Legal Commentary

European Commission Puts Economies of Struggling Britain and Ireland in the Same Category as Latvia : German Economy may be on the Upswing

Posted on June 24, 2009
We remain worried about the national finances of Latvia and see the threat of devaluation as a strong concern, but now breathe a sigh of relief to see that the Latvian government is in good company.(See Financial Times Alphaville and Latvia Economy Watch on the economic situation in Latvia)...

The Witness Problem : Human Memory is Fallible and Vulnerable : Which Sense Organ Gives the Most Reliable Testimony? The Eye or the Ear?

Posted on June 23, 2009
Human memory is fallible and vulnerable, which has special consequences for the law.The Stanford Journal of Legal Studies has a review by Laura Engelhardt of The Problem with Eyewitness Testimony, a talk by Barbara Tversky, Professor of Psychology and George Fisher, Professor of Law, writing:"In a presentation sponsored by the Stanford Journal of Legal Studies, George Fisher placed Barbara Tversky?s research on memory fallibility into the context of police investigations and jury verdicts, discussing the relevance of such research to our system of justice...

Happy Father's Day - on the Third Sunday in June, but not Everywhere, as it is Celebrated on Different Days in Different Countries

Posted on June 21, 2009
Today is Happy Father's Day in many countries of the globe, but not everywhere. Take a look at the Wikipedia article on Father's Day for a history and a world view.

Motorists and Cyclists : Bicycles and Law : Law Enforcement : Radfahren und das Recht : Know Your Laws : Die gesetzlichen Bestimmungen kennen

Posted on June 17, 2009
Lawyer On a Bike writes about bicycles and the USA:"The bicycle is a two wheeled, human powered vehicle that offers no crash protection. Cyclists are at the mercy of cars. Between 1932, when bicycle crash fatality statistics were first kept, until 2002, there have been 47,000 deaths of cyclists from bicycle related injuries...

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Foxconn & Hon Hai Precision Industry : China's Largest Exporter Opening Dell Assembly Plant in Mexico on the Border of the United States and Mexico

Posted on June 14, 2009
The future is always in the making and it behooves us to look carefully at international economic developments, especially when they take place on our own borders.What company known to you is the manufacturer of, among other things, iPods, iPhones, Macbooks, Playstations, Wii's, Xbox 360s, Nokia and Motorola cell phones, Kindles, and motherboards for Intel, Dell and HP?You've heard of them, right? Foxconn is China's biggest exporter, where it employs about a half a million people, and it is one of the world's largest OEM manufacturers of electronics and computers...

What is a Maquila or a Maquiladora? Mexican Border Factories Employ Thousands and Account for a Great Share of Mexican Exports but At What Cost?

Posted on June 14, 2009
A quote in the previous LawPundit posting uses the term maquila (short for maquiladora).Map of the maquiladora plants in Mexico from The Cutting EdgeThe Wikipedia under maquiladora tell us that:"A maquiladora or maquila is a factory that imports materials and equipment on a duty-free and tariff-free basis for assembly or manufacturing and then re-exports the assembled product, usually back to the originating country...

EU Election Results for the European Union Parliament : 27 Countries : 736 Members of Parliament (MEPs) : Representing 492 Million Citizens of Europe

Posted on June 13, 2009
Few in Europe know the name of their European Parliament MEP (Member of Parliament)? Those who do not know can view this EU directory, which at the time of this posting does not yet reflect the elections just held for the European Parliament.The Germany Missions in the United States at Germany...

The TouchTable : Like a Giant iPhone : A Very Serious High Tech Toy for Military and Law Enforcement : Also Useful for Firms & Private Households

Posted on June 12, 2009
Have you seen this? Fantastic.The TouchTable®.If you want an incredible modern high tech coffee table - a touch table is it. The cost is still quite high, but we definitely want one of these for Christmas. Just imagine keeping track of your client legal cases or your sales force or your cash flow or your product chain or your investments by use of one of these things...

Deadline Alert : USA Importer Security Filing & Additional Carrier Requirements Interim Final Rule (ISF 10+2) to require Advance Cargo Info

Posted on June 11, 2009
Michael Laden writes at gtnews.com about the impending deadline for implementation of the Importer Security Filing Rule of US Customs & Border Protection (CBP):"We are nearing the half way mark of a one-year non-enforced phase-in of this rule and, unless otherwise delayed, on 26 January 2010 the CBP will begin full enforcement of this new requirement...

