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Legal Momentum's History
Legal Momentum is the oldest non-profit legal organization dedicated to advancing the rights of women and girls by using the power of the law and creating innovative public policy.
We were founded as the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in 1970 and have been at the forefront of this movement for over 40 years. A sampling of our accomplishments over the decades illustrates Legal Momentum's breadth and impact – in the courts, in policy, in legislation, and most importantly, in the lives of women and girls.
- NOW founders incorporate NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund as a separate national 501(c)(3) organization to provide legal advocacy for women's rights. In 2004, NOW Legal Defense changes its name to Legal Momentum, but continues its mission.
- Legal Momentum begins work with legal docket of several employment cases including Sellers v. Colgate Palmolive Co. in the Seventh Circuit, which strikes down a company's policy barring women from jobs that require lifting more than 35 pounds. The case is brought under Title VII, the federal law enacted in 1964 that prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race, religion and national origin.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court brief in Sprogis v. United Airlines in federal court in Illinois. The court strikes down the airline's discriminatory policy of firing female flight attendants if they marry, ruling that it is unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII because no such policy applies to any male employees.
- When Title VII is amended so that educational institutions are no longer exempt from it, Legal Momentum helps bring federal court cases claiming discrimination against women on university faculties: Johnson v. University of Pittsburgh and Cassler v. University of Maryland.
- Legal Momentum launches first national public service ad campaign: Woman-Power: It's Much Too Good To Waste. The advertisement, "Hire Him, He's Got Great Legs," is reprinted around the country.
- Legal Momentum establishes Project on Equal Education Rights (PEER) to realize the promise of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX is the federal law designed to eliminate sex discrimination in the nation's schools.
- PEER completes landmark study exposing sex role stereotypes in elementary school texts, and publishes Stalled at the Start, documenting a consistent pattern of neglect by the federal government in enforcing Title IX.
- Legal Momentum convenes economic Think Tank for Women, challenging feminists; corporate and labor leaders; economists and social planners to move women up the ladder in the economy.
- PEER advises White House staff on how to strengthen Title IX enforcement.
- Legal Momentum joins other women's groups to issue first-of-its-kind report on the criminal justice system's response to rape.
- Legal Momentum co-publishes first bibliography on rights of older women.
- Legal Momentum collaborates in publication of A Woman's Guide to Marriage and Divorce in New York State.
- Legal Momentum co-organizes campaign to End Discrimination Against Pregnant Workers.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court briefs with U.S. Supreme Court defending affirmative action in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke and challenging "separate but equal" public education opportunities for girls, in Vorchheimer v. School District of Philadelphia. In Bakke, the Court upholds affirmative action policies that give limited consideration to race for university admissions, while striking down racial quotas. In Vorchheimer, a divided Court affirms a lower court ruling that Philadelphia can admit only boys to its prestigious Central High School. (A later lawsuit succeeds in opening the school to girls.)
- Legal Momentum publishes The Supreme Court Decision on Pregnancy Disability: How It May Affect You and The Equal Rights Amendment: Ratification and the Seven-Year Provision.
- Legal Momentum is an friend-of-the-court in two Supreme Court Title IX cases to challenge sex discrimination in education: Alexander v. Yale University and Cannon v. University of Chicago. In Alexander, several female Yale students allege pervasive discrimination and sexual harassment in the university. The Court rules that the students lack standing to sue the University and cannot prove a distinct injury by the University. However, the Court rules in favor of the women in Cannon by establishing a right to sue a university under Title IX for denial of admission due to sex.
- Legal Momentum challenges Louisiana Head and Master Law, which gives control of marital property exclusively to husbands, by helping Selina Martin petition U.S. Supreme Court.
- Legal Momentum joins historic affirmative action case, United Steelworkers v. Weber, where the Supreme Court rules that a voluntary affirmative action plan designed to redress past race segregation in employment does not violate Title VII; presses for law reform in Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo, where a divorced woman seeks to share her husband's pension, but is denied by the Supreme Court because the applicable law prevents pensions from becoming "community property" in marriage; and participates in Califano v. Westcott challenging discriminatory welfare policies, where the Supreme Court strikes down provisions in the Social Security Act that provide benefits for families with unemployed fathers, but not those with unemployed mothers.
- In Bruno v. Codd, Legal Momentum assists in New York State's highest court in challenging failures by police and courts to respond seriously to domestic violence calls.
- Judicial Appointment Project established to increase number of women appointed as federal judges.
- PEER publishes Cracking the Glass Slipper, a guide for parents seeking to ensure equal education for their daughters.
- Legal Momentum convenes National Assembly on the Future of the Family. Over 2,000 leaders attend first major public forum to dramatize how American families have changed and to search for solutions for new family problems.
- Legal Momentum fights discrimination as friend-of-the-court in several employment cases. In Continental Can Co. v. Minnesota, the Minnesota Supreme Court decides that failing to respond to sexual harassment violates the state law against sex discrimination in employment. Wengler v. Druggists Mutual Insurance Company leads to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that sex-based discrimination in a state workers' compensation law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. International Union of Electrical Workers v. Westinghouse, in the Third Circuit, and NOW v. Hughes Aircraft both challenge wage discrimination.
- Legal Momentum and Women's Law Project establish ERA Impact Project to develop principles of sex equality under state constitutions' equal rights provisions.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court brief in Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney, where the Supreme Court rules that a Massachusetts law giving veterans civil service employment preferences does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, despite its discriminatory impact on women.
- Legal Momentum with the National Association of Women Judges establishes National Judicial Education Program to Promote Equality for Women and Men in the Courts (NJEP) to identify and eliminate gender bias in the courts.
- Legal Momentum fights for equal employment and wages as friend-of-the-court in August v. Delta Airlines in the Seventh Circuit; Briggs v. City of Madison in federal court in Wisconsin; and County of Washington v. Gunther. In Gunther, the Supreme Court rules that women prison guards can sue under Title VII for being paid less than male prison guards for similar work.
- Legal Momentum Media Project helps FCC address lack of women's ownership of broadcast channels.
- Legal Momentum joins family law cases: Kuchta v. Kuchta in Missouri state court, about equitable division of pension plans; Roberto v. Brown and Lundberg v. Lundberg in Wisconsin state court, about compensation due to spouse whose employment enables other spouse to obtain an education; and McCarty v. McCarty in U.S. Supreme Court, seeking equitable division of pension for ex-spouses of military personnel.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court brief in Supreme Court case Rostker v. Goldberg, arguing on behalf of men that the male-only military draft discriminates against women under the 5th Amendment. The Court rules that national defense is a sufficiently important governmental interest to justify distinguishing between the sexes for the draft.
- NJEP presents pilot course, Judicial Discretion: Does Sex Make a Difference?, at California Center for Judicial Education and Research. This is the first course of its kind ever presented for the judiciary.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court brief supporting extension of time period to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Supreme Court rules case moot because Congress has already passed a 7-year extension.
- ERA Impact Project wins first state ERA case, Tallon v. Liberty Hose Company No. 1, supporting the right of Pennsylvania women to be volunteer firefighters.
- Legal Momentum seeks enforcement of Title IX in landmark caseGrove City College v. Bell, where Supreme Court holds that Title IX's protection against sex discrimination in federally assisted education applies only to particular college program that receives federal aid, not school as a whole.
- Legal Momentum is co-counsel in American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists v. Thornburgh, challenging Pennsylvania's Abortion Control Act, which attempts to regulate in minute detail abortion procedures, physicians and clinics providing abortions. The Supreme Court strikes down most of the statute.
- As a result of NJEP's judicial education programs, New Jersey's Chief Justice appoints the first state supreme court task force on gender bias in the courts.
- In Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan, the U.S. Supreme Court adopts analysis in Legal Momentum's friend-of-the-court brief, ruling that sex-segregated public nursing schools are unconstitutional.
- Legal Momentum works to pass Uniform Services Former Spouse Protection Act enabling state courts to award ex-spouses of military members a percentage of members' pension. The Act protects spouses who forfeited their own earning opportunities to move repeatedly with, and make new homes for, the service members.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court briefs in Title VII employment discrimination cases before the Supreme Court, Boston Chapter NAACP v. Beecher and Memphis v. Stotts. The briefs urge that minority police officers and firefighters hired under court orders to remedy past discrimination be exempt from "last hired – first fired" layoff policies. The Boston case becomes moot when legislature reinstates all laid-off employees, while Court rules against black firefighters in Memphis case.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court briefs in Supreme Court cases Planned Parenthood v. Ashcroft and Akron Center for Reproductive Health v. City of Akron to challenge restrictions on abortion. While in Planned Parenthood, the Court upholds parts of the law, it strikes down entire law in City of Akron.
- In LaRue v. LaRue, Legal Momentum persuades West Virginia Supreme Court to recognize a homemaker's contribution to the marriage in dividing assets at divorce.
- Legal Momentum establishes Insurance and Pension Project to protect economic security of older women.
- ERA Impact Project wins Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. v. Insurance Commissioner, in Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, holding that sex-based pricing of auto insurance violates Pennsylvania's Equal Rights Amendment.
- Legal Momentum is friend-of-the-court in AFSCME v. State of Washington on issue of pay equity for jobs performed predominantly by women that are paid less than comparable jobs performed mostly by men. In a blow to the pay equity movement, Ninth Circuit holds Title VII does not require equal pay for jobs of comparable value.
- Legal Momentum is friend-of-the-court in Roberts v. U.S. Jaycees. The U.S. Supreme Court affirms a decision striking down male-only membership policy of U.S. Jaycees.
- As counsel for plaintiffs Dorothy Wade and Ruby Reeder, Legal Momentum files suit against the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture charging sex discrimination in employment and promotions. Wade and Reeder v. Block settles with reinstatement andsubstantial back pay awards for plaintiffs.
