WiMax appears to be a hit around the world--except for the U.S., according to deployment data released by the WiMax Forum Monday.
WiMax, also known as 4G, now is offered on networks covering 620 million people in 147 countries, said the WiMax forum. By the end of 2010, 800 million people will be covered with 1 billion by the end of 2011. The 2011 time frame is notable because that's when Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, a WiMax rival technology, will begin to ramp.
The data, however, indicates that WiMax is a global effort, but lags in North America. For instance, Clearwire is the main champion of WiMax in the U.S. and largely responsible for the deployments. Clearwire has some big backers like Intel, Google and others and partners like Comcast and Sprint, but can't carry the load by itself.
Read more of "WiMax deployments ramp globally, but U.S. lags "at ZDNet's Between the Lines.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
WiMax deployments ramp globally, but U.S. lags
Metro Nashville schools to target bus drivers, janitors in budget cuts
Metro Nashville schools to target bus drivers, janitors in budget cuts
Low-paid school workers say they're bearing all the pain
By Jaime Sarrio • THE TENNESSEAN • March 6, 2010
individual: 9 numChar :2024
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-->-->Metro Schools wants to contract custodial and landscaping services with a private company, cut hours for bus drivers and eliminate 24 central office positions in an effort to save money and fund other projects next school year.
The plans, released Friday in the district's 2010-11 budget, would affect 656 custodians and groundskeepers and about 815 bus drivers and monitors. The school board, mayor and Metro Council will have to approve the budget before it is final.
Mayor Karl Dean will submit his version to the council by May 1.
Director of Schools Jesse Register said the district will save on benefits by outsourcing the custodial jobs, and existing employees will be given hiring preference once the contractor is selected. The shift to a private provider may result in higher staffing and cleaner schools, he said.
Related
"It is a better, more efficient way of doing business, and we should expect a better result," he said.
The district is budgeting $24 million to hire a contractor and will save an estimated
$29 million by eliminating the jobs, for a net savings of $5 million.Union leaders from SEIU Local 205, which represents Nashville's custodians and groundskeepers, said privatization elsewhere has led to lower wages for workers and weaker benefits.
Andrew Linear, a custodian at Overton High School who has been with the district for 12 years, said he takes some comfort in the promise that a contractor would hire him next year, but worries about his benefits.
"Everyone needs a job. If push comes to shove, you don't have no choice," he said. "I prefer to see it stay as it is, but my main concern is insurance. It might not be comparable with what we have."
Bus drivers lose an hour
Another big savings will come from cutting the pay for the district's bus drivers and monitors. These employees are paid for eight hours of work a day, but usually log less than seven, according to school officials. By reducing their pay one hour a day, a total of six fewer paid days a year, the district will save $2.5 million.
-->(2 of 2)
But bus drivers say they and other low-wage workers are unfairly taking the brunt of budget cuts while the district protects upper-level positions. District officials said they cut teaching positions last year and did not want to make more trims that would affect instruction. Cutting 24 mostly clerical central office positions, a move proposed in the budget, will save $1.5 million.
Mary Eady, a Metro school bus driver and president of Steelworkers Local 9426, said the change would make drivers ineligible for overtime wages paid for field trips and after-school programs. She and other drivers also dispute the claim they only work seven hours.
"It's going to financially affect all of us," said Eady, who has 35 years of
experience. "We don't get overtime if it's not 40 hours, and they failed to mention that to the public."The union estimates this cut will result in a 12.5 percent salary reduction for bus drivers, whose average is $24,800, according to the district.
Related
Budget is bigger
Despite the cuts, the district is asking for more money. Last year's budget was $620.8 million, and at least a portion of that was funded through savings. This year, the district is seeking $633.3 million and will not be able to dip into savings because the fund balance is getting low.
Some of the new dollars will pay for additional grade levels at nontraditional
schools, like Big Picture and Diploma Plus high schools.About $600,000 is also marked for creating a virtual high school, where students can take advanced courses or make up credit hours online with the leadership of a Metro teacher. Details of the school, which will launch in the fall, are still in the works.
The amount also would fund a transition program for students released from jail and heading back into public school.
