In a case where originally Facebook sued Power.com for copyright infringement, now Power.com is grabbing the headlines in counterclaims.  However, that maybe all that Power.com gets as its original counterclaims that Facebook had engaged in unfair competition violated antitrust laws were dismissed by Judge Jeremy Fogel the federal judge in San Jose California. 

Power.com has now amended its counterclaims and is saying that Facebook’s obvious success in gaining market share and the fact that new competitors haven’t been able to make significant in roads,  shows that the company has engaged in “anti-scrapping tactics” with its competitors.  Some antitrust legal experts are dubious about the merits of these claims (see article linked above).

What will Obama say to Nathan Deal?
OFFICIAL REQUEST BY CONGRESSMEN TO SEE OBAMA’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE WILL BE THE STRAW WHICH BREAKS THIS CAMEL’S BACK

Article: The Post & Email

Georgia’s representative in the U.S. House, Nathan Deal announced in early November that he and 10 House colleagues were going to sign a joint letter, asking Obama to publicly reveal his birth certificate.

The simple enough question was rebuffed and ridiculed by the Main Stream Media, and even the Savannah Morning News, as if a birth certificate was some sort of private journal or diary of past affairs.

The mere fact that the liberals and progressives ridiculed Nathan Deal — whose only interest is to quiet the nation — shows that they have no substantive reason to oppose the request. It further shows that they know that Obama cannot oblige Deal and his co-signatories, for in Democratic circles nothing is a secret.

That’s not how liberals work, Mr. Deal. Sure, your intentions may be good, and yes, BHussein releasing his actual LEGITIMATE Birth Certificate WOULD silence those of us who ARE concerned… but he won’t. He has something to hide and he KNOWS it. What other explanation can there be?

What will Obama say to Nathan Deal?

The answer must come soon. Deal said that he was to send his letter after Thanksgiving. Any delay on the part of Barack Hussein Obama to oblige Deal, will only further erode his political influence in Washington, D.C..

Obama has been effectively checkmated by the concerted effort of public support, publicized lawsuits on the eligibility question, publicity campaigns such as those of World Net Daily and Charles Kerchner to put the issue in the face of liberals on a constant basis, and blogs and bloggers the world over.

If Obama obliges him, then the online image of a Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) provided by his campaign will be proven a forgery, according to the consensus of opinion of citizens who have studied the images posted on the net and found some images of the allegedly same document, contain a HI State seal and some do not.

If Obama does refuses, however, it will only further confirm that he has something to hide.

Palins remark that it is a valid issue and Ogden’s resignation as Deputy U.S. Attorney General in the same week, following the sending of Nathan Deal’s letter, appear to be diagnostic signs that the political establishment understands the risks and imminent crisis about to break. The publicity garnered by the testimony of the U.S. Marine, who goes by the nik, Race Bannon, only further tilt the Obama regime towards political implosion.

Even the pulse of Obama’s political support on the net tells the tale: a lull and quiet among them posting comments at opposition blogs is noticeable. There remain only the violent, the perverse and the somewhat mad to carry on the cheers of “Change,” which were the mind numbing drum beat of the Obama for American campaign, just 14 months ago.

The political momentum of the nation now follows diverse roads to the same destination, and the resulting fireworks are going to be much brighter and invigorating than those of any Fourth of July in many a year!

It has been just a month or two since Window 7 was launched. So adj1 (much hyped OR much awaited) , this latest windows was out on October 22 this year.

“Too slow” was my personnel issue with windows vista so hence, I was also looking for the launch day too. I must say many thanks to Abhinav Goyal who helped me in installation ( in fact he did it ). And now I am very happy.

Anyhow, let me not derail from the topic.

I think, Microsoft people must be enjoying since then, until Implicit Networks spoiled their party. They have recently filed a fresh lawsuit against the software giant, Microsoft.

According to the plaintiff, Windows 7 is infringing upon USP 6629163 and now they want the defendant to pay the damages.

I looked upon the independent claims of this patent and found it very generic. The validity of this patent can be challenged as the claims are very broad and I feel it is a prerequisite process for receiving any information in the receiver.

I believe this method is quiet likely to be known before December 29, 1999.