- PEER publishes reports and action kits focused on theme Equal Education for Girls Is Poverty Prevention For Women.
- PEER announces its Silver Snail Awards to spotlight sluggish performance in bringing about gender equity in education.
- NJEP and National Association for Women Judges publish "how-to" manual detailing procedures for establishing and running state supreme court task forces on gender bias in the courts.
- Legal Momentum submits friend-of-the-court brief to First Circuit in National Education Association v. Garrahy, which strikes down two Rhode Island statutes limiting insurance coverage for abortion procedures.
- Legal Momentum is friend-of-the-court in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson. The Supreme Court unanimously rules that sexual harassment creating an intolerable work environment, with or without tangible economic loss, violates Title VII.
- Legal Momentum publishes State by State Guide to Women's Rights, a comprehensive guide to laws affecting women's lives on a state-by-state basis.
- Legal Momentum takes leading role in civil damages suits for incest survivors, developing model friend-of-the-court brief arguing the constitutionality of filing suit when a survivor first discovers her psychological injuries during adulthood.
- Legal Momentum becomes counsel in Robinson v. Jacksonville Shipyards, a sexual harassment case filed in federal court in Florida that establishes pornography in the workplace can create an unlawful hostile environment, and that sexual harassment plaintiffs need not submit to offensive discovery into their sexual and intimate lives.
- Legal Momentum submits briefs in growing body of reproductive rights cases: In re A.C. in the Washington, D.C. courts, supporting right of terminally ill woman to make reproductive decisions; and In re Pamela Rae Stewart in California state court, opposing prosecution of a woman for not following her doctor's advice during pregnancy.
- As a result of NJEP's efforts, the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators adopt resolutions that every state should have task forces to examine gender bias and minority concerns in its courts.
- Legal Momentum launches Sexual Harassment Education and Prevention Project and produces videotape and handbook for employers.
- In NOW v. Terry, filed in federal court in New York, Legal Momentum brings first clinic violence case under the Ku Klux Klan Act, an 1871 civil rights law that prohibits private conspiracies to deprive persons of civil rights.
- Legal Momentum files Women's Voices brief in the Supreme Court in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, documenting the abortion experiences (legal and illegal) of thousands of American women and making an eloquent case for reproductive freedom. A plurality of the Court upholds many of the restrictions in the Missouri law including those on the use of public facilities for abortions, a viability test, and language in the preamble of the law claiming life begins at conception.
- Legal Momentum files suits in Virginia and Washington, D.C. to force Operation Rescue to stop abortion clinic blockades.
- Legal Momentum's friend-of-the-court work in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins results in an important Supreme Court victory holding that in sex discrimination cases the burden of proof is on the employer to show that gender plays no part in its employment decision.
- NJEP's efforts lead to first National Conference on Gender Bias in the Courts at the National Center for State Courts.
- NJEP publishes Promoting Gender Fairness Through Judicial Education: A Guide to the Issues and Resources, a 200-page overview of gender bias in 60 substantive and procedural areas of law and legal process.
- Legal Momentum files brief in Honigman v. Honigman, a pivotal case in New York's appellate court, where the court holds that a mother's career cannot be considered evidence that she is less qualified to have custody of a child than the father who is also employed.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court brief in Herald v. Hood, in which the Ohio Supreme Court affirms that an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse may bring suit against her abuser when she discovers her injuries, no matter how long ago the abuse occurred. Legal Momentum argues to protect the rights of incest survivors in several other cases including Barnes v. Barnes in the Indiana Supreme Court and Farris v. Compton in the D.C. Court of Appeals.
- Legal Momentum submits brief in United Auto Workers v. Johnson Controls arguing that "fetal protection policies," which prevent fertile women, but not men, from working violate Title VII. The Supreme Court rules that such policies are unlawful.
- In Doe v. Detroit Board of Education, the Board of Education agrees to admit girls to three previously all-male academies. This settlement results from lawsuits brought by Legal Momentum and the ACLU of Michigan in federal court.
- In Alison D. v. Virginia M., Legal Momentum submits brief to New York State's highest court arguing that non-biological lesbian co-parent should have standing to seek visitation after the adults separate.
- Legal Momentum founds National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence against Women to promote national legislation to response to epidemic of anti-woman violence. This results in the Violence Against Women Act, first enacted in 1994.
- Legal Momentum argues unsuccessfully before the Supreme Court in Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic that the Ku Klux Klan Act should apply to women who are blocked from access to reproductive health care clinics.
- Legal Momentum's PEER program launches Project TEAM-The Education of Adolescent Mothers.
- Legal Momentum, with the HIV Law Project and the ACLU AIDS Project, files petition challenging FDA's guidelines that exclude women of childbearing potential from clinical trials for new drugs. As a result, the FDA now requires drug trials to include women.
- In Maryland Insurance Commissioner v. Equitable Life Assurance Society, Legal Momentum argues before Maryland's highest court that gender-based discrimination in insurance ratemaking violates the state's Equal Rights Amendment.
- Legal Momentum submits friend-of-the-court brief in Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. The Supreme Court rules unanimously that plaintiffs in sexual harassment cases do not need to prove psychological injury to recover damages from the employer.
- Legal Momentum wins an appeal before the Seventh Circuit inTownsend v. Indiana University, a sexual harassment case involving psychological distress. The court rules that a worker does not have to be fired to win her case under Title VII. The issue is whether the discrimination inflicts the kind of harm for which Title VII offers a remedy.
- Legal Momentum submits friend-of-the-court brief to the D.C. Circuit in Steffan v. Aspin, arguing that the military's ban on homosexual members institutionalizes lesbian-baiting, the practice of threatening the careers of military women, whether or not they are lesbians, by calling them lesbians.
- Legal Momentum is co-counsel in C.K. v. Shalala, a class action suit charging that New Jersey's Family Development Plan, which restricts aid for children born to a woman already on welfare, violates federal and state laws by coercing reproductive choice. The Third Circuit upholds the Plan, stating that it serves a legitimate state interest.
- Legal Momentum publishes Manual for Survival for Women in Nontraditional Employment with the Association for Union Democracy, to help women succeed in the skilled trades.
- Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) passes Congress. VAWA culminates an intensive campaign led by Legal Momentum that mobilizes a 1,000-member task force to support the bill. VAWA secures $1.6 billion over six years for a National Domestic Violence Hotline and state programs to address domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. It successfully integrates issues of importance to immigrant women and women of color.
- Congress enacts Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE). Legal Momentum helps to write the bill and provides extensive legal analysis and assistance to legislative sponsors.
- Legal Momentum publishes STOP THE TERRORISM: Understanding Your Rights Under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, and delivers it to every governor and state attorney general in the country.
- In Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Legal Momentum submits brief to the Supreme Court supporting constitutionality of injunctions to stop clinic blockades.
- NJEP publishes Understanding Sexual Violence: The Judicial Response to Stranger and Nonstranger Rape and Sexual Assault. This model curriculum is used to educate judges about myths and attitudes that undermine full and fair legal remedies for rape victims.
- In American Life League v. Reno at the Fourth Circuit, Legal Momentum wins first federal appeals case upholding the constitutionality of FACE.
- In the Second Circuit case Pro-Choice Network v. Schenck, Legal Momentum files a brief arguing that "sidewalk counseling" by anti-abortion protestors can constitute harassment and may be restricted.
- Legal Momentum works with Congress to develop legislation prohibiting insurance companies from denying battered women health and life insurance coverage.
- Legal Momentum as co-counsel wins the landmark Ninth Circuit case Doe v. Petaluma City School District, which establishes that a school is liable for sex discrimination for failing to address student-to-student sexual harassment.
- Legal Momentum argues successfully as co-counsel in Pro-Choice Network v. Schenck in the U.S. Supreme Court that "fixed buffer zones," which protect reproductive health clinics from violent protestors, are constitutional.
- Legal Momentum issues Drawing the Line: A Handbook for Creating Community Residential Picketing and Buffer Zones, to show local activists and reproductive health care providers how to combat anti-choice violence through buffer zone ordinances and laws prohibiting residential picketing.
- Legal Momentum issues report documenting that up to 75 percent of women in welfare-to-work programs have been battered.
- Legal Momentum's friend-of-the-court brief contributes to landmark Supreme Court ruling U.S. v. Virginia that opens the doors of Virginia Military Institute to women, and secures stronger principles of constitutional equal protection for women.
- NJEP publishes model judicial education curriculum, Adjudicating Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse When Custody is in Dispute, and pilots it in Alabama and Colorado.
- Legal Momentum submits friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 15 women's and reproductive rights groups in U.S. v. Bird to support federal criminal prosecution for FACE violations. The Fifth Circuit affirms that the case should be tried.
- Legal Momentum writes a brief challenging the military's policy of excluding gay men, lesbians and bisexuals under its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for the Fourth Circuit case, Thomasson v. Perry.
- Legal Momentum victoriously argues NYS NOW v. Terry in the Second Circuit defending the federal court order protecting women, doctors and clinic workers from anti-choice blockades and violence.
- As friend-of-the-court in Bruneau v. South Kortright Central School District, Legal Momentum argues before Second Circuit that schools, like employers, have a responsibility to stop sexual harassment but case is unsuccessful.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court on peer sexual harassment case in Murrell v. School District No. 1, and is invited to argue before Tenth Circuit, which allows claims to go forward.
- Legal Momentum submits friend-of-the-court briefs in federal courts across the country to support constitutionality of civil rights remedy in VAWA, which permits victims of gender-based violence to sue their attackers in federal court.
- Legal Momentum is successful in freezing airline frequent flyer miles of anti-choice leader Randall Terry, who owes thousands of dollars in attorney fees awarded to pro-choice groups for successful suits against him and Operation Rescue.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court brief to persuade Supreme Court that Title VII covers same-sex sexual harassment, in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services. The Court rules that Title VII does cover same-sex harassment because it is usually based on stereotypes about masculinity and femininity.
