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Friday, December 21, 2012
NY Post: Yankees seeking righty-hitting OF
Asked how the search for a right-handed hitting outfielder to go with left-handed hitters Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Ichiro is moving, Brian Cashman didn't sound like a man on the verge of filling the need.
"It's not deep,'' the general manager said of the free-agent pool and trade market.
If free-agent Scott Hairston continues to look for a two-year deal it's unlikely he will get it from the Yankees, who have signed five free agents this winter and gave just one — Ichiro — a two-year contract. Free-agent Cody Ross is also looking for a multi-year pact.
As for the trade market, the names are enticing, but the dollars and years remaining on contracts put the Yankees out of play.
Minnesota may move Josh Willingham who hit 35 homers and drove in 110 runs last year and has two years and a combined $14 million remaining. And the Twins would likely want something better than what the Yankees could offer.
The Yankees have long liked Colorado's Michael Cuddyer, but he is owed $21 million for 2013 and 2014. He is a .260 career hitter with a .795 OPS.
Vernon Wells could play the role Andruw Jones filled the last two years, but the Angels would have to swallow most of the astonishing $42 million across two years remaining on his contract.
Hairston and Willingham are the only two names above that interest me, but since Hairston wants a second year and since Willingham is signed for 2014 and would cost talent to acquire they probably are not feasible options. I'm coming around to the idea that they can try Ronnier Mustelier and/or Melky Mesa in the role and hope one of them clicks. They are going to need to fill holes in 2014 and getting some playing time in the majors for guys they have on hand that won't cost them precious 2014 dollars is the sensible approach. It's so sensible I'd be surprised if they did it, actually.
[article] Vernon Wells could play the role Andruw Jones filled the last two years
Wells could fill the role Jones played last year quite nicely - completely ineffective RH bench player.
Wells would actually be an upgrade on what Jones did last year, as scary as it is. That's kind of why I'm comfortable with Mustelier or Mesa in that role. Mustelier is probably the better bat, Mesa the better glove/baserunner (at least until he gets to 3B).
What about not signing Pierzinsky for a one year deal worth 7.5 million? The guy just hit .826 OPS last year from the catcher position (!!!) And the Yankees did not even try to sign him.
SG, if we're going to continue advocating for Mustelier, can you at least provide some guidance for how to pronounce either of his names?
I'm really hoping it's Raw-knee-ay Must-ee-lee-ay
Least credible comment of my career:
I was reading LoHud comments the other day, and someone there says he has a guy in the know who claims that the FO is forcing Cashman to go in-house for the catcher position because he promised, when trading Montero, that Romine would be ready by now, and this is some kind of "feet to the fire" type thing.
Mustelier is probably the better bat, Mesa the better glove/baserunner (at least until he gets to 3B).
Mesa also has more upside to be better for the future, as he's several years younger. Mustelier probably tops out as a RH bat off the bench who can play well enough at several positions that you can justify having him on the roster. Mesa probably tops out as an average outfielder (enough bat for corners, enough defense for CF). So yeah, I would definitely think it is worthwhile to find out if Mesa looks like he can be average(ish) for 2-4 years, or if he's a 4th OF.
Average, and you have your cheap corner OF (w/ Gardner in CF) for 2014 and 2015, potential trade chip after that if you come up aces with the quality talent in the lower minors. 4th he still fills a valuable role for peanuts. Anything less than that…probably hope that a team who could use a cheap OF that can be a starter for a 3rd division team would like him in a deadline trade.
[5] Today is boring enough to dwell on this comment.
Wouldn't that be a step in the right direction?
"You said he would be ready, right? And he's not? Why not? Oh, he got injured? And he was out the whole year? Was it a freak thing? How long did his recovery take? Why did it take so long? Do we need improvements in our medical staff? Our player development staff?"
Doesn't seem like a bad thing to me.
[7] If it involves those sorts of questions, sure. But forcing a GM not to address a weakness sounds more like a tantrum.
If those are the questions they're asking, I agree. But isn't there a chance they're just trying to pin fan dissatisfaction on him, or something? I mean, I hope it's not why they didn't even consider AJP.
Evaluating what went wrong is one thing, but refusing to make a move because of a player development failure is pretty short-sighted. I'm feeling optimistic, so I'll just hope that they feel good about Romine/Cervelli and that they are taking our advice of giving PAs to people now to see what they have in 2014.
[3] Pierzynski does have the reputation for being a true jerk, so the most likely explanation is they don't want him in the clubhouse.
Also, LoHud posted an interview with Mark Newman where he called Romine a plus-plus defensive catcher, so that may be where they're placing a lot of their hopes.
Beyond this, along the lines of [5], the organization as a whole might be thinking, "we have all these catching prospects, so maybe if we take away our veteran safety net, it will clear the way for them, starting with Romine, to take the big league job."
"You said he would be ready, right? And he's not? Why not? Oh, he got injured? And he was out the whole year? Was it a freak thing? How long did his recovery take? Why did it take so long? Do we need improvements in our medical staff? Our player development staff?"
If this is truly the end, it would be a shame to not spend some of it playing this back in your head, coming from the voice of George Steinbrenner as portrayed on Seinfeld with George Costanza standing in front of his desk.
I'm really hoping it's Raw-knee-ay Must-ee-lee-ay
In my head I have been including the 'R' in the first name, so Raw-knee-year. But the last name seems right to me.
Wouldn't that be a step in the right direction?
I think so. There's no reason Cashman should have a lifetime pass to be the GM of the Yankees, and if he did in fact make a promise like that he should be held accountable for it.
I saw that comment on Lohud as well and while I'm reticent to take message board rumor-mongering at face value the substance behind it seems to make sense to me. Cashman's had the 'full' reins since 2006 now, right? The system has produced some productive MLB players but unfortunately too many of them are elsewhere and now when the team's new direction is screaming for an influx from the farm there's very little in the way of ready-to-contribute help this year and next.
Obviously big years from a few of the top 10 prospects make 2014 look a lot more rosy, and that may be what it takes to save Cashman's job.
[12] Classic.
[13] I don't think that Cashman should have the GM job for life. But do you trust Levine/Hal/Hank to pick a viable replacement?
I don't think Cashman is perfect, but I do think he is at least an average. I worry less about losing Cashman than I do about the quality of his successor.
Levine would probably hire Isiah Thomas as GM.
[15] I agree.
I don't think Cashman is perfect, but I do think he is at least an average. I worry less about losing Cashman than I do about the quality of his successor.
I agree. I don't think Cashman is a bad GM, I just think that at some point any management is going to get stale.
I don't trust Levine, but Hal Steinbrenner is not a dumb guy and if he really wants to run the Yankees on a budget he will probably want to look at bringing in the best available candidate for building the farm system. It'd be awesome if they could get their hands on Andrew Friedman, but it's also highly unlikely.
Opinions: The Yankees have considered moving Tyler Austin back to 3B. If they do and he plays average defense, does that make him the best Yankees prospect?
[19] I think he should stay where he is the better defender. It's not like he is moving back to catcher or middle infield. If he is going to be above average at RF and below average at 3B he better stay where he is.
Is there any chance Mustelier turns out to be The Most Interesting Man In The World?
