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Snow Has Plow Crews and Drivers Gearing Up

By: Tony Tagliavia
By: Tony Tagliavia

The snow came heavily at times Thursday, heavily enough to catch the attention of the Ingham County Road Commission.

"We've seen it around Halloween or a couple weeks later usually. This is pretty early," Operations Director Joe Pulver said.

So his crews are getting ready early, switching out gravel conveyors on the back of trucks for salt spreaders.

"It takes us about 10 minutes to change," Pulver said.

Even without salt on the roads, much of the snow melted Thursday when it hit the ground. Still, those traveling on mid-Michigan bridges should be cautious.

"Bridge decks are typically the first thing that freeze over," Pulver said. "More than likely, we'll be putting a light treatment on the bridge decks."

Some who'll be driving over those bridge decks are getting prepared too.

"The first snowfall every year we get a few people sliding in and out of the roads and into ditches. We see a lot of concern for tires," Steve Richardson of Belle Tire said.

That means old-school drivers coming in for new snow tires and others just now noticing it's time for new all-season tires. Those tires could come in handy if the snow continues.

Back at the road commission, workers will be watching to see if that happens.

"When the temperature goes down tonight, the wet pavement, is it going to turn slick? What's it going to do?" Pulver asked.

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Senate Leaders in Last-Ditch Fiscal Cliff Talks

By: Associated Press
By: Associated Press

The Senate's top Democrat and Republican say they're entering last-minute talks with the White House aimed at avoiding the fiscal cliff.
Majority Leader Harry Reid and GOP leader Mitch McConnell gave the relatively upbeat assessment after the duo and top House leaders had what McConnell called a "good" meeting with President Barack Obama on Friday.

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Presidents Day

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Presidents Day

Presidents Day History

President's Day, or Washington's Birthday as it is still legally known, was originally designed as a celebration of George Washington's birthdate.  In 1880, Congress voted to make this the first national holiday which honored an individual.  In 1968, Congress enacted the Uniform Monday Bill, to give workers as many long weekends as possible. This moved as many holidays to a standard Monday each year.  Many states were already honoring Abraham Lincoln's birthday, February 12th, and this celebration was combined with George Washington's birthday, for one federal holiday.  It is observed on the third Monday in February each year.

Facts about Presidents Day

  • According to the Julian calendar, Washington was born February 11, 1732.  The Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752, changing Washington's birthday to February 22.
  • Since 1888, Washington's Farewell Address has been read aloud in the U.S. Senate on February 22nd.
  • George Washington was the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, first U.S. President, and President of the Constitutional Convention.
  • Presidents Day never falls on Washington's actual birthdate (Feb. 22).  The third Monday in February can never be any later than February 21st.

Presidents Day Top Events and Things to Do

  • Visit Mt. Vernon, VA, Washington's ancestral home and place of both he and his wife Martha's tomb.  Admission is free on President's Day.
  • Go shopping for a car.  Presidents day weekend typically features some of the best car deals of the year as dealers try to clear out prior-year inventory.
  • Read George Washington's Farewell Address and reflect on his contributions to United States.
  • Read Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and reflect on his contributions to the United States.
  • Visit the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

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Comment #1 Thursday, January 09, 2003 5:20 PM
Man those running indicators are awesome. Really original. Don't about the poofs because I never dag anything off the dock LOL

Just like to add a clarification to you instructions: Need to add the indicators to the 'Running Indicators' folder. Might be obvious to some, but not to me

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Posts Tagged ‘ MaXPro ’

Columbia, Mo. Tint Shop “Fully Recovered” After Being Robbed

Jan 14th, 2015

Jeff Gomez's business, The Tinting Spot, in Columbia, Mo., was robbed overnight.

On Monday, January 5 at 6:45 a.m., Jeff Gomez, owner of The Tinting Spot in Columbia, Mo., received a call from police saying his business had been robbed. “We were one of 12 businesses that had gotten broken into,” he says, but there was something different about what was stolen from his shop. “They stole […]

Maxpro to Sponsor the 2014 International Window Film Conference and Tint-Off™

Apr 23rd, 2014

Maxpro Window Films, a manufacturer of automotive, residential, and commercial films, has signed on to be an Emerald Sponsor of the 2014 International Window Film Conference and Tint-Off™ (WFCT). The event is set to be held October 7-9, 2014, at the Baltimore Convention Center and will include educational seminars, an exhibition hall and the attendee-favorite […]

Service Group Distribution and Maxpro Announce Distributing Partnership

Mar 4th, 2014

Fullerton, Calif.-based Service Group Distribution (SGD) announced that it has partnered with Maxpro Window Films to distribute Pro CP and Pro HP Automotive Window Film lines in nine markets. Maxpro awarded SGD exclusive distributorship in states including California, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Hawaii. “Maxpro manufactures great window film,” says Earl Mangune, […]

Maxpro Films Manufacturing Up and Running

Jul 10th, 2013

The new manufacturing line will be able to produce all of MaXPro's lines of film.

In light of the opening of Maxpro Inc.’s new manufacturing line in Whiteville, N.C., company president Joe Cobbe sat down with Window Film magazine for an exclusive discussion about the plant as well as the vision for the young company. WFM: When did you officially become operational? JC: We ran our first run Monday. We […]


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Nokia ‘Eros’ and ‘Mars’ pop up on O2 Germany roadmap - but what are they?

File under interesting but no details, the site mobiFlip has gotten their hands on O2’s (Germany) upcoming smartphone roadmap. While there are the usual Huawei, Sony and HTC devices, two Nokia ones have raised an eyebrow.

The first one goes by ‘Eros’ and could be just a mis-spelling of ‘EOS’, the codename reportedly used for Nokia’s 41MP Lumia 920-esque phone, due for revealing next week. Then again, it could be a whole new device or just a carrier variant. Since there is literally no information about this phone’s specs, we can only guess.

Likewise for ‘Mars’. While ‘Eros/EOS’ is expected to be the 41MP device, we’re not sure what else this could be except for another Lumia variant or the long anticipated tablet. We have heard from some insiders, though have been unable to fully verify, that even AT&T has a Nokia tablet in testing. Could this be that device or just new version of a current Lumia design? (It’s not the Lumia 925, as that has a separate listing).

Unfortunately, we just can’t know until more information, including specs, leak out. But it’s nice to know that Nokia still have a few surprises left up their sleeve, and those on O2 should be relatively excited.

Source: mobiFlip; via: Engadget; Thanks, Muessig, for the tip!

Reader comments

Nokia ‘Eros’ and ‘Mars’ pop up on O2 Germany roadmap - but what are they?

Obviously, the Mars is a landscape slider. I can't believe no one else has been able to figure this out but me.

808 PureView was codenamed Hyperion (Titan god of light). EOS is Hyperions daughter.
808 PureView is getting some kids soon.

Huh, that's an interesting bit of Greek mythology. The 808 has always been cool, it'll definitely be good to see some more equally innovative devices

Mars was the Roman God of war, Ares was the Greek God of war. Off topic I know.
Sometimes the code names seem alittle bit better than just a number though
"Strong and powerful, Lumia Mars!"

"Seductive design, the Lumia Eros. Because your ears want to be made love to"
Can you tell I dont work in advertising :)

As well as the Greek God of love. it seems to me that more than a mispell of the word EOS/Eros whoever came up with these names mixed Greek and Roman mythology:
Eros: Greek God of Love
Mars: Roman God of war as well as father of all the romans because husband of Rea Silvia, the mother of Romolo and Remo, the former the founder of Rome.

Citizens of Finland, please enlighten this American. Did, or do the Finnish people worship the Norse Gods? If so, I'd like to see the "Odin", or "Thor". Names to which I'd become familiar long before Marvel comics brought them to prominence. If I should buy a 920 I thought of naming it Mjolnir. After all, I have seen one used as a hammer.

They "did", but they don't now. Its primarily a secular state. I would presume there are random churches to the norse gods knocking around, but that's not surprising as seen as there are norse churches in America too.

Well, no we didn't. Finnish people had their own gods back in the dark ages. And there never were any churches build for those, nor are there naturally any now. Vikings (Swedish, Norwegian and Danish of origin) worshipped the Norse Gods. But you are right about Finland being a secular state (although 70-75% belong to some religion, but most don't practice any religion, they are just born into it and never get around of leaving).

Religions like that died LONG time ago if your country was situated in Europe. Similar gods were worshipped yes and Nokia has used plenty of Finnish originated codenames.

What about Fafnir, the builder of Valhalla, and watcher of the treasure? A less known name but more original....

If a Lumia's size equals the Earth's moon (luna) size compared to the Mars' size, I could be a tablet device ...

Don't expect a new devide and even less a variant of the EOS or anything.
I know Americans find this normal in the USA and some seem to have a problem grasping this, but in Europe we DON'T *do* variants. The phones are the same for everyone, the carriers pick the ones they want to sell and there's no such thing as "exclusivity". That "oh, we want a specially design phone for us" is just an American trend.

That said, why can't they call it "Eros"? Didn't AT&T nicknamed one as "Elvis"? That's that. Either a spelling error (highly doubt it) or just a different nickname.
Eros and Mars are most likely the 925 and the Eos.

Well it could be. Note that it says "Lumia 925 (California)". I read that as in "16GB version". Mars could be the 32GB one. Let us see...

but then why use "Lumia 925" for 16 gigs and just dismiss the number for the 32 gigs version? THey would have written "Lumia 925 (some word)". I do believe is another phone. Maybe a phone around the 520-820 range?

