text:
NOTES ON A DREAM
Good, but non-essential
Buy JORDAN RUDESS Music
1. Through Her Eyes (5:22)
2. Lifting Shadows Off A Dream (6:05)
3. Perpetuum Mobile (2:13)
4. The Silent Man (4:24)
5. Another Day (5:35)
6. Hollow Years (4:11)
7. The Grand Escapement (4:20)
8. The Spirit Carries On (5:44)
9. Speak To Me (6:55)
10. The Answer Lies Within (4:15)
11. Collision Point (1:09)
12. Vacant (3:18)
- Jordan Rudess / grand piano
Classical piano renditions of Dream Theater songs plus 3 original compositions (tracks #3,7& 11)
CD self-released (2009, US)
Thanks to el rey carmesí for the addition
Buy JORDAN RUDESS Notes On A Dream Music
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JORDAN RUDESS Notes On A Dream ratings distribution
Collectors/fans only (24%)
JORDAN RUDESS Notes On A Dream reviews
Review by Muzikman
The new Jordan Rudess album Notes On A Dream is a like the beacon far off in the distance that will lead us all back from whence we came. In spirit, that light brings him home where he belongs.
This correlation also applies to the artist getting back to his roots and giving the nod to the classical underpinnings of his music. The 70s prog-rock influences of such bands as Gentle Giant and Genesis are sited as well. These bands helped to launch a fabulous career and give Dream Theater a partner in making some of the most exciting and progressive music over the last 20 some years.
In a word the 12 tracks on this recording are Dream Theater favorites that Rudess decided to interpret in their most simplest and elegant form through the acoustic piano.
The seed was planted by Jordan's wife Danielle, then it eventually germinated after much thought and a process that the artist explains as difficult at first. The hard work paid off as it all resulted in a beautiful flower blooming showing off all its colors. I know this hardly sounds like an introduction to Dream Theater songs- the powerful progressive metal all fans of the band know so well. So where are all the churning and swirling keyboards that Jordan so expertly provides for the band here? Think of a man taking the dark and powerful and revealing the lighter gentler side of the music by peeling off all the layers and revealing one stand alone level as statement to the true essence of how these compositions came together from one band member's perspective. Let us not forget the improvisational aspects of what is accomplished through this admittedly risqué and complex process. Some songs are instantly recognizable and others may take a bit longer to sink in at first. This is all dependent on your knowledge of the Dream Theater music and how personally in touch you may be and what level of intensity that relationship is.
The hard core rockers that love the Dream Theater sound may be totally taken aback and not able to see the forest through the trees and others will be able to hear and feel what the new meanings this talented artist has brought to each track.
Listening to "Another Day" which is flawless and brilliant, cries out for James LaBrie to accompany Jordan through the journey yet it is so powerful and convincing that I could hear James singing all the words as Jordan tickled the ivories and coaxed every note to sing along in the place of the lead singer. This is a very convincing and beautiful interpretation of one of Dream Theater's most memorable tracks.
After a few listens you realize that all 12 tracks are exceptional and find a new appreciation for the music of Dream Theater and how one member can take these complex progressive metal rock tracks and turn them inside out and make them all new, like a new coat of glossy paint.
My respect for the artist, his band and Classical music made this an easy transition and with each listen I began to fall in love with this album. Jordan Rudess really does make this experience Notes On A Dream.
Posted Wednesday, June 24, 2009 | Review this album | Report (Review #222827)
Review by Marty McFly
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Errors and Omissions Team
""[b]Jordan Rudess biography[/b] Jordan Rudess is a classically trained keyboardist""
States his bio. I'm sure you would nod to this fact after listening this album. I saw him on Score dvd. His fingers are quick like running spider's legs. It reminds me John Myung's style. I mean style, because he's not much to be heard. Here, no one is to be heard, except piano. First I though that I'll give this five stars, because I though this is how masterpiece should look like (well, sounds like). Maybe it is, someone may see perfection in this. I can appreciate it, but not so much. Perhaps later, when I'll be older.
To put it short, if you like piano and Dream Theater's music, you'll love this too. Jordan is piano/keyboard virtuoso, his skill with keys (those keys) is undoubtable (try last section of "The Spirit Carries On", I think he made all these sounds at once => he played with his both hands, not one after another). I even found myself singing (not so strange, I know DT for quite a long time) and, you know, DT without LaBrie gains something new (and loses something, but that's the price).
This album is Dream Theater songs acoustic taken to another level. Give away all rock instruments, leave just piano and play these sounds stripped to the bone. When you consider that this is just piano (played by master) and this music could be composed easily few hundreds years ago, it's kinda weird. "The Answer Lies Within" sounds similar to normal version. Guess why. In fact after listening this, I realised how is DT's music imbued by piano sound.
Well, for good acoustic DT, we should appreciate him a little bit. Give him some credit. But it's also bad because I lack rock instruments, good because of his skills. But this bad is just little bad, so more like worse good.
2(+)
Posted Tuesday, August 4, 2009 | Review this album | Report (Review #229894)
Review by jampa17
Wonderful collection of songs with great piano arrangements...
Well, if you already knew the work of Jordan Rudess, The Wizard, then you should be confident about this album. I know that many people don't like his sounds and patches, sometimes I feel he tries so hard... but when he's infront a proper piano, he shows why he is the ultimate and most capable keyboard player in the prog arena, and maybe one of the best musicians of our time... Yes, here we have a pure piano album, which seems a little weird in progressive rock, but this is it., a must have for a Dream Theater lover, for pianists lovers, for melodic lovers and even for those who cannot stand the so much called "show off" from DT...
You have a collection of slow and soft songs from DT -songs that are not meant for show off, very good selection of nice and warm pieces from their entire cathalogue-. Jordan rides his piano like a master, doing things that most of us, mortal humans, wishes to play at least at half speed... I am a keyboard player and find very though to keep me interest on most of rock music because the lack of creativity in the keyboards, but DT is great about it, and piano versions of their songs is the right thing to really understand the quality of the songs on itself along with the quality of musician Jordan is...
Is amazing to hear that Jordan can cover all the instruments with his piano skills... doing melody, harmony and even some percussion-like and bass line all at the same time. Guess there will be no better solo piano in centuries... and I mean it... of course, if you like DT this is for you... if you hate them, well this is also for you... there's no Metallica sound or Labrie singing... is pure and delightfull piano, with great selection of songs... the three original songs that jordan put in are not that great, maybe because it doesn't have a clear melody as the others, but still are interesting...
I put it 4 stars because will be weird to have a masterpiece without guitars on it... right...??? i think it diserves 5 stars... but taking care of the rest of musicians fans of drums and guitars... I give just 4 stars... Great album... very enjoyable...
Review by Epignosis
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Eclectic Prog Team
Albums of this nature are difficult to rate and review; this album from keyboard master Jordan Rudess is a collection of Dream Theater songs reworked for one man and his piano. That means it is an album of covers, and it is only piano music, which quite naturally would pique the interest of anyone who appreciates Dream Theater or classical piano, but at the same time, might lack appeal to any other audience. Rudess is, it goes without saying, a dedicated and masterful musician, and because of that, I tend to think that he overdoes it, strangling the most delicate pieces with highly proficient runs and arpeggios, many of which don't even work within the context of the music. That said, this is some really amazing work by one of progressive metal's most talented keyboardists, although I am constrained to review it on its own flaws and merits (rather than compare it to other albums in Crossover). Therefore my rating comes with a humongous disclaimer: If you are fond of virtuosic piano music, this is highly recommended, even though I myself find several of the versions here needlessly flashy.