[19] No. Heathcott and Williams are both looking to be plus (or better) defenders in CF. Also, though Austin has had some nice SB numbers, by all reports it's through baserunning smarts, not speed. So where you can look at Williams/Heathcott regularly being 20+ SB threats - plus taking the extra base - Austin is limited in his upside as a baserunner. And then you have Sanchez, who is a catcher. Even if he's a -5 catcher, that *still* gives him a 10 run head start for value. Now, by the time we have enough innings to determine if he's average at 3rd, we'll ALSO have a better idea how is offense is progressing, how everyone else is developing, etc. So Austin may indeed be their #1 prospect. But if everyone progresses evenly, I don't think the move to 3rd would be enough to move him to #1.
[20] There's a 10 run difference between the two positions. If he's a +5 in RF and a -5 at 3rd it's a wash, but then it comes down to where he'll most be needed in a couple of years. There's definitely a chance that ARod will need to be a full-time DH by 2015, and they have lots of OF (but very few IF) prospects. I'd say if the difference in defense is less than 6 runs, move to 3rd, more than 13 runs leave in RF. In between they need to take into account needs of the organization, where he is most likely to get injured (could be different for different players), and how it may affect his offense.
[21] I wouldn't put any money on it, but sure.
[10] Evaluating what went wrong is one thing, but refusing to make a move because of a player development failure is pretty short-sighted.
Some might say that having a policy where player development isn't actually emphasized and important is short-sighted.
Someone here was talking about soccer tickets the other day. This is awesome if you haven't already seen it: http://mwillis.com/post/37845751873/soccer-out-of-context-the-al-east
[24] Are you claiming Cashman isn't emphasizing and thinking player development is important?
[Edited because of an edit]
[Edited because 27 is no more]
[Not edited because all I know is I don't know nothing]
[25] That was me. Thanks, Lord J. Really cool, I'd like to own one if they existed…
Some thoughts. My guess is Musteller would be ok as a right hand bat as long as his outfield defense is passable. Mesa could take his place mid year if he rakes at AAA. Don't see the upside to trading a lot for any +32 age player. If indeed the owners want to stretch dollars right now it seems they need to use internal resources as much as possible. I do have issues with Cashman to this day but on the whole I would say he's slightly better than average and I echo the concerns of a potential replacement. Why wouldn't Friedman consider NYY? There's a prestige factor in NY that Tampa will never afford him.
Getting back to Yankees I think they should move some players up the chain perhaps slightly more aggressively. Austin for sure should begin at AA. I would have Heathcott and Flores there as well and if any of the three break out early move them mid year to Scranton. As to Sanchez it would be great if he could get to Trenton mid-year as well. One of these guys if not two should be positioned for the bigs in 14 providing they play well. As to Levine what is his background and how did he get a connection to the team? He's not a baseball guy so is he just an attorney poser?
I do think Cashman was a bit stupid in trading Montero given that Romine had already sustained back injuries in 2011. Should Romine go down, I think Cervelli/Stewart can do the job this year, but not at a particularly high level.
Who knows perhaps given a shot Romine will surprise. The team could use some youth and I would prefer they give him a true shot over some older guy.
[31] Friedman could not want the pressure that comes with being in NY. Also, it seems like in Tampa owners give him a budget, his job is to do whatever he can with that budget. Would he have that much freedom in NY, even with the bigger budget? Remember, Billy Beane turned down the opportunity to go to Boston because he liked having a situation similar to Friedman's…
As for players…yeah I think Austin will start in AA, as will Flores (full season of A+ behind him). They're going to let Segedin be the other OF in AA to see if the collapse last year was a SSS fluke adjusting to AA, or if he's hit his limit. The Almontes will go to AAA, probably with Mustelier in a corner and Mesa in the Bronx; remember Mesa is on 40 man and Mustlelier isn't. I think Williams and Heathcott both start in Tampa, as well as Sanchez. Heathcott will be promoted when/if Flores/Austin are promoted, Williams will lag a bit. Murphy will be the starting catcher in AAA if Romine is in NYY, otherwise he'll start at AA. Sanchez will probably be promoted when Murphy is.
[32] I think the Yankees had already given up on Montero as a C. Sounds like the M's are close to that as well. It's also possible Yankees didn't think Montero's bat would translate to the majors once scouting reports had gotten around. So it could be possible that Cashman traded high on Montero, and it's just bad luck that Pineda got hurt.
yeah, Montero's struggles have made me feel much better about that trade. Sure, Pineda is never going to pitch outside of a trench again, but he's a pitcher. Expecting them to pitch is asking a lot.
I dread having Stewart as anything more than a caddy at C, though perhaps that is just me being irrational. Though that may just be the fear of having to see Youk's unshaven mug playing every day next season. I am NOT looking forward to seeing that in HD, not sure if my TV can handle it.
Guess I'll just drink….more.
(Edited because I felt left out of the fun.)
I'll be around in the next few days, but Merry Christmas to all, especially heathens who really need to know Jesus, like Mel Hall.
Hm, that almost rhymed.
As a soldier in the war on Xmas, PFC Bebop, Happy Holidays. If only there were something for the rest of us. I have many grievances to air. Swish in October. Tex in April. Arod's contract. Flaherty, Suzie and Serling year round.
[38] It would be particularly ironic for you to get coal in your stocking…
That happened once and I went jogging. Hurt like hell.
I too have grievances to air! Don't forget Kay on your list - he's the worst.
Shouldn't we be thankful for Cone?
Cone, Mo, Andy, Derek, Reggie, Thurm, Whitey, Yogi and The Mick! Most def!
Robinson Cano. Paul O'Neill. Po.
Not Cano yet he's too infuriating at times. Buckner, Bucky effing Dent and Booney.
At times like this I think….....what would thurm say . Sorry if I mis-typed I'm drunk and on my new IPad.
At times like this I think….....what would thurm say . Sorry if I mis-typed I'm drunk and on my new IPad.
Damn IPad 2x post.
I'm thankful for Jeter. And Giambino. Frustrating, but clutch.
Nettles. Superballs. Munson, unamerican facial hair hair and all. Boy genius's monkey suit. Not so sure about the wrestling belt of the thong. Ruth and alcohol. Girardi's triple. And, very much, without excuse - Jim Leyritz (not because of the Andy Hawkins
no-hitter game). 1978 Guidry. 1997 Tino Martinez. 2 innings/game of Mo behind Wetteland. Lots of things.
Is it November?
Is it safe?
I was feeling like the Yankees really lost out on Pierzynski, but I have to admit to being somewhat blinded by his 2012. To wit, in 2010 and 2011, A.J. compiled a .688 .OPS, followed by a .728 OPS, in a very hitter friendly park. Considering his poor defensive reputation and questionable clubhouse presence, his dossier would have been highly unimpressive if not for clocking 27 homers last season. But his .OBP stayed pretty static, compared to '10 and '11, and the slugging was no doubt propped up by what could absolutely be a fluke year in terms of homers. So I must amend my opinion. Maybe it's time to get just a smidge excited about Romine winning the job in spring training. It'll be a golden opportunity for him, and I really like the fact he managed three homers in 61 Triple A AB's after returning from the injury last season.
I wouldn't go to 2 years, of course, but I still think Pierzynski represented enough value that he was well worth his one-year deal. The Yankees have lost a lot of home runs this off season and have not replaced them so far. It is not like he'd be going to a hitter-unfriendly park, ya know? In addition, while Romine should be the starting catcher in 2014, I don't like the idea of the team relying on him being the starter in 2013 after he essentially lost all of 2012.
The Yankees seem to value makeup and clubhouse atmosphere. Perhaps Cashman went to Girardi and a few of the more prominent Yankees and asked them what they thought about AJP. And they vetoed the acquisition.