Contact Jaime Sarrio at 615-726-5964 or jsarrio@tennessean.com.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Top Ten Tips for Livin Laid-Off: #10! [video]
Top Ten Tips for Livin' Laid-Off: Here's #10!
i REFUSE TO BE MISERABLE TODAY AND CONTINUE GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS IN THIS BROKEN SYSTEM.
THE WORLD TELLS ME THAT I MUST SPEND EVERY WAKING MOMENT OF MY LIFE LOOKING FOR WORK.
WELL I TRIED THAT, AND LOOK IT FAR IT GOT ME... SO TODAY, I REFUSE TO BE MISERABLE [EVEN IF I AM]
THE POOR HOMELESS, DISABLED, AND UNEMPLOYED ARE HUMAN BEINGS AND DESERVE TO BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY AND RESPECT BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW IT FEELS TO BE "NOBODY"
I DESERVE A LITTLE BIT OF FREEDOM AND HAPINESS WHEN I CAN GET IT... SO FUCK OFF ASSHATS! I AM WOMAN HEAR ME PURR...
Bestest of good vibes to all job seekers! And to all seekers in general...
e
Topsy Labs » Blog Archive » Topsy Update – Photo Search, Tweet Search, Timeline Search, Topsy Trends, and RSS feeds.
We’ve released a site redesign and update today that includes five awesome new features – Photo Search, Tweet Search, Timeline Search, Topsy Trends, and RSS feeds.
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Most recent tweets containing #TED
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damn vagina picture!
U.S. Hopes Internet Exports Will Help Open Closed Societies
WASHINGTON — Seeking to exploit the Internet’s potential for prying open closed societies, the Obama administration will permit technology companies to export online services like instant messaging, chat and photo sharing to Iran, Cuba and Sudan, a senior administration official said Sunday.
On Monday, he said, the Treasury Department will issue a general license for the export of free personal Internet services and software geared toward the populations in all three countries, allowing Microsoft, Yahoo and other providers to get around strict export restrictions.
The companies had resisted offering such services for fear of violating existing sanctions. But there have been growing calls in Congress and elsewhere to lift the restrictions, particularly after the postelection protests in Iran illustrated the power of Internet-based services like Facebook and Twitter.
“The more people have access to a range of Internet technology and services, the harder it’s going to be for the Iranian government to clamp down on their speech and free expression,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made yet.
The decision, which had been expected, underscores the complexity of dealing with politically repressive governments in the digital age: even as the Obama administration is opening up trade in Internet services to Iran, it is shaping harsh new sanctions that would crack down on Iranian access to financing and technology that could help Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
Critics have said these sanctions are leaky and ineffective, and some say it makes more sense to spread digital technology, which makes it harder for governments to restrict the flow of information within societies, and to prevent their people from contact with the outside world.
The Treasury Department’s action follows a recommendation by the State Department in mid-December that the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which is run by the Treasury, authorize the downloading of “free mass-market software” in Iran by Microsoft, Google and other companies.
In a speech in January, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declared that Internet freedom had become a fundamental principle of American foreign policy. “Viral videos and blog posts are becoming the samizdat of our day,” she said, referring to censored publications that were passed around in Soviet-era Russia and helped fuel the dissident movement.
While Iran is the prime target of the Treasury’s action, it has implications for Sudan and Cuba, where the administration is also seeking to open more channels of communication to the outside world. Two other blacklisted countries, North Korea and Syria, are not affected by the decision because their sanctions do not currently rule out the export of Internet services.
In the chaotic days after the June election in Iran, the State Department asked Twitter to put off maintenance of its global network, which would have cut off service to Iranians using it to swap information and tell the world about antigovernment protests. The administration’s move will not deprive the Iranian authorities of the ability to clamp down on the Internet, as happened in February, when service was constricted so heavily that Iranians had difficulty accessing Gmail accounts and organizing protests before the 31st anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. But by offering Iranians more options, the official said, it will force the authorities in Iran to plug more holes.
“We want to make sure the information flows,” he said. “It will obviously have political implications in a range of ways.”
The administration’s blanket waiver does not apply to encryption and other software that makes it harder for the authorities to track people’s Internet activity. That category of technology does not fall within the mass-market services that can be downloaded free from the Internet, he said.
