New York Times v. Google, Twitter in TheFlyonTheWall.com "hot news" case

Google and Twitter taking on the NYTimes

While Arthur O. Sulzberger, Chairman and Publisher of The New York Times, holds that Google is the NYTimes "friend" and they have a good working relationship - even to the point of hounding SFGate.com regarding this blogger's claims to the contrary - a recent Amici or "friend of the court" brief filed by the New York Times and other large news organizations openly attacks the work of online news aggregators like Google News.

If the New York Times likes Google so much, why would it attach itself to the friend of the court brief?

The backstory is the Barclay's Capital v. TheFlyOnTheWall.com case. In that case, New Jersey-based TheFlyOnTheWall.com was accused of taking information on bank upgrades and downgrades of stocks that was originally produced by Barclays and the other banks involved in the copyright infringement lawsuit lawsuit.

Barclays holds that TheFlyOnTheWall.com website “systematically and impermissibly accesses” its proprietary equity research and does none of its own. Barclays and the banks enjoined in the lawsuit, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., contend their information is "hot news" and "that the regular, systematic, and timely taking and redistribution of their recommendations constitutes misappropriation, which is a violation of the New York common law of unfair competition," as the case reads.

Case was bounced around before

The Barclay's Capital v. TheFlyOnTheWall.com case originally started in June 26, 2006 and then reassigned to the court of U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on June 8, 2009, according to the case document presented in the link above. It never became a jury trial because Barclays and it's banking partners elected to waive a damages claim, and perhaps they reasoned a jury trial could go against them. Summary judgment motions that would have ended the case by tossing it out of court were denied on November 6, 2009; the case was set for a March 8th 2010 bench trial.

Copywrite claims and "Hot-News"

As part of the process of the original 2006 lawsuit against TheFlyOnTheWall.com (or "Fly") that company signed a confidentiality agreement and claimed the information on Barclay's and Merill's recommendations were coming from analyst and broker sources inside those banks's research departments which created the information. Barclay's claimed to end that pipeline of information and settlement talks started over statutory damages, which are much less that any a trial jury would be asked to evaluate. Fly agrees that it committed copyright infringement but that it is not liable for what is called a "Hot-News" misappropriation.

The basis for the "Hot-News" concept is a 1918 case called International News Service v. Associated Press. In that case, the AP reported World War 1 stories from Europe at its own expense and that the International News Service got from the AP by "copying AP’s stories from bulletin boards and early editions of newspapers printed by AP’s eastern affiliates" according to the Barclay's case text.

The International News Service then sent those stories to The West Coast where it sold the news stories paraphrased as its own story. The Associated Press got a permanent injunction blocking the International News Service from the Court of Appeals, after losing the original case decision.

The Supreme Court supported the Court of Appeals ruling under the view that the AP spent money and worked to make the story that the INS then used as the basis for its own news sales. In other words, INS made money off the AP's initial work, even though it was not a direct copy, and did no original work of its own.

You can see where this can apply to the modern Internet news debate. It's the reason The New York Times and Gannett (which owns USA Today) jumped in and filed "friend of the court" briefs. If they can successfully reintroduce the hot-news legal argument it will allow them to sue Internet companies with glee.

But standing in the way of such a modern application is Justice Brandeis minority Supreme Court view of that time: “the general rule of law is, that the noblest of human productions -- knowledge, truths ascertained, conceptions, and ideas -- become, after voluntary communication to others, free as the air to common use.”

While the INS hot-news legal view was challenge by the Second Circuit court's Judge Learned Hand as not intended to establish a general doctrine, it still became part of state common law in several states, including New York. The most famous recent "hot-news" case was National Basketball Association v. Motorola, Inc. in 1997.

In National Basketball Association v. Motorola, Inc., the hand-held pager displayed NBA game action news as the games were in progress. The information that was sold by Motorola via its SportsTrax device and for profit triggered the hot-news argument. The NBA won.

The NBA "Hot-News" view is pre-Twitter

The major problem with the Hot-News view is that it comes from a time before Twitter and smart phones. Now, a person can sent a tweet about an NBA game in progress that is then picked up by Twitter and can be used as a news feed on a blog that gains revenue from ads placed on it. The fan-generated information was not produced by the NBA itself. No sports stats sheet needs to be obtained.

But arguably the person who created the "Hot-News" is the fan, and not the NBA. The NBA can't control what its fans see its players do on the court and report to others. Adding a "no-tweet" ticket disclaimer would be impossible to legally justify if challenged. That's like asking a person not to talk about a game it saw. There's a numbers issue: the NBA game itself is so large and reaches so many people that it becomes a public event, thus the information from it is public.

Now you can see why Twitter jumped into this issue with Google. Indeed, the problem in the Barclay's case is that the "size of the impact of information" was not considered. In other words, in the view of this space, information that can be agreed to impact a large number of people should be considered public and thus more easy to distribute, even if it's for profit. The profit-takers will eventually have such a large market they will reduce the price for the information. In fact, one can claim that's what the Internet is causing to happen.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote's March 2010 Decision

In March 2010, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote established a creative injunction in the Barclay's v. TheFlyOnTheWall.com case that blocks TheFlyOnTheWall.com and other similar firms from releasing information from a research report not before four hours after the release of that report. TheFlyOnTheWall.com asked the appeals court to delay Judge Denise Cote's order while it files an appeal. This is where Google and Twitter are battling The New York Times, The Washington Post, Gannett, McClatchy, Belo, Scripps, Time, and the Newspaper Association of America, all of which filed a "friend of the court" brief that counters Google and Twitter.