I didn't care much for AJP. Below average hitter, below average defender. Not too optimistic on Romine though. He could step right into the role, stranger things have happened, but it's unusual for a club like the Yankees to take such a risk on an unproven player.
However, they have a lot of catching depth in the system, so it's important they start to figure out what to do with it, so I understand why they're forcing the issue, especially considering the payroll imperatives. Sometimes things don't work out according to plan and you just have to tolerate a season of suck.
Romine would be fine if they could just perfect the spine transplant to fix his back.
Well, they have been performing medical experiments on Ramiro Pena for two years…
[56] Is that why Bonds is so skinny?
Cody Ross to Arizona, 3/25. I sure am disappointed we won't be paying him in 2015.
There's no reasonable way to get significant playing time for players from the farm if you're buying veterans to play in front of, rather than behind them. The vets could get hurt, but if that's your upside, how much more of it is there in not getting them in the first place? And playing the vets behind them is only going to happen if the young player is a can't-miss up-and-coming superstar (Travis Lee?).
Otherwise the only way to get MiL-ers into the lineup is if you have "depth" in the form of 3 or 4 reasonable candidates in the MiL system at a single position.
If ever there were a time to take the risk, this is that time.
58: they must have a surplus of OFs now
But the way the position of catcher works, the back-up is guaranteed to start at least 45-50 games, which strikes me as the perfect way to bring along the young player who you expect to be your starter of the future but don't know that he can cut it yet.
Which is why AJP on a one-year deal seemed like a great way of handling Romine's ascension.
61 So then you give up on Cervo or he waits at Scranton to see if Romy Schneider fails?
I'm fine with Romine/Cervelli/Stewart as the catchers for next season. One will likely give you exactly what you'd get from AJP.
Heyman throws Jeff Baker in the mix.
Kubel would probably be a slight upgrade on Ibanez. At least he's not like, you know, over forty.
I can hear the announcer at opening day:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2013 New York Yankees ! It's not like they're ALL, you know, over forty."
Play ball !
[66] I'm pumped up.
Not sure if this was posted, but Sickels' Top 20:
So then you give up on Cervo or he waits at Scranton to see if Romy Schneider fails?
The latter.
Not sure if this was posted, but Sickels' Top 20:
It would be pretty amazing if the Yankees actually had an all-homegrown outfield in two years.
[68] Thanks for link. The Yanks placed 12 guys at B- or above, which is pretty cool. Obviously the Big Four guys continue to be highly rated, but there are plenty of other interesting prospects too. I'd like to hear Mike K.'s take. With the quality in this system I think I'd be totally cool with a couple years of mediocrity in order to rebuild the core around these up and comers.
[70] Remember when they brought up the GOAT Closer, HOF SS, borderline HOF C, borderline HOF LHSP, and borderline CF all within 5 years or so? I think that was the player development equivalent of the last day of the 2011 MLB season. An outfield of Williams/Heathcott/Austin would be pretty terrific too.
Marshall is OK and will probably be ready sometime this year. In terms of upside he's probably in between Hughes and Phelps. IMO his best years will be slightly better than Hughes' best thus far. 2-3 win SP
Gumbs gets comparisons to Rickie Weeks but is still very raw. He also had elbow surgery to end his year, so that's great.
Turley has been pretty good so far, for some reason I think he'll end up as a very good reliever. But he's a big lefty with solid stuff.
Black is a reliever.
DePaula reportedly has Ace stuff but has been held up with Visa issues for almost 2 years. He will probably move very quickly and dominated his first stint in pro-ball last year. He could easily jump into the top 5 next year.
Murphy has some upside, he was considered a bat first C when drafted but his D is ahead of his offense right now. Might have a future as a backup to Sanchez.
Mitchell has better stuff than Marshall but command/control have held him back, he probably won't ever have enough of either to take full advantage of his solid arsenal. Could end up as a solid middle reliever.
Goody is another reliever. The Yankees are good at drafting relievers.
Everyone else in the top 20 has been discussed here.
And Swisher signs for 4/56. Option for a 5th year The Yankees get a draft pick.
I would have signed him for 14MM AAV.
Swisher—-> Gardner
Martin—-> Twilight/Back Injury/Cervello
Arod—-> Youk
Rafa—-> Mo
Ibanez—-> Ronnie Mufasa (?)
Looks like 4 downgrades and a push (assuming Mo coming off a missed year won't be much better than Soriano was last year). What am I missing?
Jeter—-_> Nun-E… Then Teixeira's Trench, Cano's Cliff, Ichiro!'s Implosion, CC's Collapse, Curtiss's Crash…
Letting Swisher walk was the right move. A .800 OPS bat playing below average defense in RF and a well below average baseruner doesn't worth that money and a draft pick.
[75] By fWAR Gardner was 3 wins better than Swisher for 2010+2011 - if he's healthy I'd say it's an upgrade. Especially since defense is more valuable to the Yankees than offense assuming they're still a winning team.
The Swisher contract is pretty much a guaranteed five year deal if he stays healthy. Hard to imagine him playing five straight years with Cleveland, but it could happen, I guess. Good luck, Nick.
Not playing in the playoffs should make Swisher's Baseball Reference page look rosier in the future.
[80] Post of the Post-Apocalypse Era.
Not playing in the playoffs should make Swisher's Baseball Reference page look rosier in the future.
For 2013 and 2014, at least, he could have had that right here at DNYS!
"I think Cleveland got a bargain." - Cashman
Next entry: Minor League Ball: New York Yankees Top 20 Prospects for 2013
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HURRICANE DENTS ECONOMY OF HAITI; Crop Destruction to Be Felt for Several Years -- Exports to Be Reduced Sharply
Hurricane Hazel caused exceptional damage over a wide area last October, but its effects on Haiti will be felt by that country for several years to come.
January 05, 1955
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subset: commoncrawl


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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Ideas of Justice
Ideas of Justice
In his parable about the risks of cartography, J L Borges speaks of an empire that attempted to create the perfect map that would coincide point for point with the actual space that it sought to map. The cartographers rapidly understood the folly of their ambition when they realised that the perfect map of the empire would have to be as large as the empire itself. Any attempt to review a book as ambitious as The Idea of Justice necessarily runs the risk of engaging in an unconscionable cartography of ideas. So rather than engaging with every aspect of Amartya Sen's argument, it may be more useful to locate what the book is attempting to respond to and then focus on one specific aspect of the book.
Let us be clear at the outset that despite its prominence in all popular bookstores, this is not a book that will have popular appeal. Unlike his previous work, The Argumentative Indian, a series of essays on culture and politics in India, which had a readership beyond the world of academia, The Idea of Justice is targeted at the academic community, and a specialised one at that. The book is located squarely within dense debates in liberal political philosophy which has its own conventions of analysis, argumentation and style. And like most genres, the mode of enquiry may be somewhat of an acquired taste.
In particular Sen's contribution is a response to John Rawls' Theory of Justice -- a book which has stood colossus-like over the domain of normative philosophy. Sen's departure from Rawls stems from his disagreement with the transcendental normativity that is at the heart of Rawls' theory of justice. In particular, Sen argues that the overarching frame that has dominated debates on justice is an obsession with the definition of the perfectly just society, from which we judge institutional arrangements. Sen states that "If a theory of justice is to guide reasoned choice of policies, strategies or institutions, then the identification of fully just social arrangements is neither necessary nor sufficient". Sen's critique of the transcendental approach is both at the level of their feasibility as well as their redundancy.
