Tobacco Litigation :: essays research papers

THE BATTLE OF MINNESOTA Document Discovery In The 1997 Minnesota Tobacco Litigation . I. INTRODUCTION Although any legal observer would tell you the prospect long loomed on the horizon, on July 14, 2000, when a Florida jury handed down a judgment of $144.8 billion dollars against the seven major tobacco companies , the mental shock of hearing such a figure was still staggering. It remains unclear as of this writing exactly how much of this massive verdict will ever be collected by the plaintiffs - a behemoth class of Florida smokers - injured by the products marketed, manufactured and sold by the defendants. In the days immediately following the judgement, the tobacco industry carried on business as usual and even the companies’ stock prices remained largely unchanged . Irrespective of the minimal immediate financial and social effects of this judgment, the legal implications for the tobacco industry, the plaintiff’s bar, and the state and federal government entities presently bringing suit for tobacco related harms, cannot be overemphasized. The Florida judgment, the largest in civil legal history, although unique in its outcome, was only one more chapter in the long and still unfolding saga of American tobacco litigation. After many years of successfully fighting countless â€Å"wars† in the arena of civil mass torts, Goliath had fallen, and although he was far from dead, he could no longer afford to laugh at the prospect of the battle before him. The husband and wife legal team of Stanley and Irene Rosenblatt had successfully felled an opponent that, less than a decade earlier, had toppled even the best and brightest of the plaintiff’s bar. The Florida plaintiffs’ arsenal, however, was filled with the unique and powerf ul ammunition of countless â€Å"confidential† documents passed between the defendants’ employees, and even their legal counsel. Without a slingshot full of these stones, Goliath was unlikely to have fallen, and the manner, and legal justification for how they were introduced into evidence remains a controversy of great legal significance. For even now, as the practical and legal ramifications of the Florida case and judgment remain unclear, many legal scholars are still busy debating the outcome of a prior legal battle, without which the Florida judgment never could have occurred: the battle of Minnesota. II. Tobacco Litigation - A History of The Three â€Å"Waves† A. The â€Å"First Wave† (1950 - 1980) For ease of reference, the history of tobacco litigation is usually summarized into three â€Å"waves.