But the official said the Treasury would grant licenses to such providers on a case-by-case basis, and would generally look favorably on them. One such service, known as Haystack, is awaiting a waiver from the State Department, and is subsequently likely to obtain a Treasury license.
Developed by the Censorship Research Center, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization, Haystack uses mathematical formulas to disguise a user’s Internet traffic from official censors.
In December, Representative James Moran, Democrat of Virginia, introduced a bill in the House that would “support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people by enhancing their ability to access the Internet and communications services.” It also calls for the United States to give tools to Iranians to help circumvent government restrictions on the Internet.
The State Department says it is working in 40 countries to help people get around these barriers. But critics said it had moved slowly in spending $15 million appropriated by Congress in 2008 to support these programs.
Advocates of one service, Global Internet Freedom Consortium, complain that it has not received financing because it is linked to Falun Gong, a sect condemned by the Chinese government as a cult.
The administration’s main focus on Iran these days is marshaling support at the United Nations Security Council for a tough new sanctions resolution, aimed particularly at the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Last month, the Treasury Department froze the assets of four construction firms linked to the guard, which runs Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
While the Internet decision would seem at odds with more sanctions “at some meta-level,” the official said, he described it as part of an overall strategy to force the Iranian government to alter its behavior.
Topsy Labs
Topsy Update – Photo Search, Tweet Search, Timeline Search, Topsy Trends, and RSS feeds.
February 10th, 2010
We’ve released a site redesign and update today that includes five awesome new features – Photo Search, Tweet Search, Timeline Search, Topsy Trends, and RSS feeds.
Photo Search
Our new photo search allows you to search for images shared on Twitter via five sources – Twitpic, Flickr, Imgur, Img.ly, and Yfrog. The results are ranked according to Topsy Influence, showing you the most popular and influential photos first. We’ve been having fun with it for the last few weeks and now it’s time for the rest of you to join in. Try out some of our favorite searches:
Everest Base Camp
Grammys
Birding
ISSIf you find cool photo searches, let us know by tweeting @Topsy.
Tweet Search
Now you can also search for the most popular tweets that match a particular search term, even if they don’t include URLs. Tweet search is great for following hashtags and watching tweets about live events. For example:
Tweets containing Superbowl
Tweets containing #haitiTimeline Search
By popular demand, we’ve also added a new way to order search results in addition to influence ranking. When you click on ‘Timeline’, your search results will be ordered from newest to oldest, allowing you to easily see the latest tweets that match your search term. This is another great way to follow live events. For example:
Most recent tweets containing #TED
Topsy Trends
Building on our previous work on Topsy TopLinks, we’ve created Topsy Trends. Topsy Trends collects the top 100, 1000, and 5000 most popular links, tweets, and photos shared on Twitter each day and makes them available via search and RSS. Subscribe today!
Topsy Top100 Links
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Topsy Top100 TweetsRSS Feeds
Last but not least, you can now subscribe to an RSS feed for any search by clicking on the RSS button to the right of the search results. You asked for it, you got it. Sweet.
Connect with Topsy
Be sure to follow @Topsy on Twitter and check out http://labs.topsy.com often. If you have feedback, feel free to email us at feedback@topsy.com. Thanks!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
TN stimulus funds give students greater access to online classes | tennessean.com | The Tennessean
actually this was the one that just put me over the edge... so i am NOT going to comment any further at this point.
Have a good afternoon people. God Bless the US of A-holes!
Nashville schools offer Vanderbilt degrees for top teachers | tennessean.com | The Tennessean
-->Teachers willing to work with some of Metro Nashville's toughest-to-reach middle schoolers for at least five years could earn free master's degrees from Vanderbilt University.
This year, the university will admit 24 teachers into a special graduate program paid for by Metro Schools but offered at a deep discount by Vanderbilt. The degree will focus on urban middle school education and require teachers to select a focus in literacy, math or science.
The goal is to increase the number of top-quality teachers in Nashville's lowest-performing schools and make Metro a more attractive place to work. It's also one more way the district is trying to engage students in learning during the critical middle school years.
"The single biggest factor of successful student learning is the classroom teacher," said Camilla Persson Benbow, dean of education and human development at Vanderbilt University's
Peabody College.
