Category: Law

Law: the rules of civilization

Aptos, CA psychologist: Time ripe for “right to work” laws in California to rein in power of SEIU and other government worker unions.

California needs right to work laws so SEIU cannot force people to pay dues, so the SEIU cannot use membership dues for political races.

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I am a licensed California psychologist who pays SEIU union dues. Not by choice. To get and keep my job I pay union dues.

I want the choice to opt out of SEIU union dues. I think lots of government workers and non-profit workers in California want out of union dues. Here’s why:

1) California does not have “right to work” laws. Right to work states typically have lower unemployment rates and higher overall growth. I think California will lower its unemployment rate and experience stronger growth if government union workers have the choice to opt out of forced unionization.

2) Pictures of SEIU thugs beating up blacks simply not acceptable. A couple years ago I saw SEIU thugs wearing the SEIU purple t-shirt beat up a black person at a rally discussing ObamaCare. Seeing those pictures, I wanted to cut up my purple t-shirt. There was no apology by the SEIU.

3) Money laundering: I do not believe what the SEIU says as to how my union dues are spent. They “say” that my union dues do not go for political purposes. Andy Stern is proud that the SEIU spent $60 MILLION to support Obama. I do not want one dime to go for a political campaign that I do not support. And I think many, many Americans agree.

Since then I have followed much more carefully what the SEIU does and what SEIU stands for. I look at the money — not peanuts — that comes out of my pay check.

Money laundering does go on. I am told that my money cannot go to politics but I know that is not true. My SEIU money and my taxes support the Democrat Party and who they support.

4) The SEIU takes care of first and foremost — the bosses that run the SEIU. They do not even take care of the workers for the SEIU. So if the SEIU does not take care of their workers do you think that they really care a dime about the members of the unions? written by DrCameronJackson@gmail.com


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Andy Stern’s debts: SEIU leader swims away while his organization sinks

By F. Vincent Vernuccio

“Purple may be the official color of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), but Andy Stern is leaving the union deep in the red.

Last week, he surprised the labor community by announcing his resignation as president of SEIU. Mr. Stern has claimed victories in helping pass health care legislation and getting President Obama elected, but his impact within his own organization shows gaping budget deficits and massive underfunding of pensions.

SEIU has seen its liabilities skyrocket during the past decade. The union’s liabilities totaled $7,625,832 in 2000. By 2009, they had increased almost by a factor of 16, to $120,893,259.

Meanwhile, SEIU’s assets barely tripled, growing from $66,632,631 in 2000 to $187,664,763 in 2009.

A significant portion of SEIU’s current assets are from IOUs from hard-up locals.

SEIU is $85 million in debt, down from its 2008 high of $102 million, and has been forced to lay off employees.
Mr. Stern has led protests against Bank of America, calling for the firing of Chief Executive Ken Lewis. Yet the union owes $80 million to Bank of America and $5 million to Amalgamated Bank, which is owned by the rival union Unite-Here.

SEIU’s pensions are in even worse shape. Both of SEIU’s two national pension plans, the SEIU National Industry Pension Fund and the Pension Plan for Employees of the SEIU, issued critical-status letters last year. The Pension Protection Act requires any pension fund that is funded below 65 percent of what it needs to pay its obligations to inform its beneficiaries of the deficit.

Many SEIU local pension plans are in as bad a shape as the national plans – if not worse. In 2007, well before the financial meltdown, the SEIU Local 32BJ Building Maintenance Contractors Association Pension Plan was funded at an anemic 41 percent, the SEIU 1199 Greater New York Pension Fund at 58 percent, the 32BJ District Building Operators Pension Trust Fund at 56 percent, and the Service Employees 32BJ North Pension Fund at 68 percent.

An underfunded pension plan does not have enough assets to meet its obligations to retirees in the future. Recovery is difficult if plans are significantly underfunded, as is the case with the SEIU plans. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. (PBGC) insures only a portion of promised benefits to retirees in union multiemployer pension plans. If one of those plans goes bankrupt, the PBGC will guarantee only up to $12,870 in benefits.