The central problem with the Amici brief filed by The New York Times, et al, it is a direct attack on Google News. Page 25 of the brief reads:

One of the greatest concerns among news originators is inexpensive technology that allows easy aggregation of news. Aggregation can take many forms, including the indexing of fresh news content from one or more websites, by engines of various kinds. News stories are traditionally written to compress the key facts of a story into the opening paragraph. The output of indexing engines can reproduce the headlines, opening paragraph or sentences from originator news stories, and thereby convey the essence of the original news item. Even where an aggregator website or news application contains a hyperlink to the news item on the originator’s website, the risk remains that readers will find that reading the aggregator’s output keeps them sufficiently informed of the latest news. As a result, they may never click through to the originator’s website. If a significant number of readers find the news reproduced by the aggregator to be an acceptable substitute for reading the original story, courts should conclude that the two products compete in the INS/Motorola sense even though the two parties are not in identical businesses.

That is a direct attack on Google News and on the same process that Arthur O. Sulzberger himself has said gives a significant amount of traffic to The New York Times. I will go a step beyond that and say that Google does The New York Times a favor by in effect presenting it in Google News, and perhaps on more occasions that it had a right to have. Even if there is no click through to the website, the NY Times still has the benefit of being seen as the news producer.

Here's the full Amici brief from the news organizations:


APAMICUSBRIEF -

According to Bloomberg, Google and Twitter's counter is that...

"In our brief, we're not taking sides or focusing on the details of this particular dispute between the parties," Chris Gaither, a spokesman for Mountain View, California-based Google, said today in an e-mailed statement. "But we believe that the case raises important issues of law that could affect the free flow of important factual information online."

It's clear we're at ground zero of what will be an important legal battle that impacts the future of news online. In this, we can now see true colors of the The New York Times : it has an issue with Google, otherwise it would not have joined the Amici brief in the Barclay's case that attacks news aggregators.  Perhaps the NYTimes thought it was making a sneak attack; not any more.

Stay tuned.

Giuseppi Logan Larry Roland African American Jazz by Suzannah B. Troy

http://5cculturalcenter.org/index.html
FYI, the food is delicious.  I had a fresh carrot pudding desert that was vegan and out of this world delicious and blueberry lemonade.

Don't forget to watch my YouTube series on Giuseppi Logan from finding him all alone in Tompkins to helping him reunite with his son for the first time in 40 years!

The miracle of Apple teaching me video and YouTube helped me work a miracle.




I filmed Larry Roland, a bass player who was playing with Giuseppi Logan giving Gisueppi a rest break with a solo performance.

Larry Roland read his poem dedicated to African American jazz greats, known and unknown.  Larry Roland told me when I interviewed him after the gig that "Jazz", America's Art form was kicked off by slaves.  Larry told me his concerns for jazz greats known and unknown some in homes, forgotten, with no health insurance.  He expressed a real feeling for Giuseppi Logan.  He told me jazz greats known and unknown are dying and their spirits come down...Dying quietly.

Larry Roland's poem: Poem all of the beautiful ones
Known and unknown 




Also please note Matt Lavelle is dedicated to Giuseppi Logan booking him gigs and playing with him as well as providing support and encouragement to "G" as Matt calls him.



I used the very cool new feature which I tap the screen and the camera switches to the front and I can myself as I film myself.  I am not blushing...we are having a heat-wave!

NYU higher greed by Suzannah B. Troy

NYU is branching out from being a community crushing real estate magnate to venture capitalism!  Crain's  reports NYU is launching their own venture capital fund

Dear Blog Readers:  NYU's president is John Sexton.  He ran down to City Hall to testify Mike Bloomberg must have a third term.  Let me translated John Sexton' who is paid 1.8 million a year plus real estate and other perks courtesy of NYU.  NYU has big financial deals and real estate investments -- huge greedy goals that good friend Mike Bloomberg and socialite mega millionaire Amanda the people's Burden will aid and abet and a mayor and a real city planner -- that actually cares about the people would have said "NO!".  No is a word that NYU can't seem to understand when the community says no more mega dorms, no more supersizing our neighborhoods, no to supersizing.


I posted this comment on Crain's website and see my YouTube on a letter I wrote President Obama asking the President of the United States of America to help protect our community from NYU and helping us to get community outreach resource centers in every mega dorm where NYU and universities copying NYU's real estate greed use the term, "community facility" to exclude the communities.

By the way I continue to ask if NYU's president, John Sexton can even vote here in NYC?  Sexton supported Mike Bloomberg flushing democracy down the toilet by denying us, the people a referendum so Mike could buy, steal, win a third term -- nice example for NYU students.

Parents of NYU students, visit 120 East 12th Street and see the facade of St. Ann's Church from 1847.   St. Ann's survived everything all these years except NYU's need and greed to build yet another mega dorm.

Here is the comment:

Good to know NYU, the evil empire, posing as higher education so NYU can buy up and displace as many people and small businesses as possible is expanding their endeavors.  Karma served NYU by hiring someone who was suckered by Bernie Madoff.  NYU could care less about the communities where they occupy and gobble up prime real estate.  NYU only has one focus "greed" and being a big business that uses "higher ed" as a tax shelter for "higher greed".

Con Ed DEP Gas leak hell NYC? by Suzannah B. Troy

See my YouTube from this morning that shows all the Con Ed trucks, DEP vehicles where it looked like a bomb dropped by the North West entrance of Tompkins Square Park which was closed off by the Parks Dept. for safety.

I wrote Dollar Bill Dan Doctoroff before the steam pipe explosion by Grand Central and alerted him to William Yardley's piece in The New York Times as well as my letter in AM New York the month before Yardley's piece concerned for infrastructure and safety.

I was told by DEP it was a water main break but in actuality a source told me it was a gas leak and the FDNY responded first.

Watch the YouTube to get more of a visual of how much of the street they are tearing up and for those unfamiliar with the area DOT is getting ready to pave 2nd and 1st Avenue but it will be a short term mess in my opinion because we have had too many infrastructure breaks and I don't think they root problems have been addressed so I believe the "new" streets will be looking like this one Sunday morning.


I have a YouTube documentary series plus NY1's coverage of a water main break on 2nd Avenue and 7th Street from 3 years ago and part of the intersection keeps reopening.