"Through Her Eyes" Many tender flourishes pop in between each line (some of them blues scales), which can make such a warm piece seem far busier than it should. The original itself is such a simple track in terms of chord progressions, that it would seem necessary to add such frequent runs throughout, but that is not so- a simpler, kinder treatment would have allowed the melody to breathe on its own.
"Lifting Shadows Off A Dream" Rudess works the expanse of the keyboard on this rendition, using arpeggios to underscore the simplistic melody.
"Perpetuum Mobile" This is one of two pieces that are not from Dream Theater. As one can figure out by the name, this is a brief, rapid, and complex piece of music.
"The Silent Man" Similar to the opener, this version takes a relatively undemanding piece of music and packs it full of runs.
"Another Day" Varied in volume and involvedness in the beginning, it's gorgeous to hear that familiar melody eventually ring through- well done.
"Hollow Years" One of my favorite Dream Theater songs, I was eager to hear what Rudess would do with such a wonderful and powerful melody. He treats the piece with care, keeping the embellishments at a respectable level, for once allowing them to complement the flow rather than dominate it.
"The Grand Escapement" This extremely busy piece hurts my fingers just listening to it! It is chock full of bluesy soloing and low riffs.
"The Spirit Carries On" Although this song comes from my favorite Dream Theater album, I've always maintained that this is one of the band's more banal moments (there were more from that album, and I still regard it as my most cherished), so taking that and stripping it down makes for some really uninteresting listening. I much rather would have heard his take on something more ambitious, like "Overture 1928" or "Strange Déjà Vu."
"Speak To Me" This covers a track from the official bootlegs for Falling Into Infinity, and is a beautiful, poignant bit of music with some stirring chord work.
"The Answer Lies Within" Once again, here is a gentler piece almost ruined with, dare I say it, goofy bluesy runs and out-of-context flourishes.
"Collision Point" Barely passing the minute mark, this is a very brief yet completely original piece, demonstrating the man's mastery over eighty-eight keys.
"Vacant" This cut from Train of Thought is given a dreary makeover, with excellent ornamental playing to fill out the sound.
Review by Starhammer
Too much of anything...
The Good: Works well as both background music and something more engaging. Also the three new pieces are pretty cool, my favourite being The Grand Escapement.
The Bad: I like Jordan Rudess' music in general and enjoy this album a lot. However, I cannot justify awarding it a higher rating as I think the only people that will appreciate this are fans of both him and his band. When all's said and done it's just some DT classics with intermittent interpretive flourishes and unless you are already familiar with these songs you may soon tire of this single instrument album. If this release was merited on technicality and musicianship alone it would be five stars for sure but given the PA guidelines I feel it only reaches two.
The Verdict: Still worth checking out.
Posted Thursday, April 28, 2011 | Review this album | Report (Review #440060)
Notes On A Dream is just a classical music album with songs from Dream Theater and other musicians, that Jordan Rudess make them sound like sonatas. Songs with only a grand piano and two magic hands that only JR could have. The album is full of classical parts and some jazz parts, and that's why ... (read more)
Report this review (#232207) | Posted by Macubert | Tuesday, August 18, 2009 | Review Permanlink
Post a review of JORDAN RUDESS "Notes On A Dream"


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Related: 8 Must Have Food Include In Your Diet for Low Cholesterol and Healthy Heart.
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text:
Teen held after body of missing girl is found in Calif.
By Jessica Estepa
The desperate search for a missing 8-year-old California girl came to a tragic conclusion with the discovery of a body in a trash bin and the arrest of a teenage boy, authorities in Santa Cruz said.
A body believed to be Madyson (Maddy) Middleton was found behind the Tannery Arts Center in Santa Cruz late Monday, Police Chief Kevin Vogel said late Monday. The child vanished around 5 p.m. Sunday while riding her scooter outside the artist community. Middleton lived with her mother, Laura Jordan, 42, in an affordable-housing unit offered to artists at the center.
"While the Coroner's Office will be responsible to confirm the identity, we are absolutely heartbroken to announce that the body appears to be that of 8-year-old Madyson Middleton," the Santa Cruz Police Department said in a statement.
The suspect lives in the same complex as the victim, and residents told the San Jose Mercury News that the teen's mother screamed in agony when her son was arrested.
Following her disappearance, police conducted door-to-door searches of the complex and nearby communities. Authorities searched in woodland and park areas nearby, with helicopters, bicycle patrols, dogs and even boats aided the search. Middleton's father, Michael, spent much of Monday searching the streets with friends.
"Our hearts our broken and our deepest sympathy to the family of Madyson Middleton," the California Highway Patrol's Santa Cruz office tweeted. "We are grieving with the entire Santa Cruz community."
TheMercury News quoted Jordan as saying her daughter was waiting for a friend to finish a board game so they could play together, and rode her scooter under her friend's window. At 5:07 p.m., surveillance video shows Maddy riding near a cluster of metal mailboxes at the Tannery. It was the last time she was seen alive.
"I thought she was in the courtyard," Jordan said. "I thought she was in the bathroom, checked the art bar, then I started to going to every friend's house. Maybe she got bored waiting for her play date, maybe she found another friend. But we had no luck."
Earlier Monday, officials said they were not calling the case a kidnapping. An Amber alert was not issued for the child because the case did not meet the criteria. Instead, an endangered missing person alert was issued.
Contributing: John Bacon

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
(Shutterstock*)
12 Tips to Reduce Your Dietary Sodium
By Doug Cook, www.naturallysavvy.com
The problem is simple: we consume far too much sodium from salt and processed foods. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that by cutting back on as little as ½ teaspoon of salt a day (1200-1500mg of sodium) thousands of lives could be saved by reducing the number of strokes and heart attacks.
Sodium is a mineral found naturally in the environment and therefore in our foods to some extent. We can't escape salt completely, but this isn't a bad thing; sodium is an essential mineral. Sodium regulates the total amount of water in the body and the transmission of sodium into and out of individual cells also plays a role in critical body functions. Many processes in the body, especially in the brain, nervous system, and muscles, require electrical signals for communication. The movement of sodium is critical in generation of these electrical signals.
Throughout human history, getting too much sodium in our diets was not an issue. In fact, the kidneys, which regulate the levels of electrolytes, like sodium, potassium, chloride as well as water, are well adapted to excrete excess potassium and hold on to sodium since our diets used to be much higher in potassium and lower in sodium. Our actual physiological requirement for sodium is about 500mg per day. It is estimated that primitive societies, in the absence of pizza and fries, still managed to get about 1600mg of naturally occurring sodium. With the exception of traditional fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and tempeh to name a few, foods are naturally very low in sodium and high sodium foods were unheard of. In fact, so rare was sodium that ancient cultures treated it as a valuable commodity and once traded it at a value twice that of gold. Part of a Roman soldier's pay used to be given in salt, hence the word 'salary' which is rooted in "salarium."
Whereas hypertension, or high blood pressure, has been called "the silent killer" (because it is virtually symptom-less) sodium should be referred to as "the quiet or silent food additive." Unlike other ingredients like vitamin C or potassium-based salt substitutes which are heavily regulated, the addition of sodium flows freely. The problem lies in the fact that there is no standardization with respect to what the sodium content of a food should be and the sodium content of similar foods varies greatly across brands. Restaurant foods are exempt from mandatory labeling with respect to sodium content. At this time, any sodium reduction by manufacturers is completely voluntary.
The Three Main General Sources of Dietary Sodium:
Processed and prepared foods which use sodium-based additives such as sodium benzoate (a mold inhibitor) or salt to add flavoring. These include canned vegetables, soups, luncheon meats, frozen foods, cheese and fast food/take out.
