Orlando DUI Attorney – “Money Flows Into legal defense funds for suspended California senators”

SOURCE   : scpr
BY              : Sharon McNary
Category : Orlando DUI Attorney

Money Flows Into legal defense funds for suspended California senators

California has tight restrictions on the amount political candidates can collect for campaigns; but when it comes to legal defense funds, donors can be far more generous. The state senate voted last March to suspend three members who had been charged or convicted of felonies.  Now several corporations, political action committees and even a few politicians have stepped up to help pay the legal bills for senators Ron Calderon and Rod Wright. Senator Leland Yee also has a committee to collect legal defense donations. Under state law, none of these legal defense funds will be subject to limits, as long as the amounts are not unreasonably higher than the expected defense costs.

Wright is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday on charges of perjury and voting fraud charges stemming from living outside his district. His fund collected more than $150,000.  Most came from state-regulated industries — energy, metals, telecommunications,  insurance, casinos and teachers. Energy company PG&E was among the larger donors to the suspended senators’ legal funds. The company gave $10,000 in installments to Wright’s fund in August and December 2013. Wright had been indicted in 2010 and convicted in January 2014. PG&E also gave a total of $7,500 to Calderon’s legal fund in July and December of 2013. Calderon’s legal defense fund collected just over $38,000.  He is accused of taking bribes.

Calderon’s office was searched by the FBI in June 2013. An FBI affidavit outlining the case against Calderon surfaced in news reports in October, and the senator was indicted in February 2014. A political action committee called Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy, whose third-largest donor is PG&E, gave Calderon’s legal defense fund its first cash infusion of $5,000 in July 2013. “Once suspended, we stopped all contributions,” said PG&E spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo in an email. Asked to explain how the company decides which politicians’ defense funds deserve its donations, she said, “We have decided not to contribute to such funds in the future.” Yee, also accused of bribery, set up a legal defense fund, but has not yet filed papers revealing donors.

SOURCE :  scpr.org/blogs/politics/2014/09/01/17229/money-flows-into-legal-defense-funds-for-suspended/

Orlando DUI Attorney – “California Governor Signs Law Requiring a ‘Kill Switch’ on Smartphones”

Source     : bits blogs NY Times
By            : Pedroncelli/Associated Press
Category : Matthews R Bark, Matthews R Bark Attorney

California Governor Signs Law Requiring a ‘Kill Switch’ on Smartphones

Governor Jerry Brown of California on Monday signed into law a measure that requires smartphones sold in California to include smarter antitheft technology, a feature that lawmakers hope will help reduce phone theft. The bill, introduced by State Senator Mark Leno and sponsored by George Gascón, San Francisco’s district attorney, requires a so-called “kill switch” — which would render a smartphone useless after it was stolen — to be included on all smartphones sold in California starting in July 2015. A kill switch is software that allows consumers to disable a phone after the device has been reported stolen and reactivate it only with a correct password or personal identification number. Proponents of the bill have argued that wide adoption of this type of antitheft technology would lead to a reduction in phone theft because it would make it more difficult for criminals to resell stolen phones.

“Our efforts will effectively wipe out the incentive to steal smartphones and curb this crime of convenience, which is fueling street crime and violence within our communities,” said Senator Leno, in a statement. In May, Minnesota became the first state to require a kill switch on all smartphones sold there. But the California bill is unusual in that it requires manufacturers, like Apple, Samsung and Motorola Mobility, to ship smartphones with the anti-theft technology turned on by default. In San Francisco, 2,400 cellphones were stolen last year, up 23 percent from 2012, according to the San Francisco police. Phone thefts also grew in New York and Washington last year. Overall, about 3.1 million devices were stolen in the United States in 2013, nearly double the 1.6 million that were stolen in 2012, according to Consumer Reports. However, some data suggests that kill-switch technology is already helping deter smartphone theft. Apple’s iPhone has offered kill switch technology since September. In June, law enforcement statistics for several major cities saw a significant dip in thefts of Apple devices after Apple’s introduction of the antitheft feature. For example, comparing data in the six months before and after Apple released its anti-theft feature, police said iPhone robberies in San Francisco dropped 38 percent. Supporters of a kill-switch law have faced resistance from CTIA, a trade organization for the wireless industry. The group has argued that creating laws specific to certain states would stifle technology innovation. It reiterated this argument again on Monday in reaction to Governor Brown’s decision to sign the bill.

