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12 May 2011 16:42

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U.S.: A bad day for former Senator John Ensign

  • attempt When John Ensign resigned from his position as Nevada’s junior senator on May 3rd, it was widely believed he was trying to halt an ethics investigation into his affair with a staffer, and subsequent alleged payoffs to her family.
  • failure The Senate Ethics Committee isn’t letting their old buddy John off that easy. They’ve forwarded their findings to the U.S. Justice Department, saying they found that Ensign violated the law. Jeez, all that resigning for nothing. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 May 2011 10:32

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Tech: Did the Justice Department hinder Microsoft? No. Outside forces did.

  • 93.9% Windows’ share of the desktop operating system market in 2002, after an antitrust settlement with the Justice Department
  • 91.1% Windows’ share of the desktop market today … as the Justice Department’s oversight ends; it’s like nothing actually changed source
  • » Then again, a lot has: The computer industry has evolved away from Microsoft’s model while still remaining tightly attached to it. With the growth of tablets and mobile phones (two markets where Microsoft simply struggles to stay afloat), and the evolution of open-source and Web apps into methods that get around Microsoft’s dominance, in many ways the company is weaker, even if we mostly still use Windows, even though OSX is probably better. Also, we think Google’s Chromebooks could chip into Microsoft’s market share in short order. None of these things are the Justice Department’s doing, though. The tech industry, instead, worked around Microsoft.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Apr 2011 23:47

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Politics: For second time, federal appeals court finds Arizona immigration law unconstitutional

  • Immigration station: Though its prominence in the news cycle has faded, the fight over Arizona’s controversial immigration law is anything but over; in fact, it’s taken a rather significant turn. Quick recap: When Governor Jan Brewer signed a possibly-racist anti-immigration bill into law last year, the Justice Department successfully sued to block its implementation, arguing that it usurped federal jurisdiction. Brewer appealed the ruling, and today, the appeals court issued its verdict: the Arizona law does in fact encroach on federal authority, and the injunction against it will remain in place. This one could make its way up to the Supreme Court; considering that lower courts’ rulings often influence the decisions of higher courts, this is an important development. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 15:31

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U.S.: Justice Department nabs Medicare fraud suspects in sweep

  • 111 people were charged with defrauding Medicare, a record bust
  • $225 million the amount defendants reportedly attempted to defraud source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Feb 2011 10:16

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U.S., World: Problem: The U.S. can’t figure out how to nail Julian Assange

  • yeah … The United States wants to nail Julian Assange for convincing Bradley Manning to leak a bunch of confidential documents, so they can arrest him for espionage.
  • … but Problem is, the evidence they have does not suggest that Assange convinced Manning to do anything of the sort, though some Wikileaks officials have closer ties. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jan 2011 13:02

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U.S.: U.S. government recovers record Medicare fraud dollars in 2010

  • $4 billion worth of Medicare fraud recovered by the government source
  • » Who do we thank? The Affordable Care Act (which you may know under its other name, somebody hissing “Obamacare”). The health care reform law institutes harsher penalties for Medicare billing fraud, and those penalties came to bear in 2010 as the Justice Department filed charges against almost 300 defendants, yielding this record-setting recoup of fraudulent claims.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Nov 2010 10:07

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U.S.: Civilian terrorism trials not looking like such a hot idea anymore

  • bad A civilian court trial against embassy bomber Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani only managed to convict the Guantanamo suspect on one charge – out of 285.
  • worse Obama’s failure to secure a conviction in civilian court means other civilian terror trials – including one for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed – are off the table. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Jul 2010 22:18

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Politics: Arizona immigration ruling: A temporary, but key, decision

  • While we understand the frustration of Arizonans with the broken immigration system, a patchwork of state and local policies would seriously disrupt federal immigration enforcement.
  • Justice Department spokeswoman Hannah August • Regarding the decision made by Judge Susan Bolton to temporarily block most of the key provisions of Arizona’s immigration law. Regarding the key provision, which would force police to check the immigration status of people they suspect may be illegal, Bolton said that the provision will lead to “the intrusion of police presence into the lives of legally present aliens (and even United States citizens), who will necessarily be swept up” as a result of the law. Bolton’s decision has a couple of effects – one, it puts pressure on the U.S. to secure the border, and two, it railroads other states’ attempts to get in on the immigration law action. All in all, big decision. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jan 2010 21:13

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Biz: The Justice Dept. finds silver lining in Ticketmaster and Live Nation

  • The merger has been approved after a yearlong investigation. This nightmare merger had been what many music fans had been fearing, but it appears the Justice Department found some common ground. “We were prepared to litigate this case, and I told the parties that,” said Justice Department antitrust representative Christine A. Varney. “The required divestitures and behavioral prohibitions alleviate our concerns.” Ticketmaster has to ditch a ticketing division and license its software to a competitor. Oh, and the boys at Justice will be watching them like a hawk for 10 years. Good idea – music fans will thank you. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Oct 2009 20:54

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U.S.: America’s biggest prick … er, “toughest sheriff” investigated

  • He’s unconstitutionally acted to racially profile many persons in the community, persons who appear or are Latino.
  • ACLU lawyer Dan Pochoda • Describing why Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a big jerk who they’re suing for racial profiling. He’s also under investigation by the Justice Department for violating civil rights. This is the guy who puts people (including Charles Barkley!) in jail wearing old-school prison stripes and pink underwear. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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