Female Anthropologists Face Widespread Sexual Harassment

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For many young women looking to make a career for themselves in anthropology, it seems like a very exciting career, and rightly so.  There’s the feeling that comes with gaining a deep and intimate knowledge of a culture, and long field trips on remote locations, trying to understand what made a people tick.  However, the field of anthropology also seems to have a darker side that not many people are aware of.  There have been widespread incidents of sexual harassment, including rape and sexual assault that have been perpetrated on young females in this field.

A group of female anthropologists have conducted a study that shows a very high incidence of sexual harassment.  More than 20% of the female anthropologists who took part in the study reported that they had experienced some kind of sexual harassment on the job.  This includes physical harassment or unwanted sexual contact.

The team of female anthropologists conducted an online survey.  They contacted female colleagues using Facebook, e-mails and via blogs.  The results of the study were presented recently at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.

According to the study, as many as 30% of the respondents reported that they faced verbal abuse very often, or frequently.  Another 60% of the women reported that they had been the target of inappropriate sexual remarks and other jokes, compared with 39% of males.  There were 20% of the women who reported having suffered some kind of physical sexual harassment or unwanted social contact on the job.

It is not surprising to Los Angeles sexual harassment lawyers that most of these cases seemed to involve female victims, while the perpetrator was almost always a male colleague with higher professional status.  In this field, it's common to have mentors and protégés, and very often, the perpetrators of the harassment were found to be the mentors.

Reese Witherspoon, Husband Arrested for DUI, Disorderly Conduct

Actress Reese Witherspoon has a prim and respected reputation in Hollywood.  However, that reputation is likely to be somewhat tarnished after the actress's recent arrest for disorderly conduct.  Her arrest coincided with the arrest of her husband for DUI.

The incident unfolded when police officers pulled over Witherspoon‘s husband, Jim Toth after spotting his car driving in the wrong lane.  He was pulled over by the cops, who proceeded to administer the actress's husband a sobriety test.  However, by time, Witherspoon was beginning to get very frustrated with the delay in letting her husband go, and did something that no LosAngeles DUI lawyer would recommend, she began to interfere with the proceedings. 

Her husband rated a .139 on the test, which is more than the legally permissible alcohol level of .08 in California.  At this point, Witherspoon got out of the car, and began arguing with the cops.  According to reports, she seemed very upset, and asked the cops if they knew who she was, and warned them that within the next few hours they were going to be on national news, because of their conduct with her.

Both she and her husband were taken to jail, he for driving under the influence, and she for disorderly conduct.  Both of them were handcuffed and taken to jail, and were released on bond a few hours later.

Since the embarrassing arrest, the actress has released a statement saying that she was unable to comment on the legal situation, but she was embarrassed about the things that she said during the arrest.  She also clearly admitted to having had too much to drink.

Man Acquitted of Sex Crime after Claiming Sleep Sex Disorder

A Danish court has cleared a man who had been charged with sex crimes involving molestation of 2 teenage girls, of all charges because he suffers from a condition called “sexomnia.”  This is a condition in which a person engages in sexual activities during sleep. 

The charges stem from an incident that occurred in 2011.  The man was at a party with the teenagers, and all of them had gone to sleep.  According to the charges against him, he fondled the teenagers in his sleep.  When the girls woke, they found the man molesting them, and immediately reported this to the police.  The man denied all knowledge of the acts, saying that he did not remember anything.

He was charged with several sex crimes, but the court has now cleared him of those charges, saying that doctors have confirmed that he suffers from this rare sexual condition. 

According to the court, medical tests have confirmed that the man suffers from a condition called sexomnia in which a person engages in sexual activities even during sleep.  This disorder isn't as bizarre as you would suppose.  In fact, according to doctors, it is a fairly rare sleep disorder, but is definitely a genuine disorder.  In fact, Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys have come across research that sufficiently establishes the presence of such a condition. 

Sexomnia is also known as “sleep sex,” and actually impacts far more people every year than is known.  Some experts describe this condition as “sleepwalking through sex” in which the person continues to indulge in all kinds of sexual activities, just as he would have in an awakened state, in a state of utter and absolute sleep.  Upon waking, the person may have no memory of what happened.

Distractions during Left Turns Can Be Deadly

Los Angeles car accident lawyers have always known that left-hand turns, especially at intersections, can be challenging maneuvers with a high accident risk.  According to a new study, the brain is put under a great deal of pressure and strain, when a person is navigating a left turn while driving.  When there are distractions during a maneuver like this, a person's risk of an accident increases.

Canadian researchers who found that motorists required greater brainpower when they were making left turns at intersections, than when they were making other types of maneuvers conducted the study.  Intersections are already accident magnets, and when a person is distracted by a cell phone conversation when he's making a left turn at such dangerous areas, the risk of an accident, which is already high, is magnified further.

The research involved hooking subjects on to digital MRI machines, which were then used to scan brain images when the persons were making left turns.  The researchers studied the brain areas that were activated when the person was driving straight, and when he was making simple left turns.

