Projecting Ones Morals Onto "Society"

Robert and Catharine Pierce are naturalists living in a Boulder (CO) housing project, operated by a non-profit that receives some city funds.

The couple have been involved in mediation with the housing authority for the past few months over Ms. Pierce's propensity for gardening topless. Last year, apparently she'd choose to "worship" wearing pasties and a thong, while this spring, she's done done away with the upper modesty garments taking it down to just a thong.

State and local law prohibits the display of genitalia, but has no provisions for exposed breasts except at one local lake, which had become a haven for nudists decades ago.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on a revamped ordinance in April, but a ban on exposed female nipples has been removed from the original draft, most likely due to constitutional, discriminatory concerns and the involvement of the ACLU.

Judging from the quotes gathered by the Daily Camera in the video below, along with those expressed in both articles and the reader comments, it seems that pretty much everyone other than Betsey Martens, executive director of the Boulder Housing Authority has a live-and-let-live, more-power-to-you type of stance.

In fact, reading through the comments, not only do I see overwhelming support for the Pierces, but I also also see someone lamenting that coeds aren't into the practice and another giving a location for such a site, along with a nice review of Spanish beaches.

Scam Artist Spams Judge

Ubiquitous, late night, informercial staple Kevin Trudeau has been found in contempt by a Chicago area judge for the second time and forced to post a $50,000 bond, plus surrender his passport, while awaiting sentencing on at least one of the charges, next week.

In open court, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said that he'll likely require jail time and a fine because Mr. Trudeau bombarded his email with letters of support from his followers, some of which could be considered threatening and all of which are undergoing analysis by the U.S. Marshals Service in a first of its kind investigation.

Trudeau, who previously served two years on a 1991 conviction for credit card fraud, where he charged more than $122,000 to the cards of eleven customers from one of his prior schemes is currently awaiting final sentencing for this most recent act of contempt, and a previous conviction after he successfully appealed the judge's amended punishment for violating a 2004 court order.

After run-ins with the SEC, the FTC and eight states for pyramid schemes and selling products using false and misleading statements, Trudeau settled an action by the Federal Trade Commission in 2004, by paying a $2 million dollar fine and agreeing to a lifetime ban "from appearing in, producing, or disseminating future infomercials that advertise any type of product, service, or program to the public, except for truthful infomercials for informational publications".

In 2007, the FTC charged that some of the marketing statements for a book titled The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About were misleading because its infomercial claimed that the weight loss program was something easy, consumers could do at home without exercise and would allow them to eat anything they want, while the actual publication outlined a complex plan with lifetime dietary restrictions and exercise requirements, daily injections of a growth hormone available only by prescription and regular colonics, which must be administered by a licensed practitioner.

Mr. Trudeau was found guilty of making "patently false" statements to sell his weight loss book, thus putting him in violation of the '04 order.

Initially, Judge Gettleman sentenced him to pay a fine of more than $5 million dollars and imposed a three year moratorium on appearing in any informercial for a product in which he holds an interest, but both Mr. Trudeau and the FTC asked him to reconsider the sentence. After less than a month's time, the judge decided to keep the three year moratorium, but upped the fine to more than $37 million dollars, which is what the Federal Trade Commission alleges Mr. Trudeau had received from the estimated 32,000 times the infomercial ran.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Mr. Trudeau's conviction last fall, but directed Judge Gettleman to do more fact-finding to justify the fine. In an attempt to sway the court, Mr. Trudeau reached out to his customers via email and through his website asking them to contact the judge, which caused his email account to become flooded.

This was not only a demonstrable inconvenience to the court, but it also violated the rules governing ex-parte communications.

And because you've most likely seen a Kevin Trudeau infomercial recently, while awaiting the appeal and fact-finding effort, he has been actively marketing Free Money "They" Don't Want You to Know About, a book published in 2009 and a product in which he holds an interest.

This guy will never quit.

Links

• Wikipedia
• Chicago Tribune
• Chicago Sun-Times
• FTC Linklist outlining the entire case

Driving Dram

The best I can reconstruct from the available web archive...

A somewhat positive article about the "Hot Spot" nightclub in Centerville, Iowa appeared in the Daily Iowegian on April 28, 2006 and in their front page report about City Council actions, the paper noted that renewal of the bar's liquor license had been tabled on May 3, 2006.

This was done so the Council could receive more information after it was reported, the "Hot Spot" had been the scene of 51 police calls, "Gordie's Bar" had 45 and another local establishment had been the scene for 31, more.

A few days later, after hearing from the Hot Spot's owners, their liquor license was renewed with conditions.

On September 2, Karl "Dan" Ehl, the managing editor of the Iowegian was in Gordie's with a couple of British journalists, when the owner of the Hot Spot, Wade Adams became verbally abusive and in an altercation over the May article, knocked Ehl unconscious.

