Apple Wins $1 Billion in Samsung Patent Trial

A billion dollars ain't no chump change either.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Apple Wins Big in Patent Case: Jury Finds Samsung Mobile Devices Infringed Six Apple Patents, Awards $1.05 Billion in Damages":

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Nine jurors delivered a sweeping victory to Apple Inc. in a high-stakes court battle against Samsung Electronics Co., awarding the Silicon Valley company $1.05 billion in damages and providing ammunition for more legal attacks on its mobile-device rivals.

Jurors Friday found that Samsung infringed all but one of the seven patents at issue in the case—a patent covering the physical design of the iPad. They found all seven of Apple's patents valid—despite Samsung's attempts to have them thrown out. They also decided Apple didn't violate any of the five patents Samsung asserted in the case.

The damage award is shy of Apple's request for more than $2.5 billion, but much larger than Samsung's estimates and still ranking among the largest intellectual-property awards on record.

"Today's verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer," Samsung said. "It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices."

An Apple spokeswoman said, "The mountain of evidence presented during the trial showed that Samsung's copying went far deeper than even we knew."

More at that top link.

And a bunch of commentary at Techmeme.

Jeffrey T. Johnson, Empire State Building Shooter, Nursed Grudges Before Killing Co-Worker

I can't escape the idea that part of this was copycat, considering all the recent gun violence.

See the New York Times, "Long Before Carnage, an Office Grudge Festered":

The two men at the center of a fatal shooting outside the Empire State Building on Friday had brushed shoulders for years — often literally, two large egos stuffed into a small office — and yet could hardly have been less alike.

Neighbors and co-workers described them: Jeffrey T. Johnson, 58, a slight, meticulous artist, the first one to work in the morning and the last one out, without so much as a look outside for fresh air in between; Steven Ercolino, 41, a well-built, confident salesman used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it. The artist chafed at what he saw as the salesman’s casual bossiness, they said, and the two never got along.

Years passed this way at the company, Hazan Imports, which sold handbags and belts, until Mr. Johnson was laid off almost two years ago.

And yet, the casual observer would not have known it, to look at him. He put on the same suit every morning: the Upper East Side’s own Willy Loman, dressing for a job he no longer had. He picked up his newspaper on the front stoop and walked two blocks to McDonald’s for breakfast. Months after his dismissal, he showed up at the building where he once worked, across West 33rd Street from the famous skyscraper, and confronted the salesman, a much larger man, in an elevator. The two came close enough to blows — Mr. Johnson throwing an elbow, Mr. Ercolino grabbing his throat and threatening him — that it was reported to the police.

The feud ended Friday. Mr. Johnson left his East 82nd Street walk-up in his suit, as he did every other day. And Mr. Ercolino took the PATH train from Hoboken, N.J., where he lived with his girlfriend, to the West 33rd Street building near Fifth Avenue. A co-worker saw him and shouted for him to wait, then they walked toward the entrance together. They were almost there when the co-worker, Irene Timan, 35, saw Mr. Johnson lurking behind a white van.

Continue reading.

This Johnson dude was a loser.

That said, my wife has repeatedly mentioned her worries about the crazed progressives who've attempted to have me fired at my work. You never know what some people may do. The LBPD even said to take extra precaution, saying that even New York City is just a few hours away by plane. I was told to report any suspicious activity to officers right away. Again, you never know with crazy people like this.

RELATED: "Carl Salonen Libelous Workplace Allegations of Child Pornography and Sexual Harassment at Long Beach City College," and "The Lies of Scott Eric Kaufman — Leftist Hate-Blogger Sought to Silence Criticism With Libelous Campaign of Workplace Harassment."

Big Brother Star Ashleigh Hughes in Zoo Magazine

See, "Big Brother's Ashleigh Hughes..."

And at the Sun UK, "BB's Ashleigh Hughes: TOWIE's got boring, they need me to spice it up."

The Week in Blogs

Via Theo Spark:

Farmers Feed Candy to Cows Amid High Corn Prices, Outrage Over Ethanol Quotas

At the Los Angeles Times, "Farmer feeds candy to cows to cope with high corn prices":

The worst drought in decades has destroyed more than half the U.S. corn crop, pushing prices to record levels and squeezing livestock owners as they struggle to feed their herds.

To cope, one Kentucky cattle farmer has turned to a child-tested way to fatten his 1,400 cows: candy.

"It's so hard to make any money when corn is eight or nine dollars a bushel," said Nick Smith, co-owner of United Livestock Commodities in Mayfield, Ky.

The chocolate and other sweet stuff was rejected by retailers. It makes up 5% to 8% of the cattle's feed ration, Smith said. The rest includes roughage and distillers grain, an ethanol byproduct.