Rejecting the social contractarian obsession with the definition of the perfectly just society, Sen argues that it is injustice and not justice that should be our starting and end point. Distinguishing himself from the approach of 'transcendental institutionalism', Sen instead argues for the virtue of a social choice theory -- influenced significantly by the work of Kenneth Arrow, but also drawing from a tradition as diverse as Adam Smith, Marx and the utilitarians.
Another clear departure in Sen is his critique of what he sees as a parochialism in the debate on justice. Sen argues that living as we do in a globalised world we cannot but think of justice as a global genre. He finds a lot of the existing theories, at their best too embedded within the concerns of the western world, or at their worst, ignorant of the reality of the wider world and the ethical demands that may be made in the quest for global justice. In attempting to remedy the epistemic parochialism that permeates these debates, Sen uses a range of sources from the Mahabharata to Akbar to the distinction between niti and nyaya. He says that the demands of global justice have to be distinguished from yet another attempt at creating a variation of a transcendental institutionalism, and it must be seen as the demands for the removal of the most blatant forms of injustice that exist.
There are two ways in which we can measure Sen's contribution. We can either see it in terms which are immanent -- ie to examine whether he actually manages to succeed in achieving what he has defined as the goal of the book. And this would have to be a test from within the grounds of liberal political philosophy. The other way is to examine the validity of his arguments from outside the framework of liberal philosophy. I will, given the limitations of space, merely gesture to how the book measures up on both counts.
Let's take the primary aim of The Idea of Justice as articulating a claim for justice, which is not dependent on either, the identification of transcendental principles nor on transcendental institutionalism. I agree with Sen that the focus on an abstract transcendentalism often creates a rhetoric of justice and rights which often tends to be vacuous. What I am less certain about is whether Sen actually manages to move away from a transcendental approach himself. A fundamental disagreement with Rawls' transcendentalism does not guarantee that Sen will himself not fall into another form of transcendentalism. In speaking of global justice and in identifying principles such as public reason for the establishment of a comparative conversation on justice, it seems unavoidable for Sen to fall back into a transcendental universalism.
Perhaps one way to look at why Sen fails in his attempt at escaping the transcendental trap is to compare his attempt with another attempt at reading Rawls. I am referring here to Stanley Cavell's refutation of Rawls in his book, Conditions Handsome and Unhandsome: The Constitution of Emersonian Perfectionism. Cavell also begins with a similar premise of wanting to challenge Rawls' transcendentalism, but the contrast for him is the Emersonian idea of moral perfectionism as a dimension of life in which an individual striving for perfection speaks to the larger question of political institutions. In Emerson, the possibility or necessity of transforming oneself and of one's society are not distinct questions.
Cavell demonstrates how Rawls' concept of politics and moral relations assumes that moral relations have already broken down. This is a vice that Sen also shares when he identifies injustice as the starting point of our conversations. The remedial approach to the world often implies some kind of critical distance from it. In other words if one is to move away from a transcendental approach, one has no choice but to engage with motives and aspirations, or the entire world of sentiment. Sen does recognise other affective modes including anger as the basis for a sense of injustice, but too easily collapses them back into the world of public reason.
Cavell rightly identifies what he calls 'political mythologies' that plague liberalism -- and the need for neatly worked out principles seems to be one of them. Cavell instead follows a different tradition in his understanding of what a conversation of justice may mean. He quotes Nietzsche's idea that the individual should live his life as the highest exemplar of humanity -- ie the individual is the representation of the unattained but attainable possibility in each of us. This to my mind is a very different engagement with the limitations of transcendentalism than the replacement of social contract with social choice theory that Sen offers us. Cavell does not present us with a competing political theory, what he seems to offer us is a competing political vision, which is in turn dependent on a competing political sensibility, requiring us to answer the fundamental question of what it is to perceive ourselves as political beings. My disappointment with The Idea of Justice is that it seems to offer us a competing political theory, but not necessarily a competing political vision.
Why has the opposition to the Congress in Maharashtra always been so weak?
Monday, October 26, 2009
Judicial Ideology and Reservations
He argues that the Indira Sahwney decision had settled most questions concerning the constitutionality of reservations particularly for OBC's but certain judges of the Supreme Court have persisted in reopening questions decided by a 9 judge bench.
The main offendor is the the two judge bench reference of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Lokeshwar Singh Panta to the constitutional bench in the Ashok Kumar Thakur case. The reference raised 31 questions "almost all of which were answered in the Mandal Commission case and indeed even much before that". The only new question in Ashok Kumar Thakur was whether Parliament by law could direct private educational institutions to reserve seats for OBC's. A question he notes was answered by only one of the five judges. Instead of returning the reference on the ground that there was no challenge from private educational institutions, he argues that the court proceeded to "read the Mandal Commission judgment tendentiously, genuflecting with due respect, but glossing it in a manner that leaves the door open for a reversal in good time".
For instance, he discusses the changed interpretaion of the creamy layer definition.
" Thus, the removal of creamy layer is no longer a matter of purported justice within the community as between the more backward and the less backward amongst it, as it was in the Mandal Commission case, but a necessary prerequisite for the caste to at all be a class, and a fortiori a backward class. This is a very significant conceptual revision, effected silently by a majority of this five judge bench in a reference that was unnecessary in the first place."
Balagopal also protests the insertion of economic criteria as a necessary definition of backwardness from only one of many criteria. He then proceeds to take issue with the various ancillary comments the judges made on questions that had not even been raised in the reference.
His framing of the problem as one of ideology and of "judicial indiscipline" is in some ways a novel one. Several commentators in this group have been noting how the Supreme Court on occasion fails to follow its own precedent, and this might be an useful moment to revisit the debate.
On the question of ideology I also wanted to flag Anuj Bhuwania's posting on caste and the higher judiciary.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Civil-Criminal Ratio Puzzle
Chief Justice Balakrishnan commented yesterday at a national consultation for reducing pendency and delays that:
"the litigation rates in the various States do not bear a consistent correlation with their respective populations. This means that in some States, a large proportion of the population has been approaching the courts as compared to other States. What is especially worrying is the immense disparity between the number of civil and criminal cases instituted in backward and insurgency-hit areas.
A perusal of the pendency figures indicates that while there are more civil cases filed in developed areas, the reliance on the civil justice system is shockingly low in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir as well as the northeastern States. This disturbing trend could have two explanations — one, that the number of courts is grossly inadequate, and secondly, ordinary citizens are consciously not bringing their civil disputes before the judicial system. If the second of these explanations holds good, then it indeed calls for targeted interventions."
I agree with the Chief Justice that there are striking differences between civil/criminal pendency figures across states in the country and the rates that the judiciary is being accessed by the population. I also think he is generally right that filing rates and low civil/criminal filing ratios are correlated to backward and insurgency areas, but there are outliers that deserve further investigation. Indeed, the picture is a lot more murky when one looks at the statistics, which indicates either the statistics are inaccurate or we need to have more detailed studies and theorizing about this issue.
Let's take up the question of filing rates to population first. In India on average in 2008 for every 616 people one case is filed in a High Court. The five best state ratios in 2008 (if you think more litigation is a good thing) are Himachal Pradesh (239); Madras (258); Kerala (388); Orissa (431); and Jammu and Kashmir (471); the five worst are Assam (1300); Chattisgarh (1198); Andhra Pradesh (1127); Jharkhand (1032); and Calcutta (908). Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir being in the top five might be a surprise and Calcutta and AP in the bottom five as well, but more or less the statistics seem to show some correlation between development and filing rates at the High Court level.
