Blog 8

Data robbery

Summary:
Some employees steal money from their employer. There are also lot of robbery’s taking place on bankrupted internet companies. Where ex employees steal data and all kinds of material such as a laptop, a computer or stealing money from the desk… Another reason why data gets lost is because people forget their data or throw out their old computers with data’s in it.
The reason why employees steal from their employer Is because they don’t get enough wage. A representative from Dell says that management is important besides the new software. He gives the following metaphor: You can have a safe and strong door but if your windows open they steal anyway. So the management is important to stop the robbery’s besides the software’s for safety such as camera…
There are lot of footage of employees stealing from their employers. In Holland an employee stole 700000euro from his employer. McAfee did lot of research and says that companies lose up to 3.4 million euro from robbery’s of intellectual properties . Symantec says that more than the half of ex employees steaks data from their old employer.

My opinion:
Companies need better security and patents to stop the robbery of data. Or has to pay more to their employees. The representative of Dell gives a great metaphor. The security is fine but the wage is low, so the data get’s stolen anyway. So besides a safe door you need a closed window.
It’s important to know that a lot of security isn’t good for the relations in a company. You can give the feeling that you don’t trust your employees and that can give unwanted effects. So you have to find a balance in the security. Also when you give resignation to an employee you have the guide him through the process. To make sure that everything goes smooth.

Link:
https://www.fox-it.com/nl/nieuws-en-events/nieuws/laatste-nieuws/nieuwsartikel/z24-pas-op-voor-dieven-in-dienst/96

Selim Karadag 2RP2

Blog 7

Outside Climate Talks, Protesters March on the Hall

Summary:
The lobbyists for profitable Climate Solutions, called on other protestors to stop their “global whining”. They argued that corporations were working hard enough. During the conference 260 people were arrested. In total 1800 protesters are detained.
Another group called Climate Justice Action was marching to the Bella Center. They want better measures for climate changing. Their slogan was “System Change, Not Climate Change”.
The police stopped them from entering the building to hold a people’s assembly. Some people tried to reach their goal by using inflatable rafts. The rally brought together climate activists; representatives of countries suffering from drought, floods or other phenomena linked to global warming; and indigenous peoples.
Ms. Moller wrote environmental pages for her local newspaper, she travelled with a group called Camp for Climate Action. She said she had no confidence in the conference.

My opinion:
The global warming is a important matter. And it’s a good thing that countries are trying to do something about it. And conferences as in Copenhagen can bring important directives. But the problem is that this isn’t enough. People have to get more aware of this issue. That’s the only solution.
The protestors have good intention. But by protesting they only slow things. And shadow the conference. There are too many groups protesting. So the cops have to do something and stop them. Or things can go out of control. The protestors should choose few people among them as representatives and they should tell what’s on their mind. This way things won’t go out of control and two sides can tell their ideas on a decent way.

Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/science/earth/17protest.html?ref=world

Selim Karadag 2RP2

Blog

Blog 3

Don’t underestimate fraud

Summary:
In the year 2000 a TV presenter and real estate entrepreneur gets an amount of 800000euros from one of the main suspects.
Eight years ago the presenter of “business class” received 800000euros from one of the prime suspects of the fraud research. The Public Prosecutor thinks that Mens has send a fake invoice, he says that he hasn’t performed any utilities about the payment. He didn’t admit but he is involved with the building trade “Bouwfonds”. The other 2 suspects squealed on Mens and confessed that he extorted money from the ex-Chairman. The 2 suspects who were property developer, transferred the money to Mens under order of the prime suspect who’s the ex-director.
The Public Ministry investigated that there was a fraud with Construction fund and Philips Pension Fund. The broker from Lisse is convinced that Mens is involved. He claims that by referring to the construction Solaris. This is an office complex where the renovations were completed in 2002. This fraud has put the knife to the throat. The Justice will now investigate all the invoices for the previous ten years in the accused projects. They have found significant evidence showing that many people are involved. It is about criminal activities such as tax fraud, forgery, bribery and fraud.

My opinion:
A fraud of this proportion with such important companies involved is surprising. The real question is: doesn’t anybody control this? The fiscal law is strict and has high punishments. But there are still companies how try fraud. It is good that justice is know investigating the case. But it will be difficult to investigate the invoices of ten years. It looks like a difficult case with different matters such as bribery, fraud…
To prevent such things in the future new laws have to come or the existing laws have to controlled better. There are lot of options to prevent fraud such as better punishments, new laws, better controlling departments…

Link:
http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF20091218_007

Selim Karadag 2rp2

Blog 2

Fresh Prince of Belgium

Summary:
Dick Advocaat is a 61 years old Dutch football coach who is now working with the team Zenith St Peter Bridge. The Belgian League made an offer to him as coach of the National team which he accepted. It is about a contract of 600000 a year until december2011. Two years ago he was involved in a similar situation where he was linked with the National team of Australia. Finally the richest team of Russia, through Zenith supporter and ex president Vladimir Putin, made an immense offer which he accepted. He refused the offer of Australia and became champion with Zenit. They are now afraid about the decision of Dick Advocaat although he clearly mentioned during the morning training in Zenith. Because he will start next year, he really don’t want to disturb and cooperate with the current coach. Frank Vercauteren is now on the top and they gave 5 games to go. If he speaks now he will be in trouble with his current employers of Zenith. Because of the interests of Zenith he delayed his contract signing. He is intending to sign with all silence during the two weeks’ vacation. He is now performing very good in Zenith and they are just 3 points behind the leader of the competition. They have the spirit and ambition to become the champion of the competition.