“Uniformity in the wireless industry created tremendous benefits for wireless consumers, including lower costs and phenomenal innovation,” said Jamie Hastings, vice president of external and state affairs for CTIA, in a statement. “State by state technology mandates, such as this one, stifle those benefits and are detrimental to wireless consumers.” Mr. Gascón, San Francisco’s district attorney, said in a statement that cellphone owners can “breathe a sigh of relief.” “Soon, stealing a smartphone won’t be worth the trouble, and these violent street crimes will be a thing of the past,” he said in a statement. “The devices we use every day will no longer make us targets for violent criminals.”

SOURCE :  bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/25/california-governor-signs-law-requiring-a-kill-switch-on-smartphones/

Attorney Matthews Bark – APPLE RENEWS REQUEST FOR SALES BAN ON SAMSUNG PRODUCT

Source     – about.bloomberglaw.com/
By            – Joel Rosenblatt
category – Attorney Matthews Bark

Attorney Matthews Bark

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is again seeking to ban sales in the U.S. of Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) products that were at issue in the companies’ first patent trial in California and are now no longer on the market.

The iPhone-maker yesterday asked U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, to bar sales of more than 20 smartphones and tablets, such as the Galaxy S 4G and Galaxy Tab 10.1, that a jury last year found to infringe Apple’s patents. While Koh rejected Apple’s bid for a sales ban on the infringing Samsung devices after the 2012 verdict, a federal appeals court on Nov. 18 cleared the way for the iPhone maker to pursue an injunction targeting some of its rival’s products.

“Samsung’s claim that it has discontinued selling the particular models found to infringe or design around Apple’s patents in no way diminishes Apple’s need for injunctive relief,” Apple argued in yesterday’s filing. “Because Samsung frequently brings new products to market, an injunction is important to providing Apple the relief it needs to combat any future infringement by Samsung through products not more than colorably different from those already found to infringe.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington said that Apple could tailor its request to focus on infringement of patents covering smartphone features, such as multitouch technology, that were at issue in the 2012 trial. The company can’t block Samsung products for infringing patented designs, according to the opinion.

The world’s top two smartphone makers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees on claims of copying each other’s features in a global battle to dominate the market. Apple, which initiated the legal fight in 2011, had 13 percent market share in the third quarter of this year, while Samsung had 31 percent, according to IDC, a research firm based in Framingham,Massachusetts.

Adam Yates, a spokesman for Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Apple’s request.

DAMAGES TRIAL

Last month, Apple won more than $290 million from Samsung in a do-over damages trial stemming from the same case in which Apple is seeking its sales ban request. A jury restored most of the $410.5 million Koh cut from the $1.05 billion 2012 verdict after finding it was flawed because jurors in the first trial miscalculated the period that the infringement occurred. Total damages owed by Samsung now stand at $930 million.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, has another case against Samsung going to trial in March over newer models, including Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Should Koh, who is presiding over the case, impose a ban on the older models, Apple could argue that newer phones are the same products up with new names.

The lower court case is Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., 11-cv-01846, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose). The appeals court case is Apple Inc.

Source – about.bloomberglaw.com/legal-news/apple-renews-request-for-sales-ban-on-samsung-products/

Attorney Matthews Bark- Criminal Defense | “Lesson Is Seen in Failure of Law on Medicare in 1989”

Source    : New York Times
By            : CARL HULSE
Category : Matthews Bark Criminal Defense Attorney,  Orlando DUI Attorney

Criminal Defense Attorney

Angry Americans voice outrage at being asked to pay more for health coverage. Lawmakers and the White House say the public just doesn’t appreciate the benefits of the new health law. Opponents clamor for repeal before the program fully kicks in. The year was 1989, and the law was the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, which was supposed to protect older Americans from bankruptcy due to medical bills. Instead it became a catastrophe for Democratic and Republican lawmakers, who learned the hard way that many older Americans did not want to be helped in that particular way. Seventeen months after President Ronald Reagan signed the measure with Rose Garden fanfare, a series of miscalculations and missteps in passing the law became painfully evident, and it was unceremoniously stricken from the books by lawmakers who could not see its demise come quickly enough.