I am going to be repetitive because I am tired and I want your attention.


This morning the FDNY responded and I am told it was a gas leak. A DEP guy told me it was a water main break but I heard it was a gas leak. What ever it is it looks like a bomb dropped and this is Mike Bloomberg's streets of New York ever since he pushed a reckless, stupid, greed driven development to help his rich buddies and the construction industry but at the expense of the people of New York in way too many way.

We need more press coverage on this.  We need the press to make city gov tell us how many infrastructure breaks we have had since Bloomberg came to office in each section of NYC and we need to examine how we can stop what feels like another Bloomberg Titanic problem and finally put the safety of New Yorkers first.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0oiUtXoG5c

Yes this is the YouTube from this morning in case you missed it.

I don't know what else to do except hire a hot air ballon that says "Safety First!" stop the reckless tsunami of development mayor Bloomberg and for once put the people first.  Enough is enough!

Mike Bloomberg decided that the commissioner of DOB did not have to have an architectural degree or an engineering degree. Mike and the city have been sued on this issue and lost the first round. I am assuming the judge is a friend of rich developers and blind to how many deaths and injuries suffered by this Bloomberg's reckless tsunami of development.

As told to me BP over ridded their engineers advice and I get the vibe this was the same here in NYC.

More on that later.  I have heard some news and I think news reporters will be reporting more on this soon.

The East Village, Lower East Side looks like a bomb dropped and Cooper Union next zone buster has been put on hold for 2 years while the area around the building where I filmed a YouTube voicing my concerns for the safety of the community looks like bombs have dropped and Con Ed is also a main stay there.

The tsunami of reckless development was as stupid and greedy as what brought the implosion of Wall Street on and the streets are in the worse shape they have been in years.  DOT repaving them appears to be a wasteful band-aid because the infrastructure problems have not been addressed and as the old infrastructure problems keep busting open, Mike is pushing more infrastructure expansion but all of this -- old and new expansion should have been addressed city wide before the reckless development.

Go to YouTube and search under Suzannahartist and street conditions,  Suzannahartist infrastructure and you will also find my playlist on Mike Bloomberg' streets of NY including a fire truck on the upper west side, the front wheel falls in to a hole in the street that was from infrastructure problem.  I tried to supply you with links but who knows because there is so much and I am one person.  I even show you the subway station at Union Square with water on the ground from a pipe leaking with gauze around the pipe like a broken limb.

Mike and his developer friends only cared about their reckless development and not that the city was in bad shape and not able to absorb the development including Columbia University, NYU and Cooper Union as well as hotel and condo developers all busting through zoning and wanted the people displaced and cared nothing about our safety and the conditions of our streets, way lay beneath them and a rotted, dilapidated subway system where the stations are rotted and leaking and there are so many rats I call it the MTA Rat Circus for New Yorkers standing waiting for trains.

Welcome to king Mike's "new" hideous New York.

Mel Gibson accused of slapping ex-girlfriend by Suzannah B. Troy

Dear Blog Readers:  What I express to you in this blog posting are my opinions on a low life, anti-semite....

Thank you,

Suzannah B. Troy

Adulterer, liar, anti-semite Mel Gibson is back in the news again and it is not for acting like a good Christian.   Surprise!  Surprised?  Not at all!

Mel Gibson is Yiddish for anti-semite, low life.

Adulterous partners in sin, Gibson and gal pal,  have both filed restraining orders against each other  but Gibson is rumored to be the violent one here.    He got her preggers and had a baby girl while married which doesn't make him a poster boy for being a good Christian but apparently makes him an expert on Christ.   The girlfriend and mom of their illegitimate daughter accuses him of beating her up badly according to TMZ.

TMZ at the forefront of Celebrity Dish and Disasters has the newest installment and that is Mel says she is lying.    Do you think Mel Gibson is an expert on lying?  I do.

I don't mention her name because she is of no interest to me except that she is a victim of alleged violence at the hands of a rich, Hollywood brute and America's most famous  anti-semite who has done his best to spread his hate and propaganda message using his movie.  I don't mention the name of the high tech propaganda flick embraced by Rome which is very telling as well. 

Let's see....I believe, poster boy for the Church, Mel Gibson still is legally married to his wife,  who he has 7  children with.  The wife married him when he had no money or fame.  Do you think what's her name would have given Mel, the construction worker, the time of day?  I don't think so.

What's her name  accuses him of domestic violence.    Mel being the charming, classy guy that he is is rumored to be playing hard ball with her not only fighting the charge but filing a restraining order against her!  Mel the anti-semite, drunk, adulterer has never been one to step up to the plate and take responsibility.

Why should he?  In America if you are rich, a celebrity, a politician, "connected", you don't have to plead guilty.  The well connected have a special plea just for them..."no contest" something like that...it is a plea designed for spoiled rotten people so they don't have to plead guilty when they are as guilty as sin!

That is the American justice system blinded by money, celebrity, etc.

Classy guy, Mel the anti-semite and maybe the Pope will plug him as "Father of the Year"!   I would be happy to fly to Rome and discuss  this with the Pope why I think it is deeply anti-semitic and very disturbing for the Church to embrace Mel Gibson and his anti-semitic film.  True or false?  The Pope has an email and I emailed him this piece.  True.

How a vile, low life like Mel Gibson even could make an anti-semitic film  so over the top in every way about Christ is so "Holly-woo-woo-Babylon"  and didn't  a woman die of a heart attack  watching it?  The film was clearly too much for her.  Is that considered murder?

I don't care about these creepy people but if you do Radar on Line has an exclusive interview with Mel's ex-girlfriend, mother of his newest child and she claims to be the victim here.  I do believe her.  I just don't think she is a nice person.

I care about the oil spill crisis and the massive destructive effects including the mass murder of sea life and long range results.  I can't help but feel greed and stupidity are to blame for devastating effects people can't understand yet but when I read about Hollywood's most famous drunken anti-semite I have to speak up.

