Posts

Experts say that the FDA lacks the vision to protect the U.S. food supply. The Institute of Medicine issued a critical report on Tuesday submitting that the FDA’s ability to discover threats to and prevent outbreaks of foodborne illnesses are hampered by impediments to efficient use of its limited resources. Further, the FDA’s piecemeal approach to gathering and using information on risks presents further problems. The Institute of Medicine believes the FDA should implement a risk-based approach to direct appropriate amounts of resources and attention to high risk areas and increase the chances of catching problems before they turn into widespread outbreaks....

Certain jobs come with special perks. And while legislators aren’t royalty, they receive one of hallmarks of the throne: legislative immunity. Republican Scott Bundgaard, state senate majority leader of Arizona, was recently able to take advantage of legislative immunity after a domestic violence dispute. However, his girlfriend, Aubry Ballard, 34, was arrested for domestic violence assault in the incident. According to Phoenix police, Scott Bundgaard reportedly pulled Ballard out of a car stopped next to a median on the road....

A nationwide class action lawsuit over excessive amounts of lead paint in “Thomas the Tank Engine” toy sets has settled for $30 million. The suit, filed against toy manufacturer RC2 Corporation in the Circuit Court of Cook County (Illinois), included thousands of class members. In a Press Release announcing the settlement, RC2 stated that the agreement – which is expected to receive final approval in the next few months – “would resolve all class claims of persons in the United States who purchased or own recalled Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway products which were recalled in June and September of 2007....

New York library porn may soon have its shelf life shortened. Two New York City councilmembers have announced they will introduce a bill to criminalize viewing porn in New York City’s public libraries. The library porn ban would apply when a minor is within 100 feet, reports the New York Post. Unlike many city libraries, the New York City library system currently makes no restriction on adult Internet use, other than filtering out illegal obscenity and child pornography as required by U....

New York may be ready to legalize nunchucks, but not carrying guns in public. A district court judge upheld New York’s current concealed-carry law, New York State Penal Law Section 400.00 (2)(f), which requires petitioners to show “proper cause” for the need to carry a loaded firearm outside the home. New York, like many states in America, allows for guns to be in homes, but carried outside only for hunting purposes....

With the Toyota recall hogging the headlines, with its brake problems, fatal accidents and allegation of hiding safety information, it’s not surprising that people are attuned to news about auto recall – including now a Nissan recall prompted by brake problems and fuel gauge errors. At the Congressional hearing, we heard Senator Inouye (D-Hawaii) say that the problems with auto safety aren’t specific to Toyota, but rather industry-wide shortcomings. He must have been speaking clairvoyantly about Nissan....

Pablo Picasso said that good artists copy and great artists steal. So does that make sampling a song without paying an act of artistic genius? The answer to that would depend on who you ask. Certainly, if you look at the most recent ruling approving Madonna’s use of a sliver of another song in her hit “Vogue,” you might think Picasso had a point. The decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is controversial, according to The Hollywood Reporter, creating a split between circuits, or federal appeals courts around the country....

As the media-fed public furor grows over struggling insurance giant American International Group’s (AIG) payout of millions in bonuses to executives, the New York Times reported that President Obama announced he has requested that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pursue “every single legal avenue” to prevent the bonuses. This comes just after AIG on Sunday “unexpectedly released the names of dozens of trading partners it has paid using billions in taxpayer dollars”....

Mom taught us to wash our hands after using the bathroom, or before handling food, right? But what if refillable soap containers spread more bacteria than the soap kills? What is soap bacteria, anyway? Recent research has revealed that as many as one in four refillable soap dispensers in public bathrooms contain bacteria that can cause illness, reports Medcape.com. And a new study found one Ohio elementary school where every soap dispenser contained bacteria known to cause illness, reports msnbc....

The Super Freak is back from the grave! Okay, no he isn’t. But his estate is. On the heels of the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear Universal Music Group’s (UMG) appeal of a 9th Circuit decision awarding Eminem 50% of all digital royalties, funk legend Rick James’ estate has filed suit. It’s a class action, too. Prior to the digital revolution, artists received a different royalty rate for “sales”–which covered CD’s, vinyl and tapes–and “licenses”–which included other various uses....