Table salt and sea salts which are used in cooking and at the table. Seasoning salts like celery or garlic salt, as well as sodium-containing condiments. Condiments such as ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, salad dressings and prepared sauces are notoriously high in sodium.
Natural sources of sodium such as meat, poultry, dairy products and vegetables (sodium is in found in both animal and plant cells), although this is a much smaller contributor of our sodium intake.
Regarding our intake of sodium, the salt we add during cooking makes up about 5% of the total, salt added at the table accounts for about 6%, 12% comes from natural sources and over 77% is from processed and prepared foods. If we could cut down on the amount of added sodium we get from processed foods, there would be more than enough room in our 'sodium budget' to enjoy both the culinary and health benefits of gourmet and sea salts, both rich in minerals.
Tips to Reduce Your Sodium Intake Include:
Using fresh or dried herbs and spices, lemon juice, fresh garlic, and flavored vinegars to flavor foods.
Gradually decrease the amount of salt used in cooking and at the table.
Choose fresh, unprocessed foods more often.
Use condiments sparingly, and look for lower sodium versions.
Use oil rather than butter for cooking or choose salt-free butter.
Limit 'instant' foods such as noodles and cereals.
If using prepared of frozen foods, choose lower-sodium versions.
Watch out for hidden sources of sodium in the ingredient list.
Rinse canned foods like beans, tuna, or vegetables. Up to 80% of sodium can be reduced depending on the food type with a rinse under the tap for at least 60 seconds.
Look for unsalted snacks such as chips, pretzels, crackers, nuts, and seeds.
Read nutrition labels – the % DV (or daily value) for sodium is based on the Upper Limit of 2400mg, therefore try to choose products that offer 10% DV of sodium per serving.
Limit fast food and take-out meals – use nutrition pamphlets to find lower-sodium options.
Every little bit helps and by adopting as many of the above suggestions, you can make a dent in daily sodium intake which will greatly reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure.
This article was originally published on www.NaturallySavvy.com
*Image of "french fries" via Shutterstock


The first quarter of 2018 delivered promising news for Yorkshire as the region maintained growth and bucked national trends in home ownership. The latest Nationwide index suggested that the UK house price growth remained steady at 2.1%.
On a regional level, the North of England recorded stronger price growth than in the south. Yorkshire especially exceeded the national trend with prices up by 4.8%. This puts house prices in Yorkshire back to their levels in 2007 prior to the recession and is up on the 1.8% growth on the previous year.
In terms of home ownership rates, this has declined consistently over the past decade with many seeing rentals as the ideal option. Despite this, Yorkshire records a strong level of home ownership with 63% of people owning their own home. This in comparison to London which dropped to 47% this March.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist said: "On the surface, the relatively subdued pace of house price growth appears at odds with recent healthy rates of employment growth, a modest pick-up in wage growth and historically low borrowing costs. However, consumer confidence has remained subdued, due to the ongoing squeeze on household finances as wage growth continues to lag behind increases in the cost of living.
Read more on the Yorkshire Post.


My girlfriend has long had a desire to go to Paris, France. Since I can't afford to take her to the European city at the moment, I decided last Valentine's Day to bring Paris to her. It was a romantic and unforgettable evening that we will always remember.
I told my girlfriend I had made reservations at a special restaurant and asked her to be ready at 7 o'clock. When I got to her place, she was dressed in a pretty lavender dress with a striped scarf tied around her neck – very Parisian. I got nervous for a minute, thinking she knew of my plan and wanting to dress the part, but then I realised there was no way she could have known. I hadn't told anyone. Just serendipity, I told myself. I blindfolded my sweetheart for the car ride, telling her I wanted it to be a surprise. We don't live far from one another so I drove around for an extra 20 minutes, hoping to fool her into thinking we had travelled farther away.
We arrived at my apartment and I helped take Kelly's blindfold off. I quickly produced a small wrapped box for her to open. Inside was a small toy airplane with a gift tag that told her we were traveling to a destination where our imagination would be required. She was intrigued and excitedly exited the car. We walked hand in hand to my front door and I asked her to close her eyes and imagine the faraway spot she would most like to be. Where are you thinking? I whispered. When she answered Paris, I slowly kissed her lips and then smiled while looking deep into her eyes.
I opened the door and we entered another world. I had spent the entire day decorating my place to resemble a small bistro on the streets of Paris. Having never been there myself, I did the best I could after looking at pictures from the internet but knew from the look on Kelly's face that I had succeeded. The walls were covered with posters of sites in Paris – the Eiffel Tower, Pantheon, Notre-Dame, famous bridges, museums and parks. Postcards of Paris littered my coffee table and side tables. On the backs I wrote Happy Valentine's Day, I love you, Hugs and Kisses, and other terms of endearment. An easel stood in the corner with a black chalkboard listing the menu for the evening. A small round iron table with two matching iron chairs stood in the middle of the room. A tall glass vase with flowers with a striped French neckerchief tied around the neck, was at the centre of the table. Several small red candles surrounded the vase. Other candles were lit around the room creating a warm ambience. Two large fichus trees with tiny white lights were on either side of the table but the best part was a small French waiter wearing a pastry hat and apron stood by the table ready to serve us.
We sat down to a delicious meal that I had ordered from a local French caterer. We ate small crepes with tomato and mozzarella, vegetable quiche, and a mouth-watering soufflé. We wine and took our time savouring the food. Kelly was overjoyed with the sentiment and didn't want it to end. When we did finish dinner, the waiter quickly cleaned up while we sat and talked. He then brought out a plate of white chocolate dipped strawberries and chocolate chip croissants, along with warm coffee drinks, and bid us farewell. I thanked him for his service and he left us alone. I fed Kelly a strawberry and asked her to join me on the couch.
I brought dessert to the coffee table, along with our drinks and told her to take off her shoes and sit back and relax. I put her feet in my lap and began to massage them. After a few minutes, I picked up my television remote and turned the TV on. I cued the DVD player and told Kelly I had selected a movie for us to watch - An American in Paris. She had seen the movie before (I knew it was one of her favourites), but was excited to watch it again. She settled back and I settled next to her, wrapping my arm behind her back.
When the movie was over we ate some more dessert and Kelly taught me a few words in French. Listening to her speak French was really a turn on, but I had to show some restraint as I had one last gift for her, which I slyly pulled out from behind one of the couch cushions. She unwrapped the small package, opened the box, and gasped at the diamond earrings I had bought her. She flung her arms around me and told me the evening could not have been any better had we actually been in Paris. I brought the most romantic city to her and for that she said 'Merci Beaucoup'.
Kelly and I look back fondly on that Valentine's Day and rate it as one of our very best dates. In fact, I think it was a turning point in our relationship. You see, Kelly is now my wife, but that's another story.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Let this eye-catching embroidered Chinese golden dragon netbook slipcase dress up your beloved 15 inch notebook laptop. The three-quarters zipper with top internal elasticized retention straps hold your top flip of notebook in place while the notebook still sit in the case, perfect for browsing the web and sipping a cup of coffee. These elastic straps also secure the smaller laptop netbook within the sleeve without shifting around. This slip case allows the sleeve to slip into your briefcase, backpack or messenger bag. If you're tired of making excuses for all the nicks and dents on your laptop, let this laptop carry case come to your rescue. * Due to monitor variations colors may appear slightly different.


That's all you need. Of course this simple process took about 2 days to figure out with help from CGP and IronPort. Neither one knew how to interface with the given device/server. Now hopefully others can benefit from my time.
same need - to query CGP via ldap also for aliaseses.
have a discussion on a local cgp partner and they stated it can't be done.
as you may know this is quite expensive.