Mel Gibson's father is a Holocaust denier.   I would like to sit down with the Pope and discuss Mel Gibson, adulterer, liar, cheater and also Holocaust deniers like Gibson's creepy, vile dad.

And what does the Pope and Rome do?  They take a film by such a low life,  Mel Gibson, a man that forged his fortune selling sex, violence and used Jesus who was Jewish and to make an an  anti-semitic film! 

Mel Gibson being exposed as an adulterer and liar....do you think that was the first time?  If he did hit his girlfriend, do you think that was the first time he roughed up a woman?  Gibson turning around and blaming the victim if true...do you think that was a first time?  He has  been exposed for adultery -- I am sure that was his first time (not.) 

Mel Gibson likes to tell people he has Jewish friends.  I am so glad I am not one of Mel Gibson's Jewish friends.  I am glad I am not married to him.  I don't date married men although I have met men that pass themselves off as single when they are not but it is hard for Hollywood celebrities who are married to pass themselves off as single so Mel's newest baby's mama knew she was dating a married man and she and Mel in theory knew how to use birth control.   I would not want to be in a car with drunk driving Mel Gibson who makes anti-semitic comments to a Los Angeles Police Officer and gets away with it.

Mel Gibson is disgusting...He is worse than disgusting.  I am sure the little girl he had out of wedlock is the newest Mel Gibson victim based on his vile behavior and if someone made a film right now exposing Mel Gibson including how uses money and religion Rome would not be eager to embrace the Mel Gibson further exposed now as anything but a good Christian.  Mel Gibson is not qualified to make a film on Christ and apparently he is an awful husband and boyfriend and father.

Mel Gibson is such a creep and yet he can easily find people willing to kiss his rotten to the core ego.

Mel Gibson is a big mess and he has as much chance of cleaning up his emotional oil spill as BP but I care about the oil spill off of the Gulf, all the deaths because of it and the long range disaster as well.  I don't know how this happened and ditto for Mel Gibson making a proganda film on Christ that Rome would back but Rome also let pedophiles abuse innocent children for way too long.

Apple IPhone 4 Hell by Suzannah B. Troy

 have bought every Iphone model since the first one.   I wrote Apple constantly telling them if I had a better quality camera with zoom I could have made the Giuseppi Logan documentary on my phone, hopefully the first to make a doc on their phone and show at Sundance.

When the 3GS came I had no problem picking up the new model but this time around it was Apple hell.

As far as I am concerned, the Apple Store that I had my IPhone reserved at, in my opinion  "stole my Iphone" and gave it to someone else.  The Apple manager claimed I was sent a notice that if I did not pick up the phone within 24 hours the phone would be given away.

We searched my mail and we could not find any such notice.

My last experience with the 3GS which gave me no clue nor did any Apple sales person that I might have to stand in line for many hours, perhaps even half a day.

If any sales person had told me that I would have to stand on line for hours, I would have said mail it to me when I reserved my IPhone.   I have had occasional problems finding emails, contact info, dates in my calendar but I can't tell if that is NYC's hectic pace, me or tech.

I did not have the new IPhone mailed to me because I read in The New York Post thieves were stealing IPads right in front of the Apple Store on the Upper West Side.  I thought if my IPhone gets stolen better it is stolen being delivered to the Apple Store than to me.

Big mistake.

Although the dynamo Steve Jobs has battled cancer when it came to picking up Iphones at stores in NYC it was only the young and fit,  for people that have time and stamina to stand on line.  Also people wealthy enough to pay people to stand on line and for celebrities as exposed by The New York Post including, Jason Bateman who was booed as Bateman past the reason Apple is a success, loyal customers.   Steve Jobs and Woz and many others are extremely rich -- thanks to  the loyal long term customers...like those that stood in line for enormous amounts of time that Bateman just breezed past.  Thank goodness for booing.

I have had 2 knee surgeries and I have other health issues that would make the line impossible.  I was stunned at the insensitivity by Apple  to people with handicaps and health issues but it seemed  Apple got carried away in the marketing and did not give a dam about their customers except for those willing and healthy enough to stand on line for hours and in NYC it was close to 90 degrees.

I love Apple and they radically changed my life and others I have helped like Giuseppi Logan for the better but this rates as the most awful Apple experience ever.

Everytime I walked up to a Apple customer service person and asked about the long lines and the wait -- it was their responsibility to warn me if you don't pick up your phone you reserved in 24 hours it will be given away.  I was never told that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2ME0sWl8kM

I thank Apple computer in the YouTube above for helping me to help Giuseppi Logan reunite with his son 40 plus years later who thought his Dad was dead.   I believe my filming Giuseppi, using Imovie, Apple teacher Ben teaching me how to put my work on YouTube helped Giuseppi Logan to make his first record in 40 years and to give his fans who bought his records in the 1960's great joy that he was in fact alive, eager to compose more music and more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTssjT9rAmQ

Here is the video I found right away when I posted my first YouTube on Giuseppi Logan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSb-JgMIeuA

I never imagined the little boy in this YouTube from a british film maker thought his father had died and I would reunite them 44? years ago....   My first YouTube of Giuseppi Logan playing Begin the Beguine and the clip on YouTube by the British film maker were written up in Signal to Noise by the publisher Peter Gershon in his powerful piece "Out from the Shadow".

I felt my YouTube series, Pete's powerful piece, Giuseppi's drive to continue to compose, play is about being so lost and yet so late in life finding some kind of dignity and redemption through the power of music and for me the power of Apple teaching me and opening up my world with their technology and education.

If I had the IPhone I got today and was filming with the phone 2 years ago I believe I would have had the first film made and edited on an Iphone.

With the new IPhone I can now do this and with the lessons I learned in Apple one on one.

Throwing out my Dell and buying an Apple MacBook was the best choice I made.  Wish I had had an Apple as a kid.  I can't imagine how much better my life would have been.

