Los Angeles Dodgers trying to dodge the Brian Stow suit

The family of Brian Stow is suing the L.A. Dodgers. Stow is the male who was beaten by Dodgers followers after a game. Dodgers’ followers attacked Stow, a Giants fan, in the parking lot after the opening day game between the Giants and Dodgers and almost perished from the injuries. The subsequent investigation has resulted in only a single arrest.

Brian Stow beating case led to arrest

The LA Times reports that a criminal arrest was made by the LA Police Department recently. The arrest was made as part of the Brian Stow beating case. Giovanni Ramirez, 31, was arrested by the LAPD on suspicion of being one of the two assailants that beat Brian Stow, who has remained in critical condition since he was attacked March 31. Stow was seen being taunted by two men because he wore a Giants shirt until one took a swing at him. He was kicked repeatedly after falling to the ground. Even after he became unconscious, the men still beat him. Ramirez, a known gang member, has three prior felony convictions and is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon, as he kicked the victim nearly to death.

Suing the Dodgers

ESPN states that since the Dodgers did not have enough security, the Stow family is suing them. The Stow family lawyer states the Dodgers are responsible for making sure the stadium is safe and has enough security. It clearly was not so. The Dodgers took care of security right after the incident. They employed more security personnel including previous LAPD officials. Other Dodgers enthusiasts have been drunk and unruly in the past. Some say these “problem fans” are gang members that like to watch the game. There were sketches made of the two men that beat Stow. Ramirez was identified as one of the men by his parole officer. It is unclear who the other man is. He could be everyone. CNN states that Stow has movement in his arms and legs and has been able to open his eyes.

Sports enthusiasts are violent sometimes

Sports fans and violence have gone hand in hand for some time. In 531 A.D., the Nika riots occurred in Constantinople due to chariot racing for a week, reports Wikipedia. Before the army killed the rioters, there were 10,000 deaths and half the city was burned down. Soccer has caused violence in Europe for a long time. When the Greek professional soccer championship was over in Greece at the end of April, enthusiasts rioted, states Fox News. Polish soccer supporters rioted on May 3 after the end of the Polish Cup Final match, according to the Daily Mail, and had to be subdued by riot police after invading the field, setting the stadium on fire and assaulting players.

Articles cited

Los Angeles Times

latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dodgers-20110523,0,2773021.story

ESPN

sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6584013&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines

CNN

articles.cnn.com/2011-05-19/justice/california.fan.beaten_1_billboard-campaign-brutal-attack-parking-lot?_s=PM:CRIME

Nika Riots

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nika_riots

Fox News

foxnews.com/sports/2011/05/02/aek-fan-club-torched-2-days-cup-final-riots/

Daily Mail

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1383480/Concerns-hooliganism-Poland-football-cup-final-ends-mass-riot.html

England experiences a rise in installment loans

The number of payday loans has escalated substantially over the last month in Great Britain. The increase continues to dramatically escalate following the Bank Holiday at the start of the month. There has been about a 58 percent boost in the demand since the same period just a month ago.

Costs surge still

An economic indicator in Great Britain could possibly be the increase in payday loans. This is what financial experts are looking at. Moneysupermarket.com explained that in just the last six months, the average amount spent by an excellent Britain family in one week has boost by 54 pounds, which is about $87.

Stagnant wages

There has been a huge struggle for working people since wages have been stagnant. At the same time, prices have been increasing quite a bit. About 8.5 million households would have a lot of troubles without their primary source of income according to a Scottish Widows report. Financial stability is something only 25 percent of individuals would be confident with if this income were lost. At least there is that.

The Consumer Protection Report from Scottish Widows also reported that nearly half of the country’s families with kids are reliant upon two salaries.

Economics and cash advances

Moneysupermarket.com’s head of loans and debt Time Moss says, “These products act as a barometer, giving a unique insight into the state of the nation’s finances.” Moss continues, “It’s no surprise to see the demand for installment loans rise so sharply in the current climate.”

Paying for installment loans or overdrafts

Getting an overdraft fee penalty is typically worse than these loans. This is what Moss explains despite their critics.

Do not just make any decision

When getting a pay day loan, make sure you are very careful and think about the decision. It will cost even more to pay back a cash advance loan if it is not paid in time. Typically only a few weeks are given to pay them back.