- NJEP publishes model judicial education curriculum, When Bias Compounds: Insuring Equal Justice for Women of Color in the Courts and pilots it in California and Georgia.
- Legal Momentum submits friend-of-the-court brief that informs the now-famous Eighth Circuit case Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co., which awards damages to the sexually harassed employees of a Minnesota mining company. In 2005 this case was depicted in the Oscar-nominated movie North Country, based on the book Class Action.
- Legal Momentum launches Employment and Housing Rights for Survivors of Abuse project by bringing sex discrimination suit, Valdez v. Truss Components, on behalf of a woman whose abusive former partner, who also worked with her, smashed her headlights in the company parking lot and threatened to kill her. The court rules that the company's decision to fire the victim while retaining the abuser/co-worker may violate Title VII.
- Legal Momentum wins Saenz v. Roe, a Supreme Court ruling that California's one-year residency requirement for full welfare benefits violates the U.S. Constitution. Legal Momentum brings into the case the perspective of battered women who must flee their abusers across state lines.
- Legal Momentum establishes Building Opportunities beyond Welfare Reform grassroots coalition to fight for policies to end women's poverty, and publishes What Congress Didn't Tell You: A State-by-State Guide to the Welfare Law's Hidden Reproductive Rights Agenda, to highlight state participation in new initiatives to undermine poor women's reproductive autonomy.
- Legal Momentum founds Immigrant Women Program to advocate for legal protections, social services and economic justice for immigrant women.
- Legal Momentum publishes Nontraditional Employment for Low Income Women: A Guide for Advocates. The booklet outlines the benefits of nontraditional work and identifies funding sources and other resources for advocates interested in promoting such programs.
- Legal Momentum's friend-of-the-court brief is key to outcome in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Fischer, deciding that the defendant in an acquaintance rape case cannot ask the judge to instruct the jury that it could find he mistakenly believed his victim consented when she had testified to her vigorous struggle against him.
- Legal Momentum argues before Supreme Court on behalf of plaintiff in Brzonkala v. Morrison, to defend the constitutionality of the civil rights provision of the Violence Against Women Act. In a stunning decision, the Supreme Court holds that Congress lacks power to give victims of gender-motivated violence a federal court remedy.
- Legal Momentum is friend-of-the-court in Planned Parenthood v. Perdue, which results in an Alaska Supreme Court ruling requiring that Medicaid funding be equally available for childbirth and abortion for poor women in the state.
- Legal Momentum files friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 75 organizations committed to women's equality in Stenberg v. Carhart, where Supreme Court strikes down a Nebraska abortion restriction as unconstitutional. The brief argues that statutes banning safe abortion procedures interfere not only with women's privacy rights, but also with their aspirations to equality.
- Legal Momentum submits brief to Nebraska Supreme Court in Brandon v. Richardson County, the case whose story was made famous by the 1999 film Boys Don't Cry. The court upholds a damages award to Brandon Teena's mother in her action against the county for failing to protect Brandon from being murdered.
- Legal Momentum convinces the federal government to enhance child care access for welfare recipients via financial incentives aimed at states, and publishes Nowhere to Turn, which exposes New York City's failure to inform parents on welfare of their child care rights.
- As part of its work to bring attention to the eradication of poverty, Legal Momentum co-sponsors the conference To Promote the General Welfare: Ending Women's Poverty with the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy.
- Legal Momentum leads anti-violence advocates in another victory when Congress reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act, providing $3.3 billion over 5 years to continue existing programs and to create new ones, including civil legal assistance, transitional housing, and a range of services for battered immigrant women and victims of dating violence.
- In Ferguson v. City of Charleston, Legal Momentum submits an friend-of-the-court brief representing 21 pro-choice and women's organizations before the Supreme Court. The Court rules that a state hospital policy of conducting drug tests on pregnant women without their consent and informing police if a woman tests positive is unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment.
- Legal Momentum plays leading role in successful advocacy for refundable Child and Dependent Tax Credit as part of federal tax cut package. This refund is critical for low-income families to help them pay for child or dependent care so they can work.
- In wake of September 11th attacks, Legal Momentum launches its Equality Works program. First focused on ensuring equal opportunity for women in rebuilding New York, the program presses to increase the number of women in high-paying, male-dominated fields, such as construction and firefighting, and to end discrimination and stereotyping that stop women from being hired, safe and respected on the job.
- Equality Works produces awarding-winning Women of Ground Zero video, honoring heroic contributions of women in non-traditional jobs on 9/11.
- Equality Works in conjunction with the Institute for Women's Policy Research publishes Working First, But Working Poor, which shows how job training offered to welfare recipients tracks women into sex-stereotyped, low-paying jobs. As a follow-up, Legal Momentum hosts two-day meeting for tradeswomen and policy advocates from the seven states studied in the report to discuss nontraditional employment for low-income women.
- Claiming that a landlord's "zero tolerance for violence" policy violates the Fair Housing Act's prohibition against sex discrimination, when used to evict a victim of domestic violence, Legal Momentum wins favorable settlement for victim in United States and Alvera v. C.B.M. Group, filed in federal court in Oregon.
- In Apessos v. Memorial Press Group, Legal Momentum wins precedent setting ruling in Massachusetts state court prohibiting employers from firing domestic violence survivors who must take time off from work to obtain a court order of protection.
- In Sojourner v. N.J. Department of Human Services and Mason v. State of Nebraska, Legal Momentum challenges the New Jersey and Nebraska laws limiting welfare for poor children. New Jersey denies welfare benefits to children born while someone in their family is receiving welfare assistance. The Nebraska law applies to children of disabled parents. The Sojourner case fails when the state supreme court decides the restrictions support legitimate state interests, but the Nebraska Supreme Court issues an injunction preventing its law from applying to households where neither parent is able to work.
- NJEP releases two-hour training video Presenting Medical Evidence in an Adult Rape Trial.
- Legal Momentum publishes second edition of Creating Solutions—Creating Change: The Impact of Violence in the Lives of Working Women. This popular manual helps employers adopt legally sound policies and create a workplace environment that supports employees who are affected by domestic violence.
- Legal Momentum files critical friend-of-the-court brief in the Supreme Court in Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs, which upholds the applicability of the Family and Medical Leave Act to state employers.
- In Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, Legal Momentum's friend-of-the-court brief shows how international human rights law supports affirmative action admissions policies for the University of Michigan's undergraduate and law school programs. The Supreme Court upholds the law school's policy.
- Legal Momentum commences federal class action in New York on behalf of Mexican women on temporary guest worker visas, Olvera-Morales v. ILMC. The case alleges that immigrant worker recruiting companies illegally steer women into jobs under a less desirable visa classification and men into higher paying, job-protected positions.
- Legal Momentum brings McGilvray v. District of Columbia, a federal case, on behalf of a married couple denied a birth certificate for their new child because they gave their baby the mother's last name. This results in a law permitting married parents in the District of Columbia to name their children after either parent, or both.
- In Hernandez v. Ashcroft, Legal Momentum argues for relief under the immigration protection provisions of the Violence Against Women Act. The Ninth Circuit offers the first clear definition of extreme cruelty under immigration law in domestic violence cases and quotes Legal Momentum's friend-of-the-court brief extensively.
- Legal Momentum launches its Family Initiative for Child Care, Preschool and Afterschool to promote universal, affordable, quality child care and early education.
- NJEP publishes Evaluating the Evaluators: Problems with Outside Neutrals in The Judge's Journal. The article describes gender bias in custody evaluations and is selected as one of the best articles of the year in an American Bar Association publication.
- The Immigrant Women Program serves as co-chair of the National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women and spearheads the implementation and planning of the Network's national conference, bringing together more that 475 participants from federal agencies and advocacy organizations.
- NJEP publishes Gender, Justice and Law: From Asylum to Zygotes—Issues and Resources for Judicial, Legal and Continuing Legal Education, a 500-page guide to the myriad ways gender bias may be a factor in civil, criminal, family and juvenile law.
- Legal Momentum's brief in Lawrence v. Texas—a challenge to a Texas law that criminalizes some sexual acts only between same-sex couples—demonstrates how the statute is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court's precedents against sex discrimination. This analysis helps Justices to place discrimination against lesbians and gay men within the framework of established law, defusing claims that proponents of equal rights are asking the Court to establish "new" rights.
- Legal Momentum is co-counsel in Second Circuit cases that produce first-ever circuit court ruling that welfare recipients employed in "workfare" projects as a condition of receiving benefits are employees protected by Title VII, in Colon v. City of New York andUnited States v. City of New York.
- Legal Momentum represents 27 groups and individuals in friend-of-the-court brief submitted to North Carolina Supreme Court in Imes v. City of Asheville, arguing that it should declare unlawful the firing of an individual for being a victim of domestic violence. The court rejects the argument, but its decision stimulates enactment of new employment protections for victims of violence in the state.
- Immigrant Women Program publishes Breaking Barriers: A Complete Guide to Legal Rights and Resources for Battered Immigrants, an unprecedented comprehensive work relied on by service providers nationwide.
- Legal Momentum submits a friend-of-the-court brief to the Fifth Circuit in United States v. Bird, arguing that the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), originally drafted by Legal Momentum, is a constitutional exercise of congressional power. The court upholds FACE.
- As part of Equality Works program, Legal Momentum represents a female elevator mechanic in Mahl v. Schindler Elevator Corp., a federal sex discrimination and harassment suit in New York that results in the company adopting strong new anti-discrimination policies.
- The Family Initiative publishes Early Childhood Education for All: A Wise Investment, which reports recommendations arising from a 2004 conference co-sponsored by the MIT Workplace Center. The report demonstrates how public investment in quality child care and early education benefits all taxpayers and enhances economic vitality.