Do not worry about Mr. Stern and other high-ranking SEIU officials, though. At age 59, he has 37 years of service in the SEIU and is entitled to a full pension and lifetime health benefits. Unlike SEIU’s pension plans for rank-and-file members and union employees, SEIU’s officer pension plan, the SEIU Affiliates Officers and Employees Pension Plan, was funded at 102 percent in 2007.
While SEIU’s pension plans were failing and its liabilities growing, Mr. Stern seemed more concerned with electoral politics than with the internal workings of the union. Indeed, politics can account for much of SEIU’s lavish spending in recent years. “We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama – $60.7 million to be exact – and we’re proud of it,” he boasted to the Las Vegas Sun last year. In all, under Mr. Stern, SEIU spent more than $85 million to elect President Obama and give Democrats control of Congress. What has been Mr. Stern’s reward?

It is often said that in politics, personnel is policy. By that measure, SEIU carries considerable weight within the Obama administration. Patrick Gaspard, formerly the executive vice president of politics and legislation for the powerful Local 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, is now the political director at the White House.

Craig Becker, formerly SEIU’s associate general counsel and adviser to the ACORN affiliate SEIU 800 in Chicago, is now on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Mr. Obama made a recess appointment of Mr. Becker after he failed to be confirmed by the Senate. This was a significant win for organized labor. Mr. Becker has hinted at having the NLRB enact card check without a vote in Congress.

SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger sits on the Obama administration’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Mr. Stern himself was appointed by Mr. Obama to its deficit commission. (Mr. Stern has said he will stay in that post after he steps down from SEIU.)

Mr. Stern’s abrupt resignation has led many to question his motives and ponder his next steps. Whatever the answer, one thing is certain: He leaves SEIU – especially its pension funds – swimming in red ink. Sadly, it will be the union’s rank-and-file members who will be paying for Mr. Stern’s profligacy well into the future.

F. Vincent Vernuccio is an adjunct analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and formerly was an official with the Bush Department of Labor.

Published by The Washington Times Friday, April 23, 2010

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Firenze Sage: Passport, please!

Cat swam a mile across harbor to safety.

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Passport, please!

Did a calico cat from New Jersey swim across New York Harbor?

The mystery surrounds a white, orange and black feline that arrived last weekend on Governors Island in New York.

Security guards found the cat on the island’s north shore. Its fur was salty, matted and caked with seaweed.

A Governors Island spokeswoman, Elizabeth Rapuano, tells the Daily News that workers there have a theory: They think the cat managed to swim to safety after being swept up in torrential rains in New Jersey. That’s over a mile away.

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

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Firenze Sage presents a locked room robbery

Police say termites have devoured currency notes worth 10 million rupees ($222,000) in a steel bank chest in northern India.

Rana told The Associated Press on Friday: “It’s a matter of investigation how termites attacked bundles of currency notes stacked in a steel chest.”

Not a whodunnit but a howdedoitt.

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

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Aptos, CA psychologist: Time for Obama to face govt spending addiction and use AA approach?

Time for Obama and his administration to admit addiction to spending — see his 2 recent budgets — and use the AA approach to controling this addiction. The govt has historically lived on 18% of GDP and no reason to increase it to 25 percent. Time to control spending addiction says Aptos psychologist.

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Obama's Permanent Spending Binge

Maybe Obama and his administration need the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) approach to manage government addiction to spending?

Those AA 12 steps include: Admit the problem. Ask a Higher Power to intervene. Ask for forgiveness. Regularly confess the problem and work the 12 Steps…

Obama seeks permanent spending binge of 24% of GDP compared to 18% historically. Ryan’s plan removes spending binge. Why is Washington having the debate?

See below article from the Wall Street Journal:

by John R. Taylor
‘Americans are clamoring for a fact-based debate about the budget, but the numbers they’re hearing from Washington are terribly confusing. Here’s an example: Speaking at a Facebook town hall meeting here on Wednesday, President Obama sometimes talked about saving $4 trillion, at other times $2 trillion, and he varied whether it was over 10 years or 12 years, never mentioning any one year.