Our IronPort SPAM Appliance uses LDAP queries to authenticate users.
it to the Custom Account Settings. It is now searchable in an LDAP query.
directory would be incredibly time consuming.


text:
Stephen Kaus Weblog
Opinions on politics, law and sports
Jason Kaus at Comic-Con
•July 16, 2015 • Leave a Comment
Generated by IJG JPEG Library
Jason Kaus at Comic-con 2015. He was first in line for Hall H and visited by the Doctor.
Kennedy's Inaugural Address was Fifty Years Ago Today
•January 20, 2011 • Leave a Comment
Fifty years ago today John F. Kennedy gave the greatest speech of my lifetime.
There were televisions in each classroom at El Rodeo Elementary School and we all watched the inauguration, the first one we had ever seen. Many people who I have met say the same thing happened at their schools. I have often wondered what caused school administrators to set this up as it had never happened before.
JFK was young even to me, and I was 12. As I heard Peggy Noonan say on the radio yesterday, we did not know that a president could be our parents' age rather than our grandparents' age or that he did not have to have grey hair.
The day seemed historic even at the time, from Robert Frost's inability in the glare to see the text of the poem he had written for the occasion to the soaring rhetoric and almost comical dress clothes. The speech apparently was largely written by Theodore Sorenson, who died just last October. I memorized it for our 8th grade speech contest and I can still do a pretty good job today, somewhat to the annoyance of my family.
There are many critiques of Kennedy's short period in office, but that day created a spirit of hope and aspiration that those of us who saw it will never forget.
It is worth watching. Only 14 minutes long.
Posted in Politics, Uncategorized
Tags: JFK, Kennedy Inaugural Address
Borrowers Questions Good Enough to Require Response From Lender Under RESPA; Summary Judgment Overturned by Seventh Circuit
The Seventh Circuit has reversed a summary judgment that GMAC had obtained in District Court against a complaint alleging violations of RESPA section 12 U.S.C. 2605(e), which requires a lender to investigate and respond when a borrower makes a "Qualified Written Request" ("QWR") asking for information or reporting an error in their account. (Catalan v. GMAC Mortgage Corp. __ F 3d __ (7th Cir. January 10, 2011))
The borrowers in this case tell a sad story of mistakes and obtuse responses, compounded by an assignment of the loan to GMAC in the middle of the problems. Borrowers purchased a home in June 2003 and obtained a 5.5% 30 year fixed loan from RBC Mortgage Company, which would set most people on a happy course. However, unknown to the borrowers, RBC miscoded the loan so that the first payment was due in July, rather than in August, which was the correct date. This set off a daisy chain of errors, returned and mis-credited checks and miscommunications.
While the home was in a slow-motion foreclosure process, with several payments being made, some of which were correctly credited, RBC assigned the loan to GMAC. GMAC continued to send incorrect communications, including demands for payment and reports of renewed assignment for foreclosure and alleged delinquency reports to credit agencies. In 2005, through the intercession of HUD, the financial issues were resolved, with the borrowers not paying any fees or penalties.
Borrowers sued under 12 U.S.C. 2605(e), which requires a loan servicer to acknowledge and respond to a QWR that requests information or states reasons for the borrower's belief that the account is in error. The QWR must include the name and account of the borrower or must enable the servicer to identify them.
Within 60 days after receiving a QWR, a loan servicer must (1) make appropriate corrections to the borrower's account and notify the borrower in writing of the corrections; (2) investigate the borrower's account and provide the borrower with a written clarification as to why the servicer believes the borrower's account to be correct; or (3) investigate the borrower's account and either provide the requested information or provide an explanation as to why the requested information is unavailable. The servicer must provide a name and telephone number of a person who can assist the borrower.
The borrowers contended that five written communications they had sent were QWRs. The Court of Appeal agreed as to two, one of which was relayed through HUD, finding that they adequately reported an error in the account that triggered the response requirement. The other communications merely stated requests for handling of the loan, but did not adequately request information or report errors. The District Court had found that GMAC qualified for a safe harbor based on its eventual correction of the account records, but the appellate court found that GMAC did not properly "notif[y] the person concerned of the error" and therefore did not qualify for the safe harbor.
The Court of Appeal also
•reinstated the borrower's breach of contract cause of action. The District Court had agreed with GMAC that the borrowers themselves had first breached the contract by failing to make payment, although GMAC had refused to apply the checks that the borrowers had sent. The appellate court felt that a reasonable jury could conclude that borrowers had done their best.
•Agreed that no tort could be stated. Under the economic loss doctrine, there can be no tort recovery for economic losses based on failure to perform contractual obligations.
•Found that borrowers had adequately stated recoverable damages based on rejections of several loan applications, including three loans at LaSalle Bank. ("We are not quite done yet," the Court states on page 36 of its opinion) Although a LaSalle loan officer testified that the loan applications would have been rejected regardless of the issues in this case, borrowers were permitted to introduce a statement by a LaSalle loan officer told her that borrowers' loan applications would not be approved until their foreclosure was removed. GMAC contended that this was "classic" hearsay, but the Court found that the statement either was not hearsay because it was a statement of the bank's intentions or was admissible under the state of mind exception.
What Happens at JAMS, Stays at JAMS
In an opinion that is based on a literal reading of California's mediation confidentiality statute (Evidence Code §§1115 et seq.), the State Supreme Court unanimously held in Cassel v. Superior Court (1-13-2011) __ Cal 4th __ that a client cannot use his attorney's bad advice during a mediation as evidence in a subsequent suit for malpractice.
The mediation statute means what it says that "[a]ll communications, negotiations, or settlement discussions by and between participants in the course of a mediation . . . shall remain confidential." "Participants" means everyone, lawyers included. Nothing in the statute, the Court holds, provides that communications must involve the actual parties or the other side of the dispute.
The alleged facts present a reasonably compelling case for disclosure. In a mediation of a business dispute, Michael Cassel, a fashion clothing distributor, told his attorneys that he would not settle for less than $2 million. However, he alleges, his attorneys improperly induced him to settle for only $1.25 million. While not on a par with the sleep deprivation and other persuasive measures allegedly used on terrorist suspects, the following description from the opinion sets out the measures, including following Cassel into the bathroom, that he alleges were sufficient to cause him to do something he did not want to do:
"Though he felt increasingly tired, hungry, and ill, his attorneys insisted he remain until the mediation was concluded, and they pressed him to accept the offer, telling him he was "greedy" to insist on more. At one point, petitioner left to eat, rest, and consult with his family, but [one of the attorneys] called and told petitioner he had to come back. Upon his return, his lawyers continued to harass and coerce him to accept a $1.25 million settlement. They threatened to abandon him at the imminently pending trial, misrepresented certain significant terms of the proposed settlement, and falsely assured him they could and would negotiate a side deal that would recoup deficits in the . . . settlement itself. They also falsely said they would waive or discount a large portion of his $188,000 legal bill if he accepted [the[ offer. They even insisted on accompanying him to the bathroom, where they continued to "hammer" him to settle. Finally, at midnight, after 14 hours of mediation, when he was exhausted and unable to think clearly, the attorneys presented a written draft settlement agreement and evaded his questions about its 6 complicated terms. Seeing no way to find new counsel before trial, and believing he had no other choice, he signed the agreement."
The opinion, which overrules a contrary decision in the case by the Court of Appeal, but is consistent with an intervening U.S. District Court case authored by Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte (Benesch v. Green (N.D.Cal. 2009) 2009 WL 4885215), spends most of its thirty two typed pages parsing the language of the statute to fend off various constructions offered by Cassel's attorneys to allow admission of private communications between a client and his attorney. Although the attorney-client privilege has an exception for litigation between attorney and client, the Court finds no basis to adopt an analogous exception for mediation confidentiality. The attorney is a "participant," who is as entitled to confidentiality as the client.