Buying this newest Iphone was an awful experience.  I would never reserve an Iphone and pick up at an Apple store ever again.   It was like age and health discrimination with no warnings.  It wasn't pretty to put it mildly and the communication on this and the fact APPLE WOULD GIVE AWAY YOUR PHONE if you didn't pick it up in 24 hours and I did not know this is just DISGUSTING.

It was a rotten apple experience but Apple is so good and their teaching and support is out of this world, excellent I am sticking with Apple.

I can only say this was the worst experience ever in my short love affair with Apple and the IPhone nightmares of calls dropping still lives.  I try to remind myself to hold the phone anywhere but on the sides at the bottom because it disrupts the antenna but telephone calls are dropping.

I was interested in buying the protective cover called a bumper but they were all sold out.

Another Apple hell note:  I was forced to sign another 2 year contract with AT&T.  I deeply resent being forced to sign contracts for years with companies that are providing service that is not as good as let us say Verizon.  Verizon has 4G.  Let's do math...what is better, 3G or 4G?

I will be over 50 when my contract runs out.  I hope by that time Apple gets their act together and that means a better Iphone with no contracts and choices in carriers.

Apple got me a replacement phone for the one in my opinion they stole from me and gave to someone else since I was never aware of any notification sent to me if I did not endure standing in extremely long lines that my phone would be given away.

So far I am still having trouble accessing the internet in certain places in NYC with 3G and E which is short for Edge meaning the phone is worthless as a computer and Apple would say that is an AT&T problem but Apple makes me use AT&T.   Phone works as crappy as before in terms of phone calls dropping, actually worse than my 3GS getting my emails,   but the screen is some how crystal clear sharper and the camera video options way better.

Mixed Martial Arts could save NY State Budget Crisis by Alexia Krause

Mixed Martial Arts May be the Key to Saving the New York State Budget

By Alexia Krause

With the New York state deficit hitting $8 billion, steps need to be taken in order to right the ship that is the state's budget. Recently New York Gov. David Paterson stated that the projected deficit for the upcoming fiscal year has grown by an additional $750 million. There's no doubting that the Empire State is in dire straits trying to fix their deficit.  It is extremely difficult trying to balance a state budget at a time when the country as a whole is going through some of its most difficult economic hurdles in recent history. This forces us to take a fresh look at which programs will continue to receive funding. As a result, the state has been forced to cut, reject, and outright shut down many state programs and projects in order to make some type of movement out of the red and back into the black. Many of these budget cuts (like closing down state parks and cutting funding to public schools) were rampant and have cast an unfavorable light on politicians in Albany in the eyes of many New Yorkers. However, something must be done in order to fight the ailing state economy. As coincidence has it, a good fight might just be the answer to the budget problems. 

On June 16^th, the New York State Senate passed a bill to legalize MMA in the state in an effort to help amend the state's financial problems. Opening the floodgates for MMA in New York would be more of a benefit to the state than it would to the MMA Industry. For years, promoters have happily held venues in nearby New Jersey. Mixed martial arts competitions like UFC, among others, have been banned in the state because many lawmakers felt it was too brutal of a sport (even though other legal sports like football and hockey can be just as- if not more- brutal). With the passing of this new bill, fans will finally be able to support their home state and local venues. MMA events would potentially have access to one of the most active metropolises in the world- New York City. There are dozens of great venues surrounding the state who have been capitalizing on this opportunity for years. At the UFC's most recent event held in New Jersey, there were more New York residents in attendance than NJ natives. Fortunately state legislators have finally come to the realization that legalizing MMA will open access to a new revenue stream that it gravely needs. 

By welcoming MMA in the state, as much as $11 million in economic activity could be generated for each event held. This activity ranges from salaries paid to venue workers, to an increased interest in martial arts training academies and dojos, and to tourism dollars spent in the surrounding area. At every step of the way, tax revenue is generated. Governor Paterson expects over $2 million generated annually if the bill is passed. The MMA organization UFC (who would play a large role in scheduling events in the state) is broadcasted in over 170 countries, made $5.1 million in Pay-Per-View sales in 2007 alone, and averaged 30.6 million viewers in that same year. This is 3 years ago mind you; the figures projected for the next fiscal year are much higher. This type of outreach is bound to benefit the state and bring thousands to events, thus helping the economies of struggling New York state cities.

Holding events isn't the only way that this bill will help bring money to the state of New York. In fact, the broad reach of allowing MMA to be legalized is something that will affect participants in the sport from top to bottom. For example, people who run mixed martial training gyms and programs will see a huge revenue generating boost in enrollment that will give many the chance to train and compete in their home state. This bill may even have the effect of preventing violence instead of causing it (which opponents of the bill argue) because it will allow many kids to go someplace safe after school. Studies have shown that when at-risk children are trained by mentors in a disciplined sport such as MMA, they are less likely to become involved in criminal activities. This is one of the most important aspects of the bill from a human perspective, and one of the greatest reasons why this bill needs to be passed. 

Every once in a while, a sport can transcend its origins and become a true cultural phenomenon. This is what MMA could be for the state of New York and that is precisely why this bill needs to be passed. The New York budget is going through one of its worst economic times ever, but by legalizing MMA, it can help to fight back against the deficit and make a difference in the lives of millions of New Yorkers. 

Alexia is a lifelong fan of sports and fitness. Recently, she's been obsessed with MMA. As a result, she has joined forces with MMA Industries- purveyors of widely popular MMA shirts and gloves. Alexia has been writing about the latest developments in MMA training equipment for the past few years, and continues to bring you the latest news in the mixed martial arts world.

