Legal Profession Blog: Judges and Software Funding

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July 17, 2012

Judges and Software Funding

A recent opinion of the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee:

ISSUE ONE

Whether a judge may,? with the chief judge?s approval, appear and speak in support of a specific? software funding request to the county commission, which provides funding for? judicial technology and software in the county where the judge sits.

ANSWER: Yes.

ISSUE TWO

Whether a judge may? speak individually to county commissioners in a private setting regarding the? judge?s support of a specific software funding request being considered by the? county commission, which provides funding for judicial technology and software? in the county where the judge sits.

ANSWER: Yes, if such conduct is not? prohibited by any provision of law.

As to the second issue:

?It is unclear from this inquiry whether the? judge intends to support or endorse a particular software provider or software product? or intends simply to speak in support of the judiciary?s need for a specific? type of software that may be purchased from multiple vendors.? A majority of the Committee would advise the? judge not to support or endorse a particular software provider or software? product in order to avoid violating Canon 2B?s prohibition against lending the? prestige of the judicial office to advance the private interests of another.? Nevertheless, the Committee believes a judge? is permitted to address, with the entity responsible for funding? judicial software needs, the pros and cons of? disparate software providers and software products, based upon the judge?s? experience and expertise regarding those needs.? To provide the funding entity with information? to assist it with its budgetary responsibilities, the judge is permitted to? discuss and express an opinion on why one provider or one product is more? conducive to the judiciary?s needs than another.? Of course, this is dependent upon the judge?s? motivation.? That is, if the judge is? solely motivated by a desire to act in the best interests of the judiciary,? then such discussions are permissible.? But,? if the judge is in any way motivated by a desire to lend the prestige of the? judge?s office to advance the private interests of a particular vendor, then? such discussions are prohibited.

(Mike Frisch)

July 17, 2012 in Judicial Ethics and the Courts | Permalink

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Creamy Caramel Made Easy (Crock Pot Recipe)

First, let me just tell ya, I LOVE Caramel Macchiatos.? I would drink them every day, if I were willing to take in that many calories.? Well, I went to make one yesterday and realized I was out of caramel.? OH NO!? I order my caramel from Amazon, because it is so much cheaper.? So, I needed to make caramel.

I remembered this episode of Man on the Street from Food Network.? He made caramel sauce by putting a can of sweetened condensed milk into a crockpot with water and cooking for 10 hours.? I couldn?t remember exactly everything, so I just did what is below.

Needed:

• 1 Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Water to cover
• Slow Cooker
• An oven safe dish to place can of milk on

?

Take the label off of the can of sweetened condensed milk.? Place the oven safe dish into the bottom of the slow cooker.? This is to keep the can from leaving a rust ring in the bottom of your slow cooker.? Cover the entire can with water.?? Place on high for 3 and a half hours and then turn down to low for 6 and a half hours.? Then turn the slow cooker off and let it cook by itself.? So if you let it cool overnight, you will have caramel sauce in the morning.

Just a quick note.? I didn?t put a hole in the can.? This is a much debated issue.? If you feel more comfortable putting a hole in the can, then be sure not to put the water up to the top of the can?you will need to leave at least a quarter of an inch room from the water level to the top of the can.? Also, to keep the water from dripping from the lid of the slow cooker, you can place a tea towel between the lid and the slow cooker.

Source: http://mycouponlady.com/2012/07/18/creamy-caramel-made-easy-crock-pot-recipe/

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Blue Jays put Bautista on DL, call up OF Gose

NEW YORK (AP) ? Jose Bautista was worried his injury was worse.

The star slugger landed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday but was relieved to learn there's no structural damage in his ailing left wrist. He thinks he could return to Toronto's lineup as soon as he's eligible, though manager John Farrell said it's too early to tell.

"The last thing that we want is to push this to the point of any kind of relapse or the potential for any other damage that might be incurred if he's not fully ready to go," Farrell said. "So we can fully appreciate his eagerness, but we'll monitor this closely daily as we go through at least these first 15 days."

Bautista left Monday night's loss to the New York Yankees after feeling pain in his wrist on an eighth-inning swing that produced a long foul ball. X-rays were negative and the Blue Jays said the All-Star right fielder had an MRI on Tuesday that revealed inflammation. Bautista called the injury a strain.

"Just as I was finishing my swing I felt something weird around my wrist, and on the recoil is when I felt sharp pain," said Bautista, who had started all 90 games this season before Tuesday night. "So obviously a little scary at the time. You can't help but think the worst.

"I thought I had torn something or maybe broken my wrist, but that's not the case and I'm happy to know that."

Bautista wore a brace on his wrist as he answered questions from a pack of reporters in the center of Toronto's clubhouse.

"The only thing that I can think of is I held on with both hands maybe longer than I usually do, and maybe my wrist got turned in a direction that it never gets turned," he said. "That just maybe put too much stress in the area and maybe kind of hyperextended it.

"Just one of those freak things that you can't control or predict. It's just unfortunate that it happened at such an important part of the season and such an important game," Bautista added. "It's going to be tough to sit in the dugout."