If we look at the district and subordinate courts amongst the best are Delhi (27); Kerala (30); Himachal Pradesh (39); Madras (40); and Gujarat (41). Amongst the worst are Bihar (245); Jharkhand (220); Orissa (134); AP (114); and Chattisgarh (94). Again, the correlation seems to hold up and we might assume that if we average out a few years the correlation might even get stronger and potential anomolies (Orissa being in the best for High courts and worse for subordinate courts) might even out. Generally, the states with poor filing rates also have poor judge to population and judge to filing ratios, so one could argue there is a supply side deficit that's effecting the demand. These results are somewhat interesting, but not particularly surprising, although if certain anomolies (like Orissa) remained that could call for further study.
Now let's turn to civil and criminal ratios. Nationally the civil/criminal ratio in H. Ct.'s is about 66%/34% in 2008. The CJI suggests that if the civil rate goes too low that might be an indicator of broader trouble with that court and citizens are deciding not to turn to it for civil redressal. For example, in Bihar the civil/criminal ratio is 32/68 for the High Court. Meaning 32% of the cases filed were civil, while 68% were criminal (this is a whopping 34% off the national average). Bihar has the worst ratio that year (again, if you think that a low civil filing rate compared to criminal is a bad thing). Following Bihar were Jharkhand (36/64) Punjab and Haryana (55/45), Gujarat (57/42) and UP (59/41). The "best" civil/criminal ratios were in Jammu and Kashmir (92/8), Himachal (86/14), Karnataka (85/15), AP (81/19), and Bombay (81/19).
In the subordinate courts amongst the worst were West Bengal (11/89), Jharkhand (14/86), Bihar (15/85), Chattisgarh (16/84), and Uttarkhand (16/84). Amongst the best were TN (51/49), AP (64/54), Karnataka (34/66), Himachal (33/67), and Delhi (25/75). Here the surprises would be finding Jammu and Kashmir as having the best ratio on the High Court side, and finding Punjab and Haryana and Gujarat amongst the worse ratios. In the subordinate and district courts having West Bengal have the worst ratio comes as a bit of a surprise, along with Uttarkhand being towards the bottom.
You will notice that there seems to be some correlation between having a high filing rate for ones population and a good civil/criminal ratio. AP is the outlier here having a poor filing rate, but a very healthy civil/criminal ratio.
Further, 3 out of 5 of the top and bottom scorers in filing rate in the High Court also scored in the top or bottom 5 in the subordinate courts. For the civil/criminal ratio the correlation was only 2 out of 5 of each the bottom and top bracket. Indeed, the civil/criminal ratio seems to be more murky overall, often following development indicators, but not as tightly as the filing rate. For example, Delhi and Chattisgarh High Court have about the same civil/criminal ratio (67/33), but per capita income in Delhi is about 4 times as much. Something else seems to be at work here - i.e. development is an ok indicator of a court's civil/criminal ratio, but there seems to be some other factor (or several other factors) as well.
Even if we accept development as the primary driver of the civil/criminal ratio it's not perfectly clear what about development drives the ratio. For example, is it that as the CJI suggests in under-developed states litigants aren't as likely to bring their civil suits to court (presumably because either they don't think the court can efficiently or fairly deal with them, or they can't afford the court)? Is it that there just aren't as many civil suits because there isn't much economic development? Is it that there is higher crime or more criminalization of activity by the state? Is it that development is correlated to a lack of judges and so it's a supply side issue? I would be possible to get a satisfactory answer with some more crunching and hopefully the proposed National Arrears Grid will be able to shed more light on these sorts of questions.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Socio Legal Review : Call for Papers
The Socio-Legal Review (SLR) is a student-edited, peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal published annually by the Law and Society Committee, National Law School of India University, Bangalore. The Journal aims to be a forum that involves, promotes and engages students and scholars to express and share their ideas and opinions on themes and methodologies relating to the interface of law and society. SLR thus features guest articles by eminent scholars as well as student essays, providing an interface for the two communities to interact.
The Journal subscribes to an expansive view on the interpretation of "law and society" thereby keeping its basic criteria for contributions simply that of high academic merit, as long as there is a perceivable link. This would include not just writing about the role played by law in social change, or the role played by social dynamics in the formulation and implementation of law, but also writing that simply takes cognizance of legal institutions/ institutions of governance/administration, power structures in social commentary and so on. Through this effort, the journal also hopes to fill the lacunae relating to academic debate on socio-legal matters among law students.
For more information on the Journal please visit www.sociolegalreview.in
Socio-Legal Review welcomes contributions for its sixth volume to be released in 2010.
Submission Guidelines
1. All contributions submitted to the journal should be original and should not be simultaneously considered by any other publication.
2. The Editorial Board has refrained from imposing a theme. A submission is welcome as long as it fits within the general mandate of the Journal, as outlined above.
3. Contributions should be mailed only in a soft copy to email@example.com, the subject of the mail being 'Submission for 2010 volume'. Biographical information is to be provided in a removable title page.
4. The Journal is accepting contributions for Articles and Short Articles. With reference to Articles, contributions should not ordinarily exceed 8000 words. With reference to Short Articles, contributions should not ordinarily exceed 3000 words. The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject without review manuscripts that exceed the word limit substantially.
5. The last date for submission is January 31st, 2010. Submissions may, nevertheless, be made after this date. They will be considered for publication in the next volume.
6. All submissions are to be made via e-mail as .doc documents (preferably Microsoft Word 2003).
7. SLR follows the Harvard Blue Book – A Uniform System of Citation (18th edn.) style of referencing. Contributors are requested to comply with the same.
8. For any clarifications, please mail us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Book Reviews: Courts & Governance
The non-appointment of Justice Dinakaran
In my article, I also deal with the issue of non-consultation by the CJI with a senior SC Judge hailing from a State from which the appointee also hails. In this case, the present Collegium appears to have interpreted the 1993 SC Judgment in the Second Judges case narrowly by suggesting that a senior Judge from Karnataka (Justice Raveendran) was consulted, whereas two senior Judges hailing from Madras High Court were not consulted, even though Justice Dinakaran had spent much of his tenure there.
Monday, October 19, 2009
The recusal controversy & the facts
Dhavan claims he cast no aspersions on the Judge. But he is also categorical that it is not fair for a judge to ask lawyers whether he should recuse himself from a case. "No lawyer can truthfully answer such a question either on his own behalf or on behalf of a client. It is a question that the judge himself can answer. To pass this on for advice from a lawyer in the case is self- defeating", he says. He adds: "If a judge has shares in a company, and a case comes before him which affects the company's prospects and standing, the judge should refuse to hear the matter. This should be a case of automatic recusal."
Dhavan's conclusion that this article is not about Justice Kapadia or Vedanta case - after ruling out the application of doctrine of necessity to Justice Kapadia - is indeed surprising, if not perplexing. My enquiries reveal the following:
* Justice Kapadia made this admission of his holding shares in Sterlite while being part of the Forest Bench on October 26, 2007 when Sterlite was not yet a party. It was only in 2008, the Vedanta project in Orissa was handed over to Sterlite in this case.
* Since it was a PIL matter, there was no adversarial party in this matter; hence, no question of that party expressing reservations about the Judge's disclosure.
* The tribals, the aggrieved parties in this case, and who were against the refinery project, were not heard by Justice Kapadia, because they were parties to the Central Empowered Committee, which also recommended against the Centre's approval to the project. Read this TOI story by Manoj Mitta recently.
