducing the early voting period by 1 week; – Eliminating votes cast by voters outside their home precincts; – Ending pre-registration for people ages 15 & 17; – Imposing a strict requirement for government issued photo IDs for voting. The voter ID provision of North Carolina’s law has since been lightened but the rest of the provisions remain intact. Proponents of the law claim that it prevents voter […]
Russian Kleptocracy and the DOJ
In early November, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced their investigation into whether Gennady Timchenko, a member of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, moved funds from foreign corrupt deals through the U.S. financial system. “Kleptocracy” – literally “rule by thieves” – has become an international project of the U. S. Department of Justice. In 2010, U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the formation of the “Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative,” targeting the proceeds of high level foreign corruption that are moved through the U. S. financial system. The Initiative was originally directed at corruption in the Middle East and Africa but is now probing Russia, as well. One of the Initiative’s early Russian targets is Gennady Timchenko, a multi-billionaire with Russian and Finnish citizenship. Mr. Timchenko was reportedly an apt pupil of capitalism in from its earliest Russian version and his massive accumulation of wealth coincided with Mr. Putin’s rise in power. Mr. Timchenko is supposedly currently worth $13+ billion. The crux of Mr. Timchenko’s alleged kleptocracy is his prior interest in Gunvor Group, a commodities firm that bought oil at “sweetheart” prices from Russia’s OAO Rosneft and then […]
U.S. Supreme Court Struck Down “Born in Israel”
Who owns Jerusalem? That has been a persistent argument among Israelis, Palestinians, Congress and the U. S. President for decades. In early June 2015, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the U. S. President decides foreign policy, including America’s stance toward the ownership of Jerusalem. Since the “Six-Day War” of 1967, Israel has controlled the entire city of Jerusalem, which it claims as the eternal capital. Palestinians, who have argued and fought for existence as an independent state, claim that east Jerusalem will be their capital. Meanwhile, the United States’ foreign policy does not recognize the sovereignty of any nation over Jerusalem, relying on the parties’ negotiations to settle that matter. Congress, which has pushed for Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem for years, passed a law in 2002 allowing Americans born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their place of birth. Though President George W. Bush signed the bill into law, he stressed that “U.S. policy regarding Jerusalem has not changed”; consequently, the law was never enforced. Enter American Menachem Zivotofsky, born in Jerusalem to U. S. citizens and wishing to enter Israel as his place of birth. Zivotofsky sued 12 years ago and the matter finally reached the U. […]
Should “No Fly List” Mean No Guns?
After the 9/11 attacks, the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) began a “No Fly List” of individuals who are not allowed to board commercial airlines to fly in or out of the United States. The current list has tens of thousands of individuals and is searchable here: http://www.no-fly-list.com/ Though the “No Fly List” is not “The Terrorist Watch List,” it is a type of watch list connected to national security. While the tens of thousands of individuals on the “No Fly List” are not allowed to board commercial airlines, they are allowed to purchase guns in the United States. Every year for the past 8 years, there has been an effort to ban people on the “No Fly List” from purchasing guns in the United States, the latest being introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D – Calif.) in November 2015 after the Parisian terrorist attacks. As happened to all other attempts to ban “No Fly Listers” from purchasing guns, this amendment was blocked by Congressional Republicans. In the wake of 355 reported mass shootings in the 326 days of 2015, President Obama spoke on December 5, 2015, criticizing Congress’ inability or unwillingness to keep people on the “No Fly List” from purchasing […]
Texas Undermines Planned Parenthood
In the summer of 2015, a group called the Center for Medical Progress (which is anything but) began releasing a series of videos purporting to show that Planned Parenthood “sells aborted baby parts” for profit. Those videos have been repeatedly debunked: – They show no clear evidence of illegality; – They use highly-edited, deceptive clips; – The “key witness” is a third-party technician who never worked for Planned Parenthood and who provided no evidence of illegality. “The New York Times,” representing mainstream media, discredited the videos, referring to “right-wing media’s phony outrage”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAq_lhZG1tU Nevertheless, armed with this misinformation, Texas has staged such a forceful campaign against Planned Parenthood that women’s rights advocates call Texas Governor Greg Abbott “public enemy number one for women in Texas.” In late October 2015, Texas canceled all Medicaid contracts with affiliates of Planned Parenthood, accusing the organization of no longer “performing medical services in a professionally competent, safe, legal, and ethical manner,” based on the discredited videos. Three days later, Texas authorities raided Planned Parenthood facilities in Brownsville, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, seeking documentation of donated fetal tissue in the past 5 years. Better yet, in San Antonio, officials and a reporter simultaneously arrived at […]
Pfizer Acquiring Allergan
You are cordially invited to celebrate the wedding of Viagra and Botox in the second half of 2016. Pfizer, Inc. announced a deal to buy Allergan Plc for approximately $160 billion. The combined company will be renamed Pfizer Plc. Wall Street was abuzz with the merger talks in late October 2015:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSN38Hc3JoQ The Pfriendly Pfolks at Pfizer Pfamously brought us Viagra and Lipitor while Allergan Plc is best known for Botox, Restasis and the Alzheimer’s drug called Namenda. This largest-to-date merger in the healthcare industry will allow Pfizer to shift its headquarters from the United States to Ireland in a tax inversion maneuver that will lower its corporate tax rate from the 35% to 12 ½%. Valuing Allergan shares at $363.63 each, the deal will allow: – Allergan shareholders 11.3 shares in the combined company for each Allegan share currently held; and – Pfizer stockholders the option of: – one share of the combined company for each Pfizer share; or – cash, provided the aggregate amount to be paid is neither less than $6 billion nor more than $12 billion (which eliminates me). At least some aspects of corporate governance are set: Pfizer’s current Chief Executive will be CEO of Pfizer […]
Hyatt Drops On-Demand Porn
In October 2015, Hyatt Hotels Corporation joined the growing list of hotel operators that will no longer offer in-room on-demand pornographic movies to its clientele. According to the worldwide chain, which maintains more than 600 properties in more than 50 countries, “This content will not be introduced to any new Hyatt hotels, and it will be discontinued or phased out at all hotels.” The move is not a sudden pro-purity/anti-porn notion; rather, the measure is chiefly driven by the fact that there just isn’t much income in hotel room porn anymore. Guests’ ability to watch porn on smartphones and laptops has severely cut into profits from in-room pornography. According to PKF Hospitality Research, which analyzes and releases reports on hotel trends, the average profit per room from in-room porn dropped from $339/year in 2000 to merely $107/year in 2014. Customers’ port-a-porn is making hotel-provided porn obsolete. PKF Hospitality Research appears to issue yearly reports on various aspects of the hotel business, as seen in this YouTube video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFxoSPK3yMo PKF is a division of CBRE Group (formerly CB Richard Ellis Group), a commercial real estate services company based in California but maintaining hundreds of offices in the United States and worldwide. Hyatt […]
Criminal Charges for Corporate Crime
On September 9, 2015, Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates issued a memo entitled “Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing,” which represents the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to place greater emphasis on individual corporate employees’ criminal culpability and pressure companies to cooperate. The memo can be read here:http://www.justice.gov/dag/file/769036/download This change is at least partially due to the severe criticism of the DOJ’s levy of large fines against companies for culpable behavior but utter lack of action against individuals who directed and/or perpetrated the wrongful acts. For one glaring example, four worldwide banks, including Citigroup, Barclays, JP Morgan Chase and Royal Bank of Scotland, pleaded guilty on May 20, 2015 to conspiring to manipulate dollars and euros. They were fined $5.4 billion by the U. S, though no individual was criminally prosecuted (yet), whereupon the banks wrote checks of shareholder monies to pay the fines and conducted business as usual. The main problem with pursuing high-level white collar criminals is that their wrongdoing is so difficult to prove. Experts claim that these criminals are roughly the equivalents of Mafia dons, taking great care to avoid creating and/or to eliminate evidence of their culpability, while letting underlings to take the fall for […]
Oops: There’s Adjourned and Then There’s Adjourned
Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) may have blown the state’s “pocket veto” process, unwittingly allowing 19 bills to become law, though he was trying to kill them. A “pocket veto” is a ploy empowering an official with veto power to veto a bill by taking no action under certain circumstances. In the case of Maine, those circumstances include the legislature’s sessions and final adjournments from sessions. When a bill is passed by Maine’s legislature and the legislature has finally adjourned from a session, its governor may “pocket veto” that bill by simply doing nothing for 10 days. However, if a bill is passed by Maine’s legislature and the legislature is still in session, the bill becomes law if the governor fails to act. There’s the rub. Governor LePage thought the Maine legislature had adjourned after passing 19 bills he meant to kill by “pocket veto.” It hadn’t adjourned; rather, it had temporarily recessed, so the Governor’s inaction didn’t kill the bills; it automatically enacted them. Among the bills in question: one allowing asylum seekers to receive state aid; one prohibiting the shackling of pregnant prisoners; one banning e-cigarettes in places already banning smoking; and one changing Maine’s “spruce budworm management” […]
Many Veterans Dying Before Care
The lack of care for American military veterans is shocking. According to a Veteran’s Administration (VA) report called “Analysis of Death Services,” nearly 1/3 of veterans whose applications for VA healthcare are still “pending” died without receiving services. Scott Davis, who works in the VA’s Eligibility Center in Atlanta, Georgia, stated that as of April 2015, 847,822 veterans had pending applications for enrollment in VA healthcare and 238,657 of those same applicants are dead. In other words, it took so long for their acceptance into the VA’s healthcare program that more than 238,000 of the applicants died between application and acceptance. A VA spokesperson stated that the backlog is a reflection of the VA’s electronic medical records system, dating back to 1985, the possibly incomplete applications of some veterans and some veterans’ use of other health benefits, such as Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance. Davis states the VA’s defensive statements are nonsense. First, an incomplete application would not be listed in the system as “pending.” Secondly, the electronic medical records system does not include applications. Third, the VA did not start requiring formal applications until 1998, which is exactly when the backlog started. Fourth, using private options as an excuse […]
Is Police Anxiety Increasing Crime?
