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Brief Details Jury Nullification Case Against Julian Heicklen
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Julian P. Heicklen, a 79-year-old retired chemistry professor, has often stood on a plaza outside the United States Courthouse in Manhattan, holding a “Jury Info” sign and handing out brochures that advocate jury nullification, the controversial view that if jurors disagree with a law, they may ignore their oaths to follow it and may acquit a defendant who violated it.
Then, last year, federal prosecutors had Mr. Heicklen indicted, charging that his activity violated the law against jury tampering. Lawyers assisting him have sought dismissal of the case on First Amendment grounds.
But now prosecutors are offering their first detailed explanation for why they charged Mr. Heicklen, arguing in a brief that his “advocacy of jury nullification, directed as it is to jurors, would be both criminal and without Constitutional protections no matter where it occurred.”
“His speech is not protected by the First Amendment,” prosecutors wrote.
Customers hit by pepper spray at Wal-Mart describe scene of chaos
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Matthew Lopez went to the Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch on Thursday night for the Black Friday sale but instead was caught in a pepper-spray attack by a woman who authorities said was "competitive shopping."
ATS Sues City Over Right Turn Ticket Money
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C. Crews TownsendAutomated ticketing vendor American Traffic Solutions (ATS) filed suit Tuesday against Knoxville, Tennessee for its failure to issue tickets for turning right on a red light — and that is costing the company a lot of money. A state law took effect in July banning the controversial turning tickets, but the Arizona-based firm contends the law should not apply to their legal agreement with the city, which anticipated the bulk of the money to come from this type of tickets.
[..]
ATS asked the Chancery Court for Knox County to declare the right turn law unconstitutional because it discriminates against traffic camera companies.
L.A. Hospital Denies Liver Transplant to Medical Marijuana User Despite Prescription from Its own Doctor
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Diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer in 2009, Norman B. Smith, 63, has been treated at Cedars-Sinai by oncologist Steven Miles, who approved medicinal marijuana in part to help his patient cope with the effects of chemotherapy. Smith became eligible for a liver transplant last year, but was removed from the list in February after testing positive for marijuana.
To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine
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BBC drops Frozen Planet’s climate change episode to sell show better abroad
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British viewers will see seven episodes, the last of which deals with global warming and the threat to the natural world posed by man.
However, viewers in other countries, including the United States, will only see six episodes.
The environmental programme has been relegated by the BBC to an “optional extra” alongside a behind-the-scenes documentary which foreign networks can ignore.
Let’s not educate people about global warming, because they’re uneducated about global warming.
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Occupy Denver elects leader
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In response to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s insistence that Occupy Denver choose leadership to deal with City and State officials, and drawing inspiration from the notion that corporations are people, Occupy Denver’s General Assembly has elected a leader: Shelby, a three year old Border Collie. “Shelby is closer to a person than any corporation: She can bleed, she can breed, and she can show emotion. Either Shelby is a person, or corporations aren’t people,” said a Shelby supporter at the time of her election.
Occupy Denver reserves the right to alter leadership status, but for now, Shelby exhibits heart, warmth, and an appreciation for the group over personal ambition that Occupy Denver members feel are sorely lacking in the leaders some of them have voted for on national, state, and local levels. Accordingly, Occupy Denver looks forward to communication with Mayor Hancock and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper sometime this week to introduce their leadership.
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Meanwhile in Japan….
This is from a commercial for East Japan Railway. Because nothing says “safe, reliable and rapid public transportation” like synchronized ostrich skiing.
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The sods must be crazy: OLPC to drop tablets from helicopters to isolated villages
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The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own.
[..]
“We’ll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read,” Negroponte told The Register.
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Promoting Innovation and Competitive Markets through Quality Patents
The White House answered the “please stop issuing software patents” petition.
It is a textbook demonstration of “pricks pretending to care”, as I said before.
They take three paragraphs to obfuscate their “No” and add a paragraph about Open Source, which has just about nothing to do with the worries about software patents. The trolls at Lodsys must be laughing their pants of with this statement by the White House.
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Government Could Hide Existence of Records under FOIA Rule Proposal – ProPublica
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A proposed rule to the Freedom of Information Act would allow federal agencies to tell people requesting certain law-enforcement or national security documents that records don’t exist – even when they do.