To fill Bautista's roster spot, the Blue Jays (45-45) called up speedy outfielder Anthony Gose from Triple-A Las Vegas. A left-handed hitter, he was expected to start Wednesday against right-hander Hiroki Kuroda.

Ben Francisco replaced Bautista in the lineup Tuesday night against Yankees lefty CC Sabathia, just activated from the disabled list after missing three weeks with a groin strain.

The two-time defending AL home run champion, Bautista was tied for second in the majors with 27 homers. He is batting .244 with 65 RBIs and a .360 on-base percentage.

"His absence will certainly be more of a challenge for us. Anytime you take one of the premier right-handed power hitters in baseball out of the lineup, it's going to create a little bit of a hole," Farrell said. "But much like the injuries we've sustained in our rotation, we haven't used it as an excuse. We haven't allowed that to distract us."

Bautista won't be able to pick up a bat for a couple of days, but he's already on medication to alleviate the inflammation. Doctors told him he won't make the injury any worse with activity, so his progress will be determined by how much pain he can tolerate.

"When I move it in certain directions, it's pretty tough," Bautista said. "But that's what I've got to try to avoid. That's why I'm wearing a splint, to protect the area, too, from bumping against anything. As long as I don't move it in certain directions, I'm comfortable."

He can begin full treatment right away, but he can't do any strength exercises at first.

"It's a good and bad news situation," Farrell said. "The bad news is he's going to be lost for some time, but the worst that we feared has been alleviated by the negative X-rays, negative MRIs, in terms of the fact that there's no tear. So at this point we're just going to let the symptoms subside and then gradually bring him back based on his tolerance."

The 21-year-old Gose played in the Futures Game for top prospects last week in Kansas City and said he was "shocked" to get his first call-up to the majors.

He said he struck out leading off the game Monday night for Las Vegas and when he returned to the bench, he was told to stay in the dugout. Because of Bautista's injury, his next stop would be Yankee Stadium.

"Strike out and next thing you know you're going to the big leagues," Gose said, adding that he had a hard time sleeping on his red-eye flight across the country. "Exciting, nerve-racking. The feeling's indescribable. ... I still don't know what to think right now."

But he has a simple plan for his first stint in the big leagues.

"Put the bat on the ball and run fast," Gose said. "From where I started to where I am now, it's night and day."

Gose was hitting .292 at Las Vegas and leading the Pacific Coast League with 29 stolen bases. He had five homers, 10 triples and 41 RBIs. He was acquired by the Blue Jays from Houston in July 2010 for first baseman Brett Wallace.

Farrell said Gose will likely play right field against righties and could be in the leadoff spot Wednesday.

To make room for him on the 40-man roster, the Blue Jays transferred right-hander Brandon Morrow from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blue-jays-put-bautista-dl-call-gose-164932872--mlb.html

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The Dark Knight Rises -- This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Matt Atchity here, Editor in Chief of Rotten Tomatoes. I want to set the record straight on some of the things that are happening with the reviews for The Dark Knight Rises right now.

It's probably safe to say that The Dark Knight Rises is the most anticipated film of the year. More than The Hobbit. More than The Avengers. And my staff and I knew full well that when the first negative review came in, the reviewer would get pasted in the comments. That dubious honor goes to Marshall Fine. He's a critic we've included on our site -- he's got a respectable background in criticism, and we think he should be included on our site.

Since the referral traffic seems to have crashed his server, we've temporarily removed the review link at Fine's request, so his site can go back up. But the score will not be affected. His Rotten review still applies to the score, even if the link isn't active at the moment.

Update: A second negative review came in, and we'll be policing those comments, too.
Second Update: We have disabled comments on The Dark Knight Rises reviews for a few days.

As expected, we saw a mountain of comments come in about his review, and we're policing them to make sure they're in line with our TOS. Broadly speaking, threats and hate speech will get your commenting privileges revoked.

But Marshall has the right to not like the movie, and people have the right to express their disagreement with him (although if you haven't seen the movie, your arguments may be on shaky ground). And we have the right to pull your comment down and ban you if we think you're acting inappropriately.

Which leads me to Eric D. Snider. He thought it would be funny to post a negative review link on Rotten Tomatoes that links to his own site. He misrepresented his review link. (In case you didn't know, some critics post their own reviews, and my staff posts some -- it's about 50/50). By attributing the link to Film.com, he misrepresented that organization. This is not the first time he's done this, nor is it the first time his journalistic ethics have been brought into question. In our opinion, by knowingly posting a link that isn't a review (and he hadn't seen the movie), Snider has abused our trust, and therefore, his reviews will no longer apply to the Tomatometer.

So where does that leave us? It doesn't change the fact that there are trolls, and that minority opinions will be vehemently refuted. But I would like to leave everyone with a few final thoughts:

- If a critic often goes against the majority, but has well-reasoned arguments, it's unlikely we're going to ban them, at least not just for having a different opinion. We're not looking for groupthink here.