The candy's high caloric content is fattening up the cows nicely, Smith said.

Paul Cameron, who heads a California Cattlemen's Assn. feed committee, said Smith's candy strategy is "awfully creative" but also extremely unusual.

"There are people that feed vegetables and potatoes and stuff like that … to offset the high price of grains, but I've never heard of that," said Cameron, managing partner of Mesquite Cattle Feeders, an operation that feeds up to 35,000 head of cattle in Brawley, Calif. "He's probably at an advantage by doing that."

And see, "Calls to lower ethanol quota rise as U.S. corn crop withers,' and "U.S. drought pushing corn prices toward record highs."

Plus, "As drought widens, 50.3% of U.S. counties declared disaster areas."

PHOTO: "Rancher Gary Wollert inspects a dead cow on dry grasslands near Eads, Colo. He speculated that it ate a poisonous weed in search of food," c/o the Los Angeles Times.

Obama's America

Everyone's talking about this film, even Nikki Finke, "Anti-Obama Docu Expands To #3 Friday; Other Newcomers & Holdovers Weak B.O.; Only ‘The Expendables 2′ Can Break $10M." (At Memeorandum.)

VIDEO CREDIT: Nice Deb.

Snap Decision: Questions Emerge After Police Gun Down Shooting Suspect on Crowded City Street

There's a lot of questions, frankly. One concerns the decision of police to open fire with so many people in close proximity. The New York Times has that, "Decision by 2 Officers to Open Fire in Busy Midtown Leaves Bystanders Wounded."

As the two officers confronted a gunman in front of the Empire State Building on a busy Friday morning, they had to make a snap decision: Do they open fire in the middle of Midtown?

From a distance of less than 10 feet, the officers, Craig Matthews and Robert Sinishtaj, answered in unison; one shot nine times and the other seven.

Investigators believe at least 7 of those 16 bullets struck the gunman, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman. But the officers also struck some, if not all, of the nine bystanders who were wounded. This was the second time in two weeks that the police were

Keep reading.

By the looks of the security-camera video above, it was an easy call, frankly. Self defense. The suspect stopped, pulled out a gun, and appears about to fire on the officers.

But another question emerging tonight deals with the graphic media coverage of the shooting. The New York Post has all these graphic videos, for example, and the New York Times posted an image of the shooter's victim, in what looks like a pool of blood. Poynter reports on the reaction, "New York Times explains graphic photo from Empire State Building shooting." The photo appears at that link and can still be seen at the front page of the paper as this post goes live. It's the 5th shot in this slideshow, "Steve Ercolino lies dead on West 33rd Street on Friday morning after being shot by Jeffrey T. Johnson, a former coworker."

See also, "How the media handled graphic images of Empire State Building shooting."

There's a less a question on the police opening fire, unless the public expects officers to take bullets, offering no defense, any time there are civilian presents. I wouldn't make that call. Why would anyone expect police to take a bullet in that kind of situation. It goes against human nature. Moreover, had officers stood down (possibly getting shot), the suspect might have gotten away, which could have endangered the lives of others.

As for the media coverage, I'm actually a little surprised with all the graphic imagery, especially in the video clips. Although I don't think the New York Times' photo is inappropriate.

Oh My! New CNN Poll Shows Romney Topping Obama 48-to-45 Among Likely Independent Voters!

Shoot, this is getting to be "Oh My!" Friday.

Here's this from CNN, "CNN Poll: Obama 49%-Romney 47% among likely voters." And the survey sampled likely voters:

With three days to go until the start of the Republican convention, President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney remain deadlocked in the race for the White House, according to a new national survey.

A CNN/ORC International poll released Friday also indicates Romney's favorable rating among those likely to vote in the presidential election is in the same ballpark as the president's, and the survey also points to a slightly higher level of enthusiasm for Republicans than Democrats.

According to the poll, 49% of likely voters say they're backing Obama, with 47% supporting Romney. The two point margin is within the survey's sampling error, meaning the race is a statistical tie....

In the horserace, 48% of likely voters who are independents say they support Romney, with 45% backing Obama. The gender gap and generational divides seen in polling so far this cycle continue, with the president holding a 54%-42% lead among female likely votes and Romney holding a 53%-43% lead among male likely voters. Obama has a 55%-43% advantage among those under 50, with Romney holding a 50%-45% margin among likely voters 50 and older.

More at the link.