Lets see what Microsoft has to say about it.

thursday December 3, 2009 9:07 pm

mom is asleep on the couch, as she is tired of pulling it out and has scrunched herself up really small.  it’s kind of cute, though i don’t imagine it will continue to be comfortable.

found out, today, where the native speakers bar is.  it’s in the rynek, across from the information center.  i’ll have to check it out tomorrow, or something.

today was the day for errands, so we put a ton of time on my cell phone and then opened a bank account.  then i had my one class for the day, a group of young adults who spoke polish the whole time.  ok, that’s not fair, it wasn’t the whole time.  this was the group i sat in on last week, my first day here, and i was shocked, then, how much polish was being spoken.  i need to figure out a way to make them stop, without being a disciplinarian, or bribing them.

games?  fun?  need something.  my first thought was to have a contest to see how little they could speak polish, and whoever spoke the least got something.  but what?  and what the fuck, that’s bribing, isn’t it?  i need to get some opinions from some other teachers.  it really threw me off, that they wouldn’t stop even when i was standing there clapping my hands and yelling.

sucks.

it’s been such a difficult week, and i’m going to have to learn quick how to not suck at this.  no, i don’t suck, i’m just thrown so easily by some things, and it’s hard to get back on my feet.  or maybe i just kick myself for things a little harder than i need to .  Gordon always told me i was too hard on myself, whenever we were teaching together.  then again … yeah, whatever.

i think it just sank in, that i opened a bank account.  wow, that feels like a big thing.  i wasn’t really expecting to do that, and then i kept hearing that it was a good idea, and then work told me that it was easier to do direct deposit, so now i have a bank account in Poland.  whoah.

i feel this huge urge to get settled in a way that is not possible at the moment.  it makes me feel anxious and annoyed.  i don’t know what to do about it.  and i …

whatever.

anyway, today we took the bus to the Poczta Głowa, or the main post office, and then walked from one end of ulica Walowa to the other.  Walowa is a circular street that winds around the top of Old Town Square, the former site, i think, of a protective wall.  i need to look that up and find out if that is true, or if i just think it is true.  it’s crazy cobblestones and closed to traffic, though a car flew through it today, so i guess it is not entirely closed to traffic.  it is always crowded with people, which feels really nice.  ul Krakowska, the street my school (and now bank) is on, winds downhill to the west of the Old Town, beginning at one end of Walowa.  It is also always full of people.  at Walowa and Krakowska is the former site of my school, until two months ago.  It would be nice if it was still there, though the crowds may be annoying in the tourist season.  i remember this city, in the height of summer, full of drunken brits, and hard to maneuver through, even though it was pouring.

i want to walk to work more often.  i wish i didn’t have these fucking course books to carry with me all the time.  argh.  who wanted to be a teacher, again?

i was walking up krakowska to the rynek, to use the internet at the restaurant there, the only place we have found with free wifi, and i almost twisted my ankle in a giant gap between cobblestones.  this was refreshing, in a way.  i noticed this in prague, as well; there is a noticeable lack of fear about pending lawsuits everywhere.  it’s a stereotype, yes, and one of my students commented on it (now i can’t remember if it was here or in prague, Czech student?  or polish?  agh).  they were tearing up the street down the hill from our house in prague, and they just left these huge gaps in the sidewalk.  in the US they would have had to block off the whole area, and create a safe space to walk around, and not out of courtesy, but out of fear.

i wouldn’t mind it if it was out of courtesy.

so, walk with your head down here, to a certain extent.

i did trip the other day, coming out the Empik down the street.  Empik is a chain, all over Poland, and probably elsewhere.  (they even run a language school that i probably couldn’t get a job at.  fucked up).  there is one a block down the street from my house.  I wanted to see if they had any books/magazines in English, the books for me, the magazines for my students.  I think i need to ask my students tomorrow where those bookstores that have english books actually are.  i’ve gone into quite a few stores (there are a ton of bookstores here, and in prague, and in torun.  i adore it.  it makes me big nerd) but i can’t seem to find the ones with the english sections, like i was told by my friday students last week.

still haven’t checked out the antykwariats, or used book stores, though.

anyway, i was coming out of the Empik, and i tripped over what amounts to nothing, and i fell, and i dropped my book bag (i carry a damn book bag now.  sheesh.)  my cookies fell out of the bag.  (Christ, how wholesome).  and i almost tore my one pair of “fancy pants” (i need to go shopping in one of the many many used clothing stores here, and buy more fancy pants).  and no one said or did anything, except for this one older gentleman, who said something to me, and i was trying to figure out if i knew the words, and i don’t think i did, and i was staring at him, and he kept repeating, and i said “Nie rozumiem,” but he just kept repeating it, and then i shrugged and walked away, and he just kept staring after me, and at no point did he seem caring or concerned.  he just stared.  and repeated.

