Elicit

On August 14, 2009 the U.S Customs and Border Protection officers seized 3.9 million dollars worth in counterfeit merchandise. We might think getting a counterfeit Louis Vuitton isn’t such a big deal it looks real nobody will ever know and Louis Vuitton makes money regardless. In fact we make more harm when we purchase counterfeit goods than we would ever do by not taking time to recycle. Counterfeit goods affect us more than we will ever know, especially in this economy. The main thing is it’s not only the bags and shoes it’s now cars, watches, electronics even textiles and buttons which are harming textile factories because they are having to compete with these prices, which then leads them to going out of business. Counterfeit brings more jobs overseas and leaves less for us and even puts some companies out of business because they can keep up with the competition of the black market. The black market has grown rapidly and doesn’t seem to be coming to a stop any time soon, with such a growth in technology money laundering has became easier than ever we see more and more internet scams linked to the black market. The selling and purchasing of counterfeit goods is like taking a gateway drug for the first time it starts with something simple which then eventually leads to something dangerous and then creates a potentially harm to others. I believe this affects all of us because people are losing jobs, certain money isn’t being reported and if getting these goods here is easy what else are they capable of getting through security, could it be drugs, illegal weapons, bombs. Makes us really question, is there really any security? These men who are profiting from the counterfeit goods don’t stop there they are also running countries by bribing officials. So next time you are in the Santeen Valley also known as the Callejones in Los Angeles or in Hong Kong, China and they try and sell you that incredible Louis Vuitton counterfeit remember by buying that you’ll just be adding to the problem instead of helping to stop it.

Issue of the case

Issue of the case “A combination of manufacturers claimed that the designs of their products, though not protected by patent or copyright, were original and distinctive, sought to suppress competition by others who copied their designs and sold at generally lower prices. To this end, those in the combination systematically registered their designs and refused all sales to manufacturers and retailers of garments who dealt in the copies or would not agree not to sell them. To aid in effectuating the boycott, the combination employed "shoppers" to visit retailers' stores, established tribunals to determine whether garments were copies of designs registered, audited the books of its members, fined them for violations of its regulations, etc. In view of these things, and the power of the combination and its effect upon sales in interstate commerce, the Federal Trade Commission concluded that the practices of the combination constituted unfair methods of competition tending to monopoly and issued a "cease and desist" order.” <http://supreme.justia.com>. This case was brought to court because it conflicts with the principles of the Clayton Act sec. 14. Sale, etc., on agreement not to use goods of competitor the act states that “It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, to lease or make a sale or contract for sale of goods, wares, merchandise, machinery, supplies, or other commodities, whether patented or unpatented, for use, consumption, or resale within the United States or any Territory thereof or the District of Columbia or any insular possession or other place under the jurisdiction of the United States, or fix a price charged there for, or discount from, or rebate upon, such price, on the condition, agreement, or understanding that the lessee or purchaser thereof shall not use or deal in the goods, wares, merchandise, machinery, supplies, or other commodities of a competitor or competitors of the less or seller, where the effect of such lease, sale, or contract for sale or such condition, agreement, or understanding may be to substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce.”<http://globalcompetitionforum.org.>.There for they were wrong to aid in the boycotting of the products because the products weren’t counterfeits but knock offs who weren’t pretending to be something they weren’t they were just a generic version of the original at a lower price point, and by boycotting they were possibly eliminating potential competition therefore creating a monopoly.

