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Reversal (WSJ)
Will Meg Whitman's conservatism pay off? The new Hewlett-Packard chief executive reversed the decision of her predecessor yesterday by announcing she would not sell the company's $40 billion personal computer business. The decision soothed investors, boosting the share price almost 6% in pre-market trading.
In August, then-CEO Leo Apotheker said the company wanted to spin off its PC unit, the company's biggest source of revenue, and would buy U.K. software services company Autonomy for $10.3 billion, an acquisition that closed earlier this month. It was a sign that H-P would abandon its emphasis on electronic hardware and focus on software and services, not an absurd strategy considering the businesses' low profit margins and the gradually declining sales of PCs. However, the PC move spooked markets, and the company's share price dropped 20% overnight.
Yesterday, Whitman told the Times, "First and foremost, H-P is a hardware company." In keeping the PC business, H-P cited the need reassure the markets, its supply chain partners and enterprise customers.
But risky, bold actions are the hallmarks of successful tech CEOs. Under the Apotheker strategy, H-P was following the IBM roadmap of transformation. IBM shed its PC unit in 2005, turning itself into a software and services behemoth that is also a leader in high-technology innovation. Days ago, IBM showed the tech world how an orderly succession is conducted - a far cry from H-P's firing of Leo Apotheker, a decision that Whitman approved as a board member.
Whitman's decision to keep H-P selling computers may turn out to be the right one, but she still has to figure out a way to turn the 70-year-old company from dinosaur to innovator.
Consolidating Power (WSJ)
The chief executives of Groupon and Zynga will retain an inordinate amount of control over their companies after they go public through a special quirk in shareholder voting. Groupon's Andrew Mason, for instance, will get 150 votes for each of his shares, compared to 10 votes for Google's Larry Page.
Hurt Feelings (Cnet)
Steve Jobs took credit for ideas that weren't his, says Jonathan Ive, Apple vice president for industrial design in the new Jobs biography. Jobs referred to Ive as his "spiritual partner."
Hiring Nerd Commandos (FINS)
Data analytics company Hadapt will hire up to 20 new employees over the next year after raising $9.5 million in new financing. Three-quarters of the new hires will be for technical roles, with the balance made up of sales and business operations hires.
In With the New (AllThingsDigital)
Jared Grusd, AOL senior vice president of business development and chief of strategy, is leaving the struggling Internet company to join the hot online music service Spotify. Backed by Sean Parker, Spotify has snagged some other high-profile execs recently, including AOL chief of sales Jeff Levick.
Hard Times in Japan (Reuters)
Video game stalwart Nintendo will post its first ever annual net loss this year, the company announced yesterday. Nintendo has seen its portable game business damaged by the rise of smartphone gaming.
Running for the Exits (DealBook)
Finding a buyer for Yahoo looks like it's going to be a long slog, and with each passing day the company loses more employees and executives.
RIM Loses Another One (Reuters)
Senior vice president for software and business services Jim Tobin left Research In Motion months ago, the company finally confirmed. Tobin was responsible for RIM's expansion into cloud-based services and its music-sharing service.
Standing Up (Business Insider)
Steve Jobs intimidated and sometimes bullied his employees, but he loved it when subordinates stood up to him. In fact, the company gave out an award to the person who stood up for themselves best.
Buzz Around the Office
Remember 2004? (Ken Jennings)
It seems even successful Jeopardy! contestants fall into the 99% in 2011.
List of the Day: Sticking Out a Job You Hate
1. Don't wait for a pat on the back
2. Take pride in your appearance
3. Balance your hate with something else you love
(Source: AOL Jobs)
A great resume is the key to landing an interview.
Does yours tell a compelling story – highlighting your accomplishments, focusing on your strengths, and reflecting your personal brand? If not, we can help.
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Dmytro Andriychenko has over 10 years SQL Server experience working as analyst, administrator and BI developer in Web and OLAP environments across a variety of business settings (NHS, Bio-Pharma, Information Technology). I am Microsoft Certified specialist in SQL Server and SharePoint administration with plenty of experience in both technologies, with a focus on BI architecture and implementation.
I enjoy solving complex problems with Microsoft BI infrastructure, SQL Server performance, development, deployment and configuration alike. SharePoint, an obvious deployment platform and social networking environment for SQL Server BI became another one of my hobbies over the last two years: making the two technologies working together in harmony is definitely a challenge I like!

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Information contained on this page is provided by an independent third-party content provider. WorldNow and this Station make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. If you have any questions or comments about this page please contact firstname.lastname@example.com.
SOURCE BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company)
FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., Feb. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, announced today that it will present at the following investor healthcare conferences in March 2014:
Raymond James 35th Annual Institutional Investors Conference
March 3, 2014
1:05 p.m. ET
Cowen and Company 34th Annual Healthcare Conference
March 5, 2014
11:20 a.m. ET
Live webcasts of BD's presentations can be accessed on the BD corporate website at www.bd.com/investors. They will be available for replay for a period of seven days after each conference.
About BD
BD is a leading medical technology company that partners with customers and stakeholders to address many of the world's most pressing and evolving health needs. Our innovative solutions are focused on improving drug delivery, enhancing the diagnosis of infectious diseases and cancers, supporting the management of diabetes and advancing cellular research. We are nearly 30,000 associates in 50 countries who strive to fulfill our purpose of "Helping all people live healthy lives" by advancing the quality, accessibility, safety and affordability of healthcare around the world. For more information, please visit www.bd.com.
Monique N. Dolecki, Investor Relations – 201-847-5378
Alyssa J. Zeff, Corporate Communications – 201-847-4358
©2012 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.


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2013–2014 Cultural and Community Events
Han Saem Hur '14
Below are links to several resources that can help you learn more about yourself, your apititudes, and your vocational strengths. Other resources are available in the CCV, Flowers 218. Please stop by!
Huntingdon College has partnered with Career Dimensions to bring you Focus, a self-paced, online career and education planning tool, enabling you to self-assess your career-relevant personal qualities. You can then explore career fields and major areas of study that are most compatible with your assessment results. Focus uses valid and reliable research-based career assessments that will help you develop an accurate picture of your personal strengths, needs, and preferences, as well as help you develop a sound career plan.
We have linked to these sites so you can complete any of these assessments and then take the information to the CCV to discuss your results and see how this information fits with your career plans. Please print the results and take them with you.
These assessments are a free service provided to Huntingdon students to help with career choices, career planning, and choosing a major program. Used as a place to start, they present a portrait of who you are, what describes you, and can illustrate a bit about your personality.
For more information, contact the Center for Career & Vocation at (334) 833-4556 or email@example.com.
1500 East Fairview Avenue • Montgomery, Alabama 36106Admission: (334) 833-4497 • (800) 763-0313
Communications: (334) 833-4515 • email@example.com
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Huntingdon College is a college
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25% Off Phospho Specific Antibodies
Rockland's affinity purified anti-Sipa1 antibody was used at 1.25 ug/ml to detect signal in a variety of tissues including multi-human, multi-brain and multi-cancer slides. This image shows moderate to strong positive staining of lymphocytes within human tonsil at 40X. Tissue was formalin-fixed and paraffin embedded. The image shows localization of the antibody as the precipitated red signal, with a hematoxylin purple nuclear counterstain. Personal Communication, Tina Roush, LifeSpanBiosciences, Seattle, WA.
Western blot using Rockland's affinity purified anti-Sipa1 antibody shows detection of over-expressed Sipa1 in lysates from mouse 3T3 cells transfected with Sipa1 (lane 1). Endogenous Sipa1 is detected in lane 2, which contains lysate from 3T3 cells mock-transfected with LacZGLB, although at a significantly reduced level compared to transfected cells. Lane 3 and 4 are similar to lanes 1 and 2 except the antibody was preincubated with the immunizing peptide prior to reaction with the membrane. The identity of the higher and lower molecular weight bands is unknown. The band at ~130 kDa, indicated by the arrowhead, corresponds to recombinant Sipa1. Primary antibody was used at 1:1250. Personal communication, H. Yang, L. Lukes and K. Hunter, NCI, Bethesda, MD.
