Excited to play the Destiny on PlayStation Network? You’re not the only one, and demand as the game’s beta opened its doors today seems to have the service stumbling. A message on the PlayStation Knowledge Center says PSN access is “Intermittently…
Broadcasting live from ESPN3, Valve’s DOTA 2 championship will be the first video game to take part in the sports network’s event coverage. This will begin this Sunday, the 20th of July, on ESPN2, where an exclusive preview of the tournament’s final match will roll out with interviews with the players as well as Valve’s own Game Newell. ESPN3 is … Continue reading
Google and Samsung have an interesting history. Often working together, the two eventually end up splitting apart at the seams. Be it Nexus devices or Chromebooks, there has almost always been a very Google-centric Samsung device floating around. The latest Samsung-for-Google device, the Gear Live, may have drawn a line in the sand. Google is serious about wearables, and so … Continue reading
Is it libelous in 2014, when same-sex marriage is gaining both legal traction and cultural acceptance, to falsely accuse someone of being a homophobe?
Thanks to a fading, two-decades-old catchphrase — “not that there’s anything wrong with that” — synonymous with a 1993 episode of Seinfeld called “The Outing,” we’re starting to find out.
In that episode, characters Jerry and George adamantly deny being gay but, to emphasize their supposed open-mindedness, maintain there is nothing wrong with homosexuality.
This week, the pop-cultural expression made it into the legal lexicon. On July 14, New York trial court judge Barbara Jaffe tossed out a defamation suit filed by Kenny Kramer, the real-life inspiration for Seinfeld’s Cosmo Kramer character and who now provides bus tours of New York City spots made famous in the series. The case of Kenny Kramer vs. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. pivoted directly on the alleged use of “not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
Specifically, a 2013 book authored by comedian and former Seinfeld writer Fred Stoller claims that while Stoller was riding on one of Kelly Kramer’s bus tours back in 1996, the bus traveled through what Stoller dubbed “gay-dominated Greenwich Village.” While there, one of Kramer’s employees supposedly twice made everyone on the bus scream out the windows, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”
Kenny Kramer sued, alleging the book falsely accused him of taunting members of the gay community, thereby harming his reputation.
Judge Jaffe rejected Kramer’s contention, writing that reasonable readers of Stoller’s book would find the alleged use of the phrase at issue in the case amounted to little more than:
Seinfeld-related shtick, even if the phrase was repeatedly screamed out as the bus wended its way through “gay-dominated Greenwich Village.” And, although pointing at gay people and taunting them with the phrase from within a large tour bus wending its way down tiny streets in Greenwich Village may reasonably reflect homophobia, nowhere does Stoller depict any pointing and he never uses the term “taunting.”
In brief, Kenny Kramer may have lost on the facts, but the judge seemed to recognize that, under different circumstances, false accusations of homophobia can indeed be defamatory.
It’s clear that the question of whether falsely branding a person a homophobe is libelous will arise again. For instance, an April article on Gawker labeled Bill Shine, a Fox News executive, “a major, major homophobe.” Openly gay Fox News contributor Ellen Ratner blasted that accusation as false in the Advocate.
The fact that calling someone a homophobe may be defamatory represents a dramatic legal shift when it comes to the intersection of libel law and homosexuality. How so?
For many years and in most states, it was considered defamatory per se — something that would be presumed to harm one’s reputation – to falsely state that a straight person was gay. That, however, is starting to change today in some states like New York and Massachusetts.
“The law should not endorse homophobia,” writes First Amendment attorney Jean-Paul Jassy on the question of whether falsely calling a straight person gay should result in a successful libel suit. Although acknowledging “the very real contempt, hatred, and sometimes violence that people experience from being labeled gay,” Jassy asserts that “the question is moving forward as a society. Moving away from the notion that there something ‘wrong’ with being gay.”
Of course, it was also once defamatory in the United States to falsely state that a white person was black. That’s clearly no longer the case.
