Saddam Hussein’s Dysfunctional House of War
Ubaka Ogbogu over at UofA blog mentioned the new HBO series House of Saddam. Although I only caught a few episodes, here are my preliminary thoughts on the series. Accurate Information in the Fog of…
Pop Culture
Liebeck v. Starbucks – The New Chapter of Hot Torts
We all remember the classic case of Liebeck v. McDonald’s. Well it seems other hot drink vendors didn’t learn this important lesson. A woman in Manhattan is suing Starbucks for $3 million for her hot…
Confessions of an Obamaniac in Canada
Obamania… Mania.. in the House With the U.S. presidential elections only days away now, it seems we might just have a president that is more popular abroad than he is at home for the first…
Water Bottle Ban on the Horizon
Bottled water must be the most brilliant marketing ploy ever conceived. Some marketing reps decided to take regular tap water, run it through a filter, and then package it in attractive bottles designed to somehow…
$300M Suit Follows Toronto Propane Explosion
Just days after a massive explosion at a propane transfer facility in Toronto, a $300 million class action lawsuit is being launched. On August 10, 2008, in the early morning hours, a massive explosion at…
Last year in Osgoode (and the Law Journal)
I am lucky enough to be a senior editor of the Osgoode Hall Law Journal in the year of its 50th anniversary. To mark this occasion the Journal is publishing a series of special issues…
Profile of a Stalker
Stalking the Stalker We all have them, even if the innocuous kinds like on Facebook. But we thought it would be fun to stalk the stalker, by creating a profile of the different types out…
Britney Lacks Necessary Mental Element
A reporter recently pressed charges against Britney Spears for running over his foot with her car. But on Friday, Deputy District Attorney Joseph D. Shidler said, [the] only way the victim’s foot could have been…
Online Legal Reporting Trumps CNN
The video is hard to turn away from. A sobbing 16-year-old sits in her bedroom and, staring into a camera, says she has been raped. This is how CNN covers a story of a 16-year…
Scalia Openly Condones Torture
Creating a Legal Storm US Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, made his first major television appearance this week on 60 Minutes. Previously he has severely restricted media access, especially in his court, citing his, First…
Global Terrorist Threat “Overblown”
Don’t believe the hype Twenty years ago the classic Hip Hop group, Public Enemy, said in their hit song, Some media is the whack You believe it’s true, it blows me through the roof Suckers,…
Free Mumia – Not an American Gangster
Fry That What? The case of Mumia Abu Jamal, on death row in Pennsylvania for killing a white police officer in 1981, is raising some interesting issues surrounding jury selection. The court found that the…