1. Failure to provide nutritional information and a list of ingredients (the “Grandma’s secret recipe” clause);
2. Failure to caution of the potential for overeating because cookies taste “yummy” and are provided at no cost;
3. Failure to advise that walking, biking, and jogging will shed pounds, but riding around on a reindeer-powered sleigh will not;
4. Failure to warn that Christmas lights, lawn ornaments (plastic reindeer, snowmen, etc.) and other holiday decorations may constitute manipulative marketing to lure Santa into over-consumption;
5. Failure to offer “healthier” cookie alternatives (e.g., tofu bars or carob blobs);
6. Failure to affix warning label acknowledging that milk, should it be provided, must not be consumed if Santa is, or could possibly be, lactose intolerant; and
7. Failure to notify that eating too many cookies and not exercising may lead to even greater levels of obesity for St. Nick.

Of course the waiver is only as strong as the judge who is willing to enforce it. 

One of the frequently-criticized problems with our litigation system today is the courts' refusal to enforce contractual waivers of liability on grounds of "unconscionability" or "public policy." 

Without an enforceable right of redress against those who pursue weak or excessive claims in litigation none of us can be entirely safe from plaintiffs in red velvet. 

In his own spiritual life, Cruise has continued to climb the "Bridge to Total Freedom," Scientology's path to enlightenment. International Scientology News, a church magazine, reported last year that the actor had embarked on one of the highest levels of training, "OT VII" — for Operating Thetan VII.

At these higher levels — and at a potential cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars — Scientologists learn Hubbard's secret theory of human suffering, which he traces to a galactic battle waged 75 million years ago by an evil tyrant named Xenu.

According to court documents made public by The Times in the 1980s, Hubbard espoused the belief that Xenu captured the souls, or thetans, of enemies and electronically implanted false concepts in them to keep them confused about his dirty work. The goal of these advanced courses is to become aware of the trauma and free of its effects.

At Cruise's high level of training, ex-members say, devotees also are charged with actively spreading the organization's less secretive beliefs and advancing its crusades, including Hubbard's deep disdain for psychiatry, a profession that once dismissed his teachings as quackery.

"When you hear Tom Cruise talking about psychiatrists and drugs," said one prominent former Scientologist who knows Cruise, "you are hearing from the grave the voice of L. Ron Hubbard speaking."

Earth to Tom.  Come in Tom.

Business combination transactions constitute highly extraordinary events for some companies and frequently involve an offering of securities that must be registered under the Securities Act and require delivery of the prospectus.  They also typically involve proxy statements of considerable length and complexity.  (Release, p. 56)

Do nothing about Saddam, or nothing that hasn't been done before, and you keep in place a personally unstable dictator who has declared himself an avowed enemy of America, who will help and assist its foes at a crucial time, and who has developed and used in recent memory and against his own citizens weapons of mass destruction. Do nothing and you face the continuance of a Mideast status quo encrusted by cynicism and marked by malignancy.

 

But remove Saddam and you face the cost in blood and treasure of invasion, occupation and the erection of democracy. It's all a great gamble. It could end with the yielding up of a new ruling claque as bad as or worse than the one just replaced. You could wind up thinking you'd bitten off more than you could chew and were trying to swallow more than you could digest.

 

No matter what Mr. Bush chose, what decision he made, he would leave some angry and frustrated. No matter what he did, the Arab street would be restive (it is a restive place) the left would be angry (rage is their ZIP code, where they came from and where they live), and Democrats would watch, wait, offer bland statements and essentially hope for the worst. Imagine a great party with only one leader, Joe Lieberman, who approaches the question of Iraq with entire seriousness. And imagine that party being angry with him because he does.

But ultimately, this war is not about George Bush.  It is about a new start for the people of Iraq and the prospects of progress for the entire region.

"Munich" is a poignant political masterpiece that will no doubt be very controversial. It's the best movie of 2005, coming in at the last minute to best other terrific entries including "Walk the Line," "Match Point," "Capote," "Mrs. Henderson Presents," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "A History of Violence" and even "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Cameron threw away his notes and did a Liddy Dole, walking around the stage and speaking apparently from the heart. Everyone agreed it was brilliant, and the delegates responded with fervent enthusiasm. The media reported that he had given the Tory party "hope."