Rockland Immunochemicals Inc.Gilbertsville, PA 19525E-mail: email@example.com: 800.656.7625
Fax: 484.369.8654


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BOOK ONLINE ~ or call ~ 1-603-968-7269
Fall foliage will be arriving soon and that makes us think of our state tree the white birch. This is a beautiful tree although not particularly majestic. Its white bark stands out next to other trees which have a more typical dark bark. Birch bark is a cream white with a yellow hue and peels in thin paper-like layers.
The state legislature designated the white birch as the state tree in 1947, appropriate because it is native to New Hampshire and found in all regions of the state. The tree is often referred to as "canoe birch" or "paper birch." Both names make sense as Indians used the bark to make canoes and others use the bark to write on.
Here on the Inn On Golden Pond's property we have white birch and other birches in our 50 wooded acres. And around Squam Lake and throughout the New Hampshire Lakes Region birch trees are common. If you hike trails in the white mountains or closer to us in the Squam range you will certainly come across birch trees. Typically birches are scattered throughout the woods, however we love the birch forest further north on Route 2 in Shelburne, NH where there is a large concentration of birches right along the roadside.
While many people think the White Mountains were named for their snow covered peaks and others think it was because of the light color reflected off of the mica rock formations, we like to think it was because of the white birches that are prevalent throughout the forest that covers the mountains.


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Prepare to be wowed with this luxury chocolate making workshop, hosted by some of the best chocolatiers in the business, which will see you cocktail making, chocolate tasting, decorating and experimenting. You'll even have the opportunity to pair dessert wines with fruit infused truffles.
You'll each create your own tasty chocolate martini cocktail before enjoying several interesting chocolate samples from around the world. You'll then have the chance to dip, infuse, pipe and decorate yummy fresh vanilla cream truffles. You will be handed your own slab of American style fudge for shaping and decorating following a demonstration on its creation. There will be a range of tasty toppings such as strawberry curls, gold sugar, crystallised rose petals and white chocolate flakes. Finally you'll create your very own uniquely flavoured chocolates and package up your treats ready to take home. Enjoy your class with a glass or two of Prosecco and head home with your new skills and knowledge ready to impress your friends.
Upon arrival at the venue you will be welcomed by your chocolatier for the evening and offered a glass of chilled Prosecco.
You'll get started with your chocolate martini making and then move on to the tasting of delicious chocolate from around the world, including the rare Criollo bean. Next up you'll be decorating fresh vanilla cream truffles and then watch the professionals as they prepare gooey American style fudge. You'll be handed some to decorate as you wish, followed by a pairing of different wines with fruity truffles and you will then set about creating your own choice of flavoured chocolate. Another glass of Prosecco will be offered for you to enjoy during your class.
Courses run on selected weekday evenings and occasional Saturday and Sunday evenings all year round.
We recommend you book at least four weeks in advance to ensure that dates are available. This is only a guideline and we advise you to book as early as possible to ensure that dates are available before the expiry date listed on your voucher. All bookings are subject to availability.
You should allow approximately 3 hours for the whole experience.
Timings may vary on the day depending on the class size; please take this into account if you are arranging transportation. Guests are requested to arrive 10 minutes before their experience is due to begin. It is requested that you don't arrive any earlier than this as there is insufficient waiting space.
Disabled access is available with prior notice, if you require this facility then please advise at the time of booking (one person is able to accompany a disabled participant without charge).
Still water is available.
Nuts, Nut Products and Food Allergies - All chocolate and other ingredients used in the provision of the Services may contain traces of nuts or nut products, and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, My Chocolate exclude their liability to you for any allergies or other reactions to nuts, nut products or other food products which may arise.
Your voucher is valid for six months from the date of issue. It is essential that you book and take your experience before this date as vouchers may not be extended beyond the expiration date. This voucher cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
Organic Ingredients - The melted chocolate used in the workshops is organic but other ingredients are not. This means that the decorated chocolates you take away are not organic.
The centres contracted with us hold public liability insurance. We also hold contingency liability cover. You will not be liable for accidental damage to equipment, except where damage has been caused as a result of recklessness or wilful negligence.
A cancellation indemnity, subject to terms, is included with every voucher.
All you have to do is pay for the experience you wish to purchase and we'll send a voucher and booking information to you or directly to the recipient, then you just need to check the info and book your experience.
For information on our packaging and delivery please click here.
Please note some locations indicated on the map may not be completely accurate and should not be used when planning directions.
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Your review has been sent to our team for moderation and should appear on the site very soon.
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Going to depend on the performance of your home. Usually, it will cost more to bring the temp down than "holding" at a reasonable temp while you are not there.
Remember, AC is not all about temperature, more importantly is relative humidity. When you raise the temp / RH it effects everything in your home, so you are not just reconditioning the air.
The holding temp will depend on your home. Some homes would never reach 80-85 in a day, others could reach it in a matter of hours. I would strive for a temp which allows the AC to run once or twice an hour to try and keep the humidity in check. Again, there is not a one solution fits all.


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This tough Bag can be used to easily transport big game such as deer or bear. No mess! Great, too, for storing supplies in a zippered, water-resistant compartment.
Condition: brand new, never issued. Act ONLINE Now!
!!! Limited Quantities !!!
New Italian Military Surplus Nylon Carry Bag
You qualify for a free gift. It will be added to your cart automatically.
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I would like to know:
what is a good 3d animation software that is somewhat basic. I need to make simple 3d cartoons that can move around and talk. I don't need anything super high-end but nothing that is too basic. Price isn't really an issue too much since my employer is paying
Is there something that can be thrown into a Premiere Pro timeline?
Output is video (.wmv, .flv, .mp4 for youtube).
Thanks in advance
Bucketheadd wrote:
...what is a good 3d animation software that is somewhat basic...
That is a great oxymoron.
Being inexperienced in 3D character animation, expect a considerable amount of time to learn it (months, years) before you will be able to produce something useful to your employer.
Common professional apps include Maya, Lightwave and 3D Studio Max. Even if price is no object, there is a huge cost to learning these complex apps. You might do well with a more basic, but still very capable for character animation... Animation Master by Hash.
If you have access to Mac http://cheetah3d.com is probably ideal
Cinema 4D is a good basic 3d program to start with.
I agree. Cinema4D is a good "basic" program & very affordable since you are not likely to have a "useable" finished peice for a while due to the large learning curve. (good selling point to your superiors) Although, in my experience they all work pretty much the same. I learned 3D on Maya - which was far too expensive for my employer to purchase. So we got Cinema4D & while it was different from Maya, it was easy to catch on. Also, Maxon (the parent co.) offer excellent training & support, which is a huge bonus.
I really like working with cinema4D which is really basic to advanced, but if you wanna
get the real deal you should try out Maya.
Really good 3d prog.
Had you looked into iClone or SmithMicro's Anime Studio? They are both kind of basic but rather good.
I am agree with Marian, if you are totally unexperienced in 3d animation, don't go for yourself as it will take a considerable amount of time to be an expert.
Rather I would suggest you to for a 3d animation studio/company. If you are in US, you can check with Zco corporation. To get an idea of their work check their website (http://www.zco.com/3d-animations.aspx), you will find various previous work examples.
For more information about IllusionMage, see http://www.blender.org/blenderorg/blender-foundation/press/re-branding -blender/
IllusionMage is not a "worthwhile investment" because you can get it for free at http://www.blender.org
joniqueen is spamming and scamming this forum with a bogus product.
Thanks for the heads up!
If you want something for nothing, there are a few freeware versions of 3D packages available. 3D Canvas from amabilis.com is a cut down version of the company's commercial 3D packages. It's a fully functional 3D application but is probably more suited to the intermediate 3D users or keen beginners.


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Hi all,
I've been trying for days now to install OS X onto my laptop (Toshiba Satellite Pro A100) with no success. I've tried downloading iDeneb v1.3 10.5.5 and cant get it to install either from disc or when opening it up in windows. I've also tried Leo4Allv3. Both were downloaded off of limewire.
