Sunset @ Battenbroek
Tags
sunset
Battenbroek
sun
water
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Stanford client lost $20M
A former Stanford Group executive told a jury that one client of R. Allen Stanford’s securities brokerage lost at least $20 million before the business was closed by US regulators.
Jason Green, who led Stanford Group’s private-client group, offered the figure while being cross-examined by the defense on the fifth day of Stanford’s $7 billion CD investor fraud trial in federal court in Houston.
Asked by defense attorney Ali Fazel if anybody had not gotten their money back before Februry, 2009, Green replied, “Yes, one person I know of specifically” was denied $20 million. Green identified the client as Michael Moreno, of Lafayette, La., and Houston.
Stanford, 61, is charged with 14 counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud and obstruction of an SEC probe. He denies the charges.
R. Allen Stanford, Stanford Group, Ali Fazel, Michael Moreno
Friday, January 27, 2012
Istanbul Bosphorus view
Istanbul Bosphorus view
AyaSofya
Tags
Ayasofya
Bosphorus
Bosporus
Bysans
Byzantium
Cami
Church
Constantinople
Deniz
Eastern Orthodox
Eminn
Hagia Sophia
Holy Wisdom
Islam
Islamic
Istanbul
Museum
Muslim
Orthodox
Other
Ottoman
Places
Sancta Sapientia
Sancta Sophia
Sea
Turkey
Water
camii
minaret
mosque
other names
Thursday, January 26, 2012
hi-key dawn
hi-key dawn
No real snow yet....as close as I can get to the feel of winter, so far this season
I invite you to visit my Facebook page
Tags
sunrise
dawn
morning
cold
hi-key
black and white
long exposure
Hoya ND400
9 stops
Chesapeake Bay
Down's Park
Pasadena
Maryland
landscape
water
pier
shore
minimalist
negative space
Canon
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
An Eurotunnel slice
An Eurotunnel slice
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GreatBritain
GB
UnitedKingdom
UK
Yorkshire
England
Aire
York
Jorvik
railway
station
NRM
museum
“national
museum”
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Landakotskirkja
Landakotskirkja
Landakotskirkja, formally named "The Basilica of Christ the King", is the cathedral of the Catholic Church in Iceland. It is a Neo-Gothic church designed by the architect Gujn Samelsson. It was sanctified in 1929 and was then the biggest church in Iceland, although Catholics are only about 1% of the population (somewhat higher now with the recent arrival of Polish immigrants).
Tags
Reykjavik
Iceland
Landakot
Landakotskirkja
catholic
church
Gujn Samelsson
night
winter
snow
tree
Iceland, Gujn Samelsson, Christ the King, the Catholic Church, Catholics
Monday, January 23, 2012
_DSC2192.jpg
_DSC2192.jpg
Tags
France
French
Europe
European
Town
Eure
Haute-Normandie
Normandy
Giverny
FR
Monet
Claude Monet
Normand
Garden
Flower
Flowers
Artist
Painter
Impressionism
Botany
Monet's Garden
2011-12-23 01-01 Kalifornien 644 San Diego, Gaslamp Quarter
2011-12-23 01-01 Kalifornien 644 San Diego, Gaslamp Quarter
Tags
Foto
photo
image
picture
Bild
flickr
high
resolution
hi-res
jpg
jpeg
geotagged
geo
Stockphoto
cc
Sony
SLT-A77
77V
Alpha
77
2011
Winter
December
Dezember
California
Kalifornien
USA
Amerika
America
creative
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Duck
Duck
Ente
Tags
Duck
Ente
vogel
bird
nature
tier
animal
wasservogel
waterbird
fauna
zoo
kasteelpark
born
dierenpark
tierpark
limburg
holland
niederlande
netherlands
nederland
europa
europe
nahaufnahme
close-up
Andreas Fucke
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Castle Stapelen
Castle Stapelen
Castle Stapelen in Boxtel, the Netherlands.
Tags
castle
kasteel
CamerOB
the Netherlands
Boxtel
reflection
tree
green
architecture
Sunday, January 15, 2012
FLOWER POWER
FLOWER POWER
in beautiful downtown parkdale
Tags
snow
shadow
flower
fence
sunday
january
winter
cold
toronto
parkdale
nikon
300S
amateur
urban
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Deutsches Fahrradmuseum am 7.1.2012
Deutsches Fahrradmuseum am 7.1.2012
Ein Oldtimer Motorrad von Peugeot am Ende des unteren Flurs. Ich vermute es handelt sich um eine Peugeot 176 TC 4, wie sie Anfang der 50ziger Jahre gebaut wurde. Es gab leider kein Schild im Museum.
Tags
Deutschland
germany
Bayern
bavaria
Unterfranken
Landkreis Bad Kissingen
Bad Brckenau
Museum
Deutsches Fahrradmuseum
Fahrradmuseum
motorcycle
Motorrad
Oldtimer
Peugeot
Peugeot 176 TC 4
DEU
Fahrrad, Oldtimer, Motorrad, Peugeot, Flurs, 50ziger Jahre, Schild online
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Istanbul
Istanbul
Shopping!!!