The tortured history of the catastrophic-care law is a cautionary tale in the context of the struggle over the new health law, the Affordable Care Act. It illustrates the political and policy hazards of presenting sweeping health system changes to consumers who might not be prepared for them. And it provides a rare example of lawmakers who were willing to jettison a big piece of social policy legislation when the political risks became too grave. “It has often been said that if you get an entitlement on the books, you can never get rid of it,” said Bill Archer, who pushed to repeal the 1988 law as a senior Republican, from Texas, on the House Ways and Means Committee. “That is an example of a time we did get rid of it.” Backers of the Affordable Care Act say comparisons to the catastrophic-care debacle are flawed. They say that the new law fills a major health insurance void and that despite its current problems it will never meet the same fate as that undertaking in 1988. “It is enormously different,” said Ron Pollack, the executive director of Families USA, a liberal consumer advocacy group, who supported both the new health law and the catastrophic-care program. “You had a benefit totally paid for by 40 percent of the Medicare beneficiaries, who overwhelmingly thought there was not a benefit there for them. It is understandable they were upset.” Others involved with the passage and repeal of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act see clear parallels with the current situation, in which a very vocal segment that views itself as harmed by the new law has joined with highly organized political operations to rally opposition to it. “When I saw this massive thing, I said, ‘Boy, if this is anything like catastrophic, they are going to be in trouble,’ ” said Brian J. Donnelly, who led the 1989 repeal effort as a Massachusetts Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee. “It is a very good analogy.”

The concept of expanding Medicare originated in the Reagan administration in 1986 under Otis R. Bowen, the secretary of health and human services, who proposed a modest change to add an annual premium while capping annual out-of-pocket costs for co-payments and hospitalization at $2,000. Politically, Republicans were looking for a way to offset damage from a proposal to delay Social Security increases. Democrats, who controlled Congress, were not about to be outbid by Reagan when it came to a core constituency like retirees. As the Bowen plan moved through the House and the Senate, new benefits were tacked on, including premium protection for low-income Americans, help for spouses of nursing home residents and some limited prescription drug coverage, driving up the cost of the program. With the White House insisting that Medicare recipients pay the tab, the sponsors devised a sliding payment scale based on income that the Internal Revenue Service would collect. That approach shares some DNA with the current law, since the I.R.S. is responsible for imposing penalties against people who do not buy insurance and for administering other aspects of the Affordable Care Act. Wary of being accused of instituting a new tax, backers of the catastrophic-care bill chose to call the payment of up to $800 for individuals and $1,600 for couples a supplemental premium. Aides to Reagan grew wary of the final product — approved 328 to 72 in the House and 86 to 11 in the Senate in the summer of 1988 — and pondered a veto. But Vice President George Bush, running for the top job that year, saw the measure as a potential political advantage, and it became law.

Source : nytimes.com/2013/11/18/us/politics/lesson-is-seen-in-failure-of-1989-law-on-medicare.html?_r=0#h[]

Matthews Bark | “Saudi Arabia’s Women Hold Day Of Action To Change Driving Laws”

Source     : Theguardian
By              : Ian Black, Middle East editor
Category : Matthews Bark – Criminal Defense Attorney,  Orlando DUI Attorney

Saudi Woman Driving A Car

Saudi women are holding a day of action to challenge the kingdom’s ban on female driving, amid signs of slowly growing readiness by the authorities to consider reform in the face of strong opposition by the clerical establishment. Twitter, Facebook and other social media have been used to get women drivers on the roads on Saturday in a marathon push against this unique restriction. Activists say they have 16,600 signatures on an online petition calling for change. Efforts to publicise the issue by the “October 26 driving for women” group have been described as the best-organised social campaign ever seen in Saudi Arabia, where Twitter has millions of users and is used to circulate information about the monarchy and official corruption.

Now the mainstream press is getting involved too, a telling indication of a thaw on this issue. “It’s time to end this absurd debate about women driving,” wrote Dr Thuraya al-Arid in al-Jazirah newspaper. In another paper, al-Sharq al-Awsat, Mshari al-Zaydi said: “The time has come to turn the page on the past and discuss this issue openly.” Previous attempts to promote change fizzled out in arrests for public order offences and demoralisation. In 2011, activist Manal al-Sharif made a YouTube video urging women to drive their own cars, and was imprisoned for over a week. But the signs are far more positive now. Three female members of the shura (advisory) council – among 30 appointed by the 90-year-old King Abdullah – recommended this month that the ban be rescinded, though no debate has yet taken place. Latifa al-Shaalan, Haya al-Mani and Muna al-Mashit urged the council to “recognise the rights of women to drive a car in accordance with the principles of sharia [Islamic law] and traffic laws”.