"The side effects of Spam"

The big issue with spam isn’t the annoying solicitation for our business, but what comes out of it once they obtain our vital information. In most cases once you’ve gave you information to spam mail they will use it against you especially if they have your bank information they will make unwanted charges to it and may even steal your identity. Most of these spam emails are truly thieves in disguise who portray themselves as trustable sellers and once you exchange that vital information you come to find out you product never arrives and there are five charges on your card. This is happening more and more with weight loss products such as diet pill offers, male enhancement pills, property for sale and the list goes on. I believe as consumers we have to be smart and educate each other about what kind of information we shouldn’t be putting on the internet because all it takes is a name and a card number and bye-bye identity. According to the survey results, by the Federal Trade Commissions “Fifty-two percent of all ID theft victims, approximately five million people in the last year, discovered that they were victims of identity theft by monitoring their accounts. Another twenty six percent - approximately 2.5 million people - reported that they were alerted to suspicious account activity by companies such as credit card issuers or banks. Eight percent reported that they first learned when they applied for credit and were turned down” Looking at those numbers makes it even more real I believe most people don’t understand how spam can seriously affect one’s life. It is a lot more serious that we think spam leads to identity theft. With the internet booming out of control we must be aware of what we are putting out there and protect ourselves from those thieves in disguise, the spamers.

Facts of the case

1.Facts of the case -- a concise statement of the facts that brought the case before the Court.

The case I choosed was The Fashion Originator’ Guild of America v. Federal Trade Commission. The case was originally argued on February 10, 1941 and decided March 3, 1941. This case was brought on because a designer who had no patent or copyright on his designs which he consider original and distinctive discovered his designs were being used and tweaked around then sold at a lower price point. Then to help and keep the integrity of his designs he encouraged his buyers to boycott the other retailers.

what i think about landlord/tenant rights

What i think about landlord and tenant rights and the law is that it's really twisted sometimes when it comes to leasing an apartment and anything to do with personal property or real property. I believe a Landlord has the right to check on the potential tenant’s credit history because in most cases paying their mortgage is directly dependent upon their tenants paying and it wouldn’t be right to lease the apartment and come to find out that the tenant has no money to pay you. If a person takes possession of the apartment without signing a lease the landlord should have the right to kick them out. If the tenant doesn’t pay the landlord should have the right to start the process for an eviction even if that means cutting the power. Landlords should also tend to their responsibilities. They should insure the tenant with a livable apartment free of infestation. They should also be responsible for maintaining the building and making repairs. As a tenant I strongly believe we also have rights in which we can’t be denied a chance at leasing a property because of our race, gender, sexual preference, etc. Tenants should also have the right to a nice and affordable place to live we also need to be assured that our stuff will be safe when we step out of the apartment. As a tenant we also have a moral responsibility to our neighbors and must behave ourselves in an appropriate manner. Tenants are the heart and soul of renting without them there wouldn’t be such thing. A landlord has to be understanding and a tenant has to be responsible because it takes two people to make a contract but just one to break it.

3's About Me

Three Names I have been called:
Jackie, Short stuff, Boss

Three Jobs I have had in my life (include unpaid if you have to):
Cashier at Food 4 Less, Shift Manager at McDonald’s, Sales Associate at French Connection

Three Places I Have Lived:
North Hollywood, CA; Inglewood, CA and Las Vegas, NV

Three TV Shows that I watch:
Project Runway, Good Eats, Seinfeld

Three places I have been:
El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize

People that e-mail me regularly
My favorite cousin, My uncle and My best friend.

Three of my favorite foods
Lasagna, Meatballs and Panang Curry

Three cars I have driven:
Toyota Rav4, Dodge Neon, Nissan Maxima

Three things I am looking forward to:
Graduation, my son’s graduation and being able to buy a bmw cash in hand.