Under current FOIA practice, the government may withhold information and issue what’s known as a Glomar denial that says it can neither confirm nor deny the existence of records.
The new proposal – part of a lengthy rule revision by the Department of Justice – would direct government agencies to “respond to the request as if the excluded records did not exist.”
Open-government groups object.
Change, as brought to you by Mr. Obama.
Michele Bachmann Says Iraq Should Reimburse U.S. For War Expenses
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You know how every time Michele Bachmann opens her mouth it’s kind of exciting because you never know what’s going to come out, but then it’s also terrifying because you’re worried whatever she says will be taken seriously? Well, brace yourselves because today she’s dropped a real doozy: she thinks the people of Iraq should pay us back for all of the money we spent invading them.
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Tree Stump Worshipped in Rathkeale
Really? Really??
Can somebody please tell me the difference with this?
And while we’re at it:
“Scared, Jesus hid in a closet.”
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"We don’t need a warrant, we’re ICE," and, gesturing to his genitals, "the warrant is coming out of my balls."
They’re called “ICE” because “Gestapo” is too hard to spell for them.
Google’s Andy Rubin Makes a Flawed Case Against Siri
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In an interview with AllThingsD’s Ina Fried, Google’s Andy Rubin made a two-line case against Siri, Apple’s new voice-controlled ‘virtual assistant’ for the iPhone 4S. “Your phone is a tool for communicating,” Rubin said. “You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone; you should be communicating with somebody on the other side of the phone.”
Wow. That’s up there with Steve Jobs saying the Kindle was irrelevant because “people don’t read anymore”.
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$12,000 fine for insulting Victorian Gaming Minister Michael O’Brien
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STATE Parliament is set to pass new legislation making it a criminal offence to "insult" Gaming Minister Michael O’Brien.
Fines of up to $11,945 will be given to anyone found guilty of upsetting the minister and his staff under the extraordinary new offence.
The Baillieu Government is seeking changes to the Gaming Regulation Act which it says are "reasonably necessary to respect the rights and reputation of the minister and authorised persons". If passed, the ruling will become law.
The amendment proposed to the Act will make it an offence to "assault, obstruct, hinder, threaten, abuse, insult or intimidate" the minister or authorised persons exercising "due diligence" in monitoring gambling systems such as pokies.
State Labor has seized on the extraordinary amendment, with Opposition gaming spokesman Martin Pakula branding the minister "Windscreens O’Brien – because this proves he’s got a glass jaw".
"Is the minister so precious that he now needs legislation to protect him from insults?" he said.
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Police called to Gatwick to calm passengers stranded on plane
Good afternoon thank you for calling Air India staff helpline, my name is Richard Realcaucasian-Honest, how may I help you?
Hi Richard, I’m the co-pilot on today’s Mumbai-Heathrow flight and stuck in Gatwick on the runway at the moment because of fog, can you please advise?
Thank you very much for the information sir please wait while I work out the best answer for you.
Ok thanks…
Ok sir, could you please tell me which gate in Heathrow you have parked your plane at?
Uhh, no I said we are at Gatwick airport, on the runway. We have been here for 2 hours now. Can you please advise us with directions?
Oh I see sir my apologies. Please hold on one moment
… uhh, ok…
Right, can you please tell us which terminal in Mumbai airport you left from?
Terminal 3.
Thank you sir. And what time did you arrive in Heathrow today?
I have not arrived in Heathrow yet, I already said we are in Gatwick! I need advice so we can get the passengers off the plane and to their destination!
But sir your flight information says your flight is destined for Heathrow airport
Yes it was. But we’re not there.
Ok sir thank you for the information, so can you tell me which airport are you at right now?
……….. G.A.T.W.I.C.K ………..
Thank you sir, can you please hold for a short time while I speak to my colleague? hold music begins
………
Nokia Tune Remake
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Nokia Tune is one of world’s most recognized audio brand assets and is estimated to be heard over one billion times a day. Nokia is launching a global crowdsourcing campaign to find a fresh version of the Nokia Tune.
And the first winner is in.
Although I wonder what tone deaf ten thumbed talentless noise polluter invented this aural piece of excrement and, just as important, which bunch of cunts voted it to win?
