Over at American Enterprise Institute (AEI), James Pethokoukis wrote a fascinating piece, "America'…
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Patents Critical to America's "Special Century" of Growth

Over at American Enterprise Institute (AEI), James Pethokoukis wrote a fascinating piece, "America's Forgotten Prelude to Its Special Century," in which he explains what led to the century during which America became the most prosperous, powerful and innovative nation in human history between 1870 and 1970.  "Yet America's special century," Pethokoukis notes, "did not emerge ex nihilo.  The pro-growth groundwork was laid in the less glamorous decades between 1790 and 1870."

Critically, Pethokoukis notes the importance of intellectual property (IP), and patents in particular:

Equally important was an innovation culture, according to Rosenbloom.  Patents grew almost five times as fast as the population between the years 1790 and 1850.  Ordinary mechanics drove a culture of…[more]

September 15, 2025 • 11:44 AM

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Jester’s Courtroom
Unwanted Tweets Ruffle Feathers
Tuesday, July 01 2014

A Massachusetts woman is suing social media site Twitter for allegedly blasting spam messages to her cellphone.

Beverly Nunes has filed a class action lawsuit in San Francisco, and she is seeking more than $5 million under a federal law that restricts robo-calling.  According to news reports, Nunes claims Twitter has been blasting spam messages to "recycled" phone numbers and ignoring the recipients' pleas to stop. Nunes, who says she received a reassigned number from her phone company, says she has never used Twitter but that she is receiving the tweets because Twitter is disregarding policies about disconnected numbers.

The class action claims that Twitter should pay $500 for each unwanted text message under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a 1991 law directed at telephone calls, but which the complaint says applies to text messages as well.

“We believe these claims are without merit and will vigorously defend ourselves against them,” Twitter said in a statement.

Source:  gigaom.com

It's All Greek To Me
Wednesday, June 25 2014

Two New York men have filed a class-action lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court against Chobani Greek Yogurt, alleging false advertising because, according to their claim, “[n]one of the Products sold in the U.S. are made in Greece or made by Greek nationals…”

Plaintiffs Barry Stoltz of Scarsdale and Allan Chang of Queens are seeking unspecified monetary damages for allegedly being tricked into believing that the products are made in Greece and imported from Greece.

"Much like English muffins and French fries, our fans understand Greek yogurt to be a product description about how we authentically make our yogurt and not about where we make our yogurt in upstate New York and Idaho," a Chobani spokesperson said.

Source:  dailysignal.com

Lawsuit Reaches New Heights
Thursday, June 19 2014

An Ohio woman is suing Syracuse (NY) Crowne Plaza Hotel for $1 million in damages after falling off a “defective” bar stool in the public lounge.

Antoinette Allison, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, was waiting for her food at the restaurant lounge when she claims to have fallen from a stool that was too high off the ground. The exact height of the stool was not provided in the legal claim, but Allison alleges in her lawsuit that hotel management knew of other problems with the height of the stool.

"Said bar stools were more dangerous than patrons would expect and safer designs are on the marketplace," lawyer Mark Ventrone wrote in the complaint.

Allison, whose fall from the stool caused her to land on her wrist and suffer multiple fractures, which required surgery, is suing the hotel for $1 million in damages.

Source: syracuse.com

Throwing a Curve Ball
Wednesday, June 11 2014

A Pennsylvania couple is suing the local youth league after their 12-year-old daughter broke her leg sliding into home plate during a softball game.

James and Kathy Hershberger of Springhill, Pennsylvania, are seeking in excess of $50,000 plus legal fees in a lawsuit that names Fayette County Youth League, North Union Township and R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League, which invited the girl to play in the game.  According to the family's attorney, Benjamin Goodwin, the girl broke her leg because the base path from third base to home plate was uneven with holes and ruts in it.

“If you're going to have a league, you have to make sure the field is safe,” he said. “Kids have no control over the field.”

The injury kept the girl out of school and extracurricular activities for a “substantial time,” resulted in permanent scarring and will limit her earning capacity, according to the lawsuit.

“There's a baseball, there's a bat, and there are people running as fast as they can toward you. It's a sport. Injuries happen,” Trevor Waligura, president of the youth league, said. “It's a shame that people go after lawsuits when we are all volunteers. Nobody makes a nickel off of this. All this does is destroy youth sports.”

Source: triblive.com

Some Kind of Friend
Thursday, June 05 2014

A Washington State man is facing criminal charges after allegedly assaulting a woman and stealing her iPad, and then having the gall to “friend” his victim on Facebook the next day.

According to news reports, a woman was struck on the head from behind while sitting at the Bremerton, Washington, ferry terminal. Although the victim claims she did not see her assailant's face, she did notice he had a triangle neck tattoo. The following day, the victim received a “friend” request on Facebook from Riley Allen Mullins and recognized his tattoo as the same one she saw the day before.  Investigators confirmed the Facebook account belonged to Mullins, and they charged him with second-degree robbery.

Source: HuffingtonPost.com



Notable Quote   
 
"As Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson push for more community violence intervention funding from the federal government, two anti-violence workers have made news for alleged criminal actions.Prosecutors say seven men are charged with murder after a crash-and-grab burglary led to a crash and killed a motorist on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago last week.CWB Chicago reported that…[more]
 
 
— Jim Talamonti, The Center Square
 
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