In recent polling, some analysts have stressed how Romney needed to close the likability gap. He's done that now, but then analysts --- Ronald Brownstein this afternoon, in this case --- said that Romney needed to appeal to suburban women voters, with the implication that today's "birther" joke was simply preaching to the choir. The joke was meant for the media, not the conservative base. Romney was looking to throw a monkey wrench into the Democrat-Media-Complex meme-machine before the RNC kicks off over the weekend. In any event, Romney's on the tall side of the margin of error with those independents, and the convention might help draw a few more over to the GOP --- even a few women, come to think of it. Wait until they hear Mrs. Romney speak. She's a knockout.

And AoSHQ has some queries and conjectures, "CNN Poll of Likely Voters: Obama's Ahead (Huh?) 49-47 (MoE); But Romney's Favorables at 50%":

John King said that Romney "stepped on" this good news with his Birth Certificate joke.

I wonder if Romney didn't do that on purpose. Since our unserious, unprofessional, unintelligent, partisan press is determined to talk about distractions (given that all substance favors Romney), why not give them a distraction of your own choosing?

If the choice is between Rape!!! and Birth Certificate, isn't it better to talk about Obama's Birth Certificate? Neither is what Romney wants to talk about, but the press is determined to only report on irrelevancies; so give them one that doesn't much hurt you.

Anyway, the poll. It's a deadlock, the 2% lead statistically meaningless. Romney leads independents 48-45 (which itself is statistically meaningless).

Keep reading.

Oh, and the poll found that 83 percent thought that abortion should be legal in the case of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother --- which is another way of saying there's a massive pro-life majority out there willing to make exceptions. Meanwhile, the Democrats dropped the "rare" standard from their party's previous doctrine of "safe, legal, and rare." The pro-infanticide progressives simply don't give a f-ck about the lives of unborn children:

The DNC platform supports all abortion and does not contain any language opposing partial-birth abortion, nor does it distinguish that practice from first-trimester abortion. It is the official position of the Democratic Party to not only be able to shove the scissors into the skulls of newborns and suck out their brains — they don't even pretend to harbor the expectation that the practice be "rare."

Baby-killing progressives --- the party of President Infanticide. It's like a f-king holocaust with these ghouls.

More at Memeorandum.

Memphis Barbecue

Via Theo Spark:

Fired Employee Shoots Former Co-Worker at Empire State Building — GRAPHIC VIDEO

At the New York Post, "Fired worker kills ex-colleague at Empire State Building, 9 others injured before cop shoots him."

A fired worker gunned down a former coworkers on a busy Midtown street and then turned his weapon on police officers right in front of the Empire State Building — and in the ensuing gun battle he was killed and nine pedestrians were struck, some by cop bullets, Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said today.

The 9 a.m. mayhem sent commuters and tourists in a panicked scramble from the jam-packed intersection of 34th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Bloomberg identified the shooter as Jeffrey Johnson, 53, who had been fired two years ago from Hazan Imports at 10 W. 33rd Street, around the corner from the scene.

Continue reading.

More at Memeorandum.

And see the New York Times, "Fatal Shooting at Empire State Building - One Victim Killed; Gunman, Who Had Lost His Job, Dies."

Plus, see Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, "Empire State Building shooting leaves several wounded, two dead, including suspect."

Rachel McAdams 'Passion' Trailer — Hot Lesbian Lovemaking, Oh My!

Ooh, this is sexy.

Off the porn mags and onto the big screen, I guess. And with newcomer Noomi Rapace. I'm not familiar with her, which adds a nice touch — of freshness.

At London's Daily Mail, "Blindfolded Rachel McAdams shares lesbian tryst with masked Noomi Rapace in trailer for erotic thriller Passion."

And the guys over at Egotastic are in heaven, "Our Favorite Lezzy Love Scenes Safe Enough to Watch on YouTube."

Oh My! Mitt Romney Revives 'Birther' Controversy — 'No One's Ever Asked to See My Birth Certificate' (VIDEO)

I personally wasn't expecting this, but since Team Obama's campaigning for reelection on the dirtiest platform in American history, it makes perfect sense. Indeed, joking about O's birth certificate is a brilliant burst of spontaneity on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Progressives can get all bent out of shape that Mitt dared even question --- even jokingly --- Barack Hussein's eligibility for the Oval Office. Meanwhile, O's media lapdogs will eat it up, looking to smear the GOP ticket as extremists and "birthers," which nicely takes the focus off the left's abortion obsession. The trick, however, is not to let "birtherism" really take hold again. The convention starts Monday. Get the focus on the economy.

In any case, see William Jacobson, at Legal Insurrection, "Barack Obama again jokes about his birth certificate, outrage ensues …. oh, wait":

Oooooh, Mitt Romney made a joke about his own birth certificate, and the MSM and nutroots go wild!