Or perhaps it just shows how what Nokia marketeers like is inversely proportional to what everyone else likes…
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U.S. Drug Policy Would Be Imposed Globally By New House Bill
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The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill yesterday that would make it a federal crime for U.S. residents to discuss or plan activities on foreign soil that, if carried out in the U.S., would violate the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) — even if the planned activities are legal in the countries where they’re carried out. The new law, sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) allows prosecutors to bring conspiracy charges against anyone who discusses, plans or advises someone else to engage in any activity that violates the CSA, the massive federal law that prohibits drugs like marijuana and strictly regulates prescription medication.
“Under this bill, if a young couple plans a wedding in Amsterdam, and as part of the wedding, they plan to buy the bridal party some marijuana, they would be subject to prosecution,” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for reforming the country’s drug laws. “The strange thing is that the purchase of and smoking the marijuana while you’re there wouldn’t be illegal. But this law would make planning the wedding from the U.S. a federal crime.”
The law could also potentially affect academics and medical professionals. For example, a U.S. doctor who works with overseas doctors or government officials on needle exchange programs could be subject to criminal prosecution.
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Home Secretary: scrap the Human Rights Act
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Theresa May, the Home Secretary, risks an explosive rift inside the Coalition with an explicit call for the scrapping of the Human Rights Act.
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“I’d personally like to see the Human Rights Act go because I think we have had some problems with it,” she says.
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Teen’s parents: After suicide, he’s still being bullied
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Even after a teen-ager tragically committed suicide in suburban Buffalo this month in the wake of constant harassment, the bullying allegedly did not stop with his death.
The parents of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer, who was found dead at their home on Sept. 18, indicated in an exclusive interview with TODAY’s Ann Curry on Tuesday that their daughter endured further taunts at a school function immediately after Jamey’s wake. At a homecoming dance she attended shortly after her brother’s death, a potentially poignant moment turned ugly after a song by Lady Gaga, Jamey’s favorite artist, who recently dedicated a song at a concert in his memory.
“She was having a great time, and all of a sudden a Lady Gaga song came on, and they all started chanting for Jamey, all of his friends,’’ Jamey’s mother, Tracy, told Curry. “Then the bullies that put him into this situation started chanting, ‘You’re better off dead!’ and ‘We’re glad you’re dead!’ and things like that.
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Frickin’ electricity, how does it work? : Pharyngula
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Most Expensive Wi-Fi Ever?
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A few days ago I was at Toronto’s International Centre for a conference when I wanted to access the Wi-Fi network to check my email.
I was shocked at the prices…
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Amputee forced to prove disability
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Fredrik Jansson of Skelleftea, who had to have his leg amputated while battling cancer, said the local government forces him to prove every three years that he still has trouble walking in order to keep his disabled parking permit, The Local reported Friday.
"It is ridiculous to say the least. It defies all common sense," Jansson said. "I go down to Umea once every three years and have a doctor establish my leg is still gone."
World’s Tallest iPod Dock is 11 Feet Tall, Costs $565k.
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It thoughtfully includes a built in ladder so you can dock your iPhone, iPad or iPod on the top – though how you control them from the couch once they’re up there is a bit of a mystery
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These are the people who are supposed to be keeping the masses informed.
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Wingsuit Base Jumping
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Long Beach Police Chief
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The Police Chief of Long Beach has confirmed that his department’s policy is to detain photographers who do nothing more than take pictures in public places, and that he neither has, nor plans to implement, any guidelines for these detentions. He classes photography with other "suspicious activity" such as "attempts to acquire illegal or illicit biological agent (anthrax, ricin, Eboli, smallpox, etc.)" and "In possession, or utilizes, explosives (for illegal purposes)."
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Actually Looked at the Apple Patent? They Could Stop ANYONE from Building a Tablet
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A German court on Tuesday granted Apple a preliminary injunction blocking the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the European Union, excluding the Netherlands.
(…) Back in 2010 Apple filed for a design patent for a screen with a bezel and a back…a tablet. They called it the handheld computer.
Take a look at the above design and tell me that doesn’t look like EVERY TABLET on the market. Apple has just chosen the most competitive Android tablet on the market and taken it down.
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Miss USA 2011 — Should Math Be Taught In Schools?
warning: parody
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And this is different in what way from the privatization of prisons?
Ah, of course – that’s why the marihuana laws cannot be revoked! It would be unconstitutional because it discriminates against prisons incarcerating offenders!