When I download it off my iMac it all looks fine until windows chooses not to recognise it.
Anyone have any ideas then it would be much appreciated.


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Cellar/Tasting Notes Silver Medal winner, Concours Des Grands Vins de France. "... this excellent Medoc is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Dark ruby/purple, with an attractively perfumed nose of red and black fruits, licorice and unsmoked cigar tobacco, it is..
Cellar/Tasting Notes The blending consists of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot.
An attractive, bright, intense carmine purplish red colour. The nose is finely perfumed with notes of spices, lovely ripe fruits and a hint of well- measured oak. In the palate this wine is quite round and juicy..
Cellar/Tasting Notes This bordeaux blend, produced from the young vines of the chateau, is made like its older brother (Chateau Cantemerle) Les Allées de Cantemerle has the same personality as the grand vin, but a shorter ageing potential. As it ages more quickly, Les Allées de Cantemerle is generally ready..
Cellar/Tasting Notes Possesses a subtle, pure nose of black fruits, lead pencil shavings, and spring flowers as well as excellent to outstanding concentration, purity, and harmony.
Cellar/Tasting Notes The second wine of the renowned 2eme Cru Classe estate, Gruaud Larose, Sarget de Gruaud Larose shows all the hallmarks of the great St-Julien wine, but with a fruitiness that makes it more approachable when young. Showing fresh cherries and hints of spice on the nose, the palate is well-rounded,..
Cellar/Tasting Notes A lovely, brilliant ruby red color. The intense, elegant bouquet reveals aromas of fruit and smoke. A rich, concentrated wine with supple attack leading into pronounced yet ripe tannins.
Cellar/Tasting Notes "A sleeper of the vintage, this impressive St. Emilion, made by Dominique Hebrard, exhibits a pure nose of red and black fruits intertwined with spice box, dried herbs, and subtle wood. Medium-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and pure with good acidity as well as ripe tannin, it should drink well..
Cellar/Tasting Notes "The basic Fontenil (95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon) has a deep bluish purple color ... full-bodied, layered, opulent wine, with lots of black raspberry fruit intermixed with some blueberries and crushed rock ... [One] of the best wines from Dany and Michel Rolland ... of Fontenil in Fronsac."
Cellar/Tasting Notes "…his is an outstanding wine and further evidence of just how strong this estate's wines have become. Sweet plum and red and black currant fruit, intermixed with notes of resiny pine forest and forest floor as well as a hint of barrique, are followed by a wine with gorgeous depth, an..


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50 Bloomfield Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105
Tel: (860) 233-9897 / FAX 233-1333
Email: email@example.com
Rev. David A. Johnson, Interim Minister
USH Organized 1830 - Read about the building - See additional Photographs
Service10:30 AM
Religious Education & Child Care
Coming Events
Current Happenings at USH PDF
Events List
Welcome Visitors
Imagine, a religion that embraces many different beliefs.. Including yours. If you're searching for a religious home where people honor each other's different beliefs and worship together as one faith, come see us. We are a loving, open minded religious community that encourages you to seek your own spiritual path, wherever it leads. Join us on Sunday!
Visitors, please click on the Visitor Information link to find special information, just for you.
Read some comments about our worship services.
Even if you are not formally part of a faith community, we are most happy to work with you to design a ceremony or service that will recognize and celebrate your life events, such as births, weddings and deaths. We gladly perform christenings and naming ceremonies, weddings and commitment ceremonies, funerals and memorial services, which may also include interment in our memorial garden. Please call the minister to discuss your need.
Read about why some members have joined in the past. We are a welcoming congregation celebrating the lives of all people. We welcome those with physical, psychiatric, and intellectual (cognitive) disabilities. Our facilities are handicapped accessible. We have been designated a Green Sanctuary.
The Unitarian Society of Hartford is on Facebook. Follow this path.
10 Minute video on Unitarian Universalism From the UUA.
Short video on Why Do You Come to the Unitarian Society of Hartford Events.
© Unitarian Society of Hartford
Let us know of any comments, errors and corrections
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Making a New Science
James Gleick - Author
The twentieth-anniversary edition of the million-copy-plus Bestseller
THIS EDITION of James Gleicks groundbreaking bestseller introduces to a whole new readership the story of one of the most significant waves of scientific knowledge in our time. By focusing on the key figures whose genius converged to chart an innovative direction for science, Gleick makes the story of chaos theory not only fascinating but also accessible, and opens our eyes to a surprising new view of the universe.
The Butterfly Effect
Life's Ups and Downs
A Geometry of Nature
Strange Attractors
The Experimenter
Images of Chaos
The Dynamical Systems Collective
Inner Rhythms
A misunderstanding about models. The complex body. The dynamical heart. Resetting the biological clock. Fatal arrhythmia. Chick embryos and abnormal beats. Chaos as health.
Chaos and Beyond
Notes on Sources and Further Reading
To keep up-to-date, input your email address, and we will contact you on publication
Please alert me via email when:


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Faculty: Richard MendelsohnAcademic Interests:
Philosophy of logic; philosophy of language; metaphysics; Frege; contemporary analytic philosophy; modality; descriptions and direct reference; Russell and Wittgenstein.
Recent Publications:
- "Gottlob Frege and the Grammar of Truth," to appear in Philosophy and Grammar in Early Twentieth-Century Thought, ed. Richard Gaskin, Routledge
- "Frege's Treatment of Indirect Reference," Frege: Importance and Legacy, ed. M. Schirn (de Gruyter, 1996)
- "Diary: Written by Professor Gottlob Frege in the Time From 10 March to 9 May, 1924," Translation, Inquiry 39 (1996)
- First-Order Modal Logic, with Melvin Fitting (Kluwer)
Last modified: Oct 25, 2011


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Learn about the natural beauty that makes up Muir Woods, with an informative and historical tour through the redwoods. Following Muir Woods, travel to Sausalito where world-class hotels, plentiful restaurants and a diverse selection of shopping opportunities, galleries and retail fashion shops are found.
Learn more.
Registration Costs
Fun Bucks: 2
Fee: $63.00 per person
How to Register
Tickets for this tour are available through NAR's registration system between May 6 and November 1. After November 1, tickets must be purchased on site, pending space availability.
- Muir Woods offers ADA accessible trails. Please contact Nicole Perkins at AlliedPRA at 415.397.6300 x209 or firstname.lastname@example.com in advance to discuss your needs.
Event Planner
The Event Planner lets you make your own customized schedule- but it does not register you - for the Conference & Expo.
Add this Event to your Event Planner
Your Calendar
Add this Event to your Calendar (your default calendar i.e., Outlook etc..)
Note: Meetings added to your calendar will NOT be updated should any changes occur.


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Sugru Build Night Sponsored by Instructables + SugruPhiladelphia, PA
Bummer! Sales have ended.
Unfortunately, tickets for this event are no longer on sale.
Event Details
Let's Make Something with Sugru:
Instructables has generously offered to sponsor a Build Night in partnership with Sugru, the exciting new self-setting rubber that can be formed by hand. It molds like play-dough, bonds to almost anything and turns into a strong, flexible silicone rubber overnight.
There will be an ample supply of Sugru for you to play with. All you need to bring with you is your creativity and enthusiasm, and maybe other kinds of materials you would like to work with.
Don't have any idea yet? Take a look at the links below for inspirations.
- Sugru.com
- Instructables Sugru Projects
- Instructables App (for documentation during the build night): iOS and Android


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Be The First To
Add Photos
75% of the CEO
Brian T. Moynihan
I worked at Banc of America Securities full-time for more than a year
Pros – *Salary and benefit package was generous,better than most other local employers.
*Plenty of growth opportunity should be available in this large company, though relocation would be required.
*Convenient location, easy access to major highways.
Cons – *Secretive, closed-door management style, apparently from the top down
*Management team was aloof, usually behind closed doors and rarely acknowledged your presence when they walked through the office.
Advice to Senior Management – Share more with your employees
No, I would not recommend this company to a friend
1 person found this helpful
I worked at Banc of America Securities full-time for more than 3 years
Pros – Excellent derivatives platform and brokerage arm.