- Legal Momentum's Employment and Housing Rights for Survivors of Abuse project continues to represent battered women who have lost jobs or housing because of the violence, filing Blackwell v. H.A. Housing in Colorado on behalf of a woman whose landlord refused her request to transfer to a safer location after she was brutally beaten by her ex-boyfriend. The case is later settled with damages for the plaintiff and a new transfer policy for victims of violence.
- Legal Momentum launches Sexuality and Family Rights Program to increase public awareness that abstinence-only programs threaten women's and girls' health, autonomy and well-being, and calls for comprehensive sex education programs.
- NJEP creates a three-volume, 1,000-page resource manual on sexual assault information, law and policy for the Air Force's new sexual assault prevention and response initiative.
- Legal Momentum appears as a friend-of-the-court in New York's highest court in a case that produces a landmark decision protecting battered mothers. The case, Nicholson v. Scoppetta, challenges New York City's Administration for Children's Services' practice of bringing child neglect proceedings against battered mothers on the basis of their having "allowed" their children to witness domestic violence.
- Legal Momentum is co-counsel in Wedow and Kline v. City of Kansas City wins a landmark ruling from the Eighth Circuit, holding that providing inadequate gear and facilities for women firefighters is discrimination in violation of Title VII. The strongly worded opinion is seen as a warning for fire departments nationwide.
- Equality Works program stands up for tradeswomen, as Legal Momentum files three separate sex discrimination cases in New York against a construction company, a painting contractor, and an airline.
- Bringing a fresh eye to U.S. Census data, Legal Momentum publishes Reading Between the Lines: Women's Poverty in the United States, a statistical analysis of Census data showing that a woman in the U.S. is 45 percent more likely to be poor than a man.
- The Sexuality and Family Rights Program convenes Teaching Only Abstinence: Consequences for Girls and Society, with Harvard Law School and the Harvard School of Public Health. The expert roundtable exposes the harms of not providing the comprehensive information necessary for healthy decision-making about sexuality and preventing unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
- The Immigrant Women Program publishes the first-ever Legal Rights of Immigrant Victims of Sexual Assault Manual to address the unique challenges for these victims.
- Legal Momentum represents the plaintiff in Greer v. Beck's Pub & Grille, winning the first-ever ruling in Iowa that discharging an employee because of domestic violence is illegal.
- Legal Momentum's ongoing efforts as chair of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women results in the Violence Against Women Act of 2005, which becomes law in 2006. It provides $3.95 billion over five years to continue previously authorized services and establishes new protections and programs for battered and trafficked immigrant women, Native women, and other underserved populations.
- Legal Momentum writes and publishes Women: A Celebration of Strength. The very colorful book celebrates U.S. women's history by highlighting topics from the suffrage movement to the fight for equal educational opportunities to the rise of female leaders in politics, business, sports, education, and the law.
- The Immigrant Women Program is instrumental in the creation of U-visas and T-visas, which allow immigrant victims of crime to come forward and cooperate with investigations without fear of deportation.
- Equality Works holds a conference for 250 representatives of government, labor, private developers, educators, and tradeswomen titled "Women Re:BUILD NY." Conference fosters new dialogue among construction industry stakeholders, tradeswomen and advocates centered on best practices and concrete improvements for women working in the construction and skilled trades.
- In Miller v. Conti Enterprises, Legal Momentum appears on behalf of a woman laborer who tried, repeatedly and unsuccessfully, to be hired on a state-funded road construction project in lower Manhattan. The EEOC finds not only that the firm discriminated against her, but that it had engaged in a pattern and practice of discrimination against women.
- Legal Momentum files sweeping sex discrimination charges against utility-giant Con Edison, alleging systemic unfair treatment of women in hiring, training, treatment and promotion, leading to an ongoing EEOC investigation.
- In the lead up to the 2008 Presidential Elections, Legal Momentum launches "Women Decide 2008" a comprehensive effort to engage the public and policy makers in a new dialogue on issues that impact women disproportionately, but that are a priority for all Americans.
- The National Judicial Education Program (NJEP) helps to organize and presents at the Air Force's groundbreaking, week-long Symposium on Sexual Assault Prevention Education and Risk Reduction.
- Equality Works launches the Pipeline Project, aimed at increasing the numbers of high school girls in high-wage non-traditional career tracks in New York City Career and Technical High Schools.
- Legal Momentum publishes From the Ground Up: Building Opportunities for Women in Construction, a report based on our ground-breaking conference, Women re:BUILD NY. The report focuses on the four pillars needed to make equal opportunity a reality for women in the construction trades.
- Legal Momentum, publishes Sex, Lies, and Stereotypes: How Abstinence-only Programs Harm Women and Girls, a report exposing the misleading messages of abstinence-only programs and the risks they pose to the health and safety of women and girls in particular.
- The National Judicial Education Program (NJEP) posts an extensive web course on an almost invisible issue with critical implications for risk assessment, Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse: Adjudicating This Hidden Dimension of Domestic Violence Cases. Focused on judges but useful for multidisciplinary audiences, the web course is free and open to all, www.njep-ipsacourse.org.
- In Olvera Morales v. International Labor Management Corp. Legal Momentum achieves a path-breaking settlement in a class action discrimination suit against organizations that recruit and supply non-immigrant guest workers to U.S. farms. Settlement includes injunctive relief to prevent any recruitment discrimination against women.
- After several years of advocacy, Legal Momentum, along with sister organizations, lauds the passage and signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the first legislation signed by newly inaugurated President Barack Obama. The Act insures pension equality for women.
- In response to the 2008 economic crisis, Legal Momentum mounts a campaign to ensure that women benefit from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding and that federal contracts address occupational discrimination and create opportunities for women in non-traditional jobs in growing industries like energy and engineering.
- In partnership with the New York City District Council of Carpenters Women's Committee and NEW (Non-Traditional Employment for Women), and representative tradeswomen from most New York City trade unions, Legal Momentum's Equality Works co-hosts the first-ever conference for women union members in the trades.
- Legal Momentum successfully fights to expand unemployment insurance to previously ineligible women workers: victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking forced to leave their jobs for safety concerns, part-time workers, and those who must leave a job to attend to ailing family members.
- Legal Momentum hosts a Symposium Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act and honoring its initiator and unwavering champion, Vice President Joe Biden. The symposium is a collaboration with the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law.
- Legal Momentum launches a new initiative to educate policymakers about much needed reforms in TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), the nation's social safety net for women and children.
- Legal Momentum, as co-counsel in Germain v. The County of Suffolk,wins a jury verdict for plaintiff thereby vindicating the theory that an employer violates the Pregnancy Discrimination Act when it denies its light duty policy to a pregnant employee.
- Through amicus briefs and legal assistance, Legal Momentum successfully fights to overturn the most controversial parts of SB 1070, the Arizona immigration law that would have caused severe hardship for immigrant women and their families.
- Legal Momentum educates policymakers and others about women's poverty and much needed reforms in TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), the nation's social safety net for women and children, through reports and Congressional briefings.
- In collaboration with allied organizations, Legal Momentum launches Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence, a national resource center that provides tools for employers to obtain information and assistance in creating workplace policies addressing domestic, sexual and dating violence and stalking.
- The National Judicial Education Program establishes its campaign to integrate and sustain judicial, probation, and community education about adult victim sexual assault cases in jurisdictions throughout the country with its first regional team meeting.
- The Immigrant Women Program initiates its advocacy program for the rights of immigrant women in comprehensive immigration reform through Congressional briefings, constituent advocacy, and reports.
- Through roundtable discussions of tradeswomen, policy experts, and researchers, Legal Momentum works to increase and retain the number of women on federally-funded construction sites.
- Through our Pipeline Program, Legal Momentum worked to increase girls' enrollment in 14 career and technical education high schools throughout New York City.
- Legal Momentum receives the 2011 Advocacy Award from the National Council for Research on Women for its Women and Poverty Program.
- Legal Momentum publishes Judges Tell: What I Wish I Had Known before I Presided in an Adult Victim Sexual Assault Case, addressing common misconceptions about rape that often carry over into the courtroom.
- Legal Momentum continues to play a vital role in reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). VAWA funds are critical for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Legal Momentum leads reauthorization efforts to ensure the passage of this critical legislation.
- Legal Momentum works with the Tulalip Nation in Washington state to present a specially tailored version of its curriculum, Understanding Sexual Violence: The Judicial Response to Stranger and Nonstranger Rape and Sexual Assault, under a Court Training and Improvements grant from the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW). The program provides information and tools critical to the fair hearing of cases involving Native perpetrators of sexual assault or domestic violence.
- Legal Momentum launches the Single Parent Policy Advocacy Network (SPPAN), a network of advocates, government officials, academics, and journalists who share and discuss information on the status of single parents in the U.S., the vast majority of whom are women.
- Legal Momentum forms the National Task Force on Tradeswomen's Issues, a coalition of national and regional advocacy organizations and tradeswomen. The Task Force works to ensure that women in New York City—and across the country—can access and thrive in careers in the construction trades.
- Legal Momentum's Pipeline Project transitions from an on-site research and direct-outreach initiative in nine New York City pilot schools to a full-time advocacy effort documenting recruitment best practices and advocating for their adoption system-wide.
- The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act 2013 (VAWA) is signed in March. Legal Momentum, at the helm of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence against Women, led efforts to pass this important legislation and expand its protections for immigrant, Native American, and LGBT victims of sexual and domestic violence.
- The Department of Justice invites Legal Momentum to provide technical assistance and advice to federal agencies as they develop and implement new workplace violence policies.
