AT&T s Arbitration Victory Breeds Swarm Of Antitrust Cases

This article below from 8/18/2011 and explains why AT&T is not being hit with a class action lawsuit regarding bandwidth throttling for customers like myself with Unlimited data plans. It seems AT&T’s contract requires that the only way you can fight anything is through arbitration.

Careful what you ask for dept.: AT&T won a decisive victory in April when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in AT&T vs. Concepcion that its arbitration contracts — those agreements you increasingly have to sign or click through when you buy a product or service — can prevent consumer lawsuits. But some enterprising lawyers have figured out how to turn these seemingly bulletproof agreements into an irritating new form of mass litigation. After AT&T announced a $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile, lawyers at Bursor & Fisher launched a “Fight the Merger” campaign, ostensibly to block the merger because it would raise prices. Most of these cases are shakedowns where the lawyers who so passionately defend the consumer quickly negotiate a settlement when the corporate target agrees to pay them a fee. Bursor & Fisher partner Scott Bursor says he isn’t one of those. His five-member firm has actually taken cases to trial, and won a $299 million jury verdict against SPRINT in a California in 2008 it’s still on appeal . And his campaign attracted more than 1,000 people who agreed to file arbitration complaints against AT&T seeking to block the merger. So far the American Arbitration Association, the entity AT&T selected to hear all such cases, has rejected the phone company’s request to have the claims dismissed. AT&T has returned fire, suing the customers in eight different federal districts and accusing the Bursor and Fisher of engineering a brazen scheme to hold up the T-Mobile merger until they get a fee. Instead of filing a class action — prohibited under the arbitration agreements and AT&T vs. Concepcion — AT&T says Bursor & Fisher have created its virtual equivalent with the aim of finding at least one arbitrator who is willing to rule in their favor. At least six of the plaintiffs are also lawyers at Faruqi & Faruqi, a New York firm that frequently issues press releases announcing it is “investigating” mergers for a potential lawsuit soon after they are announced. Although the claim is meritless, the Bursor and Faruqi firms are hoping that thousands of “bites at the same apple” will turn up just one arbitrator willing to entertain it — and that AT&T Mobile will hedge against that risk by entering into an extortionate settlement. If that sounds a little hot and bothered, perhaps that’s because AT&T is in a jam of its own making here. The AT&T agreement was designed to suck virtually any type of consumer litigation into arbitration and Bursor said he’s merely taking advantage of those terms. The agreement ostensibly covers “any aspect of the relationship between us” and Bursor says that includes claims the pending merger will result in higher prices for cellular service. “If you don’t want to have 1,000 individual arbitrations seeking to enjoin a $39 billion merger, don’t write such a sweeping contract,” he said. “Once you commit to that you’re stuck with it. And now AT&T needs to take its medicine.” Bursor clearly relishes taking on AT&T on these terms. Like most plaintiff lawyers, he mocks the idea that arbitration works for individual consumers, because the filing and legal costs are too high for any lawyer to consider taking on a case where the stakes may be less than $100. Aggregated into a class action, such a case is interesting to a lawyer; on their own, they’re a distraction.

via AT&T s Arbitration Victory Breeds Swarm Of Antitrust Cases – Forbes.

So, how is arbitration going for the unlimited bandwidth customers who have recently had their access to streaming data cut off after 3.4 GB of data? Anyone winning?

Raytheon’s two foot long laser-guided missile could be on small drones within months

Here’s a disturbing thought: small drones, perpetually flying overhead, not only armed with facial recognition and threat assessment technology but also two foot long laser-guided bombs known as “Small Tactical Munition.”

This incredible and quite disturbing advancement is so far along that a business manager for Raytheon’s missile division told AIN Online that they’re “just tweaking the software and running some environmental tests.”

However, this did not happen overnight. Indeed, this has been an experimental project over at Raytheon – one of America’s many war profiteering corporations – since at least 2009.

The precision bomb weighs in at less than one 10th of the commonly known Hellfire missiles carried on the similarly infamous Predator and Reaper drones, which have already been and are currently being used on Americans and will undoubtedly be used more frequently as time goes on unless radical changes are made.

It will be fitted to the relatively tiny AAI RQ-7 Shadow which has either a wingspan ranging from 12 feet to 14 ft depending on if they’re using the RQ-7A Shadow or RQ-7B Shadow. …

via Activist Post: Raytheon’s two foot long laser-guided missile could be on small drones within months.

Just reading the specs on the AAI RQ-7 Shadow. (Empty weight 165 lbs, max take off weight 328 lbs. Max speed 129 mph, max altitude 14,993 ft, max range 48 miles ) It is hard to believe that the craft in that picture can take off with the added weight of a 163 lb person. The powerplant is one UEL AR-741 208cc rotary piston engine. I believe it would use “either 87 octane automotive gasoline or 100LL aviation fuel.” – link

This is a 38 hp motor at 23.5 lbs. Three of these engines mounted to a platform should be able to lift me easily, no just kidding. They won’t sell them for human flight. I want them to make an air blowing machine for special effects in my movie.

Naked rambler walks free from Perth Prison

Naked Rambler Stephen Gough has walked free from prison after spending 657 days locked up.

The 53-year-old said he was looking forward to seeing his children for the first time in years.