Cons – Purchase and consolidation with Merrill Lynch.
No, I would not recommend this company to a friend
I have been working at Banc of America Securities
Pros – The team leaders were strong and supportive. And the comradeship between the analysts and associates was incredible. Also, I think we had one of the best Quantitative Support teams in the business.
Cons – Beyond the individual team leadership, there was practically none. No clear direction for the company or the business units. Senior executives were absent. The company handled the merger with Merrill Lynch incredibly poorly. I still understand there is animosity between the two loyalties.
Advice to Senior Management – Try to develop more of a horizontal structure. It's important for the young people (and old people) to see they have support from management and understand the goals of the company.
I worked at Banc of America Securities
Pros – BAS gives you the same basic training as any other Investment Bank and deal flow in certain areas is very strong
Cons – Not being in NY can be challenging and working within the ever changing org structure can become very frustrating over time
Advice to Senior Management – Advice would include better feedback and provide more stable work environment by not constantly re-organizing product areas and promote better communication across geographic regions
I worked at Banc of America Securities
Pros – BofA had an excellent investment banking analyst training course. The learning curve of an investment banking analyst cannot be beat, although this is true of almost any investment bank. Benefits and bonus seemed fair, given I was toward the top. Although deal flow was slow, the deals I did work on were also extremely educational.
Cons – Hours, hours, hours wasted on pitches that were never technically scheduled! Also many hours spent in the office simply because that was what was expected, but did not seem necessary.
Advice to Senior Management – I do not mind working hard, but I like to see some results from the effort. I also felt there were definitely times when managers required the analyst to be at the office simply for the sake of being in the office.
I worked at Banc of America Securities
Pros – - comparable to other financial institutions in analyst pay and benefits
Cons – - hired way too many analysts than were jobs available
- did not communicate warnings, or information about analyst career oppportunities and where the company was headed (and did not quell negative rumors either)
- managers were confused and could not lead teams effectively under duress from above issue
Advice to Senior Management – - communicate better with MDs
I worked at Banc of America Securities
Pros – Some great and talented people work here
Salary is good
Cons – Offices other than the BOAT [Bank of America Tower] are pretty mediocre
Everything depends on your immediate and one level up manager, if they aren't appreciate of their workers, don't expect any recognition.....at all
Advice to Senior Management – Stop bringing in outsiders to run the company, grow talent from within, seriously, you have some really gifted people in mediocre mid management roles, seek them out!
I worked at Banc of America Securities
Pros – * Compensation
* Colleagues are some of most intelligent in the industry
* Great place to network for future opportunities
* Good deal flow
* Resume builder with experience at a bulge bracket bank
Cons – * Tough work/life balance
* Not a place to work if you thrive on positive feedback
* Little to no communication with senior management
Advice to Senior Management – Thank you for the opportunity and experience.
Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend
I worked at Banc of America Securities
Pros – One gets the chance to work for a big player in the field as well be in a growing company.
Cons – It is a growing company so not so much deals, plus the economy is terrible. Lost of hours so be prepared.
Advice to Senior Management – reduce the hours of the employees to make them happy and keep them, or else they leave to do other jobs
Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend
I worked at Banc of America Securities
Pros – The Leveraged Finance group provided me with a rigorous and challenging experience. I learned a lot, and made some very good friends (at the analyst and at the associate level). Coming out of the analyst program, I had a solid fundamental understanding of finance and the debt side of the capital markets.
Cons – Compared to friends at Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, etc., I had to be VERY secretive when I was exploring new jobs in private equity. My friends at the aforementioned firms did not - in fact, their firms offered WORKSHOPS for PE interviews (including question answering, model workshops, case study workshops, etc.). We had no such thing, and on top of that I felt like I had to be ridiculous shady about interviewing for fear of getting fired (we were mid layoffs). In the end, I however, I could confide in colleagues with whom I was close and it all worked out, but it was pretty disconcerting to have to be so secretive.
Advice to Senior Management – Be clearer with employees about plans for the future and changes happening to the group. Also, the review process was flawed - my comments wouldn't necessarily match my "score," and it was absurd when my friends and I would compare our reviews; it was like they literally just changed the name on the review.
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Dear Jeanne,
I want you to know how grateful I am for the wonderful care you gave me while I was recovering from knee replacement surgery. There was so much to concentrate on when I got home. I was so thankful you helped me organize my medications. I appreciated your encouraging words toward my recovery.
I tell my friends about the wonderful care I received from the Ford-Iroquois Home Health Services. This note can't come close to expressing my gratefulness for all your kindness.
Doug and All - Thank you for coming to our health fair and participating in the Sheldon Fun Days. You helped make our weekend a success. - Sue
Dear Ms. Brown,
Thank you so much for all your help with my mother's Medicare Part D case.
--Hilary Frye - West Hartford, CT
I think so highly of those ladies. They became my life-savers. Had I not had those dedicated nurses, I would have had to go to a nursing home. I don't know how I would have made it without their help.
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New York National Guard Helps Put Volunteers to Work
|DMNA Home page
|More News Stories
Soldiers Implement Governor Cuomo's Labor for Your Neighbor Initiative
Story by: Lt. Col. Richard Goldenberg - NY National Guard
Paul Constable, left, Asst. Manager of the Glenmont, N.Y. WalMart, puts out supplies with Soldiers of the 101st Signal Battalion. Photo by Lt. Col. Richard Goldenberg, NY National Guard.
LATHAM, NY (09/04/2011)(readMedia)-- Members of the New York National Guard Hundreds helped organize, equip, transport and lead hundreds of volunteers across the flood-stricken communities of Prattsville, Margaretville and Keene to help victims of the heavy rains and devastating floods following Hurricane Irene on Aug. 28.
© NYS DMNA News Story: New York National Guard Helps Put Volunteers to Work
URL: http://dmna.ny.gov/news/?id=1315195894
Page Last Modified: Sun, Sep 4, 2011


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Privacy law: US "liberty" vs European "dignity"
These naked Germans are enjoying themselves in the middle of Berlin. I've been just as gleefully naked in Munich, Berlin and various other European places. To Germans and other continental Europeans this is a) fun and b) part of freedom. The word for public nudity, in fact, is Freikörperkultur ('free body culture'), often abbreviated to FKK.
To Americans, of course, this tends to be awkward if not shocking:
"Don't these Europeans have a sense of privacy?"
Then there is, for example, Monica Lewinsky and that whole thing with the president of the United States. A special prosecutor — nay, all of America — parsed every word of the country's head of state, demanding to know exactly what these two had been up to in which closet — from "distinguishing characteristics" to stains on dresses and all the rest.
To Americans this was part of freedom — the free press and the right to hold government accountable.
To continental Europeans, by contrast, this was amusing at first, then awkward, then distasteful and finally undignified:
"Don't these Americans have a sense of privacy?"
The Two Western Cultures of Privacy
So there you have it: two western cultures of privacy, each (being "Western") deceptively familiar and yet incomprehensible to the other. Here are some questions, which fit perfectly into two of my threads here on The Hannibal Blog: the thread on America and the one on freedom.
- What is privacy? What is to be kept private from whom, when, where and why?
- And how does that interrelate with freedom and dignity?
James Q. Whitman, a professor of comparative law at Yale, has written a profound article about exactly this. It is called "The Two Western Cultures of Privacy: Dignity Versus Liberty." I recommend it. Here is the PDF.
For the rest of this post, I'll try to describe the Atlantic culture clash and then the possible historical causes as Whitman sees them. In the next post, I'll talk about two cases that are great examples of the two cultures. But first — and before you jump into the comments with your counterexamples (there are many) — note that Whitman himself admits that this is a matter of nuance:
The issue is not whether there is an absolute difference. Comparative law is the study of relative differences.
I. The clash
The conventional wisdom — with which I mostly but not totally agree — is that continental Europe has much stronger privacy laws than America does. In a long list of areas, Europe circumscribes what information can be circulated about people, whereas America hardly does so at all:
- consumer data
- credit reporting
- workplace privacy
- "discovery" in civil litigation (ie, rummaging around in the records of your opponents in a lawsuit)
- the dissemination of nude images on the Internet
- and so on.
