However you get your news, here are a few stories that stood out in local, state, federal and international news.
“The Walt Disney Co. is trying to toss out a widower’s wrongful death lawsuit, arguing he agreed to settle any disputes with the entertainment giant and any of its affiliates out of court when he signed up for a free trial of its streaming service Disney+.”
The man’s wife, a New York doctor, experienced a severe allergic reaction and died while dining at “Raglan Road Irish Pub, in the resort's Disney Springs shopping, dining and entertainment complex in Florida.”
“Sadly, Disney could very well have a viable argument here,” University of Buffalo law professor Christine Bartholomew said. “The Supreme Court has, time and again, treated these arbitration provisions as binding. It doesn't matter if it's in fine, teeny tiny print in the terms of conditions.”
“Consumers don’t sign away all of their rights in these [Terms of Service] contracts, but they sign away a lot, including the constitutional right to a jury trial and their day in court, University of Maryland law professor Jeff Sovern said.
“A rule proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to allow consumers to file class-action lawsuits over disputes with banks, credit card companies and other financial service firms was killed in 2017.”
“David Vladeck, a Georgetown law professor and the former director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission, said ‘The CFPB came really close to getting a rule that would have protected consumers but they got cut off at the knees in Congress.’”
Our constitution guarantees all citizens the Right to Due Process of law and guarantees all citizens access to US courts for the redress of grievances. I KNOW Disney’s rules should not supersede those of our United States constitution. It is past time Congress passes protections for Americans, and ends corporations’ abilities to take away people’s rights to a fair trial in any terms of service agreement.
“The worst riots the United Kingdom has seen in years are being fueled by false information online. Rumors claimed a Muslim asylum seeker was the one responsible for a mass stabbing that left three children dead and several more injured at a Taylor Swift-themed event. The suspect however is a 17-year-old U.K. citizen born in Wales to Rwandan parents.”
London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley stated ‘We will throw the full force of the law at people and whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online we will come after you.’
“While it’s highly unlikely that British authorities will go after U.S.-based social media posters like Musk for violating British laws in an online space,” we are experiencing a new phenomena in our newly connected world.
What a world we live in! Whether we grasp it or not, our words online have a global impact. This power must come with great responsibility. I do not know if people should be arrested for things they say online (unless it leads directly to the death or harm of others), but I do believe individuals should be placed on ‘timeouts’ from posting or using a social media platform for certain actions. I do not have all the answers, as this way of life must continue to be debated, researched and acted upon for our overall advancement.
Beginning around August 6, reports surfaced of Ukrainian forces attacking a Russian bridge. Since, two more Russian bridges have been attacked.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated Ukraine’s aim in these attacks is to create a buffer zone.
“It means local tactical success by Ukrainian forces, but it also means long-range Ukrainian strikes behind Russian front lines – attacking railroads, ammunition dumps, airbases, trying to destroy the jets that attack them. So, basically a combination of local successes and deep strikes – essentially to defang Russia’s military in the [area] so they can’t be nearly as aggressive, nearly as dangerous.”
While it is welcome news to hear the attacked are now the ones on the attack, people continue to needlessly die. Both Ukraine and Russia must agree to end the violence and chaos their people are bearing, and return to each nation’s pre-war borders.
The US Government has called out Coca-Cola for hiding massive amounts of profit in countries with low corporate taxes, where Coca-Cola was able to manipulate the prices of their owned subsidiaries.
“By controlling how much the subsidiaries must pay other parts of the Coke network for use of the brands and marketing, and by setting the prices they can charge bottlers, Coke itself in effect decided their profitability, the court heard.”
“If Coca-Cola loses, they would lose the past year and half of net income; the IRS would be able to impose a higher US tax bill for years to come;” and the loss would have to be reported in Coca-Cola’s earnings, which would inevitably impact its stock price.
“The $16B could cover the IRS budget for a year, and the stand-off with Coca-Cola is a test of the agency’s ability to pursue complicated cases at a time when it has promised to get tough on corporate tax avoidance.”
This is a real heavyweight battle, one that is only fit for the US Government to take on one of the largest companies in the world. This is what funding the IRS can do – give not only Americans, but people globally, better prices for their Coca-Cola products.
A group of Republican-led states created a motion to hold up President Biden’s SAVE plan, and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to pause the program.
SAVE has helped millions of Americans with their student loan payments, either by forgiving loans or allowing a more flexible and income-adjusted way for people to pay off their loans.
Having checks and balances is necessary, but this seems to be more along the lines of limiting progress than anything else. While this SAVE program does not completely address the root issues of debt and interest in our nation, it provides immediate relief for millions of Americans who are in need of catching an economic break.
A Great Win In The Making…
President Biden’s Federal Trade Commission Initiates the “Time Is Money” Effort
This program is designed to tackle the easy-to-fix headaches, primarily surrounding customer service, we experience with large corporations.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plans to make rules that:
Require companies to make it as easy to cancel a subscription or membership as it is to sign up for one.
Require automatic cash refunds from airlines when flights are canceled or significantly changed.
Allow people to submit online health claims
Allow people, when calling customer service, to click one button before being connected to a live person.
Learn more about the initiative and its other priorities here.
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