- If a critic abuses our trust by linking to something that's not a review, we will take action up to and including removing them from the Tomatometer. If a critic doesn't take their reputation seriously, then neither will we.

- We'll ban you for threats and hate speech -- we're trying to have fun here, so don't be a dick. And don't try and argue about your right to free speech -- this is a business, and we have the right to refuse service to anyone we feel like.

- We're probably going to move to a Facebook-based commenting system that doesn't allow for anonymity. You'll have to stand by your comments, just like a critic does. So you'll still be able to argue about a movie you haven't seen, but people will know it was you. (I know that won't make a difference for some people, but at least there may be some measure of responsibility).

I know that a lot of people will think we're overreacting, and I know my own breeding, sexuality, and intelligence will be called in to question just for daring to ask for some level of respectable debate. That's fine, I'm used to that (I have a show on YouTube, so come at me, bro).

But if I could ask everyone for one thing, it's this: don't be a dick. Even if you think someone else is being a dick. Just take a deep breath, step away from the computer, and maybe go for a walk. Have a smoke if you need one. There are plenty of other things to get angry about, like war, famine, poverty and crime. But not movie reviews.

Sincerely,
Matt Atchity
Editor-in-Chief, Rotten Tomatoes

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1925558/news/1925558/

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LIBOR Investigation: Justice Department Building Criminal Cases Against Barclays, Others

WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is building criminal cases against several financial institutions and their employees related to the manipulation of interest rates, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Citing government officials close to the case who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Times said traders at Barclays Plc were among the individuals against whom Justice was building cases. Authorities expect to file charges against at least one bank later this year, the newspaper reported.
Investigators in Washington and London last month struck a $450 million settlement with Barclays in a rate-rigging case, but the deal does not shield Barclays employees from criminal prosecution. The criminal and civil investigations have focused on how banks set the London interbank offered rate, or Libor.
Libor is used to determine borrowing casts for trillions of dollars in financial products, including mortgages, credit cards and student loans. The Times said cities, states and municipalities in the United States were also trying to determine whether they suffered loses due to rate manipulation and some had filed suit.
With the prospect of possible criminal charges, several financial institutions, including at least two European firms, are scrambling to arrange deals with the government, the Times reported, citing lawyers close to the case.
Given the broad scope of the Libor case and the number of institutions thought to be involved, the investigations could provide authorities with a "signature moment" to hold big banks accountable for misdeeds during the financial crisis, which hit global markets from late 2007, the newspaper said.
Still, the investigation is unusually complex, could continue for years and end in settlements rather than indictments, the Times said, citing officials close to the case.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/15/libor-investigation-justice-department_n_1673971.html

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Strikeforce?s Lorenz Larkin drops to knees and begs for bonuses after win

After winning a decision over Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce: Kennedy vs. Rockhold on Saturday night, Lorenz Larkin asked UFC president Dana White for a favor. During the postfight interview, Larkin got down on his knees and asked commentator Mauro Ranallo to join him there. Larkin then begged for equality among fighters, and asked that Strikeforce fighters receive fight night bonuses, like their UFC counterparts.

"We're your family, too," Larkin said.

Five and six-figure fight night bonuses are a norm for UFC fights. Bonuses are given out for the best submission, knockout and fight from each event. The extra money can turn out to be a financial boon for fighters. UFC heavyweight Pat Barry was six days from eviction and surviving on ketchup packets and rice when two bonuses for one fight came in.

Though Strikeforce is also owned by Zuffa, the company who owns the UFC, the two groups are operated differently. Several UFC events are held every quarter, giving UFC fighters 2-3 fights a year. Strikeforce fighters are often waiting for months and months for their bouts.

Tim Kennedy, one of Saturday night's main eventers, waited a year for his bout, despite having no injuries holding him out of competition. Considering fighters only receive purses when they fight, how often they fight affects how much money they make.

Strikeforce fighter Tarec Saffiedine tweeted his support of Larkin, saying, "Ooooohhh yeaahh BONUSES! Thx u lorenz!"

UFC champion Georges St-Pierre once famously dropped to his knees in the cage to beg for a title shot. Larkin used the same ploy while pointing out it's not even about getting his own bonus, but it is about all fighters being treated fairly. It's sad that he even has to go to such lengths.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/strikeforce-lorenz-larkin-drops-knees-begs-bonuses-win-032128489--mma.html

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Jelly Bean runs smooth on the GALAXY TAb 10.1 [Video]

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Samsung promised to deliver Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich firmware upgrade on the GALAXY Tab 10.1 and so far the update is still nowhere to be seen. Some crafty users using the AOSP Android 4.1 Jelly Bean source managed to install it on the 10.1-inch tablet and here?s a video on how smooth the new Android version is.

If you like what you see and you have a clue about flashing ROM?s there?s a ?How to install? Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on your 10.1 GALAXY Tab just click on our source link below (Note: we can not guarantee that everything will be working fine and dandy once the new rom is installed, just be careful).

source?GalaxyTabs via Reddit

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pocketdroid/~3/ZK8cY7oTLek/

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