I’m happy to report that sanity reigns in San Diego — in the federal court, at least. Only two days after hearing argument, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller dismissed a silly lawsuit brought by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that argued that five killer whales are subject to the 13th Amendment of [...]
Posts Tagged ‘America’
Provocative Lawsuits, And The Constitutional Rights Of Killer Whales (II)
Posted in America, tagged America, Killer Whales, law, Lawsuits, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA, Slavery, United States Constitution on February 9, 2012 | 1 Comment »
On A Romantic, Court-Ordered Date At Red Lobster
Posted in America, Humor, tagged America, bowling, Florida, Humor, law, Marriage, News, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster on February 9, 2012 | 1 Comment »
In Florida, a judge hearing a domestic violence charge has ordered the husband accused of the misconduct to take his wife to dinner at Red Lobster and then bowling. The case arose when the man failed to wish his wife a happy birthday. They got into a fight, and she says he pushed her against [...]
Provocative Lawsuits, And The Constitutional Rights Of Killer Whales
Posted in America, tagged America, Killer Whales, law, Lawsuits, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA, Slavery, United States Constitution on February 7, 2012 | 2 Comments »
The BBC reports on a lawsuit by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals against Sea World. The case argues that killer whales have rights just as humans do and that keeping such whales in captivity violates the constitutional prohibition against slavery. The lawsuit is pending in federal court in San Diego and purportedly was brought [...]
Halftime In America? (II)
Posted in America, Politics, TV, tagged America, Chrysler, Clint Eastwood, Detroit, Politics, President Obama, TV on February 6, 2012 | 2 Comments »
As I suspected, the Clint Eastwood “Halftime in America” commercial for Chrysler that aired during last night’s Super Bowl turned out to be quite controversial. This AP article discusses some of the reaction to the ad from various points on the political spectrum and quotes Eastwood as saying the ad was not intended to be [...]
Halftime In America?
Posted in America, TV, tagged America, Chrysler, Clint Eastwood, Detroit, Super Bowl commercials, TV on February 6, 2012 | 1 Comment »
I expect that the most talked-about commercial from the Super Bowl is the Chrysler ad featuring Clint Eastwood. In the commercial, the gravelly voiced Eastwood says that just as it is halftime in the Super Bowl, it’s halftime in America, too. Times are tough, he says. We’re down and out of work, we don’t understand [...]
A Glimmer On The Horizon
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, Jobs, Politics, President Obama, Republicans, The Economy, Unemployment on February 4, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Yesterday’s unemployment report contained some good news, for a change. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released data stating that 243,000 new jobs were created, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent. Both results are better than what economists and analysts — who never seem to be right — were expecting. There are some curious [...]
From Grandpa’s Bookshelf: The Masters of Achievement
Posted in America, tagged America, American culture, Family, Grandma and Grandpa Neal, Masters of Achievement on January 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
One of the largest — and most tattered — books on Grandpa’s bookshelf is a volume called Masters of Achievement. From its condition, it obviously was a favorite, read over and over again. What kind of book was so well-thumbed? Masters of Achievement was published by the Frontier Press Company of Buffalo, N.Y. in 1913. [...]
Are Federal Workers Overpaid? (II)
Posted in America, Politics, Work, tagged America, Congressional Budget Office, Federal Employees, Federal Workers, Government Employees, Politics, Private-sector employees, Work on January 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
About a year ago I wrote a post about whether federal employees are overpaid. It’s a never-ending debate — and now the Congressional Budget Office has weighed in. The CBO conducted a study that compared the wages, benefits, and overall compensation of federal employees and private-sector employees who shared certain comparable observable characteristics. The study [...]
Syria On The Brink Of Chaos
Posted in World, tagged America, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Middle East, Russia, Syria, United Nations, World, World War I on January 30, 2012 | 10 Comments »
It’s bad in Syria, and it seems to be getting worse. This is not good news for the United States, or the world. Fighting between Syrian government troops and rebels apparently is raging across the country. The rebels are reporting that 95 people were killed in clashes that reached the suburbs of Damascus. Syrian [...]
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close
Posted in America, Movies, tagged 9/11, America, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, John Goodman, Max von Sydow, Movies, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Viola Davis on January 28, 2012 | 1 Comment »
I wasn’t sure I was ready to see Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close. Even though 10 years have passed, 9/11 still is a very raw and difficult memory. The film is about a New York City family’s response to a 9/11 loss that leaves a gaping void in their lives — but it is about [...]
Bolting The Volt
Posted in America, tagged America, Automobiles, Capitalism, cars, Chevrolet, Chevy Volt, GM, Hybrid cars on January 28, 2012 | 2 Comments »
It hasn’t been easy for the Chevy Volt. Announced with great fanfare as the electric hybrid, alternative energy car of the future, the Volt has had problems getting traction with consumers. The most recent news is that some Chevrolet dealers don’t want to take their allotment of Volts. The sales of the car have been [...]
Tuning Out
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, TV, tagged America, Politics, President Obama, recession, State Of The Union speech, The Economy, TV, Unemployment on January 26, 2012 | 1 Comment »
I didn’t watch the President’s State of the Union speech earlier this week. It turns out I’m not alone. According to the New York Times, 37.8 million viewers watched the President’s speech. That’s down from 42.8 million in 2011, 48 million in 2010, and 52.3 million for the President’s 2009 speech to Congress. In short, [...]
Reasonable Expectations Of Privacy In A Digital Age
Posted in America, crime, Technology, tagged America, Cell Phones, crime, Criminal Justice, Fourth Amendment, Supreme Court, Technology, United States Constitution on January 25, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Earlier this week the Supreme Court decided an interesting case that begins what will be a long process of determining how the criminal justice protections of the Constitution apply to knotty issues raised by our increasingly linked-in, networked, mobile device-oriented age. The case raised the question of whether prosecutors could attach a GPS device to [...]
Ending Endorsements
Posted in America, Politics, TV, tagged America, Chicago Sun-Times, Fox News, MSNBC, Newspaper endorsements, newspapers, Politics, TV on January 23, 2012 | 1 Comment »
The Chicago Sun-Times has announced that it will no longer endorse particular political candidates for election. The Sun-Times concludes — accurately, in my view — that people don’t pay a lot of attention to newspaper endorsements anymore, that there are lots of other sources of information available to voters now, and that many people just [...]