i tried to remember what he was saying, or an approximation, to bring back to mom later, so she could translate.  what i came back with was whatever was left of the last word in my mind, which resembled a mix of the polish word for “word” and the polish word for “freedom.”

hmmm.

ok, arms are hurting, a slight bit from a lot of typing lately.  still haven’t written about leszek.  still don’t know what to do with the business class tomorrow.  something fun and full of talking.  yes. sleep on it.  ok.

10:07pm

How come its news when Facebook sends out a class action settlement notice?  Because its Facebook with trillions of users.   I first posted about the settlement in September and wondered how many other social networking sites would follow suit.

For those interested in the details, here is the url.

“They got sick in August. It was before school started. I thought it was just a bug and was trying to get them over it before school started. It didn’t go away and kept going until November and December. They had very severe stomach cramps and would throw up or have diarrhea, one or the other other. I was having problems with the water myself. One of my cats would throw up every time she drank the water inside, so we started using other water. This was reinforced by one of my neighbors telling me that one of my neighbors water wells had gone bad, and this was before Norma’s well had blown up. I started putting things together saying, my kids don’t get sick at school but they get sick at home.”

Just last week, the 15 families filed a lawsuit against Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation for allegedly causing a number of problems, including ruining their water supply.

via Local – WIVT/WBGH Newschannel34.

Although the MLB season ended almost a month ago, and many fans have since directed their full attention to other professional and college sports, for me, the offseason is where the magic happens. Since my Philadelphia Phillies fell just short of glory, I have been recurringly checking for a holiday miracle signing at third base. (If by chance the Phillies brass is reading this, all I really want for Christmas is Chone Figgins.) But this offseason is notable for reasons other than a second straight year of slow activity and economy-effected salary decreases. There will be a new face around baseball this year as one man officially ascended into some pretty important shoes this week–and, no, I’m not talking about TBS’s replacement for absurd, former announcer Chip Caray, who was let go after too many botched play calls and silly catch phrases, i.e., “pensman” and “fisting”.

Legal Counsel Michael Weiner becomes the new head of the MLBPA

Donald Fehr, who served as head of the MLB Players Association since 1986, announced his intention to step down this past October, and his retirement became official this week. Michael Weiner, a Harvard Law graduate and long-time general counsel for the union, will take his place. Fehr’s departure caused some short-lived controversy as he was awarded an $11 million compensation package. The immediate reaction failed to consider that the hardworking Fehr had refused a salary increase each year since 2001 when he began receiving $1 million annually. Compare him to everyone’s favorite Scrooge, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, who reportedly takes down $18 million per year, which would make him roughly the tenth highest paid player before considering other perqs/perks. But I digress.

So why is Weiner’s position so important? Because he represents a pretty powerful union (one where the average salary of its members is over three mil) that butts heads with its employer every few years, with potentially monumental repercussions for America. The next such conflict is set to occur in 2011 when the current labor agreement expires. I’ve previously discussed why fans should be fearful when that time comes, a theory bolstered with the Yankees’ recent championship–I’m telling you, it was bad for baseball! And while payroll disparities may take front stage, Weiner has other considerations to start resolving.

Some are rather mundane and uncontroversial. It seems there is already unanimous support for expanding the division playoff series from best-of-five to best-of-seven, while removing some off-days from the postseason schedule. And the union is unlikely to battle the owners on their demand for a draft overhaul that would subject new, foreign players who are currently considered free agents to the same status as amateur, domestic players. This would mean all teams would have the opportunity to sign international talent, if they could afford the expected contract. While an international draft may only attach to Latin America, it would be great if the MLB would also eliminate the posting system currently in effect with Japan. Consider that in 2006 the Boston Red Sox paid over $51 million to the Seibu Lions of Japan just for the right to talk to Japanese superstar Daisuke Matsuzaka–he then signed a contract with the Sox for $52 million over six years.

But for the foreseeable future, the pair of elephants everyone is looking at are named money and drugs.