Related
- TN students don't have equal access to AP courses
- Tennessee is finalist for Race to the Top
- TN's largest school districts want control, fairness
- These Hall of Famers thankful for public schooling
- Nashville school braces for transition
- 02/19/10: Sales tax may fall short for Nashville schools
- TN students trail nation in Advanced Placement
- Metro pushes to meet middle schoolers' needs
- TN school plan criticized as soft
- Cameron Middle School needs charter sponsorship
- 12/02/09: TN schools must break mold to get grant
- TN stimulus funds give students greater access to online classes
- Teacher inequalities still haunt Nashville schools
- Poor kids' teachers earn less in Metro
U.S. News and World Report named Peabody the No. 1 graduate school
in the nation last year.
Educators say it's hard to find high-quality middle school teachers who understand adolescents, can work with a diverse population, and have the skills to teach higher-level courses such as algebra.
Metro Schools' look at middle-school education comes as others across the nation look for similar reform at that level, realizing that it's a critical time that determines whether students will graduate.
Incentive for teachers
Veteran educator Pamela Ross, who teaches sixth grade at Wright Middle School, said the master's program shows officials are serious about trying to improve urban education.
"It's a boost for teachers, it's an incentive, and it's letting us know education is being taken seriously," she said. "That an institution such as Vanderbilt would be willing to do that is just awesome."
Applications are being accepted now, with classes slated to begin this summer and work in middle schools to begin in the fall. Teachers probably will be assigned to one of four middle schools, though Metro officials haven't settled on the number of schools or which ones they'll be.
how quickly they forget!
http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asps=9108181
In what Universe does this make sense...????If this policy is intended to open the door to all students, then why does the University require students to disclose their parent’s income? The last time I checked, the application to the graduate school required a financial statement of disclosure-- not just from students, there parents too. This always seemed odd, especially for graduate students over the age of 18.
If financial need is no longer a factor, then presumably the University has waived all fees associated with the application process, right? Perhaps this statement was issued in anticipation of the HUGE, HUGE, loss of the endowment fund???
I guess that makes some people believe the University is more focused on learning than with earnings, well, then...I hope you have a more convincing argument than this! Who knows, maybe they might even cut you a little slack in light of the disastrous financial disclosures. I truly hope you do call me when you launch your next “giving campaign. “ I would personally rather donate to sharks.
To say that “hard working, great kids ...who want to be at Vanderbilt," will be able to attend for free, makes you sound like an idiot. It also sounds like a public relations disaster just waiting to happen.
Now c'mon, Zeppos-- I thought you were one of the good guys? Don't be saying stupid things like that!
No wonder you guys are going broke!Originally published 2/9/09... I was making $10.46/hr at Jere Baxter. Vanderbilt sued me for $3000. I can't even afford the application fee....
Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
Unemployed & Angry as Hell
Nashville, TN USA
The Associated Press: Australian court: Vioxx doubled heart attack risk
Australian court: Vioxx doubled heart attack riskBy KRISTEN GELINEAU (AP) – 2 days ago
SYDNEY — The once-popular painkiller Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attack and was unfit for consumption, an Australian court ruled Friday, awarding a man leading a class action suit against the drug's maker 287,000 Australian dollars ($259,000) in compensation.
Melbourne Federal Court Judge Christopher Jessup's decision opens the door for claims from 600 other litigants in a lawsuit against U.S. pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co. over its since-recalled drug Vioxx. The painkiller was taken off the global market in 2004 after research showed it raised the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Graeme Peterson, 59, of Melbourne, sued Merck and its Australian subsidiary, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, arguing the painkiller caused him to have a heart attack in 2003, leaving him unable to work.
The judge found that Merck Sharpe & Dohme failed in its duty of care by not warning Peterson's doctor about the drug's potential cardiovascular risk, and by its sales representatives emphasizing the drug's safety.
"I have concluded that, across a population, the consumption of Vioxx about doubled the risk of heart attack," Jessup wrote in his opinion. "I have held that because Vioxx involved about a doubling of the risk of heart attack, it was not reasonably fit for the purpose of being used for the relief of arthritic pain."