My opinion:
It is important not to complicate situations with the contracts. Especially when the contracts in other country’s are involved. Dick Advocaat did the right thing by waiting, because there is already a football coach in Belgium’s national team. Frank Vercauteren has to be fired if they want Advocaat to lead the team. Or as in this case have to wait…
However they can draw a contract and let Advocaat sign this and they can mention on the contract a specific date. On that date Advocaat becomes than the football coach of Belgium’s national team. This way they will be certain that Advocaat doesn’t go to another team and if he does he has to deal with the consequences.

Link:
http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF06122009_034&word=Dick+advocaat

Selim Karadag 2RP2

Blog 1: The Escape

Escape from Alcatraz

Summary:
The article that I read is going about a prisoner who escaped from prison during the break . Bijlmerbajes is a prison where it is not the first time that a prisoner tried to escape. The last gateway was a year ago. One of the two prisoner succeeded to escape from the prison. They made the plan one night before the escape. He obviously studied the architecture of the building. The place of the doors, the length of the walls and if it is possible to jump. The plan of the 35-years old man was successful, but the difficult part was to jump over the walls with barbed wine. During his remain in the prison, he stayed in the department where you wait for the completion of their case. A second person, who stayed at the same department, was caught and hold by the guardians just before he escaped. The escaped man had prepared it with some men outside the prison. The reason of his escape is the fact that he stayed for a while in another room because he went to appeal.

My opinion:
A prison is a place where people are suppose to held inside. A separation of the society is necessary, because this people are inside of a crime. But the jails are overcrowded and there aren’t enough guardians . And there are other problems such as that the guardians don’t get enough wage, the old infrastructure and equipments. The department of justice has to come up with a solution. The governments have to give larger budgets to justice department. So they can do something about this matters.
This is isn’t the first time that a prisoner escapes and wont be the last time. But the frequency of escaping prisoners is rising. And is no more a movie you watch it becomes an article you read in the newspaper or a news you watch on the TV. There are lot of solutions to this problem for example rehabilitation. Knowing that you will get a second time comforts a person. Than knowing that your stuck inside and your only chance is escaping.

Link:
http://www.elsevier.nl/web/10215617/Nieuws/Nederland/Zware-crimineel-ontsnapt-uit-Bijlmerbajes.htm?rss=true
Selim karadag2rp2

infringement of intellectual property

There is a long and ignoble tradition of technology companies suing each other for infringement of intellectual property rights. In reality, by the time the patent lawyers get to the bottom of who really invented what, the caravan has invariably moved on. If anyone should know this by now, it is Nokia, which fought to a standstill with US rival Qualcomm over who deserved more royalties for the research behind third-generation mobile phones. Instead, it has today launched an even more high-profile legal assault on Apple over the iPhone. On the face of it, Nokia looks to have a case. Both sides have failed to agree a licensing deal, but Apple continues to churn out iPhones by the millions. Though it does not wish to disrupt iPhone production, Nokia spends billions on R&D and needs to make sure it gets a fair return for its efforts. The sad fact though is that this is probably the only fight with Apple that Nokia looks like winning. The Finnish mobile company was once a beacon for hope in the European economy - a rare example of a local technology company taking on those cocky Americans and winning. These days, it is being shown up badly by Apple's superior flair for design and looks increasingly like a slow-moving relic than regional champion. It cannot be coincidence that this legal decision comes after Apple posted record results and Nokia recorded its first quarterly loss for a decade. It would look a lot less like sour grapes if Nokia showed more ability to take on Apple where it counts - in the showroom.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/dan-roberts-on-business-blog/2009/oct/22/nokia-sues-apple

Steven

Freehold estate

My seventh blog handles about Joe Lewis, the Bahamas-based billionaire. He has gained a seat on the board of Mitchells & Butlers after becoming the biggest shareholder. Lewis will be represented on the board of the pub group by an appointee after the currency tycoon raised his stake in M&B to 22.9% through his Piedmont investment company.Lewis, who lost $1.2bn from a bet in Bear Stearns shares that went spectacularly wrong, is believed to be interested in the property aspects of M&B's mainly freehold estate.Other interested parties include the Irish tycoons, John Magnier and JP McManus, who own 17.6% of M&B through their Elpida vehicle. The property tycoon, Robert Tchenguiz, is out of the picture after nursing heavy losses in the wake of the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing, which forced him to sell his stakes in M&B and other companies. Analysts at KBC Peel Hunt said the appointment of Lewis's representative, Richard McGuire, to the M&B board "potentially increases the prospect of asset sales, which could bring forward the restoration of the dividend. However, opportunities for asset sales are clearly limited".A further board representative of Lewis could be appointed under an agreement struck between M&B and the investor, provided his share holding is above 22%.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/16/joe-lewis-on-board-at-mitchells-and-butler

Steven

breach of warranty

For Blog 6, I found an article about breach of warranty. A television company controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation faced a second lawsuit in six months alleging that it defrauded a rival and misappropriated trade secrets. DirecTV, the biggest satellite television firm in the US and a company that Mr Murdoch narrowly failed to buy last year, has launched the action against NDS, the Middlesex supplier of smart cards that prevent pirating. The lawsuit comes six months after Canal Plus Technologies (CPT) of France began a $3bn legal action against NDS alleging it helped fund hackers who published secrets on the internet about its pay-TV technology. The DirecTV suit, filed under seal in a US district court in Los Angeles, makes a series of allegations against NDS including breach of contract, fraud, breach of warranty and misappropriation of trade secrets. Bob Marsocci, a spokesman for DirecTV, said: "We filed the complaint because NDS breached our contract and defrauded us. We have a very strong case and will present that in court." DirecTV is seeking damages, the delivery of software which it claims is required by contract and an injunction to prevent any further breaches. NDS, which has dismissed CPT's allegations as baseless, last night insisted the new case was without merit.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2002/sep/20/newscorporation.citynews