Money is always a sensitive issue. Poor owners argue there should be a salary cap, as the Marlins’ $36 million payroll is no match for the Yankees’ $201 million investment. Meanwhile, wealthy owners are calling for a salary floor and a revamping of the system to ensure that small-market teams are actually using their revenue sharing funds for the benefit of the team. Opposition to a salary cap is no surprise when you represent the players, but Weiner is not expected to push for a minimum payroll either: “If a club legitimately trying to compete has a plan that calls for them to be at a particularly low payroll for a given year as part of a longer-range plan to compete the following year or years after that, management should have that flexibility.”

In addition, Weiner said the union will be against any sort of hard slotting system for draft picks, in which new players would receive fixed signing bonuses in accordance with their draft rank, rather than possess the ability to receive something above and beyond the “recommendation” the league currently imposes. “This union has always stood for the proposition that, you know, players should have the right to bargain individually for their compensation,” Weiner stated.

The accusation of owner collusion to drive down salaries is always a threat during agreement time as well. As of Wednesday, only nine of 171 free agents had reached deals. (Although, make it at least ten now with the Phillies’ pick-up of third baseman Placido Polanco occurring moments ago. There goes my wish list…) That makes it difficult to set the market for free agents and salaries may decline as a result. But any such drop is tough to segregate from the downtrodden economy’s effect even on professional athletes, so threats of collusion are pretty empty.

As for the steroids issue, there may be some more changes to the testing policy as each passing season reveals a darker tale of performance-enhancing drug use. This year belonged to Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, and, presumably, others will follow. The MLB also slightly increased its number of drug exemptions this year for players claiming to be affected by attention deficit disorder and thus in need of amphetamine-like substances. The number of players totaled 108 this past year, which is roughly 9% of the league and 5% more than the national average for 18 to 44-year-olds. That’s only five more players than in 2007, but it marks another incline from the “mere” 28 that claimed an exemption in 2006. Weiner, however, takes solace in the “healthy percentage of applications for new [therapeutic use exemptions]” that were rejected. Jingle bells.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has launched a new program that seeks to reduce the number of steroid-laced supplements that are available over the counter. Many players that test positive for performance-enhancing drugs claim they picked up something from GNC that they thought was harmless, only to find out later that it contains a banned substance. The agency, apparently in cooperation with the MLB and other sports leagues, is pushing for more effective state and federal legislation that will keep supplements with hidden steroid components from reaching consumers’ bodies. This would be a small move in the right direction, and hopefully Weiner and the union will push for even more regulation–like testing for human growth hormone, for which the league currently has no valid method of screening.

All in all, Weiner has his work cut out for him when it comes time to deal with the owners. The current collective bargaining agreement, negotiated in 2006, made history as the first to be reached before the previous agreement had expired, and joining hands again in 2011 will be difficult unless such critical issues continue to be addressed now.

– Andrew Cunningham

Image Source 1

Image Source 2

This is very interesting!  I never thought about it this way. Perhaps this is why so many physicians are conservatives or Republicans.

The Democratic Party has become the Lawyers’ Party.

*  Barack Obama is a lawyer.

*  Michelle Obama is a lawyer.

*  Hillary Clinton is a lawyer.

*  Bill Clinton is a lawyer.

*  John Edwards is a lawyer.

*  Elizabeth Edwards is a lawyer.

Every Democrat nominee since 1984 went to law school (although Gore did not graduate).

Every Democrat vice presidential nominee since 1976, except for Lloyd Bentsen, went to law school.

Look at leaders of the Democrat Party in Congress:

*   Harry Reid is a lawyer.

*   Nancy Pelosi is a lawyer.

The Republican Party is different.

*   President Bush is a businessman.

*   Vice President Cheney is a businessman.

The leaders of the Republican Revolution:

*   Newt Gingrich was a history professor.

*   Tom Delay was an exterminator.

*   Dick Armey was an economist.

*   House Minority Leader Boehner was a plastic manufacturer.

*   The former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is a heart surgeon.

Who was the last Republican president who was a lawyer?  Gerald Ford, who left office 31 years ago and who barely won the Republican nomination as a sitting president, running against Ronald Reagan in 1976.  The Republican Party is made up of real people doing real work, who are often the targets of lawyers.

The Democrat Party is made up of lawyers.  Democrats mock and scorn men who create wealth, like Bush and Cheney, or who heal the sick, like Frist, or who immerse themselves in history, like Gingrich.