But the judge rejected Peterson's claim that Merck knew or should have known that the drug increased the risk of cardiovascular disease long before it yanked Vioxx from the market in 2004. Jessup also rejected Peterson's argument that Merck had turned a blind eye to a 2000 clinical trial that showed potential cardiovascular risks were linked to use of the drug.
Merck has already agreed to pay a $4.85 billion settlement to resolve about 50,000 lawsuits in the U.S.
In a statement, Merck said it would appeal the portions of the judgment against Merck Sharpe & Dohme and noted the court dismissed all claims against the parent company, "specifically finding that Merck was not negligent in its development, scientific study and sale of Vioxx."
Peter Gordon, lead attorney for the Australian class action against Merck, said his firm has been contacted by about 3,000 people interested in joining the class action. Each claim will be evaluated individually, but Gordon said he believes the vast majority will succeed on the same basis Peterson's did.
"My estimate is that Merck will probably end up paying something between $200 (million) and $300 million to Australians who suffered heart attacks as a consequence of consuming Vioxx," Gordon told The Associated Press.
Merck said the evidence showed the company acted responsibly by carefully monitoring the drug and voluntarily taking it off the market.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
@SYDNEYHOMELESS @NLACKFELLAS @ANARCHISTS
it's payback time for big pharma ... #MERCK #MELBOURNE #HCR #BIGPHARMA
Judge Holds Merck Liable - Wall Street Journal
BY BILL LINDSAY
SYDNEY—An Australian court Friday held Merck & Co. liable in the heart attack of a patient using the painkiller Vioxx, but it rejected allegations that the U.S. drug maker was negligent in keeping on the market a drug it later withdrew.
In Melbourne's Federal Court, Justice Christopher Jessup said Graeme Peterson is entitled to compensation after Merck's local distribution arm failed to adequately warn his doctor of potential cardiovascular risks from the drug's use, despite knowing of them as early as March 2000.
The court found that the drug was "not reasonably fit" for relieving arthritis pain and "not of ...
@sydneyhomeless @shannylee @anarchists @blackfellas... peroblems in Ox ... MERCK
Metro Nashville schools to target bus drivers, janitors in budget cuts
Metro Nashville schools to target bus drivers, janitors in budget cuts
Low-paid school workers say they're bearing all the pain
By Jaime Sarrio • THE TENNESSEAN • March 6, 2010
individual: 9 numChar :2024
-->TOTAL ELEMENTS IN ARRAY: 18
TOTAL CHARACTERS IN ARRAY: 3884
TOTAL CHARACTERS IN PAGES: 2024
LAST PAGE CONTAINS: 1860
-->-->Metro Schools wants to contract custodial and landscaping services with a private company, cut hours for bus drivers and eliminate 24 central office positions in an effort to save money and fund other projects next school year.
The plans, released Friday in the district's 2010-11 budget, would affect 656 custodians and groundskeepers and about 815 bus drivers and monitors. The school board, mayor and Metro Council will have to approve the budget before it is final.
Mayor Karl Dean will submit his version to the council by May 1.
Director of Schools Jesse Register said the district will save on benefits by outsourcing the custodial jobs, and existing employees will be given hiring preference once the contractor is selected. The shift to a private provider may result in higher staffing and cleaner schools, he said.
Related
"It is a better, more efficient way of doing business, and we should expect a better result," he said.
The district is budgeting $24 million to hire a contractor and will save an estimated
$29 million by eliminating the jobs, for a net savings of $5 million.Union leaders from SEIU Local 205, which represents Nashville's custodians and groundskeepers, said privatization elsewhere has led to lower wages for workers and weaker benefits.
Andrew Linear, a custodian at Overton High School who has been with the district for 12 years, said he takes some comfort in the promise that a contractor would hire him next year, but worries about his benefits.
"Everyone needs a job. If push comes to shove, you don't have no choice," he said. "I prefer to see it stay as it is, but my main concern is insurance. It might not be comparable with what we have."
Bus drivers lose an hour
Another big savings will come from cutting the pay for the district's bus drivers and monitors. These employees are paid for eight hours of work a day, but usually log less than seven, according to school officials. By reducing their pay one hour a day, a total of six fewer paid days a year, the district will save $2.5 million.