The Court cites its past decisions that established a strong mediation privilege without court-made exceptions, unless a parties due process rights were threatened. In previous cases, the Court has refused to allow mediators to report that parties had not participated in good faith (Foxgate Homeowners' Assn. v. Bramalea California, Inc. (2001) 26 Cal.4th 1.), refused to allow a "good cause" exception for writings prepared for a mediation (Rojas v. Superior Court (2004) 33 Cal.4th 407) and required that a settlement agreement reached at a mediation contain specific words that it was intended to be binding and enforceable before it can be used in an enforcement proceeding (Fair v. Bakhtiari (2006) 40 Cal.4th 189. Although there are exceptions provided in the statute when all of the participants agree to waive confidentiality, judicial principles such as equitable estoppel and implied waiver do not apply to mediation confidentiality (Simmons v. Ghaderi (2008) 44 Cal.4th 570).
In all of these cases, as here, the Court read the statute quite literally. The only recognized exceptions are waiver by all parties and to avoid a due process violation. The due process exception, does not apply when the evidence is needed in civil litigation. The Court distinguishes Rinaker v. Superior Court (1998) 62 Cal.App.4th 155, where mediation confidentiality gave way to juvenile court criminal defendants' right to confront witnesses and present exculpatory evidence.
What policy, other than protection of attorneys, could possibly justify this result? Toward the end, the Court offers three possibilities. It would not have been unreasonable for the legislature to believe that (1) total privilege "gives maximum assurance that disclosure of an ancillary mediation related communication will not, perhaps inadvertently, breach the confidentiality of the mediation proceedings themselves, to the damage of one of the mediation disputants," (2) that "protecting attorney-client conversations in this context facilitates the use of mediation as a means of dispute resolution by allowing frank discussions between a mediation disputant and the disputant's counsel about the strengths and weaknesses of the case, the progress of negotiations, and the terms of a fair settlement, without concern that the things said by either the client or the lawyers will become the subjects of later litigation against either." or (3) that "it would not be fair to allow a client to support a malpractice claim with excerpts from private discussions with counsel concerning the mediation, while barring the attorneys from placing such discussions in context by citing communications within the mediation proceedings themselves."
The legislature, the Court counsels, is free to amend the law if it believes a change is warranted or that it has been misunderstood. Until then, clients are well advised to be well rested and bring granola bars and water to any mediation.
THIS ENTRY IS CROSS-POSTED FROM THE COOPER, WHITE & COOPER LLP WEBSITE AT http://www.cwclaw.com.
Posted in California Supreme Court, law, mediation
Tags: California Supreme Court, cassel, mediation
Giants Telecast Throwback in Standard Definition
•August 11, 2010 • Leave a Comment
I am trying to enjoy the Giants game on TV, but sadly, it is on KNTV, Channel 11, which apparently is too cheap to telecast the game in high definition.
Unbelievable in 2010. Gigantes deserve better.
Posted in baseball, Sports, Sports Broadcasting, Uncategorized
California Supreme Court Restores Sanity to Summary Judgment Evidence Objections
•August 7, 2010 • Leave a Comment
Until today, one of the most dysfunctional areas of litigation was the apparent requirement that a party who made written objections to evidence offered in a summary judgment proceeding had to force the trial judge to rule on the motions or was deemed to have waived the objection. Aside from the questionable statutory basis for this rule, as a practical matter, the result often was a tense confrontation between the attorney, who was forced to press for a ruling in order not to waive the multitude of objections that had been made on paper, and the trial judge, who did not want to spend the time or effort deciding what often was an overwhelming number of inconsequential evidentiary issues.
In Reid v. Google Inc. (August 5, 2010) __ Cal.4th __ (Reid), common sense prevailed and the California Supreme Court ruled that (1) objections need only be made in writing, not also at the hearing, and (2) objections are deemed to be overruled if no actual ruling is made, rather than waived. The key distinction between having an objection overruled and having waived an objection is that an objection that has been overruled is preserved for appeal.
The genesis of the problem was California Civil Code §437c, subd. (b)(5), which states that "[e]videntiary objections not made at the hearing shall be deemed waived." and Section 437c, subd. (d), which requires that any objections based on failure to establish a foundation "shall be made at the hearing or shall be deemed waived." As is recounted in Reid, two competing and confounding lines of cases dealing with these requirements caused uncertainty, annoyance and unjust results.
The first line of cases, based on the reasoning of Biljac Associates v. First Interstate Bank(1990) 218 Cal.App.3d 1410, 1419 (Biljac), excused the trial court judge from having to make specific rulings on objections. In Biljac, the plaintiff sought trial court rulings on the voluminous objections he had filed, but the judge refused, calling that "a horrendous, incredibly time-consuming task" that "would serve very little useful purpose." On appeal, the plaintiff argued that this was reversible error, but the Court of Appeal held that express rulings were not needed because the objections would be renewed de novo on appeal. Under Biljac, it was enough that the judge said the ruling was based only on competent and admissible evidence.
However, in two cases that ignored Biljac, the Supreme Court held that if an attorney did not actually obtain specific rulings on objections, the objections were waived and not preserved for appeal. Ann M. v. Pacific Plaza Shopping Center(1993) 6 Cal.4th 666 (Ann M.); Sharon P. v. Arman, Ltd.(1999) 21 Cal.4th 1181, 1186-1187, footnote 1 (Sharon P.).) Under this theory, ostensibly based on a reading of the summary judgment statute §437c, if there was no specific ruling on meritorious objections, the appeal would be decided as if the evidence had been admissible.
Chaos ensued, as many courts of appeal disapproved Biljac, some finding waiver, some ruling on the objections and some sending the case back to the trial court to make rulings. A particularly preposterous development, referred to in Reid as the "stamp and scream" rule, required attorneys to avoid waiver by asking for a ruling with sufficient vigor at the hearing, even if no ruling was obtained as a result. See e.g.City of Long Beach v. Farmers & Merchants Bank(2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 780, 783-785.
Reid, in a unanimous decision authored by Justice Chin, settles this confusion based on a combination of the history of the summary judgment statute and common sense. The first problem is the requirement that objections be made "at the hearing." Although the statute allows objections to either be in writing five days before the hearing or orally at the hearing, appellate courts were divided on whether written objections were made "at the hearing" or if they had to be orally reiterated. Reid reasons that at a hearing, the court considers memoranda, arguments and evidentiary objections, so, "written evidentiary objections made before the hearing, as well as oral objections made at the hearing are deemed made ―at the hearing under section 437c, subdivisions (b)(5) and (d), so that either method of objection avoids waiver." (Slip Op. at 23.)
Next, Reid requires the trial court to rule on the motions, but holds that if no ruling is obtained, the objections are deemed to be overruled. Contrary to Ann M. and Sharon P., the objections are preserved for appeal and are not waived.
Stating that it has "become common practice for litigants to flood the trial courts with inconsequential written evidentiary objections, without focusing on those that are critical," the court encouraged litigants "to raise only meritorious objections to items of evidence that are legitimately in dispute and pertinent to the disposition of the summary judgment motion. In other words, litigants should focus on the objections that really count. Otherwise, they may face informal reprimands or formal sanctions for engaging in abusive practices." (Slip Op. at 24.)
Surely, this is the ruling for which all litigators had hoped. Summary judgment hearings had become needlessly tedious and were not focused on the key issues. Moreover, at the same time an attorney was trying to persuade a judge on the merits, the attorney also had to annoy the judge by pressing for evidentiary rulings. Any summary judgment motion contains many more points than can be discussed at a hearing. Now one can focus on the key points without the danger of waiving the ones that are only in the papers.
