Vick hit with 23-month prison sentence

Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison Monday for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy that involved gambling and killing pit bulls.
The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback could have been sentenced up to five years by District Judge Henry E. Hudson. Vick was dressed in a black-and-white striped prison suit and apologized to the court and his family.
Vick acknowledged he used "poor judgment" and added, "I'm willing to deal with the consequences and accept responsibility for my actions."

Vick pleaded guilty in August, admitting he bankrolled the "Bad Newz Kennels" dogfighting operation and helped kill six to eight dogs.
In a plea agreement, he admitted bankrolling the dogfighting ring on his 15-acre property in rural southeastern Virginia and helping kill pit bulls that did not perform well in test fights. He also admitted providing money for bets on the fights but said he never shared in any winnings.

Hulk Hogan-getting a divorce

The Associated Press reports Hulk Hogan said in a court filing that his wife, who has filed for divorce, can support herself and can help support their 17-year-old son Nick.
Hogan's petition, filed Wednesday under his real name, Terry Bollea, also said Nick is old enough to decide which parent he wants to live with.
Linda Bollea, who filed for divorce earlier this month after 24 years of marriage, is seeking an unspecified amount of alimony and child support.
She also wants her home to be Nick Bollea's primary residence, with Hogan allowed liberal visitation, her petition states.
Hogan, 54, wants the couple's assets and liabilities equitably distributed. The celebrity wrestler intends to continue covering the family with health insurance, his petition states. The couple also have a 19-year-old daughter, Brooke. With the kids grown, he feels it’s time to move on. The source also told The Enquirer: “they’re not hiding their problems from the cameras.
Hogan's attorney, Ann Loughridge Kerr, said Friday she had no comment on the filings.
Nick Bollea is facing charges of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury in connection with an Aug. 26 crash in downtown Clearwater that left a friend critically injured.
Despite that, the two are still together taping the fourth season of the reality show “Hogan Knows Best.” “The marriage is over. The show is the glue that’s keeping them together,” divulged a source. “It’s Hulk who wants out."

No Chinese made toys for children this Christmas

According to CC reports -Lead on toys was bad enough, but last week's recall of a toy tainted with a date rape drug threatens to turn into a lump of coal for toy retailers just as the key holiday selling season gets started.
The recall of Aqua Dots comes just as the industry was starting to see shoppers return to toy stores after summer's high-profile recalls of more than 21 million Chinese-made toys with high levels of lead or dangerous magnets.
Aqua Dots, distributed by Spin Master Ltd. in the U.S. but made in China, was on many retailers' hot toy lists, and there are very few substitutes, retail executives say.
Reports of children knocked unconscious after swallowing the tiny colorful beads set off a whole new level of worry among parents.
The good news for shoppers is that they're being bombarded with free shipping offers and fat discounts as rivals like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys "R" Us try to out do each other and draw reticent consumers. Most of the discounting had been planned, but at least one toy retailer -- eToys.com -- added a free shipping offer after a disappointing October.
The beads were coated with a toxic chemical that metabolizes into gamma hydroxy butyrate or GHB -- the so-called date rape drug.
While many toy merchants say so far shoppers largely have not been rejecting Chinese-made toys -- which make up 80 percent of U.S. playthings -- they are being choosier.
Interactive showed that one-third of Americans say they will be buying fewer toys this holiday season due to safety concerns, and 45 percent said they will avoid buying toys made in China.

O.J just needs to lay low and stay out of trouble- or move to Mexico!

O.J just needs to lay low and stay out of trouble- or move to Mexico!
According to LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two weeks after O.J. Simpson and two other men were ordered to stand trial on kidnapping and armed robbery charges, the former football star and his co-defendants face arraignment.
The three men were due in court Wednesday to enter a plea and have a trial date set for the alleged armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers.
Simpson and co-defendants Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles "Charlie" Ehrlich were expected to plead not guilty to 12 charges. A 3 1/2-day preliminary hearing offered a nationally televised glimpse of what could come at trial -Simpson, Stewart and Ehrlich each face kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, coercion and conspiracy charges. A kidnapping conviction could bring a life sentence with the possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction carries mandatory prison time.