Also, forgot to mention, let us remember that the 32GB is supposed to be a Vodafone exclusive. So the use of another name may be because they're trying to negotiate the phone still.

But we're all talking about new phones...we should also point that O2 Deutschland does NOT have the 920 with them. So Mars can ALSO be just the 920.

That's not how it has worked for past 6 years. Codenames is the phone model , while RM-XXX ( RM-XX for tablets like 770, 800 etc) is the exact hardware build.
N9 with 16 and 64GB version were called simply Lankku as its codename.

Mars has a mountain that covers an area the size of Arizona and slopes at a 5 degree angle to a height of 14 miles, thrice the height of Everest. It's name is Mons Olympus and would be a fitting tribute to the enormous bulge that is the lens cover. I'm going to carry mine stuffed down the front of my pants. Can't wait to hear the ladies say "So, Cowboy, is that Mount Olympus in your pants or are you just happy to see me?"

It could go both ways. They might also say "Is that a Mons in your pants or are you just happy to see me?" Oh the mortification!

while i agree with most of your points, the original iPhone was an exclusive to t-online in Germany
PS.: This commenting system IS SO BROKEN...

Isn't it obvious.. These are the next generation Nokia devices with quad core and 1080p... Not to mention new innovative features❕❕

Eros is the "Greek" god of love...Mars is the "Roman" god of war. Cupid is in fact the Roman god of love. And Ares is the Greek god of war.

 But it’s nice to know that Nokia still have a few surprises left up their sleeve

Really? Nokia is a phone manufacturer. You can expect a new phone every 6 months and as we're talking about Nokia - probably even more. You should know that by now.


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Cape Cod opponents lose court bid to stop research tower

Wind farm opponents lost a court bid to stop construction of a weather monitoring tower in Nantucket Sound this month. A group of boaters and others asked for an emergency restraining order to keep Cape Wind from placing the data-gathering unit in the water. The suit, separate from an earlier suit filed by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, was filed in Barnstable county. That judge sent it on to federal court, which ruled that the group failed to show any reason why the tower should be halted immediately. The alliance is pursuing a similar legal suit in federal court, which is expected to take several years to pass through the court system. "We expect to be in the water by the end of October," says Cape Wind attorney Dennis Duffy.

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jamie goode's wine blog: Slovenian Sauvignon

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Slovenian Sauvignon

Must say a little more about the Simcic Sauvignon Reserve 2004 from Slovenia. It's Sauvignon, but not as you know it. The grapes are harvested relatively late and then, rather than press the juice off straight away or after just a short skin contact, as is normal for whites, the skins are given an extended maceration of about a week. This results in a deep coloured wine with some of the characteristics of a red wine: a bit of tannin and bold, herb-tinged flavours. There's sweet, grapey, melony fruit here, together with a bit of grassy herbal character. It's distinctive, warm and intense. I wouldn't say it's profound - after all, this is Sauvignon, and it lacks true complexity or minerality. Also, I could understand some people writing this off as clumsy. But I like it because it is interesting and it makes me think about what I'm tasting. It's available in the UK from H&H Bancroft, who have just taken Simcic on, but isn't yet on their website.

Labels: ,

At 11:00 PM, Blogger David said...

Hi Jamie,

I recall "Wine finds", a company now sadly defunct I thin, importing Ed Simic's stuff in the mid to late 90's and intreresting stuff it is too. Their Bdx blends are are simple but really rather good I thought after a few years in bottle (4-5)

At 11:53 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sounds interesting but looks naf!
In which century do slovenian graphic designers reside?

At 4:59 AM, Blogger Marcus g58 said...

Interesting. Not at all in the style of the Movia Tocai that's more widely available in N America.

Thanks for mentioning where we can find it.

At 7:53 AM, Blogger Mike Tommasi said...

Hi Jamie

I go to Slovenia every 2 months or so for business so I have had a fair sampling of the excellent local produce...

This wine is by Marjan and Salko Sim?i?, note this is a common surname and there are other Sim?i? winemakers.

My personal favourite is Edi Sim?i?, with his son Aleks he makes some of the most interesting wines in Slovenia IMHO...

keep up the excellent work

At 9:25 AM, Anonymous Doug said...

If you are after wines in the Slovenian style try the more readily available examples from Gorizia (Friuli) or Carso. Some of the vineyards even straddle the notional border. Princic Dario makes a deliciously resonant Sauvignon, quite amber, from prolonged skin contact as well an exceptional three way blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon which contrives to be pretty and robust at the same time. Zidarich and others in Carso use the native Slovenian Vitovska grape to make delicious wines with thrilling acidity. Reds are made from Terrano, a variant of Refosco, and are customarily 11.5-12% abv or Schiopettino. Most growers, and they are all fairly small, work biodynamically, with minimal and even no added sulphur, and absolutely no filtration, which is why the whites are often cloudy. The most intellectually challenging wines are the amphora-aged ones of Gravner - even for my "wired-for-weird" palate they are OTT.

At 3:51 PM, Blogger EVWG said...

This wine sounds quite interesting. It seems that in NYC only the pinot grigio and chardonnay are available but I am on the lookout for this one. I really enjoy trying wines that have a unique edge to them. It doesn't always turn out positively but it is always fun. Thanks for peaking the interest of this wine geek.

At 6:14 PM, Blogger FiloBianco said...

The style in which Simic is crafted is fairly common across the Slovenian border. Josko Gravner and Radikon are arguably the best producers on the Italian side.

After a few years there is still a lot of debate amongst wine nutzo if these wines are oxidized and crap (mostly from people who got tired) and those who favor the different aromatics arising from this technique. What I know is that Gravner since his 2001 vintage has been using this technique couple with some terracotta jars and wine come out rather clean and polished yet lening onto the kind of Simic style. I think it's a good compromise after all...

PS. Good to see you Mr Mike Tommasi... Sono Filippo e scrivevamo su IHV...

PPS. Sierra Nevada ? My favorite when back in SanFran. You should try their Special/Limited Editions though...

At 9:01 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was in Slovenia and was lucky enough to turn up at Simcic just as a Swiss wine merchant was tasting his was through the whole range, and they invited me to pull up a chair.

I actually preferred the cheaper ones - I thought the top-end ones were trying too hard. But the Chardonnay and the Tokaji (dry) were brilliant IMO.

Half the vineyards are over the Italian border if I remember rightly.

At 10:50 PM, Anonymous Kevin said...

Simcic has been taking Decanter medals over the last 3 years. Gold for Vino Passito Leonardo in half bottle. Also Teodor is tops.
This year the JAKONCIC Carolina White has topped them all with a Decanter Trophy, several of my friend have tried it and its fabulous. Try latevintage.co.uk

At 8:09 AM, Anonymous Levitra said...

:-) ochen\' zaebatyj blog!

At 7:16 AM, Blogger Vladimir said...

Hi Jamie

Marjan Simcic is very charismatic, one might even say different, just like his wines.
A few years ago I took a photo of him and his wife Valerija, just when they were bottling into Double Magnums. The link is
www.latevintage.com then RED then TEODOR RED RESERVE DOUBLE MAGNUM (click on bottle to see their photo)

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Martha McClellan Joins Hamel Family Wines

Posted on July 26, 2013

Hamel Family Wines (“HFW”) of Sonoma Valley announced that esteemed winemaker Martha McClellan has joined the winery as its consulting winemaker. Founded in 2006, HFW is a family winery that produces a limited quantity of wine from its organically farmed, estate vineyards.

“Simply put, Martha McClellan is one of the most renowned winemakers working today,” noted HFW’s founder George Hamel “More importantly, Martha is an even better person who shares our same passion for family and great wine. We’re thrilled to have her onboard to help us realize our dream of producing superior wine from the historic property.”

McClellan will work directly with HFW winemaker John Hamel and viticulture consultant Phil Coturri on crafting wines from HFW’s estate vineyards. She will also assist in designing HFW’s winery and caves adjacent to its estate house on Sonoma Highway in Sonoma Valley, due to open in Spring 2014.

"I am very excited to be included in the HFW project and to experience the care, passion and incredible attention to detail that has gone into it,” said McClellan. “The huge potential of the vineyards, when combined with the newly built state of the art winery, caves and hospitality area, can only help us exceed expectations for the wines we can make. It is both an honor and joy to be able to be part of it."

Robert Parker, the famed wine critic and founder of The Wine Advocate, described McClellan as having an “extraordinary resume, limitless talent, and a perfectionist, nearly obsessive, attitude toward making world-class wines.”

Beginning her winemaking career in Germany, McClellan remains the only American woman to have earned a degree in Oenology and Viticulture from Geisenheim University. McClellan served as associate winemaker for Napa Valley’s Harlan Estate for six vintages before taking the winemaking position at Sloan Estate in 2001. In 2006, she joined Checkerboard Vineyards on Diamond Mountain in Napa Valley. McClellan, and husband Bob Levy of Harlan Estate, also have their own wine project, Levy & McClellan.

About Hamel Family Wines

Hamel Family Wines (“HFW”) is devoted to the production of limited-quantity, estate-grown wines that express a true sense of purpose, place and the fun that was had in making them. HFW has been crafting limited quantities of artisan wines from premier grapes grown in their Sonoma Valley vineyards since 2006. For more information on Hamel Family Wines, visit

Region: Napa & Sonoma
Job Function: Winemaking

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"That Wuthering Height," said Churchill of his Broadcasting House nemesis, the towering Scot who dominated British radio in its most crucial years. And of WSC Reith wrote, "I absolutely hate him."