The bottom line is that what is defamatory will vary from time to time and place to place. Proving whether or not one actually is a homophobe will be extremely difficult; only factual assertions are grounds for libel suits, not subjective assertions of opinion. Mere name-calling generally does not make for successful libel suits. And to the extent that people loosely bandy about the word homophobe, much like they often do “racist,” some courts may simply find it to be an expression of opinion unless there are factual instances of discrimination to back it up. As a federal court observed in 2013 in Forte vs. Jones, “the allegation that a person is a ‘racist’… is not actionable because the term ‘racist’ has no factually-verifiable meaning.”
For now, however, legal observers and those in both the gay and straight communities can thank Seinfeld for sparking an important discussion that’s anything but a laughing matter.
They may lack the dramatic peaks of St. Lucia’s 2,500-foot Pitons, the lush jungles of Dominica, the plunging hollows of Jamaica’s Cockpit Country and the magnificent hilltop vistas of the Virgin Islands, but the equally Caribbean though often scrubby Caicos Islands have a laid-back charm that surreptitiously seduces and ensnares.
This is no place for back-packing budget travellers hunting bargains; the chance of finding a room for the night for much below $130 is minimal. The islands are more geared towards the luxury market, but in a quiet, tranquil way — without the outrageous casino architecture or high-rise hotel intrusions of their sister, or is that brother, islands.
Princess Alexandra National Park beach view
That doesn’t mean that you won’t find a casino to lose whatever money you have left. You’re barely out of the airport on Providenciales, the main island, when you pass Slots of Fun Parlour. Then there’s Downtown Gaming Parlor, then there’s Royal Flush Gaming Parlor, then there’s the Casablanca Casino, then there’s…
But it is all pleasantly understated, relatively speaking, by usual Caribbean resort standards.
From the air you can easily see just how much more developed Provo, as the locals call it, is than much smaller Grand Turk, site of Cockburn, capital of the British overseas territory of Turks and Caicos, off the northern coast of Haiti, its villas and resort complexes dotted among the rather arid-looking shrubbery.
Another beach view
But on the ground it is really quite green even if of the arid variety, with plenty of yellow and purple flowers.
As with their brother, or is that sister, islands, the Caicos are prime territory for scuba diving and yachting, with some very attractive marinas. Sea sports are advertised everywhere. There’s ‘Bite Me Sport Fishing,’ which sounds like a wonderful euphemism for something much more louche.
Turtle Cove marina
Then there’s Snuba. Instead of donning tanks on your back, you breathe through long hoses attached to tanks floating on a pontoon on the surface. Following two disastrous attempts at scuba in the distant past, I think I’ll give that one a pass — I’d probably get both knickers and hose in a twist.
The vast 12-mile-long crescent beach in Princess Alexandra National Park and Maritime Reserve is rated by Conde Nast Travel magazine as one of the 10 best in the world. The tourist developments at Grace Bay in the middle are not horrendously invasive — not yet, at least.
Grace Bay
They’re only four storeys high — nothing like the monstrosities on Aruba’s Palm Beach. The villas at the other end near Turtle Cove are no higher than two storeys and nestled in vegetation.
Beach on Aruba
Grace Bay, Provo
The Somewhere Cafe Lounge, a pleasantly rustic wooden two-deck establishment, lies smack on the beach at Grace Bay. The views from the upper deck through a bower of green palms and carmine flowers are stupendous, miles and miles of soft white sand stretch out along the huge crescent, the sun is pure gold, the lapping wavelets sparkle with all the shades of turquoise and teal, BUT…
Beach through the flower from Somewhere’s top deck
On this particular afternoon an idiot DJ on steroids is bellowing like a wounded bull through a drug-fuelled loudspeaker and the top deck is rocking with groups of other idiots wearing silly hats, caroming about and singing happy birthday for the idiot honoree, while the idiot DJ is ‘walking on the wild side.’ Even under these trying conditions, one can feel laid back in the seductive seascape.
Sunset at Turtle Cove
A little catamaran glorying in the name Heavenly Daze and accompanied by arcing dolphins, speeds for half an hour along a string of green-topped cays with a few discreet tourist developments to Sandy Point on North Caicos Island, a pretty marina developed by a Florida concern. The planned red-roofed Royal Reef Resort stands only half finished, a victim of the global economic crisis, leaving the low limestone cliffs unscathed.