- Legal Momentum's award-winning National Judicial Education Program (NJEP) continues to educate judges nationwide about the realities of sexual assault. More than 170 college administrators, rape crisis centers, mental health professionals, and justice system professionals order NJEP's training DVDs on understanding and addressing sexual violence.
- Legal Momentum issues numerous studies and reports about issues affecting women's economic security, including Beyond the Myths about Single Motherhood, the TANF Misery Index, and Still Excluded: There Are Still Virtually No Women in the Federally Created and Supervised Apprenticeship System for the Skilled Construction Trades.
- Legal Momentum testifies in New York City Council urging passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations in the workplace to those who suffer conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth. The PWFA is unanimously passed by the Council.
- Legal Momentum produced several acclaimed new reports that highlighted the gender aspect of poverty, including 50 Years of the War on Poverty: Too Little Progress; Women's Poverty in the United States, 2013—Poverty Rate Remains High, Gender Poverty Gap Persists; A TANF Misery Index 2014 Update; Update of Single Parenthood in the United States–A Snapshot.
- Legal Momentum's National Judicial Education Program was invited to give numerous trainings based on its two new curriculum modules as well as on its previously published training materials. Training presentations included webinars, conference presentations, and workshops throughout the year and across the country, reaching thousands of multidisciplinary professionals.
- Legal Momentum filed a charge on behalf of a New York City Police Officer who was denied the opportunity to take the promotional examination for sergeant due to her pregnancy.
- Legal Momentum filed an EEOC charge on behalf of women sheet metal workers who experienced discrimination, including unfair termination. One of the women was harassed and fired after asking for accommodations to express breast milk for her infant. The case set an important legal precedent and achieved a significant settlement for the women.
- Legal Momentum helped file a formal complaint with the Montana judicial disciplinary board against a judge who mishandled a statutory rape case. The Montana Supreme Court ordered both a public censure and a 31-day suspension for the judge.
- Legal Momentum filed federal civil rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Education against an Ivy-league university under Title IX and the Clery Act in connection with its failure to expel a student whom it had found responsible for nonconsensual sexual misconduct. The DOE started an investigation in response to the complaints.
- Legal Momentum and scores of other organizations marked the 20th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act in September 2014 with celebratory events and a successful social media awareness campaign.
- In March 2015, Legal Momentum launched "This Workplace Is a DV-Free Zone," a model policy for employers to address domestic violence in the workplace, whether employees are victims or perpetrators. A webinar for more than 50 service providers and legal professionals and a comprehensive social media campaign, including a "DV-Free Zone Bill of Rights" poster to display in workplaces, accompanied the launch of the model policy, which is designed to be easy for employees to understand and for employers to adopt.
- On July 7, 2015, "Enough Is Enough," groundbreaking legislation to combat sexual violence on college and university campuses in New York State, was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Legal Momentum advocated successfully for the new law, which provides comprehensive policies to prevent sexual violence and support victims when it occurs.
- Throughout the year, Legal Momentum participated in advocacy and educational efforts, including testifying before the New York City Council, conducting a "teach-in" at Columbia University, and participating in the Dartmouth and Annapolis national summit meetings on campus sexual assault. Legal Momentum also published "Know Your Rights" fact sheets for survivors of campus sexual assault.
- Legal Momentum's National Judicial education Program (NJEP) was awarded a grant by the Department of Justice Office of Violence against Women (OVW) to develop an introduction to the issues involved in teen dating violence and its intersections with other areas of the law. The new educational materials present an opportunity for judges, courts, and court-related professionals to protect victims, intervene with perpetrators, and educate the communities they serve on prevention.
- Legal Momentum's National Judicial Education Program continued its outreach to educate judges and other court professionals on the realities of sexual and domestic violence, providing trainings in Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, Washington, and Wyoming, and for the National Association of Women Judges. NJEP also presented two free webinars, The Intersection of Stalking and Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Sexual Assault: The Hidden Dimension of Domestic Violence.
- NJEP was awarded a second new grant from OVW that will provide $600,000 over three years to develop a new curriculum that will train sexual assault and domestic violence victim service providers to help their clients navigate the criminal justice system.
- In 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided several cases in which Legal Momentum filed friend-of-the-court briefs. In Young v. UPS, the Court upheld some of the key provisions in the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, as Legal Momentum had urged it to do in our amicus brief. In Texas v. Inclusive Communities, the Court reaffirmed the Fair Housing Act as an important tool for combating not only racial segregation, but also denials of housing to victims of domestic violence. As our brief explained, victims of domestic violence are often evicted in response to municipal nuisance ordinances. In King v. Burwell, the Court affirmed a key component of the Affordable Care Act, allowing millions of women to access affordable health insurance.
- Legal Momentum settles the pregnancy discrimination case of Angie Welfare against American Airlines. In 2006, baggage handler Welfare was denied a light duty accommodation and forced to take unpaid leave—without health benefits—during her pregnancy. The case was delayed by the airline's bankruptcy. While it was pending, Welfare became a strong advocate for pregnant workers and testified in New York City Council for City's Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which was passed in 2014.
- Legal Momentum published an op-ed in the Seattle Times on March 10, titled "Congress must lead charge to block Backpage.com sex ads."
- Legal Momentum was deeply involved in the New York City Council's Young Women's Initiative (YWI), which released its Phase I findings in May. The initiative was the first of its kind and crafted policy recommendations to address racial, gender, and other disparities that have an impact on the city's young women and girls. Legal Momentum's involvement in the YWI continues with Phase II.
- Legal Momentum and pro-bono partners the Thomson Reuters Foundation and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe released a hard-hitting report, "A Call to Action: Ending Sextortion in the Digital Age," that provides a framework for increasing public awareness and improving the law to combat sextortion, or online sexual extortion.
- Legal Momentum created a broad coalition of local and national anti-trafficking organizations, including survivor-led organizations, to work together and support each other's efforts on the issue of online sexual exploitation of vulnerable women and children, especially teen girls.
- In October, Legal Momentum, together with pro-bono partner Boies, Schiller & Flexner submitted an amicus curiae brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case of Jane Doe et al. v. Backpage.com et al. Numerous anti-trafficking organizations and activists signed on to the brief. The brief was later cited in a U.S. Senate committee report on its investigations into the business activities of Backpage.com and its owners.
- Legal Momentum's National Judicial Education Program continued to develop and present trainings for judges and other justice system professionals nationwide on the realities of domestic violence and sexual assault and their intersection.
- The documentary film, "I Am Jane Doe," about victims of online sex trafficking, features Legal Momentum's President and CEO and its Executive Vice President and Legal Director, along with Legal Momentum's pro bono counsel David Boies, highlighting Legal Momentum's work with Boies to end online sexual exploitation of vulnerable girls and women.
- Legal Momentum and Boies Shiller Flexner file lawsuits against Backpage.com in Arizona and Florida on behalf of trafficking victims and organizations that provide services to trafficking survivors.
- Legal Momentum files a civil suit in New York State on behalf of a former U.S. Marine, who was a victim of sextortion by her landlord.
- Legal Momentum launched its Rights Now! Peer Educator Empowerment Program, funded by a grant from the New York City Council's Young Women's Initiative.
- Legal Momentum's President and CEO, Carol Robles-Román, receives the American Bar Association's 2017 Sharon L. Corbitt Award for exemplary service to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
- Legal Momentum and its pro bono partner Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe are nominated for a 2017 TrustLaw Impact Award for their work to combat sextortion, a growing form of cyber-crime that often targets young girls.
- Legal Momentum works with Chicago Says No More to bring its This Workplace Is a DV-Free Zone domestic violence model policy to employers in the Midwest.
- Laws criminalizing sextortion pass in several states, including Utak, Arkansas, Texas, and California, thanks in part to the work of Legal Momentum and pro bono partner Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
- Legal Momentum joins other leading labor and women's rights organizations in the #EnoughisEnough national campaign spearheaded by the National Organization for Women (NOW).
- Legal Momentum provides recommendations to the New York City Commission on Human Rights on key steps to protect vulnerable women from sexual and gender-based harassment in the workplace.


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RIM Earnings Preview: "Terrible With a Scoop of Worse"
Research In Motion has seen its BlackBerry revenues fall year over year for three consecutive quarters. When the company reports earnings on Thursday afternoon, it will almost certainly become four.
With its shares trading at a near-nine-year low amid increasing skepticism over its prospects for a turnaround, expectations for RIM's first fiscal quarter are decidedly low. As Jefferies analyst Peter Misek told AllThingsD, "It's going to be terrible with a scoop of worse for August."
Which is probably a fair bet. The company's shares have tanked 11 percent so far this month, and its market capitalization has slipped below $5 billion. Five years ago, it was about 16 times that.
Consensus among Wall Street analysts is for RIM to report a net loss of three cents per share on revenue of $3.1 billion for the quarter, a precipitous decline from the earnings of $1.33 per share on revenue of $4.9 billion the company posted for the same period last year. But that's the mean estimate. Some analysts are forecasting far greater losses, with the low being -36 cents. (To be fair, the top high estimate is 51 cents, but that's clearly from an equally high analyst.)
And forecasts for RIM's second quarter are equally gruesome. At a loss of four cents, the mean is a penny lower, dragged down by concerns about how Samsung's Galaxy S III and Apple's next-generation iPhone will further kick the legs out from under RIM.
But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here.
The disaster of the day is RIM's first-quarter earnings report, not its second. And beyond just some ugly numbers, there could be additional bad news as well. A decline in BlackBerry shipments. A leveling out of new subscriber additions — or a decline there, too. And then there's the issue of the timing around the launch of RIM's already-delayed BlackBerry 10 operating system. If RIM waits too long to debut the OS and its related hardware, it could miss this year's critical back-to-school season, which would be disastrous for what is essentially a last-ditch effort from new CEO Thorsten Heins to save the company.
Wedge analyst Brian Blair recently took that scenario to its logical conclusion and, as you'd expect, it ends badly.