-->(2 of 2)
But bus drivers say they and other low-wage workers are unfairly taking the brunt of budget cuts while the district protects upper-level positions. District officials said they cut teaching positions last year and did not want to make more trims that would affect instruction. Cutting 24 mostly clerical central office positions, a move proposed in the budget, will save $1.5 million.
Mary Eady, a Metro school bus driver and president of Steelworkers Local 9426, said the change would make drivers ineligible for overtime wages paid for field trips and after-school programs. She and other drivers also dispute the claim they only work seven hours.
"It's going to financially affect all of us," said Eady, who has 35 years of
experience. "We don't get overtime if it's not 40 hours, and they failed to mention that to the public."The union estimates this cut will result in a 12.5 percent salary reduction for bus drivers, whose average is $24,800, according to the district.
Related
Budget is bigger
Despite the cuts, the district is asking for more money. Last year's budget was $620.8 million, and at least a portion of that was funded through savings. This year, the district is seeking $633.3 million and will not be able to dip into savings because the fund balance is getting low.
Some of the new dollars will pay for additional grade levels at nontraditional
schools, like Big Picture and Diploma Plus high schools.About $600,000 is also marked for creating a virtual high school, where students can take advanced courses or make up credit hours online with the leadership of a Metro teacher. Details of the school, which will launch in the fall, are still in the works.
The amount also would fund a transition program for students released from jail and heading back into public school.
Contact Jaime Sarrio at 615-726-5964 or jsarrio@tennessean.com.
5 Squad: Philadelphia police engaged a long-standing pattern of appalling public corruption. The fact of this harm is readily ascertainable.
IN THE UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT
OF PENNSYLVANIA
1 In deciding a motion for judgment on the pleadings under Rule 12(c), a court must “‘view the facts presented in the pleadings and the inferences to be drawn wherefrom in the light most favorable to the . . . non-moving party’” Green v. Fund AssetManagement, L.P., 245 F.3d 214, 220 (3d Cir. 2001), quoting Institute for Scientific Info, Inc. v. Gordon & Breach, Science Publishers, Inc., 931 F.2d 1002, 1004 (3d Cir.1991).
Judgment is appropriate “only if the plaintiffs would not be entitled to relief under any set of facts that could be proved.” Id., citing Consolidated Rail Corp. v. Protlight, Inc., 188 F.3d 93, 95-96 (3d Cir. 1999).
BLANE NEELY a/k/a WALTER MITCHELL : CIVIL ACTION v SIX CONTINENT’S HOTELS, et. al. : No. 02-3890
ORDER-MEMORANDUM
AND NOW, this 15th day of October, 2003, the “Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings of Defendants, Six Continents Hotels, Inc., Holiday Inns, Inc. and John Sweetwood” is granted, Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c).1
This civil rights action arises from the March 1977 arrest and subsequent conviction and incarceration of plaintiff Blane Neely a/k/a Walter Mitchell. On March 17, 1977, plaintiff was a guest at the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia, where defendant Elliott Jurist was the night manager. Second Amended Complaint,
10, 11. At approximately 11 p.m., Jurist is alleged to have given defendant David Grove, a Philadelphia police officer, access to plaintiff’s telephone records and to have permitted him to listen in on plaintiff’s telephone conversations. Second Amended Complaint,
12. It is further alleged that later that night, Jurist and Grove entered plaintiff’s room and assaulted and robbed plaintiff. Second Amended Complaint,
13, 14. As a cover-up, plaintiff was then arrested, and subsequently convicted and incarcerated based on the testimony of Jurist and Grove.
2 Plaintiff pro se filed the original complaint and, on July 15, 2002, an amended complaint. On January 13, 2003, Cozen & O’Connor was appointed as counsel for plaintiff and immediately moved to amend the complaint. The motion was granted and on February 10, 2003, a Second Amended Complaint was filed.
3 “A claim may be dismissed as time-barred where it is clear from the complaint that the applicable statute of limitations has lapsed.” Buckalew v. Ebi Companies, 2002
WL 1335110, *1 (E.D. Pa., June 5, 2002) (citations omitted).