It’s all a question of how much development an island can withstand before nature screams rape.
A North Caicos beach
North Caicos is a good bit lusher than Provo or Grand Turk — miles upon miles of unspoilt white sand beaches sandwiched between green casuarina trees and impossibly turquoise waters. Though larger than Provo at 41 square miles, only 1,500 people live here in four villages, compared with 25,000 or more on 38-square-mile Provo.
At Barracuda Beach a wooden seaside pergola serves drinks, in no way intruding on nature. On the other side, Flamingo Pond stretches out in a vast expanse of water with, yes, flamingos and numerous green humped islets.
Barracuda Beach
Another Barracuda view
Middle Caicos, the largest of the islands, joined to North Caicos by a causeway, has an even smaller population than its neighbour, just 250 on its 48 square miles.
A major highlight is the intricate cave system that once sheltered the original inhabitants, the Lucayans, a peaceful people living an apparently idyllic existence on the Bahamas and Caicos chains, who welcomed the Spaniards on their arrival. The Spaniards rewarded them, as usual, with genocide through massacres, slavery and European diseases.
Conch Bar caves
The Conch Bar caves, the largest, are now inhabited by bats who flitter around in huge chimney-like cavities in the rock roofs, and deposit on the rock ground below loads of white crap once exploited for guano. Oops, Yours Truly almost gets seven years’ good luck.
Another cave view
And another
Middle Caicos has magnificent beaches with low limestone cliffs, Mudjin Harbour being a prime one with a gaping cliff mouth. Mudjin is a contraction of its original, name Bermudan Harbour, as the area was thought to resemble Bermuda.
Limestone cliffs
‘So what do you think that looks like,’ asks Mac, the taxi driver whom I’ve already seriously disappointed at Bottle Creek on North Caicos.
‘Can’t you see the bottle,’ he asked then. ‘There’s the bottom, and there’s the neck.’
‘Nope,’ quoths I, Yours Truly at his most obtuse. ‘Just looks like a nice long, wide expanse of water to me.’
Now I’m being put to the test again.
‘A crocodile,’ I hazard, without even looking.
‘Very good.’ quoths Mac, satisfied. ‘Actually it’s a dragon.’
Wow, that’s the way to do it, not by staring intently as at Bottle Creek, but by just spinning the roulette wheel in your head.
I look at the long sausage-like rock at the mouth of the bay. Wow indeed! Just as well I didn’t look first. I would have said ‘dog’s turd.’
All in all, a delightfully restful few days.
Mudjin ‘dog turd’
______________
By the same author: Bussing The Amazon: On The Road With The Accidental Journalist, available on Kindle, with free excerpts at and in print version on Amazon.
And Swimming With Fidel: The Toils Of An Accidental Journalist, available on Kindle, with free excerpts here, and in print version on Amazon in the U.S here.
None of the 16 secrets for shopping at Target did the trick. Neither did the latest project from Macklemore (it’s a needlepoint with a castle, princesses and horses).
Based on the plethora of mind-blowing articles the Internet dishes out on a daily basis, my mind should have been completely obliterated by now. Yet, even the riveting article revealing the identity of Andy’s mom in the movie, Toy Story, left my brain perfectly unharmed.
The all-out assault on our heads strikes from every nook and cranny of the Web, including such unexpected attackers as abcnews.go.com, dailyfinance.com, businessinsider.com, and today.com. While the stories won’t blow your mind, the number of sites joining them in a race to spew content regularly, rapidly and without an ounce of craftsmanship or integrity might. Well, it may mildly surprise you.
Yes, there are amazing artists in the world doing unique things, animals often act in wondrous ways and food can be delicious. But they are not mind-blowing. Although I wasn’t alive yet, I imagine Neil Armstrong walking on the moon blew some minds. It’s still incredible to look up at the night sky and know men have graced the moon’s surface. And no gluten-free “pasta” recipe can compare. Ever.