No new testimony was expected Wednesday, although defense lawyers have hinted at pretrial maneuvers that could affect the case. Lucherini has said he might move to separate his client's case from Simpson's.Galanter said he will seek a date "sometime next year," but declined to be more specific.Neither Stewart, 53, a Simpson friend and golfing buddy from North Las Vegas, nor Ehrlich, 53, a friend from Miami, are accused of wielding weapons during the alleged heist.
Simpson and his lawyers contend that he never asked anyone to bring guns to the hotel room at the Palace Station casino and he did not know anyone had guns.
Simpson, 60, of Miami, has maintained that he intended only to retrieve items that had been stolen from him by a former agent, including photographs, football awards and the suit he wore the day he was acquitted in 1995 of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Joran van der Sloot has denied involvement in Natalee Holloway's disappearance

Will we ever know what happened to Natalee Holloway?
A Dutch man who has been transferred from Netherlands to Aruba to face charges in the suspected death of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway will go before a judge in a closed hearing Monday afternoon.
The judge in the Caribbean island territory will determine if there is enough evidence against Joran van der Sloot, 20, to hold him for eight days, per Aruban law. Van der Sloot, the son of a judge in Aruba, was attending college in Netherlands when a Dutch court OK'd his transfer to Aruba, a Dutch territory, to face charges.
Van der Sloot and two men from Suriname -- brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 24, and Satish Kalpoe, 21 -- were allegedly the last people seen with Holloway after she left a bar in Aruba.
They are charged with "involvement in the voluntary manslaughter of Natalee Holloway or causing serious bodily harm to Natalee Holloway, resulting in her death."
Aruba's chief prosecutor said Friday that there is enough evidence to prove Natalee Holloway is dead -- even if the Alabama teenager's remains are never found. Aruban law does not require a body to prove someone is dead "and any day that passes now is just more evidence that she is not alive anymore.
In the recent investigation, advanced techniques were used to re-examine existing information, including cell phone records and text messages exchanged the night Holloway disappeared. Van der Sloot and the Kalpoes were the last people seen with Holloway as she left Carlos'n Charlie's nightclub in Oranjestad, Aruba, about 1:30 a.m. on May 30, 2005. The men have maintained they had nothing to do with her disappearance. She has not been found.

Kanye West's mom dies after cosmetic surgery

Could a law suit stem from this- is the surgons at any way at fault???
Hip-hop superstar Kanye West mother died after cosmetic surgery that at least one doctor told her could be dangerous.
Sources say Donda West, 58, received a combination breast reduction and tummy tuck and likely suffered uncontrolled bleeding after going home to recover from the radical operation.
One plastic surgeon who saw Donda West in June said he recommended she first get a cardiac stress test from an internist because of her age.
"Donda was pushing me, 'Can I go home after surgery?' But I told her it just doesn't work that way," said Dr. Andre Aboolian of Beverly Hills. "The most dangerous time after surgery is the first 48 hours. I told her you have to go to an overnight care facility with nurses who look after you."
West, a former chairwoman of the English Department at Chicago State University, died at 8:29p.m. Saturday at Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center in Marina Del Rey, Calif.
The Los Angeles County Coroner plans an autopsy by tomorrow, said LAPD Lt. Fred Corral. "We're looking at possible complications of surgery."

Death from cosmetic surgery is relatively rare, occurring in just one of 51,459 operations, according to the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
"If, for God's sake, the surgeon tells you it's too risky, don't find someone who will do it for you," said Dr. Richard D'Amico, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Sabotaged beauty queen?

These beauty pagents are getting out hand, first the Miss USA Tara Connors scandal now this...
The new Miss Puerto Rico swelled up with hives after someone allegedly doused her evening gown and makeup with pepper spray. The Village Voice's Michael Musto talks about the controversy.
Pepper spray failed to deter Ingrid Marie Rivera, who beat 29 rivals to become the island’s 2008 Miss Universe contestant.
Pageant organizers said they hope to catch and expose whoever was responsible for dousing Rivera’s evening gowns with pepper spray and spiking her makeup, causing her to break out in hives.
However, organizers said they are handling the investigation and police aren’t involved.
Rivera was composed while appearing before cameras and judges throughout the competition. But once backstage, she had to strip off her clothes and apply ice bags to her face and body, which swelled and broke out in hives twice.
Rivera was composed while appearing before cameras and judges throughout the competition. But once backstage, she had to strip off her clothes and apply ice bags to her face and body, which swelled and broke out in hives twice.

Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice Thursday and could go to prison instead of the Hall of Fame for telling a federal grand jury he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs.
The indictment came just three months after the San Francisco Giants star broke Hank Aaron's career home run record, and it culminated a four-year investigation into steroid use by elite athletes.
But for all the speculation and accusations that clouded his pursuit of Aaron, Bonds was never identified by Major League Baseball as testing positive for steroids, and personal trainer Greg Anderson spent most of the last year in jail for refusing to testify against his longtime friend.
Then came the indictment - four counts of perjury, one of obstruction of justice; a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison - and Bonds' lawyers seemed caught off guard.

No team will sign Bonds as a free agent now that he has been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice by the federal government.
If any club was even considering Bonds it will quickly abandon the idea, knowing his availability would be in question, his presence a crippling distraction and marketing nightmare.
It's over, folks — Bonds' playing career, and maybe any chance for him to reclaim his name.

More on the strike...

About 500 unionized news writers could soon join their creative colleagues at the picket lines. The writers, employees of CBS television and radio, are expected to overwhelmingly approve a strike authorization. Represented by Writers Guild of America East, the writers were scheduled to vote Thursday. WGA drama and comedy writers are entering the second week of an entertainment industry strike that has shaken network and cable television, threatening popular shows such as Fox's "24" and sending late-night talk shows, such as Comedy Central's "Daily Show with Jon Stewart," into unplanned reruns. The CBS television and radio writers have been working under an expired contract since April 2005, WGA East spokeswoman Sherry Goldman said. The strike authorization vote does not mean the writers—who work in New York, LA, Washington and Chicago—will necessarily stage a work stoppage, but neither side seemed optimistic. "CBS News is prepared for the possibility of a writers strike. We will continue to produce quality news programming for our viewers," CBS said in a statement. A spokeswoman said CBS News would not have any further comment. Goldman said the parties have not been at the negotiating table since January after the union rejected what CBS at the time called its final offer in November 2006. She said the employees balked at a wage package that would pay television and network radio workers a higher wage than local radio writers. The union also rejected CBS demands to assign nonunion staff certain writing duties currently reserved for union employees.

SECOND AMENDMENT

SECOND AMENDMENT
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

According to US Today.... the appeals court decision defying precedent on gun rights has reached the steps of the Supreme Court, carrying with it the potential for a seismic shift in laws across the nation.

Since 1939, the nation's judges had generally regarded the Second Amendment right "to keep and bear arms" as belonging to state militias, such as National Guard units, not to individual gun owners. But on March 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit interpreted the Second Amendment differently. The panel concluded that it protects an individual's right to firearms and struck down a Washington, D.C., ban on handguns.
Now the justices are poised to announce today whether they will take up the case. The court's last major ruling on gun rights came in 1939 in United States v. Miller, when the justices said the Second Amendment covers a collective right of militias.

This is the most significant Second Amendment case to come before the court, maybe ever, but especially since the Miller case," says Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "There are a lot of cities, a lot of states, looking at this. It could affect gun laws across the country. It could end up playing a role in the 2008 elections."

"Every American who owns a firearm would cheer the court taking this," he adds. "I don't see how the justices could come to any other decision than that it is an individual right."
A Gallup Poll last month found that 42% of those surveyed had a gun in their home. Asked whether there should be a ban on the possession of handguns, 30% said yes, 68% said no, and 2% had no opinion.

STRIKE UPDATE

The first day of the Writers’ Guild strike passed with several developments and an apparent hardening of the two sides’ positions.
ABC’s Cashmere Mafia, which had been given a start date of 11/27, became the first casualty of the strike; the Alphabet net will now keep the show on hold rather than start it and run out of episodes without the ability to order more if it is successful...... As expected, all the late night shows immediately went into reruns on Comedy Central and on the broadcast networks......The Hollywood Reporter said “for most part, the shows go on,” but several cast members
of The Office did not show up for work on Monday; nor did Ellen DeGeneres for her syndicated talk show that only had yesterday’s and today’s shows already in the can.
THR says it’s not yet clear what will happen with that show; her syndicated stations will not be pleased if Ellen goes into reruns in the middle of the November sweep......Variety
notes that both sides are saying they want to get back to the bargaining table, but no talks were scheduled as of Tuesday morning and the publication says it will likely be
up to the writers to get the negotiations moving again.......Picket lines in New York were drawing a lot of attention as several members of the Saturday Night Live cast were carrying picket signs, including Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers, as well as Tina Fey of 30 Rock.

Congress has listened and will vote on a bill...