4 Molina v. City of Lancaster, 159 F. Supp.2d 813 (E.D. Pa. 2001). See also Bailey v. Tucker, 533 Pa. 237, 261, 621 A.2d 109, (1993)
(“it would seem that being subjected to a term of imprisonment is a harm or injury to the person. Nor can there be any doubt the fact of this harm is readily ascertainable upon its occurrence.”)
2
On June 25, 2002, plaintiff filed this civil rights action.2 On February 18, 2003, movants filed an answer to the second amended complaint, asserting a statute of limitations defense, and now move for judgment on the pleadings.
3
The parties agree that Pennsylvania’s two-year statute of limitations applies to federal claims arising under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1985(3) and 1986. In general, civil rights claims for false arrest and false imprisonment accrue at the time of the arrest and are timebarred if not commenced within two years of the arrest.4 Plaintiff was arrested in March 1977, and any civil rights claim based on the arrest was time-barred two years later. This case was not filed until 2002, 25 years after the arrest and well past the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations. Plaintiff contends, however, that the statute of limitations this case is tolled by the federal equitable tolling doctrine.
“Equitable tolling may be appropriate where the defendant has actively misled the plaintiff regarding her cause of action, where the plaintiff has in some extraordinary way been prevented from asserting her rights or where she has mistakenly asserted her rights in the wrong forum.” Buckalew v. Ebi Companies, 2002 WL 1335110, at *4 (E.D. Pa, June 5 Plaintiff’s arrest occurred in March 1977. The documented activities of the 5 Squad occurred three years later, during the period 1980 through 1984. See Sentencing Memorandum.
3
5, 2002), citing Lake v. Arnold, 232 F.3d 360, 370 n.9 (3d Cir. 2000); Oshiver v. Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman, 38 F.3d 1380, 1387 (3d Cir. 1994). It is plaintiff’s burden to demonstrate the applicability of equitable tolling, and part of the burden is proving the exercise of reasonable diligence in pursuing the claim. Buckalew, supra, at *4 (citations omitted).
Here, a period of 25 years elapsed between plaintiff’s arrest and his assertion of a federal civil rights violation. Plaintiff argues that he was prevented from asserting his rights “in an extraordinary way” because defendant Grove was a member of the 5 Squad, a group of Philadelphia police officers engaged in “a long-standing pattern of the most appalling public corruption.” United States v. Wilson, No. 88-282, Government Sentencing
Memorandum, at p.2. However, plaintiff does not make out how the 5 Squad prevented him from proceeding with his claim. Also, there is no allegation that the 5 Squad was involved in plaintiff’s arrest.5 In addition to the 25-year delay between arrest and the filing of this claim, there was a 12-year delay after the sentencing of the 5 Squad in 1990.
Whatever influence or effect the 5 Squad may have had was dissipated upon the conviction and sentencing of its members.
“To invoke equitable tolling, [plaintiff] must show that [he] exercised reasonable diligence in investigating and bringing [his] claims.”New Castle County v. Hallibur NUS Corp., 111 F.3d 1116, 1126 (3d Cir. 1997) (18-month delay in bringing CERCLA claim not excused by equitable tolling; complicated clean-up implementation procedures did not constitute extraordinary circumstances)."One who fails to act diligently cannot invoke equitable principles to excuse that lack of diligence." Baldwin County Welcome Center v. Brown, 104 S. Ct. 1723, 1726 (1984)
(equitable tolling not invoked where pro se plaintiff ignored specific instructions regarding filing deadlines and filed employment discrimination action after 90-day period permitted by law).
Plaintiff does not attempt to explain the extraordinary delay in filing his claim. In that he has not satisfied his burden of proving diligence in the pursuit of his claim, equitable tolling cannot be sustained.
Plaintiff’s claims are time-barred.
BY THE COURT:
_______________________
Edmund V. Ludwig, J.
Labels: 5 Squad, hi daddy, Kryptonite, Political Corruption, TwitterVerses
yeah... i think you wannna see this...
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Lessons I've learned in 5 years of working with MDHA on a community development block grant
Lessons I've learned in 5 years of working with MDHA on a community development block grant
In 2005 I started working in an advisory position with the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency on a large block grant designated for improvements in Salemtown. Now that the end of the project is in sight 2 years late, I am ready to share some lessons I learned from working with MDHA. Those of you who work with MDHA community development in the future might want to take note:
Working with MDHA has been an eye-opener. These have been frustrating lessons to learn, but I'm passing them on just so others are not blind-sided by the dysfunctions.