Vince McMahon Mixed Martial Arts Albany Doomsday by Suzannah B. Troy

Is Vince  McMahon going to welcome a new kind of fight club if Governor Paterson succeeds in passing a measure that would allow "mixed martial arts" here in NYC or will this cut in to his and Linda's mega-bucks cash cow, the WWE?   The accidental governor is trying to push "mixed martial arts" here in NY because New York State is in a budget catastrophe and it is correctly believed this form of fighting will make big bucks and raise money for the city and state.  The only people besides peace loving vegetarians who won't be welcoming mixed martial arts are the McMahon family and martial art purists perhaps?

Note:  I called Vince McMahon at the WWE's offices but it is Saturday and there is no way to leave a voice mail asking him for a comment for my blog posting.

I posted this comment on The New York Post website on the article, "Ultimate fight for every dollar".


Quick call Vince McMahon and ask him if he welcome mix martial arts to NY if they accidental gov passes this.  Better yet let's send McMahon and his tv crew to Albany to film the clowns of Albany.  Maybe we could get the public to pay attention to the fact the people are being ...... you pick the verb.

And someone posted this comment after mine:

canyoudoanybetter

06/26/2010 6:50 PM

This Moron and all the his Cronies in Albany have it ALL WRONG!!! 25% ACROSS THE BOARD CUTS, NO EXCEPTIONS!! IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE FROM POLITICS AS USUAL!!! Bring in Ultimate fighting is like putting a band-aid on some one who just lost their head!!!!!

For those who have not checked in recently the budget deficit is currently 9.2 billion dollars and the clowns of Albany have not yet balanced the budget.

The budget was supposed to be balanced April 1, 2010.    Monday is "doomsday part 2" and this will be the 2nd Monday this year where we find out if we will have a historical shut down by the clowns of Albany.  They avoided a humilating shut-down last time and again if they don't they plunge the State and City of NY in to a possible official depression and I am not talking an emotional state but an economic state of depression although some New Yorkers are already living that way....sad to say.

For more info on the clowns of Albany read "Gov's doomsday deadline".

From NY1 a report that leads us to believe Albany will not shut down tomorrow.

Hold on tight and stay tuned...

Gen. Stanley McChrystal: McChrystal is not a systems thinker

In the wake of President Barack Obama's sacking of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was the commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and due to comments in Rolling Stone magazine from McChrystal and his subordinates that were negative and derogatory toward the President and civilian military officers, an April 26, 2010 New York Times article takes on new meaning. Indeed, it should have been a indication to President Obama that he had the wrong man in charge, assuming Obama saw the article. And why is that?

Gen. Stanley McChrystal is not a systems thinker

Gen. Stanley McChrystal 

The article has two titles, reflecting the New York Times' bumbling when it comes to digital media. The page title best for search is "Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War - PowerPoint - NYTimes.com, and the title on the page itself is the one most referred to: "We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint." (As an aside, the best search-oriented title should have been "PowerPoint fails in US Afghanistan Briefing.")

The centerpiece of the article is a giant system dynamics causal relationship diagram (presented above) that shows how key factors and actions in Afghanistan are interrelated. The New York Times author apparently does not know that it's a system dynamics model, because she does not refer to it, but to the place the SD model diagram is on: PowerPoint.

The article takes off on PowerPoint, while missing the real problem: it's a really a model that can be ran and we can see the graph and statistical outcomes of different decisions. You need a computer and a presentation projector and a place to run the model like the platforms provided by Porio Business Simulations. Then you need to run the model and test different decisions

Gen. Stanley McChrystal joked about the diagram

Instead of that, this is what happened according to the New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller:

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the leader of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was shown a PowerPoint slide in Kabul last summer that was meant to portray the complexity of American military strategy, but looked more like a bowl of spaghetti. "When we understand that slide, we’ll have won the war," General McChrystal dryly remarked, one of his advisers recalled, as the room erupted in laughter.

The simple fact that McChrystal didn't understand the slide is why we're not only not winning the war, but not seeing that we should not be in Afghanistan. The seeds of the reasons why are actually in the system dynamics model.   If Gen McChrystal understood systems thinking, and then system dynamics, he would have asked for a computer to run the model,  rather than joke about a picture.

If he did, he would have seen a the impact of the part of the model called "Popular Support."  One of the key factors in that variable area is something that is just called "anger" with both the US Government and the Afghan Government.

The idea is that by the government helping the economy and infrastructure, this anger is reduced.  But then insurgents destroying that same infrastructure harm this effort.  So what happens if you just took the US Government out of the picture?  In other words, just remove "Coalition Capacity and Priorities", which would cause the elimination of "Coalition Domestic Support" and we remove the factor the Afghan population's reacting to in the model: the United States.

The problem with the model is it's designed to show how US and Coalition forces can impact Afghanistan, but then it implies our very existence in the region is pissing some of them off, causing a set of problems that we have to spend money to deal with.

If you want to see a one version of a simple type of the same SD diagram that takes you through how the factors are related, here's a model created by Chris Soderquist for the IEE Systems Thinking Blog and Forio Business Simulations and presented in a blog post called "We have met an ally and it is storytelling":




If Gen. McChrystal knew systems thinking, and were honest, he'd realize the best course of action is not to be in Afghanistan. Of course, if Gen. McChrystal were a systems thinker, he would not have got himself into the trouble that cost him his job.

iPhone 4 antenna and problems mar Apple product debut

The Apple iPhone 4

Apple's long awaited iPhone 4 is out today, and a long line formed near Apple's Flagship Stores in New York and San Francisco, and around America and the World. The iPhone, an innovative cell phone that's changed the way such devices are developed, has a number of new features that have created a lot of excitement. But the Apple IPhone 4 also has bugs with its antenna and other features that have marred it's debut.

The most exciting new feature on the iPhone 4 is the ability to created and edit high-definition video, which you can then upload to YouTube. This makes the iPhone the first smart phone designed for video-blogging use and can change the face of media. On Wednesday night ABC News Nightline featured an impressive segment that was shot entirely using the iPhone 4.

