Well no trout, Sherlock. The fact that you can't yell fire in a crowded theater is a point brought up in almost every debate about free speech in the US. And it has annoyed the hell out of me for years. It's always used as a justification for free speech being absolute, which is a position no one ever argues to begin with, during debates over whether a certain form of censorship is good or not. But unless the censorship at issue involves yelling fire in theaters, the point makes ...
In one episode of Sherlock, Watson discovers to his amazement that Holmes was not aware of the basic, preschool-level fact that the Earth revolves around the sun. That information is meant to result in shock from any recipient because of course the Earth revolves around the sun, and every single living being on the planet knows that. That Holmes is able to ignore such common information is a sign of what a unique individual he is, and that no one real could be quite like him. Well, ...
I have discovered a new webcomic which accurately portrays my life right now. Something like this happens at least a few times every day. smurfing French. Study everything. I want this armadillo. I mean, between the rapping and sunglasses, it would be the coolest pet ever. I wish it were that easy. And speaking of comics, the new SMBC is spot on. It also applies to 99% of religious debates.
Everyone knows what slander is, right? A defamatory statement that is spoken. Well generally to recover any damages for a slander lawsuit, a plaintiff has to show actual (or special) damages, meaning a measurable economic harm, such as being fired from a job. General, presumed damages for loss of reputation are not available except for the very worst kind of slander, that does the very most kind of harm. This is called slander per se. What are the types of slander per se, you may ...
I made this a blog post instead of an EoEO thread because I doubt many of you care that much about the details. Today, the Supreme Court issued a massive opinion upholding the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare” (CNN’s hilarious screw up notwithstanding). I disagree with the decision, but in a somewhat surprising way. On a strictly constitutional level, I think Chief Justice Roberts’s opinion (which while not technically the Court’s opinion in all respects, ends up controlling all ...
This is an introductory post on the Streisand effect. The Streisand effect occurs when an attempt to censor or otherwise hide information leads only to that information being spread more effectively. This is otherwise known as “the internet.” Once upon a time, many moons ago, the website comic The Oatmeal noted that another website, FunnyJunk, was hosting a crapload of its content. The Oatmeal then asked FunnyJunk to delete that content, and FJ responded by deleting a small percentage ...
Updated 06-23-2012 at 10:26 PM by Raistlin
There is a widely-believed caricature of the law and lawyers, at least in the US. It is that the law mandates the use of legalese in order to make sure no one but lawyers has any smurfing clue what we’re talking about, and thus creating business for lawyers. That the law relies on archaic rules and procedures that make no sense in any modern setting to anyone outside the club. That the law is all form and little substance, and that lawyers promote this insanity in order to enjoy their monopoly on ...
Recently, the Maryland Court of Appeals (the state's highest court) did a mind-bogglingly stupid thing. Normally, a dog owner (or a landlord that allows a certain dog on the premises) is not negligent for simply having or allowing a dog that bites someone else, unless there's evidence that the owner knew or should have known that the individual dog was dangerous. For instance, a history of attacks or aggressive behavior. That has now changed in Maryland, at least for pit bulls. In ...
Updated 05-17-2012 at 11:28 PM by Raistlin
A couple of instances of mind-numbing stupidity that have been on my mind lately. Obama and his adoring fans: The other day, Obama announced that he supports same-sex marriage, at least according to the mainstream media and many liberals. My Facebook has been full of posts regarding this "monumental" occasion where a US President endorses gay marriage rights. Except... he didn't. Spurred on by Vice-President Biden's unqualified support for gay marriage, Obama tentatively ...
In the US, the hysteria against pedophilia has caused more harm and hurt more kids than the vast majority of actual pedophiles. Just recently in Iowa, three girls face charges for possession and distribution of child pornography. The kicker? The girls are ages 16-17, they took the pictures of themselves, and they only sent the pictures to one 19-year-old guy… who is being charged with “sexual exploitation” of those very same child porn mongers. Because he obviously ruined their lives ...
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