- Do not have faith that MDHA is thinking first about the best interest of your community. MDHA is acting on behalf of itself first; benefits for your neighborhood are at best second, and sometimes third or fourth.
- You can count on MDHA showing preferential treatment to other Metro departments and agencies without necessarily telling you until much later when they have to explain delays in the project to you.
- Anyone can halt your community development project at any point in the timeline. If a single person protests privately to MDHA planners, the process to which you devoted you valuable time and energies can grind to a standstill until resolution is reached.
- The success of your project cannot be left solely to MDHA or the contractors they hire. Citizen advisors and other neighborhood leaders will have to make nuisances of themselves to planners by checking on the status of the project on at least a weekly basis. Someone somewhere in the system will drop the ball. Start screaming, "Fumble!" until someone picks it up.
- Do not trust what MDHA says you can or can't do. Whenever possible research the rules on federal grants yourself. When an MDHA official attempts to discourage an idea, it's not clear whether the idea is something that is actually prohibited or just something they prefer not to get into. There is a difference.
- Do not assume that whatever an MDHA contractor demolishes will be rebuilt. Just because they demolish sections of sidewalks to install lampposts does not mean that they will reconstruct them. In fact they are more likely to cut corners and costs by not repouring them. You should not assume that they will put the things that did not need fixing back they way they were. You'll have to demand it. Take pictures before demolition of infrastructure so that you can show them exactly the way things were.
- If you don't keep shoving forgotten, unfinished projects back on the MDHA radar, then they will remain invisible. Stay on them until they follow-up if for no other reason than to get you to go away. But do not go away until you are satisfied.
- The MDHA community liaison who meets with your community leaders is less likely assigned to be a catalyst and more likely assigned to manage you and filter information. If you want action outside the glacially plodding MDHA timeline, then you have to contact supervisors.
Labels: Block Grant, MDHA, Nashville, Neighborhoods, Salemtown
posted by S-townMike @ 11:55 PM 1 comments links to this post
i don't suppose it was Adam Dread?
Metro Nashville - General Services - ADA Compliance - Home Page - Text Only
OpEdNews - Quicklink: The Fleecing of America: Those Missing Pentagon Trillions and More Missing Trillions
Tag(s): Losers; Losses; Pentagon; Pentagon Failures
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March 5, 2010 Permalink The Fleecing of America: Those Missing Pentagon Trillions and More Missing Trillions
Quicklink submitted by Grant Lawrence
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Buzz up!on Yahoo!
Read the rest of the story HERE:
The fraud appeared to be a desperate attempt to hide huge trading losses. Indeed, Mr. Armstrong owes some $1 billion to investors, in both principal and promised gains, prosecutors say. But only $46 million in assets remains in the accounts, they said.
Marc Durant, a partner at Durant & Durant in Philadelphia, said his client vigorously disputed the accusations and maintained his innocence. ''He definitely will fight this,'' Mr. Durant said. ''He disputes how the fiduciary, which was Republic New York Securities, handled the funds and the accounts.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
IRS TRIES TO IMPROVE ITS RATE OF COLLECTION
ACCORDING TO EXPERTS, WHERE THERE'S A TAX, THERE'S A WAY TO CHEAT.
TEXT:
Today is tax day. Listen to how easy it was for one man to rip off the Internal Revenue Service:
"My company filed 9,000 returns in 1992, for tax year 1991, which netted approximately $8 million, of that total, I would guess that roughly half of the returns contained false information about dependents, wages or filing status. That year . . . I recognized how easy it was."
Photo: Marc Durant, a Center-City lawyer said big tax cheats are "econmic sociopaths" who will steal from anybody at any time. The rest are basically just regular people...
~> like you and me?
Lexis Article ID: 9501220910
Published on 04/17/1995
all text taken directly from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
3/6/2010 Twenty-four hours and counting...
edd, edm
OpEdNews - Article: THE IRANIAN PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM, PART V:
March 5, 2010 at 22:00:19 Promoted to Headline (H3) on 3/5/10:THE IRANIAN PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM, PART V: