Daily Archives: August 17, 2010 - 5 results

A jury convicted ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich today of one count of lying to federal investigators. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the other 11 counts against the onetime reality TV personality. They could not agree on the main charges that he sought bribes in exchange for appointing the senator to fill out then President-elect Barack Obama’s remaining senate term.   Former Illinois Governor and his brother accused of selling senate seat Jury could only reach a …

It’s a story that’s played out before, ever since adopted children began looking for their birth parents. Now an adult generation of sperm-donor offspring is facing a similar set of challenges in finding their biological fathers. It’s a face-off between the privacy rights of anonymous sperm donors and those of their biological offspring.   Offspring of sperm donors want to know their biological fathers Most donors remain anonymous and offspring have no legal right to know Calls to ban anonymous …

New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has an ally in his investigation of life insurance death benefit payout practices. Retired General Wesley Clark is lobbying Congress on behalf of survivors of service members whose death benefits have been kept by insurers. According to Cuomo and Clark the insurers are using the death benefits to their own advantage.   Insurance companies keeping death benefits in retained asset accounts Account earns interest, but insurer earns more Death benefit payout options can involve …

Some of the saddest stories we read each summer are about kids who get left unattended in cars, only to die from excessive heat exposure, also known as hyperthermia. According to Wikipedia: Hyperthermia occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate. When the elevated body temperatures are sufficiently high, hyperthermia is a medical emergency and requires immediate treatment to prevent disability and death … The most common causes are heat stroke and adverse reactions to …

It’s bad enough that teen sexting can lead to embarrassment and humiliation. Now federal authorities say those thoughtless cell phone and web cam photos are being used to coerce and extort kids into worse stuff. The feds have a name for this crime. They’re calling it sextortion.   Sextortion exploits kids’ sexting or internet liaisons Predators have blackmailed kids into sex, pornography Lawmakers challenged to protect kids without taking their rights Like this article? Share it with others using this …