Mr. Robbins, a journalist, was a founding director of the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan. He is a regular contributor to Finest Hour and resides in Victoria, B.C., FH82

Churchill was at his alliterative best when he condemned Hitler and Mussolini as: "these men of the microphone and murder." The dictators, combining vile propaganda with incessant lying, made radio a servant of totalitarianism.

Out of government office in the middle 1930s, Churchill had few opportunities to broadcast He felt frustrated because he could not talk regularly and directly to the people of Britain about the ever-increasing menace to peace and freedom posed by Germany and Italy. He also felt his criticism of the British group that sought to appease the dictators was being muted.

John Reith, an unusually tall Scot who was head of the British Broadcasting Corporation, relished the power he had to exclude Churchill from Broadcasting House in London. Radio at that time was the monopoly of the publicly-owned Corporation, so it is easy to understand how Reith incurred Churchill’s displeasure. Churchill claimed that for eight years Reith barred him from radio but this, with good reason, is generally dismissed as Churchillian hyperbole.

The mutual antipathy of the two men is a strange and somewhat sad chapter in British politics. However, it is clear that the fault lies heavily on Reith’s side despite the tendency of certain authors to sum it up as a collision between one big ego and another. Impishly and memorably, Churchill stylized Reith as: "That Wuthering Height." The paths of the two men crisscrossed frequently in the years preceding the Second World War and fate decreed that Reith would spend a period in the war cabinet.

Reith was endowed with many talents but lacked genius; he never forgave himself for that, and irrationally developed the hideous habit of blaming his inner deficiency on those who held any office higher than his own. To Churchill, he seems to have been an irritant slightly akin to another giant of a man, General de Gaulle.

Ebullient, and driving himself and everyone else hard on to victory, Churchill was not to be diverted from his central purpose by irritants. For Reith, it was vastly different. A dark-minded introvert, he was incapable of establishing a rapport with a thunder and lightning extrovert of Churchill’s historic stature.

Reith’s spleen is written large in his diaries, which run to over two million words. His criticism of Churchill often dribbles on quite absurdly and finally he descends to this: "I absolutely hate him." But it has to be said that Reith had a remarkably long hate list dating from his early days. Churchill’s genius and magnanimity were beyond Reith’s reach and comprehension. Reith was handicapped by an off-putting, austere nature that contrasted too starkly with Churchill’s warm friendships which had the hallmark of loyalty.

There was no primrose way to the top for Reith, who was born in 1889. His father, a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, had charge of a church in Glasgow but never had much money. A large family drained his small resources. John in his boyhood was extremely bad-tempered and failed to show his parents proper respect. When he was fifteen he was sent to Gresham’s School, in the hope that his conduct would improve. He was unhappy at first, but soon settled down to his studies. He out-distanced his classmates in the schoolroom, and on the playing field shone at rugby. When he became seventeen, family finances were insufficient for him to remain at the school and, to his unending disappointment, he lost the chance of receiving a university education. A five-year apprenticeship was arranged for him at a locomotive company. Before embarking on that, he spent some time at Glasgow Technical College and later reinforced this by attending night classes which enabled him to gain certificates to· launch him on his career with a London company. He served in the First World War in the front line and was wounded. Having proved his courage and displ~yed engineering expertise, he discovered he had a well-spring of determination along with a capacity for leadership. His organizing and administrative qualities were strongly apparent. Nevertheless, his fatal flaw could not be hidden: he confessed to "intense hatred" for a couple of the officers above him.

Leaving hospital after recovering from his serious wounds, he had the ingenuity to take advantage of his prewar engineering contacts to get an official British appointment at an arms production plant close to Philadelphia. His American experience was a crucial factor in shaping a future that was to be crowned with a peerage.

From 1916 to 1917 he was a tremendously effective supervisor of arms inspection. He spared time to speak publicly on the war and attracted attentive crowds. He found Americans outgoing and sympathetic. He could fire unwanted employees while continuing to hold the allegiance of the remainder of tb~e staff. Wealthy and influential industrialists opened their doors to him and he learned to walk beside them with an extraneous show of ease that was to convert him into acceptable company for kings and bishops. He believed that, at last, he had come face to face with his true self. Imbued with a sense that he was destined to achieve great things, he realized his resolution and ambition were now twin strengths. Eventually he was replaced by Americans and headed hox~e convinced he was more rounded, more confident, more the man he dearly wished to be. But he failed to take several of his important American lessons permanently to heart and paid the penalty psychologically. Hostile circumstances of his own making might have engulfed him without the therapeutic support of his diary.

Peace, and his impending marriage, emphasized the necessity for him to make his mark quickly. Compelled to lower his sights, he became general manager of a provincial factory. He was outstanding at his job but the firm’s defects, and the renewed stirring of his political aspirations brought disenchantment. Privately, he designated the firm "filthy" and labelled head office executives "skunks." He was glad to leave and yield to his yearning to be in London.

At no period of his life was Reith hesitant about writing to, or approaching, anyone of leading rank who might favour him with advancement. Resorting to his customary technique, he steadily probed a variety of possibilities and was rewarded by proving himself a first-class general election aide to a key Coalition Conservative unlikely to forget Reith’s role in working all-out for party interests. Reith was elated at his entre6 into political circles where he rubbed shoulders with Lloyd George and other statesmen. A seat in the House of Commons was his goal.

What happened next was totally at variance with anything he had foreseen for himself. That scientific infant named radio ("wireless" in Britain) was squalling into existence. Reith saw an advertisement for a general manager of the British Broadcasting Company (forerunner of the British Broadcasting Corporation) and applied. Undoubtedly, he was given what the English term "a nod and a wink" that his candidacy was well-timed. He was appointed and thus won a power base with ramifications that escaped his immediate notice because of his complete ignorance of radio. He did not attribute his appointment to political pull. His intensely held Christian beliefs had prompted him to pray before he was interviewed. Obviously, this would not be very remarkable in his generation and, indeed, he is justly credited with ensuring that the Christian ethic was not neglected by the new medium.

The upheaval of the 1926 General Strike consolidated an alliance consisting of Stanley Baldwin, who was Prime Minister; Neville Chamberlain, Minister of Health; and Reith. They were a triumvirate of future appeasers already suspicious of Churchill’s bold and restless temperament, Churchill was Chancellor of the Exchequer and the post was his for two major reasons:

Chamberlain had rejected it and Baldwin was shrewd enough to prefer Churchill inside the boat rather than outside where he would be free to sink it — and then build and steer his own vessel.

The ultra-cautious Baldwin had the cooperation of Chamberlain and Reith in keeping Churchill in check and off the air during the strike. Churchill, drafted to the British Gazette — an official paper deemed necessary in the crisis — exhibited his life-long mastery of journalism and thoroughly enjoyed his editing and publishing duties. It would be simplistic in the extreme to conclude he was unaware that the triumvirate had connived to fill his days with anything but a radio speech.

Although the British Gazette was too robust for some cabinet members, Chamberlain confirmed in private the worth of its contribution. H~added that the advantage of its publication was more than doubled by the ability to control the radio outlet through which Baldwin had spoken soothingly to sixteen million listeners.

Reith preened himself on what he considered to be radio’s part in warding off downright panic, but had to concede that the independence of the growing network had been dented by the government’s backstage control.

The pioneer British Broadcasting Company was owned by manufacturers of radio equipment. In 1927 there was no noisy accompaniment of controversy when it was transformed into the British Broadcasting Corporation, with reliance on public funds from licences for radio sets. Reith was its director general, the seal was set on its monopoly and headline writers dubbed it "The People’s Network." Later on there were critics who complained Reith was treating it as his feudal estate.

The impact of radio, especially before the advent of television, was dominant. Britain had a fresh and exciting form of entertainment interspersed with knowledgeable broadcasts on the arts, and lessons by experts relayed to schools. Reith’s programming was coated with religion, and this endeared him to ecclesiastics.

Politicians had rapidly recognized the significance of radio in molding public opinion. Rei~h stood in the centre of an arena where (given his disposition) sword-play with Churchill was inevitable.

The pervasiveness of radio, and his impressive contribution to the structure and constitution of the BBC, turned Reith into a powerful figure. He was at the side of monarchs, prime ministers and church leaders advising them about their radio speeches. The splendour and pageantry of national occasions saw him carefully orchestrating every broadcast and doing his utmost to avoid a slip-up or a flop. The participants were grateful. He was the recipient of a knighthood and honorary degrees, but that did not stop him being peevish. He thought he deserved higher recognition than a knighthood. At a formal ceremony, he glanced at decorations worn by his companions and afterwards egotistically recorded his comparison: he was convinced he had striven harder than they had for the same type of medal. Disgust overwhelmed him.

As the years passed, Reith continued to block Churchill’s access to the BBC whenever he could. Rarely was Churchill allowed on the air to talk about India, a subject of enduring concern to him. He was not keen on rushing Home Rule for India. His prescient fear was that the subcontinent would be plunged into bloodshed; he also foresaw the aftermath of a river territory doomed to be fertile breeding ground for recurring problems. The issue widened the gap between Churchill and Reith.