Anthony Kiedis and the Red Hot Chili Peppers

The energetic singer of the alternative rock group, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis was born on Nov. 1, 1962, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Kiedis' godfather was Sonny Bono, of Sonny & Cher fame. His parents split when Anthony was three. After getting into trouble at school, he moved to California to be with his dad. His father made most of his money selling drugs, CONTENTS †¢Synopsis †¢Aspiring Musician †¢The Red Hot Chili Peppers †¢Mainstream Success †¢Personal Life but also dabbled in acting. It was during these years that young Kiedis was exposed and influenced by the world of art, sex, music, and drugs.Singer, actor, writer. Born on November 1, 1962, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis has become one of best-known figures in alternative rock. His parents split up when he was very young. He lived with his mother, Peggy, in Michigan and visited his father, John, in California. While with his fat her, Kiedis was exposed to the Los Angeles club scene where he got a chance to see such rock acts as the Eagles, Neil Young, Deep Purple, and Rod Stewart. Developing an aversion to authority at an early age, Kiedis acted out in school.He eventually convinced his mother to agree to let him live with his father in California. In his early teens, Kiedis moved in with his father and soon began experimenting with drugs. He started smoking marijuana and later tried heroin, cocaine, and Quaaludes. His father earned much of his money from dealing marijuana and other illegal substances, according to Scar Tissue, Kiedis’s official autobiography. By the mid-1970s, John Kiedis decided to try to make as an actor, taking classes and the stage name Blackie Dammet. Anthony also started acting, using his own stage name Cole Dammet.He landed a few commercials and small parts. Aspiring Musician At Fairfax High School, Kiedis met and made friends with Michael Balzary—better known later as Flea—and Hillel Slovak. Slovak had a band known as Anthym and Balzary eventually joined it as the bass player. Kiedis acted as the MC for some of their gigs. They were also interested in the emerging punk scene and caught shows by such acts as Black Flag. Kiedis moved out of his father’s place to live with a friend during the latter part of high school. Despite living in the midst of a party scene, he was able to keep up his grades.Kiedis did well enough to get accepted to UCLA. College, however, did not hold his interest for long. In 1982, Kiedis found inspiration for his vocal styling from the hit song, â€Å"The Message,† from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. He started a band with friends Slovak and Flea—although they were already in different bands—with Jack Irons on drums the following year. The group that would become known as the Red Hot Chili Peppers became a popular fixture on the L. A. club scene. The group quickly went through a line-up change when Slovak and Irons left when their other band What Is This landed a record deal.Kiedis and Flea pressed on with their innovative funk-punk sound, bringing in guitarist Jack Sherman and drummer Cliff Martinez. The group eventually became known as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Red Hot Chili Peppers Their 1984 self-titled debut didn’t sell, but the group started to attract a following with their energetic live shows. Often over-the-top rebels, the Red Hot Chili Peppers even performed a few times while only wearing strategically placed tube socks. For their second effort, Freaky Styley, the group enlisted the help of funk superstarGeorge Clinton to serve as their producer.The album also marked the return of Slovak and Irons to the band. Kiedis’s off-stage activities were starting to take over his life. He was using heroin and cocaine heavily, so much so that his bandmates kicked him out of the group for a while. Returning to Michigan for a time, Kiedis went through detox. He returned to Los Angeles and the band, but did not stay clean for long. The Red Hot Chili Peppers released their third album, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, in 1987. The album even made it onto theBillboard 200 album charts. The following year, Kiedis experienced a great personal loss.Longtime friend and bandmate Slovak died of a heroin overdose on June 25, 1988. After this tragedy, Irons decided to leave the band and Kiedis eventually went to a rehabilitation center. Trying to regroup, Kiedis and Flea added guitarist Blackbyrd McKnight and drummer D. H. Peligro to the group, but this line up didn’t work out. They then brought in guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith and recorded Mother’s Milk. They began attracting more fans and more media attention. MTV aired videos for two tracks—â€Å"Knock Me Down† and their cover of Steve Wonder’s hit â€Å"Higher Ground. In 1989, Kiedis found himself in legal trouble for a post -concert incident. He was accused of sexual battery and indecent exposure after a concert in Virginia at George MasonUniversity that April, according to a report in The New York Times. He later paid a fine. CONTENTS †¢Synopsis †¢Aspiring Musician †¢The Red Hot Chili Peppers †¢Mainstream Success †¢Personal Life Mainstream Success Working with producer Rick Rubin, the Red Hot Chili Peppers experienced a major career breakthrough with their next album BloodSugarSexMagik in 1991.The album sold more than 4 million copies, spurred on in part by such hits as â€Å"Under the Bridge,† â€Å"Give It Away,† and â€Å"Suck My Kiss. † Frusciante ended up leaving the group before it joined the alternative music tour Lollapalooza in 1992. After a few false starts, the Red Hot Chili Peppers eventually replaced Frusciante with guitarist Dave Navarro, once with Jane’s Addiction. This latest line up recorded 1995’s One Hot Minute, which went platinum. â€Å"Aeroplane† and â€Å"My Friends† were two of the biggest hits from the album.In July 1997, Kiedis was involved in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles. He broke his wrist and forearm when he was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle. The following year, Kiedis sued the driver for damages. By the time the Red Hot Chili Peppers released their 1999 hit recordCalifornication, Frusciante was back in the band, replacing Navarro who left to pursue solo projects. â€Å"Around the World,† â€Å"Scar Tissue,† and the title track all did well on the rock charts. 2002’s By the Way was also a strong seller, making it to the number two spot on the Billboard 200. Personal LifeKiedis borrowed the title from their hit â€Å"Scar Tissue† for his candid 2004 autobiography, in which he described his extensive drug use and relationships with such women as actress Ione Skye and director Sofia Coppola. He also disclosed that he had battled hepat itis C. â€Å"As a person and a musician, I feel like I’m just getting started. . . . I kind of look at this as the halftime report,† Kiedis said to Peoplemagazine during an interview about his book. For the first time in 2006, the Red Hot Chili Peppers reached the top of the Billboard 200 album charts with Stadium Arcadium.Kiedis soon experienced another first—he became a father. He and then girlfriend Heather Christie welcomed son Everly Bear in October 2007. The couple split up in 2008. That same year, Kiedis told Rolling Stone that the Red Hot Chili Peppers was â€Å"disbanded for the moment. † The band had tour extensively to support their latest album, and everyone wanted to take a break for a time. In addition to relaxing, Kiedis recently served as festival curator for the New American Music Festival, which was held in August 2008.