*The Vedanta case was being heard from May 3, 2005 and according to some observers, Justice Kapadia disclosed his interest on October 26, 2007 rather inadvertently.
*The controversy over conflict of interests would not have become public, but for the interview Mr.Prashant Bhushan gave to Tehelka. According to reports, the Supreme Court has given permission to Mr.Harish Salve to seek AG's consent to issue contempt of court notice to Mr.Prashant Bhushan for this interview, if there is no apology forthcoming from Mr.Prashant Bhushan and Tehelka. An apology from them appears unlikely. Therefore, we are sure to hear more on this controversy in the coming weeks.
Relevant links:
*Shamnad Basheer's post on Justice Katju's recusal
*Justice Dalveer Bhandari in the Punjab Civil Service case.
*Justice Sinha's judgment in the Punjab civil services case
*Harish Salve, retainer for Vedanta, admits to have continued with the matter (as amicus)despite having shares in Sterlite, after Forest Bench told him there was no problem. Once Mr.Salve became the retainer for Vedanta after having served as the amicus,the Court appointed the Junior amicus, Mr.Uday Lalit as the amicus in the case.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Legal History Moment: The Case of the Diligent Diplomat
Ms Muthamma had not married, yet she found herself superseded on several occasions by those junior to her. In her writ petition she detailed systemic discrimination against women by the Union Public Services.
"Even at the very threshold when the petitioner qualified for the Union Public Services at the time of her interview, the Chairman of the U.P.S.C. tried to persuade (dissuade) the petitioner from joining the Foreign Service. On subsequent occasion he personally informed the Petitioner that he had used his influence as Chairman to give minimum marks in the viva. As the time of entry into the Foreign Service, the petitioner had also to give an undertaking that if she were to get married she would resign from the service."
Interestingly enough these rules had remained in force till 1979, prompting the court to remark "that the writ petition, bespeaks a story which makes one wonder whether Articles 14 and 16 belong to myth or reality."
Muthamma's writ petition was not just an individual case but was prompted by decisions taken by the Janata Government that affected a large number of women diplomats. As Monobina Gupta , recounts one of the first instances where the 40 odd female IFS officers mobilized against directions sent to female diplomats by the Janata government in 1979.
Justice Krishna Iyer found the government rules misogynistic and held that "If the family and domestic
commitments of a woman member of the service is likely to come in the way of efficient discharge of duties, a similar situation may well arise in the case of a male member … If a married man has a right, a married woman, other things being equal, stands on no worse footing. Freedom is indivisible, so is justice."
C.B Muthamma went on to serve as Ambassador to the Netherlands, Hungary and Ghana. India today has its second female Foreign Secretary.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Mashelkar Report Version II: Wrong Again
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Naz Foundation and the "Order of Nature": Nurturing Vagueness in the Law?
What I wish to do in this post is to open up the phrase "against the order of nature" in section 377 for some collective introspection. And in the process, to reflect on the constitutional and societal implications of retaining such a phrase in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Legal Options for Naz:
While attempting to decriminalise same sex activities between consenting adults, Naz Foundation had two options:
i) Argue that the term "order of nature" itself is inherently vague and arbitrary and ought to be struck down under Article 14.
ii) Argue that any criminalisation of same sex activities (in the private sphere) violates the right to privacy and dignity under Article 21 and is discriminatory under article 14 and 15.
For strategic reasons, Naz Foundation followed the second option above. And the judges endorsed this line of reasoning. The net result of the judges' finding is this: although same sex activities may be "against the order of nature", they cannot be penalised, since they are between consenting adults who have the right to privacy and dignity under Article 19 and the right to equality under Articles 14 and 15.
This however begs the question: ought such activities to be construed as contravening the "order of nature" at all? Commentators have pointed out that Naz does little by way of eradicating the social stigma of homosexuality. Their concern is buttressed strongly by the implication that these activities are still "against the order of nature". Indeed, Justice Verma, who wrote a guest post for this blog may be right that the Delhi High Court judgment does not legitimise homosexuality. In fact, it continues to condemn it by labelling it an "unnatural" sexual activity.
Defining the "Natural" Order
One needs to ask: What exactly is the "order of nature"? Who defines what is "natural" and what is not? Homosexuality has been documented in almost 1500 species, who unfortunately are not blessed with rational capabilities (and the propensity to "nurture" same sex thoughts) as are found in mankind. See this interesting article which documents the above statistic and tellingly notes:
"No species has been found in which homosexual behaviour has not been shown to exist, with the exception of species that never have sex at all, such as sea urchins and aphis."
The current understanding of section 377 (a Victorian understanding that the court in Naz does not really overrule) is that anything barring "procreative sex" is against the order of nature.
Under this logic, using a condom would be against the order of nature. And fellatio. Perhaps one might even suggest that barring the "missionary" position, all other positions of copulation are against the "order of nature". Incidentally, the Kamasutra describes more than 50 different ways of lovemaking and notes: "If variety is sought in all the arts and amusements, such as archery and others, how much more should it be sought after in the art of love."
Further, our Khajuraho temples abound with all sorts of "unnatural" sculptures likely to bring many a blush to the face of the prim and prudish.
Isn't the usage of "natural" in the context of private sexual preferences inherently vague and arbitrary? Wouldn't this be similar to asking: is it natural to bathe in the morning? Or at night? To bathe everyday? Or once a month? In any case, does the state have any business regulating such activities in the private sphere?
Article 14 Violation?
From a constitutional perspective, wouldn't the phrase "order of nature" in section 377 be indeterminate, vague and arbitrary and therefore militate against the spirit of Article 14? One may of course argue that the threshold for establishing "arbitrariness" for the purpose of Article 14 is a very high one and may not be easily satisfied. Or even go to the extent of questioning (as Seervai does) that Bhagwati J's separate doctrine of arbitrariness "hangs in the air" and has no place within Article 14.
However, even assuming this to be the case, a problematic "natural vs unnatural" distinction is likely to flunk the traditional Art 14 test of reasonable classification. Firstly, terms such as "natural" and "unnatural" are difficult to define in the context of sexual preferences, and may therefore be devoid of any "intelligible differentia". Secondly, the alleged differentia appears to have no reasonable nexus to the object sought to be achieved by the legislation. To reiterate a point made earlier, the state has no business regulating private sexual preferences between consenting adults.
Even if a large part of society balks at homosexuality, that by itself, is not sufficient reason to criminalise it. Consider the act of "lying". Though morally repugnant, one would balk at the idea of sending someone to jail for this (barring in limited cases such as perjury).
Unfortunately, striking down the entirety of section 377 owing to the indeterminacy of "order of nature" would decriminalise problematic sexual activities such as paedophilia. And this fear may have promoted the Naz Foundation lawyers to adopt the strategy that they did before judges who were far happier reading down section 377, than decapitating it by stripping it of its "unnatural" essence.
Law Commission Recommendations
But that still leaves us with the condemnation of homosexuality as breaching the "order of nature". Perhaps the optimal solution is to do what the Law Commission recommends--to abolish a vague and indeterminate section 377 and to penalise paedophilia and other problematic sexual activities through a separate provision (section 376E). After all, it is but logical to assume that the criminalisation of paedophilia does not need to hinge on its problematic labelling as an "unnatural" sexual activity.
Interestingly, while the law commission carefully details out various sexual activities that ought to be penalised under the new section 376E, it leaves out "bestiality", curiously noting that "...we may leave such persons to their just deserts". What exactly are these "just deserts"? Some karmic consequence that one committing such a heinous act may be reborn an animal and subjected to the same treatment?