Most of the time, 10-Ks, 10-Qs, and annual reports can be pretty dull stuff. At least that’s what a new SEC Inspector General’s report on why the agency failed to ‘discover’ Madoff’s Ponzi scheme suggests. But every once in a while, the seemingly dry and monotonous business of regulating financial trading and securities enforcement comes alive. Like when S.E.C. officials failed discover Madoff’s securities fraud and criminal wrongdoing despite a host of formal complaints made between 1992 and 2008....

Jared Fogle is looking at another 15 years of eating sandwiches … but not from Subway. He’ll be in prison for possessing child pornography and having sex with two minors. The former Subway spokesman who made a name for himself by getting skinny eating sandwiches pled his criminal case up to a judge today. She denied the proposed plea deal – a much shorter prison sentence offered by prosecutors – and gave him a more severe punishment, TMZ reports....

Retired New York Giant player Michael Strahan may have taken any “spy” defense employed during his football career to a whole new level after he tracked his former girlfriend Nicole Murphy (who also happens to be the ex-wife of Eddie Murphy) using a spy gadget of some sort. Apparently, Strahan may have been concerned (perhaps with good reason) about Nicole Murphy’s potential interest in recording exec Demetrius Spencer. It looks like Strahan is not new to the world of secret surveillance, however, as the New York Post indicated:...

The Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination does not apply to encrypted laptops, according to a federal judge in Colorado. The judge came to this conclusion in the case of Ramona Fricosu, a woman accused of bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Investigators believe her encrypted laptop holds vital evidence, but she has refused to provide her password. Instead, she hid behind the Fifth Amendment, claiming it protects her from a court order to decrypt the laptop....

George Zimmerman’s murder trial began with jury selection on Monday, after yet another denied request from the defense to delay the trial. Prosecutors and defense attorneys began picking potential jurors to hear the case, in which Zimmerman has been accused of killing Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teenager, reports USA Today. As in any murder trial, picking jurors is crucial, and there are several factors that will play into who is on Zimmerman’s jury....

If you have been accused of a crime and are looking for a criminal defense lawyer, you should consult with a few attorneys. That may sound costly and time consuming but it need not be – many lawyers consult for free or a minimal fee and will be happy to discuss your case. Talking to a few different attorneys will give you a sense of your prospective lawyers’ different styles, fees, and experience....

Manhattan police have arrested Alec Baldwin stalker Genevieve Sabourin, a Canadian actress who met the actor on the set of the 2002 film The Adventures of Pluto Nash. It’s unclear how long she has been harassing Baldwin, but her behavior reached creepy territory in the past few weeks. Sabourin reportedly flew down from Montreal to harass Baldwin while he was in the Hamptons. A few days later, when back in the city, she allegedly showed up at an event....

A provision of Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law that forbids day laborers to look for work violates the First Amendment, the 9th Circuit has ruled. The provision aimed at day laborers and employers who hire them is unconstitutional and unenforceable, a three-judge federal appeals court panel ruled. The panel rejected the state’s argument that it can make it a crime for someone looking for work to enter a car stopped on the street....

The City of Baltimore joined Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Philadelphia in decriminalizing pot possession, even though they reside in non-legalized states. State Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced in January that her office will decline to prosecute any marijuana possession cases, regardless of the amount or the prior criminal history of the person in question. The recreational possession or use remains illegal under federal law and in the State of Maryland. So how will the prosecutorial prohibition work?...

Miley Cyrus’ parents, Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus, are divorcing after 19 years of marriage. The couple almost split up in 2011, according to E! News, but later reconciled. Now, it looks as though things have gotten rocky again. Tish, 46, checked the box to select “irreconcilable differences” as her reason for wanting to divorce Billy Ray, 51, according to papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. But Billy Ray has apparently filed for divorce in Nashville, Tennessee....