“A simple chart, like the one nearby, would greatly clarify the debate. It shows total federal government spending year-by-year for the two decades starting in the year 2000. Spending is shown as a percentage of GDP, which is a sensible and quite common way to assess trends: When the percentage rises, government spending rises relative to total income or total goods and services produced in our economy.

“For the past decade, the chart shows the recent history of government spending. For the next decade—the window for the current budget—it shows three different spending visions for the future.

“Senior Economics Writer Steve Moore critiques the President’s series of speeches attacking GOP budget plans.

“The uppermost line shows outlays under the official budget submitted by Mr. Obama to Congress on Feb. 14. The lowest line shows the House Budget Resolution submitted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan on April 5, while the third line shows year-by-year outlays I estimated from the 12-year totals in the new budget proposed by the president on April 13.

The chart clearly reveals a number of important facts that are not coming up in town hall meetings. Most obvious is the huge bulge in spending in the past few years. In 2000 spending was 18.2% of GDP. In 2007 it was 19.6%. But in the three years since 2009 it’s jumped to an average of 24.4%.

Second, and perhaps even more striking, the chart shows that Mr. Obama, in his budget submitted in February, proposed to make that spending binge permanent. Spending would still be more than 24% of GDP at the end of the budget window in 2021. The administration revealed its preference in the February budget for a much higher level of government spending than the 18.2% of GDP in 2000 or the 19.6% in 2007.

Third, the House budget plan proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) simply removes that spending binge—it gradually returns spending as a share of GDP back to a level seen only three years ago.

“When I show people this chart they ask why Washington is even having the debate. They say: If government agencies and programs functioned with 19% to 20% of GDP in 2007, why is it so hard for them to function with that percentage in 2021, when GDP will be substantially higher and with many opportunities for reforms and increased efficiencies? And if GDP and employment grow more quickly, as they would if private investment increased as a result of lower government spending and debt, then that 19% to 20% share of GDP could provide much more in the way of public goods.

Fourth, the chart shows that the second Obama administration budget, submitted a week after the Ryan House budget, is substantially different from the first administration budget. It is highly unusual for an administration to decide to submit a second budget, and the effect of this revision is to move the administration’s spending vision closer to that of the House. But it still leaves a big chunk of the spending binge in place.

Fifth, and perhaps most important for economic growth, the chart shows that the House budget effectively deals with the deficit and brings the debt down as a share of GDP without a tax increase. Under the current tax system, revenues as a share of GDP were 18.5% in 2007, so that the budget deficit was only 1.1% of GDP that year. With higher real incomes moving people into higher tax brackets, it is quite likely that under the current tax system revenues will be higher as a share of GDP when the economy fully recovers, perhaps in the 19% to 20% range.

This means that the House budget plan, with spending in the same range, approximately balances the budget with no increase in taxes. This is good news for economic growth. In contrast, balancing the first or even the second Obama budget requires substantial tax increases—more than the administration has yet to propose.

Mr. Taylor, a professor of economics at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, is the author of “Getting Off Track: How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged and Worsened the Financial Crisis” (Hoover Press, 2009).

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Firenze Sage: Justice for sale

Man required to pay $100 fine for a 40 year old ticket which was dismissed = justice for sale.

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Dike, goddess of fair judgements & justice, lost!

A Rhode Island man has finally settled a warrant issued for a traffic violation in Massachusetts nearly four decades ago.

Michael Young, of Warwick, R.I., asked a judge in Attleboro District Court on Tuesday to dismiss a driving to endanger charge issued in September 1974.

The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro reports that Judge Daniel O’Shea noted that half the people in court had not even been born at the time of the traffic violation. He granted Young’s request, dismissing the case with payment of $100 in court costs. The court just had to get its lousy $100. The defendant should have demanded a jury trial unless they dropped the $100.

written by FirenzeSage48@gmail.com
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Some information about the judge:
Judge Daniel J. O’Shea is the new Attleboro District Court first justice. The full press release follows:

Lynda M. Connolly, Chief Justice for the District Court Department of the Massachusetts Trial Court, appointed Honorable Daniel J. O’Shea as First Justice of the Attleboro District Court, effective March 30, 2010.