Now, three and half years later with the criminal proceedings complete, after Adams and his accomplice have been paroled on their five year sentences, Ehl has filed suit against Gordie's Bar under Iowa's "Dram Shop" law because they continued to serve Mr. Adams and his friend, ignoring the evidence that they were already intoxicated.

Update: Mr. Ehl lost his case.

If at First You Don't Succeed

Wayne Pierce and his wife Marci put together the 6,400-acre Sargent Ranch near Gilroy (CA) with hopes of developing.

Several schemes have failed over the years due to environmental and zoning concerns, so they thought they were onto something, when they decided team with a local Native American tribe.

It seems, if the tribe were granted recognition, then the local zoning regulations would have no jurisdiction and in hopes of achieving their goal, they enlisted the help of Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) to fast-track the necessary legislation.

Unfortunately though, a representative of the Amah Mutsun tribe forged some federal documents and an investigation into Mr. Pierce's past derailed the project, so now the property is in foreclosure with about $71 million owed.

The Santa Clara County Supervisor feels that development may no longer be an option and he's heard that some may be looking to mine sand and gravel from the land.

Note: The photo is from the Pierce wedding. It accompanies the story.

Quickie: Good for the Gander or Crying Foul

The Pennsylvania state Judicial Conduct Board feels they are being unfairly penalized by the media because they allowed two judges to continue unfairly penalizing teen defendants, while authorities conducted an investigation.

A Loophole Large Enough for a Luxury Sedan

Among the laws going into effect at midnight, Oregon has a ban on hand-held cell phone use while driving, except "in the scope of the person's employment if operation of the motor vehicle is necessary for the person's job".

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that it's the country's most broadly-worded exemption and while the bill's sponsor explains that the intent was to only exclude tow truck, cab, bus or delivery drivers -- people who use their vehicles as a workplace. Oregonians have already started asking law enforcement, if they might qualify;

Schulz said he's been asked by various people about whether jobs would let them qualify for the exemption. He got such a query from a nursery owner. Schulz said in his judgment that profession would qualify for the exemption because landscapers' vehicles are necessary for their jobs.

I'm guessing that once the dust settles and "delivery drivers" better defined, there could to be a mini-rush on people seeking real estate licenses, onsite consultants and those selling insurance on the side.

Tenn. County Turns Back on Civil Rights

When seven Lewis County (TN) Commissioners voted against affirming their compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, they supposedly didn't realize that it could cost the county millions in school funding, stimulus funds and other federal dollars.

Mayor Jonah Keltner feels confident that the commission will have a change of heart, when they next convene in late January and in the meantime, they have every intention of staying within the law.

At issue was a generalized protest against federal mandates and some commissioners' specific opposition to bilingual requirements, but what may have been learned is that unless there's financial ramifications, the concept of civil rights and equal opportunity could become ignored.

Legal Muddle from Iraq

Four U.S. Senators have asked Army Secretary John McHugh to rescind an order making pregnancy a punishable offense for some soldiers serving in Iraq, though the General who issued the order has said that he's not planning to jail anyone.

Thus far, four pregnant female soldiers and two male soldiers have been given temporary, "local" reprimands for violating the ban and one married male soldier has been given a permanent reprimand for impregnating a subordinate, who is not his wife.

Lots of issues have been raised about Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo, Commander of Multi-National Division–North's order, which makes this Stars & Stripes article an interesting read.

Among them, the fact that sex between soldiers is not against the rules in Iraq; there are married couples living together and no form of birth control is foolproof, plus if he's not going to imprison people for violating the pregnancy ban, who's to say the next commander will feel the same? And could they also decide to not punish people for other policy violations under this same order, such as a ban on alcohol use or having sexual contact with Iraqis?

Man Sues to Rewrite Web History

David Fairhurst of Carmel Valley (CA) was convicted of two counts of making threatening phone calls to Supervisor Dave Potter and was twice served with restraining orders over a period of years.

After the second restraining order, Fairhurst surrendered more than 200 guns, but he takes issue with a headline in the Carmel Pine Cone describing him as an "armed stalker" because he wasn't convicted of stalking and there's no evidence that he did it "armed".

Mr. Fairhurst says that because of the article, the term "armed stalker" is now linked to his name through internet searches, which could hurt his business, so he's suing for $100,000 and has indicated that he'd settle the case, if the newspaper changed their web archive.

The Carmel Pine Cone has already filed for a dismissal on First Amendment grounds and one would hope that somewhere in the process, Dave Fairhurst learns how the internet works.

iPray for Abreadcrumb & Fish

Trademark attorney Michael G. Atkins of Seattle said legal parodies of commercial trademarks are protected under the First Amendment, but such religious products generally don't fall into that category.