To stay in the spirit of the alarming click-bait epidemic that’s horribly masquerading as journalism, here are 66 stories — actual headlines — that did not live up to their promise:
I could go on, but I’ll save more for another randomly numbered list of trivial nonsense that will leave your mind perfectly in tact.
It wasn’t my intention to cover Marc Maron’s WTF podcast so soon after the last time but that’s before I knew he was going to have the Amazing Johnathan on this episode. Not only was Johnathan an outrageously original comedy act to catch live – he explains on the show why he’s recently retired from performing – but I can vouch for a number of the stories he shares with Maron (and a number that he didn’t) because I was there.
A big break he talks about was a game show that Merv Griffin produced with him as the host. Or it should have been a big break – 65 episodes later, it never got national distribution and was dead in the water. And so was the staff, including the head writer…me. (You can catch bits and pieces of Ruckus on YouTube if you’re curious.)
Rumors have floated around in the comedy community for the past few years of Johnathan’s “heart troubles” and in this revealing conversation that gets pretty deep at times, we learn it’s true. The wild comedy magician has a heart condition that is severe enough that he is required to wear special gear and his prognosis from doctors is not sunny, giving him limited time left to live.
He speaks to Maron openly and unapologetically about his drug use: “I knew what I was getting into – I’m sort of surprised I made it this far!”
He’s had a rollicking life, both onstage and off, and if you never had a chance to see him live, here you can at least listen to him give some of the highlights of a life brightly lived.
This review originally posted as part of This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com. Marc Hershon is host and executive producer of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast.
(Refiles to correct spelling of Allston in fourth paragraph)
By John McCrank
NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been seeking information on 10 registered broker dealers as part of an ongoing investigation into high-frequency trading strategies, according to an internal SEC document reviewed by Reuters.
The regulator told its staff in late March that it was interested in seeing any tips, complaints, or referrals that they receive concerning the brokers and high frequency trading.
The firms listed are Allston Trading LLC; Hudson River Trading LLC; Jump Trading LLC; Latour Trading LLC, which is an affiliate of Tower Trading; Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, owned by Bank of America Group; Octeg LLC, which has been merged into a unit of KCG Holdings Inc ; Tradebot Systems Inc; Two Sigma Investments LLC; Two Sigma Securities LLC; and Virtu Financial.
They are all some of the largest trading firms in the U.S. Allston and Jump are both based in Chicago. Hudson River, Latour, Merrill, Two Sigma, and Virtu are headquartered in New York. KCG is in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Tradebot is based in Kansas City, Missouri.
Jump, Latour, Bank of America, Hudson River, Tradebot and KCG declined to comment. The other firms did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Their number and the open-ended quest for information shows that the SEC is casting a wide net as it looks to unearth wrongdoing in the marketplace.
It is not known if the SEC found any violations of securities laws at any of the firms. The SEC declined to comment.
A number of government agencies, including the SEC, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have said they had active probes into high-speed and automated trading.
The SEC has been seeking evidence of abuse of order types, as well as traditional forms of abusive trading like “layering” or “spoofing” and other issues relating to high-frequency trading that might be violations of the law, SEC Director of Enforcement Andrew Ceresney told Reuters in May (http://reut.rs/1kwSqF5).
Spoofing and layering are tactics where traders places orders that they cancel before they are executed to create the false impression of demand, aiming to trick others into buying or selling a stock at the artificial price.
High frequency trading firms account for more than half of all trades in the U.S. stock market, and are often seen as modern-day market makers. They make it easier for investors to trade by stepping in and taking the other sides of many orders and profiting off of trading spreads.
Scrutiny around high-frequency trading intensified following the March 31 release of best-selling author Michael Lewis’ book, “Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt.” In the book, Lewis contends that high-frequency traders have rigged the stock market, profiting from speeds unavailable to others. (Reporting by John McCrank; additional reporting by Herb Lash, editing by John Pickering)
This past Saturday, the LA Times published a fantastic article, “DEA may be losing the war on marijuana politics,” outlining the federal agency’s downfall from undisputed moral high ground to the wrong side of history. It explains that members of Congress from both parties are finally catching up to the public and supporting marijuana reform, and how DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart’s refusal to support sensible reforms has led to sharp criticism from Congress and even the White House. But I don’t think the title goes far enough: there’s no longer any doubt that the agency’s propaganda has failed. The DEA is absolutely, indisputably, hands-down losing the war on marijuana politics.
