News & Media
"Only verifiable statements of fact can be libelous."
“Only verifiable statements of fact can be libelous.” So sayeth New York Supreme Court Justice Alice Schlesinger in rejecting a defamation claim brought by Sandals resort against an anonymous critic. (source) Too bad that so many other judges are too stupid to understand this basic legal principle.
Towing company sues student for starting Facebook page
A Kalamazoo, Michigan towing company is suing a Western Michigan University student for starting a Facebook Page against the company. The complaint is here. The quality of the work is exactly what you would expect from a lawyer who would file a claim like this. Go figure. The towing company, T&J Towing has an F grade with the Better Business Bureau. (source) [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHG-gJgJdzw]
Reason 1313 that Flori-duh needs an anti-SLAPP law – the tale of emiller1313
Michael Steadman bought a time clock from eBay seller emiller1313 for $44. He says that the ad for the clock said that it was in good working condition, but that when it arrived, it was not as the seller represented it. “it was not what it was supposed to be. It sounded like a good working time clock. It came in in three separate pieces that didn’t fit together. Time didn’t work, half of it was missing. It couldn’t sit on a wall or desk” said Steadman. Steadman says he contacted the seller, emiller1313 twice, asking for a refund. “He didn’t want to work with me, said all sales are final. That’s it no refund,” said Steadman. So Steadman took
Will the healthcare bill cover sewing someone's jaw shut?
Quote of the day: ‘If you’re trying to be bitchy, you’re doing a good job.” Said by Barney Frank’s boyfriend to a pair of bitchy opthalmologists on a flight from LA to Boston when Frank wouldn’t talk to their drunk stupid asses. (source) I don’t even understand what the healthcare bill did. Sorry to plead such ignorance, but I really don’t give a fuck. I have lots of money, really good health insurance, and I can only give a fuck about so many items at a time. Healthcare isn’t one of them. I get it, they are gonna tax me more so that poors get better health care. Fine. I don’t mind. My tax dollars support a lot dumber shit
Slap happy at Ball State University
By J. DeVoy An unknown assailant is tormenting the women at Ball State University by slapping two of them on the bottom. As suddenly as the attack began, the assailant would pedal away into the darkness, “no doubt while twirling his mustache and cackling maniacally.” The fallout has been predictable, closely following the arc of PCU‘s plot. Of course, there are folks out there who say that this is no laughing matter, and that anyone who finds humor in this whole thing is evil and should be hunted down by a lynch mob. BSU’s student paper covered their asses adequately withthis milquetoast editorialdemanding that this crime be taken seriously, and a Facebook group that opposes “MEMEBRS” of the Ball State Ass Slapper page (IT
Drunk Driving: A Victimless Crime
by Charles Platt I wonder if anyone else agrees that drunk driving is a victimless crime. A conviction merely affirms that a person was more likely than average to hit someone or something. Well, all kinds of people are more likely to do that, such as the elderly, or people who simply don’t have an aptitude for driving. State laws used to recognize this, more or less, by allowing police to make a judgment call about impairment, based on their observations. But that wasn’t good enough for Candy Lightner, whose daughter had been killed by a drunk driver. In the wearying tradition of family members who want to make the death of a loved one seem more meaningful by inconveniencing
Arrest the Pope
This sounds like a great idea: Arresting the Pope. Too bad it won’t happen. But, if it did, imagine the poetic justice of him getting raped in the joint… and then the guards could cover it up so that the prison doesn’t get a bad reputation. H/T: Mike McCoy
What Apple Should Have Launched Instead of the iPad (Or why Apple should beg for help from Kyocera)
Okay, fine, the iPad is neat. I’m not even going to bash it here. But, if Apple really wanted a killer device, it would have launched my idea — the iPhone power keyboard. Lets face it, the two worst things about the iPhone are a) its “virtual keyboard” and b) its shitty battery life. If Apple could solve those problems, the iPhone might become a netbook killer. I’m really not suggesting anything radical. Back in 2001, I had a Kyocera 6035 — one of the first smart phones. It ran on the Palm OS, was the size of a shoe, had a battery that would last for a week, and used the only input system worse than the Apple virtual
Cuckoldry in nature
By J. DeVoy [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mb0GOITRUU&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Online "dating" catches on among newlyweds
By J. DeVoy Via Roissy (I don’t care what he’s calling himself these days), Ashley Madison – the online dating service specializing in matching married men and married women – has had a membership explosion in the Toronto area. Sexually frustrated and a little lonely, the 25-year-old started Googling “sex club” and “swingers club” before stumbling upon AshleyMadison.com, advertised as a “discreet dating service” for people in relationships. Like most Torontonians, Susan, who did not want her real name used, heard about it before. Three months and more than a 1,000 profiles later, she sat at the bar at a Hooters restaurant with Michael, a 23-year-old with a 31-year-old wife. “He understood where I was coming from and we had
Explaining the college admissions gender gap
By J. DeVoy Noted at Overlawyered, the University of Florida’s freshman class has 3 females for every 2 males. Most men would like those odds, but then again most men are listless betas shut out of the “dating scene” (i.e. casual sex market), and cannot fathom using this gender ratio to access the top-shelf stuff. When asked about this disparity, a spokesman had this to say: “Girls are being admitted because they are doing the things to be admitted and boys aren’t.” Though possibly true, blaming males is becoming passé. From colonialism to being presumptive rapists – and, the more intelligent, the more effective the rapist – men get a bum rap. When there’s dissension in the ranks, others blame men