Steven

Age discrimination

For my fifth blog I have found an example of discriminatory dismissal. A council manager was sacked seven months before he reached his 50th birthday, meaning he had to wait until he was 65 to claim his pension. Had he been made redundant after his 50th birthday. Mr. Wooster could claim the pension almost immediately. Tower Hamlets had hoped to have a 15 year period of grace before they had to pay his pension with one manager boasting: "If he goes now, we do save the pension." But an employment tribunal found the council had unfairly dismissed Mr Wooster who had worked for Tower Hamlets for 33 years and discriminated against him because of age. Mr Wooster is claiming more than a million pounds in compensation for his employment losses, reduction in pension and injury to feelings. Speaking after today's ruling, Mr Wooster said: "I am absolutely delighted and thrilled. "It has been an extremely difficult time to have to go through not one but two legal battles, but I have come through to the other side and I can now relax at last." He added: "The Council thought it could just get rid of me because it didn't want to pay my pension. "

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6169966/Sacked-council-manager-wins-1-million-age-discrimination-payout.html

Steven

chinese husband allows wife to attack him once a week

My next blog handles about a husband who has signed a contract with his wife that she may attack him once in a week. This story came up in Chinese city Shanghai. The man took the unusual step after suffering intense abuse from his wife who studies kung fu. From the very beginning of their relationship he has been attracted to her “strong and independent temperament”. Before they get married they got in some sort of argument and he got a taste of her kung fu for the first time. He said that he had tried to bite his lip so he wouldn’t be punished, but that he "never wants to lose an argument" and so always ends up with "bruises and scars all over". So now in order to curb his wife’s aggression, they have an agreement that she may attack him uppermost once in a week. If she breaches the contract she must go to her parents for three days. In overall I think this is a very strange agreement. I don’t think it is allowed in western jurisdiction to sign these kind of contracts because violence between partners is illegal. I think it is improper to sign those contracts and that they should be banned by the Chinese authorities.

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6703629/Chinese-husband-allows-wife-to-attack-him-once-a-week.html

Steven

Landmark copyright trial against Pirate Bay gets underway

The trial against the four men behind Pirate Bay started at the 16th of February 2009. The four men are accused of being accessories of breaking copyright law. If the judge says that they are guilty they will have to go to prison for 2 years and they will have to pay a fine of 143,500 dollars.

The designers of the site are confident that the site will still exist without them, because the court already tried to take it down once, but they failed. The four men are convinced that the court will fail again.

The creators say that the site only acts as a search engine and that the site doesn’t contain any infringing content. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, who represents 1400 record companies worldwide, disagrees with this statement of the Pirate Bay creators. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry says that authors, musicmakers, moviemakers and other people lost a lot of money because of Pirate Bay.

The evidence in this case will show that Pirate Bay is a commercial business, which made a lot of money for its creators, no matter what the creators of Pirate Bay say.

The entertaining industry demands 14 million dollars from Pirate Bay for lost sales income. The creators of Pirate Bay will refuse to pay, because they don’t have a lot of money. They don’t earn money from Pirate Bay.

I think it’s good that the government tries to remove sites like Pirate Bay, because a lot of people are losing a lot of money, because everybody is downloading illegally from the Internet. My opinion is that downloading illegal content from the Internet is the same as stealing something from a shop. It’s not difficult to download illegally and the chance that you will be punished isn’t very high. That’s why the government must act and remove sites like Pirate Bay from the Internet.

Jonas Hillemans 2RP2

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/16/pirate_bay_copyright_infringement_trial/

Viewpoints: Laurence Fink on Real Estate Sector.

Laurence Fink, the chairman and CEO of BlackRock inc. gives his opinion on the crisis in the real estate or real property sector. He said that everybody who bought real property in 2006 or 2007 made a bad investment. In 2006 and 2007 everything went well and the real property companies received a lot of money. The most of those investments are bad today. They lost a lot of their value.


The company of Laurence Fink made a mistake, but they aren’t the only one, a lot of people made the same mistake. Mister Fink sais that now it’s a perfect time to buy real estate, because the prices are low. BlackRock inc. lost a lot of money because of the crisis, and now they have a big refinancing risk in the next few years. Now the market is growing again and new clients want to buy real estate. Laurence Fink thinks that if the US economy will increase again, the real estate sector will heal and the real estate market will grow again. It will be difficult in the first few years, your property might even have a lower value, but after a few years the value of your property will increase. Nobody knows how long the economic crisis will last, so it’s hard to tell when the real estate market will heal.


I think that the people must find their confidence back in the economy. If they find their confidence, they will invest again in the economy and in the real estate sector. Today the people don’t want to invest their money because they are afraid to lose it again. So it will be difficult to win the confidence of the people, but once they are confident that they will earn money instead of losing it, they will invest again and the economy will grow. When the economy increases, the real estate market will recover itself.