Greed is Good

In a society where success tends to be measured by what we can acquire the 1987 film Wall Street gives us an inside look at the ugly truth behind that “success”. This is in fact a dog eat dog world where corporations pray on the weak and innocent to gain wealth. “Greed is good” says, Gordon Geckko (who was played by Michael Douglas) plays a very powerful figure, who because of his greed gets anything and everything he wants. Is greed really the way to success? How many foolish people would sell their soul for a quick buck. It’s funny how a film can demonstrate what’s really going on even in today’s economy. Have we really not learned from our mistakes? Must we really repeat history over and over again? Why is it that these huge multi-million dollar corporations are getting bail-out money for bonuses? When there are people struggling to get by literally living paycheck to paycheck never having enough. These corporations spend their time acquiring all this “success” and wealth and what do they really do with it, take fishing trips, fly the company jet for a day of shopping. All they do is worry and take care of nobody but themselves being very greedy. I honestly believe if we all really cared and gave back even if just a bit the world would be such a better place.
If I could make a whack-a -doll of anyone it would be President George W. Bush. I believe he didn’t do things as he should’ve when he was in office and we are now paying the consequences of his mistakes. Which I don’t believe is fair there are so many things he could’ve done and instead he really didn’t do much but get us deeper in debt.

What my classmates think of our Legal System

The three classmates I choose were Stephanie Ortiz, Raymond George Price, and Gustavo Ibarra. They all have very interesting and different thoughts as to how they feel about our legal system. As a receptionist for a lawyer Stephanie got to see things we’ve only hear about in movies. “I did work as a receptionist for a lawyer for a couple of months. I did like the fact that they get to help people and give people hope. One thing I have always wondered though how someone can defend a murderer or a child molester. How can anyone with the right morals be able to say that a person is not guilty, when they know damn well that they are. I personally, would not be able to do it.”-Stephanie O. I definitely agree with her because I do strongly believe that there is a lack of morals in that business. Personally I wouldn’t be able to live with myself either if I let a child molester run free. It’s only a matter of time until karma catches up to you and when it does it won’t be pretty. I was surprised on Raymond’s take on the legal system, I understand where he’s coming from and I never thought to look at it that way. He quotes, “No one person can possibly know the entire body of law.”(Essentials of Business Law, Liuzzo,Pg3) and he adds, “This quote basically rules out one body of government by saying that they can’t do everything alone. The different branches of government are there to help each other out, because it would be impossible for one branch to pass a law, enforce it, and determine if something is in violation of that law. So with that said, the legal system in which the United States has created is one of the best in the world. But like any other system, there are ways to defeat it and there are loop-holes.” I agree with him until he says “Our Legal System is the BEST in the WORLD."-Raymond Price. If our legal system was truly the “best in the world” there wouldn’t be so much injustice in our world. Last but not least is Gustavo Ibarra who like Raymond also surprised me. He wrote “I feel that the Legal system is a savior when it is not corrupted or altered. I feel that this is the only rational way to decide on another individual’s wrong doing. The process of it is also correct, even though it does take a long time for the decision to even be made. Of course there are many that think that the legal system is a joke and feels that it needs to be changed. I feel that it is not that the legal system needs to be changed but of practice of lawyers and government officials. I feel that a lot abuse makes the legal system not work correctly.”-Gustavo Ibarra. I can honestly say I totally agree with everything he says because I truly believe the system we’ve came up with isn’t that bad but what’s coming out of it now that’s the problem. It does seem to be all about the money and less about what’s right. It was great bearing in mind the law in the eyes of others and knowing most of us agree in one way or another.

Used Cars

Team Members: Joe Demotte & Anton
1. No smoking –tort
2. Battery-crime
3. Illegal gambling-crime
4. Vandalism- crime
5. Bribery- crime
6. Perjury-crime
7. No contract over $500- tort
8. None license drivers driving- crime
9. Passengers in the bed of truck- crime
10. Tampering with video- tort
11. No seat belts- crime
12. Destruction of private property- tort
13. Breaking speed limit- crime
14. Leaving the scene of accident- crime
15. Driving off road- crime
16. Driving unauthorized vehicle-crime
17. Assault with chain- crime
18. Cursing over radio waves- crime
19. Illegal railroad crossing- crime
20. Fraud- crime
21. Pulling a firearm in public- crime
22. Force full restrain- crime
23. Loitering- crime
24. Sexual assault- crime
25. Illegal towing- crime
26. Drug trafficking- crime
27. Didn’t stop for cop-crime
28. Reckless in danger- crime
29. J-walking- crime
30. No registration- crime