France Strikes Out on its Three Strikes Law Against Digital Piracy as the French Constitutional Council Affirms Individual Right to Internet Access

Posted on June 11, 2009
The Constitutional Council of France - a uniquely French legal body which is neither a court nor composed of judges - struck down the French Three Strikes Law against digital piracy as contrary to "French constitutional principles". As Peter Sayer of IDG News Service notes:"France's highest legal authority has ruled as unconstitutional a government plan to cut off, without trial, Internet users accused of copyright infringement...

LawPundit Posting "Who Killed the Electric Car" at the New York Times Headlines Around the Web

Posted on June 09, 2009
The June 8, 2009 LawPundit posting "Who Killed the Electric Car" was featured at the New York Times Headlines Around the Web in connection with the Wikipedia as follows:

Who Killed the Electric Car?

Posted on June 08, 2009
This posting is a logical sequel to our LawPundit posting on Unnecessary Patent Encumbrance of Large Automotive NiMH Batteries : What is Required are Draconian Penalties for the Greedy Patent Holders.As written at the Wikipedia:Who Killed the Electric Car? is a 2006 documentary film that explores the creation, limited commercialization, and subsequent destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the 1990s...

Unnecessary Patent Encumbrance of Large Automotive NiMH Batteries : What is Required are Draconian Penalties for the Greedy Patent Holders

Posted on June 08, 2009
One of the areas of environmental protection and improved energy development which are being unnecessarily held back by overly broad patent protection is the development and sale of large automotive NiMH Batteries.We have been researching the puzzling snail's pace of production of hybrid and electrical vehicles and ran across the Wikipedia article Patent encumbrance of large automotive NiMH batteries...

Real Estate Prices and Home Values : Housing Prices in Relation to Income : The Zillow.com ZIndex and the Maximum Affordability Ratio of Ben Engebreth

Posted on June 05, 2009
Is real estate still vastly overpriced? It most certainly is at the high end of things, but that will probably never change. Buyers often pay a substantial premium for exclusivity (location, location, location) which often far exceeds the strict objective value of the actual property...

Update to CarTrawler Posting

Posted on June 04, 2009
Please note that I have made the following update to my previous posting about CarTrawler.UPDATE (June 4, 2009)I received a full apology by phone today from CarTrawler for the car rental booking circumstances previously described in this blog posting, together with sincere assurance that the matter would be righted...

US State & Local Tax Burdens for 2008 Fiscal Year via The Tax Foundation : You Get What You Pay For : The California FailOut

Posted on June 04, 2009
Everybody talks about taxes, but who is really doing anything about them?The Tax Foundation, a "nonpartisan educational organization" whose mission "is to educate taxpayers about sound tax policy and the size of the tax burden borne by Americans at all levels of government", has some interesting figures in its Special Report No...

U.S. BEA Commerce Department GDP Economic Report Shows only a ca. 5.7 % drop in the USA in the 1st Quarter of 2009 : BETTER than previous estimates

Posted on June 02, 2009
The Commerce Department GDP Economic Report just released (May 29, 2009) by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) shows an expected drop in U.S. GDP, but the data are better than previous estimates. You can read the Report below or go to the full screen link at Docstoc...

CarTrawler : An Alleged Car Rental Service to AVOID : CarTrawler is NOT a Full Car Rental Company and Potentially a Scam Costing YOUR money

Posted on June 02, 2009
I made the great mistake recently of following a CarTrawler.com (Dublin) online link at the RyanAir (Dublin) website after booking a flight and hotel through the reputable and otherwise excellent cheap flyer RyanAir. I also booked a hotel through a RyanAir link - with very good success at a reduced price - and then tried to rent a car at a flight destination airport, thinking that it would also be a good deal and not questioning its reliability since the link appeared on the RyanAir website...

The World of New York Wines : Is Winemaking "Agriculture" as a Matter of Law? What is Legal Zoning with respect to the Wine Industry?

Posted on May 26, 2009
Uncork New York! is the website of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, headquartered in Canandaigua, New York State, USA. If you think you know the wine world, but are not familiar with New York State wines or wineries, you are in for a surprise...

LawPundit Mentioned in the New York Times Topics : Yuan News

Posted on May 25, 2009
Our previous LawPundit posting, How Much is the Dollar Worth? Past U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's (FDR) First Inaugural Address Shows why Greed Kills : Also in $$-Rich China, was mentioned in the New York Times Topics, the Yuan News of May 25, 2009, under the rubric "Headlines Around the Web" (we have added the red circle around the LawPundit link)...