Paying Division One Athletes

ENG 100P April 12, 2013 Pay to Play: Should Division One College Athletes be Paid? Every year division one college athletes put everything they have on the line during practice everyday and make hundreds of millions of dollars for their schools and the NCAA every year. These athletes aren’t just playing for the love of the game anymore once they reach the division one level, it turns into more of a job than an activity. The players spend hours every single day dedicating almost all of their time to the sport they play.These athletes work just as long and much harder than your average person working a nine to five job, so why don’t the athletes get paid for their commitments to their teams? Last year the NCAA made 871. 6 million dollars from division one sports. The average division one men’s football team brings in 15. 8 million dollars to their school each year. The amount of money that these sports make for their school is so high; the players should get some k ind of reward for all they do for their schools.The old rules that say college athletes cant be paid in any way needs to change, division one college athletes deserve to be paid for all they do for the NCAA and their schools. Growing up every athlete’s dreams of playing in that national championship game for their dream school and scoring the winning touchdown or overtime goal. As a child you don’t realize that commitment it takes to be part of a division one athletic team. Coming from a big lacrosse and football town, my friends and I have gone through the division one recruiting process and know how hard it is to play a division one sport.Many of my former teammates play division one lacrosse and after talking to them I realized really how tough it is to play a division one sport. When asked about how lacrosse at Sacred Heart University was going, Freshman Spencer Hackett said; â€Å" I’ve grown up with lacrosse and I love the sport very much, but division on e is so much more then I thought it would be. Everyday I have two practices that last at least two hour, then after that I have mandatory lift and film sessions. Spencer dedicates at least six hours every day for his team, and they’re one of the lowest ranked teams in division one, I can only imagine the commitment it takes to play on a high ranked team. In my personal experience of going through the division one recruiting process, I saw how much blood; sweat and tears go into being a division one athlete. On my overnight visit at University of Massachusetts, which is a top 20 team, most of my day was watching the team practice, or lift, or watch film.It seemed like everything they did was revolved around lacrosse and to me that’s not what college is about. These division one athletes have such little time to socialize and make friends outside of their sports; everything they do is revolved around their sports. The fact that athletes willingly dedicate so much time to their sports is a huge reason why they should be paid. Division one athletics, especially sports such as football and basketball, are extremely profitable for the NCAA and for their schools. According to NCAA. org, the NCAA’s revenue for the 2011-2012 athletic seasons was 871. million dollars. The NCAA makes an extremely large amount of money from division athletics, with most of the money coming from television contracts and championships such as March Madness. Schools such as Texas make hundreds of millions of dollars because of their excellence in many sports, last year their football team profited $68,830,484. A lot of the money schools make, such as Texas, is from selling merchandise. Big name schools sell tons of merchandise to the public; selling products such as jerseys should be illegal if they players don’t get paid.Why could they sell jerseys with players number on them but that player doesn’t get compensated for using their number on the jersey? Rob ert and Amy McCormick of Michigan State University have added a new dimension to the long debate over paying athletes by arguing they are â€Å"employees† under federal labor laws and entitled to form unions and negotiate wages, hours and working conditions. † Robert McCormick was the former attorney for the Nation Labor Relations Board and if he is saying that these players are employees, it’s about time that the NCAA recognizes them as employees also.A common argument against paying college athletes is that they won’t compete as hard because it won’t be the same as when they weren’t getting paid, but that argument has absolutely nothing to do with paying players. If anything, paying the players would make them work harder so that they could make more money! I believe that the best way to go about paying these players would be contracts, just like the professional athletes and like any other employee in the United States.These contracts woul d go on to say that the players would be paid an amount depending on their contribution to the team and that students would need to finish their schooling so that they have a backup plan. That is why you’re supposed to go to college in the first place, isn’t it? So that you can get a good education! To do this the NCAA would need the support from the professional sport teams and not draft players who haven’t graduated college yet. Another argument why players shouldn’t be paid to play is because they students-athletes and that there is a reason student becomes before athletes.Realistically, these young men and women aren’t student-athletes at all. Many of the players on division one team would never have gotten into college if it weren’t for sports. Also, if they are student-athletes then where do they find the time to do their schoolwork when they have practice, film, lifting, running etc. all day? The only reason many athletes go to colleg e is so that they can get looks from the pros. If they are student-athletes then why do many of them leave college after a year or two to play professional sport?It’s because college is just a stepping-stone to them, they don’t care about the school aspect. When it comes to division one athletes, they are athletes first and students second. The players know it, the coaches know it, the fans know it, the only people who don’t know it are the people who make up the NCAA. In conclusion, times have changed and it’s time to pay division one athletes for their commitment and for the money they bring in for the schools and the NCAA. With college athletics competition being so tough now and so competitive, players have to dedicate so much more time to their sports then in the past.College athletics are not longer a sport that players do for fun, college athletics are now a job for the players that consists of hours of practice everyday and throwing your social li fe out for your sports college athletics make hundreds of millions of dollars for the NCAA and tens of millions of dollars for the schools, so why is it that these players don’t get compensated for their commitment and contribution to the schools and the NCAA? I personally believe that it is ridiculous that players don’t get paid anymore.One of my best friends Dylan Baumgardner, a lacrosse player at Quinnipiac University said it perfectly when asked if he still loved playing lacrosse, â€Å" I don’t play lacrosse anymore, I go to class, then I go to work all day, then I go to sleep. † Joe Nocera of the New York Times, came up with a plan for college athletics that would make college athletics work like professional sports with signing bonuses, salary caps, insurance, player unions and it would even offer additional scholarships to players who want to further their education. This plan will go into consideration in 2014.