The Lawyers’ Party sees these sorts of people, who provide goods and services that people want, as the enemies of America.  And, so we have seen the procession of official enemies, in the eyes of the Lawyers’ Party, grow.

Against whom do Hillary and Obama rail?  Pharmaceutical companies, oil companies, hospitals, manufacturers, fast food restaurant chains, large retail businesses, bankers, and anyone producing anything of value in our nation.

This is the natural consequence of viewing everything through the eyes of lawyers.  Lawyers solve problems by successfully representing their clients, in this case the American people.  Lawyers seek to have new laws passed, they seek to win lawsuits, they press appellate courts to overturn precedent, and lawyers always parse language to favor their side.

Confined to the narrow practice of law, that is fine.  But it is an awful way to govern a great nation.  When politicians as lawyers begin to view some Americans as clients and other Americans as opposing parties, then the role of the legal system in our life becomes all-consuming.  Some Americans become “adverse parties” of our very government.  We are not all litigants in some vast social class-action suit.  We are citizens of a republic that promises us a great deal of freedom from laws, from courts, and from lawyers.

Today, we are drowning in laws; we are contorted by judicial decisions; we are driven to distraction by omnipresent lawyers in all parts of our once private lives.  America has a place for laws and lawyers, but that place is modest and reasonable, not vast and unchecked.  When the most important decision for our next president is whom he will appoint to the Supreme Court, the role of lawyers and the law in America is too big.  When lawyers use criminal prosecution as a continuation of politics by other means, as happened in the lynching of Scooter Libby and Tom Delay, then the power of lawyers in America is too great…  When House Democrats sue America in order to hamstring our efforts to learn what our enemies are planning to do to us, then the role of litigation in America has become crushing.

We cannot expect the Lawyers’ Party to provide real change, real reform or real hope in America.  Most Americans know that a republic in which every major government action must be blessed by nine unelected judges is not what Washington intended in 1789.  Most Americans grasp that we cannot fight a war when ACLU lawsuits snap at the heels of our defenders.  Most Americans intuit that more lawyers and judges will not restore declining moral values or spark the spirit of enterprise in our economy.

Perhaps Americans will understand that change cannot be brought to our nation by those lawyers who already largely dictate American society and business.  Perhaps Americans will see that hope does not come from the mouths of lawyers but from personal dreams nourished by hard work.  Perhaps Americans will embrace the truth that more lawyers with more power will only make our problems worse.

The United States has 5% of the world’s population and 66% of the world’s lawyers! Tort (Legal) reform legislation has been introduced in congress several times in the last several years to limit punitive damages in ridiculous lawsuits such as ’spilling hot coffee on yourself and suing the establishment that sold it to you’ and also to limit punitive damages in huge medical malpractice lawsuits. This legislation has continually been blocked from even being voted on by the Democrat Party. When you see that 97% of the political contributions from the American Trial Lawyers Association goes to the Democrat Party, then you realize who is responsible for our medical and product costs being so high!

PRODUCT LAUNCHES/UPDATES

MAKO Surgical Corp. Launches Lateral Unicompartmental Knee Resurfacing Application on Its RIO(R) Robotic Arm. The application complements MAKO’s current uni- and bicompartmental knee applications for the medial and patellofemoral compartments. Learn More

FUNDING
AxioMed Spine Corp. Raises $6.4MM. The company completed the first part of its C financing round of $18.5MM, raising the funds from unnamed “leading venture capital firms” to continue developing its Freedom lumbar and cervical disc replacements. Learn More

LAWSUITS
Arthrex Wins Appeal in Patent Infringement Case Brought by Smith & Nephew. Arthrex Inc. The appeal reverses a $23 million judgment stemming from a trial last year in Oregon againast Arthrex’s SutureTak or PushLock products, anchors used during arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Learn More

Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Agrees to Pay $3Million To Settle Kickback Allegations. The settlement resolves allegations that HealthSouth paid kickbacks to Kerlan-Jobe in the form of stock option grants, donations to the Kerlan-Jobe Foundation, loan forgiveness on an equipment lease, and a disproportionately high ownership interest in a jointly owned ambulatory surgery center. In exchange for the illegal kickbacks, Kerlan-Jobe allegedly referred patients to HealthSouth facilities. Learn More

Via the Ashland City Times (h/t Cheatham County School Board Watchdogs):

An ACLU lawsuit filed against the Cheatham County School Board has prompted a community-wide prayer rally Saturday on the Courthouse Square in Ashland City.