Citations

My Finances

myfinances.co.uk/loans-and-credit/2011/05/17/payday-loans-rise-in-popularity-after-bank-holiday-spending

Payday Bank

paydaybank.co.uk/news/

Yorkshire Post

yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/business-news/demand_for_payday_loans_on_the_rise_1_3403086

Acting sexual banned in Utah with law

Laws that regulate any sexuality are quite controversial. This is also true in Utah. According to the AP, two Utah escort services have filed a federal lawsuit against the state since the broadly phrased solicitation ordinances not only ban prostitution, but make acting sexual illegal.

Utah does not allow implied offerings of sex anymore

In order to help undercover agents attempting to stop the sex trade from happening, an anti-prostitution law was put into place in Utah, according to the Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank. Since asking officers to “expose or touch themselves” is now against Utah legislation, it wouldn’t be allowed for prostitutes to ask police this to prove they aren’t law enforcement. Any “lewd” or “suggestive” nonverbal act isn’t illegal with the amendments to Utah’s sex laws on top of straight out asking for money from sex.

Burbank told the media that officers will not target non-prostitutes, but will simply weed out illegal behavior within the sex trade, particularly when it involves the under-aged.

“Officers were being put in a position that we’re not going to allow, so we took a different direction,” he told the AP.

Not legal to act sexy

Attorney Andrew McCullough, who is representing the escort services in the lawsuit, believes that Utah’s anti-prostitution law is so broad that all workers in sexually oriented companies are in legal danger. McCullough says that just because a person “acts sexy” as part of their job, as in somebody who works at a strip club, does not mean they are attempting to sell themselves.

“Most girls who touch their breasts are not telling you they’re open for sex,” the attorney said.

Acting sexy isn’t really good at home, either

A Massachusetts bill is considering making intercourse illegal between many people. If they’re in the divorce process, it would be illegal to do this within home. According to Wrentham, Mass., Selectman (legislator) Robert Leclair, the intent of the proposed legislation is to curb domestic violence and protect children. This would make it illegal for any sexual relationship within the home to take place until the divorce is final while too robbing parents of their rights, some say.

The good news is the bill would stop lifetime alimony payments. A spouse wouldn’t have to pay too much to the other.

A bestiality law considered

Bestiality would have been banned in Florida with U.S. Senate Bill 344 too. Many agree with Senator Nan Rich of Sunrise, Fla., who thinks the bill needs to be passed which is why he introduced it in 2009. Several critics think the broad wording in SB 344 needs to be fixed. Escapist Magazine explained the word “animals” in the phrase “sex with animals” might refer to humans also. This means sexual intercourse would be banned in the state amongst humans.

Citations

Associated Press

wapo.st/jgXAOq

Escapist Magazine

escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/528.283827-Florida-outlaws-sex

Mother Jones

motherjones.com/mojo/2011/05/annals-big-government-florida-ban-bestiality-baggy-pants

My Fox Boston

bit.ly/m50Qb6

David Archuleta’s dad Jeff could not resist the sexy (allegedly)

youtube.com/watch?v=xm6R-V3tL8g

The coffee addicted men may be glad to hear coffee helps prostate cancer

Guys who drink lots of coffee can revel in their habit, guilt-free. Coffee may ward off prostate cancer. Men who drink six cups of coffee a day or more were found to have the lowest rates of prostate cancer, according to a new study.

Why caffeine may be good

A new study has just been unveiled from the Harvard School of Public Health that will comes as good news to coffee houses men addicted to caffeine, according to MSNBC. This research has determined that excessive coffee consumption may trigger the shakes, however it also is a fantastic thing to do for endocrine health, as the most aggressive of guzzlers have a dramatically lower chance of contracting prostate cancer. From 1986 to 2008, 48,000 guys were followed including their coffee habits. This was how the study was done, CBS reports. Those who drank six or more cups in a habit weren’t getting as many cases of prostate cancer. This was with all forms of the cancer.

Old study contradicted

A research was done 30 years with contrary results by the Harvard School of Public Health. However, the previous study was flawed because of its research methodology. Patients who had cancer reported coffee details better in the study from years back since patients were asked about coffee habits. This is known as “recall bias.” It makes it so early results are contaminated. In the research that has just been released, men who drank six cups of coffee per day or more had 60 percent less of a chance of getting prostate cancer and a 20 percent less chance of developing the deadliest forms of the disease. Anyone who drank 3 or less cups a day had 30 percent less chance. The caffeine made no difference to the research.