Eminn
walking from Grand Bazar towards Yeni camii
Tags
Canon
450d
Istanbul
people
street
picture
photo
landscape
crowd
color
colorful
velo
walk
walking
Eminn
Faith
Sulthanamet
Grand
Bazar
shopping
Turkey
Turkish
Turchia
Turchi
persone
folla
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Fishing D7K_3691
Fishing D7K_3691
Tags
Black Dog Lake
Ice
Water
Lake
Fishing
Fisherman
Fishing Pole
Tackle Box
Minnesota River
Minnesota River Valley National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
The Road to Infinity
The Road to Infinity
Newcastle Beach sunrise! You are probably sick to death of seeing shots from Newcastle Beach but I always try to capture something different in the way of colour of movement!
View on black!
Tags
Newcastle
beach
dorcam16
canon7d
sigma10-20
water
rocks
sky
clouds
baths
sunrise
purple
pink
red
Newcastle Beach, Beach sunrise
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Sunrise in the Panamint Mountains
Sunrise in the Panamint Mountains
...taken at Aguereberry Point, Death Valley National Park.
---
By the way, some technical details:
NIKON D80 + SIGMA 17-70mm at 17mm
F/20, 1/5 seconds, ISO-100
1 single exposure, no HDR
max. size: 3872 x 2592
Fine-tuning with NIKON Capture NX2
---
Please click to see it in the LIGHTBOX
Tags
aguereberry point
death valley national park
death
valley
nationalpark
sonnenaufgang
sunrise
glow
rot
rock
rocks
fels
felsen
berg
berge
mountains
mountain
dersert
wste
landschaft
natur
nature
kalifornien
california
ca
usa
aguereberry
point death
national
park death valley nationalpark sonnenaufgang sunrise glow rot rock rocks fels felsen berg berge mountains mountain dersert wste landschaft natur nature kalifornien california ca usa
NIKON Capture, Aguereberry Point
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum Paintings of Archecture Exhibit in Madrid Spain
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum Paintings of Archecture Exhibit in Madrid Spain
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum Paintings of Archecture Exhibit in Madrid Spain at Fundacion Caja Madrid Spain
Tags
Thyssen-Bornemisza
Museum
Paintings
Archecture
Exhibit
Madrid
Spain
Museo
Thyssen
Bornemisza
art
gallery
Architectural
Fundacion
Caja
Espaa
espana
sol
Fundacion Caja Madrid, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum Paintings, Madrid Spain
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Reach for the Sky
Reach for the Sky
Australia Square Tower
Tags
Australia
Australia Square Tower
Building
NSW
New South Wales
Mary A Butts
Name: Mary A Butts
Arrested for: Larceny
Arrested at: North Shields Police Station
Arrested on: 20th December 1904
Tyne and Wear Archives ref: DX1388-1-35-Mary A Butts
These images are a selection from an album of photographs of prisoners brought before the North Shields Police Court between 1902 and 1916 in the collection of Tyne & Wear Archives (TWA ref DX1388/1).
Copyright) We're happy for you to share this digital image within the spirit of The Commons. Please cite 'Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums' when reusing. Certain restrictions on high quality reproductions and commercial use of the original physical version apply though; if you're unsure please email archives@twmuseums.org.uk.
Tags
Victorian
Edwardian
criminals
villains
prisoners
from
north
shields
goal
jail
Tyne
Wear
archives
1900’s
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
photography
female
male
custody
discovery
museum
portrait
sentence
crime
larceny
theft
false
pretences
indecent
exposure
Tyne , North Shields Police Court, Wear Archives, North Shields Police StationArrested, Mary
Day 94
Day 94
Day 94:: 365 Pictures in 365 Days of 365 Moments::"Nature does not hurry,
yet everything is accomplished."-Lao Tzu:: We hiked to a waterfall in massacre canyon, all of us to chicken to climb it, we laid a blanket out next to it and laid out like we were at the beach ;)
Tags
365
nature
outdoors
waterfall
water
hike
hiking
adventure
rock
Monday, January 2, 2012
Small cases are big business in California courtrooms
Last month, in a ruling that seemed to draw a line on frivolous actions, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a Los Angeles woman's lawsuit over $10 she spent on Trident White chewing gum that didn't noticeably whiten her teeth. (Susan Ragan / Associated Press)
Like any concerned mother, Athena Hohenberg wanted to be sure her 4-year-old was getting a good breakfast.
So she served up Nutella, a hazelnut and cocoa spread marketed as part of a balanced breakfast. "Start your day with Nutella spread," urge the TV ads.
But Hohenberg was shocked to learn, she said in a lawsuit filed in February, that the sandwich spread is chock full of fat and sugar — "the next best thing to a candy bar," she alleged.
Nutella manufacturer Ferrero USA Inc. has agreed to settle the suit brought by the San Diego mother on behalf of hundreds of thousands of consumers who may have been similarly deceived, even though the ads specified that fruit, milk and whole wheat bread were also part of that balanced meal. Lawyers declined to disclose details, but similar cases suggest that Ferrero is likely to pay out millions in $5 or $10 sums to Nutella consumers. At least a quarter of the settlement will go to lawyers.