Judge O’Shea graduated cum laude from the New England School of Law, and was admitted to practice in Massachusetts in 1990. Before his 2005 appointment to the District Court by Governor Mitt Romney, Judge O’Shea was an Administrative Judge and Senior Judge at the Department of Industrial Accidents. Other legal experience includes his time as a Staff Attorney for the Commonwealth Energy System and Adjunct Faculty positions at Suffolk University, Stonehill College, Anna Maria College, Quincy College and his alma mater Norwich University. He also serves on the Appellate Division of the District Court.

In making this appointment Chief Justice Connolly stated, “Judge O’Shea brings a solid record of achievement to the position of First Justice. He is bright, capable and hardworking, and he has extensive administrative experience. Judge O’Shea is an accomplished judge and is someone who will work collaboratively with the various entities in the community that interact with the Attleboro District Court.”

The First Justices of the District Courts are selected from among the entire pool of District Court Judges by the Chief Justice of the District Court, subject to the approval of the Chief Justice for Administration and Management. First Justices serve five-year terms which are subject to renewal at the end of that period.
The Attleboro District Court serves the communities of Attleboro, Mansfield, North Attleboro and Norton and is located at 88 N. Main Street, Attleboro, MA 02703.

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Why it’s time to REDUCE the national debt, not increase debt ceiling per video by Ask Heritage

Think of the United States like a home owner’s association. Over time the home owners agree to more debt paid for by a credit card that gets max-ed out. And interest on the debt grows. Seventy three times the debt limit has been raised.

Since Obama has been President the U.S. has taken on enormous debt. The solution is not to raise the debt ceiling and spend even more. We have to pay our debts and importantly reduce the debt.

The video below by Ask Heritage shows why we as citizens must say NO more debt and tell Congress that its time to REDUCE debt.

Don’t let the government kick the ball down the street. Understand the issues and speak up.

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Firenze Sage: Calling Batman!

Batman needed to clean up Gotham City –aka Californai —

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Gov. Jerry Brown ordered state agencies on Wednesday to do a better job collecting money after an audit discovered that 11 state agencies had failed to gather $13.3 million in debts, mostly from employees who received cash advances.

In California the gift of public funds is a felony.
Oh and is this a surprise? At the top of the violator list were the Highway patrol and the Franchise tax board. FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

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Firenze Sage: Man really bites dog.

Man really bites dog after dog captured him for theft. Man sues saying dog violated his civil rights. Man in prison for 8 years.

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Man really bites dog & gets 8 years

A 33-year-old man who bit back after he was caught by a Phoenix police dog is suing the police.

Erin Sullivan alleges the dog violated his civil rights and used excessive force to capture him after he ran from officers in Glendale during a burglary investigation last year.

Police say Sullivan bit the dog back, injuring it. Poor ole Sully is Quarantined for 8 years.

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Aptos, CA psychologist: parent with child with autistic spectrum disorder & epilepsy asks for advocacy help.

A mother of child with special needs (Asperger’s Disorder) emailed me asking for help. She lives in Redlands, CA. Her child has an Autistic Spectrum Disorder, is hearing impaired and has epilepsy. The child is in elementary school.

Parenting a child with these kinds of problems can be overwhelming. As there are many parents who face these difficulties, perhaps a general post may be helpful both for this one mother and for other families. Most importantly, know that there is help, there are resources and you don’t have to do this job alone.

The mother wants an advocate to assist her in the IEP process. She asks for immediate help.

She — and anyone in California — can call me for a free 15 minute consultation concerning psychological issues. Call 831 688-6002. Leave name, number and brief information as to situation. I will e-mail back a time to call me.

Before calling, find the most recent three year psycho-educational assessment done for the child. Every three years in California the school psychologist, Resource teacher and other professionals write reports summarizing progress. Those reports typically contain invaluable information. I will ask questions about those reports and may ask you to FAX it to me.