“We felt like this was the proper time,” said local businessman Johnny Melton, one of the organizers of the prayer rally. “It is not a protest, but just Christians coming together to pray.”

The prayer rally starts at 10 a.m.

So far, there hasn’t been a lot of noise in Tennessee about vouchers, but the issue is still out there in plenty of other jurisdictions.  A consortium of plaintiffs in New Jersey have been dealt a blow today by a New Jersey Court of Appeals, which ruled that their lawsuit to force the implementation of vouchers.  Via NorthJersey.com:

An appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit that would have paved the way for a voucher program for students attending “failing” public schools in New Jersey, the Education Law Center announced  today.

…

The class action suit was filed on behalf of several students at 96 public schools that have been labled as “failing” based on state test scores. The suit against those school districts alleged that they do not provide a “thorough and efficient” education, as required by the state constitution.  It sought for the state to institute a voucher program giving students the choice of attending “successful” schools – either public or private within or outside their school district boundaries, according to the ELC.

It sounds like an interesting suit, so look for a posting in the next few weeks on the merits.  Here are links to the lower court decision dismissing the case, and today’s appellate decision affirming the dismissal.

Via Nashville is Talking:

Jim Tucker, 47, was arrested in Lawrence County on allegations of sexual misconduct by an authority figure at Summertown High School.

Tucker, who is also the director of the Tabernacle Music Ministries, was recently hired to be Summertown High’s band director.

Yikes — it seems like we’ve got the makings of an epidemic, what with Sandy Binkley and all…

The Lawrence County School Board is expected to issue a statement soon.

Bonus: Check out his facebook page (before it’s taken down).  That’s where this creepy picture came from.

UPDATE [9:42 pm]: According to a Nashville is Talking update, this is the statement given by Lawrence County:

Director of Schools Bill Heath was made aware of allegations against an employee Tuesday afternoon. In accordance to Tennessee Code and Lawrence County School System Policies, the employee has been suspended pending the outcome of the law enforcement investigation. Additional employee actions may be taken at the conclusion of the current investigation and any legal proceedings that may follow.

In a recent press release, John Banzhaf is encouraging any and all to pursue legal actions against electronic cigarette distributors on the basis of them being presented as absolutely clean products when an FDA study found trace quantities in a few units of a small sample. These same contaminants have been found to be present in pharmaceutical nicotine products. (And as is quite widely known, these elements exist in much greater quantities in cigarettes, the product they are typically replacing and the product that Banzhaf, and his organization, ASH, supposedly are fighting against).

As Michael Siegel points out in his blog today, Banzhaf is not calling for suits against any pharmaceutical companies and suggests that at the very least he should have disclosed that much of the funding of his group comes from the distributors of nicotine replace products (which of course could be threatened by any growth in the e-cigarette market).

All I can say is that I am somewhat relieved that Banzhaf did not use the early studies on airbags and seatbelts and the few instances of related injury to keep these products from the market.

Of course at the core this is simple self aggrandizement. I can think of no other example where the signatory of the letter refers to himself in the third person so many times and so magnificently. (In nine out of the thirteen paragraphs of his release, he refers to himself at least once, and even bestows upon himself a title: the Dean of Public Interest Lawyers).

You just have to wonder how this blowhard survived grade school.

-PLB

How does the government collect, analyze and utilize data from social networking websites?  Is the government restrained by any privacy considerations in how it uses social networking for surveillance purposes?

These are the questions a new Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the University of California, Berkeley’s Samuelson Clinic against six federal agencies wants answered.

This article cites public sources about how the federal government mentions its use of social networking for surveillance.  The article cites a situation where Secret Service had “immediately” spotted the opening of social networking profile by a wanted criminal.  How did they do this?  Using automated software like the kind I described in this post?

Lawsuits are mounting as consumers who have been using denture cream for years, or even decades, are being diagnosed with severely debilitating neurological disorders. PoliGrip lawyers have already filed several individual and class action lawsuits against the large drug corporation GlaxoSmithKline, makers of the Super PoliGrip product line. Unfortunately, users of their major competitor Fixodent, from Proctor & Gamble, are being diagnosed with painful diseases and maladies as well. Although the companies have reaffirmed that their products are safe for daily use, some believe that they may lead many people to spend the rest of their lives in constant pain, unable to walk or hold objects in their hands.