In any case, till the law commission report is implemented, Indian homosexuals will have to contend with living "unnatural" lives. Not a bad place to be in, given that morally superior "monogamists" have also been accused of breaching a similar "natural order".
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Online Symposium Starting Tomorrow on Judicial Review of Anti-Terrorism Legislation
Christina Eckes from the Amsterdam Centre European Law and Public Policy, University of Amsterdam, Shylashri Shankar from the Centre for Policy Research, and Aparna Chandra from the National Law School, Bangalore, will be respondents to the piece. Others are also encouraged to contribute their comments over the coming days and/or simply join to watch (or rather read) the discussion. I'm sure it will be a lively debate. I have never actually "attended" an online symposium and am looking forward to doing so.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Does the state have a monopoly on violence?
The Passing away of a Hero: Goodbye Balagopal
At the same time it is perhaps not surprising that despite living a life which was scripted towards a violent death, it was only appropriate that his death transcended any partisan act of violence. Film maker Deepa Dhanraj captures the essence of Balagopal when she describes him as a 'moral force' whose authority emerged from the integrity with which he led his life and the courage with which he stood by his belief. If Balagopal was a regular anti violent activist or a pacifist, then there would have been nothing surprising about his stance on violence, and to argue for the importance of non violence would hardly be an act of courage. But for someone who had spent a better part of his life in struggles, and in battles against the impunity of the state, the commitment to an ethical position on violence becomes a deeply ethical choice of bravery.
In an ironic way Balagaopal could be seen as a true inheritor of the Gandhian legacy, of leading a particular kind of life, and through such a life aspiring to change the world around you. In an interview with Janam Saxi, Balagopal once stated "The Indian constitution has had a habit, right from its inception, to destroy democratic values completely in practice without any recourse to laws. This has grown very much recently. The apparatus of the police is the chief machinery for this destruction. The duty to safeguard democratic values from these limitations is a very important duty……. While performing this duty it is of no use to as the question in this form: is there or is there not at least a bourgeoisie type of democracy". I can think of very few who followed this duty with the same kind of clarity, conviction and humility as Balagopal did.
The first time that I met and heard Balagopal was in a workshop organized by PUCL in Chennai. I was a young student, and like many young students, whether of the revolutionary or the conservative variety, my main attribute was a nonchalant cynicism. Curiously Balagopal began by speaking of his initial love for mathematics. He did his bachelors, his masters a Phd and even a post doctorate in mathematics, and spoke with immense fondness of his obsession with abstraction. He then moved on to his encounter with various peoples movements and struggles, and his descent from the world of pure abstraction to the very material world of injustice and violence. For those who have heard Balagopal speak and have been amazed by his clarity of thought and analysis, you cannot help but think of how his love for mathematical precision clearly survived in a very different form.
It was one of those moments when you felt you just had to drop everything and follow this man. In a world where the epithet of hero is just too generously used, I can safely say 'Balagopal you were a hero in the truest sense of the word to many of us'.
And at the same time I cannot help but feel that perhaps this descent from the heights of abstraction to the very ordinary and fragile business of activism is also what marked Balagopal as different from most activists. An abstract transcendental idea of rights was certainly not something for Balagopal, and yet he did not allow himself to be so immersed in the reality of struggles so as to forget any kind of moral claim that may be made of a movement. In an article on moving the debate beyond the terms set by the binaries of violence- non violence Balagopal argued that "To say that one should not be dogmatic about violence may be morally a little unsettling but it is a defensible position even without adopting a relativistic attitude towards the preciousness of life or a casual attitude towards one's moral responsibility for injury caused in the course of a struggle".
There will be a lot of time for us to think about ways in which we learn from his life and work, but for the moment let us spend sometime remembering the man who would be found standing outside a meeting venue selling books and pamphlets before he proceeded to go to the podium to make the most insightful speech you were likely to hear. Let us remember the man who when told that finally Justice Pasayat had retired, remarked that it was unfortunate that his decisions would not be retiring with him, and let us remember him most importantly in the days to come when violence and non violence will be offered to us again to choose, as though it were a real choice. Goodbye Balagopal, we will miss you immensely but thank you for giving us the freedom to not have to make false choices.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Follow-up on Judges' assets case
LAOT supplements: The counsel for the respondent, Prashant Bhushan urged an early and speedy hearing on the matter because the Court's reputation was at stake, and that the issues involved were very simple, and would not take time to resolve. He also questioned the Supreme Court's decision to appeal as it tended to lower the image of the Judiciary in the eyes of the public. The A-G, while replying to his contention, said that the Court was well within its rights to appeal against the September 2 judgment, without being influenced by the public perceptions to the verdict. Earlier, he agreed to amend the appeal, as suggested by the Bench, so that Central Information Commissioner is not mentioned as a party to the appeal. The appeal will now be heard by a 3-Judge Bench of the HC on Nov.12 and 13. It is significant that the Bench made some oral observations questioning the merits of the appeal, which challenged the binding nature of the Supreme Court's 1997 resolution seeking voluntary declaration of assets by Judges.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Article 356 & Constitutional Interpretation: A Reply to Shubhankar Dam
In the current issue of the Indian Journal of Constitutional Law, Sudhir Krishnaswamy and I respond to Dam. We show how the Court's concern in Rameshwar Prasad is limited to the chronological sequence in which the executive and legislative wings of government come into existence after an election. We argue that the relationship between the executive and the legislature under the Indian Constitution is not determined by this case but by other well established precedents. Importantly, the significance of the decision in Rameshwar Prasad is the nature of remedies available to a court under Article 356 and demonstrate how Rameshwar Prasad is the strongest application till date of the proposition that courts can review the exercise of power under this provision. The most remarkable aspect of the decision in Rameshwar Prasad is that it confirms that Indian courts can offer a rare public law remedy: the revival of a dissolved assembly. We conclude with some critical observations about the nature of constitutional interpretation in such cases. We propose that constitutional adjudication must proceed by giving adequate weight to justifying reasons which pay attention to the text of the Constitution, the institutional framework and political principles embedded in the Constitution. Judged in this light, the interpretative methodology in Rameshwar Prasad may not be as vacuous as Dam suggests.
Occasional Digest
2.My review of Vasanthi Srinivasan's book on Rajaji. I dwell on the unexplored aspect of Gandhi-Rajaji relationship - especially on why and when the former called the latter as his conscience keeper.
3. Rajeev Dhavan on how Raj Thackeray was allowed to usurp the State's role.
4.A.G.Noorani on Jinnah's case for a Supreme Court. Had Indians united in support of a final court of appeal in 1921, moves for reform of personal laws of Hindus and Muslims would have accelerated, he says.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Puisne Matters
On the other hand, the list of former Chief Justices of India, from Kania to Sabharwal, seems to be complete; which leads me to my question:does this say something about our shared understanding of the judiciary in India? Chief Justices are administrative (but not judicial) superiors - but their position is still one of significant prominence in comparison to other justices. They enjoy considerable powers in the assignment of judicial work (each judge's assignment is determined by the Chief Justice). Law students often observe that the Chief Justice's courtrooms and chambers are 'grander' than the rest in the Supreme Court. Court staff often preface the words "Chief Justice" with the word "Honourable" while referring to him (I say "him" since the Supreme Court has not yet had a female Chief Justice, and the High Courts have had very few), while puisne judges don't necessarily get the same treatment. Here's a question: how many times has the Chief Justice of India been in dissent in the recent past? Without venturing into questions of controversy, it would be instructive to ask: does the Chief Justice of a court, whose office is arguably more visible than others', rightly speak for the entire judiciary?


