Monday, September 19, 2011

Misc. repugnant transactions

Sometimes some transactions are so repugnant that nothing but an armed response seems sufficient:

Multi-agency armed raid hits Rawesome Foods, Healthy Family Farms for selling raw milk and cheese
"A multi-agency SWAT-style armed raid was conducted this morning by helmet-wearing, gun-carrying enforcement agents from the LA County Sheriff's Office, the FDA, the Dept. of Agriculture and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control)."

HT: Zane Selvans
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Workplace romance is often regarded as a repugnant transaction, and the rules that different universities try to enforce are varied. Inside Higher Ed reports:

"According to the American Association of University Professors,policies regarding relationships between students and professors vary across the country. Some institutions, such as the University of Michigan, do not expressly prohibit faculty-student relationships, but advise faculty members against them and require faculty members to notify superiors of relationships to avoid conflicts of interest. The University of Iowa prohibits faculty members from entering into romantic or sexual relationships with students they are instructing, evaluating, or supervising.
...
In recent years, several campuses have implemented “zero-tolerance” policies. In 2003, the University of California adopted a policy prohibiting romantic or sexual relationships between faculty members and students they are teaching or have a reasonable expectation of teaching in the future. Last year, Yale University adopted a policy expressly prohibiting relationships between faculty members and undergraduate students, regardless of whether there is any chance the professor will teach the student. “Undergraduate students are particularly vulnerable to the unequal institutional power inherent in the teacher-student relationship and the potential for coercion, because of their age and relative lack of maturity,” the policy states."
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Revisions to old laws against scalping tickets to sporting events (reselling them at much higher than face value) are under discussion in MA: For ticket resellers and fans, the game may be changing

"Massachusetts is one of five states with laws strictly limiting what resellers can charge. But with hundreds, maybe thousands, of outlets reselling tickets online and offline, the law is difficult to enforce. Plus, ticket scalping is viewed as a victimless crime.



"But by this time next year, legislation under consideration on Beacon Hill could, if passed, make the secondary market in Massachusetts a much different place for fans and licensed resellers. Some overhaul of ticket reselling regulations appears to have legislative support, but it is unclear what form it might take, or whether it would pass. Hearings are scheduled for this month.
One of the bills comes from state Representative Michael Moran, Democrat of Brighton, who has proposed legislation to make the secondary market fully legal - and perhaps more fan-friendly.


"The proposed law would remove most restrictions on reselling tickets, effectively uncapping the secondary market, and institute greater consumer protections regarding refund and cancellation policies."
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And finally:

England players warned about their behaviour after night out at 'dwarf-throwing' bar

"Headlines on Thursday morning alleged that Tindall, who recently married the Queen’s granddaughter, Zara Phillips, was acting inappropriately while drinking in a Queenstown bar last Sunday, where a “dwarf-throwing contest” was the primary entertainment."

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