The two had contrasting roles in the 1936 Abdication crisis. Reith, depressed and bewildered, joined the ranks of pessimists in wrongly assuming that chaos —not a monarch — would reign in Britain. Churchill blazed with defiant loyalty for King Edward VIII, who preferred the twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson, to his throne. Reith stage-managed the Abdication broadcast for the King, whose new title, Duke of Windsor, was granted by his more worthy successor and brother, George VI. Edward’s farewell speech was embellished by Churchill; no Sherlock Holmes was needed to detect his inimitable style.

Since admiration for Hitler was Reith’s blind spot, he was contemptuous of Churchill’s early rallying cry urging Britain to prepare itself to meet the coming assault by the Nazis on free countries. His diaries express his approval of Germany. He was positive the Nazis "would clean things up." It is not surprising that he went on to extend his admiration to include Mussolini. Chamberlain had taken office as Prime Minister in 1937 and Reith eagerly obeyed him by denying Churchill adequate opportunity to rouse the British by speaking to them over the radio as they sat in the threatened security of their peaceful homes.

By 1938 Reith was weary of his workload. In-fighting at bureaucratic meetings, as well as entrepreneurial sniping at the BBC monopoly, were demeaning in his eyes. Chamberlain manouevred him into the chairmanship of Imperial Airways. It was a desert far removed from the political sphere and his super-ego did not welcome the readjustment. Of greater moment was his rude and late awakening to the tyrannical intentions of Hitler. His patriotism, never in question, went to the fore with the sturdiness that had characterized him in the First World War. The trouble was that his shining peacetime accomplishments gave him a grandiose notion of the place he should occupy to help defeat the enemy.

He floundered for a while following the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, but when 1940 dawned he was Minister of Information under Chamberlain. In the House of Common~ he represented Southampton; the seat was uncontested when he decided to seek it. Churchill was already in the government as First Lord of the Admiralty, a portfolio he had also held from 1911 to 1915.

In May Germany invaded the Low Countries and France. The British had had enough (cynics said: "too much’9 of Chamberlain; Churchill succeeded him as Prime Minister. Emerging from his wilderness years, Churchill could now broadcast without hindrance. From Reith’s standpoint, the irony was that the radio ban had the effect of lending extra force to Churchill’s message: his magnificently inspiring voice, hitherto unfamiliar to listeners, was commanding and refreshing compared with Chamberlain’s dreary tones.

Unfaltering determination and abiding faith in victory were Churchill’s clarion calls. The British responded instantly and heroically. Because of his broadcasts, the English language had become part of the armoury of freedom.

Reith’s rage at Churchill’s premiership bordered on apoplexy. "Heaven help us" was his verdict on learning that Churchill would also be Defence Minister. It was "awful" that Churchill would be empowered to have direct dealings with the chiefs of staff. His animosity was mingled with apprehension that he would be downgraded or tossed aside. It ~annot be overlooked that no less an authority than Sir John Colville, private secretary to Churchill, has listed Reith as a failure in the Ministry of Information.

After France fell, Germans on the French coast were visible from Dover. Britain was an island fortress, pounded night and day by guns and planes. Anyone brilliant and courageous was sure to be recruited at once by Churchill. Reith had ample qualifications. Churchill, ever averse to harbouring a grievance, appointed him Minister of Transport. His apologists maintain that the short space of time Reith spent in the information and transport ministries impeded him. In October 1940 he was appointed Minister of Works and elevated to the House of Lords. Churchill’s hand in this is scarcely indicative of deep-rooted prejudice against him.

Reith ceased to be a minister in February 1942. Genuine departmental success had eluded him. Attracted by planning reconstruction he did much that was useful but nothing to justify retaining him in government.

Men who come late to politics in Britain are apt to leave early. The parliamentary fray baffles them and they get lost in the Whitehall civil service maze. Reith was a classic example. The word compromise did not fit comfortably into his vocabulary and that completed his undoing. His behaviour in office was most curious. He gloated over the fact that he declined to attend a meeting of ministers summoned by Churchill. Yet, he stopped by 10 Downing Street to walk to the Commons with the great man. At night, his diary vituperation was indulged in to the grossest extremity. Churchill was "essentially rotten," a ~~swine,~~ a ~ unfit to govern. Conversely, it is necessary to recall that R. V. Jones, the noted British scientist, has said his meetings with Churchill produced in him the feeling of "being recharged by contact with a source of living power."

Churchill was not cold towards Reith. In chats, and on the phone, he attempted to jolly him along, as the English would put it. But memoranda from Churchill, or an inquiry from a Downing Street assistant asking for news of progress, upset Reith, whose description of such routine was that it amounted to Gestapo methods.

Reith dithered on being offered excellent opportunities by Churchill and his associates to employ his gifts in various areas in the wake of his dismissal from government. He thrashed about in limbo until he hit on his own solution. He joined the Royal Navy and discovered the Admiralty could use him at full stretch. He attained the rank of captain and handsomely redeemed himself by his dazzling organization of the supply of materials for D-Day and beyond.

Churchill’s gratitude manifested itself in the form of a decoration: Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (Military). Admirals, not captains, are the more likely recipients of that award. Any gleaner of Reith’s diary would be forgiven for standing up and cheering on reading he was very pleased with Churchill’s action.

Reith had injudiciously strayed from the confines of diary pages in his attacks on Churchill. He did not disparage him in print but poured his diatribe into every ready, or half-ready, ear. It was odd of him to think he could re-enter government burdened with that tactless propensity.

Attlee’s Labour Government in 1945 were not in a hurry to single him out to assist them. But the postwar years brought him honour after honour and rewarding company and public corporation work. In the field of Commonwealth and Empire telecommunications and development he was preeminent. Intractable to the end, he refused to let the sunshine of praise dissipate his innate gloom. His theme was that Churchill had ruined him — demonstrably untrue. Reith’s misfortune was that a cankerworm of hate deep within him destroyed his peace of mind. It is appropriate to cite by contrast what Sir John Colville has stressed. Churchill told him during the Second World War: "I hate nobody except Hitler — and that is professional."

Sir Edward Grey (Foreign Secretary, 1905 to 1916) declared that Churchill was a genius whose faults would be forgotten in his achievements. Let us hope Reith’s achievements will not be forgotten in his faults. It is a hope Churchill, in his infinitely generous heart, would surely have shared.
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text:
via thisisnthappiness.com

The RIAA negotiates to CUT artist Royalties.

I’m sure this is not the first time the RIAA has done this, but now that the company is under constant scrutiny by the net press we see a clear view of who these people really represent. Apparently the going rate for today’s artist is 13% and the RIAA is arguing in negotiations currently happening it should be lowered to 9%.

What the hell is going on here? 9%? For the person who created the music and lyrics? When we are talking about music sales aren’t we talking about the selling the music and lyrics?

Yes, the RIAA doesn’t think the record companies are making enough and that musicians are clearly making too much. I mean, they get 13% now. Like they deserve 13% for writing and creating the music that people are paying for. Hogwash! Someone had to, you know, encode it. That’s worth at least 40%. And hey, these shoes don’t shine themselves! So they’re pushing to get that rate cut down to a shameful 9%, giving artists even less of a slice of the pie than before. – gizmodo.com

If your a musician you need to stay independent. There really is little reason to get into bed with any major label. If your music is great and you promote yourself online aggressively, fans will find you and over the long tail you will make your money. You don’t even have to give Apple or Amazon a cut if you don’t want. Install your own online store like the Easybe.com or WP e-Commerce store.

photo credit: sandrino


text:
State Bar of Wisconsin Return to Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission Awards

In the Matter of the Arbitration of a Dispute Between

Case 73

No. 58847

(Saturday Hours)

Mr. Jeffrey J. Wickland, Staff Representative, Wisconsin Council 40, AFSCME, P.O. Box 551, Menomonee Falls, WI 53052-0551, appearing on behalf of Local 1747.

Michael, Best & Freidrich, LLP, by Attorney Ronald S. Stadler, 100 East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 3300, Milwaukee, WI 53202-4108, appearing on behalf of the City of Oconomowoc.

Pursuant to the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement between the parties, Oconomowoc City Employees, Local 1747, AFSCME (hereinafter referred to as the Union) and the City of Oconomowoc (hereinafter referred to as either the City or the Employer) requested that the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission designate a member of its staff to serve as arbitrator of a dispute regarding the assignment of a bargaining unit member to work Saturdays from April 15th through October 15. The undersigned was so designated. A hearing was held on October 3, 2000, in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, at which time the parties were afforded the full opportunity to present such testimony, exhibits, other evidence and arguments as were relevant to the dispute. The hearing was not transcribed. The parties submitted post hearing briefs the last of which was received on November 1st, whereupon the record was closed.

Page 2

Now, having considered the testimony, exhibits, other evidence, contract language, arguments of the parties and the record as a whole, the undersigned makes the following Award.

To maximize the ability of the parties we serve to utilize the Internet and computer software to research decisions and arbitration awards issued by the Commission and its staff, footnote text is found in the body of this decision.

The parties agree that the issues before the Arbitrator are:

1. Did the City violate the Labor Agreement when it scheduled one employee from the Parks Department to work on a Saturday and have another day off during the Monday-Friday workweek during the period from April 15 through October 15?