What i think of our legal system

I think our legal system isn’t working for us like it should be. It feels like the bad guys are always getting the upper hand. I’m not saying its one hundred percent shit but I’m just saying, it could be so much better. Just think about it, what if there were more people with principles. Especially those who possess an immense amount of power. I strongly believe that there’s a lack of moral values and as people we get so caught up trying to do everything the easy way because god forbid we have to work hard for anything. That we throw our morals right out the window, doing anything to make a quick buck or to be head of the committee. The system seems quite simple until you start to really read between the lines. We need to start paying attention to what we sign and read a little bit more into the law because when life tends to throw you into those sticky situations. You never know if you’ll have a billion dollar lawsuit on your hands, and with this economy that’s the last thing anyone wants. Yet our Legal system seems to have some kind of …“Monopoly power, the term used to describe a situation in which one or more people or firms control the market in a particular area or for a certain product.”(Essentials of business law. Anthony L. Liuzzo pg.155). There’s a lot taking place on the inside that we are all oblivious to. Corruption and enticement are only a couple. It seems like our precious legal system and everyone in it have a small but sufficient amount of power that they aren’t afraid to use. Our legal system is very tricky it tends to play with our emotions. It will make us feel protected until we really need it. Then sure enough they’ll go and stab us right in the back.

myspace hoax

Megan, a girl who had battled attention deficit disorder, depression and a weight problem took her life away when hateful bulletins were being posted about her online by a boy. The myspace hoax to me does seem as intent of malice. The main reason is because this girl didn’t like Megan so that right there signals a red flag because someone got hurt even though they say it was a “joke” it wasn’t funny at all. Someone’s life ended because of this stupid “joke”. Cases like this really make me wonder what wrong with our world today. Honestly what kind of grown up does that? Part of being a parent is being mature and teaching your children right from wrong instead of spreading nasty rumors and lies she should have persuaded her daughter to speak to the girl an resolve their differences rather than seeking revenge. Just like in the movie one twisted lie can have many outcomes and most of them aren’t so good. Just because it’s not a law it doesn’t mean it still isn’t morally wrong. I think its sick how nothing was done because “no law was broken”. Even though I believe there is enough evidence to prove otherwise. To the victim’s family, stand strong; because this can’t be it justice will be served. Or is there no justice in this world? Are we doom to a life were the innocent are condemned and the guilty are let free. This needs stop here for once and for all. For Megan and all the victims of cyber bullies and not just those, school bullies as well. As parents we also have to make sure we are doing as much as we can to prevent these sort of things from happening to our loved ones.

Lawyers

Is the law really on our side is there really no justice in this world. Has the real meaning of justice changed? Being a lawyer is a tough job because being honest doesn’t have much to do with being a lawyer or justice. Their main job is to protect their clients, they are sworn to secrecy. Whether their client is lying or not they are expected to defend and prove their client’s innocence. For every three dishonest and corrupt lawyers there is always that one honest lawyer that is in it for more than just the money. Sincere and honest lawyers are hard to find nowadays. Is our judicial system so corrupt that no one can really be honest because even that one honest lawyer will sooner or later turn on us? Lawyers are often seen as soulless beings. Many would agree that they probably wouldn’t give away a large sum of money so why would you give away your soul which is worth millions more. Others spend their time acquiring all this success and wealth and in the end don’t do anything to help anyone but themselves. So I have to ask is all that dishonesty and corruption worth it in the end. Are their lives better knowing, they might have ruined an innocent person’s life. How hard is it to be honest and truly do good. I believe if we’d all gave back this world would be a better place. We wouldn’t have hungry children and homeless people or at the least we would help decrease the percentage we do have. In the end, I agree with what a wise man once said, “Success is in the giving back.”