They found in their analysis of the scans, that when a person made a left turn in traffic, there was dramatically increased activity in the area of the brain that is involved in spatial navigation, visual processing and motor coordination.  In other words, this area of the brain is under great stress or pressure when the person is making a left turn, because he has to look out for pedestrians, and keep a watch for other cars that may pose an accident risk.  In contrast, a person is not under such great stress when he is making a right-hand turn.

The researchers found that if the motorists were distracted while they were making a left turn, there was a dramatically increased risk of an accident.  They found that a motorist, who was having a cell phone conversation when making a left turn, was at a higher risk of being involved in an accident.

iPhone Breathalyzer Helps Prevent DUI

The launch of a breathalyzer device that can be plugged into a smart phone to give you an instant reading of the alcohol in your system could signal yet another way for motorists who have had a few drinks to avoid getting arrested for DUI.  Los Angeles DUI lawyers believe that this device could be useful to determine whether a motorist can drive safely after having had a few drinks.

The breathalyzer device is called a breathometer, and can be plugged into your iPhone.  The device was launched recently, and has been designed to be plugged into both android and iPhone handsets.

According to the designers of the breathometer, the device allows a user to check his breath alcohol level at any given time and at any given place.  The device determines your breath alcohol levels and gives you an accurate reading, so that you can avoid being arrested for DUI. 

The developers also plan on developing software that will enable the program to offer to call a cab for you if it determines that your breath alcohol level is much too high for you to be driving safely.

The device is small, and convenient enough for you to carry around in your pocket.  Now, with this device, all that you need to check your breath alcohol is to plug in the device into your iPhone, and get a fairly accurate reading of the alcohol content in your breath.  That means that you have a fairly good idea of whether you're risking a DUI arrest, by driving after having a few drinks.  The device is activated by launching a special app on the smart phone, and then blowing into a small grill that has been placed on top of the device.

The device has only now been introduced to the public, but production has not begun yet.  The device is expected to be made officially available to the public over the next few months.

Los Angeles Building Small Parks to Keep Sex Offenders Out

More discrimination against persons who have been convicted of sex crimes is underway in the city of Los Angeles, where city officials have announced that they will establish several small parks, in order to keep people with sex crime convictions on their records out of the neighborhood. 

According to Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, the large population of persons convicted of sex crimes in Los Angeles has created uneasiness among residents in the city.  Two districts- Harbor Gateway and Wilmington - will be the site of the proposed new parks.

In fact, according to the New York Times, such plans are being made across the country and not just in California.  Many cities are in the process of building small parks, with the exclusive purpose of keeping sex offenders out of these neighborhoods.  These parks are very tiny, and in some cases, they measure just a few hundred square feet.  For instance, one of the proposed parks in Harbor Gateway is just about 1000 ft.², which makes for a really small play space, and is unlikely to be of much use to children.

However, Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers find that this hasn’t fazed city officials, who openly declare that the only reason they're building these parks is to keep persons with sex crime convictions on their record out of the neighborhood.  All these plans are being made under Jessica's Law, which requires persons convicted of sex crimes who have been released on parole to live more than 2,000 feet away from schools, parks, playgrounds and anywhere children gather.

At least 2 parks are being planned for Wilmington which happens to be an industrial district, and 3 parts are being planned in Harbor Gateway.

Judge Rules Xbox Does Not Infringe Google Patent

Fans of Xbox can relax.  A US judge has ruled that Microsoft's Xbox system does not violate Google's Motorola Mobility patent.  The decision was made by the US International Trade Commission Judge David Shaw, who decided to take Microsoft's side in this case.

The Xbox is the most popular game console in this country, reporting higher sales every year than Sony PlayStation or Nintendo’s Wii.  Last year alone, the Xbox generated more than $9.6 million in sales, and accounted for 13% of Microsoft's revenue.

In 2010, Motorola Mobility filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission, in retaliation for a demand made by Microsoft for royalties on Motorola cell phones that used Google’s Android Operating System.  That led to allegations by Microsoft as well as regulators that Motorola Mobility was abusing its patents to limit competition. 

In January, Motorola Mobility dropped at least 2 video-decoding patent lawsuits.  That decision came after Google settled with the US Federal Trade Commission, and reached an agreement regarding how the company would deal with patents related to standards applied to the industry. 

In April last year, the judge decided that 4 out of the 5 patents in this case were infringed.  However, the International Trade Commission asked him to review the case again.

Patent infringement litigation is a complicated area of law, because it includes not just legal aspects but also technological aspects.  These lawsuits revolve around which individual or which company is the legitimate owner of the patent, and has the right to use the ideas included in the patent. 

If you are a patent owner, who believes that his property has been wrongfully infringed on by the use, distribution, manufacture and sale of a product that uses the patent, contact a California patent infringement lawyer to learn how you can protect your rights.