The efforts to explain reportedly increasing violence in America’s cities reveal sharply divergent views from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey vs. unnamed officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois. In a Chicago University Law School forum, Director Comey stated that the expanding gulf between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve can be traced to several factors, such as the surge in cheaper heroin, gun possession for illegal acts and smaller but highly territorial street gangs. There is apparently no disagreement about those alleged factors. The disagreement comes with Director Comey’s belief that cellphone videos and the fact that they sometimes “go viral” on the internet have greatly increased police anxiety, to the point at which U. S. city crime has risen. According to Director Comey, officers feel they are under siege and are reluctant to even get out of their patrol cars to enforce the law. He spoke of discussions with police officers who claim that young people “taunt” them with cellphone cameras as soon as the officers step out of their cars. Director Comey called higher anxiety, widening gap and increased crime “The Ferguson Effect,” […]
Kickstarter as a Public Benefit “B” Corporation
Public Benefit Corporations, which are often established by governments, have the unique chartered purpose of a public benefit, in addition to the traditional corporate purpose of earning profits. Some states also allow private entities to be public benefit corporations. Following that ideal, the co-founders of Kickstarter, a crowdfunding corporation, reincorporated Kickstarter as a public benefit corporation. Yancey Strickler and Perry Chen established Kickstarter, Inc. in 2009 to assist public funding of creative projects and is now transformed from Kickstarter, Inc. to Kickstarter PCB While Kickstarter is not a financial bonanza like Facebook, the company has been successful, profitable to the tune of $5 million – $10 million per year for the last three years, recurrently reinvesting profits in the business. Rather than pursuing profit to the wild heights sought by other startups like an Uber, an Airbnb or a Dropbox, Kickstarter’s cofounders opted for the public interest. Cofounder Strickler states, “We don’t ever want to sell or go public. That would push the company to make choices that we don’t think are in the best interest of the company.” As a public interest corporation incorporated in the state of Delaware, Kickstarter’s corporate charter emphasizes its goal to “help bring creative […]
Getting Rid of the Penny
The “Ban the Penny” movement is in high gear again. According to the U. S. Mint, it costs 1.66¢ to make each of the 8 billion pennies churned out every year. At that rate, we spend nearly $132 million to make $80 million in pennies. What’s worse, inflation makes the penny worth less every year. Furthermore, the U. S. Mint states that there is no cheaper way to make pennies. Realizing that pennies are more trouble and expense than they’re worth, a number of countries eliminated pennies years ago. Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand have all banished the penny and accordingly round prices down or up, depending. Every few years, this or that group calls for the end to the U. S. penny, asserting the coin is worthless and nothing but nothing can be purchased with a penny anymore: not products in vending machines; not parking. The only “industry” accepting pennies is “Coinstar,” which charges approximately 10% to convert your change to another form. Despite frequent calls for its banishment, the penny endures. An example of the recurring penny debate can be accessed on YouTube’s “Death to Pennies”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5UT04p5f7U Apparently, the ignoble penny has some serious backers. Chief among them […]
Facebook Controls Users News Media
Facebook, the social networking service launched 11 years ago, is deliberately becoming the intermediary of information read by its members. Though the site began as a simple online place for chatting and sharing pictures, Facebook had a greater plan to become a source of news. Apparently it succeeded. According to 2015 research by the Pew Research Center in conjunction with the Knight Foundation, 66% of Americans are Facebook members and 63% of those members report getting their news from Facebook by finding and reading articles. Members’ heavy reliance on Facebook as a news source is significant, as Facebook controls the information a member receives in several ways. First, Facebook uses an algorithm to choose posts it thinks you will most probably read and filter out posts it thinks you will not enjoy. Secondly, much of the news found via Facebook’s sidebar newsfeed is hosted within Facebook, as news sources such as The New York Times and NBC news began publishing directly to “Facebook Instant” as of mid-May 2015. Consequently, reliance on Facebook for content including news effectively censors the information you will be able to read and deprives you of information eliminated by its algorithm. One tool giving some control […]
Some ID’s No Longer OK For Airline Travel
Drivers’ licenses are acceptable identification for many purposes across the United States. However, some uncertain time in 2016, drivers’ licenses from New York, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire and American Samoa will no longer be acceptable ID for commercial airline travel. In 2005, Congress passed the REAL ID Act (Pub.L. 109–13, 119 Stat. 302), imposing certain standards on drivers’ licenses for their use as forms of identification. The Act was to be imposed in phases. Phase 1 restricts areas at the headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security; Phase 2 restricted areas for all federal facilities and nuclear power plants; Phase 3 semi-restricted areas for all other federal facilities; and Phase 4, which will take effect sometime after January 1, 2016, affects boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft. Before and after passage of the REAL ID Act, every state had and has its own regulations for issuing drivers’ licenses, including the documents required to apply, the information provided in and on the cards, the cards’ appearance, and the data stored by the state. The REAL ID Act nationalized and regulated the standards for drivers’ licenses as acceptable ID. Most states’ drivers’ licenses comply with the special federal requirements of the Real ID […]
Sony Hack -Women Stars Learn They’re Paid Less
I guess there’s a silver lining in most clouds. You will recall that Sony was set for a Christmas Day 2014 premiere of “The Interview,” a comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco that includes a fictional assassination attempt on that country’s leader, Kim Jong Un. In an effort to stop the movie’s release, hackers calling themselves “The Guardians of Peace” (GOP) hacked into Sony’s computers. Hackers stole and revealed massive amounts of information from Sony, including some employees’ Social Security numbers, salaries of some top executives, an early script for its latest James Bond film, and embarrassing e-mail exchanges between Sony executives. One side effect of the major hack job was that some Hollywood women found out that they were paid far less than their male counterparts. Actress Amanda Seyfried, for example, discovered that she was paid 10% of the amount paid to her male costar. Just from the timing, I would say this was for the movie “In Time,” which co-starred Justin Timberlake. Timberlake was not known for film acting at that point, though he was a bigger “draw” than Seyfried, I believe. That might account for the vast difference in compensation. Nevertheless, at least one Hollywood actress […]
The Dark Side of the Web
As you and I putter around the web, we tend to be happily unaware of what lurks beneath, much like a surface swimmer in an ocean. In fact, there are 3 levels to the web, two of which we regularly use and one of which is dark, hidden and inaccessible without special tools. The web’s top layer is the “Surface Web,” consisting of content that search engines can crawl, index and provide. Most web sites used by your average web denizen on a daily basis reside in the surface web, accessible to search engines such as Google and Yahoo. The “Deep Web,” which is the second layer, consists of content that search engines cannot crawl, index and provide, for one reason or another. A web site could be unattainable through search engines because it is a private web site requiring registration and login or because the web site consists of only archives that are longer accessible and are not indexed by search engines. Consequently, “Deep Web” is not sinister; many of us use it daily for perfectly legitimate business and personal reasons. The third layer is the “Dark Web,” a portion of the Deep Web that is deliberately hidden and […]
Osama Bin Laden Papers
A little over 4 years from the May 2, 2011 death of Osama Bin Laden, the U. S. government has declassified 103 of the documents and videos retrieved from his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The documents/videos are only a portion of the seized materials, some of which are still being reviewed and considered for declassification. The materials reveal an isolated individual of lessening power who was beset with nearly-corporate commonplace problems of recruitment, infighting, communication breakdowns and the subpar performance of underlings. While most of the translated material is conveyed in flowery language, the ultimate mission is clear: killing Americans, Europeans and Jews, all in the name of God. Bin Laden refers to America as the trunk of “the obnoxious tree” on which al-Qaida affiliates must concentrate, rather than fighting local North African security forces or fighting among themselves. One of the most interesting documents is “Instructions to Applicants.” If you’ve ever wondered how Bin Laden and his ilk recruit fanatics, read this fill-in-the-blank form. You will be surprised by its close resemblance to a run-of-the-mill job application. The document asks the usual HR questions about education, languages, hobbies and pastimes. It also asks whether the applicant wishes to “execute […]
Big Banks Back Climate Change Pact
Thirty-nine percent of Americans may not believe in climate change but six of America’s largest banks beg to differ with them. Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo released a joint statement on September 28, 2015 “In support of prosperity and growth: Financial sector statement on climate change” urging a “strong global climate agreement” as well as business investment to effectively deal with climate change. The statement can be accessed here: http://www.ceres.org/files/bank-statement-on-climate-policy The statement comes in anticipation of the United Nations talks slated for November 30 – December 11, 2015. Though little headway has reportedly been made in the years since the talks began, the United Nations are scheduled to finalize a global treaty on climate change at the Paris talks. One encouraging development is the historic November 2014 agreement between the United States and China to reduce emissions of heat-trapped gasses. The banks maintain that putting a price on carbon emissions is vital to increasing investment in sustainable energy. With the proper backing, the approximately $90 trillion in investments in urban infrastructure and energy over the next 15 years can support reduction rather than increase of carbon emissions. The strong global climate change agreement […]
ADHD Meds in the Workplace
Does each generation have a favorite drug for performance enhancement? It seems so. I recall the days when cocaine was widely deemed a safe performance enhancer; yes, Ma’am: it gave the user energy and self-confidence and it wasn’t addictive! Then the snort hit the fan. The new performance enhancing drug(s) of the moment are A.D.H.D. drugs – medications used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. They include Adderall, Concerta and Vyvanse, which are supposedly widely used by college students who then bring that drug usage to the workplace. Wall Street traders, lawyers, dentists, accountants, teachers, etc. are obtaining the drugs by easily duping doctors into ADHD diagnoses or from dealers, friends or coworkers. The drugs’ affects are nearly immediate and the resulting work output is supposedly phenomenal. It’s no surprise that 2.6 million American adults took ADHD meds in 2012, which was an increase of 53% over usage in 2008 and that usage by adults aged 26 – 35 nearly doubled. The downside is multi-faceted: racing heartbeats, profuse sweating, severe anxiety from lack of sleep, hallucinations, overdose, addiction and federal felonies. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported 23,000 emergency room visits in 2011 for nonmedical use of […]
Blocking the Carbon Rule
On August 13, 2015, fifteen states led by West Virginia unsuccessfully sought to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Carbon Rule by filing suit in the U. S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The suit was filed in reaction to final version of the Clean Air Act, unveiled by the President on August 3, 2015 and focused on lowering emissions from America’s power plants by 32% below 2005 levels by 2030. The President stated that this Act is the United States’ greatest action thus far to deal with climate change. The Clean Air Act requires each state’s submission of a plan detailing the ways it intends to meet that ambitious emissions target by September 8, 2016. Attorneys general from all 15 petitioner states assert that the EPA lacks the authority to impose the requirements; therefore, the petitioners were seeking relief from compliance. In reaction to the Act’s measures, states heavily relying on coal for the production of electricity vowed to fight the Act. Consequently, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming filed for extraordinary relief, requesting that the Court issue its decision by September 8, […]
Hepatitis C Rises With IV Heroin Use
The Center for Diseases Control’s (CDC) finding that heroin use rose nationwide almost 150% in 2007 – 2013 seems to correspond with the 273% increase in Hepatitis C in 2009 – 2013. Time out for a quickie Hepatitis refresher: – Hepatitis A, transmitted by person-to-person via contaminated food or water, is treatable by vaccine; – Hepatitis B, transmitted via bodily fluids, is treatable by vaccine; – Hepatitis C, transmitted chiefly by needle-sharing and to a lesser extent by unprotected sex or other contact with infected blood, is NOT treatable by vaccine. More than 3 million people in the U. S. are infected by Hepatitis C, America’s most common blood-borne infection. Hepatitis C is experienced in either the acute (short term) form or chronic (long-term) form and can cause liver cancer, liver failure and other serious consequences, including death. There are new treatments for Hepatitis C but they are expensive. For example, Harvoni is the chief drug for treating Hepatitis C but costs $1,300/pill. Despite the great expense of new treatments for Hepatitis C, making them unattainable for many sufferers, approximately 48,000 prescriptions per month were filled in early 2015. The parallel rise in heroin intravenous use and Hepatitis C has […]
Darren Sharper: Penal Outlaw to Penile Monitoring
Darren Sharper, famed NFL safety and sports analyst, is also a convicted serial rapist, pleading guilty or no contest to charges of raping 9 women in 4 states, as well as federal drug charges. The chronic failure of police and prosecutors to collect evidence and compare notes is the stuff of a dramatic movie script, allowing Sharper to continue drugging and raping women until he was finally arrested in Los Angeles on January 17, 2014. Sharper was allowed to plead by a “comprehensive and global disposition” of all charges in all jurisdictions and, according to some disappointed observers, was given a “sweetheart deal.” Rather than serving up to life in prison if convicted of aggravated rape charges, Sharper is facing as little as 101 months in a federal facility on a 20-year sentence. The more impressive aspect of his sentence is the way in which Sharper will be controlled throughout his post-imprisonment life. After release from prison, he: – must register as a sex offender – must undergo years of sex offender treatment; – cannot drink alcohol, go to bars or liquor stores for the rest of his life; – cannot visit sex shops; – cannot get a date on […]
Protecting Exotic Animals
Delta Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines announced in early August 2015 that they will no longer transport trophies of exotic animals such as buffalo, elephants, leopards, lions and rhinos worldwide as freight. In addition, in early August 2015 some U. S. Senators drafted a bill called the “Conserving Ecosystems by Ceasing the Importation of Large (CECIL) Animal Trophies Act” to toughen import restrictions on hunting trophies. Furthermore, global discussions about the ethics of big game hunting and the possible ban of bow hunting, lion baiting, and hunting from hunting blinds arose in July and August 2015. Finally, on July 30, 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to fortify efforts to combat illegal wildlife poaching and trafficking. The recent impetus for all these measures was the July 2015 death of Cecil, a beloved 13-year-old African lion in Zimbabwe that was also collared and tracked for research by Oxford University. Cecil was killed by a Minnesota dentist named Walter Palmer, who paid $55,000 to have Cecil lured from a national park, and then shot Cecil with an arrow, trailed Cecil for 40 hours, shot the much-loved lion to death with a gun, skinned and beheaded Cecil, and hid […]
Subway’s Struggles
Subway, Inc., an innovator in the made-to-order sandwich market that grew to 43,000 stores worldwide, is in trouble. First, its 15-year spokesman, Jared Fogle, was charged with distributing child pornography and repeatedly pursuing paid sex with minors. Fogle rose to national prominence after reportedly losing 200+ lbs. by eating Subway sandwiches, the “fresh and healthy” alternative to McDonald’s and Burger King. According to Subway’s chief marketing officer, Fogle’s image became woven into the fabric of Subway’s brand and the company owed nearly half of its growth in the past 15 years to his image. Then Fogle was charged with sex crimes. Fogle cut a deal in early August 2015 with federal prosecutors for the Southern District of Indiana, agreeing to pay $1.4 million in restitution to his 14 victims. The victims, including 8 minors and 4 adults, will each receive $100,000, which will assist them in counseling, housing, education and other needs. Given Fogle’s $15 million net worth, restitution should be no problem. In addition, Fogle is expected to plead guilty to some or all of the charges, which could bring him a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison. I agree with Subway’s marketing executive: thinking of Subway makes […]
The Myth of INternet Anonymity
Back in the good old days of the 1990s, the internet was deemed nearly anonymous; one could use a chatroom or a web site and seemingly “become” a different person. Then and now, that aura of anonymity made users bolder, braver, sometimes crasser, sometimes more abusive. In retrospect, the aura wasn’t true. The hacks of Home Depot, Citigroup, the federal Office of Personnel Management, the Internal Revenue Service, and on and on, have all shown just how vulnerable we and our vital information are online. The names, addresses, social security numbers, credit card numbers of tens of millions of internet users have repeatedly been compromised, stolen, dumped online and/or sold to the highest bidder. Years ago, in fact, internet “founders” (no, not Al Gore) maintained that online anonymity is a myth. According to Vint Cerf, the developer of TCP/IP, the technology of basic internet communication, “If you want a life of anonymity, join the French Foreign Legion…the Internet is brittle and fragile and too easy to take down.” There are, of course, additional protections that internet users can take, such as a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or Tor, single-use credit cards and sham identities, but even savvy users can make […]
White Collar Crime Can Pay In The Strangest Ways
White collar crime can pay in the strangest ways. Take the case of former U. S. House of Representatives member Alan Mollohan (D-WV), who represented the First Congressional District of West Virginia from 1983 to 2011. Both conservative and liberal watchdog organizations alleged serious multiple illegal actions by Mollohan, the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigated and found ample evidence of the allegations. Therefore, you’d expect the DOJ to prosecute Mollohan, wouldn’t you? Well, Mollohan was not prosecuted and is prospering to this day, lobbying for a non-profit organization that trains law enforcement to fight white collar crime! In 2006, a conservative watchdog group called the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) filed a 500-page complaint against Mollohan alleging that he founded and supported numerous non-profit organizations managed by his family members and associates, and illegally funneled millions of dollars in federal funds to himself and others through those non-profits. According to the NLPC, Mollohan’s assets increased from less than $600,000 in 2000 to over $6 million in 2004, and that Mollohan’s did not disclose his burgeoning wealth in required financial disclosure forms. Mollohan’s questionable non-profit organizations included the Canaan Valley Institute, the Institute for Scientific Research, the Mountain Made Foundation, […]
California’s Greenhouse Gas Cuts
In late April 2015, California’s Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order for the nation’s toughest greenhouse gas emissions standards. The new standards call for cutting gas emission 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. These new standards mirror European Union standards for a 40% reduction by 2030. Even California’s old emissions standards exceeded federal targets of reducing emissions 26 – 28% below 2005 levels by 2025; however, California will lead the nation in even more stringent standards, with 2030 targets expected to propel California’s emission standards to 80% by 2050. The Governor noted that California is already experiencing some consequences of climate change, including “loss of snowpack, drought, sea level rise, more frequent and intense wildfires, heat waves, more severe smog, and harm to natural and working lands.” Governor Brown stressed, “With this order, California sets a very high bar for itself and other states and nations, but it’s one that must be reached — for this generation and generations to come.” The strong standards are applauded by many environmental organizations, including the West Coast offices of the Environmental Defense Fund. The Environmental Defense Fund is an organization of 500+ experts in business, economics, climate, oceans, ecosystems, health, energy and […]
Senior Water Rights Battle in California
In mid-July 2015, the California Water Resources Control Board issued a cease and desist order against the West Side Irrigation District of the state’s Central Valley, directing its farmers to stop pumping water from a branch of the San Joaquin River. While this may seem like business as usual in the fourth year of California’s drought, it is actually part of a larger struggle between California and the owners of senior water rights. Prior to 1914, California granted senior water rights for certain tracts of land and purchasers reportedly paid higher prices for that land because their senior water rights were valuable and ironclad. More than a century later, during the worst drought in California’s history, the state is asserting its authority over consumption even in the case of senior water rights. The owners of those rights are challenging that state authority in court. California apparently handles water differently than do other western states, which use pervasive meters and remote sensors to monitor water consumption and/or haven’t granted special water rights. On the other hand, California allowed senior water rights and now has limited equipment and only 23 inspectors to enforce compliance with its water consumption regulations. Owners of senior […]
Pitting Veteran Benefits Against Planned Parenthood
A Senate bill that would have helped veterans receive fertility treatments, counseling, adoption funding and childcare assistance was stalled and possibly torpedoed in the Congressional war involving Planned Parenthood and other family planning organizations. Despite the merits of the Bill, Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) attached amendments targeting Planned Parenthood and other family planning organizations. Senator Tillis defended his amendments, stating that the VA should focus on more pressing issues for U. S. veterans. The Bill’s sponsor, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), promptly asked for the Bill to be pulled, stating that the amendments drag “our sacred duty to our veterans — and pull it down into the muck of petty politics. It’s not fair to veterans and their families, who have been hoping and praying for the opportunity to have children.” The Bill is S469, “Women Veterans and Families Health Services Act of 2015.” Introduced by Senator Murray on February 11, 2015, the Bill would direct the Department of Defense (DOD) to: – provide fertility treatment and counseling, including through the use of assisted reproductive technology, to a spouse, partner, or gestational surrogate of a severely wounded, ill, or injured member of the Armed Forces who has an infertility condition incurred […]
What is the Alford Plea?
A 24-year-old former Virginia Tech coed entered an Alford plea in February 2015 and was sentenced on June 1, 2015 for 1st Degree Murder and Transporting and Concealing a Body due to the 2014 death of fellow student Samanata Shrestha. An Alford plea is a criminal defendant’s acknowledgement that the prosecution has sufficient evidence to persuade a judge or jury that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, even though the defendant insists that he/she is innocent and does not admit to committing the criminal act. The U. S. Supreme Court established this type of plea in a 1970 case called North Carolina v. Henry Alford. The Alford plea is frequently used when a defendant hopes for an easier punishment than he/she might otherwise receive if he/she pleaded guilty or was found guilty after trial. All but the 3 states of Indiana, Michigan and New Jersey allow some form of Alford plea. Jessica Michelle Ewing maintained that she lacked the criminal intent to murder Samanata Shrestha. However, Ewing admitted that she did kill Shrestha during a lesbian-date-gone-ballistic and that the prosecution had sufficient evidence to convince the judge or jury that Ewing was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of […]
The Uber Struggle
Uber Technologies, Inc., a multi-billion dollar international transportation network company, is increasingly mentioned in 2015 news, as the organization struggles with other transportation companies and local governments. Uber was founded in 2009 as UberCab by Travis Kalanic and Garrett Camp. Headquartered in San Francisco, the organization provides and runs a mobile app allowing a smartphone user to submit a trip request that is transmitted to a driver who uses his/her own car to transport the user, and then bills the user’s credit card for the trip. Starting small in a single city, Uber has expanded to 300+ cities in 58 countries and boasts an estimated worth of $50 billion. Clearly, the basic idea is a good one that has gained the financial backing of high end investors like Google and Goldman Sachs. However, the company’s effects on local transportation and local government have caused multiple scuffles for Uber. Uber’s critics, chiefly other transportation companies and local governments, have several complaints against the company. They claim Uber: – engages in unfair competition because it does not pay taxes or licensing fees imposed on taxi companies; – endangers the public, passengers and pedestrians alike, because its drivers are not trained, licensed or […]
Border Patrol Checkpoints and Civil Rights
A tasing incident on May 7, 2015 in Upstate New York highlights the difficulty of safeguarding Civil Rights and public safety. Jessica Cooke, a 21-year-old Criminal Justice student, was stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Waddington, NY, a town with its north line defined by the St. Lawrence River, the international border between the United States and Canada. Cooke appeared nervous, so the Border Patrol agents pulled her over in for a secondary inspection. Cooke refused a search of her car trunk and was asked to wait for the K-9 Unit. The conversation between agents and Cooke intensified. Cooke refused to comply with an agent’s request for her to move. An agent grabbed her, she resisted, she was tackled and tased. Were the Border Patrol agents right or wrong? That’s a tougher call than you’d think because of the grey legal area surrounding Border Patrol checkpoints. Mind you, Border Patrol checkpoints differ from borders and traffic stops. The Supreme Court deems checkpoints intrusive and “seizures”; consequently, they may be used only for particular reasons. The primary purpose of Border Patrol checkpoints in Upstate New York is border security through determination of citizenship, immigration violations, and possible criminal activity. Vehicles […]
Multiple Resignations Due to Black Female Mayor…in Missouri
Missouri is the “show me” state but they’re sure showing the rest of us a thing or two. Parma, Missouri is a town of 740 people and is located in the southeast corner of the state. Its mayor was Randall Ramsey, who held office for 2 terms totaling 37 years. (Yes, you read that correctly: 2 terms totaling 37 years). The town had a police force of 2 full-time officers and 4 part-time officers. Then all hell broke loose: a former city clerk ran for mayor and beat Mr. Ramsey. The new mayor is an African American woman named Tyrus Byrd who was sworn into office on April 14, 2015. Five of the 6 police officers, the city attorney, the city clerk and the water treatment supervisor all quit. The officers cited “safety concerns” as the reason(s) for their resignations. At this point nobody is saying whether their resignations were submitted because Byrd is a woman or because she is black or because she is both or for some other reason(s). I just plain don’t know why a bunch of police officers would resign from a small town’s police force due to “safety concerns.” My mind immediately leaped to the […]
Legislative Bills For Heroin Treatment
In late May 2015, Senators Markey (D-Mass.) and Paul (R-Ky.) reintroduced the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment Act (the “TREAT Act”) to enhance the treatment of heroin addicts. At the core of this legislation is the ability to subscribe buprenorphine (brand name “Suboxone”), an effective medication for successful treatment. Though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug over a decade ago, regulations also placed limits on the drug’s usage by medical providers. According to current regulations, certified doctors can treat only 30 patients at a time during the first year after certification, and then only 100 patients at a time during the second year after certification. Medical experts are unsure of the reason for imposing such a limitation, which eventually created a treatment crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heroin deaths doubled in 28 states from 2010 – 2012 and increased 39% nationwide from 2012-2013. Meanwhile, approximately 30 million Americans live in counties without even 1 doctor certified to prescribe Suboxone and others are on long waiting lists to see certified doctors who are “maxed out” on their treatment caps. The medical community agrees that medication such as Suboxone or Methadone and counseling […]
Whistleblower Suit In Private Equity
A whistleblower suit filed on April 2, 2015 in U. S. District Court of Northern California by a former presidential press secretary may shed light on some uglier aspects of the private equity world. Adam Levine, press secretary for President George W. Bush for 2002 – 2003 and an employee of TPG Capital from 2008 through 2014, sued the private equity firm based on state and federal whistleblower laws, including Dodd-Frank. These whistleblower laws established a private cause of action for a whistleblower whose employer retaliates against him/her for lawfully providing information to the Security Exchange Commission (SEC). A “whistleblower” generically is one who reveals acts/omissions that break laws and/or pose a threat to the public. Within the United States, “whistleblower” can refer to a federal, state or private employee who: – reasonably believes his/her employer has broken a law, rule or regulation; – brings or at least testifies at a related proceeding; or – refuses to act or fail to act in violation of the subject law, rule or regulation. Levine’s suit alleges that while working as TPG Capital’s head of public affairs, he attended a speech by Andrew Bowden, an SEC director, who stated that private equity funds […]
Deadly Force Against Convicted Escapees
There was a recent uproar over 2 prison escapees very close to where I was born and raised in Upstate New York. Richard Matt and David Sweat, convicted murderers serving time at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, NY, escaped on June 5, 2015. The escapees were aided by Joyce Mitchell, a prison employee who supervised Matt and Sweat in the prison’s tailor shop. Mitchell apparently had a sexual relationship with Matt and assisted the murderers’ escape with hacksaw blades, eyeglasses with lights affixed to them and drill bits. In addition, Mitchell was supposed to meet up with Matt and Sweat after their escape, have them murder her husband, and drive them to Mexico. Unfortunately for Matt and Sweat, Mitchell failed to meet them after their escape and the convicts were forced to elude authorities on foot. Clearly, Mitchell is akin to those utterly incomprehensible women who want to marry Charles Manson; however, she had second thoughts and checked into a hospital instead of meeting up with the escapees. Mitchell was arrested and charged with the felony of 1st Degree Promoting Prison Contraband and the misdemeanor of 4th Degree Criminal Facilitation. Matt and Sweat were also reportedly unwittingly aided by a […]
How Whole Food’s Rating System Harms Farmers
In 2014, Whole Foods Market, Inc., a large store chain specializing in organic foods, established a “Responsible Growth” system for rating its farm produce. According to a 2015 survey, some participating farmers are unhappy with the system. The system is focused on rewarding responsible farmers who “protect human health and the environment.” The system measures soil health, waste reduction, farmworker treatment, etc. That system supposedly harms the very farmers it is supposed to reward. According to an analyst with the Cornucopia Institute, farmers are required to pay a high fee and complete a long questionnaire in order to receive Whole Foods’ “good” “better” or “best” ratings of their produce. Some participating farmers claim the costs run from $5,000 – $20,000. Those higher costs of compliance may make participation difficult or even impossible for smaller farms. Consequently, some are arguing that Whole Foods is forming the farmers to pay the costs of Whole Foods’ system when the large store chain – with approximately 400 U. S. stores – should fund the system itself. In addition, Whole Foods’ system has been criticized as undercutting the established “organic” label and certification. At least one organic grower/packer argues that the “organic” system should be […]
Kansas Governor Threatens to Destroy State’s Judiciary
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback hates his state’s Supreme Court, which has upheld the state and federal constitutions in defiance of Brownback’s actions. In fact, the governor is so threatened by the separation of powers that in early June 2015 he signed a bill that will defund the state’s entire judiciary if the court rules against another law he favors. The background of this showdown is somewhat convoluted. After his election in 2010, Governor Brownback basically made Kansas a Tea Party experiment with deep tax cuts. The experiment flopped, with devastating effects on Kansas’ economy. In 2014, the state Supreme Court ruled that the inequality between school funding in rich and poor districts violated the state constitution and ordered the legislature to remedy the problem. The legislature and Governor actually retaliated against the judiciary by passing an Administrative Law stripping the Supreme Court of its authority to appoint local chief judges and set district court budgets. They also threatened to pass further administrative laws: – Subjecting the justices to recall elections; – Splitting the court; – Lowering the mandatory retirement age for justices; – Using partisan elections to judgeships (instead of the current nominating committee and gubernatorial appointments). The current administrative […]
Legislature vs. The People?
A U. S. Supreme Court case turning on the U. S. Constitution’s meaning of “legislature” may doom Arizona’s and California’s independent redistricting commissions and significantly affect similar commissions in Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Washington. First, a brief history: – Article I, §3, Clauses 1 & 2 of the U. S. Constitution provide in part that U. S. senators are elected by state legislatures; – the “Election Clause” also empowers state LEGISLATURES to set “the times, places and manners of holding elections for senators and representatives”; however, the Clause also empowers Congress to change those plans; – after numerous calls for election reform, the 17th Amendment, establishing the election of U. S. senators by the people of the states, was adopted in 1913; – 2 U.S.C. § 2a(c) requires states to redraw congressional and state legislative district maps to accommodate population changes/shifts after each once-per-decade census. Are you still with me? OK. Widespread gerrymandering ensued. You will recall that “gerrymandering” is manipulation of electoral boundaries to create an advantage for an incumbent, political party and/or class. By redrawing voting districts, a political party can pack “unfriendly” voters into districts the opposition will […]
FBI Surveillance Planes
In early June 2015, the Associated Press revealed that the FBI uses a fleet of at least 115 planes listed under at least 13 phony companies in a civilian air force that surveils humans, organizations and cellphone information in the United States. In fact, the FBI’s private air force is merely one of several, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with 92 aircraft as of 2011, and the U. S. Marshals Service with an air fleet equipped to seize data from thousands of cellphones. The FBI’s aerial equipment includes high-tech cameras capable of sharp video at great distances, even in the dark, and technology that mimics cell towers so cellphones will transmit basic subscriber information. The heavily redacted FBI information does not publicly reveal much else. In fact, the Obama Administration had been urging secrecy about the use of technology and pressing prosecutors to drop criminal cases in order to safeguard the technology’s use. Now the FBI reportedly obtains warrants for the use of this technology. The Associated Press claims that just within the past few weeks, with fake company names such as FVX Research and KQM Aviation, more than 100 flights occurred above 11+ states and the District of […]
Military Adds Sexual Orientation as Protected Class
In early June 2015, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced the addition of “sexual orientation” as one of the classes protected by the Military Equal Opportunity Policy. The Policy is designed to protect military personnel from discrimination preventing them from being promoted to the highest possible levels in the Military. The Pentagon previously included the classes of race, religion, sex, age and national origin as protected classes but did not protect gay and lesbian military personnel. The amended Policy finally brings the Military into line with other federal branches and agencies. While the new policy includes “sexual orientation,” Secretary Carter did not speak of the Pentagon’s ban on transgender military personnel. There are supposedly more than 15,000 transgender individuals in the U. S. military at this time, serving without revealing their transgenderism. Secretary Carter discretely referred to the transgender topic by stating, “Discrimination of any kind has no place in America’s armed forces. Young Americans today are more diverse and tolerant than past generations. It’s the only way to compete in the 21st century.” Meanwhile, some transgender individuals braved the consequences by showing up at Military functions, such as: Amanda Simpson, a transgender civilian officer; and Sheri Swokowski, America’s highest-ranking transgender […]
Corruption at the Top of New York State
January 21, 2015 was an exuberant day for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. At a press conference, he held up a picture of himself, Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate leader Dean Skelos, doctored to show them wearing sombreros, and referred to them as “The Three Amigos.” His characterization was no surprise, as the triumvirate wielded enormous influence in New York State government. A day later, Sheldon Silver was arrested by federal authorities for allegedly taking of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. Pleading not guilty to all corruption charges, Silver stepped down from his position as Assembly speaker but retained his legislative seat. He was replaced as Assembly speaker by Representative Carl Heastie. On May 4, 2015, Senate leader Dean Skelos was also arrested by federal authorities for using his vaunted position to enrich his son by extorting payments from a real estate development company and another business. Skelos stepped down from his position as Senate leader but retained his legislative seat. He was replaced as Senate leader by Senator John Flanagan. Now there is one amigo left standing: Governor Cuomo. The Governor is in a tough position, considering the backstory. According to federal prosecutors, millions of dollars […]
German Measles Stamped Out in the Americas
Rubella, also called “German Measles,” and Congential Rubella Syndrome have been eliminated North America, Central America and South America, according to the Pan American Health Organization. Eradication has been a long time coming, as the Rubella vaccine was licensed in 1969, is deemed 95% effective but more than 40 years elapsed before the Americas were completely rid of Rubella. German Measles causes slight discomfort to children and adults but severe birth defects and fetal mortality during early pregnancy. Before widespread vaccination, it affected 15,000 – 20,000 people/year in the Americas and 120,000/year worldwide. The ways in which diseases are battled and overcome worldwide bears some explanation. The World Health Organization (WHO) divides the world into six regions: the Americas; Europe; Southeast Asia; Africa; Eastern Mediterranean; and Western Pacific. Typically, a disease is first eliminated in North America through vaccinations; then use of the serum spreads relatively rapidly through Central and South Americas. When 3 years have elapsed in a region with no reports of endemic cases, the disease is deemed eradicated from that region. Within a decade of a disease’s elimination in the Americas, it is usually stamped out in some or all of the other regions, provided they make […]
Cold War II
As of June 2015, relations between the United States and Russia are so badly deteriorating that some observers are reminded of our infamous Cold War of 1947 – 1991. At the heart of the corrosion is the aggression of Vladimir Putin’s Russia through annexation of the Crimea, Russian military intervention in Ukraine, and flight tests of a ground-based cruise missile with a range banned by our 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty. Putin’s predictable response is that Russia has not violated the INF, that there is no need to fear Russia and that the U. S. has violated the INF. Meanwhile, other world superpowers including Canada, France Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the U. S. and the European Union are attending the G7 Summit in Germany and apparently moving toward a tough stance on Russia’s aggression and violations. The G7 is also considering extending sanctions already imposed against Russia in connection with its militarism in Ukraine. Russia was specifically excluded from the Summit due to the Putin-led aggression and violations. In fact, Canada has warned Russia that it will never rejoin the G7 so long as Putin is in command, tough talk that Canada can back up: it takes […]
When Facebook Threats Are Not Criminal
In early June 2015, the U. S. Supreme Court reversed the criminal conviction of Anthony Elonis for Facebook comments about killing his ex-wife and the female FBI agent who visited him to discuss his threatening “rap” comments. The crux of the conviction’s reversal is the “criminal intent” requirement for criminal convictions. Elonis was convicted under a Pennsylvania statue that bans interstate communications containing “any threat to injure the person of another” but requiring only a negligence standard that the communication would make a reasonable person feel threatened. Eliminating the requirement of criminal intent on Elonis’ part was fatal to the conviction. In Elonis’ own words, the threatening rap lyrics were therapeutic responses to the breakup of his marriage and his termination of employment at an amusement park (though probably not as a clown). Mind you, the Supreme Court did not applaud Elonis for his “therapeutic” Facebook comments toward his wife, such as, “There’s one way to love you but a thousand ways to kill you. I’m not going to rest until your body is a mess, soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts.” Furthermore, the Court did not necessarily appreciate his words to his former employer: “Someone […]
CIA and The National Archives
The new record-keeping strategy of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which allows for the CIA’s destruction of non-senior personnel e-mails, caused such an outcry from lawmakers that it is now being reconsidered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), per a November 21, 2014 letter. NARA is an independent federal agency responsible for maintaining and recording governmental and historical documents (the National Archives) and for providing public access to some of them. Established in 1934, NARA is normally associated with the National Archives Building in Washington, DC but also maintains regional archives across the United States, has 10 additional Affiliated Archives, maintains the Presidential libraries and is associated with other archival facilities. NARA’s considerable burdens were exponentially increased with the advent of e-mail, which agencies managed either by print-and-file systems or records management applications requiring agency staff to file e-mail records individually. Sometime prior to 2011, NARA and/or other agencies concluded something along the lines of “These systems are crazy-making!” Consequently, in 2011, NARA offered agencies the option of “Capstone.” Capstone is a more simplified, automated approach to managing e-mail, allowing an agency to categorize/schedule e-mail according to the work/position of the e-mail account owner. The e-mails of officials […]
Train Accident and Video/Audio Cameras in Locomotive Cabs
A deadly train accident of May 13, 2015 in Pittsburgh, PA killed 8 people, injured approximately 200 and closed the heavily traveled railroad route between Philadelphia and New York City until May 18th. Briefly: the train rapidly sped up to 106 mph just before a curve with a 50 mph speed limit; in the few seconds immediately before entering the curve, maximum braking power was used but the train started the curve at more than 100 mph; the train derailed. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), who investigate such accidents, are attempting to determine why the train accelerated. The NTSB investigation was able to obtain data from a “black box” giving equipment information and a camera focused on the track ahead of the train; however, the NTSB investigation is hampered by the lack of video/audio cameras in the locomotive cab. The apparent problem is that NTSB can make recommendations but the regulations are proposed and established by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), an agency within the U. S. Department of Transportation. Historically, the NTSB makes recommendations that the FRA promptly ignores. Commencing in the 1990s, the NTSB has reportedly made dozens of recommendations for audio recording in locomotive […]
New York Grand Jury Reforms
The United States is one of the few countries still employing grand juries to indict individuals for felonies. Now New York State’s highest Judge, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman of the New York Court of Appeals, is calling for reforms to this system that “in many ways [is] a relic of another time.” Citizens are used to hearing about a Petit Jury or trial jury, a group of lucky, chosen people who render a verdict in a civil or criminal trial. However, Judge Lippman is speaking of the Grand Jury, an equally lucky group of chosen people who investigate criminal conduct and decide whether or not to indict for felonies. Grand juries currently perform in secrecy and are largely run by the prosecutor. In Grand Jury proceedings, a judge may supervise and respond to jurors’ requests for guidance but the judge is normally absent from the courtroom. While secrecy is supposed to assist grand jurors and the prosecutor in their important work, that same secrecy is also problematic, particularly when the public is angered by a grand Jury’s decisions. Two of the most obvious recent cases involved the death of Eric Garner after a NYPD officer’s chokehold and the shooting death […]