"You could take Microsoft and change their logo around to make fun of Microsoft, and that would be legal," he said. "But I can't use the Microsoft logo to promote my Christian theme because there's no real connection there. That's illegal."

Christian themed merchandise is a $4.6 billion dollar industry and a growing percentage of the market are variations of familiar logos and commercial themes. Everything from "Got Milk?", "Rock Band", Lost, American Idol to the Subway logo have been perverted, but though it is often an obvious infringement, a lot of companies will withhold action because they don't want to appear anti-Christian.

The Law is Literal

Ordinarily, bike lanes disappear through intersections, as do the dotted lines going down the center of the road.

A Portland cyclist was pedaling along in a bike lane, when she approached such an intersection and a motorist made a last minute decision to take a right turn, thus causing a collision with the bike.

The driver was charged with "failure to yield to a rider on a bicycle lane", but a local judge dismissed the charge because there were no painted bike lanes at this particular point.

Though they might want to consider changing the charge in future incidents, one might be happy that Portland Police aren't going to make a major adjustments. Otherwise, their lineless intersections could all just become big free-for-alls.

John Edwards Visits Potential Witness

Legal Over-Reach (Protecting the Brand)

Ted Klaudt, a former South Dakota lawmaker, who was convicted of convincing his 17 and 19 year-old foster daughters to let him touch their breasts and genitals in order to collect ovarian eggs has filed a copyright on his name, and he has notified news organizations that they must ask permission 20 days in advance to use it.

You Have a Right to Waive Your Privacy

On June 28th, Fort Worth police conducted three "bar checks" and one of their stops was at the Rainbow Lounge, a club frequented by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community.

Among the Rainbow's patrons that night, five people were cited for public intoxication and one fellow received a serious head injury, plus he was cited for assault and public intoxication.

An internal investigation by the police resulted in three officers getting a one or three day suspension for what transpired, but local community activists are outraged that Fort Worth Police and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission have found that no excessive force was used.

In an effort to better understand the situation, several local media outlets have banded to make an open records request for the final investigative report and because the city attorney's office feel that some witnesses may not want their names released because of the implications of the location, the city has asked the state for guidance as to whether witness names can be redacted.

They also plan to contact each witness mentioned in the report and give them the option of waiving their privacy.
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U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) has introduced legislation that would bar retaliatory measures against any active duty gay or lesbian service members, who choose to testify before the Armed Services Committee in upcoming hearings about lifting "Don't Ask/Don't Tell".

The activist community appears to be split on the measure - one spokesperson says it would be the first dent in the present policy, while the other basically says that you can't put a genie back in a bottle.

John Edwards Can't Catch a Break

John and Elizabeth Edwards were spotted at a UNC basketball game by a radio reporter from the station which broadcasts UNC games.

When approached, Elizabeth gave a nice little audio clip about how people in the community are focused on what's important and how it's relaxing to go to a basketball game to get away.

On their website, the radio station obviously characterized her quote a little more pointedly than myself, before saying that John "declined to comment on allegations that he asked for the vice presidential slot on President Barack Obama’s ticket last year, or on a federal investigation into a potential misuse of campaign funds".

And in other John Edwards news...

The Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that the White House will not comment on whether the outgoing U.S. Attorney for Eastern North Carolina will be allowed to finish his investigation of Mr. Edwards.

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) asked the White House last summer to let the current U.S. Attorney finish the job, but as is the norm after an election, the President has appointed Ms. Hagan's nominee, Charlotte attorney Thomas G. Walker to the prosecutor's post.

Under Senate rules, Sen. Hagan can block the nominee and that would allow the current U.S. Attorney to remain, but to do it without White House approval could be interpreted as going against a President from her party to block the person, she suggested for the post.

As of now, she's not announcing her plans.

The Efficiencies of Death

Ohio is scheduled to execute a convicted killer next week and it'll mark the first time they'll use a new method of lethal injection, one which is not currently being used in any other state.

Previously, an IV would be established and three drugs administered -- one to sedate and two to stop the heart and lungs. The new method will not require an IV site, it'll just be one massive injection of a lethal drug (unless they miss a vein the first time, then it will take two). Prison officials liken it to a flu shot.

"Coincidentally", this first use of this new method of execution follows the state opening up the "Death House" for it's first media tour in seven years, when they removed the "old" electric chair.

Video & Tour (WHIO - Dayton)
Text w/ Link (WHIO - Dayton

Sheriff May Charge News Copter

Throughout the initial investigation, the KING-5 helicopter hovered over the scene where four Lakewood (WA) police officers were killed.

Twice the Pierce County Sheriff's office called the station and asked them to back off because the noise made it hard to hear and twice the copter flew away only to return a short time later.

Now in the the aftermath of the tragedy, the Sheriff's Department has forwarded information to prosecuters with the idea that the station could be charged with interfering in an investigation.