What we know from watching Nokia and Palm over the years is that fundamentals that are bad can always get worse, particularly if there is no meaningful catalyst for stabilization on the horizon, or if that catalyst isn't able to stem the fundamental bleeding. RIM finds itself in such a situation with an aging product line and nothing that appears able to change its fate in the pipeline. We see a steep drop off in revenues and units near term, punctuated by a drop in subscriber adds, and an OS refresh that is largely ignored by carriers and consumers alike, driving RIM into a forced sale in 2013.
A harsh assessment. But then it's gotten difficult to pick out any bright spots in the train wreck that RIM has become. With the company in such decline, there's a chance that even BlackBerry 10 won't be enough to turn it around.
Said Blair, "This is going to be the third inning of RIM's death spiral."

subset: commoncrawl


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- Prayer and Worship
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- About USCCB
1D Where has your lover gone,
most beautiful among women?
Where has your lover withdrawn
that we may seek him with you?*
2Wa My lover has come down to his garden,*
to the beds of spices,
To feed in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3b I belong to my lover, and my lover belongs to me;
he feeds among the lilies.
4M Beautiful as Tirzah are you, my friend;*
fair as Jerusalem,
fearsome as celestial visions!
5c Turn your eyes away from me,
for they stir me up.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.
6d Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
that come up from the washing,
All of them big with twins,
none of them barren.
7Like pomegranate halves,
your cheeks behind your veil.
8Sixty are the queens, eighty the concubines,
and young women without number—
9One alone* is my dove, my perfect one,
her mother's special one,
favorite of the one who bore her.
Daughters see her and call her happy,
queens and concubines, and they praise her:
10e "Who* is this that comes forth like the dawn,
beautiful as the white moon, pure as the blazing sun,
fearsome as celestial visions?"
11Wf To the walnut grove* I went down,
to see the young growth of the valley;
To see if the vines were in bloom,
if the pomegranates had blossomed.
12Before I knew it, my desire had made me
the blessed one of the prince's people.*
* [6:1] The Daughters of Jerusalem are won by this description of the lover and offer their aid in seeking him (cf. 5:6, 9).
* [6:2–3] The woman implies here that she had never really lost her lover, for he has come down to his garden (cf. 2:16; 4:5). Feed…lilies: the imagery here evokes both a shepherd pasturing his flocks and erotic play between the lovers (2:16; 4:5, 12, 16).
* [6:4–9] The man again celebrates the woman's beauty. Tirzah: probably meaning "pleasant"; it was the early capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (1 Kgs 16). Celestial visions: the meaning is uncertain. Military images may be implied here, i.e., the "heavenly hosts" who fight along with God on Israel's behalf (cf. Jgs 5:20), or perhaps a reference to the awesome goddesses of the region who combined aspects of both fertility and war.
* [6:9] One alone: the incomparability of the woman is a favorite motif in love poetry.
* [6:10] "Who…": the speakers may be the women of vv. 8–9. Moon…sun: lit., "the white" and "the hot," respectively (cf. Is 24:23; 30:26). Fearsome: see note on 6:4–9.
* [6:11] Walnut grove: also a site of activity in a wedding hymn of the Syrian moon goddess Nikkal (cf. the woman compared to the moon in v. 10).
* [6:12] The text is obscure in Hebrew and in the ancient versions. The Vulgate reads: "I did not know; my soul disturbed me because of the chariots of Aminadab." Based on a parallel in Jgs 5:24, "chariots" is here emended to "blessed one."
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Newly Formed Terrorist Group Busted In Pakistan – Had Plans To Target Charity Groups
Ten members of the newly formed Tehreek Islami Lashkar-e-Mohammadi were arrested Friday with weapons, explosives, chemicals and poison, Jihadi literature, and hit lists of high-profile people, politicians, international and national NGOs and police officials. The organization is anti-Semitic.The group apparently wanted to target charity groups for what they say are links to the Free Masons and other groups. Read more »


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(a) A parent seeking a temporary order relating to parenting shall file and serve a proposed temporary parenting plan by motion. The other parent, if contesting the proposed temporary parenting plan, shall file and serve a responsive proposed parenting plan. Either parent may move to have a proposed temporary parenting plan entered as part of a temporary order. The parents may enter an agreed temporary parenting plan at any time as part of a temporary order. The proposed temporary parenting plan may be supported by relevant evidence and shall be verified and shall state at a minimum the following:
(1) The name, address and length of residence with the person or persons with whom the child has lived for the preceding twelve months;
(2) The performance by each parent during the last twelve months of the parenting functions relating to the daily needs of the child;
(3) The parents' work and child-care schedules for the preceding twelve months;
(4) The parents' current work and child-care schedules; and
(5) Any of the circumstances set forth in section 9-209 that are likely to pose a serious risk to the child and that warrant limitation on the award to a parent of temporary residence or time with the child pending entry of a permanent parenting plan.
(b) At the hearing, the court shall enter a temporary parenting order incorporating a temporary parenting plan which includes:
(1) A schedule for the child's time with each parent when appropriate;
(2) Designation of a temporary residence for the child;
(3) Allocation of decision-making authority, if any. Absent allocation of decision-making authority consistent with section two hundred seven of this article, neither party shall make any decision for the child other than those relating to day-to-day or emergency care of the child, which shall be made by the party who is present with the child;
(4) Provisions for temporary support for the child; and
(5) Restraining orders, if applicable.
(c) A parent may make a motion for an order to show cause and the court may enter a temporary order, including a temporary parenting plan, upon a showing of necessity.
(d) A parent may move for amendment of a temporary parenting plan, and the court may order amendment to the temporary parenting plan, if the amendment conforms to the limitations of section 9-209 and is in the best interest of the child.


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Our Community
Find out who we are and what makes Fonda a great place to live.
More than a just a place where people live, Fonda is unique and vibrant. Fonda is home to friends and neighbors, people who contribute to the excellent quality of life. But its not just the people, but also the government, the businesses, the schools, and the activities that make us a great place to live or visit. We are proud to call this our home. Use the links at the left to find demographic information about our city and to explore Web sites for Fonda and Pocahontas County.
Home Town with a Heart!


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For 2014, Kuat has released the Trio roof rack, added a new black color to their lineup, and expanded their options to tie down Fat Bikes.
Küat NV
Their upscale NV bike rack remains unchanged for this year other than a new Stealth Black color scheme with chrome highlights. The new color combination looks really nice in person, and adds some variety to their generic gray paint design. The Kuat NV rack is a sweet bike rack that is well built, sturdy, moderately lightweight, easy to use and full of innovative and functional features, and has the ability to carry 20 to 29-inch wheels. One of the NV's highlights is the integrated Trail Doc bike stand, although it's somewhat rudimentary, it works for quick trail maintenance. It comes as a two bike rack for $549, but you can buy an optional 2 two bike extension for $389.
Küat Trio
They recently released the Küat Trio roof rack system ($209), which carries one bike (up to 45 lbs) on its sleek NV like tray, and comes with three adapters for 9, 15, and 20mm forks, an integrated bike lock and a security attachment for the roof bars. For 15mm and 20mm forks, you just swap out the appropriate inner adapter, and then use your forks own axle clamp for attachment. The 9mm set up uses their skewer, and it interlocks with the default 15mm adapter to keep things from rotating out of position. The 15mm and 20mm adapters can be swapped out by loosening a bolt that resides in the front of the tray. It will also come in the new Stealth black color scheme instead of default gray.
The large lever arm on their skewer for the 9mm setup takes some queues from the NV series, and it works really nicely to clamp a fork down. They also have an optional 9mm and 15mm x 135mm Fat Bike skewer if required. In addition to a Fat Bike skewer for the Trio, they have Fat Bike extensions for the rear-wheel strap for the Trio, NV, NV Core, and Sherpa racks.
I have been testing both the 4-bike NV and new Trio, and I'm very impressed with them so far. They have been refining and tweaking things to help remove some older buggy issues.


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Despite loss, Pineda's debut a success
In first start since 2011, right-hander fans five and allows just one run
TORONTO -- The Yankees were thrilled to see right-hander Michael Pineda wearing their uniform on a big league mound, firing with a free and easy motion. After Pineda had dropped off the radar for two seasons, this was the best evidence yet that he can still play a big role in their future plans.
Pineda's first Yankees start went into the books as a rousing success thanks to six innings of one-run ball, but his teammates weren't quite as sharp. R.A. Dickey and three Toronto relievers stymied the heart of New York's batting order, and the Blue Jays posted a 4-0 victory on Saturday at Rogers Centre.
The losing decision did not diminish the 25-year-old Pineda's glee; after spending far too much time at the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Fla., rehabbing a surgically repaired right labrum, he said that this had been "a big day."
"I'm very happy about everything, because everything is doing good, and that's what I'm looking for," said Pineda, who struck out five and walked none in an 83-pitch outing. "I've been working hard for the last two years to be here, and I'm happy with it."
Pineda's fastball was clocked as high as 95 mph, a few ticks higher than the Yankees saw it this spring, but that adrenaline didn't transfer to the lineup. Dickey used his trademark knuckleball to blank the Yankees over 6 2/3 innings, scattering five hits and striking out six.
The heart of New York's lineup -- Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Alfonso Soriano -- combined to go 0-for-12 with three strikeouts, twice short-circuiting late rallies after the Yankees were able to set runners at first and second base with none out.
"We're struggling a little bit," manager Joe Girardi said. "We had some opportunities today, and maybe the game is a little different if we cash in, but that's just part of the game. We'll get some guys going, and we'll start putting up some crooked numbers."
After five games, the Yankees are still looking for their first home run of the season. Soriano, who is off to an 0-for-16 start, believes the power will start to flicker soon.