Jonas Hillemans 2RP2

Source: http://online.wsj.com/video/viewpoints-laurence-fink-on-real-estate-sector/12FF512D-98F6-46BA-834E-98C1351F83F4.html

Qantas to seek damages from Boeing

Qantas, an Australian flag carrier, wants to seek damages from Boeing, the US aircraft maker, for late delivery of the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing already confirmed that it was facing more embarrassing delays in the first deliveries of its 787. The 787 is an 250-300 seat jet, the group’s biggest investment in commercial aircraft in more than a decade. “Qantas and Boeing will be discussing the issue of liquidated damages in the coming weeks.” said Qantas chief executive, Geoff Dixon. Boeing has collected a large number of orders for the 787 and the issues of financial penalty payments to customers and the rescheduling of deliveries are becoming a n increasing headache. The order book may become a huge problem as the delays grow. Qantas is amongst the biggest customers and the group has made a commitment for up to 115 aircraft. Scott Carson, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said on Wednesday the first flight of the 787 had been put back again, the third delay from the original plan for the first flight in August last year. I think Qantas has it at the right end. They will get damages for the delays of delivery of Boeing. Hopefully for Boeing, the deliveries won’t take long anymore.

Steven

Source:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6198e578-c52c-11dc-811a-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

TLC files breach of contract suit against Jon Gosselin

Jon Gosselin of the TV-show has committed breach of contract against cable network TLC for taking paying gigs of other Television-shows without permission including the CBS-syndicated shows “Entertainment Tonight” and “The Insider”. Furthermore, Gosselin has appeared in non-paying media without TLC’s approval, which could also be in violation of his contract. The suit says he has also harmed the show with his constant criticisms and misstatements about being on the show and what goes on behind the scenes and revealing confidential information such as when he talked about his salary on CNN’s “Larry King Live.” He and his wife, Kate Gosselin from the show “Jon & Kate Plus 8” are in the middle of a divorce. The show follows the lives of a western Pennsylvania couple and their eight children. It became a huge hit after it came in the tabloids that Gosselin was seen with other women who weren’t his wife. In June, the show in which the couple revealed that their marriage was ending drew more than 10 million viewers. TLC has said that it would greatly reduce Jon Gosselin’s role in the show but Jon has already threatened to stop the production of the show. I think that TLC will get right in this case because Jon has really misbehaved himself and didn’t follow the contract.

Steven

Source:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/10/tlc-files-breach-of-contract-suit-against-jon-gosselin.html

Trade Unions Decline Around the World

We can see that the trade unions in The United Stated are declining. They’re losing their influence and popularity in the U.S.A., but how about the trade unions in the rest of the world?


The organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development published an article whit a graphic from each country, on the graphic you can see how many employees are connected to a trade union. We don’t only see a downward trend in the U.S.A, but also in many other industrialised countries all over the world. Belgium is almost the only country where the influence of the trade unions remains quiet stable in the last few years. In a lot of other countries in Europe for instance France, Italy, Spain the influence of the trade unions and the employees connected to the trade union are declining a lot.
Even in Asia the trade unions are losing their influence. Which is very strange because in some countries the working conditions are not good, so it’s strange that the people don’t want to be in a trade union.


Sometimes I find the trade unions very aggressive and they want to achieve their goal no matter what, even if the employer can’t solve the problems. Most of the time they don’t want to give in. That I find wrong because you only can come to a good solution if everyone puts some water in the wine, but trade unions can’t always see that.


I find it very important that there are trade unions, because the employees must be protected from the employer, so that he doesn’t have all the power. Somebody must represent the employees in the company and defend their rights, so that’s why it is necessary that there are trade unions.


I don’t think they will disappear, because than there is nobody to protect the employees and I don’t think that the governments are going to let that happen.


Jonas Hillemans 2RP2

Source: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/trade-unions-around-the-world/?scp=1&sq=trade%20union&st=cse

Think a twice when you make a contract

This article is about a contract break and defaulting. There are 2 parties Itelco and Scarlet Telecom. In 2007 they made an agreement in which Itelco took the sale of Scarlet’s telecommunication services. Everything was perfect in order. Gert Post, managing director of Itelco Group told in a message that the cooperation with Itelco had caused for an important sells increase . After this augmentation everything went wrong. Scarlet terminated the cooperation and refused to pay the services done. A month later, Itelco went to the court and they lodge a complaint against Scarlet Telecom. They claim a compensation of 5milion euro’s because of ending the contract in which Itelco care for the Scarlets B2B-services. The complaint dated almost 1year but it announced 3months ago by the website of Data News. In this article Gert Post, managing director of Scarlet is saying that the case isn’t such horrible as it looks. However Frederick De Sloover, managing director of Itelco Group is completely against the statement of Gert Post where he minimized the problem. In a conversation with an IT Professional he accentuated that it isn’t a dispute about the sales as Post pretended. He said also that it is about a contract break, defaulting and unfair competition. The complaint lodged to the court of justice of Brussel. By the way, Belgacom made an offer on Scarlet, it is now waiting for the reaction.
Opinion:
I am completely agree with the approach of Itelco about the case. They followed the normal process by going to the court. It is finally about a serious agreement concerned about lot of money. Scarlet behaved in an unethical way what caused for problems for Itelco Company. Itelco can come through the problems with the offer of Belgacom they got. But on the other side, Scarlet will gets lots of problems, there is a difficult time waiting for Scarlet.

www.zdnet.be/news/89148/scarlet-beschuldigd-van-contractbreuk-en-wanbetaling/
Selim Karadag 2rp2

Women vulnerable to sex discrimination in workplace

A recent report shows that one fourth of all women is rejected from a job due to sex discrimination. It’s hard to do something about it, because the rules aren’t very clear about sex discrimination and the government doesn’t cooperate either. So it’s very difficult to find some evidence in the law.

The report was made by the Center for Women’s Law and Legal Services of Peking University. They say that there is a lot of sex discrimination in the job market in China. The report is based on personal statements of female job applicants. Many of them feel very angry because they are treated very badly and unfair.

It’s not that the female applicants can’t protect themselves. They don’t have any laws they can refer to. It’s very difficult to find evidence, so they have no power to protect their rights. The government can make more laws and specify the laws so there can’t be any mistakes and the women can protect themselves.

