Free Republic

Via Red State, I find disturbing audio of California Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, speaking in glowing terms about Jesse Jackson, who she did work with while at Hewlett Packard. Here's what she had to say: "And I thought about something that the Reverend Jesse Jackson said to me several years ago. He very graciously came to the offices of Hewlett Packard to visit me, because we were doing some work together for his Rainbow Coalition. And he said to me, 'You know, Carly, every game is better when everybody gets to play.' And I thought it was such a...

Lane v. Facebook, Case No. 08-3845 RS (N.D. Cal.) (Order re Attorney Fees) The lawsuit over Facebook's ill-fated Beacon program generated three lawsuits, a lot of wrangling by class action lawyers, and more than a few blog posts (e.g., "Beacon Class Action Settlement Approved;" "Stop Saying 'We Can Amend This Agreement Whenever We Want'!;" "Texas Class Action Aims to Derail Facebook Beacon Settlement"). Judge Seeborg recently approved the settlement, which included the formation of a privacy foundation funded by Facebook. (Here's an earlier post of mine summarizing the then-proposed terms of the settlement.)The one item pending was the amount of...

I’ve commented repeatedly in the past about how DUI roadblocks (MADD prefers the less oppressive term "sobriety checkpoints") are inefficient at apprehending drunk drivers. See Do DUI Roadblocks Work?, Do DUI Roadblocks Work (Part II), As a means of apprehending drunk drivers, even law enforcement admits they are only effective as a deterrent — i.e., keeping people off the streets. See DUI Logic: Roadblocks Effective – Because They’re Inefective, Purpose of DUI Roadblocks: "Shock and Awe". So why are cops using more and more DUI roadblocks? Simple: They are goldmines. See DUI: Government’s Cash Cow, What if the Cash Cow...

President Barack Obama warmly welcomed trade union leaders into the White House as he reversed restrictions on organised labour set up by the Bush administration. Promising to "level the playing field" for workers, he offered the most pro-union sentiments heard from a US president for many years. "I do not view the labour movement as part of the problem. To me, it's part of the solution," said Mr Obama, who was accused of being a Socialist by the Republican Right during the election campaign. He was speaking at the launch of a Task Force for Middle Class and Working Families...

The economy is in the toilet. So do yourself a favor and ease up on the accelerator. That's the indirect message of a recent study by two economists, who found that when government revenues dry up, police write more speeding tickets. After analyzing 14 years of data in North Carolina, the pair found that for every 1 percent drop in government revenue, the number of traffic tickets issued per capita increases by 30 percent the following year. “It's significant,” said University of Arkansas-Little Rock economics professor Gary Wagner, who co-authored Red Ink in the Rearview Mirror: Local Fiscal Conditions and...

It seems like only a week ago that The Ticket was whining about Barack Obama whining that after raising $605 million through September to buy the presidency, he was asking all of us one last time for just $10 more for some reason. And we figured out that, October money aside, he'd have to spend $12.5 million a day just to unload September's haul by Nov. 4. The Democrat is already outspending the Republican by three and four-to-one, which if it was the other way around would surely be unconscionable. So last night Obama dumped several million bucks on several...

Patrol fires 12 troopers in cheating case Thursday, September 11, 2008 3:21 AM FROM THE (CANTON) REPOSITORY CANTON -- Twelve officers accused of cheating on a certification test for a device used to gather evidence against intoxicated drivers have been fired from the State Highway Patrol. Patrol spokesman Lt. Tony Bradshaw said it's the first time in the law-enforcement agency's 75-year history that so many officers have been let go at once. The patrol said the three sergeants and eight troopers from the Canton post and one Wooster trooper cheated on a certification exam for administering breath tests to determine...

I can't help but notice that the NYS Police, the Sheriff's, and the local town and city cops no longer walk the beat or do much "protecting" They are trained now to make their primary priority issuing minor tickets that have big fines. Offense: Cell phone use = $150 bucks They also are trained to scan your auto inspection sticker, one day out of inspection and you may pay $200. Speed traps, you name it, Police are now a profit center first and foremost, more reason for people who want to prtect themselves to purchase the guns of their choice.

Among the thousands of drivers who have been issued $40 fines after being nabbed by Montgomery County's new speed cameras are scores of county police officers. The difference is, many of the officers are refusing to pay. The officers are following the advice of their union, which says the citations are issued not to the driver but to the vehicle's owner -- in this case, the county. That view has rankled Police Chief J. Thomas Manger and County Council Member Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville), who chairs the Public Safety Committee. "You can't have one set of laws for police officers and...

A car repair firm has been taken to court accused of infringing musical copyright because its employees listen to radios at work. The action against the Kwik-Fit Group has been brought by the Performing Rights Society which collects royalties for songwriters and performers. At a procedural hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh a judge refused to dismiss the £200,000 damages claim. Kwik-Fit wanted the case brought against it thrown out. Lord Emslie ruled that the action can go ahead with evidence being heard. The PRS claimed that Kwik-Fit mechanics routinely use personal radios while working at service centres...

“It began as a favor to a friend, and ended as a labor of love.” So said public television host and veteran journalist Llewellyn King about reading the novel "Point of Entry," by author Peter Schecter, whom King knew and liked very much. King began the novel (about political intrigue between Columbia and the U.S. in the near future) as a favor to his friend and completed it as an true fan. That’s about where I am after reading "Foundations of Betrayal: How the Super-Rich Undermine America," by Phil Kent. A veteran public relations man and former editor of the...

Evelyn won't return my phone calls. So that means she's ignoring me. Or she wants to talk to me, but can't, because the Recording Industry Association of America won't let her. In December, Evelyn found out she had been targeted by the RIAA in its ever increasing crusade against children, mothers and senior citizens who don't uncheck the "share" option in their peer-to-peer downloading software. The Daily Texan office received Evelyn's call on the last press day before winter break. She had received a notice from Time Warner stating that they were subpoenaed into releasing her personal information in a...