 

A cool reading of the speech shows that it was devoid of argument and composed largely of optimistic cliches. Still, Cameron has continued in this successful vein, refusing to offer substantive policies on the grounds that a general election is four years away and it is too soon to commit himself on specifics.

 

Instead, he offered himself to the Tories as a new style of "modernizing" leader, in tune with the new multicultural Britain and the younger generation. He took this posture to the extreme of reprimanding Davis for proposing a crackdown on the yobbish drunkenness that is turning Britain's city centers into weekend fiestas of violence. Much of what Davis was saying, he retorted, was simply young people having a good time.

 

Since yobbishness is one of the hottest topics in politics -- and the reason why Blair has proposed his "Respect" agenda of restoring decency to Britain's streets -- this reprimand seemed like a gaffe by any standards. But Cameron does not seem to have suffered from it. The Tory party faithful raised no objection. And the media took a tolerant attitude as well.

 

Indeed, the media -- especially the younger political correspondents -- are almost the second pillar of the Cameron coalition. Cameron was briefly in the television business and he is distinctly media savvy. They like his relaxed style and, even when they lean leftwards, they apparently prefer it to the more traditional style of his likely opponent, Brown. And they look forward to a titanic battle of style between them.

 

Thus, Rachel Sylvester, a columnist in the London Daily Telegraph, contrasted the two men Monday to Cameron's distinct advantage: "As a politician, Mr. Brown dislikes the new celebrity style of politics, what he calls 'all that touchy-feely stuff'; he has never posed for a photograph with his son, John, since he took him home from hospital when he was only hours old. He thinks Parliament should be treated with more respect and he wants his party to rediscover an understanding of the past. His version of Britishness is more empire than Cool Britannia. He wants history lessons to be compulsory in schools until the age of 16.

 

"Mr. Cameron ... wants a new style of politics, more consensual, less Punch and Judy. He prefers the 'can do' optimism of 'The West Wing' to the British cynicism of 'Yes, Prime Minister.' [I]t was natural to him to create the perfect photo opportunity after his conference speech by patting his pregnant wife's stomach. In his view, his party should represent the future, not the past."

The Framers forged a system protecting individual rights while recognizing legitimate countervailing interests of the state. In that balanced system, even such fundamental rights as the freedom of speech and free press, association and religion have been subject to some limitations.

The neighborhood in which I was born is decked out in red, white and blue - but there's nothing patriotic about it. The red, as seen on a gang assessment map, is Bloods territory. The white signifies "neutral" areas. And the swaths of blue designate Crips turf.

 

* * *

 

Whether Williams is truly reformed will never be known. It's hard to judge whether he regrets his actions, or regrets that those actions landed him in San Quentin. What is known is the blue and red turf that has dyed our streets in blood.

 

If Williams is denied clemency, his advocates will weep. Regardless, many of us will be weeping for his four nearly forgotten victims, as well as for a Los Angeles forever marred by the Crips. I've heard about a more peaceful time on my native turf from older generations. I would have liked to have seen it myself.

Looking for creative outlets after his failed 2004 Presidential campaign, Al Sharpton has announced that he is launching a sitcom to be titled “Al and the Family”.  According to Sharpton, he will play himself in the show: “I am the center of a family with different social and political views and we crack jokes and confront each other but are a family.”

Sources close to Sharpton offer just a few hints of the first season’s story lines:

•  When Al’s high school-aged daughter comes home with an “F” in Algebra, Al enlists the aid of his next-door neighbor, Mr Koizumi, only to get egg on his face when he realizes that his Japanese-American friend is not really so good at math.
• Al panics when he gets an IRS audit and he is forced to hire an accountant – Shlomo Fierstein (played by Jackie Mason) – to defend the audit.  Al is forced to pay back taxes when he learns that track suits are not deductible.
• Hilarity ensues when Al accuses the local quickie-mart of discrimination, leading Al to stage a protest march where his cigar “accidentally” sets fire to Mr. Kim’s store.  All’s well that end’s well, however, when Mr. Kim learns it was just a big mistake.

Tawana Brawley could not be reached for comment. 

• The unemployment rate is only 5% and real GDP is growing a remarkable 3.7% but almost 43% of Americans think a recession is underway.
• The U.S. trade deficit has expanded, but the dollar is up 10% against the euro in the last eight months.