The article outlined some of the DEA’s many recent troubles, from being forced to back down after nonsensically seizing a shipment of hemp seeds from the University of Kentucky, to the House voting to block funding for federal intervention in states’ medical marijuana programs. As if that were not enough, since the LA Times piece went to print, the DEA and other Drug Warriors lost skirmishes — and even a few battles — in the war on marijuana politics literally every single day:
Sunday: US Representative Andy Harris agreed that opposing marijuana decriminalization is politically unpopular. Harris has made headlines for attempting to block DC’s decriminalization law, passed by a 10-1 vote in March and supported by 75% of residents, from taking effect. Yet an article in Sunday’s New York Times showed that even Harris realizes that far from an easy win, blocking drug policy reform is becoming the third rail that supporting it used to be, even among conservatives:
Mr. Catania accused Mr. Harris of seeking to enhance his bona fides in a campaign for leadership of the Republican Study Committee, a group that seeks to pull the House further right….
He denied a political motive in opposing marijuana decriminalization. “If I were looking to advance my position among the broad spectrum of Republicans, this is probably not the way to do it,” he said.
Harris is absolutely right — 69% of Republican voters oppose jail time for marijuana possession. But a YouGov poll released this week showed that 52% of Republicans nationwide even support Colorado’s laws regulating and taxing marijuana, far beyond the relatively modest reform Harris was trying to block.
Monday: The White House called marijuana policy a “states’ rights” issue and opposed federal interference in reforms. In a statement hailed as groundbreaking by the Drug Policy Alliance, the Obama Administration came out in opposition to Rep. Harris’ amendment to block DC’s marijuana decriminalization law. A victory of its own, the Administration took it a step further by using broad language that signals even stronger support for states’ efforts to regulate marijuana than before:
Similarly, the Administration strongly opposes the language in the bill preventing the District from using its own local funds to carry out locally- passed marijuana policies, which again undermines the principles of States’ rights and of District home rule. Furthermore, the language poses legal challenges to the Metropolitan Police Department’s enforcement of all marijuana laws currently in force in the District.
Tuesday: The DC Council passed legislation to dramatically improve its medical marijuana program, eliminating its restrictive list of qualifying conditions and instead allowing doctors to recommend the drug for “any condition for which treatment with medical marijuana would be beneficial, as determined by the patient’s physician.” This reform, which takes medical decisions away from politicians and gives it to doctors, is a huge win for patients.
Wednesday: The US House voted to allow banks to do business with state-legal marijuana businesses. Following May’s 219-189 vote to block funding for federal law enforcement going after licensed marijuana establishments, this amendment — which passed by an even more decisive 231-192 — would block federal funding from being used to penalize banks for doing business with such establishments. If made law, this will increase the financial and physical security of marijuana businesses, as risk-averse banks’ fear of legal repercussions has made marijuana a cash-only industry.
Thursday: Marijuana decriminalization took effect in the nation’s capital. Despite Rep. Harris’ attempts to block its implementation, DC’s marijuana decriminalization law took effect Thursday at 12:01 a.m. It removed criminal penalties for the possession of under one ounce of marijuana, replacing it with confiscation and a $25 fine, while possession of over an ounce or smoking in public remain arrestable offenses. As long as police don’t mimic NYPD and abuse the law’s language to continue making arrests, this will help address the city’s massive racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
There were many other victories this past week, such as reformers in Santa Fe taking another step towards decriminalizing marijuana in the city, but with so many I was forced to focus on the highlights. But these alone show just how decisively the DEA is losing the war on marijuana politics — I challenge them to showcase their victories from this week, and we’ll see who has a better list.