It’s not impossible to sue an employer for sex discrimination, but the question we need to ask is if the decision makers want to solve the problem. Even in the governments offices there is sex discrimination.

I think it’s awful that women in China are victims of sex discrimination. The worst of all is that the Chinese government doesn’t do anything about it. Women must be equal to men. I think the Chinese government must make some new laws and complete the existing laws, because now it’s almost impossible to sue an employer for sex discrimination and that is not the way it supposes to be. The women who made the report have done some good work and I hope that a lot of people will read it and take action to force the government to chance the laws so that the women are equally treated as the men.

Jonas Hillemans
2RP2

source: http://opinion.globaltimes.cn/commentary/2009-06/438474.html

As well as certain strike of the railways on 5 November 2009

Next Thursday there will be almost certainly a 24 hour strike of the railways. Sources of the trade unions and the NMBS have said this.

The two major railway trade unions are dissatisfied by the negotiations with the NMBS-direction about B-cargo, the cargo division of the NMBS, and applied for a 24 hour strike. The strike will run from Wednesday evening 4 November 22 hours to Thursday, 5 November 22 hours.

The NMBS wants to create a private judicial company from B-cargo, but in this new company there will be no place for all 900 employees of B-cargo. The trade unions are protesting against the fact that there is still no clarity about what will happen with all those employees. Jannie Haeck, CEO of the NMBS holding company, says he understands the nervousness of the trade unions. But, the cargo compartment of the NMBS is heavily losing profit. This year there is a loss of EUR 188 million being recorded, after a loss of EUR 85 million in 2008.

Although there were already many meetings, both formal and informal, there were in fact no real negotiations. The direction of the NMBS talked in first instance only about a scenario where the working conditions were handled heavily and in a second phase for a total management of the carriage of goods, not about redundancy dismissals. That’s why the trade unions are complaining at this moment.

Not a single moment the trade union had the feeling that the NMBS really wanted a negotiated solution, with mutual agreement, the ACOD said. The Socialist Union really wants to avoid a second ABX-drama.

That there will be a strike is as well as certain. The total traffic, both passenger transport (including international trains) as the transport of goods, will be immobilized on 5 November. Accidentally, it’s my birthday then. I hope I don’t have to take the train that day. That’s why I hate strikes, especially when thousands of people are trapped because of it. But on the other hand when I must be in the situation of those employees, maybe I would do the same…

Marriage has nothing to do with color
Who wants to marry in the American state Louisiana, has to think twice before he decides. In Louisiana the judge had refused the marriage between a black man, Terence McKay and the white woman Beth Humphrey. He has the opinion that such marriages doesn’t have any success and the children only become the dupe. Despite lot of accusations made by the inhabitants he accentuates that he isn’t a racist. He worries about the children and it is his right to deny the marriage between 2 different races. By the way he works in Tangipahoa Parish, on the countryside of Louisiana. The main opponent of the judge, Keith Bardwell, is the American association of civil rights, the ACLU. In the mean time they have claimed. for the resignation of the judge. Their main argument that they wrote in the letter to the on the Court is that a judge has only follow the law not his theories. The judge stays on his point of view by saying that those marriages haven’t got any chance for success. Now they are waiting for a positive reaction of the letter so there comes any victims of the “theories” of the judge.

Opinion:
Cultural difference is the main cause of bad marriages but the judge may not give his opinion on that matter. I think it is incredible that this is happening in the country of Obama, the land of freedom and prosperity. A good solution would be marrying in another state. But I think that the judge has a point about the importance of children. Because they aren’t accepted as equals by the both “races”, they become the dupe. These times people divorce frequently ,a good marriage is exceptional. The Constitution guarantees the equality between the different races and people. A decision against the Constitution is not possible. So they can go to the supreme court.

Selim Karadag
2RP2

http://www.spitsnieuws.nl/archives/raar/2009/10/rechter_vs_verbiedt_gemengd_hu.html

Zwijndrecht has a referendum on the 20th of December.

The town council of Zwijndrecht has decided that they are going to hold a referendum about the Oosterweelconnection in Antwerp.

The town council has demanded a referendum because they want to know if the citizens want to chance the infrastructure, because it will infect traffic in a lot of cities in Antwerp so that’s why the town council want to know what the people think about it.

The town council voted unanimous yes on the question if there should be a referendum. Only when they had to choose a date Vlaams Belang voted against a certain date. The lange wapperbridge doesn’t cross Zwijndrecht so they didn’t need to vote for that. But in other cities in Antwerp this will be a very important referendum because the bridge will not only affect traffic but also the view and the value of certain houses and areas. The only thing they will vote for is the infrastructure, for instance the road exits on the highways and the installation of sound screens to reduce the noise of the traffic.

The people will be informed with brochures. They are going to vote in December to decide what they are going to do with the Oosterweelconnection.

I think it’s a good idea to inform the citizens, because the people live there and it will affect the way they live. Because there will be a lot of traffic, but there are also good things about it maybe it will be a solution for the traffic jams and the roads will be safer so there will be less accidents. I think it’s stupid that the referendum isn’t binding, because in the end it’s the government who will decide. We live in a democracy so if the people voted no than it’s clear what the people want and than it’s not the government who has the last word, in a democracy the people have the last word. But that’s just my opinion.

Jonas Hillemans RP2

Source: http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=DMF20091022_089&word=gemeenteraad

Gazza's ex in libel damages win

The former wife of Paul Gascoigne has accepted undisclosed libel damages over a claim her financial demands caused his relapse into alcoholism.