What are the Best Blogs for Law Librarians? Online University Lowdown Focuses on the Importance of the Law Librarian in its Selection of the Best 50

Posted on May 25, 2009
We taught legal research in the Trier Law School FFA program for a number of years and remain convinced that research is the bread and butter of the legal profession. You have to know or be able to find the law. Often it is the latter.Understandably, law libraries and law librarians remain as indispensable as ever...

Where to Invest One Million Dollars? Technology Company Executives Reveal Their Favorites : How about Cheap Kindles?

Posted on May 24, 2009
At the Reuters blog MediaFile, Tiffany Wu has a May 22, 2009 posting titled Tech execs, where would you put a million dollars?Selected tech execs were asked at the Reuters Technology Summit: "If we gave you $1 million to invest anywhere ? but not in your own company ? where would you spend it?"The tech exec answers given provide some nice insights into today's technology as well as the state of the world economy...

Do it Like the Norwegians : Prudence, Stability and Sovereign Wealth Fund Legislation in Thriving Norway are an Example for the Rest of the World

Posted on May 23, 2009
Norway is doing something right that many of the countries in our world are doing wrong, namely running the national economy wisely.Is Norway a model for a healthy and prudent national economics?Landon Thomas Jr. in his May 13, 2009 New York Times article Thriving Norway Provides an Economics Lesson gives us a nice summary of the economic policies followed by a "wealthy" but "relatively frugal" country...

How Much is the Dollar Worth? Past U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's (FDR) First Inaugural Address Shows why Greed Kills : Also in $$-Rich China

Posted on May 23, 2009
"As Dollars Pile Up, Uneasy Traders Lower the Currency?s Value" - that is the title of Jack Healy's May 22, 2009 piece at the New York Times.How Much is the Dollar Worth and What is it Likely to be Worth Tomorrow?The opinions differ. Some have uncertainty and fear, but all that we really have to fear ...

LawPundit Posting on the Economy of Norway Mentioned in the New York Times World Topics : Headlines Around the Web :

Posted on May 23, 2009
The New York Times apparently liked our previous posting about the NY Times article by Landon Thomas Jr. on Thriving Norway Provides an Economics Lesson, yesterday, May 23, including a mention of LawPundit and a link to our commentary on Thomas's article which we titled Do it Like the Norwegians : Prudence, Stability and Sovereign Wealth Fund Legislation in Thriving Norway are an Example for the Rest of the World (we have appended the two red circles and the blue double-headed arrow to this partial scan and miniaturization of the respective New York Times World Topics page):

Linex Legal : Forget it : This Allegedly Free Service Is Not Free For Everyone : Possibly Illegal Discrimination on the Basis of the Email Provider

Posted on May 22, 2009
As someone who is retired from teaching law at the university level, I nevertheless keep up on legal developments worldwide, inter alia, also co-authoring the world's leading (Langenscheidt-Routledge) German-English dictionary on business, commerce and finance and also doing legal work for the European Commission...

Change in the Pharmaceutical Industry : USA, UK & Europe, especially Germany : Working Paper by Harvard's Daemmrich Summarized by Rob Houck

Posted on May 19, 2009
LawPundit: The following summary by Rob Houck (here published with the author's consent) of a working paper by Arthur Daemmrich of the Harvard Business School came to our attention indirectly via assistance from Janine Labusch. Thank you. Materials in [brackets] have been added viz...

What is Democracy? : PUBLIC Online YouTube Voting in the Worldwide Democracy Video Challenge Final Begins May 15 and Runs to June 15

Posted on May 15, 2009
America.gov staff writer Tanya Brothen has an article on the Democracy Video Challenge, an online video contest which was launched at the United Nations on September 15, 2008 and for which online voting beings on May 15, running to June 15, 2009, i.e...

X-Life : Using Mobile Cellphone Technology as Cultural e-Diplomacy : Can Game-Playing be Useful as a Form of Education in the International Sphere?

Posted on May 15, 2009
4 BILLION cellphone subscribers worldwide. Incredible. About 4 times as many as Internet users. Now, that is an eye-opening statistic for this posting.Having taught at a law school for a number of years, the LawPundit has a cutting edge interest in teaching, learning and education...

What is Democracy? Democracy is ... Voting has Begun : Cast Your Vote at YouTube in the Worldwide Democracy Video Challenge : 6 Geographic Regions

Posted on May 15, 2009
What is Democracy? Democracy is ...VOTE NOWAs written at America.gov:"Vote for the Video that Defines Democracy BestThe Democracy Video Challenge is an online video contest in which contestants submitted videos that explore the nature of democracy. People worldwide can select a winner by voting between May 15 and June 15 for the video that best captures the nature of democracy...

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