"They know how to pitch now. It's hard now to hit a homer, especially the way they pitch," Soriano said. "You make adjustments, and it's a long season. I know that when everybody gets ready at home plate, those homers are going to come."
Even with no support behind him, Pineda dazzled. He said he was "so excited" to be back in a big league game, pitching for the organization that acquired him in a January 2012 trade with the Mariners.
"I'm sure it means a lot, because he's put a lot of work in over the last two years," manager Joe Girardi said. "He spent entirely too much time in that Florida sunshine. I'm sure he's really pleased with where he's at."
Toronto built a lead in the second inning, when Adam Lind doubled and scored on Josh Thole's single. That held up as the only run of the game until Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista crushed homers off reliever David Phelps in the eighth.
"[Pineda] was great. I cannot ask for anything else," catcher Francisco Cervelli said. "I couldn't wait to see him back on the mound in the big leagues."
An All-Star as a rookie with Seattle, Pineda was making his first Major League appearance since Sept. 21, 2011. He showed the Jays a sharp slider and mixed in an improved changeup, retiring 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.
New York came closest to pushing across a run in the third inning, but Cervelli was tagged out at home on a one-hop throw from Colby Rasmus on Jacoby Ellsbury's two-out single to center field.
That play was reviewed by the umpires, who confirmed the original call on the field by Dana DeMuth, who ruled that Thole gave Cervelli a proper path to the plate.
New York had other missed chances that did not involve the rulebook. In the sixth, with two on and none out, Beltran hit into a double play and McCann lined out, letting Dickey wriggle free.
The Yanks reset the situation in the eighth, but this time Beltran struck out and McCann tapped out against Brett Cecil before Soriano struck out on a Sergio Santos pitch that bounced.
Pineda did not seem to have any difficulty turning the page. Without looking at a schedule, he knew exactly where his next start will be in five days. That, too, is something he has been looking forward to.
"My next start is in Yankee Stadium," said Pineda, who will have the ball on April 10 against the Red Sox. "I've been waiting for two years to pitch in Yankee Stadium."


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The bank is reducing the number of applications it uses by approximately 50%.
A large European domestic bank is in the process of transforming its fragmented application landscape, manual IT delivery processes, and disparate workforce. This three-year effort will save the bank more than 30% in IT costs while significantly increasing stability and reducing complexity. This ambitious project positions the bank well for its move to new digital business models.
Banking customers expect an experience similar to advanced digital players like Google, Netflix, or Uber. They are looking for easy, direct access via all channels and immediate response from their banks. To deliver this experience, banks must transform their legacy systems and simplify, automate, and change their way of working.
This European bank had reached an inflection point. It was well positioned to meet traditional banking requirements, but it was not ready to meet the requirements of the digital age. It had to find a way to significantly improve the quality, delivery, and costs associated with its IT services.
Working with BCG and using the Simplify IT toolset, the bank was able to:
The bank is decommissioning two-thirds of all technical platforms (including mainframe) and setting overarching standards for a few well-selected connectivity mechanisms, databases, application servers, and operating systems. It also will decommission about 50% of its applications, minimize customization, and close two-thirds of its data centers.
The bank is moving much of its infrastructure to a private cloud with a Platform as a Service (PaaS) and a colocated team of developers and operations experts. This way, application teams can serve themselves, leaving more time for development. This step decreases time to market significantly.
Feature teams combine end-to-end responsibility with agile methodology to cut coordination overhead, waiting time, and unnecessary complexity. A feature team pilot raised efficiency by up to 50% and boosted speed-to-market by about 60%.
The bank is reducing the number of applications it uses by approximately 50%.
Speed-to-market is increased by 60% as a result of workforce improvements.
The bank is in the process of decommissioning 66% of technical platforms.
Overall IT costs are decreased by more than 30%.
Paco Gimeno, Gas Natural Fenosa CIO, explains how BCG's Simplify IT toolset transformed the company's IT structure and reduced costs.Watch the video


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cry (someone) a river(redirected from cry a river)
cry (someone) a river
Said sarcastically to someone whose whining, complaints, or tears fall on unsympathetic ears. Most often said as "cry me a river." You can cry me a river, but you're still not going to that party tonight! A: "It's so unfair, I work so hard, but I only get a raise every two years!" B: "Oh, cry me a river, I haven't gotten a raise since I first started working!"


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Here, Silvio takes a rest:
And here's the view from the vertiginous height of 9430 feet. Look closely to see the distant horizon.
Climbing this mountain by car was challenging and scary. There were beautiful views that I could barely stand to look at, because of the height and the unguarded drastic edge. In this picture, there's some solid ground next to the road, but much of the time there was not. Only a flick of the wrist would send me plunging into death -- I kept pushing that thought out of my head.
I remembered that movie monologue -- the first time we ever saw the sublime creepiness of Christopher Walken, as Annie Hall's brother Duane:
Can I confess something? I tell you this as an artist. I think you'll understand. Sometimes when I'm driving... on the road at night... I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion. The sound of shattering glass. The... flames rising out of the flowing gasoline.Don't drive with Duane on the Big Horn Scenic Byway. Think life-affirming thoughts if you're the one with the hands on the wheel. And if you're the passenger, don't say a thing or make the tiniest move that might jar the essential, steely calm of your driver.


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Since enrolling at Ashford, my life has changed for the better in so many ways.
Kevin John Bessy
Kevin John Bessy had been working in the construction and engineering field for some time when he realized he had progressed in management as far as he could without a formal business education. This realization, along with concerns about limited career opportunities due to the economic downturn, made him consider backing up his work experience with a Bachelor's degree.
He was attracted to Ashford University because of its business programs, flexibility, and the fact that he could transfer in 33 credits from professional development courses he had taken previously. After having graduated summa cum laude in 2013 at the age of 42 with a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management, Project Management specialization, he returned to the Forbes™ School of Business at Ashford to earn his Master of Business Administration (MBA), Entrepreneurship specialization and graduated in July 2014.
At Ashford, Kevin has been on the Dean's List often and joined two honor societies. He was even selected to receive a $2,000 travel grant to attend the Golden Key International Honor Society 2013 Summit in South Africa, which he calls "an exhilarating experience I will never forget." (Read more about his experience on page 25 of the Spring 2014 issue of Ashford Connections.) Additionally, he has been nominated for the International Scholar Laureate Program (a program affiliated with the Golden Key International Honour Society). He will travel to New Zealand and Sydney, Australia to learn interactively about business entrepreneurship in that part of the world.
This Messena, NY resident works internationally as a Senior Estimator for heavy civil contractor Colautti Construction Inc. in Ontario, Canada. He says he has seen both professional and personal payoffs since earning his Bachelor's degree. "I've been able to seek a more rewarding career with a more appreciative and supportive firm and been able to use my continued education toward my professional designation in the Canadian Construction Associations Gold Seal Certification program," he says. "It's also boosted my confidence and made me more willing to take on challenges at work and in my personal life."
The online platform at Ashford is something that Kevin believes is leading the way for working professionals to earn their degrees, especially because time is always a factor for adults trying to balance all aspects of family, career, and personal goals. He says, "I hope people out there who are thinking about going back to school will stop finding reasons to put it off or wait. There is no time like the present."
Kevin is considering pursuing his doctoral degree with Ashford's sister school, University of the Rockies, after he finishes up his MBA studies. He says, "Most importantly, I want to inspire my son, Finn, as he grows to know, understand, and value education as a means of accomplishing his goals. Since enrolling at Ashford, my life has changed for the better in so many ways."


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SpiderRadio Wireless Technology Deployed in South Africa
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) report on wireless spectrum contains a number of recommendations to improve spectrum efficiency to spur economic growth. Included among these recommendations is the need for investments in developing innovative wireless technologies that enable dynamic spectrum sharing for supporting rural broadband and robust public safety communications.
With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Justice (NIJ), two Stevens Electrical and Computer Engineering professors, Rajarathnam Chandramouli ('Mouli') and Suba Subbalakshmi, have developed an Internet cloud controlled cognitive wireless router called SpiderRadio, which solves some of the key challenges in dynamic spectrum sharing and management. Vidya Sagar, a Ph.D. student and an Innovation & Entrepreneurship Doctoral Fellow (I&E) at Stevens is a core member of the project. The SpiderRadio technology has been recognized as "Best Investment: Public Safety" in the NITRD Wireless Spectrum R&D (WSRD) Steering Committee report on wireless spectrum related federal R&D investments.
"SpiderRadio is another example of how Stevens faculty bring their research from the lab to the field to solve pressing problems, and help society meet its technological needs at the global scale," says George Korfiatis, Provost and Vice-President, Stevens Institute of Technology.
"Hurricane Sandy damaged several cellular base stations resulting in the loss of wireless access for millions of customers. Cognitive radio technologies such as SpiderRadio could alleviate these losses by sensing the operating wireless environment and allowing users to dynamically share their spectrum such as their home WiFi," explains Subbalakshmi.
During the Boston Marathon bombings first responders dependent on commercial wireless carriers were unable to communicate effectively due to severe network congestion from a sudden surge in call traffic.
"This is the exact opposite of the Hurricane Sandy situation. During the bombings the wireless base stations were functioning but the cellular core network could not handle the pressure," says Mouli.
SpiderRadio's dynamic spectrum management capability will automatically give priority to first responder communication during an emergency situation and continually sense and switch between multiple networks or spectrum; aggregate bandwidth to support HD quality real-time video streaming, etc. It can operate on any available spectrum including LTE, 4.9GHz, and WiFi, in any given location. The SpiderRadio router and the cognitive server have been delivered to the Brookline PD for evaluation in the field. Both the professors are closely following the FirstNet initiative that will provide emergency responders with the first nationwide, high-speed network dedicated to public safety.
