Irish atheists to challenge blasphemy law
Atheist Ireland announced that they were going to challenge a new blasphemy law that went into effect on New Year’s Day in the Irish Republic. The new law criminalizes 25 “blasphemous” quotations from people like Jesus, Mohammed, Mark Twain, Salman Rushdie and Bjork. Violation of the law could result in a €25,000 ($35,800) fine. Read more
Facebook cited in 20% of divorces
Facebook, the social networking site, is being blamed for 20% of divorce filings. One British law firm, Divorce-Online, claims almost one in five petitions they processed cited Facebook. Read more
U.S. Tax Court lets drunk driver write off damaged truck
Reversing an IRS rejection of a write off for a drunken driver, the U.S. Tax Court allowed a $33,629 casualty loss deduction. Justin Rohrs wrecked his 2006 Ford-350 pickup truck in 2006. In its decision, the U.S. Tax Court stated that driving after drinking doesn’t amount to willful negligence in of itself. Had the court found there was willful negligence, the deduction would’ve been disallowed. The judge in the case also stated that Rohrs was “reasonably unaware” that he was doing something wrong. Rohr’s insurance company did reject the claim due to the DUI citation.
Florida judges and lawyers can't 'friend' each other on social networking sites
In a ruling last month from the Florida’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, judges and lawyers can no longer ‘friend’ each other on social networking sites. Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn were mentioned specifically in the ruling, but it was not limited to those sites. The committee did rule that judges can have lawyers as “fans”. A judge may also post comments and such on another judge’s page on a social networking site, assuming the material does not otherwise violate the Code of Judicial Conduct, according to the committee. Read more
Blue laws are an anachronism
I moved to Colorado a little over 3 years ago from Washington state, having lived there for 17 years. I moved to Washington from California, where I essentially grew up. In California, there are no blue laws. In Washington, liquor sales are prohibited on Sunday, but beer and wine are still available. Read more
