Wilkins for AG?
August 28, 2007
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has suggested to the White House that William W. Wilkins be appointed as attorney general to replace Alberto Gonzales, South Carolina’s State newspaper reports.
The conservative Wilkins, 65, is the former chief judge of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Maryland. He took senior status (subscriber-only) in July.
The South Carolina Appellate Law blog, which closely follows all things 4th Circuit, blogged briefly about the prospect of an AG Wilkins here.
-CARYN TAMBER, Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentThat didn’t take long
August 28, 2007
The little squirt who unlocked the iPhone has announced he’ll be trading the reworked gadget to a Kentucky-based cell phone repair company in exchange for a “sweet” Nissan 350Z.
George Hotz, who I first blogged about last week, will also receive 3 8GB iPhones, which he says he’ll send to the online friends who helped him outsmart AT&T.
“This has been a great end to a great summer,” Hotz, of New Jersey, wrote on his blog.
Is it wrong to be so jealous of a high schooler?
-JACKIE SAUTER, Daily Record Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentA new gizmo for dessert
August 28, 2007
Legal Sea Foods is serving up some new technology to go with raw oysters, 2-pound lobsters and wood-grilled wild salmon.
Last weekend I took my family to meet my mother for dinner at the Legal Sea Foods in King of Prussia, Pa. (I’m a very good son!)
After a lovely meal and scintillating conversation, our waiter brought the check and I pulled out my American Express card. He then brought me the credit card machine.
He explained that Legal was using the device, which uses Wi-Fi technology to connect to the restaurant’s computer, so that the waiters wouldn’t have to take customers’ credit cards away from them during the payment process. So I swiped my card in the device, entered the tip and tore off the receipt after it printed out.
Legal thoughtfully gave me four options on the tip: press “1” for 10 percent, “2” for 15 percent, “3” for 18 percent or “4” for 20 percent; I also could have picked my own figure. The percentages, by the way, were figured correctly — on the total bill before tax.
The Legal Sea Foods restaurant at the Inner Harbor is not yet using the devices, but general manager John Roemer said Monday the restaurant will switch to that system when it moves to its new location in the Verizon Building, probably around February.
From Legal Sea Foods’ Web site:
Where else but in restaurants do you hand over your credit card to someone who walks away with it?
We are serving up something new to ensure the safety of our guests’ credit cards – the ability to self checkout tableside. Now available in several locations and soon to be rolled out in all of our restaurants, the “Pay @ Table” handheld devices brings the payment process front and center. At Legal, guests will no longer have to lose sight of their credit cards and will, instead, have the added convenience of controlling the payment transaction.
Our commitment to our guests is at the heart of this new initiative, but we’ll leave no (tech un-savvy) guest behind! Our associates will gladly process your payment tableside for you if you prefer.
While it is being presented as a security precaution, I couldn’t help but wonder if this raised other security issues. For example, if Legal’s Wi-Fi network wasn’t protected, could anyone with a laptop and a strong wireless connection sit in a car outside the restaurant and “eavesdrop” on the transaction?
Would you feel safer swiping your own credit card at a restaurant?
-ED WALDMAN, Managing Editor, Business
Sphere: Related ContentSick kid? Try Johns Hopkins.
August 27, 2007
In its ongoing effort to rank just about everything, U.S. News & World Report has released its list of America’s Best Children’s Hospitals. Hold your breath (but not for too long), folks.
Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins placed third, just behind Children’s Hospital Boston. D.C.’s Children’s National Medical Center was a lowly 11th place.
The top 15 appear below.
1. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2. Children’s Hospital Boston
3. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
4. Children’s Hospital, Denver
5. Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, Cleveland
6. Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston
7. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
8. New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell
9. Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle
10. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Palo Alto, Calif.
11. Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
12. Columbus Children’s Hospital
13. Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
14. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
15. St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Thanks to our sister blog in Long Island for pointing us to this story.
-JACKIE SAUTER, Daily Record Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentBaltimore County (finally) takes zoning online
August 27, 2007
Baltimore County is trying to make things easier for those requesting changes to their zoning as part of the Comprehensive Zoning Map Process. They’re doing this by putting it all online.
The every-four-year event usually meant mountains of paperwork for the planning office and several treks down to Towson for those who forgot something like their tax number.
The new system will let you apply and track progress online.
If it’s as easy as going online, will that encourage you to make much-desired or needed zoning changes to your commercial property or home? Let us know.
We’d also like to hear from those of you who’ve been through a CZMP before. Tell us your horror stories or let us know if it was painless.
-LOUIS LLOVIO, Daily Record Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentNo more Alberto
August 27, 2007
After weathering months of Congressional scrutiny concerning the firings of U.S. attorneys, a far-reaching domestic surveillance program, and the morale of his department, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation this morning.
Following weekend conversations with President George W. Bush, Gonzales said Monday that he would step down Sept. 17. He gave no reason for his decision in his statement and did not answer questions.