The government of South Africa is funding a pilot trial to evaluate SpiderRadio to address that country's needs for low cost, broadband Internet access. Conventional fiber or copper line based Internet is not always an economically feasible solution, especially in rural settings. The University of Pretoria (UP) in collaboration with Stevens will demonstrate SpiderRadio's ability to aggregate data rates from multiple low cost long-range wireless links in the WiFi bands. The pilot trial will demonstrate the performance under various conditions, such as dynamic interference, random and burst packet losses, random delays, connection loss, etc., as well as application requirements, such as prioritized flows, HD video casting, voice and data for telemedicine, remote education, and so on.
This will be a game-changer for South Africa and other emerging countries where deeper broadband penetration can help economies grow. Since SpiderRadio operates on any frequency it can be rapidly deployed on existing spectrum (unlicensed or licensed) without waiting for the government's decision on complex spectrum policies on specialized bands such as the T.V. white space. By combining COTS hardware with innovative algorithms and software implementation SpiderRadio minimizes the deployment cost.
"We hope to compete against Google's TV white space wireless technology that was tested in Cape Town, South Africa," says Mouli, "in cost, performance and immediate roll out due to current spectrum policies in that country."
"This technology has great potential to improve the quality of life for millions of people living in rural areas, both in the U.S. and abroad," says Michael Bruno, Feiler Chair Professor and Dean, School of Engineering and Science. "Regions that rely solely on wireless communications are particularly vulnerable to degraded and disrupted service. SpiderRadio addresses this critical need in an elegant way, while also supporting applications that will improve emergency response."


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With a New Year, brings New Hope!…
Happy New Year to all Baseball Fans!…
January 1, 2014. Time to replace the calendars. With the arrival of the New Year, it brings optimism for baseball fans everywhere as they anticipate whether or not their team has done enough to ensure October success. Boston fans dream of a back-to-back championship, while others hope they can be the ones to de-throne the defending champs. In January, anything is possible, although arguably some teams have a much better chance than others.
As a Yankees fan, it has been a bittersweet off-season. The team finally made some bold moves after a couple of years of inactivity in signing Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Carlos Beltran, but the loss of Robinson Cano will hurt. The team still has not done enough to improve the starting rotation nor has it repaired the losses in the pen.
I thought the Washington Nationals did a good job in bringing in Doug Fister for its starting rotation. He was a solid performer for the Detroit Tigers and he should help provide back-end stability for the frontline starters.
The Boston Red Sox did well in re-signing Mike Napoli. He is a great role performer and he seems to thrive in the Fenway environment, however, I am not sure that A.J. Pierzynski makes up for the loss of Jarrod Saltalamacchia. I think they'll be okay losing Jacoby Ellsbury if Jackie Bradley, Jr is able to take the next step up in his promising career. While it remains questionable whether Stephen Drew will be back or will be playing in Citi Field, any team would love to have Xander Bogaerts standing ready to take over the shortstop position. Regardless of what happens, I think the Red Sox will be a force in 2014 and won't relinquish their crown easily.
The Minnesota Twins showed an unusual side in signing free agent pitchers Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes, and bringing back Mike Pelfrey. They missed out on A.J. Pierzynski, but the signing of Kurt Suzuki will allow them to bring their young catcher, Josmil Pinto, along slowly in the major leagues as they replace Joe Mauer who has moved to first.
Among others, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Oakland A's, and the San Francisco Giants (in bringing Tim Hudson back to the Bay Area) have had productive off-seasons.
There are countless other major moves that have been made and other teams that have significantly enhanced their chances for winning, but the point is that January is a time of optimism. Spring Training looms on the horizon as this is the last full month before pitchers and catchers begin to report. Players, if they took time off for the holidays, are aggressively starting or continuing their off-season workout regimens. This is the time that will set in motion the attitudes and the chemistry that makes up each team. Baseball is not about having the most physically gifted team, it's about the team that can do the most to maximize the synergy of the team and create a culture that is unwilling to accept losing.
It should be a fun season. It's too early to form an opinion of the teams that stand the best chance as there are still some roster-changing moves that will be made before spring training breaks, but in the AL, you know that the Red Sox, Rays, Tigers, Rangers, A's, and Angels will have a say in who wins and who loses.
I hope it's a very happy and enjoyable New Year for everyone! Time to make new friends, create fantastic new opportunities, experiences, and memories. Time to get excited about the arrival of the upcoming Major League Baseball season. May the 2014 season bring you great satisfaction and enjoyment!
The Masahiro Tanaka Sweepstakes…
It's been written that the New York Yankees are the favorites to sign prized Japanese free agent pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, but it's really anybody's guess where he will sign. Personally, I could see the Los Angeles Dodgers blowing away the competition, and they would certainly provide a main stage for Tanaka to perform. No offense to the Minnesota Twins, but I couldn't really see a player with Tanaka's potential playing in a small market. I would love to see Tanaka sign with the Yankees and I think Hiroki Kuroda would be the perfect mentor to help Tanaka's transition to the United States. But the Dodgers have a strong history with Japanese players. The Texas Rangers may be players and you certainly cannot underestimate the Seattle Mariners or the Los Angeles Angels. The Tanaka decision will be made within the next three weeks as it has to be completed by January 24th, so it should be interesting to watch Tanaka's tour and to see how much teams are willing to pay for his potential. Guys like Clayton Kershaw, with free agency looming in the not-so-distant future, have to love this, and it will help enhance the monetary packages it will take to sign or retain them with proven superior performance in the MLB.
If the Yankees lose out on Tanaka, I am not sure what a good Plan B will be. I've heard Ubaldo Jimenez' name mentioned, but it's not a guarantee that 2013 was a return to the promise he once held or if it was just an aberration and he'll continue his prior downward slide. Bronson Arroyo, Ervin Santana. None of these names excite me. I am more hopeful that guys like Michael Pineda and Manny Banuelos can come into training camp and make statements for why they should be the guys.
Roster moves await…
With the 40-man roster filled, and the signings of second baseman Brian Roberts or reliever Matt Thornton to be made official, it's clear the Yankees will need to open roster space. Given the excess at catcher with the signing of Brian McCann, it's fairly clear that either Austin Romine or J.R. Murphy could be moved. I think we'll see the departure of Vernon Wells despite his salary friendly status thanks to the Angels. Even something free is not worth keeping if it has no value. As speculated, I could still see a trade of Ichiro Suzuki to a team like the San Francisco Giants. I have no problem with Zoilo Almonte taking the fifth outfielder role, particularly in light of his strong winter play.
I don't think the Yankees have done enough yet, but I also do not think they are finished. I am confident that by the time training camp opens, the Yankees will have the collection of players capable of restoring the team's 90+ win ability. Time will tell if they've caught up with their prime AL East competitors but at least with the Yankees, you know it won't be for the lack of trying.
The words of Randy Levine…
Admittedly, I do not know much about Yankees president Randy Levine, but I am not impressed with the man. I wasn't before the text messages between Levine and Alex Rodriguez were released and I am even less so now. Some of his comments come off as very unprofessional. I remember how vilified Red Sox president Larry Lucchino was by Yankees fans when he made his 'Evil Empire' remark and how hated he is, but I really do not see Levine as any better and very likely, much worse. At least Lucchino has overseen three world championships since 2004. The Yankees' 2009 World Championship was more Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman, among others.
Perhaps Levine is a great leader and effective in his role within the Yankees organization, but it is not apparent from the outside looking in. I can only shake my head when I see his text message comments. Aside from any of his words or how I may feel about the man, I strikes me as very odd that the president of the team would go direct to a player, bypassing the manager and the GM. Maybe it would help if more stories about Levine's positives were written, but then again, they wouldn't be interesting and wouldn't sell papers. So, maybe we'll never know the good the man potentially does. But as it stands, he just seems like a buffoon to me.
Happy Holidays…
I hope the holiday season has been a very happy time for you and your families. Enjoy the New Year, and may good health, success, happiness, and prosperity be yours!


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Santa, come get your ReinDeer!
Thank you to everyone who has read my silly little blog this year. My mom enjoys taking pictures of animals and I like meeting all my new animal friends and talking about them.
We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!
She should have invited them in and brought them home to meet woo!
PeeEssWoo: Deer drool? There is a beer khalled Moose Drool from Big Sky Brewing
Wow, I've never seen reindeer before, especially not that close! Those fellers look pretty cool!
Do ya think Santa's anywhere nearby?
lol JB thanks for letting me know!
These are cool, and boy your mom was that close. These are cool images, and funny at the same time.
Wishing you Merry Christmas and happy healthy new year. Happy blogging in 2009, and I will be looking forward to your entertaining posts! Anna :)
JB, thanks for the chrismuss card!
I love reindeer! That's really cool, coming into your mum's car like that!
Hope you have a lovely Christmas!
Purrs, Sukie, Livvie & Mitzi x
Oh, my...that's a bit too close! Merry Christmas!
Hi, JB!
Merry Christmas to you and your family, too!
Wow, Mr. 521 sure is persistent! I hope his antlers did not ruin your car!
This is the most original Christmas reportage I've seen!
Merry Christmas!
hi JB, wow, those are some amazing photos that you have of those reindeer! we are grossed out by his teeth, but really impressed with that tongue. hee hee! that was a really fun report!
They are great photos JB. What big mouths they have - they look a bit like horses with their big teeth and long tongues.
Wow, that is a scary reindeer! Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
Hugs, Kodak
Happy New Year JB, all the best to you and your family. Anna :)
aaahhhh vishus deer. they iz berry pretty though. did yoo tell it ta bring yoo plenty of purrsents???
Wow! Your Mom is a very brave reporter. I'd freak out if a deer stuck its head in the window like that :-0
That's a really up,close and personal encounter with a deer! It's pretty scary, but these pics are awesome! Bravo! Love, Dino