For those who don’t know Paul Gascoigne or “Gazza”, it is a retired English professional footballer. Believed to be one of the greatest of his generation and he was a gifted midfielder in the nineties. Gazza, who won 57 caps for England, became a millionaire overnight when he was transferred from Newcastle to Spurs in 1988.

But Gascoigne was involved in many off-field incidents, and is believed never to have fulfilled his potential as a player. Since his career finished in 2004, he has suffered from alcoholism, mental illness and personal legal problems. Unfortunately …

Sheryl Gascoigne went to London's High Court over "sensational and highly offensive" claims in the Daily Star. Her legal team said the June articles suggested she demanded extra maintenance payments as the ex-England star was in a drug rehabilitation unit.

The newspaper suggested the 43-year-old ex wife had already been paid £17.5m by the former Newcastle and England footballer as part of her divorce settlement. They then suggested that notwithstanding such alleged payments, Ms Gascoigne had made a callous and wholly unjustified demand for a further £100,000 and for increased maintenance payments, while Mr Gascoigne was fighting for his life in a drug rehabilitation unit.

The articles also suggested that Ms Gascoigne's demands had driven Mr Gascoigne to the brink and caused his then recent relapse into alcoholism.

Express Newspapers apologised and admitted the allegations were untrue. They apologised publicly and unreservedly for the distress and embarrassment caused and had agreed to pay Ms Gascoigne damages and her legal costs.

So think twice when you read the newspapers. Don’t always believe everything they write …

Employees from the post sell 720 stolen items on E-Bay

The court-house of Antwerp has convicted Nancy P. and Godellieve L. to a community service of 150 hours and a fine of 2750 euro. The couple had stolen over 720 postal items from the sorter Anwerp X. They sold the catch on the internet. The fact were discovered after an internal investigation from the Post. They had received over 464 complaints of parcels who weren’t received. This happened between 2006 and 2008. On the 13th of February 2008 the surveillance camera recorded Nancy P. opening a Parcel. She confessed immediately that she stole plenty of items with her wife Godellieve L. She claimed that she has stolen these items for the money and for the rush. The women stole cell phones, DVD’s, jewellery, computer games, hand bags, tickets for Rock Werchter, Stamps,... . They offered 720 items on E-bay en Kapaza. They have located 77 articles who were estimated of a worth of 9500 euro. The court-house declared confiscated that amount. The Post has put them as civil party and got 1 euro morel compensation and 1 euro material compensation. 4 Deputies got the amount of 411 euro to divide.

Stéphanie Cambier

Murderer gets 20 years!

The summer is a time where everyone is looking forward to, especially the students are in need of the vacation after the difficult final exams. During the year , summer plans are made, travels are reserved,… and at a glance they go on vacation.

This was pity enough not the case for the family Van de Ven. As every day the mother of Nadia went to the hospital. She works as a doctor in a nature medicine practice. She is a keen scientist and works 60 hours a week. One day they tell her daughter is dead and at a glance her live is destroyed. Nadia Van de Ven (25) was killed at 1 October 2002 in a student hostel in Utrecht by Pascal F., her landlord. The reason of her dead is very strange, namely because of a problem about the washing machine. The mother is suffering since the murder from a posttraumatic stress disorder. She gets panic attacks and can hardly work. (156) It is the first time in history of Holland that a claim for every material, immaterial made damages are allocated to the next of kin. Pascal is the only one who is liable for the harm. He has to compensate the incomes of the mother, which she is missed by inability to work. According to experts, she feels a very heavy intense pain that goes more than a normal experience of sorrow. Because of these affection damage he has to pay a compensation of 10000 euro. Previously the lawyer Martens had tried to put the parents of Pascal responsible for the acts of their son..The claim isn’t assigned. However the indemnification has to be calculated but Martens already confiscation the bank account of the parents.

I found it very terrible and wish her mother lot of strength. Such criminal practical’s has to punished strongly. Nowadays you see everywhere violence. On videogames, movies, … Few days ago I saw a video on the internet where a child was heavily crying because she can’t finish the stage of a game. The parent on the other side, was taking the video and enjoying irritating her own daughter. The worst of this is that she puts this on the internet . The Penal Court verdict was lifetime. However the defender went to the Appeal Court. The judgment of the Penal Court was here converted to 20 years. This is a premeditated murder because you don’t kill someone for a dispute of this proportion. I think there is something else behind it. And he must have considered this probably before. However proving this is the difficult part. If there were some argues before the murder. Than that would have been used as an evidence however the article doesn’t mention this. The penal court was also thinking this way. But the Court of appeal changed his verdict. The article doesn’t mention the reason of this. It might have been because of a procedure mistake. Art.394 Code Penal dictates that killing with premeditation is called murder. The penal for this is lifetime.
Link:
http://www.volkskrant.nl/archief_gratis/article1264402.ece/Moordenaar_moet_moeder_slachtoffer_vergoeding_betalen

Selim Karadag 2rp2

Swiss watchmaker files breach of contract lawsuit against actress Charlize Theron in New York

The Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil has filed a breach of contract against the actress Charlize Theron. The trial was in the supreme court. Raymond Weil said that Charlize Theron had signed a contract with his company. The deal was that she would only wear watches of Raymond Weil from October 2005 till December 2006.

She had to wear the watches all the time so if paparazzi took a picture for a magazine, the people would see that the celebrity had a watch from Raymond Weil and that is good publicity for his brand.
Weil could use the photos from Charlize to put in his magazine, and for that she got a lot of money.

Meanwhile Charlize signed another contract with Dior. She had to promote Dior perfume. The paparazzi took photos of Charlize Theron while she didn’t wear a Raymond Weil watch, but a Christian Dior watch. So now Raymond Weil sues Charlize Theron because there is a breach of contract.