2. If so, what is the appropriate remedy?

2.01 - Rights. The Union recognizes that, except as hereinafter provided, the City has the right to manage and direct the work force. Such rights include, but are not limited to, the following:

a. To determine the number of departments and the type of services to be provided;

b. To introduce, change or eliminate equipment, machinery or processes;

c. To hire, promote, lay off or transfer employees in accordance with the terms of this Agreement;

d. To discipline or discharge employees for just cause;

e. To establish reasonable rules and regulations, and to direct the job activities of employees;

f. To schedule hours of work and overtime in accordance with the terms of this Agreement;

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g. To abolish and/or create positions, provided that the Union will be notified in advance and permitted to bargain the wage rates of new positions;

h. To subcontract work, provided that jobs historically performed by members of the bargaining unit shall not be subcontracted, and further provided that no present employees shall be laid off or suffer a reduction of hours as a result of such subcontracting.

2.02 - Exercise of Rights. The City agrees that it will exercise the rights enumerated above in a fair and reasonable manner. Further, nothing contained in this Article shall be construed as divesting an employee of rights granted elsewhere in this Agreement or under statutes, and the rights contained herein shall not be used to discriminate against any employee or to undermine the Union.

. . .

6.02 - Parks and Recreation Department. The regular workday shall be eight (8) hours and the regular workweek shall be five (5) eight (8) hour days or forty (40) hours for the Parks and Recreation Department. Overtime pay at the rate of time and one-half (1 1/2) shall be paid for all time above eight (8) hours per day and forty (40) hours per week. The daily work schedule shall be 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

. . .

7.01 - Overtime Premium. Time and one-half (1 1/2) will be paid for any hours worked by full-time employees over the regular schedule of hours and time and one-half (1 1/2) will be paid for all hours worked over forty (40) hours per week by regular part-time Water Utility employees. In the computation of overtime, holidays and other days off for which the employee receives pay shall be considered as time worked. In lieu of payment for overtime, an employee may elect to receive compensatory time off during the calendar year for each hour of overtime worked, up to twenty-four (24) hours per year. Such election must be made in writing prior to January 1 of each year, provided, however, that if an employee elects to receive compensatory time off, but such time off is not taken during the calendar year, such compensatory time off not taken will be paid in the following January at the rate in effect on the previous December 31. Compensatory time off must be taken in an eight (8) hour segment (one eight (8)

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hour segment may be split into two (2) four (4) hour segments - either the first four (4) hours or the last four (4) hours of the workday) and at a time mutually agreed upon between employee and his department head. The employee must give one (1) week's advance written notice to his/her department head of the proposed compensatory time off date, unless a shorter notice is mutually agreed upon.

. . .

7.03 - Overtime Scheduling. When overtime work becomes available, employees within the bargaining unit shall be given an opportunity to perform such work before non-bargaining unit employees are called in. Overtime shall be distributed on a departmental basis, with departments being defined as Department of Public Works, Parks and Recreation Department, Waste Water Treatment Plant, Water Utility (excluding Meter Readers), and Meter Readers. When overtime work becomes available in one of the departments noted above, the opportunity to work such overtime shall first be offered to the employees regularly assigned within that department. In the event that all employees within the department are already working or are unavailable to work, such overtime may then be offered or assigned to employees from other departments.

7.04 - Equalization. It shall be the policy of the Employer to equalize overtime as much as possible among employees within a particular job classification. A list stating the accumulated overtime hours of each employee shall be maintained and posted on the bulletin boards at the City Garage, the Parks and Recreation Department, the Waste Water Treatment Plan and the Water Utility.

. . .

. . .

22.02 - Arbitration. In the event that any grievance has not been resolved in one of the two (2) preceding steps, the grievance may be appealed by the Union to arbitration by written notice thereof to the City Administrator. Upon receipt of the appeal, the City Administrator and the Union representative shall meet and attempt to agree upon a neutral arbitrator. If within the ten (10) days after the first meeting the parties have not been able to agree upon a neutral arbitrator, either party may request the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission to: (1) appoint an arbitrator, or (2) submit a panel of arbitrators from which the parties will alternately strike names until one arbitrator remains. The arbitrator so selected shall hear the dispute and shall render a written

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decision which shall be final and binding upon the parties. Costs of arbitration shall be divided equally between the Union and the City. In rendering his decision, the Arbitrator shall have no authority to add to, subtract from, or modify the provisions of this Agreement.

. . .

24.01. This Agreement is subject to amendment, alteration or addition only by a subsequent written Agreement between, and executed by, the City and Union where mutually agreeable. The waiver of any breach, term or condition of this Agreement by either party shall not constitute a precedent in the future enforcement of all its terms and conditions.

. . .

The Employer provides general governmental services to the people of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Among these services is the operation of a public park system. The Union is the exclusive bargaining representative for employees in the City's DPW, Parks and Recreation Department, Waste Water Treatment Plant and Water Utility.

Article VI of the collective bargaining agreement sets the hours of work for employees in the Parks and Recreation Department: "The daily work schedule shall be 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday." In negotiations over the 1987-88 collective bargaining agreement, the parties entered into a side bar agreement regarding Saturday work:

The parties agree that notwithstanding the provisions of Section 6.02, the City may, at its option, schedule one employee in the Parks and Forestry Department to work on Saturday and have another day off during the Monday through Friday period as part of the regular forty (40) hour workweek during the period from April 15 through October 15, inclusive, provided, however, that no employee working in the Parks and Forestry Department as of December 1, 1986, will be required to work such workweek, but such employee may voluntarily agree to work such workweek. The City may, however, require any employee hired, promoted or transferred into the Parks and Forestry Department after December 1, 1986, to work such workweek.

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This agreement was restated as a Memorandum of Understanding in the 1989-91 contract, and again in 1991 as part of the 1992-93 contract. In the latter agreement, the Memorandum also set forth the City's promise to offer a Section 125 plan, so that employees could opt to have insurance premiums and co-payments paid with pre-tax dollars. The Memorandum was not attached to the contracts after the 1992-93 agreement. The Section 125 plan, referenced in the MOU, was put into effect and remains in effect to the present time. It is not mentioned in the body of the collective bargaining agreement.

In negotiations over the 1994-1996 labor agreement, no reference was made to the MOU, the Saturday work schedule or the Section 125 plan. In negotiations for the 1997-1999 contract, the City included a proposal to attach the 1991 MOU to the contract. The notes of an October 1996 negotiating session kept by the Union's then-staff representative, Sam Froiland, include a notation: "Re: MOU, don't attach old 12/19/91 MOU, Dave will write up current practice." Froiland's notes from a subsequent bargaining session in December do not mention the MOU or the write-up of the existing practice, but after listing insurance, wages, comp time, vacation, classifications and duration, the notes say "Other items on City's agenda, other than housekeeping items, City drops."

Throughout the 1980's, an employee in the Parks Department worked a Saturday schedule by mutual agreement with the City. That employee retired in 1989, and the City hired Dave Simonis to replace him. Simonis worked weekends for several weeks, with offsetting time off during the week. The City then went to a system of soliciting volunteers to work weekends, and paid the time at overtime. This went on until 1995 or so, when the employees went to management and asked them to set up a more predictable procedure. A five-man rotation was established for weekend work, and this system continued until March of 1999, with the employee working an average of four hours of Saturday overtime each week. At that time, the City sought volunteers for the rotation and no one volunteered. A memo was issued announcing that employees would be designated to work Saturdays from April 15 through October 15, with a weekday off during the normal Monday-Friday workweek. The memo cited the Memorandum of Understanding as authority for the assignment and the flexing of hours. A grievance was filed challenging the City's right to assign an employee to weekend work as part of his 40 hour workweek. The grievance was denied and the City designated a number of employees in 1999 and 2000 to work Saturdays. All of the employees designated came to the Parks Department after December 1, 1986.

Additional facts, as necessary, are set forth below.

The Union

The Union takes the position that the City violated the clear terms of the collective bargaining agreement by scheduling an employee for Saturday work and that the 1991 Memorandum of Understanding cannot excuse the violation. The language of Article VI could

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not be clearer. The workweek is 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Any work outside of those hours must be paid as overtime. The City's failure to pay overtime for work on Saturdays is a blatant violation of this clear provision.

The City's citation of the old MOU is misplaced. The MOU directly conflicts with the contract and if it is to be given any effect, there must be overwhelming evidence that the parties intended to amend the contract and intended that amendment to continue in effect indefinitely. The contract, by its terms, requires that any subsequent amendment be stated in writing and be executed by both parties. Plainly, the MOU was effective in 1987 through 1993, when it was specifically negotiated. In 1994 and thereafter, the parties did not negotiate any extension of the MOU, did not attach it to the contract and, until this grievance, did not attempt to apply it to any employee. Instead, overtime was paid for Saturday work. It is evident that the MOU ceased to have any effect at the expiration of the 1991-1993 contract. The history of bargaining and the practice of the parties from 1994 through the date of this grievance compel this conclusion.

The absence of the MOU from the 1994-96 and 1997-99 agreements cannot be attributed to a mutual mistake or any form of misdealing by the Union. The City prepared the drafts of those agreements, and if there is any blame for the current dispute, it lies with the City. For its part, the Union views the absence of the MOU as the natural consequence of the City's failure to renew the side agreement in negotiations. Indeed, in October of 1996, the parties discussed the issue of the MOU, with the City proposing to attach it to the 1997-99 contract, and the parties agreeing that Dave Simonis would write up a description of the then-current practice  the rotation of weekend overtime among five employees. At a subsequent meeting in December, no action was taken on this issue, and the City announced that it was dropping the bulk of its proposals. Having specifically raised the issue, and having failed to obtain agreement, the City cannot now claim that the MOU continues to have any effect.