Victims of denture cream injury allege that both GlaxoSmithKline and Proctor & Gamble failed consumers in several ways by:

* Not adequately warning customers about potential risks
* Not adequately examining the dangers associated with regular use over time
* Not properly labeling products about the existence of metallic ingredients

Even though they still claim that proper use is not dangerous, both companies have responded to these accusations on their websites, and have agreed to create packaging and labeling that warns users about possible risks associated with what they call “overuse.” They claim that their lines of denture cream adhesive are only dangerous if too much paste is applied to the dentures.

The problem is that many people cannot afford to purchase dental prosthetics that fit properly. Since they have less money to spend on their teeth, they have older, worn dentures that slip or slide around in the mouth when they talk or eat. The cheapest solution to the problem is to use a thicker layer of denture adhesive. Some victims have used up to three tubes of product per week for years, thinking that it was a safe, cheap alternative to an expensive new oral corrective device.

But none of the victims thought for a moment that using their dental bonding agent would eventually lead to a painful denture cream side effect. In fact, The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t even require the companies to label their packaging to warn users that regular use may eventually cause illness.

This is especially troubling since a 2008 study published in the Journal of Neurology positively linked zinc, a major ingredient of the adhesives, to the PoliGrip nerve damage and Fixodent side effects.

Fixodent denture cream, as well as in Super PoliGrip, includes zinc as a major ingredient for two reasons. First, it is a binding agent, so it helps hold dentures in place. But it also contains odor-controlling properties, which is excellent for maintaining fresh breath for users.

The study published in the Journal of Neurology shows that zinc can seep from the paste into the gums, where it is absorbed into the blood stream. It is important to note that the human body needs zinc. However, the amount required is very small and can be obtained readily from a proper diet. This amount, when kept in proper balance, helps keep the immune system operating effectively.

But too much of anything in the body has negative effects, and regular use of the denture creams may allow too much of the metal into the body, causing zinc toxicity. Obvious symptoms include:

- Numbness in extremities, especially legs
- Tingling in extremities, especially legs
- Loss of balance
- Loss of feeling or sensation
- Unexplained pain anywhere in the body
- Decreased or shrunken walking stride
- Increased falling or stumbling
- Loss of strength in legs or feet

Over time, as the substance accumulates in the body, victims start to show signs of a zinc overdose, which includes the neurological problems listed above.

Although it can be effectively treated if caught early, zinc poisoning can be a life-long battle with pain for discomfort. The symptoms vary in severity, with some people saying it feels like they are wearing an invisible glove or sock, while others spend the rest of their lives in wheelchairs, unable to walk.

Either way, if your doctor determines that you are exhibiting the symptoms above, and that they may be the result of using denture cream, contact a lawyer immediately. You may be able to pursue a personal or class action lawsuit against the company that made your dental adhesive.

Police forces that “name and shame” criminals must remove the details from websites after a month, new rules say.

Criminals’ details such as name, age, where they are from and their offence, should be published routinely on police websites, the Ministry of Justice said.

But data protection and human rights laws mean there are restrictions on what is published, how it is made public and for how long.

Officers will also need a specific reason to publish photographs.

The rules state there should be a “presumption” in favour of making information from crown and magistrates’ courts public.

The guidance says police and town halls should take into account the impact on the offenders’ family of such material and should also consider whether it is “proportionate” to make the verdicts and sentences public.

It also states they should examine whether publishing personal details could have an “unjustifiably adverse effect” on the criminal.

It is vital people know that criminals will not escape the consequences of their crimes Jack Straw, Justice Secretary

Concerns over the long-term “adverse consequences” for criminals may mean that information is only published on websites linked to the area where the crime was committed.

Spreading news

Websites can also consider saying just that “someone” has been convicted of a crime without revealing the specific details of who, if that is enough to reassure the public.

And the guidance says forces can hand out leaflets or make information available at public meetings instead of putting it on the internet.

“Online publicity needs to be justified, and will not usually be appropriate for minor offences/sentences or for first time offenders,” the document states.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw said: “Individual crimes often get a lot of media coverage and news can spread across communities quickly that a crime has been committed.

“However, the news that someone has been caught, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced does not travel as far.

“This guidance explains, once and for all, that authorities can publish the details of crimes and the punishments criminals have received, and that the government actively encourages them to do so.

“It is vital people know that criminals will not escape the consequences of their crimes.”

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