Originally posted on the Cooper, White & Cooper LLP web site.
Posted in law
More on the Kaus – Box(er) Debate
•May 27, 2010 • 17 Comments
As promised here is a more detailed account of the debate between California U.S. Senate candidate (and my brother) Mickey Kaus and an absent Barbara Boxer, represented by a box.
Mickey Kaus debates a box that stood in for missing Senator Barbara Boxer.
Mickey was surprisingly convincing on his key points: the need for the Democratic Party to shake free of organized labor and the need to secure the border before addressing amnesty. he also was well informed on issues that are not the basis of his campaign, like North Korea and Israel.
A key question concerning Mickey's campaign is why in the world is he running. Mickey explained that he believes that whatever income inequality may exist, all people are entitled to equal dignity, which requires public institutions that facilitate such equal treatment. Right now, California, and most governmental bodies, are unable to provide appropriate services because their resources are taken up paying unaffordable pensions to workers who retire in their 50s. As the party that considers the government to be the appropriate source of solutions in society Democrats have a special interest in making government work, something that cannot be done if the public employee unions call the shots.
Concerning unions more generally, Mickey is not against workers organizing, but he is against unions such as the UAW, that in his view broke Detroit, prevented the innovative work rules at Fremont's NUMMI plant from being more widely adopted and then saw to it that the NUMMI plant was then a casualty of the financial crisis.
A tape of Senator Boxer expressed her support for teachers unions and expanding school budgets. Mickey believes that the contracts negotiated by teachers unions have prevented public schools from improving. The worst teachers cannot be fired. in the L.A. unified School District, which employs 33,000 teachers, only 4 teachers have been fired in contested proceedings in the past 10 years and an average of 21 are let go each year for incompetence. Moreover, when there are budget cuts, the newer, more innovative teachers must be let go, not the ones with poor performance, Charter schools and other innovative ideas need to be tried. California will never receive "race to the top" funds from Washington because the unions won't agree to the required reforms to the California education system.
On immigration, Mickey sees amnesty without securing the border as an invitation for another 12 million immigrants to come across. If we allow open immigration, Mickey asserted, L.A. will be like Rio, with vast areas of abject poverty. He believes that such a flood of cheap labor depresses wages at the bottom of the ladder to the detriment of Americans seeking entry level jobs, people whom the Democratic Party should be serving. He is not against a path to legalization, just not until we are sure that those already here will be the last such group for whom amnesty must be considered.
In the absence of Senator Boxer, Mickey took questions. The first question asked Mickey's views on North Korea. Somewhat surprisingly, he had some, complete with statistics. He believes that if we are tough, North Korea will back down and the present crisis will be defused.
Regarding Israel, he deplored the continued building of settlements to serve a fringe group and urged the United States to demand that Israel take the steps necessary to move toward peace. The Arab world has to see the United States as an actor independent of Israel.
On more familiar territory, Mickey asserted that as a way out of our budget dilemma, social security needs to be indexed, so that those with ample income receive less.
All in all Mickey did an impressive job. In another universe, Senator Boxer would have shown up along with television cameras and reporters, and the public would have a choice. I am not so sure that they would not pick Mickey.
Tags: "Barbara Boxer", "Mickey Kaus", debate
Breaking: Senate Candidate Mickey Kaus Debates Boxer
I will post a full account of my brother Mickey's debate with Barbara Boxer, who failed to appear and was replaced by a cardboard facsimile, after I have finished having dinner with the candidate, or maybe tomorrow. In the meantime, here are exclusive photos, which any site is welcome to use. Here is the update.
Mickey presented a compelling case that as the party that advocates governmental solutions to problems, Democrats have a special responsibility to provide government that works. A government that produced pensions rather than services is going to cause voters to elect Republicans.
California Senatorial candidate Mickey Kaus debates a box that replaced a missing barbara boxer.
Posted in Politics
Tags: "Barbara Boxer", debate, senate, X ?mickey Kaus"
Welcome Back Mark McGwire, Savior of Baseball
"I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."
Now we officially know that Mark McGwire used Performance Enhancing Drugs ("PEDs")
What we don't know with any assurance is who did not use PEDs.
So when Tim Brown of Yahoo attacks Mark McGwire by saying that McGwire "was the steroid era" and that McGwire "wasted our time," Brown is talking nonsense. Yes, all players did not use steroids, but many, maybe most, did. What made Mark McGwire different was that he was the second best juicer at hitting home runs.
Also, he saved baseball in 1998. Remember? If he hadn't, Brown might be writing about a sport with an equivalent stature to hockey.
McGwire is correct to regret being a player in the steroid era. Had there not been a steroid era, McGwire would be in the Hall of Fame already.
The evidence that "everyone" used PEDs is strong. The Mitchell Report identified 89 players who allegedly used. But, we know this was a sampling, not anything near a complete list. Aside from a handful of random people who spontaneously confessed or were accidentally detected, the Mitchell Report only includes those in webs connected to five providers: BALCO, former Met batboy and clubhouse employee Kirk Radomski, former Yankee strength coach Brian McNamee, and two rejuvenation clinics in the South. Fifty two were associated with Radomski, who was required to talk to Mitchell as part of his sentence for money laundering and illegal drug distribution.
Only a fool would believe that all, or even most of the PEDs in MLB came from these five sources. These providers are just the ones who were busted and forced to squeal. You have to believe that there were providers in all major league cities. Think Houston or St Louis. Or the Bash Brothers. McGwire's use was apparently connected to widespread availability connected to gyms, as presumably was the case with many others. Sammy Sosa, to pick a random name, has not been connected with any of these sources.
In 2002, the Major League Players Association agreed to testing of all players to see if there was a problem. 104 players tested positive, admittedly a group with some overlap to those identified in the Mitchell report. The results were supposed to be kept secret, but some, like David Ortiz and A-Rod, have leaked out since the federal government obtained a copy of the list.
But wait, there's more. Testing procedures have improved since these 2002 tests. Barry Bonds apparently was not on the original list, but when his sample was retested in 2004 at UCLA, it came back positive. It is unknown how many of the "clean" samples in 2002 would be dirty if retested today. Probably quite a few.
Maybe everyone did not use steroids, but it may be easier to count those who did not. Some others who claim not to have used did their bit by being active in the player's union's resistance to effective testing or significant sanctions. All concerned share the blame for enjoying the feats rather than doing anything about the drugs. It is patently unfair to put the onus on McGwire.
He should be back in baseball, as he now is, and because he was an elite player, he should be in the Hall of Fame. His "confession," while inartful, has far more truth than A-Rod's or Ortiz's. Time to accept him and move on.
Fighting Sotomayor, Republicans Falsely Advance Fire Fighter Ricci as the White Man's Rosa Parks
•July 13, 2009 • 3 Comments
When the Senate hearings on the nomination of Judge Sondra Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court start Monday, one focus will be the case of Ricci v. New Haven. In Ricci, Judge Sotomayor concurred in a Court of Appeal opinion that affirmed a lower court decision that the New Haven Civil Service Board ("CSB") was entitled to hold a new exam when it determined that the old exam measured skin color more than it measured qualifications to be a lieutenant or captain in the New Haven Fire Department.
The Court of Appeal decision is not unsympathetic to Ricci. It just holds that the CSB had the discretion to hold a new test in light of the clear disparate impact and the evidence that the test was not sufficiently job related to provide justification.