The City's argument that the MOU creates both the Saturday work exception and the Section 125 plan, and that the continued existence of the Section 125 plan necessarily means that the Saturday exception likewise continues, has a surface appeal, but is not analytically sound. Granting that the Section 125 plan was created by the same document as the Saturday exception, and that it continues, there is nothing about the Section 125 plan that directly conflicts with the other terms of the collective bargaining agreement. The Section 125 plan was offered by the City on its own initiative, and was not demanded by the Union. The plan may be mentioned in the MOU, but it was not a quid pro quo for the Saturday exception, and there is no tie between the two. It continues to exist despite the expiration of the MOU because both parties have acquiesced in its existence, as an extra-contractual benefit.

At one time, the MOU did have the effect of modifying Article VI. That time has passed. The Saturday schedule of hours has not been used since the early 1990's when the MOU was still renewed with each version of the contract. The parties have not agreed to renew the MOU since the 1991-93 contract, and have behaved as if it was no longer in effect.

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The Union intended that it no longer have effect, and if the City intended otherwise, it was incumbent on the City's bargainers to achieve that result at the negotiating table. They have failed to do so, and the Arbitrator must find that the clear language of Article VI governs this dispute. It follows that the City has violated the contract.

As a remedy, the Union proposes that the hours worked on Saturdays in 1999 and 2000 be compensated at time and one half, and that the employee be compensated for the eight hours during the normal Monday-Friday workweek that he was forced to take off under the City's unilateral system. Employees are entitled to work a normal schedule, and are entitled to time and one half for Saturday work. Both of these entitlements have been impaired by the City's actions, and both violations must be remedied. Additionally, the Union proposes that employees who were compelled to use vacation time to avoid Saturday work be credited with that vacation time. In the alternative, the Union proposes that the Arbitrator reinstate the status quo ante, by ordering the City to provide six hours of pay per week to each man who worked the Saturdays, to reflect the earnings that would have been realized under the rotations system  40 hours at straight time and four hours at time and one-half.

The City

The City takes the position that this is a straightforward case. The parties have contract language setting the normal hours of work for the Parks Department. They also have a Memorandum of Understanding that allows the City to assign one employee to work a Saturday instead of one day in the normal Monday through Friday schedule, during the period from April 15th through October 15th each year. The Memorandum was first negotiated in 1987, and was signed again in 1990 and 1991. In the 1991 version, in addition to the Saturday work exception, the parties created a new benefit, a Section 125 plan. This 1991 version was attached to the 1992-93 collective bargaining agreement, but nothing in its terms tied the MOU's duration to the contract, and there is no expiration date. After the 1992-93 contract, the MOU was not renegotiated and was not attached to any successor agreement. Neither was there anything in the terms of any successor agreement terminating the side letter. To the contrary, the members of the bargaining unit continue to receive the benefits of the Section 125 plan provided for in the MOU.

The City dismisses the Union's apparent belief that the MOU evaporated when it ceased to be attached to the collective bargaining agreement. The MOU was a separate and binding agreement. It was expressly negotiated and voluntarily signed. In return for the Saturday work agreement, the City provided employees with a Section 125 plan. There was no expiration date contained in the MOU, and since the Section 125 plan continues in full force and effect, it is obvious that it never expired. The Union has proposed side letters in negotiations which contained duration clauses, and it clearly knows how to limit the duration of a side agreement when it intends to do so. Neglecting to staple a side agreement to the contract is not one of the available methods. If the Union wished to terminate the Saturday

Page 9

work MOU, it was incumbent on its bargainers to take some action to accomplish that end. The Union cannot plausibly argue that MOU simply went away of its own accord at some undefined point.

While the City has not always exercised its right to require an employee to flex his schedule to work Saturdays as part of the normal workweek, that decision does not in any way diminish the underlying right. The MOU expressly states that "The City may, at its option, schedule one employee" to work Saturdays. The MOU anticipates that the City may elect not to schedule an employee for Saturdays, and the City's decision to instead use a voluntary rotation system for a period of years is completely consistent with the terms of the MOU. The City went to the rotation system because of complaints from the bargaining unit. This good faith attempt to satisfy employee concerns should not now be used to deprive the City of a right it bargained for across the table.

The MOU gives the City the right to select an employee to work a Saturday schedule, and promises employees the right to participate in the Section 125 plan. There is no expiration date on the MOU, and the Section 125 plan remains in force. There is neither a legal basis nor an equitable basis on which to conclude that the MOU has expired. Accordingly, the grievance must be denied in its entirety. Even if a contract violation was proved, the City asserts that the record is not adequately developed as to which employees, if any, worked on specific Saturdays and that no monetary remedied is justified.

The Merits

This case turns on a single question: Did the Memorandum of Understanding expire with the expiration of the 1991-1993 collective bargaining agreement? Article VI is absolutely clear as to the normal workweek and the obligation to pay a premium for hours outside of the normal Monday-Friday, 7:30 to 3:30 schedule. Working an employee on Saturdays for straight time wages and scheduling him off for a day during the regular workweek, is obviously inconsistent with the contract. The only basis for finding otherwise is if the parties expressly agreed to allow an exception to Article VI. The Memorandum of Understanding provides such an exception. If it expired on December 31, 1993, the City violated the contract by working employees on Saturdays in 1999 and 2000. If it did not expire, the City did not violate the contract.

The Memorandum itself is silent as to duration. The principal argument for its continued vitality is that the Section 125 plan established by it remains in effect, and the MOU is the only contractual basis for such a benefit. The principal arguments for expiration are that by attaching it to the contracts in 1987-89, 198-91 and 1992-93, the parties demonstrated the

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manner in which they indicated its continuation, and the fact that the City felt the need to propose that it be attached to the contract in negotiations over the 1997-99 contract, failed to secure the Union's agreement, and did not attach it to the contract. 1/

1/ I do not see any significance to the voluntary systems used from 1990 to 1998 and have given them no weight in deciding this case. The voluntary systems arose at a time when the MOU was unquestionably in effect. They were in response to employee complaints. The MOU specifically provides that the City has the option of requiring one employee to work a Saturday work schedule, and the necessary implication is that they may assign Saturday work on a different basis if they choose. The fact that the City decided it could staff its weekend needs in a manner more acceptable to the employees than that provided in the MOU says nothing about whether it continued to have the option of falling back on the MOU if it wanted.

After the 1992-93 contract, the parties never expressly agreed to continue or renew the MOU. Nor can it be the case that the MOU independently continued ad infinitum after it was last executed in 1991. Unlike side agreements that seek to clarify the applications of ambiguous contract language, and are thus tied to the underlying contract provision, the MOU in this case directly contradicts a provision of the contract. It is itself a collective bargaining agreement, and public sector labor agreements in Wisconsin cannot have a duration of more than three years. 2/ If the MOU remains in force, it must be because the parties intended that it automatically renew itself with each new collective bargaining agreement.

2/ ". . . The term of any collective bargaining agreement shall not exceed 3 years." Section 111.70 (3)a(4), Stats.

Intent is a question of fact. The evidence of intent in this case is inferential, and it cuts both ways. The 1991 MOU has two sections. The first paragraph provides the exception to Article VI at issue here. The second paragraph provides for a Section 125 plan. The Section 125 plan continues in effect, and the reasonable inference from this is that the MOU continues in effect.

Balanced against the inference of the Section 125 plan is the history of attaching the MOU to the contract when it was intended to be effective. The act of physically attaching a side agreement to a contract is clear evidence that the parties intended to continue it, at least for the contract term. A reasonable implication of the failure to attach it to a successor agreement is that it is not longer in effect. That is certainly not conclusive. Had, for example, the parties failed to attach the MOU but continued to allow Saturday to be scheduled as a regular work day for one employee under successor contracts, the evidence of the practice

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would easily outweigh the failure to staple the letter to the agreement. That type of evidence is not present here, since the City voluntarily abandoned the Saturday schedule in favor of voluntary weekend overtime in the early 1990's.

By itself, the failure to attach the MOU to the contract might not outweigh the continuation of the Section 125 plan as evidence of the parties' intent. However, the significance of attaching the MOU to the contract is considerably bolstered by the evidence of what occurred in bargaining in 1996 for the 1997-99 contract. According to the AFSCME staff representative's bargaining notes, the City expressly proposed in that round of bargaining to attach the 1991 MOU to the new contract. The Union disagreed, and the contract was resolved without further discussion of the issue and without attaching the MOU. This suggests two things. First, that both parties saw significance to the attachment of the MOU to the contract. If it made no difference and both parties understood that the MOU renewed automatically whether it was attached or not, there was no reason for the City raise the question. More to the point, the fact that the Union refused to attach the MOU and suggested that it would make a substantive counter-proposal, and that the issue was not resolved thereafter, indicates that City was put on notice as of that time that the Union was not agreeing to renew the MOU. Since the question before me is whether the parties intended to automatically renew the side letter with each new labor agreement, the fact that the City asked the Union to indicate agreement by attaching the MOU to the 1997-99 contract, and the Union declined, strongly suggests that they did not mutually intend automatic renewal.