The other cool feature is video phone calling: the ability to talk to a person and see their face as they talk. It's a wild feature that calls into question how concerns about how teen "sexting" will morph into a concern about what this space will call "sexviding" or the act of one making a video phone call just to send a sexy video of themselves to the other person. (More on that later.)

But beyond launching a new teen social trend (and the prediction here is that "sexviding" will be that trend), the iPhone 4 also has a few problems. The most noted one is the issue of the antenna.

The tech blog Gizmodo notes that the iPhone 4 loses reception when you hold it by the antenna band, which happens to be the way you normally hold the phone. Gizmodo presented this YouTube video by Fame Foundry which shows the problem:



The antenna band is wrapped around the sides of the phone, so when you hold it, you're bound to touch the band, and cause the AT&T (man I hate AT&T) reception bars to decrease to nil, meaning no reception. You have to hold the iPhone 4 by the glass, which is a weird way to handle the product, to get reception.

Gizmodo asked users to confirm the problem by making their own video and that's what has happened. Thus, the Apple iPhone 4 is such that you can't use it effectively by holding it. It seems Apple could have installed a retractable antenna, rather than one that part of the phone's casing. Illogical. (As a note, Gizmodo has various fixes for iPhone users, the most effective one being scotch tape.)

The other problem most noted is with a "yellow spot problem" on the screen that Apple reports will go away within a day "or so."  The reason given is apparently that Apple was so busy rushing the iPhone to delivery that a kind of bonding agent was not given enough time to evaporate.

Stay tuned.

Columbia University eminent domain abuse by Suzannah B. Troy

It was yet another dark day for democracy here in NYC.  The big apple has seen so many dark days under Bloomberg, a mayor who denied the people of New York City a referendum so he could push threw a third term to crown himself king of New York also pushed a reckless tsunami of development and aided and abetted his developer friends.  Ditto for in my opinion the worst city planner in NYC's history, socialite mega-millionaire Amanda the people's Burden.

Amanda the people's Burden knows her reputation is shot so word on the street is she tells people she is doing Mike Bloomberg's bidding.   She and Mike may be one of the largest mass displacement of New Yorkers if you don't include the original real Natives, the American Indians.  King Mike, the nanny mayor,  has managed to piss them off too.  Mike Bloomberg was not smart enough to figure out if you displace people and than call them and ask them to vote for you either their telephone numbers are now disconnected and or they and their friends will hang up on your campaign staff.   Team Bloomberg found that out and also set a record for the most expensive -- $110 million campaign price tag for the most humiliating win.  Lucky for Teflon Mike The NY Post is not doing anymore investigative research on how Mike spent  109 million dollars and Cy Vance seems unwilling to give king Mike even a slap on the wrist for wiring money out of his personal account instead of the campaign account.   Mike Bloomerg also holds the purse strings to Cy Vance, the Manhattan DA's budget allotment.  Ouch.  Back to today's dark day and Columbia University doing everything but holding a gun to the peoples' heads to get them to move.   Who needs thugs when you have judges that side with ruthless developers and not the people?

Norman Siegel won a powerful first round against Columbia University but it was no surprise he lost round two since this was the very same set of judges that ruled in favor of eminent domain abuse in Brooklyn.

Read the Crain's article and decide for yourself.  My opinion is this is very sad  news.  A dark day for the people.   Watch my YouTube playlist and hear directly from people being abused by Columbia University's abuse of eminent domain.  http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=8C438F43D7335594  Watch  interviews of people being evicted by Columbia University abusing eminent domain.  I also have an interview with Norman Siegel at a protest on the Columbia University campus where even students joined the protest and sad "Not in our name!"

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100624/REAL_ESTATE/100629905

This is all part of the mass displacement under Bloomberg.   

Cystic Fibrosis life expectancy longer than most thought

Diet is one big reason 

Cystic Fibrosis is at the top of search trends Thursday because it was found that the disease, in which the person suffering from it develops an ulcer in the pancreas, can be managed due to advances in treatment. Those advances have caused a larger group of people to live past age 40. 30,000 Americans and 70,000 people around the World have Cystic Fibrosis as of this writing.

According to the Associated Press, Cystic Fibrosis treatment include inhaled medications and a chest - vibrating vest to clear airway clogs. The Cystic Fibrosis disease causes a mucus to build up in the lungs, clogging them and leading to life-threatening infections. That same mucus also clogs the pancreas so the body can't properly digest food.

Cystic Fibrosis generally showed up in kids, who didn't make it to become adults. But what's happening now is that Cystic Fibrosis is showing up in people later in life. What's found is that proper care leads to longer life, but there's something the AP article does not address.

The impact of the non-smoking movement

Not discussed is the impact of the non-smoking movement on Cystic Fibrosis patients. It's wildly known that smoking can harm Cystic Fibrosis patients, but not talked about is the impact of the non-smoking movement and the attack on the spread of second-hand smoke.

Also not considered is the impact of the diet and vitamins movement. Also, exercise is an important consideration. Why those factors aren't mentioned in the AP article is a head-scratcher.

Toronto Earthquake felt in Western New York and southern Ontario

A few months back when this space was reporting on the record number of large earthquakes the World has experienced this year, some complained that the blog posts were just a scare tactic to gain Internet traffic. Tell that to the people in the Toronto Earthquake and those all along the Northeastern United States who felt it.

Toronto was hit by a 5.0 Richter Scale Earthquake today that started near the Ontario-Quebec border and reportedly shook parts of upstate New York and Ohio as well as Chicago, Cleveland and Indiana.

New York Zennie62.com Blogger Suzannah B. Troy shares her view and experience with today's 5.0 Toronto Earthquake (and talks about the USA's World Cup win, too):



Why was the Toronto Earthquake felt over such a large region? The U.S. Geological Survey explains that a quake in the Northeastern United States "can be felt over an area as much as 10 times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the West Coast."

With all of these large (over 4) earthquakes occurring in 2010, there's got to be something going on.

Stay tuned.

