What advantages and disadvantages are there to living in West Virginia?
I'm 24 and moved from Charlotte, NC to Putnam County, WV with my family when I was 9, and now I definitely consider it my home. I have to laugh at the previous poster who was talking about the cities in WV and neglected to even mention Charleston, the biggest city and capital of the state. I'm living in downtown Charleston right now and it is a nice city with negligible crime rates, good shopping, and a good night scene with a lot of musicians and performers. The mountains are defnitely a big part of the state's appeal and general conscience. In Fayetteville you have the New River Gorge which is absolutely breathtaking (look it up - you'll see). There are also two pretty big ski resorts, Winterplace in the south and Snowshoe in the northern part. White water rafting around Fayetteville is also one of the best things to do in the state - the Gauley River is nature's roller coaster and will certainly get your adrenaline going! The weather here is really nice, too - especially since there are four very distinct seasons. We have blazing hot summers (nothing compared to NC and further southeast, though), BEAUTIFUL autumns! (best in the country, no doubt), snowy winters, and nice, refreshing springtime weather. If you're coming from out of state, the northeast part of the state might be your best bet. It's a little less "middle of nowhere" and the population up there is probably more like the rest of the country. Other than that, Charleston is a very good place to live with plenty of things always going on. Also, the cost of living is significantly lower than the rest of the country. In Charlotte, we had a one floor, 5 bedroom house, 2 bathroom house. When we moved to suburban Charleston, we moved into a 3-story, 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom, very big house on a hill top by Teays Valley and it was roughly the same cost. WV will take some getting used to - we went through that for sure. There are some areas that still look like they're in the 1800's (McDowell County, for instance). But overall, the people are pretty nice and friendly and I'm glad to live here.
Does the US law prohibit a person from planting a GPS tracking device on someone else, or otherwise using a GPS tracking device, to track the location of someone else without the latter's consent?
You attempt to track a boyfriend, girlfriend or significant other in their own carAs of now, here's what private citizens need to know about GPS tracking and the law:It's generally legal to use a GPS tracking device if:You or your organization own the vehicle or asset to be tracked. You or your organization own the asset that might be taken without your permission. Your children (under 18 years old) are the focus of the tracking. You are tracking a car or asset for the purpose of legal repossession in the event of a default on a loan. It's generally illegal to use a GPS tracking device if:You are not the owner of the car and do not have the legal right to track itYou attempt to track a boyfriend, girlfriend or significant other in their own carFor police and licensed private investigatorsYou should know that the laws governing GPS tracking by government agents, police or private citizens are not definitive. The Fourth Amendment and other state and federal laws grant United States residents certain protections to their privacy, including strict limits on illegal search and seizure. But there's nothing in the Constitution that specifically addresses GPS tracking technology – or many other forms of electronic surveillance. The Supreme Court and several lower courts issued rulings on GPS in 2012, but those decisions addressed narrow uses of the technology by police and employers, respectively. The courts didn't address the use of GPS tracking devices by private citizens or private investigators. With its recent ruling on GPS tracking by police, the Supreme Court left many questions unanswered. But the justices signaled that they were ready to delve more deeply into electronic surveillance issues. Visit us at LoneStar Tracking GPS Vehicle Tracking Solutions
Heroes: What are some of the most heroic real-life acts?
Bishnu Shrestha, a brave Gurkha soldier in Indian Army, alone fought 40 armed robbers to save an 18 year old from rape.He was awarded the Sena Medal and the Sarvottam Jeevan Rakhsha Padak for his act of bravery and exceptional courage and devotion to duty.On September 2, 2010, then 35 year old, Bishnu Shrestha was travelling on his way home on Maurya Express from Ranchi to Gorakhpur. About 40 armed robbers stopped the train near Chitranjan jungles, West Bengal, around midnight to rob the passengers of their valuables (money, jewellery, cellular phones and laptops). He was a silent spectator until the robbers grabbed the girl sitting next to him to strip and rape her in front of her helpless parents.He then took out his khukuri and took on the robbers who were armed with swords, blades and pistols. In the narrow aisle of the train, a trained fighter like Shrestha had the advantage. Although some of the bandits had pistols, they were either fake (a common ploy in India), inoperable, or handled by a man who didn't want to get too close to an angry Gurkha. He took one of the robbers under control and then started to attack the others. In about ten minutes of fighting in the train aisles, he killed three bandits and injured 8 of them. The rest of the robbers then fled.The train resumed its journey and a horde of media persons and police were present when it reached Chittaranja station. Police arrested the eight injured dacoits and recovered around 400,000 Indian rupees in cash, 40 gold necklaces, 200 cell phones, 40 laptops and other items that the fleeing robbers dropped in the train. Shrestha suffered a severe injury to his left arm and required two months of medical treatment to recover his injured hand.The girl's parents announced a cash reward of 300,000 Indian rupees for the soldier, but he turned it down. "Fighting the enemy in battle is my duty as a soldier. Taking on the thugs on the train was my duty as a human being."Khukri- The Gurkha knife
What rights do you have in the U.S. to protect your property?
In most states in the US you cannot defend property with violence. So your best bet would be to call the police. The only property that you can defend with violence, in virtually every state, would be your home. You have no obligation to retreat from your home. In some states, you are under no obligation to retreat at any point and if you believe you are in danger, you have the right to defend yourself with an appropriate amount of force. But even in those states, you cannot attack someone because he was damaging your property. The right to defend is defense of physical self or others, not defense of stuff.There has been the occasional case in which someone was found not guilty after he seriously injured or killed someone who was stealing or damaging his property. Those cases tend to result in a lot of publicity and societal anger, because, on the whole, in the US, we believe that a life is more valuable than physical possessions. As a lawyer, I would never advise someone that it would be a good idea to attack another person because that person was damaging your property. However, let's say that you see someone destroying your car and you walk up to him and tell him to cut it out. Then he turns around and attacks you with the bat. You would have the right to defend yourself with an appropriate amount of force at that point. The problem here is that you would have to be able to show that you didn't start the physical violence and that the other person did. So it is a risky thing to do. You are still better off calling the cops.The law really does vary greatly by state. The police also vary by jurisdiction in regard to how they respond to such things. As a result, it is very difficult to provide information on such a broad level. A local criminal attorney would be in a better position to give you a specific answer for your jurisdiction. So please don't do anything based on what I have said here.