Not sure what the study means

WebMD states that the reason why there might be this impact isn’t known although there are theories with antioxidants. Several benefits, for instance low risk of heart disease and cancer, have been shown to correlate with dietary antioxidants. There are other health benefits that have been connected to drinking coffee. It decreases the risk for gout, Type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. Prostate cancer is probably the most common cancer in men; one in six American guys is impacted by it in some way. Every year, over 30,000 prostate cancer deaths occur. This is the U.S. rate.

Citations

MSNBC

msnbc.msn.com/id/43065205/ns/health-cancer/

CBS

cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20063692-10391704.html?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.9

WebMD

webmd.com/prostate-cancer/news/20110517/coffee-may-lower-prostate-cancer-risk

Mississippi river crests as most detrimental is over for Memphis

The Mississippi river has been enlarged and flooding for several weeks. Some of the most detrimental flooding in years has battered the southern areas of The United States. The most detrimental of it is over for Memphis, Tenn., as the river has crested near the Music City and floodwaters will only recede from here on. Though Memphis is past the worst of it, several other areas are still in danger of flooding.

Homeless people

There are finished 1,000 homeless individuals now. Still, nothing in TN that was considered a landmark was hurt. The floodwaters didn’t hurt the Beale Street district. BBC states that this can be a Music City landmark. Elvis Presley’s home in his life until he passed away in 1977, Graceland, was not touched once by the Mississippi. Even if people had to “charge hell with a water pistol,” they would keep Graceland safe. This is what a Shelby County Emergency Management Agency official explained. Some 1,300 homes have been evacuated, and there is concern, according to CBS, that pending late spring storms could bring further flash floods in the Memphis area. The water will take a while to recede.

Worry from the Mississippi

After the snowfall near record on the East Coast of the U.S., the Mississippi river has gotten very high. Memphis’ floodwaters were just 10 inches lower than the 1937 record hitting 48 feet. Though the worst of the danger is coming to an end in Memphis, there is considerable danger left for the rest of the cities and states along the path of the Mississippi river. Floodwaters are already coursing through the rest of the Mississippi river system and in the Mississippi river delta, and precautions are being undertaken to be able to ensure that the area is safe. The Bonnet Carre Spillway was recently opened by the Army Corps of Engineers in order to relieve pressure from floodwaters on New Orleans’ levees, according to MSNBC. There are already floodwaters flowing through the delta. Still, there are measures being taken in preparation.

Terrible flooding

Though the current flood amounts are bad, they’re not as bad as the 1927 floods that killed hundreds of people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, according to the Christian Science Monitor. There is more than 2,000 miles of levees that were constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in response to the 1927 floods. The problem is that when the spillways are opened with the flooding, the Mississippi water just floods somewhere else. As the water gets closer to the Gulf of Mexico and spillways have to open, finished 900,000 acres of farmland in Arkansas is expected to flood.

Articles cited

BBC

bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13337548

MSNBC

msnbc.msn.com/id/42973616/ns/us_news-environment/

CBS

cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/09/travel/main20061138.shtml

Christian Science Monitor

csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0509/Mississippi-River-nears-crest-in-Memphis-but-concern-shifts-south

Crime rates worsened by payday cash advance lenders states new study

Property values fall and crime rates rise when payday cash advance lenders move to the neighborhood, according to a new study. This is not the first time the two have been connected. However, the literature on the subject goes back and forth, and doesn’t always reach the same conclusions. The total impact of personal loan companies is not entirely known. It may be extremely hard to know if payday loans are truly a force for good, evil or occupies a gray area.

How cash advance lenders are connected to crime

There was a new study that looked again at the connection between crime and payday lending. It said that crime went up because of pay day loan lenders, WalletPop states. Charis Kubrin and Gregory Squires of George Washington University and Steven Graves of California State University Northridge all worked together to write the study called “Does Fringe Banking Exacerbate Neighborhood Crime Rates?” which was actually a paper that has been around since 2009. The theory that frames the report is social disorganization. It essentially states the most significant thing to influence crime is environment. Things get worse in poverty areas when a payday lender enters the environment as a disorganized group.

Expressing what was already said

The study contends that Seattle crime rates are highest in the areas with the highest concentration of payday cash advance lenders and the issue has only become worse as time goes on and the number of personal loan companies increases. The study shows that pay day loan lenders will drive up crime rates and is done well. There was a rise of crime of only 1 percent shown in a 2010 study of payday loans and crimes done by Heather Luea. It should also be noted that one of the most proximate causes of crime is poverty, and payday loan lenders cater more to people who don’t totally rely on banks and charge cards for sources of credit. Areas that have more crime are areas that have always had crime.

