Dish, T-Mobile to Merge?

6/5/2015 Talks are underway for what could potentially be the third gigantic cross-platform communications merger this year. Dish Network, the nation’s second-largest satellite provider and America’s fourth-largest wireless company, T-Mobile; have begun preliminary negotiations for a merger. This follows the nearly finalized AT&T’s $49 billion acquisition of leading satellite provider, DirecTV, and Charter Communications recent


It’s Official: Obama signs USA Freedom Act

6/3/2015 Well, the rapturous joy that recently liberated American phone call enthusiasts have exuded will now be quelled after a rousing 48-hour celebration in the streets of major U.S. cities everywhere. The Mardi Gras-level celebration quickly subsided as individuals began shouting from the rooftops last night, “Hang up your phones! The Freedom Act is coming,


TSA’s Explosive Failure

6/3/2015 ABC News reported late Monday night that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents recently allowed 67 of 70 fake bombs through airport security checkpoints in a widespread test conducted by Homeland Security special agents under direction from the department’s Office of the Inspector General. In one case, the tester even set off the metal detector


Facebook, Apple, among others are Fighting Back against NSA-Spying

6/2/2015 Knowing how to kick a law when it’s down, Facebook unveiled a new encryption component to its website, which allows users to send and receive emails as well as Facebook notifications that organizations like the National Security Agency (NSA) are unable to view. In the wake of the temporary halting of the NSA spying


Standoff in Springfield

6/2/2015 Much like Sunday’s last-minute drama in the U.S. Senate over extending parts of the Patriot Act to authorize the NSA-spying program, the Illinois legislature was hard at work Sunday night trying to patch together a massive budget gap before the end of its spring session. The results of the failed last-ditch effort to reconcile


Rand Barks, McConnell Blinks as Patriot Act Fails: USA Freedom Act Back on the Table

6/1/2015 Republicans are furious at one of their own today, Kentucky’s Junior Senator and presidential hopeful Rand Paul, who nearly single-handedly took down the National Security Agency’s (NSA) authorization for its spying program. Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act officially expired at midnight, June 1st despite a frantic effort by fellow Kentuckian, Republican Senate


FIFAIL! How did Blatter get Re-elected?

6/1/2015 Somehow, some way, incumbent FIFA president Sepp Blatter was re-elected on Friday, May 29th despite Wednesday’s U.S. Justice Department’s 47-count indictment and the arrests by Swiss authorities of several executives at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters. The shocking nature of Blatter’s election to a fifth term is the fact that it wasn’t really very shocking. This


Pound Institute names Issacharoff Inaugural Appellate Advocacy Award Winner

5/31/2015 Officers and Trustees of the Pound Civil Justice Institute announced on Thursday, May 28th that they have awarded New York University Law professor and BP settlement attorney, Samuel Issacharoff the winner of the think-tank’s first Appellate Advocacy Award. Issacharoff is being awarded the honor for his tireless efforts working on the Deepwater Horizon lawsuit against


How long until Power Morcellators are Banned?

5/29/2015 Despite the ongoing FBI investigation of Johnson & Johnson’s manufacturing division, Ethicon, and a strong Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning issued last year, power morcellators are still legal. The device grinds up tissue mass, and is then removed through a series of small incisions. The device, which is used to provide minimally invasive


Is Blue Cross/Blue Shield a Cartel?

5/29/2015 A federal judicial panel in Alabama has consolidated two lawsuits into a single claim, alleging that the networked structure of insurance group Blue Cross/Blue Shield violates federal antitrust law. Both suits, one filed on behalf of healthcare providers, and the other on behalf of individuals and small-business customers claim that the 37 separate entities