More at that link, and also at Memeorandum. And at Twitchy, "Romney: ‘No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate’; Update: Team Obama feigns outrage" (at Memeorandum).

I'm gonna check around for some of that nutroots outrage and see if I can come up with some knee-slappers. Check back.

Teachers, Unions, and Students

From the letters to the editor, at the Los Angeles Times, "Re 'A good teacher is hard to keep,' Opinion, Aug. 19":

Bhatt scapegoats teachers. She cites a report that says it takes 11 hires by a district to yield one truly great teacher, and no doubt is confident that she is one of those rare ones.

The problem is that students aren't responsible for anything anymore. And a system that doesn't make students responsible allows low-performing students to slow everyone down. The students who are failing are, for whatever reason, just not dialed in. Show me a student who reads outside of school and I'll show you a successful student. Show me a student that does his or her homework, and I'll show you a successful student.

It's time to stop blaming teachers and realize that we have a societal problem that is aggravated by a lack of rewards or consequences for students. Too many of our students learn the importance of their education years after high school.

Stan Brown
Victorville

I'll disagree only so much as, yeah, there are some shitty teachers --- and the unions themselves are hopelessly warped by social justice ideology --- but it's true that students are disastrously unprepared for the rigors of academic life. I'm always pleased when I get some really motivated students, but sadly, that's generally a small minority of the students who come through the doors at my college. They may think otherwise, having been pumped up by touchy-feely pedagogy for their entire K-12 careers, but it's a culture shock when they're confronted with the university-level curriculum that I present in my classes. Sad, kinda. And it's a struggle for dedicated faculty to get the support of the administration for a rigorous program. All a student has to do these days is cry about some civil rights violation or another, and poof! They'll be pushed right through as the administrative talking heads browbeat the faculty into compliance.

Anyway, here's the original essay, from Sujata Bhatt, "A good teacher is hard to keep." It's no wonder why teacher retention is so bad, and it's not likely to get a whole lot better anytime soon.

'I Want to Be a Crony'

Via Lonely Con, "More Cronyism in the Obama Administration – The President’s Utility, and More."

Anders Behring Breivik Gets Maximum Sentence in Norway Mass Murder Trial

At the New York Times, "Norway Killer Is Ruled Sane and Given 21 Years in Prison."

Only 21 years. And no death penalty in Norway?

That dude deserves it. Look at him smirking at the clip.

New Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS Poll

It's pretty much in line with other current polling. See, "In Poll, Obama Is Given Trust Over Medicare."

At the clip, CBS News political analyst Leigh Ann Caldwell breaks it down:

The raw data is here.

And here's the new Fox News poll, from Dana Blanton, "Fox News poll: Race for the White House tightens." Mitt Romney leads Barack Obama 45-44 percent among likely voters, the first time this season that Fox has polled likely/registered voters. The findings are the first Fox poll to also assess the selection of Paul Ryan as running mate.

See also the Los Angeles Times, which has Obama up by 3 nationally, "Obama has slight lead over Romney in new nationwide poll."

And yet more at USA Today, "Poll: As conventions open, a more negative view of politics":

* The enthusiasm gap that boosted Obama in 2008 has turned around this year. Now 53% of Republicans and those who lean Republican say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting this year, compared with 46% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.

* Obama gets more blame for negative attacks than he did in 2008. Then, 30% accused him of attacking his Republican opponent unfairly; now 44% do. In contrast, 40% say Romney is attacking Obama unfairly, compared with 48% who said that of McCain four years ago.

Two Women Electrocuted While Trying to Help at Crash Scene in Los Angeles

This is an unbelievably sad story, at the Los Angeles Times, "Two women fatally electrocuted trying to help at crash scene":

Irma Zamora's husband urged her not to get out of the car as they approached the scene of a spectacular traffic crash in Los Angeles' Valley Village neighborhood. But as he pulled over to call 911, she rushed out anyway, eager to help.

A sport utility vehicle had just careened through the intersection of Magnolia Boulevard and Ben Avenue, shearing off a concrete light standard and knocking over a fire hydrant before coming to rest on a front lawn. Water spewed skyward from the broken hydrant and quickly pooled in the intersection.

Zamora ran toward the wrecked SUV and stepped into an electrified pool of water. She was immediately –- and fatally — electrocuted, struck by what firefighters estimate was 48,000 volts of electricity.

A second woman died while trying to help Ms. Zamora. There's also a video report at NBC Los Angeles, "Councilman: Valley Village Electrocution Was Moment of 'Tragedy, Heroism'."

Anderson Cooper Destroys Debbie Wasserman Schultz on DNC's Despicable Lies Attacking Mitt Romney on Abortion

She's morally-repugnant, personally and politically. Between her and Stephanie Cutter, it's been lies and libel 24/7, all with the backing Baracky.