As Whitman says,
I have seen Europeans grow visibly angry, for example, when they learn about routine American practices like credit reporting. How, they ask, can merchants be permitted access to the entire credit history of customers who have never defaulted on their debts? Is it not obvious that this is a violation of privacy and personhood, which must be prohibited by law?
By contrast, privacy is explicitly enshrined in European law (both national and EU law). For example, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects "the right to respect for private and family life," and the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights features articles on "Respect for Private and Family Life" and "Protection of Personal Data."
But Americans can counter with a different list to prove that it is actually Europe which allows the compromising of privacy:
- those "private parts"! (= nudity)
- baby names: Several EU governments restrict what parents can name their children!
- Official ID cards/registration: In Germany, for instance, you have to register with the local police when you move to a new place.
- Court-room use of evidence that Americans would consider illegally seized
- phone tapping, which apparently happens much more often in Europe than in the US
So the question is: What's going on here? How did these differences come about? As Whitman puts it,
Why is it that French people won't talk about their salaries, but will take off their bikini tops? Why is it that Americans comply with court discovery orders that open essentially all of their documents for inspection, but refuse to carry identity cards? Why is it that Europeans tolerate state meddling in their choice of baby names? Why is it that Americans submit to extensive credit reporting without rebelling?
II. Causes: Liberty versus Dignity
Let's first try to analyze the two cultures of privacy in terms of what each thinks must be kept private from whom and for what purpose.
a) Europe (= dignity)
European privacy laws aim to protect a person's dignity. In practice, this means protecting the individual's control over the use of his
- image,
- name,
- reputation, or
- information
So dignity is implicitly defined as control over one's public image. You have a right not to be humiliated or embarrassed in public.
And who is the enemy/threat? Who would typically do the humiliating? Well, the press, or its new-media descendants today. Let's just call them all the paparazzi.
b) America (= liberty)
American privacy laws, by contrast, aim to protect a person's liberty. The word liberty is here defined in the traditional American (and quite narrow) sense of freedom from government tyranny. (Freedom can have many, many meanings: see here, here and here. ;))
Who is the enemy/threat in this culture?
Well, certainly not the press, whose freedom of speech is one of the things most in need of protection, even when that means that individuals (Lewinsky, Clinton) are being humiliated in public.
Instead, the enemy/threat is the state.
The locus of maximum protection, moreover, is not the public sphere (as in Europe) but the private sanctum of an individual's home. The government must, to the greatest extent possible, be kept out of it. The police must (in most cases) not break in and search it. (This is true in Europe, too, of course, but the relative emphasis is stronger in America.)
In this culture, the right to privacy decreases as an individual moves further (physically or metaphorically) from his home. Once you're in the workplace, in the subway, on the street, at the beach or otherwise in public, you've "asked for it." Clinton, Lewinsky: you're fair game!
Whitman puts the mutual incomprehension this way:
When Americans seem to continental Europeans to violate norms of privacy, it is because they seem to display an embarrassing lack of concern for public dignity—whether the issue is the public indignity inflicted upon Monica Lewinsky by the media, or the self-inflicted indignity of an American who boasts about his salary.
Conversely, when continental Europeans seem to Americans to violate norms of privacy, it is because they seem to show a supine lack of resistance to invasions of the realm of private sovereignty whose main citadel is the home—whether the issue is wiretapping or baby names.
Let's take another look at the example of public nudity:
Europeans assume that you have a right to both nudity and dignity in public. So, for instance, the paparazzi (or neighbors) do not have a right to take a picture of you and then put it on the internet, because you must remain in control of your public image. It's not even OK for others to stare at you. (I've gotten in trouble over that.)
This concept of private public nudity is entirely alien to American law. In fact, it sounds oxymoronic (perhaps even just moronic) to Americans. They assume that once you have left the sanctum of your home and entered a public space, and indeed metaphorically shed the "walls" of your mobile "home" in the form of clothes, you can no longer expect privacy. You have, as it were, asked for it.
Just one illustration: The US Supreme Court's 1995 decision in Vernonia School District v. Acton.
The question before the court was whether high school athletes could be subjected to mandatory drug testing. Yes, they could, said the court, because — and this is the logic that confounds Europeans to the point of making them guffaw — athletes regularly shower together (naked, we assume), and by voluntarily exposing themselves, these athletes can therefore expect less privacy, which means it is OK to test their piss.
(This might also shed light on the debate we had when I proposed "shaming" people who text and drive by snapping pictures of them and publishing them on the web. It seems that we are "free" to implement my idea in America, but not in Europe, where this might compromise the dignity of the drivers.)
III. History
So where do these fascinating differences come from? The conventional answer is that Europe after the Fascist horror of the 1930s and 40s, and in particular Germany after the Nazis, corrected for the sheer indignity of those crimes against humanity by elevating human dignity to the highest value.
I happen to believe this is largely correct (Whitman does not, and in my opinion this part of his thesis is the weakest). For example, Germany's constitution, written in 1949, explicitly starts with the phrase
Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar (The dignity of each human being is untouchable)
I pointed to this in my post on the different views of healthcare in America and Europe, and alluded to it in my post on the different attitudes toward prisoners. (European law protects the rights of prison inmates "to a degree almost unimaginable for Americans," as Whitman puts it. The European in me is shocked by the prison conditions in America.)
But Whitman traces the origins of the differences between America and Europe several centuries further back, and this is the most fascinating part of his argument. So here, in brief, are the histories of privacy law in Europe (France and Germany) and America:
1) Europe
In Europe, the concept of dignity "descends" from that of honor and the so-called law of "insult" that accumulated over the centuries around it.
In a nutshell, what we are talking about here are a bunch of toffs dueling, as in the picture above. It was aristocrats and other high-status individuals who protected their honor (ie, their "public image"), both from the prying eyes of the press and from insult by others. Gradually, society lost its taste for cleaning up the gore after duels and encouraged the toffs to meet in court instead.
What Europe's various revolutions, starting with the French one in 1789, did over time was to elevate more and more low-class individuals to the same "royal treatment." Eventually, after World War II, all Europeans became entitled to it, just as all adult French and Germans, of whatever status, could now expect to be addressed by other adults as vous or Sie.
France and Germany, took subtly different paths to get to the same place: In France, the main body of law was written during the 19th century in response to famous artists and writers doing sexy things of a questionable nature. (I know this comes as a shock.) I'll highlight one such case, involving the author of The Three Musketeers, in the next post. In most cases, whenever the dignity of a prominent individual was threatened after sexy photos of him or her were published, even when that individual had expressly sold the right to those photos (!), the courts opted to preserve dignity.
In Germany, also during the 19th century, the individuals whose cases drove the law forward were not so much lascivious artists but brooding philosophers. (Again, I know this comes as a shock.)
Influenced by Hegel, Kant and their ilk, the German lawyers wanted to prove the pre-eminence of free will. They went all the way back to ancient Rome and the law of my hero Scipio to re-interpret the Roman law of "insult" (injuria). From this, they constructed the concept of Persönlichkeit (personality or personhood), which is often used in the same contexts that Americans use liberty but with a twist.
In a nustshell: To be free meant, as Whitman puts it,
to exercise free will, and the defining characteristic of creatures with free will was that they were unpredictably individual, creatures whom no science of mechanics or biology could ever capture in their full richness… The purpose of "freedom" was to allow each individual fully to realize his potential as an individual: to give full expression to his peculiar capacities and powers.
(Sounds a lot like Abe Maslow's self-actualization, don't you think?)
In any case, both the French and the German legal traditions put much less emphasis on the sordid American obsessions with consumer sovereignty and commercial freedom (credit reporting, for example) and much more emphasis on creativity and the presentation of self, of Persönlichkeit in all its eccentric splendor.
2) America
America, by contrast, embarked on the journey of privacy law with the Bill of Rights. And it focused on limiting state power. The Fourth Amendment specifically establishes the right against unlawful searches and seizures as the main expression of privacy.