Earthquake Canada shakes NYC + Soceer + Taylor indicted by Suzannah B. Troy

Time for the NYC round-up live from New York!   The USA soccer team won!   There were loud screams of joy I witnessed and show you for a mili-second here in NYC.   If you felt your home shaking here in NYC and it wasn't from passionate love or a subway line running under your home than it must have been the 5.5 magnitude earthquake from Southern Ontario, Canada.

I think it was about 1986, I remember feeling slight tremors from an earthquake so it wouldn't be a first for New Yorkers.



On to sad bad news.  LT, Lawrence Taylor was indicted for having sexual intercourse and oral sex with a minor.  The New York Post wrote this, "Taylor, 51, a Hall of Famer with a drug-plagued past, was slapped with felony rape, misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and other charges in the May 6 incident."
and this as well.

 Taylor's agent, Mark Lepselter, told The Post today, "The bottom line is, there was no surprise" from the indictment. "We weren't blind-sided."  


How ironic is that statement about being blind-sided when Taylor is the crown jewel of the best selling book and film that won Sandra Bullock an Oscar and proved she was blind sided when it came to her cheating husband.  Ironic for Taylor because he could have ridden the wave of the success of "The Blind Side" which pays tribute to him in the opening lines of the film but instead he road his way in to self destruction, yet again.


I feel most sorry for the young woman that was exploited and pray she achieves her dreams and or at least is safe among friends.




New Yorker agree, our government from Albany and I include City Hall stinks!


On to happy news.  I have more footage of Giuseppi Logan who will be playing a gig at the 5C Cultural Center Sunday at 5:30.  GIuseppi composed and played sax on his two successful albums by ESP records in the 1960's before he self destructed and disappeared.  But I filmed him 2 years ago in Tompkins Square Park and he is no longer lost but on the road to redemption late in life.  He has a new album, his first since the 1960's and the album is well received.

Giuseppi Logan is playing the piano in Tompkins Square Park. The piano is there as part of a program called "Arts Activism in Action."  Volunteer, Gary Newton unlocked the piano so Giuseppi Logan could play.  I am told GL played the bag pipes, flute, sax, clarinet and piano.

He told me he wished he had a piano in his home.

Right now we can't even get his phone up and working.  Hope to have that resolved soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClEa5B4eRb8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSKRb-69Ywo

My YouTube documentary playlist

http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=D1175469A77B9F2C

Giuseppi Logan plays piano in Tompkins Square park "Arts Activism in Action

Special Note:  Matt Lavelle has a gig for Giuesppi Logan this Sunday at 5:30 http://5cculturalcenter.org/index.html 5C Cultural Center - Avenue C and 5th Street

Giuseppi Logan is playing the piano in Tompkins Square Park. The piano is there as part of a program called "Arts Activism in Action."  Volunteer, Gary Newton unlocked the piano so Giuseppi Logan could play.  I am told GL played the bag pipes, flute, sax, clarinet and piano.

He told me he wished he had a piano in his home.

Right now we can't even get his phone up and working.  Hope to have that resolved soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClEa5B4eRb8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSKRb-69Ywo

My YouTube documentary playlist
http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=D1175469A77B9F2C

SAIC uses Crain's to defend itself CityTime tax payer's Titanic by Suzannah B. Troy

This is for people following my YouTube and blog postings on CityTime, the tax payers Titanic or what to know about a NYC technology scandal at City Hall that for far too long those making the big bucks off of CityTimes flaws did their bet to keep quiet like Sleeping Beauty but more and more people are learning about this economic disaster. 

If you visit the Crain's piece I am giving you a link to SAIC and you can read what that stands for and how SAIC is using Crain's to defend it's reputation.   CityTime was suppose to save the city money by using technology from hand prints to using computers to sign in and instead it seems like a scam to make consultants even richer.   There are over 200 consultants and some are getting close to half a million and some a million but CityTime is about to bust the 1 billion dollar mark and CityTime is very flawed....flawed is a kind word for hunk of junk, a black hole sucking tax payers money, a scam or sham....read on....

I had made this YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/Suzannahartist#p/u/19/_Tz4eMcP2LU

May 27, 2010.

You can find the first blog posting that goes in to the CityTime and SAIC in the text portion of this YouTube link above.

I give you a link to this woman Ali Winston's article that gets in to SAIC and Iraq and even the FBI.

Check it out.

Go to my main blog and search under CityTime to find all my postings....www.suzannahbtroy.blogspot.com

Juan Gonzalez's work covering CityTime has been outstanding and indepth so you must check out Ali Winston's piece from City Limits that connects the dots with SAIC to federal level scandals  and Gonzalez's series that is focused here in NYC.   Juan Gonzelez's series of pieces exposing CityTime are all on The New York Daily News website are a must read.  

Renewal is this Sept. and I am one of many that feels rather than renew we need an investigation.

Even better would be a full refund of tax payers money which is moving towards the billion dollar mark for a massively flawed system and this article says Joel Bondy is laying low.

I would like to know how much he earns as a city employee vs. a consultant or what....?  What is his role with CityTime and NYC gov fully explained along with other consultants especially anyone that has ties to NYC gov and or Bloomberg and friends.   I don't have a press pass and I am finding NYC gov is not eager to answer questions and or be transparent.   Maybe a press pass would help....?

Actually on 2nd thought....

here is paragraph from Ali Winston's article from City Limits....

But SAIC has also had high-profile problems over the years. In the early 1990s, the company and six of its employees pleaded guilty to making false statements in their handling of work at EPA Superfund sites. In 2004, the Pentagon's inspector general faulted SAIC's performance on a contract to rebuild the Iraqi media. The following year, the FBI blamed SAIC for botching the development of the bureau's new "Trilogy" information management system (although the Justice Department inspector general said the FBI deserved much of the blame). And the company was still wrangling into 2007 with the Greek government over whether SAIC deserved full payment for a security system it developed for the 2004 Athens Olympics.