A naked Mr Gough was spoken to by police as he was freed from Perth Prison, but was allowed to go on his way in an apparent shift in policy from Tayside Police.

On his last release, officers arrested the former marine within 60 seconds.

Mr Gough earned the title Naked Rambler by walking unclothed from Lands End to John O’Groats after quitting his job as a lorry driver.

Different approach

He has been repeatedly arrested in the street outside Perth Prison by police waiting for him to be released at the end of each sentence.

The former marine welcomed the new police response: “My opinion is that the police have thought ‘the guy’s not going to give up so let’s have a think about it’.

“Something has changed and it is good news for me.

“What they were doing before was pre-empting complaints and now they are not.”

Mr Gough said he now plans to head south and hoped to see his children. …

“I haven’t seen my kids for ages,” he said and added that he would like to visit his mother, whom he hasn’t seen in six years.

However, the 53-year-old has no intention of changing his ways.

He said: “To conform with everyone else is the easiest way but when you conform you compromise your principles.

“I am not going to give up. Stay naked is the word.”

Mr Gough has spent the majority of the last decade behind bars due to his determination to live his life without clothes.

He has previously claimed arresting him for walking around naked was a breach of his human rights and his right to freedom of expression.

Tayside Police said they had a duty to uphold the law but it also a responsibility to act in the public interest.

Chief Inspector Andy McCann said: “We have been working closely with our partners in law enforcement and the individual concerned in an effort to resolve this impasse.

“We hope that by exercising some discretion we can find a more satisfactory conclusion for all concerned.”

via BBC News – Naked rambler walks free from Perth Prison.

Crazy. Are there no mosquitoes in Perth?

Keep 32 Molecule Provides Cavity-Proof Teeth

Scientists have created a new molecule that may make teeth cavity-proof and may change dental care forever.

The new molecule, named Keep 32, after the 32 teeth in a human mouth, can wipe out bacteria that cause cavities in just 60 seconds.

… It’s not actually sugar that causes cavities, it’s the bacteria Streptococcus Mutans. This bacteria metabolizes the sugar in your mouth and turns it into lactic acid which then attacks your tooth enamel. When that happens your teeth become vulnerable to decay and cavities can form. So, if you remove Streptococcus Mutans from the equation you stop the decay from happening.

Jose Cordova, a researcher at Yale University, along with Erich Astudillo from the University of Chile, have discovered a new molecule called Keep 32 that kills Streptococcus Mutans. The pair already have a patent pending and now want to begin human trials to prove it works. That should take no more than 18 months if they find funding. …“The molecule has the potential, not only to be harnessed into a gum, but also in products like tooth paste, mouthwashes, toothpaste sheets, candies, overnight dental gel, and other products that stay in the mouth for at least 60 seconds,” explained Erich Astudillo, CEO of Top Tech Innovations, the firm that sponsored the discovery.

“In Chile, we’ve been looking for financial backing for two years.  No one was interested in putting resources into R&D,” he commented.
After unsuccessfully seeking investors in Chile, the researchers joined forces with the Founder Institute to improve their business model and look for sources of capital internationally.

“At the moment, we’re having conversations with five parties who are interested in either investment or buying our patent. This will involve moving abroad to complete product development,” he explained.

via LinkNotes: Keep 32 Molecule Provides Cavity-Proof Teeth | geek.com

This article is misleading because killing s. mutans is not difficult. Teatree oil mouthwash will do it and that is pretty cheap and it is available right now.  I use it once a day. The problem is not killing the bacteria, it is keeping it away. After you kill the s. mutans in your mouth, they just repopulate from food, kissing and from hiding places in the oral cavity.

Inactivity as deadly as smoking

A lack of exercise is now causing as many deaths as smoking across the world, a study suggests.The report, published in the Lancet to coincide with the build-up to the Olympics, estimates that about a third of adults are not doing enough physical activity, causing 5.3m deaths a year. That equates to about one in 10 deaths from diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and breast and colon cancer.

Researchers said the problem was now so bad it should be treated as a pandemic.

And they said tackling it required a new way of thinking, suggesting the public needed to be warned about the dangers of inactivity rather than just reminded of the benefits of it. The team of 33 researchers drawn from centres across the world also said governments needed to look at ways to make physical activity more convenient, affordable and safer.Global challengeIt is recommended that adults do 150 minutes of moderate exercise , such as brisk walking, cycling or gardening, each week.

The Lancet study found people in higher income countries were the least active with those in the UK among the worst as nearly two thirds of adults were judged not to be doing enough.

via BBC News – Inactivity ‘killing as many as smoking’.

I must get back to the gym…

Oz The Great And Powerful Trailer (2013)

Oz The Great And Powerful Trailer (2013) – YouTube.

Poltergeist coincidence

Remember I said just yesterday that I had a poltergeist experience, that a house key fell for no reason onto the middle of my kitchen floor? Remember when I said I hoped no one had died? Well, sadly, they did.

I found out today that the guy who bought that key and installed the locks on my house died in a car crash a few days ago.

Unfortunately, he took two other innocent persons with him when his truck drifted into oncoming traffic and he had a head on collision.

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. Don’t get too busy. Keep your eyes on the road, my friends.