Searching and seizing is usually done in one's home, so right from the start, the concept of privacy resided there.
Of course, there have been American lawyers over the years who have tried to make American law more "European". The main attempt was "The Right to Privacy" by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis in 1890. But these attempts never went far.
Property rights and/or freedom of speech almost always prevail in American courts over appeals to privacy and dignity. Whitman cites, for example, the Supreme Court's decision in Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn and Florida Star v. B.J.F. In these cases, the media published the names of rape victims. In both cases the Supreme Court found that the First Amendment protected media outlets against suit. European courts would have been concerned with protecting the rape victims. Ironically, because those victims might once have been aristocratic toffs.
The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal was effectively spun into a sex scandal. The impeachment, however, was over a matter of perjury (false statements under oath). Some strongly felt that there was a matter of character involved also but that was countered by painting those who felt that way as "prudes" or "Puritans".
My personal concern in this issue was that the president, by engaging in affairs, was leaving himself open to blackmail by any foreign nation who gained knowledge of these affairs. I would have been less concerned if the affairs had been public knowledge which would have destroyed their value in blackmail. I must admit that character is also important to me and I wonder about a man who could violate vows made to a wife and how that might indicate about his willingness to violate an oath of office.
As to the "public humiliation" of the Clintons, I would place the blame for that on the one who committed the humiliating act, rather than on those that exposed it. Otherwise, we should be blaming the police for catching those that break the law rather than the lawbreakers themselves.
"I have seen Europeans grow visibly angry, for example, when they learn about routine American practices like credit reporting. How, they ask, can merchants be permitted access to the entire credit history of customers who have never defaulted on their debts? Is it not obvious that this is a violation of privacy and personhood, which must be prohibited by law?
How do merchants in Europe confirm credit viability of a (potential) customer?
Americans actually do carry "identity papers". These are generally called "photo ID" and usually consist of valid driver's licenses or state issued identification cards. These are often requested by merchants to confirm the user of a credit card is, indeed, the owner of said card. The police often ask for these when a person is stopped, with cause, and informally interrogated. The issue of "cause", however, is a bit touchy.
"So dignity is implicitly defined as control over one's public image. You have a right not to be humiliated or embarrassed in public."
"Europeans assume that you have a right to both nudity and dignity in public. So, for instance, the paparazzi (or neighbors) do not have a right to take a picture of you and then put it on the internet, because you must remain in control of your public image."
That seems quite contradictory to me. But, then, disrobing in public just doesn't seem to resonate as dignified to me.
The indignity of revealing someone's pay was effectively demonstrated in our recent scandals involving financial problems, executives' compensation, and bailouts. It is apparently not an indignity to expose the pay of star athletes and movie stars.
You misrepresent the actual ruling in "Vernonia School District v. Acton", there was much more involved that the fact that they took "athletes regularly shower together (naked, we assume)" Quite a bit more. It was actually sound law and based upon reasonable expectations of privacy. If I may quote from the majority opinion…
"Somewhat like adults who choose to participate in a 'closely regulated industry,' students who voluntarily participate in school athletics have reason to expect intrusions upon normal rights and privileges, including privacy."
You might want to read the opinion before making comment on it.
I will finish by saying… The United States is not a European nation. It has its own, unique, culture and history. We, in the US, are often lampooned for not being as sophisticated as Europeans and for being intolerant of other cultures and their morals and cultural taboos. Yet, for some odd reason, our own seem to be what we might call fair game. I mostly find that amusing and tend to snicker about the hypocrisy evident.
All of the above, of course, is my own opinion and protected under the laws of copyright and the First Amendment.March 5, 2010
Much of my commentary was tongue in cheek. Though I find that when someone is critiquing cultures relative to other cultures, there is often a bias apparent. For example, is Canadian culture more European in these areas or more inline with the US? Each culture is unique, having its own foundational construct and evolution. Since WWII, there has been more of a blending of the various cultures of the developed world or at least an attempt to do so. But there is still a long way to go.March 6, 2010
Another perspective:
Americans have been voting for a quarter of a millennium. For a vote to be cast meaningfully the voter needs accurate information: hence, John Peter Zenger's acquittal (1735), the First Amendment (1791), the Pentagon Papers Case (1971), and so forth.
In Europe as a whole, voting is a comparatively recent right, in some instances imposed by military occupation (as just recently happened in Iraq and Afghanistan). The attendant traditions of free speech and free press are, perhaps for that reason, less strongly rooted, less jealously guarded, and less well understood. Europe recognizes a broader right of privacy, but what you don't about a politician can hurt you — just look at history.
(Also, many politicians in postwar Europe wanted to put their past behind them; one cannot rule out that this may have encouraged their comfort with privacy rights.)March 9, 2010
For a vote to be cast meaningfully the voter needs accurate information: hence, John Peter Zenger's acquittal (1735), the First Amendment (1791), the Pentagon Papers Case (1971), and so forth.
It is interesting that most polls show a decided level of general ignorance on the part of the average American citizen about current issues and events. This in spite of a tradition of press freedom and competition in the business of news reporting.
If I recall correctly, a number of polls show an overwhelming majority of respondents desiring that "government spend less but provide as much, or more, services."March 9, 2010
When the Founding Fathers framed the constitution they could have vested power in "the smartest guys in the room," themselves, but they didn't.
Instead they gave us a recipe, the Constitution, that structures the discussion so that even "the dumbest guys in the room" are heard. Of course, sometimes it's the "stupid" ones who have the answer.
I am wary of polls that suggest people are ignorant. Don't these "ignorant" people do almost all the work in the country? They built the country and keep it running. No mean feat.March 10, 2010
I am wary of polls that suggest people are ignorant. Don't these "ignorant" people do almost all the work in the country? They built the country and keep it running. No mean feat.
Did they build and keep this country (USA) running? Or did the Founders run it for its initial number of years (look at who the early presidents were), industrialists like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Phelps Dodge, Samuel Slater, the DuPont family, Henry Ford, etc. build and run it?
We do like to say the man in the factory, the western pioneer, the gold miners, the common man built this country and made it great but the truth is that he didn't. Don't get me wrong, without a strong sense of individualism, without a belief in being able to rise above the circumstances of his birth, without a nation that supported the individual politically and culturally, we'd have turned out much different than we are today.
We have a mixed view. On the one hand, we tend toward acceptance of a kind of aristocracy (Rockefellers, Kennedys, Bushes, Lodges, etc) while also recognizing and celebrating those who came from obscurity.
But doesn't drive you mad when a poll reports "and 12% had no opinion"?March 10, 2010
American #
You say "most polls" show a "decided level of general ignorance…" Really? Who decided… you? Or were the questions perhaps designed to point toward a conclusion of ignorance, as many commissioned polls are?
You offer your own example saying, 'a number of polls show an overwhelming majority of respondents desiring that "government spend less but provide as much, or more, services."'
Ignorance would be concluding that this means Americans are foolish to think that government must improve without spending more money.
But if you think the only way to increase quality and productivity of governments is to spend more money, then it is you who are ignorant my friend. Government must be forced to be efficient by reduced bureaucracy and improved processes. Giving them more money to solve problems never works… it just drains the public trust.April 6, 2010
First, yes, it is I who decided that the polls show a decided level of general ignorance. The primary indications is the "have no opinion" category which all too often tends to be in double digits. Remember, "ignorance" is a form of "ignore" and something people choose rather than "are". Still, those may be the most honest respondents.
Ignorance would be concluding that this means Americans are foolish to think that government must improve without spending more money.
Not "must" but "could" and I might take issue with "improve" also. More services is not necessarily an indication of improvement but is indicative of growth. Growth takes money.
But if you think the only way to increase quality and productivity of governments is to spend more money, then it is you who are ignorant my friend. Government must be forced to be efficient by reduced bureaucracy and improved processes. Giving them more money to solve problems never works… it just drains the public trust.