The Plaintiff believe that they are right because they have a written agreement that Theron is not allowed to promote jewellery or watches from other brands.

The lawsuit doesn’t say how much Weil has claimed from Theron, but the lawyer of Raymond Weil said that Raymond spend more than 20 million dollars on the campaign of Charlize Theron.

It’s clear that she didn’t follow the contract. So it’s normal she has to pay for the damages. Raymond Weil spend a lot of time and money on the campaign, so it’s normal that the actress does her part of the contract too. I would sue her as well, because now the people saw her whit another watch and now they are going to buy Diorwatches instead of Weilwatches. It will cost the company a lot of money. That’s why they sued her.

Jonas Hillemans 2RP2

Source: http://media.www.collegian.com/media/storage/paper864/news/2007/02/07/Entertainment/Swiss.Watchmaker.Files.Breach.Of.Contract.Lawsuit.Against.Actress.Charlize.Thero-2701745.shtml

How hard is it to photograph a wedding?

A British couple has successfully sued their wedding photographer for his poor coverage of their big day. The Days are so upset that they have taken their photographer to court for breach of contract over the £1,450 photo and video package.

The memorable shots from Marc and Sylvia Day's wedding are very unusual.
Decapitated guests, a ceremony hardly visible through the gloom and random close-ups of carriage wheels instead of the bouquet or a snatched kiss. The three-year-old bridesmaid even was caught in one snap without her clothes on. Who would not sue their wedding photographer and breach the contract for such things?

But how hard can it be to get great shots at a happy occasion, where everyone is dressed up in picturesque locations? Paul Cudmore, a past winner of Wedding Photographer of the Year, who has been in the business for 18 years, says it is harder than it looks. He says: "It's all about emotions and capturing emotions. And obviously you've got to look out for vans driving past in the background."

The secrets of wedding photographers is the planning - knowing what the bride and bridegroom want, who will be there, where the best locations are. Then there are the timings. "Brides are always late arriving, so you have perhaps four or five minutes to get shots you'd normally spend an hour on. And the bride and grooms don't realise that it can take quarter of an hour for people to leave the church and assemble for photos."

The trickiest pictures are the group shot that most couples want. To get that many people to stand in the right place, to look in the right direction - and to smile at the right time - can be like herding cats. But he thinks it's all about communication, making the guests and the wedding party feels relaxed and happy.

Neil Thayer, a wedding photographer based in Bath, says it's the photographer's job to keep everyone happy. He does it like this: "I never stop talking to people, even if it's making silly jokes. I always make sure I work with the ushers, and know their names - because they will know the names of the people I don't."

Personally I think, when you pay so much for wedding pictures, it is the work of the photographer to make sure that the pictures are lovely and that the atmosphere was good. An advice of a professional for choosing a photographer for the big day is: "Look at their portfolio and make sure it is all their own work." Maybe that’s not a bad idea after all!

Breaching a contract and the forgotten boy from Ghana

This article is about a boy who is born in Ghana. He had two dreams, become a doctor and a professional soccer player.

Jorien van den Herik was the president of Feyenoord when he saw the kid playing a excellent game. It was the summer of 2001, Asante was 12 years old. The boy, Samuel Asante, was the biggest talent of the soccer school.

A few years later Asante signed a four year contract in Rotterdam. Everything was going very well for Asante, he had excellent results at school and everybody was sure that Asante would have a big future in “De Kuip”.

But at one day he was gone. Nobody knew where he was, until somebody found him in America. Asante was smuggled with a false passport into America. Feyenoord demanded 500.000 dollar compensation at the University. This was for stimulating to breach a contract.

The journalist couldn’t find any information about him for several months. He gave it up until Chelsea was punished by the FIFA for the stimulating to breach a contract No he is still playing soccer in America. On the site of his nowadays (small) soccer team, Des Moines Menace, can you read that Asante is studying biology when he doesn’t play soccer.

http://voetbal.nl.msn.com/Achtergronden/Columns-overzicht-1/Michel-van-Egmond/169983/Contractbreuk-en-de-vergeten-Ghanees.htm

Stéphanie Cambier

Stewart convicted on all charges

I have found an article about Martha Stewart. A jury in New York found Martha Stewart guilty on all four counts of obstructing justice and lying to investigators about a well-timed stock sale. Her ex-broker, Peter Bacanovic, was found guilty on four of the five charges against him. Stewart and Bacanovic faces up to five years in prison and a big amount. They didn’t show any emotion as the verdict was read.
"This is a victory for the little guys. No one is above the law." Said one of the jurors.
Stewart left the courthouse an hour after the verdict was read, accompanied by her lawyers without responding the questions that the reporters where asking.
While leaving the courthouse some people began chanting, "We want Martha!" . Meanwhile some eyewitnesses said Stewart's daughter Alexis was crying.
In a statement posted on her Web site, Stewart said, that she was obviously distressed by the jury's verdict but she take comfort in knowing that she have done nothing wrong and that she have the enduring support of her family and friends.
The trial began Januari 27 and ran for five weeks. Stewart and Bacanovic didn’t testified at the trial.
Stewart is a felon and she's going to prison.
Stewart told CNN's Larry King Live last December that she was not prepared for the trial. Because no one is ever prepared for such a thing.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/03/05/news/companies/martha_verdict/

Stéphanie Cambier

Michael Jackson witness at his own trial

I found an article about Michael Jackson and a trial against him. He will testify on his own trial. An Arabian sjeik has sued Michael Jackson because he didn’t follow the legal terms of the contract. Michael Jack has commited a breach of contract. The sjeik wants 7 million dollars liquidated damages.