Gonzales’ resignation has been called: “sad,” “a great, great development” and “inevitable.” What do you think? Will this move defuse the controversies swirling around the Justice Department?
Who will succeed Gonzales, and how would you characterize Gonzales’ tenure?
—BRENDAN KEARNEY, Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentWhose blues are they?
August 27, 2007
As reported in today’s Daily Record, a private guard is suing a state trooper who, according to the plaintiff, once employed him in a security firm.
Under state law, the owner of a security firm must have experience as a private detective, police officer, fire investigator, or correctional officer.
While your first thought may be that it’s a job for a former or retired police officer, many county and municipal police departments (though not the Maryland State Police, according to its licensing division) allow current employees to work private security or operate private security agencies.
However, some people have raised questions about the potential for abuse of power and conflicts of interest that could occur when officers work for public and private entities at the same time.
What do you think? Should city/county police officers be able to parlay their government jobs into private business opportunities?
-BRENDAN KEARNEY, Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentBest. Footnote. Ever.
August 27, 2007
In a disbarment case Friday, Court of Appeals Judge Glenn Harrell wrote that the respondent’s argument did not make sense, “‘Opposite Day’ notwithstanding.”
Harrell, who has been known to be a bit footnote-happy, then referred the reader to footnote 8, which reads, in part:
“Opposite Day” is a fictitious holiday, usually celebrated by school-aged children, in which statements made on that day are intentionally false, but taken to mean the opposite by listeners aware that the holiday is being celebrated.
Harrell goes on to cite Wikipedia’s Opposite Day article, a Harvard Law Review piece and a column from the Modesto Bee newspaper.
I can only imagine Judge Harrell ordering some befuddled law clerk to dig him up some good material on Opposite Day.
-CARYN TAMBER, Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentIt’s bad and it’s back!
August 24, 2007
Muscle heads unite! American Gladiators is back!
Yep…that’s right! Harking back to the days of frosted mullets and Zubaz, the network that brought you The Office and The Cosby Show announced last week that it was bringing back America’s favorite steroid-sculpted super heroes!!
For those of you brave enough to take on these muscle-bound ruffians for your 15 minutes of fame, NBC has a simple application for you to fill out like your favorite jeans…(That’s right, we all know the girls are checking you out in those. You don’t look ridiculous at all. Promise!)
But 95-pound weaklings don’t despair! Brute force isn’t the only qualifier! Poetry can get you on the show!!! (Come on, you didn’t think they were only looking for Neanderthals, did you? They want sensitive guys and gals who can quote Whitman while challenging the Gauntlet!)
And, don’t worry if you don’t have the velvet pen, flowery prose and can’t tell the difference between Iambic and Pentameter, the all-knowing-Peacock is going to let those of you who can drop a rhyme like your favorite 90s gangsta rapper a way to get in, too.
There’s a spot on the application for you to submit a rap!! Oh yeah!!
(Wait…Bad rap. Mullets. Neanderthals. Am I the only one that has visions of Kevin Federline dancing in my head right now?)
Okay, while I go beat the PopoZao out of my head by smashing it repeatedly against the nearest wall, why don’t you drop us a poem or a rap for a shot. We’ll pass the best ones on…promise!
-LOUIS LLOVIO, Daily Record Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentSnuff: More dangerous than smoking?
August 24, 2007
It’s a toss-up which is more distasteful — blowing cigarette smoke in the faces of your friends and loved ones or spitting tobacco juice profusely in their presence.
But a new study has found one might be more dangerous for you than the other.
A report published this month by the American Association for Cancer Research has some frightening findings for users of the smokeless tobacco known as snuff, a powdered variation of chewing tobacco tucked just behind the lip.
The study at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center found that snuff delivers to its user even higher levels of cancer-causing chemicals than cigarettes.
Compared to smokers, the snuff users in the study were receiving more of the carcinogenic molecules known as nitrosamines, known to cause lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, cancer of the nose and liver.
Westminster construction worker John Schneehagen, 45, learned first-hand the dangers of smokeless tobacco.
Several years ago, after two decades of using smokeless tobacco, Schneehagen noticed a bump on his tongue. He elected to ignore it for a few years.
By the time he encountered Dr. John Saunders Jr., a surgeon at Greater Baltimore Medical Center and medical director of Greater Baltimore Head & Neck Associates, Schneehagen required surgery to remove the tumor on his tongue and the lymph nodes in his neck where the cancer had spread.
Schneehagen, who has been cancer free for 2.5 years, describes himself as “lucky.” “The worst thing that happened was I lost part of my tongue, but I’ve gotten used to that,” he said in a news release from GBMC.
More than 55,000 Americans will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer this year, and the disease will kill 13,000, according to the American Academy of Otolarygology — Head and Neck Surgery.
Do you or people you know use smokeless tobacco? How dangerous do you think it is? Should it be regulated more stringently? Tell us what you think.
-KAREN BUCKELEW, Daily Record Business Writer
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