I could not agree more. But I do not believe adding services encourages efficiency.April 7, 2010
That French and German, and arguably most other languages, have, unlike English, different pronouns (eg "vous" and "tu"; "Sie" and "du") for when one speaks to friends and when one speaks to strangers, bespeaks that non English-speaking societies (eg those in Europe) are, prima facie, less egalitarian than English-speaking ones.
English seems to have only "sir" (or "madam") to indicate respect, and they are used but rarely. Paradoxically, we English-speakers use "sir" mainly when we wish to say something unpleasant to someone we don't like – "You, sir, are a scoundrel".March 5, 2010
Some quotes on dignity and America, from Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America:
"In democratic countries manners are generally devoid of dignity, because private life is there extremely petty in its character; and they are frequently low, because the mind has few opportunities of rising above the engrossing cares of domestic interests. True dignity in manners consists in always taking one's proper station, neither too high nor too low; and this is as much within the reach of a peasant as of a prince. In democracies all stations appear doubtful; hence it is that the manners of democracies, though often full of arrogance, are commonly wanting in dignity, and, moreover, they are never either well disciplined or accomplished."
"The men who live in democracies are too fluctuating for a certain number of them ever to succeed in laying down a code of good breeding, and in forcing people to follow it. Every man therefore behaves after his own fashion, and there is always a certain incoherence in the manners of such times, because they are moulded upon the feelings and notions of each individual, rather than upon an ideal model proposed for general imitation."
"It is reasonable to expect that over time the people of America will resolve themselves into two distinct classes: supermodels and everyone else."
(I am still trying to verify this last quote.)March 11, 2010
As I suspected, the third "Alexis de Tocqueville" quote above is apocryphal.
But the source for first two Alexis de Tocqueville's quotes is Democracy in America, Chapter XIV, Some Reflections on American Manners :
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/DETOC/ch3_14.htmMarch 11, 2010
Professor Whitman's comprehensive and informative 2004 paper about European attitudes to privacy as compared to those in the US, at historical, philosophical, social and legal levels, all scrupulously documented (as is only to be expected) can only be admired . It is particularly timely both in relation to international law, the comity of nations and the advance of the internet.
What I did find surprising, nevertheless, was his almost total neglect of British culture and law, which has been developing for a thousand years or more. It is British law and culture which finds itself buffeted between the demands against our sovereignty made within the EU and the strong historical and cultural ties with North America.
Professor Whitman also neglects the practical effects of contrasting laws, privacy being only a small part. (May I point out in passing that in the one hand, in the UK, we face the prospect of trans-European law enforcement in an environment where common law and civil law clash and on the other, for example, a questionable extradition arrangement highly favourable to the US: the UK still awaits a reciprocal law in its favour, but this has not prevented the US from exploiting its new rights against our citizens with full vigour. )
Professor Whitman does not mention defamation at all – highly relevant to the question of privacy. There is pressure from the international community to water down our libel laws. This pressure is not necessarily wrong, since in modern times a country can be profoundly affected by the laws of another, something else which the paper does not address. It is an interesting cultural point, though, that contract law, libel (not criminal libel) and slander in England and Wales – all relevant to this discussion – grew out of the common law of trespass.
Social problems are exacerbated by legislators everywhere who seek to use the law as an instrument of social reform, rather than as a system to resolve individual disputes between citizens or between the citizen and the state (principally to protect the private citizen against arbitrary intrusions by the State – which should also be the principal function of a free press). This is at the root of my unease about written constitutions, however fine or accomplished those constitutions may be.
In the UK we succeeded in the Union because we allowed Scotland its own laws. Today we suffer the indignity of laws imposed from a sovereign Europe which intrude daily upon the minutiae of our lives. Those who reflect upon these matters with anxiety would thus find Professor Whitman's appeal to tolerance in his conclusion a little complacent, perhaps, in its inherent assumption that a nation's laws truly reflect its culture or "embody the basic commitments of [a]society". There is also hardly any reference to the practical effect of the conflict of the laws of privacy, let alone guidance towards a solution of the problem.
The freedom to name one's child seems a minor question compared to the foregoing. In England and Wales it is easily resolved. In the absence of fraud, anyone of the requisite capacity is free to change his or her own name at any time without any formality. There is an odd anomaly in that Christian names (as opposed to other given names) may not be changed, but this is ignored, even if one chooses to record a change by some formality or another.March 5, 2010
P.S. – It is noteworthy that the British Vagrancy Act of 1898 outlawed indecent exposure only by men. It was not until this century that the Act was repealed in its entirety. Exposure was also dealt with, for both sexes, as a breach of the peace. The significance here is that it was proscribed because of its effect on others rather than as a question of principle. There is no shame in the human body as such, and the Victorians were more liberal than is commonly supposed. My father, who was a Victorian ( just) was very liberal and told me that it was a common sight to see women feeding their babies in public – by some now regarded an outrage.
I'm a bit rusty and my references may not be wholly reliable, but the observations remain good.March 6, 2010
P.P.S. Sorry to be so piecemeal, but I was up all night reading the paper and knocking out these comments. It concerns the general thread of freedom. There is a presumption of freedom under the Common Law. In Civil Law systems I believe, since I am not an expert, the reverse is true: the law has to grant freedoms.
The Common Law approach is to my mind, the less intrusive and more human. Whichever is to be preferred, this, I submit, is another major source of the differences between jurisdictions, alongside differences in culture.March 6, 2010
Yes, there is no question that the application of British defamation law has got out of hand, particularly where the level of compensation awards compared to awards for personal injury is concerned. The reason for this is to counterbalance the resources of the press, and so it is difficult to know what the answer is.
If one starts from the presumption, however, that the main purpose of a free press is to protect the private citizen against the excesses of the state, one wonders why there is all this fuss. The public interest defence has already been extended, and so it is clear that the press wishes to attack private reputation with impunity.
One can see the cultural influences at work here in the way that Phil describes in his comment.March 6, 2010
The European and American systems of law spring, as Richard has pointed out, out of different cultures.
Il me semble that European culture is more introverted; and American culture more extroverted, being arguably the most extroverted of all cultures. Thus, while the European may spend his Sundays reading Proust with a glass of Chardonnay, or going alone to an Ingmar Bergman film; the American may spend his Sundays watching NASCAR racing with a pitcher of Bud, or going with his many friends to a James Cameron film.
Hence European law tries to protect the inner (introverted) self, in the form of feelings (dignity); and American law tries to protect the outer (extroverted) self, in the form of freedom of action (liberty).March 6, 2010
The eyes are the "windows to the soul," yet no one seems particularly concerned about concealing their eyes. I've seen so-called "private" parts blurred out on pictures and on TV, but never a person's eyes.
Humans, and Americans in particular, act as if their bodies from the neck down were the windows to their souls. In reality, our bodies are more like the windows to our diet. I conclude, therefore, that the human soul must be located in the stomach.
Domestic Tranquility, common defence, general Welfare, Blessings of Liberty. No mention of privacy in the Preamble nor in the rest of the Constitution. Only a few veiled references, such as no unreasonable search and seizures, the right to deny soldiers shelter during peacetime, and the right against self-incrimination.
Having lead a bi-continental life, I just want my dignacy.March 6, 2010
@Peter G
Americans, in general, are a paunchy, squishy, pale lot. There isn't much dignity apparent in the exposure of that. I once, when much younger, had little problem with being naked. But as time and gravity advanced, that changed. Andreas' picture of leisurely nudists seems to be bereft of the older citizens.March 6, 2010
Since I happen to reside in New York and not in sunny Southern California, the outcome of your brilliant little experiment is a foregone conclusion: you'll get arrested, and I'll freeze to death before the cops get ahold of me.
Temperature concerns aside, of course people would be shocked to see a bunch of naked guys with sunglasses walking around in public. That's my whole point: we consider our bodies (or at least certain body parts) to be "private," yet no one seems to mind the public display of our eyes as if people's souls were the least private parts of all.March 6, 2010
In America, baring one's soul is considered a sign of courage. Consider Oprah and various other talk shows (usually aimed at women and on during the day) but it extends to presidents or political candidates brushing a tear (real or faked) away at a funeral (or choking up when speaking of some disaster or personal tragedy) to even NASCAR winners tearing up during post-race interviews.