As a Livestrong avodcate I am excited to annoce that Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) has been lobbying Congress for months working to increase funding for both the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, as well as cancer programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
We've just received word that Congress has listened and will vote on a bill that would provide a:
3.1% increase for the National Institutes of Health
2.7% increase for the National Cancer Institute
5 % increase for CDC's Cancer Prevention and Control programs
If passed, this would mark the first increase in funding in years! Put simply, the more money that goes to these institutions, the more money that is invested in the fight against cancer.
There are 10.5 million cancer survivors living in the U.S. today so this bill coudl affect a ton of people, including myself- since my mom just recently died of cancer as well as all of my grandparents. Great and exciting news.

Family Guy getting sued

In class we discussed shows like South Park and Family guy getting sued based on celebrity likeness as well offensive material. Well I found an October 2007 article regarding the latest law suit for Family Guy.
In the case the plaintiff, Bourne Co. (“Bourne”), is suing for its complaint against defendant TwentiethCentury Fox Film Corporation. The copyright owner of “When You Wish Upon a Star” has sued Fox over “I Need a Jew.” In the episode, Peter Griffin can’t manage his family’s finances so he decides he needs a Jewish person to handle his money. Hence, the song “I Need a Jew.”

This action arises from defendants’ willful infringement of plaintiff’s copyright interests in the famous and iconic song. “When You Wish Upon a Star” is one of the most famous songs of all time. The song was originally written for Walt Disney.
According to Law Blog "It looks like Bourne (big-time music publisher ) has a good case, but it will have to be able to demonstrate that this parody has harmed the value of its original song."

Bloggers Geting Sued

Blogs are unedited opinionated written posting in real time-- makes them ripe for lawsuits from people who don't like what they write. Even the most successful bloggers probably don't have the money or the expertise to fight a big-time libel suit.

I researched a bit and found this article...Bloggers Getting Sued
Robert Cox knows all about it. He got letter from the New York Times' attorneys when they didn't like a satirical Web site he posted on the newspaper's correction policy in 2004. The Times eventually dropped their legal action and Cox helped persuade editors to change their correction policy. But the experience prompted Cox to establish the Media Bloggers Association.

The association is a non-partisan group that is promoting grassroots blogs. It currently has about 1,000 members. The Media Bloggers Association is also helping mediate and litigate about 100 legal cases against bloggers with the help of lawyers working pro bono.
Cox said most bloggers are writing things that put them at tremendous risk for libel lawsuits. But few have any real means of defending themselves.

The Media Bloggers Association also has a bloggers ethics code on its site.
It states, in part:
Use your own name and offer a means for readers to communicate with you. Engage your readers and trust them to form their own judgments and conclusions. Correct your mistakes promptly using strikethroughs or editor's notes.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Last week I posed the question "Should bloggers operate under the same immunity journalists do?"

In retrospect, maybe a better question should be what rights are still sacred for journalists?

Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada are writers for the San Francisco Chronicle that recently published the book 'Game of Shadows'- an expose on the ramped use of steroids in major league baseball. Specifically on one of baseball's all time greats: Barry Bonds. When the book was first released, their source had given them definitive confirmation that Mr. Bonds had confessed to using steroids in a sworn deposition to a California Grand Jury, therefore proving a well know rumor that Mr. Bonds came of his extraordinary achievements in the game under false pretenses’. Later it was revealed that this Grad Jury testimony was actually leaked illegally to the authors and that they needed to surrender their source or face contempt of court charges.

While many contend that confidential sources have been utilized by the press since the beginning of its existence, others believe that by not revealing their confidential sources, Fainaru-Wada and Williams are, in effect, obstructing justice and should be punished accordingly. Luckily for the First Amendment they chose to be imprisoned rather than surrender their source. But I think the fact that a judge, in arguably the most liberal city in America, felt it his obligation to punish these members of the press instead of upholding their right to get information through protected sources. Does this mean that even if we wanted to hold bloggers to the same standards as journalists, we couldn't?

Why? Because the accountibilty paradigm is shifting. And it may be moving in the wrong direction.

Blogging- First Amendment right

The Internet was for everyone to uphold the First Amendment right of free-speech. The Internet is the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed.Blogs fulfill this participatory, speech-enhancing function, allowing individuals to cover and talk about any subject in detail.
Blogs are online journals or diaries where individuals can post daily entries about the subjects of their choice. Bloggers write about everything; there are blogs on almost every subject imaginable. Just as with any mode of communication, blogs can involve a variety of First Amendment interests. My question is should bloggers be subject to repercussions of their words if offensive or deeming? Do some bloggers take First Amendment freedoms too far?