We affirm, for the reasons stated in the thorough, thoughtful, and well-reasoned opinion of the court below. Ricci v. DeStefano, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73277, 2006 WL 2828419 (D.Conn., Sept. 28, 2006). In this case, the Civil Service Board found itself in the unfortunate position of having no good alternatives. We are not unsympathetic to the plaintiffs' expression of frustration. Mr. Ricci, for example, who is dyslexic, made intensive efforts that appear to have resulted in his scoring highly on one of the exams, only to have it invalidated. But it simply does not follow that he has a viable Title VII claim. To the contrary, because the Board, in refusing to validate the exams, was simply trying to fulfill its obligations under Title VII when confronted with test results that had a disproportionate racial impact, its actions were protected.
What Judge Sotomayor did not know was that the Supreme Court would use Ricci as a white person's manifesto, holding that acts taken to combat discrimination should be suspected as acts "because of race," that themselves must be justified by "strong evidence." In practice, the Supreme Court actually applied the dubious and unachievable "enough evidence to leave Justices Scalia and Alito without any doubt" test.
In fact, the Ricci decision that Judge Sotomayor joined in affirming was unremarkable. The New Haven Fire Department, once virtually all white like many fire departments, has progressed by 2003 to 30% African-American and 16% Hispanic. However, the lieutenant and captain positions remained disproportionately white, with the senior officers 9% African American and 9% Hispanic. Only one of 21 captains was an African American. For reference, the overall population of New Haven was 40% African-American and 20% Hispanic.
Against this background, New Haven commissioned new tests for Fire Department lieutenant and captain. Apparently, the tests were multiple choice. It is unlikely that such memorization tests truly discern whether a person has what it takes to be a fire department officer, which has been described as "steady command presence, sound judgment and the ability to make life-or-death decisions under pressure."
The results were racially disparate with African-Americans and Hispanics passing at a rate of half or less than Caucasians. Because promotions had to be made from the top three on each test, although there were qualified African-Americans and Hispanics from the testing, the 8 new lieutenants would all be white and two Hispanics and no African Americans would be eligible for the 8 captain positions.
This is a classic case of "disparate impact," in which whites did disproportionately better than minorities. Intent is irrelevant given the result, and under established law, such a result can be justified only if the test can be shown to actually measure the characteristics needed to be a fire department officer. Ricci's lawyers and the Supreme Court majority acknowledge this standard.
As a practical matter, previous tests in New Haven had resulted in somewhat more eligible minority candidates and different tests in nearby Bridgeport had resulted in minority firefighters holding one third of the lieutenant and captain positions. The question thus was whether the New Haven test measured job related qualifications or not.
The CSB held several hearings, listening to testimony from the company that developed the test, experts and others. If you read the trial court opinion and all of the Supreme Court opinions, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that there was enough evidence to support a decision to use the test and also, certainly, enough to support designing a new test.
The company that developed the test appears to have gone about it in a thoughtful way, but some questions were inappropriate and the 60% weighting of the written part of the test, based on the collective bargaining agreement with the white dominated union, was inherently questionable. Bridgeport for example, placed greater weight on the oral portion to reflect the real life conditions of firefighting and resulting in more even performance among ethnic groups.
Eventually, the CSB deadlocked 2-2, meaning that the test was not approved and a new one would be developed and held. This decision was upheld by Judge Sotomayor's court as reasonably supported by the evidence.
Justice Ginzburg, speaking for three other Justices in her heartfelt Supreme Court dissent, goes over the hearings and the reasons given by the CSB members, one of whom was predisposed to approve the test, but ultimately changed his mind. She convincingly describes a thoughtful decision by a deliberative body that she, and Judge Sotomayor thought should be upheld.
Justice Kennedy and four others disagree. They characterize the decision to hold a new test as a race based action that must be justified by "strong" evidence. In their Sean Hannity world, attempts to ameliorate historic racism actually are discrimination themselves and civil service tests that mainly measure race and not qualifications are just a fact of life. Mr. Ricci, or at least some white people, since his performance on the test did not guarantee a promotion, somehow obtained a vested right to become fire department officers even though half of the CSB felt that the test could not be sufficiently related to job skills to justify the unquestioned discriminatory effect.
But wait, there's more. Justice Alito, joined by Scalia and Thomas, blames the whole kafuffle on a black reverend who argued colorfully for the test to be thrown out and that for too long, the senior officers in the New Haven Fire Department had been white, and, perhaps, white Italian-Americans. These three strict constructionists assume and assert that the CSB knuckled under to this pressure. Apparently one does not need "strong evidence" to make these kinds of charges.
Although this sort of scared reasoning may appeal to white workers looking for a scapegoat for their lot in life, we expect more of Supreme Court Justices. Sean Hannity more or less held a victory parade for Frank Ricci and the "New Haven 20." Pat Buchanan and George Will weighed in on behalf of white people.
Of course, Judge Sotomayor was right on this on as were the four dissenters on the Supreme Court. There was plenty of evidence to support the CSB decision to seek a test that would better measure job qualifications.
Right to a multiple choice test vindicated. AP Photo
But what about nice Mr. Ricci, the dyslexic Italian American lionized by Charles Krauthammer and others as the victim? Like Joe the Plumber, Ricci is not quite what he seems. As Dahlia Lithwick reported Friday, Ricci has made something of a career of being aggrieved. When he was not hired in 1995 by the New Haven Fire Department as a 20 year old (as 1 of 795 candidates seeking 40 jobs), he sued, claiming that the reason he was not among the elite was that he had mentioned his dyslexia during an interview.
The suit settled in December 2007 and Ricci received a job in the New Haven Fire Department and $11,000 in attorneys fees, This was a good thing for Ricci because he seems to have been fired by Middletown's South Fire District in August 1997. The reasons were not disclosed, but Ricci charged it was because the union had appointed him to investigate safety conditions at a fire.
In 1998, Ricci challenged his Middletown dismissal and started a campaign asserting that the fire chief' was not qualified for his position. The Connecticut Department of Labor Investigation ruled that Ricci's firing was justified. Ricci vowed to challenge his termination in court, but it is unclear if he ever did so.
This was the start of Ricci against the world. The news articles quote Ricci extolling his own credentials. I am just relying on what is in the newspaper, but Ricci's New Haven complaint filed on January 19, 1995 says he was twenty years old on that date and a Hartford Courant article on August 8, 1997 says he had 8 years firefighting experience in Maryland before joining the Middletown department "according to sources within the fire department." Figuring like Columbo, this would mean that he joined the fire department during middle school. I end up pretty confused.
Ricci is such a hero that the Republicans are going to call him to testify. This is a delicate subject, as can be seen by the comments that Lithwick's article has drawn, but Ricci has fought his fourteen year battle against discrimination in public, and it is only fair to examine whether he really is a victim, both as a matter of Constitutional law and personally. Or is he exactly the type of litigious individual that Republicans rail against. No problem there, but they may have trouble getting their story straight.
In fairness, the Hartford Courant reported in November 1998 that Ricci saved a woman's life as a New Haven fire fighter. I do not question that he is a brave and skilled fire fighter. I question whether he has a lawsuit that should make him the white man's hero.
But I digress, annoyed by Fox News and its ilk. The real question is whether Judge Sotomayor should be affirmed. As the above indicates, on Ricci, she is in line with four of the nine current members of the U.S. Supreme Court. It is not she who is starting a race war. Those who insist that actions may not take race into account, even to remedy situations where minorities are clearly disadvantaged, are the true activists, thwarting the Civil Rights Act and the Constitutional provisions on which it is based.