At times, wearing sunglasses is considered rude because one cannot look you in the eye and tell if you are being honest.
Oddly, we have no problem with Secret Service agents wearing sunglasses at all times (outdoor and in) as they guard the president, his family, and lesser luminaries.March 7, 2010
That's cute. So you want to keep your salary private. How European.
Myself, I earned a gross total of $24,072.49 in 2009, and I currently pull in $375/week in unemployment benefits.
The fact that I have no problem sharing this information with the world proves that I'm a lot more of an American at heart than you are. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you clearly pitched your tent on the wrong side of the Atlantic.March 6, 2010
Some random thoughts before I retire for the night:
- There are societies of people, who would be called "primitive", who don't at all like it when visitors from overseas take photos of them. The photographees consider that the camera is stealing their souls (dignity).
Perhaps Europeans intrinsically feel the same, so this is why European law protects peoples' rights to images made of them (dignity). Perhaps, then, primitive peoples and Europeans are on to something which Americans aren't.
- In the US, if you shoot dead someone's pet dog for no good reason, the owner can now successfully sue you for $50,000 and upwards, even though he had only paid $100 for his dog.
US law is therefore beginning to recognise the validity of mental distress at the death of a pet, and this is reflected in the increasing amount of damages awarded in pet death cases. This is related to the concept of dignity.
- I've read that in many schools in the US (perhaps mostly in Californian ones?) students are given mandatory courses in self-esteem (dignity), the better to recognise instances when they are treated in a way which robs them of their self-esteem (dignity).
If what I've read about this is true, then es scheint mir this will eventually be reflected in US law.
Therefore in matters of dignity, US law and European law may be converging.March 7, 2010
After I posted my comment above, I re-checked my sources for what I said about monetary damages for pet deaths in the US.
It seems that what I said does not apply in most US states, which regard a pet merely as property. Hence you can sue only for the market value of the animal.
However, in Oregon Washington and Illinois, pet owners have successfully sued for emotional suffering on the wrongful death of a pet. The damages in 3 cases were respectively: $27,000; $30,000, and $136,000 (this was for for 4 dogs, working out to $34,000 per dog).March 7, 2010
For what it's worth, I recently mediated a case where a pet store forgot that little Speck was in the dryer cage. It was an agonizing death for the dog and emotionally upsetting for the family including the children. And of course, the pet store workers were also devastated and remorseful.
Generally speaking, pets are chattle which is any property that is not real property are otherwise a fixture attached to real property. The traditinal measure of damages is the cost of repairing the item or the fair market value of the item if it was destroyed. (This is not replacement value).
Needless to say, the parties are far apart on what is fair and acceptable in terms of settlement.March 23, 2010
It is interesting to see the parallels to English Law, Steve.
"Land" is a term of art which, by statute, includes real property and all interests in real property, or estates in land, as we would call them. A very handy word to use.
Despite that, the case law on fixtures is somewhat ambivalent. First, you establish whether an item is fixed to the land in some way: if it is, then prima facie it is part of the land.
The presumption can, however, be displaced. If an item is there for the enhancement of the use of the land, rather than for its own sake, then it is a fixture, even though it is not attached in any way. Conversely, if an item is securely attached to the land for its own sake, then it is not a fixture.
Thus, even though a decorative statue, not being a work of art, placed beside a lake to enhance the outlook, is unattached, it is, nevertheless, a fixture. On the other hand, a Rubens fastened firmly to the wall will not be a fixture.
It is important in practical terms, of course, because only fixtures will pass in a contract for the sale of land, unless express provision is made otherwise.
I cannot imagine that a pet would, under any circumstances, be held to be a fixture, nor would any livestock.March 24, 2010
Thanks for a fascinating and thought-provoking post. It's interesting to read in connection with the Academy Awards hoopla in the US.March 9, 2010
Tom Foster #
I'm a first time commenter, and a long time reader of your blog. I've only been reading it for the last three months, but I consider myself a long time reader because, having found your blog, I read it back to the first post.
I want to thank you for one of the most wide-ranging, erudite and consistently interesting blogs on the internet. I often find personal meaning even in your posts addressing wide or abstract issues, and this post is one of them.
I'm British, and always fascinated by the position of my country between America and (continental) Europe. It took me a while, but I eventually worked out how this ambiguous position relates to me personally. My conclusion is that generally I'm culturally European but politically American. It may seem difficult to separate culture from politics, but having been forced to do it I find myself by turns confused and enlightened by the distinction.
On the question of privacy vs dignity I find myself personally drawn to the European position. I would never discuss my salary unless I was left with no polite alternative, and I happily make the sacrifices to self-expression needed to preserve control over my public image (to the modest extent that I have one!) I find the American tradition of public confession (as pointed out by the commenter Douglas) deeply discomforting.
Politically though, I can only embrace the American system. I happily make sacrifices of self-expression to preserve my dignity because I believe the consequences of legal protection for dignity, in that sense, are unacceptable. I support the various efforts to reform Britain's libel law to remove the bias in favour of the claimant. However unpleasant I find it to see the private affairs of politicians exposed, I fear more the consequences of allowing public figures too wide a private space, and the risk of them hiding other, darker, secrets there. I hope that we will eventually find a balance, and I recognise there are some areas in which a right to privacy is beyond dispute, if not always adhered to, such as the lives of politician's children. Still, politically the presumption must be that what happens in the public sphere is public, however culturally unpleasant I find that.
Multiculturalism, as a reality rather than a doctrine, if forcing us all to reconsider the relationship between culture and politics. This is my starting place.
Thanks again for the blog, and all the thoughts it provokes.March 10, 2010
"…….I know from WordPress's Statistics feature that only a tiny fraction of the Hannibal Blog's readers leave comments………"
Perhaps for "readers", you should have said "visitors", for I have a hunch that of those who visit any blog, the percentage who actually read it are quite small.
I've looked at site meters of some blogs with large numbers of visitors, and at least half come in because they clicked on images (from Google or Bing images) contained in blog posts. So these visitors only want to see pictures.
If you are relying on WordPress stats to get numbers of "visitors", I have reason to think they are inflated by as much as one quarter. So, for one reason and another, it may be that your regular readers are a small fraction of your "visitors".
Therefore, the percentage of your readers (the real ones) who deign to leave comments, may be much higher than you suppose.March 10, 2010
Mr. Crotchety #
The Hannibal Blog statistics are inflated by me. I check every minute to see if I've made a connection with anyone else in this vast, lonely universe. (then I try to distance myself)March 11, 2010
dafna #
ha ha ha mr. crotchety. thanks for the laugh! you may now distance yourself!
you have made a connection by revealing the annoying habit of refreshing the screen randomly and obsessively thereby inflating or skewing the hannibal blog statistics… i too do this, so now you must distance yourself.March 12, 2010
Great post! I'm a lawyer writing from Peru. It would be great to analyze the Latin American situation regarding privacy laws. We are adopting the European model through data protection legislation but it would be great to explore historically the origins of our conception of privacy.June 9, 2010
Hi, and Happy New Year! Found your blog while looking for
somebody to explain Hegel to me. However, this theme is something I
talk about with Germans almost daily. I like your "How I write"
blog, too. I will try ditching my chair! Thanks for writing…
HayesJanuary 3, 2011
A. Mueller #
citation: "•Official ID cards/registration: In Germany, for instance, you have to register with the local police when you move to a new place."
I am sorry, but as a native German I know that in Germany one does not have to register with the police but with the city registration office. That is something totally different. The police doesn't enter at all.
If you are a foreigner you have to register with the Ausländerbehörde which translates roughly into "office for foreigners". There the procedure is different for citizens of the European Union and citizens from countries which don't belong to the EU.
But if I as a German move to e.g. France (or any other state within the EU), I am free to move there any time without, but even in France (or any other state within the EU) I also will have to be registered with the French "office for foreigners" or any other local office which is deputated to deal with this kind of things. I also will have to apply for a working permit, but as a citizen of the European Union that permit will be given automatically.March 2, 2012