It remains the case, of course, that the Section 125 plan is still in effect, even though it is provided for by the Memorandum of Understanding and should have expired if the MOU expired. The response to this is quite simply that there has been no dispute as to the Section 125 plan. The City has not sought to terminate it and the Union has not objected to its continuation. It does not conflict with any provision of the collective bargaining agreement, and does not need a separate written agreement to remain in effect. It requires only acquiescence. Having remained in effect on mutually agreeable terms for over seven years past the MOU which introduced it, the Section 125 plan has the status of an extra-contractual benefit established through custom. The implication of the 1991 MOU having lapsed is that the City may, upon giving notice, terminate the Section 125 plan at the end of the current labor agreement, and put the onus on the Union to either negotiate for its continuation or lose the benefit.

In concluding that this side letter did not automatically renew, the Arbitrator would stress that he is not attempting to articulate any set of rules governing side letters and MOU's generally. The decision here is driven by the specific evidence of what the parties intended with respect to renewal or expiration of the 1991 MOU. Here, the parties indicated agreement on the MOU in a particular way, by attaching it to a series of contracts. Their subsequent behavior, in failing to attach it to successor agreements, then discussing it in negotiations, disagreeing over the Employer's proposal to once again attach it to the contract, and settling that round of negotiations without attaching it, indicates that physically attaching the MOU to

Page 12

the contract had significance to these parties. The evidence of intent is inferential, but in this case the most reasonable inference from that evidence is that there was not a mutual agreement to automatically renew the 1991 MOU whenever a new contract was signed. Accordingly, I conclude that MOU was no longer in effect in 1999 and 2000 when the City assigned an employee to work Saturdays at straight time from April 15 to October 15.

The contract provides that the normal workweek is Monday through Friday, and that hours outside of the normal workweek are paid at time and one-half. By assigning an employee to work a five-day workweek including Saturday and excluding a weekday, the City violated Article VI.

The Appropriate Remedy

The City violated the contract each week that an employee was scheduled for Saturday work between April 15 and October 15 in both 1999 and 2000. The Union suggests that the appropriate remedy is to pay eight hours of pay to compensate for the weekday that the employee should have worked but was scheduled to be off, and four hours to compensate for each Saturday hour that was worked at straight time, rather than overtime. In the alternative, the Union proposes that the Arbitrator compensate the employees for the loss of the status quo ante, the rotation system under which they would have received forty six hours of pay  forty hours at straight time during the week and four hours at time and one-half on Saturdays. The City responds that the Union has not proved any specific damages to specific individuals.

With all due respect to the City's argument, there is no dispute that the City changed its approach to Saturday work in 1999, and worked employees on Saturdays at straight time. That is the essence of this grievance. While there are no payroll records in evidence to show specifically who was affected by the change, that does not mean that no remedy can be ordered. Clearly, a remedy must be limited to the employees actually affected, and that means those employees who actually worked Saturdays at straight time wages, with a scheduled day off during the normal Monday to Friday workweek. As to those employees, there are three plausible remedies that might be ordered:

1. The employees could be granted an additional four hours of pay per Saturday worked, in recognition of the fact that these hours were worked outside of the normal work schedule and should have been paid at time and one-half;

2. The employees could be granted an additional six hours of pay, in recognition of what they would have earned under the voluntary system followed in previous years;

3. The employees could be granted an additional 12 hours of pay per Saturday worked, in recognition of the fact that the Saturdays hours should have been paid at time and one half, and that the employees should have been scheduled to work an additional day during the normal workweek rather than being forced to have a day off.

Page 13

Each of these possible remedies poses analytical problems. An order of four hours' pay is the minimum required, and it protects the right to time and one half for hours outside of the normal schedule. However, it fails to, in any way, recognize the additional violation caused by the order not to work a day during the normal workweek. The order of 12 hours' pay compensates for both the failure to pay time and one-half, and the refusal to allow the employee to work a normal five-day workweek. However, it also compensates for time not actually worked, and goes beyond what would normally be considered make whole relief. The order of six hours' pay attempts to replicate what would have been paid under the old system, but is not directly related to the hours actually worked in 1999 and 2000.

Faced with an imperfect choice of remedial options, I conclude that the payment of six hours of pay to each affected employees for each Saturday the employee actually worked, along with a prospective order to follow the terms of Article VI, is the most appropriate remedy. /3 Recognizing that the six-hour figure does not relate to the hours actually worked, it has the benefit of paying employees what they would have received but for the contract violation, and costing the City what it would have paid but for the contract violation. The City pays two hours of pay beyond the time actually worked, but this recognizes the second aspect of the contract violation  the involuntary imposition of a schedule different than that promised by the contract. Further, it denies the City the opportunity to have, by virtue of the contract violation, Saturday coverage at a lesser overall cost than it would otherwise have paid. The employee is not fully paid for the eight hours' of work lost during the normal workweek, but this recognizes that the forty-hour schedule was maintained and the weekday time was not actually worked.

3/ In constructing the remedy, I have not attempted to provide any compensation to employees who elected to use leave time to avoid working a Saturday. Reimbursement for such leave time would ignore the fact that the time was taken and paid. Further, it is entirely speculative to suppose that the employee took the time solely because of a distaste for Saturday work, and would not have used leave time at the same rate and roughly the same time had he or she not been assigned to a Saturday schedule.

On the basis of the foregoing, and the record as a whole, I have made the following

1. The City violated the Labor Agreement when it scheduled one employee from the Parks Department to work on a Saturday and have another day off during the Monday-Friday workweek during the period from April 15 through October 15.

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2. The appropriate remedy is for the City to:

a. Cease and desist from scheduling one employee from the Parks Department to work on a Saturday and have another day off during the Monday-Friday workweek during the period from April 15 through October 15.

b. Make the affected employees whole, by paying to each employee who was scheduled to work a Saturday as part of his or her normal workweek, and actually worked the Saturday, an additional six hours of pay at the employee's then-effective regular hourly rate of pay for each Saturday so worked.

Dated at Racine, Wisconsin, this 30th day of March, 2001.

Daniel Nielsen, Arbitrator


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How Effective Is Ciprofloxacin for Ear Infection?

Over 300 branding variations of ciprofloxacin exist.
Children experiencing inflamed nasal and throat passages may be more susceptible to developing a secondary condition, such as an ear infection.
Medical help may be required to treat an ear infection.
The presence of an ear infection may cause fever in infants.
Ciprofloxacin is commonly prescribed by physicians for ear infections, and its effectiveness depends on the cause.
An ear infection may cause painful, swollen lymph nodes.
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The effectiveness of ciprofloxacin for ear infection depends on the cause. A medical professional will be able to utilize a number of methods to determine if ciprofloxacin is the best possible treatment for this uncomfortable condition.

Ciprofloxacin belongs to a class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones. Antibiotics of this nature tend to fight bacteria by interfering with DNA rewinding, causing a cessation of protein synthesis, which is primarily responsible for halting the reproduction of bacteria. If bacteria cannot colonize through reproduction, it is much easier for the body's natural immune system to fight the remaining bacteria and resolve the infectious condition.

Ear infections can be minor or severe, ephemeral or chronic, and their characteristics are largely dependent upon the sufferer's demographics, genetics, and lifestyle. Known as otitis clinically, this common presence of bacteria in any part of the ear may cause extreme discomfort, even impairing hearing in some cases. The symptoms of an ear infection include but are not limited to inflammation, pain, or drainage coming from the ear's opening. This may also be accompanied by a clogged feeling, likely due to puss production as a by-product of the body's bacterial war.

It is in the best interest of a person suffering from an ear infection to immediately consult a medical professional. Although oftentimes minor, if left untreated, ear infections can lead to more chronic issues, such as hearing loss. For this reason, it is highly recommended to begin treatment at the earliest onset of such a condition. Ciprofloxacin for ear infection is a likely prescription; however, a number of other antibiotics and methods for treatment are also common. It is also important to be aware of the possible side effects of ciprofloxacin for ear infection before agreeing to this treatment plan.

A commonly used antibiotic, ciprofloxacin is widely availability on the market and affects a broad range of bacteria. Over 300 branding variations of ciprofloxacin exist, including cipro, bayclip, and ciproxin. Ciprofloxacin for ear infection is commonly prescribed by health care providers along with other conditions like heart infections, digestive disorders, and infection of the respiratory tract. These are a few of the many possible uses for cipro prescriptions, and ongoing research is constantly being conducted to broaden the drug's horizons.

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Post 4

Ciprofloxacin has always been effective for my ear infections. But I can't use it anymore because it's interacting with my other medications. I have diabetes and I experience high blood sugar and diarrhea when I take ciprofloxacin now.

Post 3

@anon210600, @burcinc-- Ciprofloxacin is definitely not useless for ear infections and there are times when antibiotics are necessary.

Ciprofloxacin is a potent antibiotic that covers a large spectrum of bacteria and is very effective at treating ear infections. Depending on which bacteria is present and how often the patient uses ciprofloxacin, its effectiveness can vary. This doesn't mean that it is useless.

I absolutely agree that antibiotics should not be abused. We have to use antibiotics only when necessary and we have to use the right antibiotic to make sure that our body will continue to benefit from them.

Ear infections can be very serious. If they are not treated in time and are allowed to repeat

often, they can lead to damage in the eardrum and even loss of hearing. So if a doctor has prescribed ciprofloxacin or another antibiotic for your ear infection, you should take it. Avoiding antibiotics and seeking alternative treatments is not very wise in my opinion.
Post 2
My doctor prescribed ciprofloxacin first for my ear infection last month. It seemed to work while I was still on the medication but once my course was completed, all my symptoms came back.

Then, my doctor prescribed amoxicillin which cleared up my ear infection right away. So the ciprofloxacin was useless.