For more information about me, Dr. Cameron Jackson, go to Monterey Bay Forum, www.freedomok.net look at the top where it says Autism. Also look under the Categories for Autistic Spectrum Disorders. I wrote those posts.

I have 5+ years experience as a school psychologist in California and I am a licensed psychologist who specializes in assessment of children and adults. I am particularly interested in Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

Here is some general information that may be helpful to this mother and other parents with children with special needs, developmental disorders and autistic spectrum disorders:

1) The parent has the right to call an IEP meeting, again and again. This parent should find out what the IEP coming up is about and get an agenda ahead of time. Let the school know in writing that you as parent plan to request a series of meeting until all issues get resolved. Send the letter to Special Education Director, Principal, School Psychologist. Keep a copy for your file. Do not sign any IEP unless completely satisfied.

2) This child with some form of autism, epilepsy and hearing impaired is probably best served with an IEP under Other Health Impaired. And not served well under Specific Learning Disability (SLD). Autistic-Like is an education category that might be appropriate IF the therapy component is in place. From what the mother told me there is no appropriate therapy going on to address social deficits.

So this parent needs to know what Category the child receives services under and to request that the Category be changed to Other Health Impaired. All the mother needs is a brief letter from her doctor.

3) By California law, this child is entitled to a Free and Appropriate Public Education — called FAPE. It is not appropriate to put a fifth grade student into a first grade class for example. And, if the school district does not have appropriate public school classes then the district may be on the hook to provide a non-public school placement. Yes the schools and every public agency has budget woes. So, this parent needs to get some self education via the Internet as to what FAPE means.

From the tone of the email this mother sent, it appears that she feels lost in the system. Perhaps this mother can connect with the school psychologist for assistance. Also, there are a number of non-profit organizations that focus on assisting families with special needs. This mom might do well to explore which ones are in the Redland’s CA area. Up in the Santa Cruz-San Jose area for example there are two organizations: SPIN and PHP.

One possible advocate in Redlands, CA: When I Googled Redlands, CA Special Education an article popped up about a school counselor who wants to improved the IEP process. Her name is Yurida Nava and information about her is in the article below. I do not know anything more about this person than what is written below.

Student Encourages Advocacy for Special Education Students
November 23, 2009While working as a school district translator, Redlands School of Education counseling student Yuridia “Yuri” Nava says she became concerned some special education students were not being well served by their school counselors.She says the counselors often attended Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings with students, but did not always advocate for the students during discussions about which services they should receive, what education goals should be set and how their day-to-day school life should function.
“The counselors were there, but I felt they were not really a voice for the students – the IEPs were sometimes finalized in ways that were not in the best interest of the students,” Nava said.
Now, Nava is working to change those shortcomings by calling attention to the problem. One step in that effort came in November, when she presented her research during the California Association of School Counselors conference in Temecula.During the conference, she shared her research exploring the preparation levels of counselors working with special education students. As part of her study, counselors in two school districts were surveyed about their knowledge of the IEP process and whether they were prepared to help special education students and families.
She said she found that most counselors did not recognize their role in advocating for special education students. Some counselors also did not fully understand the IEP process and the role that they should play, she said.
Nava – an aspiring counselor who would eventually like to get her doctorate – said she credits assistant professor Janee Both-Gragg with encouraging her to conduct and present the research.
“The professors, including Dr. Both-Gragg, are like fuel – they fuel the passion that you brought when you came here. They prepare you and encourage you to do more than you ever imagined,” she said. “I’m so excited and thankful to be presenting at the conference and I know I wouldn’t have made it to this point without their support and belief in me.”

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Firenze Sage: Do fence me in?

Should the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco be fenced in so people cannot jump off it? The debate goes on….

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Golden Gate Bridge

A 16-year-old girl jumped or fell off the Golden Gate Bridge on Sunday and survived.

In March a 17-year-old boy from Windsor jumped as an apparent boast and also survived.

The debate has gone on for years whether to suicide proof the Bridge. Another part of the question about how much society should interfere in the personal lives (or deaths) of its citizens.

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

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