Wisconsin DA threatens charges over sex education
By J. DeVoy The District Attorney for Juneau County, Wisconsin, has threatened to bring charges against teachers who inform students of reproductive options other than abstinence. Scott Southworth – whom you can contact here – wrote a letter to Juneau County’s teachers, warning them of the consequences for following a law requiring them to discuss condoms and contraceptives. “If a teacher instructs any student aged 16 or younger how to utilize contraceptives under circumstances where the teacher knows the child is engaging in sexual activity with another child – or even where the ‘natural and probable consequences’ of the teacher’s instruction is to cause that child to engage in sexual intercourse with a child – that teacher can be charged
Applause for Spirit Airlines for charging for carry on bags
Spirit Airlines is taking a lot of heat for its latest move — charging for carry on bags. I will not add to that heat. In fact, I applaud them. It is moronic to charge for checked bags while allowing passengers to bring on free carry on bags. Think about what you want from a flight, and what kind of behavior that you incentivize by giving free overhead bin space. Have you ever sat on the tarmac, waiting for a plane to take off because some stupid prole can’t figure out how to cram a 75 pound floral-print full sized suitcase into a carry on bin? Meanwhile some other jackass is trying to stuff a cardboard box full of god-knows-what
Naughty Teenagers
by Charles Platt Since “protecting our children” became a reliable mantra for DAs seeking re-election at some time during the Reagan administration, the horrors of statutory rape and child pornography have justified countless legislative excesses. Unfortunately such laws conflict with the inconvenient biological fact that most young people become capable of reproducing around the ages of 12 or 13. Age-of-consent laws used to recognize this. (In the text below I am talking primarily about teenagers having sex with each other and taking pictures of each other, not adults taking advantage of children, which is, or should be, an entirely separate issue.) Here’s a site that tabulates international laws on the subject. In Chile, for instance, the age of consent still
A funderemployment primer
By J. DeVoy [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAs2EXsHfMg&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Metalocalypse is one of my favorite shows* for many reasons, among them being its extreme social commentary. The music video, while graphic, invokes themes that have been addressed in mainstream offerings like Office Space and The Office, such as the futility of working jobs we hate and the soul-killing duplicity that corporate advancement entails. In light of this message and increasing internet chatter about “going Galt” due to inevitable tax increases, many are questioning whether the rat race of an aggressively upward mobile career is for them. For recent college and law school graduates, opportunities to work tirelessly and acquire new skills are hard to find. Technically, any new attorney can open a practice upon being
Law School Relegation
by Christopher Harbin European Soccer Leagues have a concept called relegation. Teams that are in the bottom of the standings get punted down to the second-class league for the entire next season. Similarly, top performers in the second-league get promoted to the top-flight league. Imagine if the loathsome Yankees royally sucked one season and had to spend their next season in Triple-A (or should it be AAA? Class-AAA?) facing off against the Durham Bulls and Toledo Mud Hens. Law school already has a system of promotion by allowing top performing law students to transfer “up” after their first year. But what we really need is relegation. Perhaps punting the bottom 5% of each class down a tier might actually motivate
My First Earthquake
I guess there have been other earthquakes since I’ve been out west, but I never really noticed them. Today was a little different. My chair started bouncing up and down, and I thought that the dog was jumping on the back of the chair. Then I noticed that the windows were waving in and out, everything on the shelves was shaking, and there was a really strange noise outside. Funny enough, I had just finished watching 2012 about 15 minutes earlier. I am sure that seasoned Californians laughed this one off. But, I ran to grab Jennifer from the shower, and made her hold on underneath the doorway. Then ran into the baby’s room, grabbed her and ran outside. By
Seizures (not the epileptic kind)
by Charles Platt I have no formal legal training, but emigrated from the UK to the US partly because I liked the First Amendment. The wisdom of my decision was affirmed when an erotic novel that I had written in 1969 was seized, in Britain, by the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the publisher was jailed for three months. That kind of thing tends to stick in one’s memory. Subsequently, I wrote a nonfiction book titled Anarchy Online, examining and defending every type of internet freedom. These days, I am more interested in writing educational material for young people, such as a recent introductory book on electronics. So that’s who I am. In my first post I want to talk
Sexting Story on Nightline
A high school kid forwarded nude photos of his 16 year old girlfriend to some friends. For that, a dipshit prosecutor decided that Philip Alpert needed to be charged with 72 sex crimes, and that he should be on the registered sex offender list. Here is his story. The prosecutor is quoted as saying that he had no other option. Of course he did… he exercised his discretion not to prosecute the 16 year old girl, but decided that his ego couldn’t survive letting Philip get away without being charged. My former partner, and good friend, Larry Walters is Philip’s attorney and is interviewed in the story. The prosecutor doesn’t show his face.