Housing Homeless Military Veterans
Homelessness is a chronic problem in American cities and the homelessness of military veterans is a particularly shameless aspect of that dilemma. Consequently, America’s cities have prioritized finding stable housing for the Country’s homeless military veterans. The Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness is an initiative whereby 570 mayors, governors and local officials vowed to end the crisis of homeless veterans by the end of 2015. New Orleans was the first city to publicly defeat that problem as of December 2014, a year ahead of schedule. San Francisco is reportedly on schedule to end veteran homelessness by the December 31, 2015 deadline, committing city and federal funding to housing chronically homeless veterans in renovated structures such as the old Stanford Hotel. New York City’s Mayor Blasio has also vowed to end veteran homelessness on schedule, though NYC is again experiencing record-high homelessness this year. Cities are making exceptionally good progress by structuring their efforts so “there is no wrong door for veterans seeking help.” That is, any veteran seeking help will be guided to and assisted by the correct organization. What a refreshing approach to local government: no matter where you go, you CAN’T be at the wrong office because […]
When Farming Isn’t Farming
In late March 2015, the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created new standards for being “actively engaged” in farming, the criterion for receiving some federal farm subsidies. The Department estimates that the new definition will disqualify up to 1,400 operations and save approximately $50 million over 3 years. Federal farm subsidies have been in place since the early 1930’s in reaction to the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. The subsidies are meant to be a safety net to ensure a stable food supply while assisting agricultural producers financially stay afloat despite variations in production and profitability. Farm subsidies were complex from the beginning and became more so with periodic modifications, though the primary system currently consists of: 1. Direct payments made at a predetermined rate every year; 2. Counter-cyclical payments, made when market prices fall below predetermined levels; 3. Revenue assurance paid to ensure profitability of specific crops; 4. Marketing loans made to farmers; 5. Disaster payments for losses caused by natural occurrences; 6. Subsidized crop insurance to ensure against losses from a variety of causes. U. S. agricultural producers currently receive $5 billion per year in farm subsidies of one or more types. One of the criteria […]
America’s Not-So-Quiet Northern Border
America’s northern border is 3,987 miles long, running from Maine to Washington, with 1,538 more additional miles running between Alaska and Canada. It is the longest international border in the world, more than twice as long as our 1954-mile southern border with Mexico. Nevertheless, our southern border receives considerably more attention than does its northern border: there are 18,156 Border Patrol agents (9.1 per mile) covering the southern border and 2,093 Border Patrol agents (0.4 per mile) covering the northern border. The greater attention to our southern border is reportedly due to more security threats on the border with Mexico, including criminal and immigration issues. However, the northern border has significant issues of its own, including alien smuggling, drug trafficking, and international crime. The northern border is patrolled by 8 Border Patrol sectors that handle all but the ports of entry. The ports of entry, including airports, seaports, major roads and highways, are handled by U. S. Customs. Both agencies work for U. S. Customs and Border Protection, created in 2003 as part of the Department of Homeland Security. The MacDonald-Laurier Institute, a Canadian organization studying northern border issues for over a decade, asserts that there are quite a few […]
“To Die For” Killer Paroled After 25 Years
Twenty-five years ago America was glued to the TV, watching a teacher-student affair resulting in murder. I can still see that kid crying on the stand while admitting what he’d done: he said he was a virgin before meeting the teacher and he loved her with the “reptilian-brain” love of a 15-year-old boy. He was guilty as hell and deserved prison but I felt bad for him, all the same. The story was so juicy that it inspired a novel and movie called “To Die For.” This year the triggerman is being paroled. In 1990, William Flynn was a 15-year-old student at Winnacunnet High in Hampton, NH. That same year, volunteered for a school drug awareness program called “Project Self-Esteem” and met Pamela Smart, the 22-year-old married Director of Media Services. At some point, Smart seduced Flynn and they became lovers. Smart urged Flynn to kill her husband, 24-year-old Gregg Smart, so she would not suffer the financial setbacks of a divorce and would receive $140,000 in life insurance proceeds. Flynn’s reluctance to kill Gregg Smart was overcome by Pam Smart’s threat to withhold sex from Flynn if he failed to kill her husband. With the help of 3 friends, […]
Big Tobacco Fights Back
In mid-April 2015, the FDA was sued on Free Speech grounds by major tobacco companies including R. J. Reynolds, Philip Morris, Lorillard Tobacco, Altria Group Inc., U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, American Snuff Company and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company. Filed in U. S. District Court in Washington, the suit alleges that FDA labeling guidelines preemptively restrict free speech, exceed the FDA’s scope of authority and do not advance a substantial government interest. The FDA was given authority over the tobacco industry by the Tobacco Control Act of 2009. Since that time, leading tobacco companies have repeatedly challenged the FDA’s authority, sometimes with resounding success. Do you remember hearing several years ago that tobacco packs would be required to show graphic images of smoking’s danger? That was a real FDA guideline challenged by a 2011 lawsuit and eventually dropped by the government. The tobacco industry jealously guards its labeling Free Speech rights, especially after the government limited their advertising in magazines, billboards and TV. This recent fight involves FDA guidelines issued in March 2015 regarding “new products” requiring FDA review. The guidelines state that if substantial changes are made to a product’s label, the product requires new FDA approval, even if […]
Political Contributions Conflict: Frauds or Friends?
The Department of Justice’s 2015 indictment of Senator Bob Menendez on 14 counts of corruption and “honest services” fraud highlights some difficulties with the 2010 Citizens United and Speechnow.org decisions. In “Citizens United vs Federal Election Commission” the U. S. Supreme Court ruled 5 – 4 that “independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption” and that a person or corporation making independent expenditures “may have influence over or access to elected officials” but that “does not mean those officials are corrupt.” Technically, bribery is the direct and explicit exchange of money for favors, so if you give me money without explicitly exchanging it for a favor and I thereafter happen to perform that favor for you, we’re home free! In “Speechnow.org vs Federal Election Commission” the Federal Court of Appeals ruled that Political Action Committees (PACs) that did not make contributions to candidates, parties, or other PACs could accept unlimited contributions from individuals, unions, and profit/non-profit corporations to make independent expenditures. Before and after those decisions, PACs took that principle to heart, as there are currently more than 4,500 U. S. PACs. The court decisions gave birth to a […]
Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
The U. S. is frequently criticized for being a relentlessly dastardly polluter of the Planet. However, we do have our environmentally heroic accomplishments. The United States’ Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument is not a steel-and concrete structure. Rather, it is the largest land and marine reserve in the world, which was significantly expanded by presidential executive order in September 2014. In 2006, President George W. Bush created the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in northwestern Hawaii. In 2009, President Bush declared our remote Pacific islands “The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.” In late September 2014, President Obama expanded the Monument southward and westward. The Monument now encompasses more than 490,000 square miles, including Pacific islands and waters out to 12 nautical miles from them. The islands are: Baker Island and Howland Island, approximately mid-way between Hawaii and Australia; Jarvis Island, approximately mid-way between Hawaii and the Cook Islands; Johnston Atoll, approximately 1/3 of the distance between Hawaii and the Marshall Islands; Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll, approximately mid-way between Hawaii and American Samoa; and Wake Island, north of the Marshall Islands. The Monument protects birds, trees, grasses, sea turtles, dolphins, whales, pearl oysters, seals, giant clams, coconut crabs, fish, […]
New Rules For NYC Jails
In January 2015, the Board of Corrections governing New York City jails announced changes to rules for the country’s second largest jail system. The changes were spurred by at least three sources: mandated prison reform; the August 2014 report by federal prosecutors highly critical of brutal treatment and solitary confinement endured by teenaged inmates at Rikers Island; some corrections officials; claim that a lopsided amount of jail violence is caused by a small number of inmates who needed to be isolated before reforms can be successful. First, the new rules call for a new type of solitary confinement: “enhanced supervision housing” units costing $14.8 million and allowing wardens to lock up to 250 violent inmates in their cells for as much as 17 hours per day, severely restrict their movements, limit their access to the law library; limit their contact visits, and monitor their mail; solitary confinement can last for 30 days at most; only inmates who have seriously injured other inmates/staff, engaged in jail gang violence and possess weapons such as small blades will be subject to placement in these units; 16-17 year old inmates cannot be placed in solitary confinement; 18-21 year old inmates can be placed in […]
Teachers Cheating To Make The Grade
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Acts are usually associated with the criminal prosecution of major gangsters; however, Georgia prosecutors used the state’s RICO Act to convict 12 educators in Atlanta’s elementary in middle schools of a racketeering conspiracy to illegally raise students’ test scores. Though the convictions occurred in April 2015, they came after years of investigation into the cheating scandal. In 2009, the state of Georgia began an investigation due to an unusual rise in test scores. The investigation implicated approximately 178 teachers and administrators in “organized and systematic misconduct” in more than 40 Atlanta elementary and middle schools. Some educators were also indicted for influencing a witness, theft by taking, false swearing and/ or making a false statement or writing. More than 80 of the educators confessed to tampering with tests by stealing the tests before they were administered or by changing test answers afterwards. In 2013, 35 educators were indicted but 1 defendant died and 21 pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were given immunity in exchange for their testimony against their coconspirators. When the dust settled, 5 teachers, 2 test coordinators, an assistant principal, a principal and 3 superintendents insisted on their innocence and went […]
Remember When Flying Was Fun?
I used to genuinely enjoy flying on commercial airlines. Being old enough to have flown prior to the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, I remember roomy seats, quite a few empty seats, free & decent meals, fully refundable tickets, no-penalty flight changes, relaxed and friendly flight crews, and higher ticket prices. After deregulation – a liberal-backed idea, by the way – service degraded to the point at which Congress finally passed a “Passenger Bill of Rights” in 2009, later beefing it up in 2010. True, the airlines argued against the Bill of Rights and for policing themselves but since those efforts will only semi-successful, Congress acted. The enhanced “Passenger Bill of Rights” requires that U. S. carriers: adopt contingency plans for long delays when passengers are stranded in planes on the tarmac, including adequate food, water, medical care and restroom access within 2 hours and deplaning within 3 hours; use their web sites to post their contracts of carriage, contingency plans, customer service plans and flight delays; respond to consumer problems; incur stiff fines for chronically late flights, which are deemed unfair and deceptive; adopt customer service plans and self-audit their compliance; refrain from retroactively materially amending their contracts of […]
SUPERMAX – An American Prison
There are prisons and there are prisons. The toughest prison in the U. S. is the United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Fremont County, Colorado, about 100 miles south of Denver. Commonly called ADX Florence or “The Alcatraz of the Rockies,” ADX Florence was specially built for male inmates who are the most dangerous or need the tightest control or the most notorious. Though opened in 1994, ADX Florence was inspired by 2 serious security breaches in 1983 at the U. S. Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois. Two corrections officers were stabbed to death in two different incidents. In response, the Marion penitentiary was put on permanent lockdown, keeping inmates in solitary confinement for 22 or more hours/day and eliminating religious services, exercise and collective dining. Inspired by the effectiveness of the permanently locked down Marion facility, the Federal Bureau of Prisons constructed ADX Florence for $60 million. The facility can house 490 male inmates, including those with extensive histories of violence against prison guards and other inmates, leaders of violent gangs, domestic or foreign terrorists, spies, high escape risks and key drug cartel figures. Focused on keeping the inmates in and keeping others out, the facility is surrounded […]
The Agenda 21 Fight
Agenda 21, which is now older than 21, began as a cooperative effort of some United Nations members but has been increasingly opposed by some U. S. individuals, groups, cities and states. Agenda 21 is a voluntary action plan signed by 170+ world leaders, including President George H. W. Bush, during the Earth Summit of 1992. A product of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, the action plan seeks local, national and worldwide implementation of methods for social and economic betterment, conservation and resources management, and strengthening of the roles of major groups of people. The member nations hope to accomplish those lofty tasks through science, the transfer of technology, education, international institutions and financial means. What is more, Agenda 21 has been amended and reaffirmed in subsequent conferences. Since Agenda 21 (“21” referring to the 21st Century) was never legally binding, the U. S. sought voluntary participation by cities and states. Proponents of the Agenda state that it is a “bottom up push” from local governments for the Agenda’s goals. The drive for local government acceptance was successful, as more than 500 U. S. cities belong to the ICLEI, an international organization devoted to implementing Agenda 21. […]
Military Veteran Suicide
Suicides by U. S. military veterans have reportedly reached epidemic proportions, claiming an average of 22 lives per day. Though some mental health programs and specifically suicide prevention programs are in place, they are obviously somehow failing our veterans at an alarming rate. Attempting to prevent as many veteran suicides as possible through a targeted program, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5059, the Clay Hunt SAV Act, named for Clay Hunt, a Houston veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who committed suicide in 2011. Unfortunately, H.R. 5059 had to get by Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn in order to pass in the Senate and Coburn single-handedly defeated the measure. At an estimated cost of $22 million, H.R. 5059 would have provided additional suicide prevention efforts for veterans by: requiring the Secretary of Veteran Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to arrange yearly independent evaluations of the Veterans’ Administration and the Department of Defense mental healthcare and suicide prevention programs; financially attracting and adding more psychiatrists to Veterans Administration facilities; establishing and maintaining a web site providing information on available mental health services for veterans; and creating a pilot program assisting veterans in their transitions from active duty to […]
R.I.P. Radio Shack
It’s the end of an era. RadioShack, the consumer electronics chain founded in 1921 and once a knowledgeable resource for home electronics, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in late February, will sell 1,500 – 2,400 of its stores to an investment firm called Standard General, and will close its remaining 4,000 stores in the U. S. Formerly known as the Tandy Corporation, RadioShack introduced one of the first mass-market personal computers, the TRS-80, in 1977. At a cost of $600, more than 10,000 TRS-80s were sold within the first 18 months, more than 200,000 were sold over the product’s lifetime, and the TRS-80 had the largest selection of software available by the late 1970’s. The boxy computer (boxy monitor included), made the company one of the “1977 Trinity” of Apple, Commodore and Tandy. I remember the TRS-80 – a marvel in its time but now a relic of a simpler age. In addition, RadioShack was known for its knowledgeable, helpful staff that could readily help your average home electronics do-it-yourselfer meet all his/her home electronic needs at a moment’s notice. In earlier days, RadioShack visits taught us about electronics and how they work. Unfortunately for RadioShack, the increase in […]
Semiconductor Manufacturing and Serious Illness
Researchers have found that semiconductor manufacturing has caused the accumulation of toxic compounds in workers’ bodies, resulting in several types of cancer and reproductive toxicity, difficulty in reproducing and/or illnesses in workers’ children. The manufacture of semiconductors – integrated circuits found in more of our electrical devices than we can probably count – involves four basic steps. First, silicon is purified and highly purified silicon wafers are produced. Secondly, integrated circuits are produced through the removal and addition of several wafer surfaces through the use of chemicals. Third, is the assembly of every integrated circuit on the wafer’s surfaces to create the finished product. Finally, the finished product is tested. The manufacturing process uses and/or produces a variety of chemicals or compounds, such as ammonia, ammonium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydrofluoric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, ethyl-3-ethyoxypropionateethyl benzene, chlorine, trifluoro methane, potassium hydroxide and formaldehyde, among many others. Several of those chemicals/compounds are toxic and/or carcinogenic (cancer-causing). Several cases of cancer outbreaks were reported at semiconducting companies such as IBM in the U. S., National Semiconductor UK in the United Kingdom and Samsung in South Korea. The most stunning incidents of both cancers and reproductive toxicity apparently occurred in South Korea, […]