Blogroll

Loco Lawsuits: The woeful tale of Leo, the Bichon Frise

On February 11, 2000, Sara McBurnett was driving to the San Jose airport to pick up her husband. Their 19-pound Bichon Frise dog, Leo, slept on the front seat. A black SUV with Virginia license plates passed her on the right shoulder and cut in front of her into the lane to her left. McBurnett […]

Loco Lawsuits: Who taught you to drive a getaway car?

The best-laid plans — well, you should know the rest.

On June 17, 2007, Michael Espinosa, Angel Vertiz, and Kenneth Kirkwood, Jr. decided it would be a good idea to burgle a house in Riverside, Calif. They left the house in a car driven by Kirkwood. Police spotted them and, as happens in California, a […]

Loco Lawsuits: I’m the ass, not you

Copyright lawsuits can be difficult and take time. Just ask George Harrison. The lawsuit against him for “subconsciously” plagiarizing the song “He’s So Fine” in writing “My Sweet Lord” dragged on from 1971 to 1998. Some copyright lawsuits don’t take quite so long – and can produce even sadder results.

In 1997, Bob Craft, who […]

Are bagpipes a weapon of war?

To Scots, bagpipes aren’t just a musical instrument. They also have political symbolism. So political, in fact, they’ve been considered a war weapon.

Treating bagpipes as weaponry stems back to the last and most famous of the Jacobite Risings, which sought to restore the House of Stuart to the throne of England. In 1745, Charles […]

Loco Lawsuits: Beyoncé, Part 2 – She’s a kitten murderer

In the last installment of this series, Beyoncé faced a 2016 lawsuit accusing her of, among other things, conspiring with the CIA. On September 19, 2018, Kimberly Thompson, a former drummer in Beyoncé’s band, sought a restraining order, alleging the singer was constantly harassing her. But it was far more than what just those facts […]