Pro-business factions contend that success in petty false advertising and fraud claims like the Nutella case have made California the go-to place for trial lawyers from all over the country seeking to enrich themselves on frivolous class-action litigation.
The state's tough consumer-protection laws and consumer-friendly courts have created what the American Tort Reform Foundation recently termed a "judicial hellhole" that delays legitimate suits from being heard and chases away jobs and investment.
Lawmakers' efforts to rein in the lawsuits in recent years have been mostly thwarted by legal lobbies, and critics say the problem has intensified as court budgets grow tighter and civil cases get backlogged.
"We all pay" for cases like these "when they take up our judicial resources," said Katherine Pettibone, a lawyer and legislative director for the Civil Justice Assn. of California. "We just cut back $350 million from our state courts. This harms access to justice for everyone. Sometimes you just want to say 'pull your socks up and move on.' "
Consumer attorneys counter that small-stakes class actions can be the average citizen's only defense against abuse by big corporations. And they contend that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling pushing disgruntled consumers into arbitration with their alleged deceivers imperils one of Americans' most fundamental rights: a jury trial to air their grievances.
Although Vanderbilt Law School professor and class action expert Brian T. Fitzpatrick conceded that "unmeritorious" lawsuits sometimes succeed because defendants settle to avoid litigation costs, he disputed the idea that they are chiefly motivated by huge contingency fees.
"There is a common perception about class actions that lawyers are the only ones who benefit," Fitzpatrick said, pointing to a recent settlement requiring Bank of America to pay about $15 to customers unfairly charged for overdrafts while lawyers will get at least $100 million. "It looks bad, but the reality is that the main benefit from these small-stakes cases is not to give you your $15 back. The main benefit is deterrence."
Last month, in a ruling that seemed to draw a line on frivolous actions, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a Los Angeles woman's lawsuit over $10 she spent on Trident White chewing gum that didn't noticeably whiten her teeth.
But other claims of deception that could have been avoided with some consumer due diligence — for example, reading the label — have survived court scrutiny, saddling overworked judges with what some legal analysts call fights over peanuts.
In June, a federal judge in Oakland allowed two consolidated class-action lawsuits to go forward against the makers of Breyers and Ben & Jerry's ice creams for claiming their products are "all natural" although they contain synthetic alkalized cocoa powder.
Another Bay Area judge recently certified a class action against Sears, alleging fraud in its advertising of a clothes dryer with an "all stainless steel" drum that contains a small amount of ceramic coating on the edge.
Such a case would undoubtedly be thrown out of court in many other states; in fact, the lead plaintiff in the California suit against Sears earlier had been sent packing by the 7th Circuit appeals court in Illinois, which called the complaint "near-frivolous" and a "confabulation."
A version of consumer lawsuit — those alleging minor violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act's requirements for handicapped access — was the subject of proposed legislation this year aimed at curbing abuse of that law.
The practice of forcing pretrial settlements from small business owners for coat hooks or paper towel dispensers that are a fraction of an inch off the law's exacting standards has become so widespread that it is essentially a cottage industry in California. The bill would have made it easier for courts to stop such "vexatious litigants." But trial lawyers opposed it, and it failed.
Tim Blood, a class-action litigator and board member of Consumer Attorneys of California, argues that Californians benefit from small-scale consumer cases: "These lawsuits are making people at companies rethink their advertising campaigns," he said.
But the ease with which consumers obtain relief here has also spawned what consumer advocates call a worrying trend: Big corporations have taken to divesting themselves of liability by requiring customers to submit complaints to arbitration, a dispute resolution method that tends to favor the companies paying for it. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in April, AT&T vs. Concepcion, upheld a corporation's right to use such clauses.
"After Concepcion, every cellphone company and every bank and credit card company began rewriting their contracts to require arbitration," said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of nonprofit Consumer Watchdog. He predicts that in time, arbitration clauses will be on labels for everything from cleaning products to milk.
In the Nutella case, Hohenberg's attorney, Ronald A. Marron, declined comment. An attorney for defendant Ferrero, Keith Eggleton, didn't return phone calls.
Shaun Martin, a University of San Diego law professor, has used his California Appellate Report blog to poke fun at resources wasted on meager disputes:
In a case before the California Court of Appeal last year, in which a defendant argued that his fine should be $10 instead of $34, Martin noted that the case required the state-financed services of his lawyer, a deputy attorney general, three appellate justices, court staff and "some trees" to publish the 11-page opinion.
"Twenty-four American dollars at stake," Martin scoffed. "Almost enough to buy Manhattan."
carol.williams@latimes.com
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, California, California, Nutella, Athena Hohenberg, class actions, class action, class action, Trident White, Trident White, frivolous actions, frivolous actions, Hohenberg, Hohenberg, consumer, Ferrero USA Inc., trial lawyers, trial lawyers, Los Angeles, consumers, consumers
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