What Judges Look for in a Science Fair Project

What Judges Look for in a Science Fair Project How do you know what makes a great science fair project? Here are some pointers for making sure you have a good project, based on what science fair judges are looking for in your project. Be OriginalScience fair judges are looking for inventions and innovations. Try to come up with an original idea for your science fair project. Find a new way to test something or a fresh application for a product or a novel way to process data. Look at something old in a new way. For example, rather than compare different types of coffee filters, you could compare different household materials (paper towels, napkins, toilet paper) for use as coffee filters if you ever ran out. Be ClearHave a well-defined, easy-to-understand goal or objective. Make sure the title of your project is related to your purpose. Make it crystal clear what you are doing and why. Understand Your Science Fair ProjectIts not enough to have an easy-to-understand poster or presentation. Judges will ask you questions about your project, in part to see whether or not you understand what you have done. This weeds out people who basically had their parents, friends, or teacher do their project for them. You need to understand what you did, why you did it, and what conclusions you could make based on your results. Be ProfessionalHave a neat, professional-looking poster and dress nicely for the science fair. While you should do your project yourself, its fine to enlist help from a parent or teacher in putting together a poster and an outfit. You are not being graded on your appearance, but taking pride in your appearance will help you radiate confidence. Neatness counts with your project since good organization will be  making it easier for the science fair judge to follow what you have done. Time EffortScience fair judges reward effort. You can get excellent marks on a science fair project that only took you an hour to do, but you should realize investing time and energy in your project will give you an edge over other good projects. A project does not need to be time-consuming or complicated, but one which requires you to collect data over time will do better than a project you whipped out in a weekend. Spending time on your project demonstrates your interest in it, plus taking the time t o think about it usually means you come out of the project with a better understanding of how science works. Answer QuestionsYou can impress science fair judges by answering their questions politely and completely. Try to radiate confidence. If you dont know the answer to a question, admit it and try to offer a way you could come up with the answer. Here are some common questions asked by science fair judges:How did you come up with the idea for this science fair project?How long did you spend on the project?What background research did you conduct? What did you learn from it?Did anyone help you with the project?Does this project have any practical applications?Did you try anything that did not work or did not give you expected results? If so, what did you learn from this?What would be the next step in this experiment or study if you wanted to continue your work? Do you need more help? Here are 10 tips to help you impress the science fair judges.

