Stevens Guilty of Felony Charges Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Senate Republican in history and patriarch of Alaska politics, was found guilty of felony charges for making false statements. The verdict could spell the end of a 40-year Senate career for a man who rose to be one of the most dominant figures in the upper chamber and who helped transform Alaska in its 50 years of statehood. The verdict was reached after the jury deliberated since Wednesday and found the 84-year-old senator guilty of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts from Bill Allen, the former head of Veco Corp., and other friends.
Drunk drivers are losing part of their 15 minutes of shame after a judge's ruling deemed that New York's Nassau County had been violating due process by
posting the mug shots of DWI suspects on its Internet "Wall of Shame." The county began posting the mug shots of DWI arrests on Memorial Day, and has since
been sued by one woman who was pictured. She said the online gallery was unconstitutional as it was posted before her trial.
Bow wowee! I'm super duper pleased to announce that both the Senate and the House of Representatives approved the "Puppy Mill Bill" in Pennsylvania yesterday! Affecting any commercial breeder selling or transferring more than 60 dogs per year, the main change in the approved bill is that owners get three years to comply with the long list of regulations to make their kennels more humane .
The trial of a 72-year-old former left-wing terrorist group founder, and current neo-Nazi, began today in Germany. Horst Mahler is
accused of posting documents online denying the Holocaust. Mahler likes trouble, as he received an 11-month sentence last year for delivering the Nazi salute at his prison booking for a previous conviction.
After being
found guilty of kidnapping and robbery, OJ Simpson is being being held away from other prisoners for his own safety, and is planning a motion for new trial. He's waiting to see if he'll be released on bond pending that appeal, a move considered unlikely due to the seriousness of the crimes he was convicted of. His attorney said Simpson will be alone, is planning not to do media interviews and is allowed to see only family members and a few friends.
Ever been tagged in an embarrassing Facebook pic? In the UK you might just have a legal leg to stand on to stop those pictures from ever being taken. One 28-year-old mailman was
just fined $200 for snapping what the judge deemed an "unchivalrous" photo of a woman.
Over a two days this week, Oregon State Police and sheriffs (perhaps better known by their
CB radio code, "Boy Scouts") hitched a ride with big-rig truckers on the
hunt for aggressive drivers who wouldn't suspect a "Smokey" ride along and wouldn't have time to "brush their teeth and comb their hair" (shout out for a radar trap ahead.)
Leaving the "bubble gum machine" (cop car) at home, the troopers were able to nab 38 drivers in just two days. From their shotgun perches, most of the drivers were ticketed for driving over a "double nickel" (55 mph) and never saw it coming.
The ODOT safety manager says "Research shows that most truck vs.
The US isn't the only country with a
firm eye on terrorism — and they're certainly not alone walking the tricky line between government abilities to crack down in meaningful ways and civil liberties. The British House of Commons is set to vote on a measure allowing police to detain people for up to 42 days without charge if they're suspected of terrorism-related activities.
Human rights organizations are outraged by the provision.
A judge in New York City has
thrown out a lawsuit alleging that "Ladies' Night" pricing at bars and nightclubs discriminates against men. The lawsuit was brought by an attorney known for his fight against gender-specific constructs like suing Columbia University for its Women's Studies department. (Have you heard the one about the Men's Studies department?
Perhaps fearing scenes just like this dotting older neighborhoods, the town of Lincoln, NE, just
passed a law banning indoor furniture from being used outside. The development could have big ramifications on the chillaxing abilities of the town's large population of college students, traditionally grand proponents of the "porch couch."
The city council voted 5-2 in favor of the new measure, and no one testified against the proposal during the open public hearing.