Summer Rental. The very phrase conjures images of days on the beach, nights on the town and months basking in the beauty of the season. But some landlord-tenant rental relationships spark less idyllic situations, particularly for summer rentals. The secret to success for both landlords and tenants is to set clear expectations before the rental period gets underway. If either party has false expectations, the summer can end with anger, arguing and possibly court. Before renting, there are a number of necessary topics that must be discussed and then an attorney must draft a lease accordingly. With the prime summer rental month of August fast approaching, here are some areas that every summer rental landlord and tenant should consider:
1. House Rules
House Rules is a miscellaneous catch-all for everything that is unique for a property, so use your imagination, but here are some basic areas that should be agreed upon by both parties:
Are parties permissible? What hours is noise allowed in the area? (Be sure to check the municipal city/town/village code for the noise ordinance law). What about the number of unrelated individuals permitted at the premises overnight? (“Share Houses” are often illegal in many cities, towns and villages. Again, check the local laws.) Determine rules for storing vehicles, including where parking is allowed. Are there rooms on the premises to which entry is not permitted, such as where the landlord stores personal items?
2. Animals
Certain animals cannot be precluded from a rental and these are categorized as “Emotional Support Animals” and “Service Animals.” In a situation where the tenant is disabled and requires the animal in order to enjoy the housing equally, it’s even illegal for the landlord to request a deposit for these types of animals. Both “Emotional Support Animals” and “Service Animals” are not considered “pets” by law, but instead are regarded as an aspect of the tenant’s being.
However, it is perfectly acceptable for a landlord to either exclude actual pets from their property, or to charge a deposit/fee for their presence.
3. Holdover Tenants
A “Holdover Tenant” refers to a tenant that stays in possession of the property after the end of the term of the lease. It is important for a landlord to have a clear written date of when the lease is over, and how the keys, garage door openers, etc. are to be returned. Negotiate the additional monies that the tenant will owe to the landlord if they stay past the end of the lease (New York courts, for example, generally permit two to three times the rent to be charged in this situation). Provide in the lease for reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs in the event an eviction becomes necessary.
4. Notice and Methods of Communication
How should the parties communicate? This needs to be spelled-out in the lease. Make sure that there is a paper trail for all communications, such as requiring notice only by either certified mail return-receipt-requested, or read-receipt email. Without a paper trail, the fact of the communication would be a matter of dispute.
5. Additional Charges
What other items is the tenant required to pay for beyond the actual rent? Items can include cleaning services, landscaping, garbage removal, utilities, pool upkeep, etc.
6. Brokers and who they work for
In the event that a broker is used, who does the broker work for? The landlord or the tenant? This needs to be determined in writing as well. Payment to a broker does not equal representation. In New York, brokers are required to provide an agency disclosure form that explains who they work for. If the broker doesn’t work for you, it’s imperative that you advocate for yourself in negotiating the rental.
7. Security Deposit
How much is the security deposit and when will it be returned? What is the protocol for resolving damage issues — meaning, have the parties agreed on a licensed home improvement contractor, etc. to provide an estimated cost of damage repairs so that they can avoid litigating this issue? Has a baseline property condition been established by way of pre-possession photographs/writings? What is considered permitted damage (ordinary wear and tear)? If a rental needs painting or a carpet-cleaning after the tenant vacates, does that constitute damage, or not? All of this should be spelled out in writing in the lease.
8. Care of Premises and Grounds
Who is responsible for care of the premises, the landlord or the tenant? Is a third-party service provider to be used? When is access to the premises permitted for that third-party service provider, and how much notice is required prior thereto?
9. Assignment or Sublet
Can the tenant transfer their rights under the lease to someone else, if they decide not to stay through the term of the rental? If so, is the tenant still on the hook for the payment of rent?
10. Rental Permit
Many municipalities require a rental permit for a rental to be legal. Failure to get a permit may actually be a misdemeanor for both the landlord and the tenant. Both parties must obtain a copy of the rental permit, if applicable, prior to the tenant taking possession.
Here’s to happy summer rentals for all!
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