Posted in law, Politics, Uncategorized


Forecasters said Tuesday that California's markedly wet winter will continue to deliver significant rain and copious high-elevation snow to the saturated San Diego area this week. From tomorrow afternoon through early Friday, another cold storm is expected to drop a half-inch to three-quarters of an inch of moisture along the coast, three-quarters of an inch to 1.5 inches in the inland valleys, 1.5 to two inches in the mountains, and 0.1 to 0.2 of an inch in the deserts, according to the National Weather Service.
Heavy rain and mountain snow is spreading across California and will bring the risk of flooding, mudslides and travel delays into Friday. Measurable rain is expected in the state's largest cities, including in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento. Mandatory evacuations have already been issued for people living near the Holy Fire burn scar due to the potential for flooding and mudslides, while those in Malibu near the Woolsey Fire burn scar have been put on alert for potential evacuation.


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Fortna Advantage Newsletter
Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine Names Three Fortna Associates as "2018 Pros to Know"
February 23, 2018 /in Display on News Page, Home News, News /by Kim Zminkowski
READING, PA (February 23, 2018) – Fortna®, The Distribution Experts®, announced today that three associates have been named as Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine's "Pros to Know." They include:
Tray Anderson, Vice President, Strategy
Chris Davis, Senior Director, Professional Services
John Giangrande, Director, Sales
The Pros to Know is a listing of exceptional corporate executives at manufacturing and non-manufacturing enterprises who are leading initiatives to help prepare their companies' supply chains for the significant challenges in the year ahead," says John Yuva, editor of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
The Supply & Demand Chain Executive "Pros to Know" award recognizes both the practitioners and provider ends of the supply chain. These Fortna associates won in the "provider" category which includes individuals from software firms and service providers, consultancies or academia, who helped their supply chain clients or the supply chain community at large prepare to meet these challenges.
"We are pleased to see our associates, like Tray, Chris and John, make this list year after year for their innovative work on behalf of clients," says Fortna President and CEO, John A. White III, "It's a reflection of the caliber of Fortna's talent and the culture of innovation the company has built over the last 70 years."
The full list of "2018 Pros to Know" will be available at www.SDCExec.com and in the March 2018 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine.
About Fortna Inc.
For over 70 years, Fortna® has partnered with the world's top brands to transform their distribution operations into a competitive advantage. Fortna helps clients make and keep bold promises to their customers – fast, accurate and cost-effective fulfillment consistently at every touchpoint, across every channel. Our expertise spans distribution strategy, distribution center operations, material handling automation, supply chain systems and warehouse execution systems. We built our firm on a promise – we develop a solid business case for change and hold ourselves accountable for results. www.fortna.com
About Supply & Demand Chain Executive
Supply & Demand Chain Executive is the executive's user manual for successful supply and demand chain transformation, utilizing hard-hitting analysis, viewpoints and unbiased case studies to steer executives and supply management professionals through the complicated, yet critical, world of supply and demand chain enablement to gain competitive advantage. Visit us on the web at
www.SDCExec.com.
http://www.fortna.com/wp-content/uploads/2018_ProstoKnowLogo_sm.jpg 378 378 Kim Zminkowski /wp-content/uploads/logo-en.png Kim Zminkowski2018-02-23 15:10:512019-02-23 14:13:48Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine Names Three Fortna Associates as "2018 Pros to Know"
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BARACK OBAMA is nowhere near the Polish city of Poznan, but his pledge that the US stance on global warming will change utterly when he takes over from President George Bush on January 20th has altered the dynamics of the 14th UN Climate Change Conference.
After eight years of negativity and obstruction from the Bush administration, Obama's positive approach to tackling the biggest environmental challenge facing humanity has come as a breath of fresh air, injecting a dose of optimism into the process.
In a video-taped message to a recent meeting of US state governors, hosted by California's Arnold Swartzenegger, the president-elect went way beyond bland generalities and made a number of explicit promises that even took some environmentalists by surprise.
Obama also had a message for the delegates from 180 countries in Poznan: "Once I take office, you can be sure that the US will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations and help lead the world toward a new era of global co-operation on climate change.
"Stopping climate change won't be easy. It won't happen overnight. But I promise you this. When I am president . . . any nation that's willing to join the cause of combating climate change will have an ally in the United States of America". Delay, he said, "is no longer an option".
Promising a "new chapter" on global warming, Obama repeated his pledge to invest $15 billion (€12 billion) a year in securing a "clean energy future" for the US, based on wind and solar power, "next generation biofuels", safe nuclear power plants and "clean coal technologies".
This would be underpinned by a federal "cap-and-trade" system for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, with "strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them an additional 80 per cent by 2050".
Few believe that Obama's short-term target for the US is achievable. Even the EU, which sees itself as the global leader on climate change, has so far only pledged a 20 per cent cut in emissions by 2020, using the higher levels recorded in 2005 as its baseline.
What's really significant is that the incoming US administration sees no conflict between addressing climate change and dealing with the recession. Indeed, Obama said his green agenda will help to transform US industry "and steer our country out of this economic crisis".
It would do this, he told the US governors, "by generating five million new green jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced". And the clean energy future he forsees would also "help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil, making the United States more secure".
However, as Obama has said repeatedly, the US can only have one president at a time. And although Democrat members of Congress will be reporting back to him from Poznan, the US is officially represented by a delegation headed by oilman Harlan Watson.
Poznan marks the halfway point between the last UN climate change summit on the Indonesian island of Bali in December 2007 and the crucial conference in Copenhagen next December, when agreement is due to be reached on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
With a view to developing a "shared vision for long-term co-operative action", delegates have spent the past week discussing an 82-page text tabled by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat to serve as a basis for negotiations.
This text is a distillation of an enormous range of ideas and position papers, running to more than 700 pages, which were submitted to the secretariat, and it is expected to be fine-tuned by officials and then by ministers during next week's "high-level segment".
It is, of course, in the nature of climate change talks that the thorny issues, such as setting specific targets, is left until the eleventh hour. Even within the EU, there are disagreements on how best to proceed, with some member states back-pedalling on key issues.
Poland is heavily reliant on coal for power generation and wants to ensure that its coal-fired plants aren't put out of business, or that the cost of upgrading them - with carbon capture and storage, for example - wouldn't mean a huge hike in electricity prices.
Two weeks ago, police had to intervene when coalminers clashed with Polish Greenpeace activists at the open-pit Jozwin mine, near Poznan.
Greenpeace is demanding that Polish energy policy should be revised to quit coal in favour of renewables and more energy efficiency.
But Konin, the coalmining company that operates Jozwin, has firm plans to develop a second open-pit mine nearby.
"We don't plan to scrap this project. Why should we?" a spokesman told Reuters news agency, saying the new mine would open in two or three years.
It's not just the Poles who are piling on the pressure. Heavy industry has been lobbying hard against EU proposals to impose an auctioning regime for carbon permits, fearing that this would make European manufacturers uncompetitive in the global marketplace.
The power generation sector also wants free allocation of permits, while big car manufacturers in Germany, Italy and France are lobbying for looser controls on CO2 emissions from cars - even though road transport is contributing an ever-rising share of the total.
Environment ministers from the 27 EU member states met in Brussels over the past two days in an effort to reach agreement on what has become known as the "20/20 package" - the goal of cutting overall emissions by 20 per cent (relative to 2005 levels) by 2020.
The French presidency has been pushing hard to finalise a deal before it hands over to the Czech Republic on January 1st. Moreover, EU leaders will be cajoled - and perhaps even browbeaten - by President Nicolas Sarkozy to sign off on it when they meet in Brussels next week.
The outcome of the Brussels summit will be eagerly awaited in Poznan, not least because it will either confirm Europe's leadership position on climate change or, unbelievable as this may seem, cede this role to the US, and give Barack Obama a chance to match his words with deeds.