Both sides of the issue

There has been a long back and forth in academia concerning whether payday loans are good, bad or in a moral gray area. There are surely correlations with crime and personal loan companies while there have been accusations of bias and other concerns for pay day loan positives. However, household income for the upper 20 percent of income earners has been increasing at a steady clip for the past 30 years however held fairly flat for the lowest 40 percent, according to United States Census data accessible on Wikipedia. That’s demographic that payday lenders cater to. Nobody has suggested how to help the individuals on the bottom. Without payday loans, they’ll need another solution.

Citations

WalletPop

walletpop.com/2011/05/12/payday-lenders-fuel-crime-drive-down-property-values/

Fringe banking and crime study

gwu.edu/|newsctr/09/pdfs/Payday_Lending_and_Crime_Working_Paper.pdf

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_Income_Distribution_1947-2007.svg

Wisconsin Republicans attempting to re-legalize auto title loans

In 2010, Wisconsin became the last state in the United States to regulate the payday lending and title lending industries. The original bill might have prohibited banning car title lending, but the governor vetoed that item to get rid of title lending. A joint committee in the Wisconsin State is now trying to put title lending back on the docket.

Regulation on payday loans in Wisconsin

Currently in Wisconsin, short-term loans secured by an auto title are not legal. These loans were banned with the 2010 legislation ban from selective vetoing. All payday loans can’t exceed 35 percent of the monthly income of the borrower in Wisconsin either. No extra interest could be charged when the loan is due, even with late payments. In 2009, Wisconsin’s 527 short-term lender locations lent out $600.5 million.

Wisconsin Republicans tries to rescind changes

U.S. Senate President Mike Ellis, a Republican, has been pushing this year for tighter regulations on payday loans. Regardless of his surprise at the recommendation of the Joint Finance Committee, Ellis agrees that the recommendations should be debated on the merits, rather than as a knee-jerk reaction. Rep. Robin Vos said, as the committees co-chairman, “You can make a case that it was done wrongly the first time. We’re correcting his error and actually adding some better provisions in,” while talking about the belief that the governor’s vetoes changed the bill last year.

Not getting the same service with payday lending and title lending

Short-term financial solutions generally contain more than check cashing and payday lending. Typically title lending is also integrated in it. These financial products all cater to the under banked community, but they each do so differently. Payday loans are short-term loans meant to be paid back in two to four weeks. Collateral such as a car is at risk with title lending since it offers high loan amounts. Then there are check-cashing services. For cashing the check, a small fee is charged. Each of these services is different and should be regulated and discussed differently.

Articles cited

WTAQ

wtaq.com/news/articles/2011/may/13/jfc-approves-measures-including-auto-title-loans/

JS Online

jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/121731299.html

Changes to payday lending grid-locking Colorado

One amendment to the Colorado legislature’s last bill of the season is causing a significant amount of frustration. The annual rules bill that deals with much of the day-to-day operations of the state has a new, controversial amendment about payday loans. If the issue isn’t resolved today, the Colorado legislature will require a special session.

About the Colorado Senate Bill 78

Colorado Senate Bill 78 is an annual rules bill that was intended to create specific, enforceable rules for several of the bills passed over the last session. The Colorado U.S. Senate Bill 78 had 600 rules to address. They integrated anything from ski lift safety to medical marijuana dispensary licensing to school fire codes to waste disposal fees. U.S. Senate Republicans amended the bill to change payday lending laws in the state after it was passed by the House.

Payday lending changes in Colorado

Last year, the Colorado legislature made significant changes to payday lending laws in the state. The fees loan companies can charge were limited. Rates of interest were also capped. Short term loan origination fees were limited. They can only be $75. The Colorado House passed legislation to allow loan providers to keep the origination fees after lenders argued the rules were improper on this legislation. It was not passed in the senate. This is the issue. The debate started all over again after the Senate Republicans put the bill back onto the Rules Bill.

Change working class individuals can have to deal with

An agreement on Colorado Senate Bill 78 is anticipated for the House and Senate. If it cannot occur, a special session could be required. A special session of the legislature could cost working class individuals several thousand dollars per day. About $20,000 a day was paid for special sessions in Washington while New York sessions are $50,000 a day. The Colorado payday loan issue needs to be determined. Otherwise, Colorado taxpayers may lose thousands of dollars every day.

Citations

Komo News

komonews.com/news/local/120742604.html

Denver Post

denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18038290