Post 1

Antibiotics are not the answer to everything. Always try alternative treatments, since antibiotics might affect you and the bacteria's resistance. Try something like the eardoc or other alternative treatments.

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Everyday Witchcraft: Simple Steps for Magical Living

Fun, simple, and easy ways to integrate your spiritual beliefs as a Pagan with your everyday life.

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The Price of Water

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

What is the price of water? At my house recently, it was $2,400—a rather large sum of money to deal with a rather small problem (tiny iron bacteria in my 340 foot deep well, which while harmless to humans, make the water smell and taste bad, and build up gunk inside pipes and appliances, all while staining everything it touches a charming reddish-brown). The money was to treat the water and then filter it.

It wasn’t fun to hand over all that cash, but it got me thinking about the price of water. Most of us, me included, tend to think that water is free. After all, it can be found just lying around in lakes, streams, and oceans, and falls from the sky as rain. If you turn on your faucet, water comes out. What could be easier?

True, if you own a house in a city or town, you will probably pay some kind of water tax; essentially paying the city to take make sure that the water is clean and safe to drink, and doesn’t have nasty little critters like iron bacteria in it. Folks like me who live in the country sometimes have to pay to have a well dug, if there isn’t one on the property, or the one you have runs dry.

But that’s not the real cost of water. When I started really thinking about it, I realized that in our modern world, there are all sorts of hidden costs, many of which our ancestors never dealt with.

Not that water came without a price for them—on the contrary, they were well aware of how precious it was. If they wanted water to drink, they carried it by hand from wells, or used pumps that required actual muscle. If the rains were scarce, they irrigated their fields by hand, dragging water from nearby sources if they had them. And there was no guarantee that there would be water for crops, or even to drink. Little wonder that they prayed to gods who controlled the weather, and prized water as one of the four great elements.

These days, we don’t have to work nearly as hard for our water, but that very fact has led us to disconnect ourselves from the price we pay to have our modern lifestyle. We have polluted many of our precious sources of water with runoff from chemicals from manufacturing, as well as chemical fertilizers (not just from huge factory farms, but also smaller farms, and regular folks who want perfect lawns).

And then there are the manufacturing plants. According to the World Wildlife Federation, “It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton; equivalent to a single T-shirt and pair of jeans.”[1] That’s a pretty pricy outfit.

One of the hot-button topics these days, especially in upstate New York where I live, is fracking—hydraulic fracturing, which is a technique which is used to access natural gas in shale deposits under the surface of the land. Fracking uses many poisonous chemicals, and the natural gas itself can end up breaking through and contaminating the groundwater in a huge area surrounding the wells. Most people know that, and either think it is plenty safe, or very dangerous, depending on which side of the argument they come down on. But what you hardly hear anyone talk about is the fact that the process uses thousands of gallons of water—which is then too contaminated to be used again for drinking or crops.

Much of the United States is currently in the middle of an ongoing drought which shows no sign of ending anytime soon. Farmers and ranchers in the Midwest are at risk of losing everything, and the loss of corn crops and cattle have already driven up the cost of food. There’s a price to that water as well. Droughts have decimated other countries too, especially those of third world countries. It is estimated that over a billion people across the world don’t have access to clean, drinkable water.

Human beings have built huge cities in what was previously uninhabitable desert land. My parents and sister live in San Diego, a beautiful city where fifty percent of their water is brought in from the Colorado River, another thirty percent comes from the Bay-Delta in Northern California, and a mere twenty percent comes from local supplies. According to the San Diego County Water Authority, “Local surface water runoff from rainfall is an important part of the San Diego region’s water supply, but it hasn’t provided enough water to meet all of the region’s needs since 1947.”[2]

There are plenty of other examples for how human beings are using and abusing this precious natural resource, but I think you see my point. Water isn’t really free after all. There is a price in water attached to every action we take, every decision we make in our day-to-day life.

The point of all this musing, brought on by my own unexpected confrontation with the hidden realities of dealing with water, was not to depress you. It’s not a political statement of any kind, or even an environmental rant. (Although believe me, I could give you one of those if you wanted it.)

It’s nothing more than a gentle reminder that in our own way, we are as dependent on the precious element of water as our ancestors were. And although we may have easier access and the ability to move water to the places where we want it—some of the time, within serious limitations—this only increases our need to use it wisely.

We can all do this in little ways every day, with very little sacrifice. Buy your produce from organic farmers who don’t use chemical fertilizers. Instead of getting new clothes each time you want a new outfit, pick up something gently used from a consignment store. Keep your own water sources as clean and protected as possible. Don’t try to grown the perfect lawn, and focus on plants that grow naturally in your area, since they are usually designed to work in that particular ecosystem. Do a little research and become better educated about the price of water in the modern world.

As Pagans, I believe we have a responsibility to be mindful of the planet we live on, and how we treat its gifts—earth, air, fire, and water among them. We can’t always change the big picture issues (although we can certainly try), but we can be more conscious about our own patterns and choices.

Yes, there are many ways in which water is free and readily accessible, and that is a wonderful thing. But in some ways, it also comes with a cost, and not just if you happen to have iron-eating parasites in your damn well.

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Deborah Blake is the author of Everyday Witch Book of Rituals (Llewellyn 2012), Witchcraft on a Shoestring (Llewellyn, 2010) as well as The Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook (2010) and several other books. She lives in a 100-year-old farmhouse in upstate New York with five cats who supervise all her activities, both magickal and mundane.

  • Greybeard
    Greybeard Tuesday, 18 February 2014

    My well cost me almost $10,000. I haven't paid a water bill since moving out to the country. After 10 years, I'm probably almost even when I figure how much city people pay for water these days. My well water also does not have chlorine or other toxic chemicals.

    As for saving resources by recycling clothes, I've found that going skyclad on my land in summer saves all the water and energy used for laundry, avoids toxic laundry detergents, and of course the production of cotton results in about 1/3 of all toxic pesticides. Polyester production uses huge quantities of petroleum and is done in huge chemical plants by giant corporations. Its far, far more green to go skyclad all day every day in pagan space where we pagans are not forced to hide by those anti-body zealots who have "put clothes on the natives" for thousands of years. Going skyclad takes money away from mega-corporations and saves large amounts of water, energy, and toxic chemicals. Don't use what you don't actually need.

    Another way to save water and avoid use of chemical fertilizer is to go out to your garden, lawn, or trees when you need to pee. Urine is almost totally sterile and a great fertilizer for any plant friends. One woman I knew in Santa Fe never wasted water to flush pee. Her gardens and lawns thrived. Giving your biological animal waste back to nature is the most direct recycling we can do. Plants love it. The only caution is to move around. Too much of any kind of fertilizer in the same place is too much. Live naturally.

    Living pagan every day. Greybeard

  • Deborah Blake
    Deborah Blake Tuesday, 18 February 2014

    Some of those solutions only work if you live in the country with no nearby neighbors :-)

    However, things like using low-flow toilets and only flushing when necessary help too.

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outfit inspo

One of my new year’s “do it better” (I don’t like to do resolutions per se), was to maximize what’s in my closet. Make  use of that shirt I haven’t worn in forever, layer different pieces in a better manner, break out those dresses I haven’t styled in a while…you get the point.

Anyways, I’ve been relying on my Pinterest “Just My Style” board to bring some of these aims to life. All it takes is a quick glance at some of those outfit inspirations and I’ve got a new idea for that plain white button down that hasn’t seen the light of day in a long time. Therefore, I thought I’d share some favorites.

Happy Wednesday…and thanks for reading!

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  1. says

    gaaahhhhh! wish i was better at warm weather dressing! i am spoiled here in SF in that i rarely have to do it! all these girls look so so chic in their simle pretty, outfits. how do they do it??!! i kind of adore the girl in pic #3. can i be her please?

    can’t wait to see you mix and match up your wardrobe! i need to do that more too…

    tara recently posted..layer on

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Three Florida Supreme Court Judges Fight Back

Never before has there been such a concerted effort to remove justices from Florida Supreme Court.

"Our own Supreme Court denied our right to choose for ourselves".

A group with ties to state lawmakers unhappy with several of the court's rulings is coordinating a multimillion dollar effort to unseat the judges. For the first time ever the judges are being forced to respond.

"That's why they are trying to remove three fair and impartial Supreme Court Justices, so they can replace almost half the court with judges who will let them bend the rules".

Governor Rick Scott has taken an uncharacteristically low-key tone on the retention issue.

Reporter: "When people ask you how they should vote what do you say to them?"

"That they should vote," answered Scott.

But Defend Justice from Politics, the group behind the pro judge ad, says that there is a reason Scott is trying to appear hands off.

"Whether he says he is behind this or not, the people of Florida are starting to understand that if these justices aren't retained they don't know who's going to replace them and they don't like that," said Spokesperson Lisa Hall.

In more than 30 years of "yes" or "no" elections, no judges have ever gotten less than 59 percent of the vote, but then no one has ever run a multimillion dollar campaign against the judge either.

The justices themselves, appearing on a Sunday news show, say more than their jobs is at stake.

"We can't take ideologies into consideration. My goodness what kind of system would we have?" said Supreme Court Justice Fred Lewis.

Amendment 5 on the November's ballot also seeks to give lawmakers more control over the court.

Should voters remove the judges from the court, a judicial nominating commission, partially appointed by Governor Rick Scott, would recommend at least three names to Scott for replacement.

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