Hurricane Names List for 2014

Hurricane Names List for 2014 Below you will find the listing of hurricane names for the Atlantic Ocean for the year 2014. For every year, there is a pre-approved list of tropical storm and hurricane names. These lists have been generated by the National Hurricane Center since 1953. At first, the lists consisted of only female names; however, since 1979, the lists alternate between male and female. Hurricane Naming Conventions Hurricanes are named alphabetically from the list in chronological order. Thus the first tropical storm or hurricane of the year has a name that begins with A and the second is given the name that begins with B. The lists contain hurricane names that begin from A to W, but exclude names that begin with a Q or U. There are six lists that continue to rotate. The lists only change when there is a hurricane that is so devastating, the name is retired and another hurricane name replaces it. The 2014 hurricane name list is the same as the 2008 hurricane name list with the exception of three names that were devastating hurricanes in 2008 and thus retired. Gustav was replaced by Gonzalo, Ike was replaced by Isaias, and Paloma was replaced by Paulette. 2014 Hurricane Names ArthurBerthaCristobalDollyEdouardFayGonzaloHannaIsaiasJosephineKyleLauraMarcoNanaOmarPauletteReneSallyTeddyVickyWilfred

Adler Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adler - Essay Example Of these ‘marking’ has been the issue which has been repeatedly cultivated. Marking has been an age old tradition for indigenous book addicts, & they have been the greatest champions of this approach. But is marking really effective in reality as its propagators quote to it to be? This answer requires a few notions to be discoursed. First let’s be clear; marking books is necessary but not obligatory. A reader who is enjoying a book from a spiritual plane may not require marking a book as he automatically gets involved with the metaphysical components of the book. Here a fundamental perception must be clarified. Marking a book is nothing more than an intellectual phenomenon. A person who does not possess the heart & soul of concentrating in the labyrinth of the pages can never attain his goal solely resting on the process of marking. The entire process of marking is of a clichà © orientation. It encourages a person to scribble & squander the beauty of the mother article thereby destroying its tranquility. Yes, marking is a necessary aspect of reading. But it can never be the heart of it. It involves a mechanical process which may prove devastating for the reader’s psychic quotient. Reading should be all about enjoying, not writing & criticizing on the mother article right from the introduction. Fi nally all books do not require marking. The subject of the book determines the logic as what should be done with it. Indiscriminate marking in each & every book only alleviates complexity. Marking nevertheless has helped me in getting over numerous socio-political theories in books like Machiavelli’s, ‘The Prince’, Karl Marx’s ‘Das Capital’ & Robert Bresson’s ‘Theory of Film Language’. The markings in these books were mainly simplified summaries of the original text. It was written with the Endeavour to explore the inner world of these literatures in an easier manner. Adler develops a unique & interesting method to read

Public Sector Concerns Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public Sector Concerns - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the debate on categorizing user fees, user charges, and license charges as taxes has been well established within the society, moving to the court level in some states for clarification. It is important to note that as much as both the taxes and these user charges and fees contribute towards the government revenue, there is a significant difference between them. One of the most significant differences between the user charges and taxes is that the user charges are paid primarily for the sake of regulating the welfare of the target population or in other cases; they are charged a fee for services of the same value, offered by the government. Contrary to this, the taxes are mainly aimed at raising the government revenue and do not involve a direct reciprocating service in respect to the value of the amount paid. Another important point to note is that user charges are mainly required of the particular individuals that a government servic e is directed to, or towards off-setting an incurred regulatory burden. This is unlike tax that is uniformly applied to the district in which it implemented. Lastly, the funds gained from the user charges are directed towards catering for the cost of regulation or the cost of service providence for the involved fee payer. On the other hand, funds gained from general taxes are directed towards the benefit of the public.