Abdullah bin Hamad al-Chalifa the Arabian sjeik accuses Michael Jackson of the fact that he didn’t pay the advances back to him, because Michael didn’t make an album, a biography and a theatrepiece with the sjeiks labelcompany. The sjeik took the debts from Michael Jackson and all his courtcosts. Because the sjeik had his own labelcompany and if the sjeik payed all Michael’s debts, he would make an album, a biography and a theatrepiece with Michael. But Michael Jackson didn’t pay the advances, but Michael Jackson didn’t make an album or a biography or a theatrepiece. That is the reason why the sjeik has suded Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson on the other hand said it was a gift from the sjeik to Michael, because Michael Jackson had a lot of debts.

So now must Michael go to the court in London to tell his story, and hope the Judge will concure him.

I think that the story of Michael Jackson isn’t right, because he already had a lot of debts and if the sjeik paid all his debts he would be out of Financial trouble, but he didn’t do what the sjeik had asked so now he must have a reason why he didn’t pay back the advances to the sjeik. We probably never know how this story is going to end because Michael Jackson is already gone. Maybe the heirs will have to pay the sjeik afterall.

Jonas Hillemans 2rp2

Source: http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=DMF17112008_067&kanaalid=788

'Cement-teacher' for the Court. Carl Arnauts pleads guilty but he hopes that they will understand him ...

Carl Arnauts who was a teacher in the school Buso-Mariadaal in Hoegaarden battered a student, a boy of only 14 in the classroom, in November last year. The incident was filmed by a classmate. Today, he appears for the Court. He pleads guilty but is asking for the suspension of the ruling. His lawyer says: "Until one day in November, he drove a perfect path". But do we know that for sure? After all Carl Arnauts is for the Court of Leuven because he severely mistreated the boy.

His lawyer says too:"He admitted his debt. But in contrast to what was claimed by certain media, there is nothing wrong with his legal history. The record is in general very positive. Many students say very good things about him. These testimonials are very important." Therefore the lawyers ask a suspension of judgment. When the Court says the facts are proved, but they don't do a ruling, the defendant maintains a clean criminal record.

The movie which was filmed by another student, showed how the 14-year-old student Jonathan B., a boy with behavioural problems, was maltreated by Carl Arnauts. The teacher held down the boy's head over a bucket of water with sand and mortar oil , he dragged him through the classroom by his clothing and then he kept him under the faucet. The movie went around the world and shocked a lot of people, including me.

Arnauts is accused of injuries. Because the boy is still a minor, his father is the civil party. He is calling for compensation because of the moral harm. The fact that he as a teacher had an authority over the pupil shall be regarded as an aggravating circumstance. Arnauts can have one year in prison and a fine. He self said two weeks after the event: "It was disgusting what I did." But I think his regret comes to late.

With Jonathan B. it's going good right now. A luck after all. He is going somewhere else to school because he personally was not possible to continue on Mariadaal. As teacher, Arnauts is still suspended until 31 October. It is unclear what will happen. Considering the opinion of the lawyers, the chances are very small that he still wants to work as a teacher. Perhaps it's better so I guess.

Court rejects appeal over student-teacher drunk MySpace pics

Hello everybody,

For my first blog concerning the assignment for the English course, I have found an article about Stacy Snyder, a student teacher at Conestoga Valley High School in Pennysylvania, who has been denied a teaching degree. The reason for this denial is that she had published some pictures on her MySpace of her being drunk and disguised as a pirate. They called Snyder at home immediatly. During her stay at Millersville University Stacy hasn't been an example of professionalism as testified by her performance reviews. To make things worse there were also some posts of her complaining about her relationship with a supervisor. Stacy took her former school to court but her claims were promptly dismissed by Judge Paul Diamond of the District Court. Although he allowed her to press the argument that the denial had violated her First Amendment right to free expression. However that claim has now been tossed as well. Stacy Snyder won't be teaching kids for a while. The lesson learnt after this story is that we have to be careful with content we post on the internet. We may have the impression we're allowed to do everything on the net but this could slap right into our face.

Source:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2008/12/court-rejects-appeal-over-student-teacher-drunk-myspace-pics.ars

Steven
2RP2

Gangstertrial of the century starts all over again.

I found this article in de standaard and I took it because it is related to the course. It’s about the trial of the godfather of the underworld in Belgium, Marcel Habran. He was condemned to imprisonment for the rest of his life. It was the biggest gangster trial in Belgian history.

It was very expensive. They had to reconstruct the whole crown court in Liege to maximize the security of the court. They never spend so much money on security in a trial in Belgium before. The whole trial costed between the 4 and 5 million euros.

But the highest tribunal in Belgium abolished the judgment of the crown court. The judge in the crown court decided that the jury didn’t have to motivate their verdict. The European Court Of Human Rights sais that every verdict of the jury in a crown court must be motivated. The crown court in Belgium didn’t do that, so the tribunal decided that the verdict wasn’t correct.

They have to do the trial all over again. The tribunal decided that the trial must be redone in Brussels and not in Liege with another judge and another jury. They have to spend a lot of money to secure the crown court in Brussels as well.

I think they wasted a lot of money. Because they knew that the verdict was incorrect and that it was going to be abolished, but they still continued. But it’s not only the fault of the crown court, the minister of justice made mistakes as well. He had to act sooner, so they could prevent this from happening, but he waited months to act, and that isn’t correct. I hope they learned their lesson and I hope they will be more careful in the future with the money of the taxpayer.

Jonas Hillemans 2RP2

Source: http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=802FV303&word=hof+van+assisen