They just lie, and lie again. Cooper calls her out brutally. Notice Wasserman Schultz saying, "It doesn't matter," when pushed on the accuracy of the DNC's email. These people will do anything, anything! They're totally discredited freak-ball liars.

Here's the email, published at BarackObama.com/truthteam:

In a recent statement that was both factually inaccurate and horribly offensive, Republican Missouri Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin said that victims of “legitimate rape” don’t get pregnant because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan tried to distance themselves from the remark—but the fact is they’re in lockstep with Akin on the major women’s health issues of our time. Just this morning, the Republican Party voted to include the “Human Life Amendment” in their platform, calling for a constitutional ban on abortions nationwide, even for rape victims. Several Romney supporters and advisers stood silently by while this vote took place, and the Los Angeles Times reports that the platform “was written at the direction of Romney’s campaign.”

More at that link.

And here's the Los Angeles Times piece in question, "Ron Paul delegates taking aim at Republican Party platform":

TAMPA, Fla. _ It didn't take long for strains within the Republican Party to surface Monday as national delegates got down to work on a final draft of the party platform, one week before the nominating convention opens.

Ron Paul delegates are making a diligent effort to wedge the defeated presidential candidate's libertarian ideas into the party document. Among them: curbing the power of the Federal Reserve, enhancing the constitutional rights of individuals and opposing the overseas role of U.S. military forces.

There is no doubt about who is in charge, of course. Delegates for presumptive nominee Mitt Romney are voting down substantive changes to the platform language that was written at the direction of Romney's campaign. The biggest question is whether the tone remains polite, as it was at the outset of two days of deliberations, or whether dissenters spoil the image of harmony that the Romney campaign is working hard to produce.

Wow.

The piece isn't even talking about abortion. And as everyone's been highlighting for days, the GOP's abortion plank has been in place for the past couple of election cycles. Indeed, folks have been making hay about how it's possible for a nominee to disagree with a substantive policy position approved by the delegates.

The Democrats are lying. They're distorting the issue, attempting to smear the Romney campaign as abortion extremists. All this demonstrates once again how bankrupt these people are. That's not to say they'll dial it back. The attacks, at minimum, work to keep discussion of the economy off the table. The GOP's biggest challenge next week is to force the national debate back to economic issues. This prospects scares the living shit out of the Democrats, which explains why they'll stop at nothing to sabotage the Republicans, using dirtbag methods so repugnant they're literally unprecedented in American politics.

BONUS: Lighten things up a bit with AP's hilarious post, at Hot Air, "Anderson Cooper grills Debbie Wasserman-Schultz: Why are you lying about Romney’s position on abortion?"

Armed Forces Salute

Via Theo Spark:

Shooting Suspect James Holmes Failed Oral Examination, Made Threats, Prosecution Reveals

This is what I expected.

Suspect James Holmes failed his oral exams in the Ph.D. neuroscience program and was advised by his department to find a new line of work. He was getting booted from the program pretty much as I laid out in my essay, "Suspect James Holmes' Rapid Descent":

The department will usually not advance to candidacy those who've been struggling.

I posted more on that, along with the video from the university's press conference, here: "Suspect James Holmes No Easy Fit for Mass Murderer Profile."

The Los Angeles Times has the latest, "Colorado theater shooting: New details emerge on James E. Holmes":

CENTENNIAL, Colo. – The first glimpse of a once-promising career beginning to unravel emerged Thursday during a hearing in the case against James E. Holmes, accused of killing 12 and injuring 58 in a packed movie theater last month.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Karen Pearson revealed that 24-year-old Holmes, once a doctoral student in an elite neuroscience program at the University of Colorado Denver, had failed oral exams on June 7, made unspecified threats serious enough for campus police to be notified, and had his access to university buildings on the Anschutz Medical Campus revoked. He withdrew from the university June 10....

“What is going on in the defendant’s life is extremely relevant to the case,” Pearson argued as she sought to review all of Holmes’ academic records – including grades, course schedules and admission application -- as well as emails to professors during the time he attended.

She speculated about how disappointed Holmes must have been about his deteriorating university career and said faculty had asked him to leave the program.

The prosecution had subpoenaed the university records, which were turned over to the judge last week. They remain sealed, and the defense wants to keep it that way.

Defense attorney Daniel King rejected Pearson’s rationale and the validity of the scenario she sketched out on Thursday, strongly opposing the release of information about his client’s time at the university. He said that it was irrelevant to the case and that the prosecution was on a “fishing expedition that needs to be stopped.”