The three – praised by supporters for “stirring the stagnant water” – framed their argument with careful references to fatwas (religious edicts) banning women from being in the company of an unrelated male (a driver). Other ideas designed to reassure critics are appointing female traffic police and driving instructors. Cost is another big factor, with families having to employ chauffeurs, as is convenience. Writer Maha al-Aqeel, who is planning to take her Mazda out for a spin in Jeddah — with her brother or nephew — sees the issue as the thin end of a wedge of reform in Saudi Arabia. “Driving is such a visible and symbolic thing,” she told the Guardian. “It’s not like women on the shura council – you cannot see that and you cannot see advances for women in the workplace. Many conservatives feel that if women get the right to drive then that’s it, the last bastion of male control will fall. I think it should lead to other changes. That’s why those who oppose it are so vehement. And that’s why the government is treading so carefully. It does not want to cause a big uproar.”

Signs of powerful opposition are easy to detect. This week 150 clerics and religious scholars held a rare public protest outside the king’s palace in Jeddah to object to “westernisation” and “the conspiracy of women driving”, blaming the US – a byword in traditionalist circles for anything distasteful or immoral – for being behind the campaign. Until then, the government had conspicuously refrained from cracking down. But on Wednesday the interior ministry issued a stern pre-emptive warning that unlawful assemblies and marches would not be tolerated, and invoked the danger of sedition. On a closer reading, activists noted, the ministry did not actually attack the idea of dropping the ban. “They are not saying clearly that women shouldn’t drive,” Aqeel said. “The government wants to stay on the middle ground.”

Neither sharia law nor national traffic regulations explicitly ban women from driving, but they are not issued licenses. Campaigners have been emboldened by the low-key official response, with some emulating Sharif and uploading films on social media of themselves driving. In a video posted by the blogger Eman al -Nafjan, a female driver is seen cruising down a relatively busy road while passing motorists give enthusiastic thumbs-up signs in support. As expectations mount, many Saudi fathers are teaching their daughters to drive. “People are positive that things are going to change,” said the journalist Abeer al-Mishkhas. “They just hope it will come soon. The government says it is waiting to see if society is becoming more tolerant.” Arguments aimed at keeping women off the roads can be shocking and nonsensical. “If a woman drives a car that could have negative physiological impacts as…physiological medical studies show that it automatically affects the ovaries and pushes the pelvis upwards,” warned Sheikh Saleh bin Saad al-Lohaidan. Nafjan argued in a commentary for Amnesty International that the fundamental issue was challenging patriarchy. “If there was one word to describe what it is like to be a Saudi woman, it would be the word patronising. No matter how long you live, you remain a minor in the eyes of the government.”

Source :  theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/25/saudi-arabia-women-action-driving-laws

Orlando DUI Attorney | “Liberia: Stop Demolition – Civil Law Court Orders Public Works Ministry”

Source     : allafrica.com
By              : GEORGE J. BORTEH
Category : Matthews Bark Criminal Defense Attorney,  Orlando DUI Attorney

Orlando-DUI-Attorney

Sitting in its September Term of Court, Civil Law Court Judge Boima Kontoe has issued a stay order on the authority of the Ministry of Public Works to stop the demolition of the property or Intestate Estate of the late Dr. Jeremiah Harris administered by Mr. Sam T. Solomon.

The stay order which was issued recently on Public Works Minister Antoinette Weeks, also warned Minister Weeks that since the matter is before the court, it is sub-judicial for said Ministry to carry out any demolition. The property or Intestate Estate in question is located on Benson Street in the city of Monrovia in Montserrado County.

Judge Kontoe also ordered Public Works Minister Weeks to appear before court and show cause why she should not be held in contempt concerning interfering in a matter that is before court. “The Minister of Public Works is further ordered to appear before court and show cause why she should not be held in contempt for interfering in a matter that is before court,” Judge Kontoe ordered. According to a copy of the Stay Order, hearing into the matter has been scheduled on the 25th day of October 2013 at the hour of 1: pm.

Source : allafrica.com/stories/201310180412.html

Matthews Bark Criminal Defense Attorney | “UCLA’s Wanaah Bail Gets His Eligibility For 2013-14”

Source        : cbssports.com
By                :  Matt Norlander
Category    : Matthews Bark Criminal Defense Attorney,  Orlando DUI Attorney

Wanaah-Bail-Gets-His Eligibility-For 2013-14

UCLA has announced that freshman forward Wanaah Bail (what a name!) had his waiver to play this season approved by the NCAA. Bail initially enrolled at Texas Tech in 2012. He left last summer, and instead of having to sit a year, opted to enroll at UCLA for summer classes this year and submitted his request to be immediately eligible.

