A former Michigan state trooper was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday, nearly two years after he fired a Taser at a teenager on an all-terrain vehicle who then crashed and died.The teenager, Damon Grimes, 15, was illegally riding the A.T.V. in a residential area of Detroit in August 2017. State police officers followed in a patrol car to get him to pull over. When he did not immediately do so, the officer in the passenger seat of the patrol car pulled out his Taser and stunned Damon.Video footage of the episode showed the A.T.V. veering toward the side of the road. The teenager crashed into the back of a parked truck and died shortly thereafter.
Tag: USA
FanX, Previously Salt Lake Comic Con, Ordered To Pay $4 Million For San Diego’s Con’s Attorney’s Fees, Barred From Calling Itself A Comic-Con | Techdirt
It’s the trademark story that simply won’t go away and in which the legal system appears to get everything wrong. The saga of the San Diego Comic-Con’s legal adventures against what was formerly the Salt Lake Comic Con (now rebranded as FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention) has been brutally frustrating. The whole thing started when the SDCC decided somewhat out of the blue to begin enforcing a trademark it had been granted for “Comic-Con” against the Utah production. The trademark original sin of this story began all the way back with the USPTO, which absurdly granted the SDCC its trademark for a purely descriptive term, one which is only unrecognizable as such due to the shortening of the second word from “convention” to “con.” Despite that, the trademark suit brought against the Salt Lake Comic Con somehow ended in a win by jury for the SDCC, which was awarded only $20k. In the trial, SLCC had pointed out several times that the term “comic-con” was both descriptive in nature and clearly had been abandoned by SDCC, evidenced by the long list of other comic conventions going by the term carried out throughout the country.
Baltimore’s Endless Pursuit of Keith Davis Jr.
In a case of mistaken identity, Baltimore police fired 44 shots at Keith Davis Jr., hitting him three times. He now faces his fourth trial for murder.
Anti-vax moms sue NYC as US heads toward record measles spread | Ars Technica
2019 is set to be the worst year for measles in the US this century.
Source: Anti-vax moms sue NYC as US heads toward record measles spread | Ars Technica
Starz, meet the Streisand Effect. Cable telly giant apologizes for demented DMCA Twitter takedown spree • The Register
Inadvertently highlights easy abuse of IP protection
Tesla Pressured Doctors to Block Workers Comp Benefits to Save Money: Report
Imagine getting shocked at work by an industrial electric current so severely that you fall backwards, urinate on yourself, and have pain, numbness, and balance problems. Third-party doctors subsequently confirm, yep, you were electrocuted. But then a manager from your employer steps in and says, no it was just minor static electric shock, like the kind you get when you touch a doorknob after walking on the rug, just so the company isn’t on the hook for the associated medical costs with your treatment and doesn’t have to report the workplace injury to regulators. That’s what apparently happened at Tesla’s Fremont factory, according to a new report from Reveal from the Center of Investigative Reporting.
Source: Tesla Pressured Doctors to Block Workers Comp Benefits to Save Money: Report
Congress is about to ban the government from offering free online tax filing | Ars Technica
Just in time for Tax Day, the for-profit tax preparation industry is about to realize one of its long-sought goals. Congressional Democrats and Republicans are moving to permanently bar the IRS from creating a free electronic tax filing system.Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee, led by Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), passed the Taxpayer First Act, a wide-ranging bill making several administrative changes to the IRS that is sponsored by Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa).In one of its provisions, the bill makes it illegal for the IRS to create its own online system of tax filing. Companies like Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, and H&R Block have lobbied for years to block the IRS from creating such a system. If the tax agency created its own program, which would be similar to programs other developed countries have, it would threaten the industry’s profits.
Source: Congress is about to ban the government from offering free online tax filing | Ars Technica
FDA slams homeopaths for uncontrolled snake venom, germs in kids’ products | Ars Technica
In an ongoing crackdown on dubious homeopathic products, the US Food and Drug Administration posted warning letters on Monday to four homeopathic companies the agency said committed violations that put consumers at risk, including lacking quality controls for products containing snake venom as well as skipping safety testing for products intended for children.
Source: FDA slams homeopaths for uncontrolled snake venom, germs in kids’ products | Ars Technica
NYT’s Exposé on the Lies About Burning Aid Trucks in Venezuela Shows How U.S. Government and Media Spread Pro-War Propaganda
EVERY MAJOR U.S. WAR of the last several decades has begun the same way: the U.S. government fabricates an inflammatory, emotionally provocative lie which large U.S. media outlets uncritically treat as truth while refusing at air questioning or dissent, thus inflaming primal anger against the country the U.S. wants to attack. That’s how we got the Vietnam War (North Vietnam attacks U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin); the Gulf War (Saddam ripped babies from incubators); and, of course, the war in Iraq (Saddam had WMDs and formed an alliance with Al Qaeda).This was exactly the tactic used on February 23, when the narrative shifted radically in favor of those U.S. officials who want regime change operations in Venezuela. That’s because images were broadcast all over the world of trucks carrying humanitarian aid burning in Colombia on the Venezuela border. U.S. officials who have been agitating for a regime change war in Venezuela – Marco Rubio, John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, the head of USAid Mark Green – used Twitter to spread classic Fake News: they vehemently stated that the trucks were set on fire, on purpose, by President Nicolas Maduro’s forces.
ICE Officers Forging Signatures, Deploying Pre-Signed Warrants To Detain Immigrants | Techdirt
Internal emails and other ICE documents he obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, since reviewed by CNN, show that other officers across the five-state region where Oxley worked had improperly signed warrants on behalf of their supervisors — especially on evenings or weekends. Some supervisors even gave their officers pre-signed blank warrants — in effect, illegally handing them the authority to begin the deportation process.
Source: ICE Officers Forging Signatures, Deploying Pre-Signed Warrants To Detain Immigrants | Techdirt