The NCAA gave the all-clear Tuesday.

“We are grateful that this matter has come to a conclusion and are very happy for Wanaah,” new Bruins coach Steve Alford said in a statement. “I know that Wanaah is excited to get on the floor with his teammates, and we’re all looking forward to him beginning his collegiate career at UCLA this season.”

The 6-9 Bail, a physical power forward, had surgery on his left knee over the summer and is still not back in practice.

UCLA starts its season when so many other teams do, on Nov. 8. It hosts Drexel.

Source : cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24091820/uclas-wanaah-bail-gets-his-eligibility-for-201314

Matthews Bark Criminal Defense Attorney | “Could mobile tech be the saving grace for the Affordable Care Act? Read more: Could mobile tech be the saving grace for the Affordable Care Act?”

Source     : fiercemobilehealthcare.com
By              : Greg Slabodkin
Category : Matthews Bark Criminal Defense Attorney,  Orlando DUI Attorney

Criminal Defense Attorney- Matthew Bark

The federal government is officially shut down, thanks to partisan politics and gridlock in Washington. Nevertheless, open enrollment begins today for health insurance exchanges–online marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act–allowing individuals, families and small businesses to shop for insurance coverage. Our dysfunctional political system notwithstanding, this is good news for the 49 million people in this country who are uninsured and can now find out what health coverage options are available to them.

If you’re confused about the provisions of the Affordable Care Act and what it means for you, you’re not alone. Despite the Obama administration’s efforts to educate the public, only 15 percent of Americans said they are very familiar with the healthcare reform law, according to a Gallup poll released in August. In particular, younger U.S. adults are less familiar with the Affordable Care Act compared with older adults, but they are also less pessimistic about the law than older people–which could mean the difference between success and failure.

The key to the success of the Affordable Care Act is getting young people to sign up for health insurance using the exchanges. By the end of March 2014, when open enrollment ends, the Obama administration wants to have more than 2.5 million young, healthy people signed up for coverage to offset the costs of caring for the old and sick. Still, only one in four young American adults are aware of the online health insurance marketplaces that are now open. Young adults, who make up almost a third of all uninsured Americans, see themselves as invulnerable yet in many ways they stand the most to gain from the law.

Under the Affordable Care Act, some young adults can stay on their parents’ health insurance policies until they turn 26. But an estimated 16 million to 19 million others are still uninsured. To attract them, insurance companies are hoping to bring in young adults by offering mobile-friendly ways to make healthcare decisions, according to a U.S. News & World Report article published Monday. The article, which cites a new survey released by PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute (HRI), finds that the “new health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act are “already giving insurers and tech companies alike an opportunity for innovation.”

The HRI survey found that “capturing the young invincibles–through targeted messaging and products–will help insurers balance financial risk.” As a result, HRI recommended that health insurance companies should “build out data analytics and mobile strategies for targeting” young adults and that “mobile apps will help customers gain access to important medical and cost information.” In addition, almost 90 percent of young adults surveyed between the ages of 18 and 24 indicated that they would use social media tools for “health-related activities.” Consequently, wireless technology could be the saving grace for the Affordable Care Act in getting young Americans to sign up for health insurance

Source : fiercemobilehealthcare.com/story/could-mobile-tech-be-saving-grace-affordable-care-act/2013-10-01

Orlando DUI Attorney | “Off-Duty Agent Arrested For DWI”

Source    : pro8news.com
By        : Press Release
Category  : Orlando DUI Attorney, Attorney Matthews Bark of Orlando

Orlando-DUI-Attorney

An off-duty federal agent is arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Twenty-seven-year-old Patrick Golden was arrested in the 500 block of Shiloh Drive just after two Tuesday morning after a Laredo police officer stopped a vehicle that had cut through the parking lot of a nearby What-A-Burger.

The officer conducted a DWI test. We’re told the investigation is still pending, but the driver allegedly had a blood alcohol content of 0.9%. Customs and Border Protection sent out a statement in response to the arrest: “CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission. As public servants, our agents are rightly held to a higher standard of conduct and are subject to the same laws and rules that apply to private citizens. We fully cooperate with any criminal and administrative investigations of alleged misconduct by any of our personnel, on or off duty.”

Source : pro8news.com/news/local/Off-Duty-Agent-Arrested-For-DWI-224181121.html