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Matthew C. Harrison takes the helm
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod has elected the denomination's director of disaster response as president, a candidate backed by its more conservative members. Matthew Harrison received 54 percent of the vote for the three-year term, defeating three-term incumbent Gerald Kieschnick, who received 45 percent.
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text:
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text:
ASTRONOMER and photographer John Goldsmith says the next few months present the best opportunities to photograph aurora australis from Australia.
Otherwise known as the southern lights, the visible aurora occurs when charged particles from solar flares are magnetically funnelled towards the South Pole and react with earth's atmosphere, emitting photons.
Red-coloured aurora, like one Mr Goldsmith photographed recently, are caused by nitrogen atoms in an excited state returning to a ground state.
Mr Goldsmith, who is a Curtin PhD candidate researching Aboriginal cultural knowledge of astronomy, says he accidentally shot the red aurora while photographing the southern celestial pole at Lake Ballard near Menzies.
He had positioned his camera in the dry salt lake to include the clouds of Magellan, a pyramid-shaped hill, and one of the famous local sculptures by British artist Antony Gormley in his composition.
It was not until later, when he viewed the digital image on screen, that he realised he had also captured the aurora.
Mr Goldsmith says timing and an element of luck are essential for anyone hoping to photograph the southern lights.
"Aurora usually lasts for only a relatively short space of time as viewed from Western Australia, so when it's occurring maybe part of one evening you might see an Aurora," he says.
"The second major factor is getting a really dark sky towards the southern horizon."
He says Perth people should drive at least 70km eastwards to escape interference from the glow of the city, and point the camera towards the south.
He says it is also necessary to have the right equipment.
"A good digital camera, mid to high-end of the range … and a good wide-angle lens that has a wide aperture because for astronomical imaging you need to let in as much light as you can for the exposure to be right," he says.
"A 24mm wide-angle lens at F2.8 for example, something like that can perform really quite nicely when you are using a good digital camera to go with it."
"I use a Canon 5D and 40D."
He says he took the photograph as part of an astronomical photography project called World Night Network.
"We photograph astronomical events of natural and cultural landscapes around the world," he says.
Mr Goldsmith says we are presently at a favourable time in the 11-year solar cycle to see more manifestations of aurora australis, particularly over the next 6-12 months.


text:
Aspiring defensive backs don't want to be known as soft. They don't want to be billed as tentative. They don't want to be pushed around.
Players that roam the secondary want to be tough, intimidating, and fierce. Jack "The Assassin" Tatum was the first of that kind. Tatum died Tuesday at the age of 61, but his impact on the game of football will live in the history books.
The following are the five most significant, but not necessarily important or memorable, moments in Jack Tatum's football career.


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Topic: NFL Rights
DirecTV May Punt Away Sunday Ticket Rights
Billion-dollar package may be too dear for satellite-TV operator
By Anthony Crupi on Mar. 8, 2013 - 2:41 PM EST
DirecTV may elect to punt on its exclusive rights to NFL Sunday Ticket. Speaking to investors at a Deutsche Bank media conference in Palm Beach, Fla., DirecTV chief financial officer Patrick…
NFL Hammers Out Nine-Year Rights Renewals With NBC, CBS, Fox
Broadcast partners each ante up $1 billion per year
By Anthony Crupi on Dec. 14, 2011 - 5:52 PM EST
The National Football League on Wednesday renewed its media rights deals with all three legacy broadcast partners, signing pacts with NBC, CBS and Fox that could add up to as…
Carey: The NFL Is a 'Double-Edged Sword'
News Corp. COO talks pigskin at UBS
By Anthony Crupi on Dec. 8, 2011 - 11:39 AM EST
As Fox works to finalize an eight-year renewal of its rights deal with the National Football League, the executive who cuts the checks at News Corp. acknowledged Wednesday that a…
Moonves, Bewkes Talk Football
Media honchos weigh in on NFL contracts
By Anthony Crupi on Dec. 6, 2011 - 5:24 PM EST
The National Football League was top of mind during Tuesday's UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, as incumbent and prospective network partners alike weighed in on the value of allying…


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~Pro "Out-takes"~
- Last updated on May 29, 2009 at 12:22 pm
- |
- 4 comments
A few cute ones from Beach Bum Photography's "Out-takes" blog of our wedding:
(4) Comments
Your wedding makes my jaw drop!! You were gorgeous and everything about your day was beautiful!!
I love the outtake photos! They crack me up!
These are sooo fun! Your photog was wonderful.
LOL I Love these photos even better! especially the one where your veil is strangling the GM!


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Days Of Our Lives Video: I Am So Sorry.
"Which 'this' are you talking about?"
Gabi collapses, Sami and Lucas gossip and Hope pays Nicole a visit.
In case you missed it, take this look back at Tuesday's episode and let Soap Opera Fan Blog know what you think.
Get a preview of the big smash up on "Hollyoaks" in our Soap Scoop UK/Australia Edition. And make your opinion known in the DOOL Poll: Kristen's Return.
Join us on Twitter @soapoperafan and Facebook.
Fun fact! Matthew Purvis wrote this story just for you on November 13th, 2012 |


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/* InfoAxon GA Code */
Admittedly an august fervor for the publication and launch of my new book – Bootstrap Essentials.
No magnitude of thankfulness would be adequate to the Packtpub team and to my colleagues at InfoAxon.
Here are the links …
Read the full story »
Open Source within businesses and enterprises and Articles on how it is being used and what new implementations are possible
Recent Experiences from the world of Open source implementation and Customers
Recent Innovations from our Open Source experiences
Latest News from the world of Open Source that may be of interest to You
Tutorials that help you learn about important Open source technologies
Proud moment for me to announce, became an Alfresco Certified Engineer yesterday.
It had been a good experience to review where am I after working on Alfresco for last 4 years since Alfresco 2.1
For whom, who are targeting for the certification, here are a few useful information.
However, there is no formal requirement or pre-requisite for these courses or training.
|Architectural Core
|Repository Customization
|Web Scripting
|UI Customization
|Web Services


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Dr. Rabin Rahmani is a rabbi and internal medicine resident in New York City.
I am standing under the chupah, the traditional canopy used during Jewish weddings. The violinist is immersed in his music; I'm joined by friends, family, and everyone else I have ever cared about, and more importantly all those who have cared for me. I look around to see their faces, their eyes, and their emotions. I see my father beaming with pride, my mother with a teardrop welling up in her eye, though she tries to conceal it, and my beautiful soon-to-be wife standing beside me. Life simply does not get any better.
And then I see her, my grandmother. If it wasn't for one thing, people might mistake her for my mother; after all, she's only 54. Except, there is one thing. Her hands are shaking, she seems a little sad, and if you look carefully, you'll even see her head trembling a bit. She delicately touches her chin just enough to slow down the tremor. But I know that her shaking is not due to the excitement of her first grandson getting married, and though she may look a little sad, she really could not be any happier. As it turns out, she is not holding her chin to conceal the tremor of her head, but is using a neat little trick called "geste antagoniste" to alleviate, if only a little, those forces of nature which lately seem to always be pulling at her, turning her gaze where she has no intention to look.
The rabbi is now reciting the traditional blessing over wine under the chupah, except my mind is somewhere else. For a moment, I am 6 years old again. I'm picking figs in my grandparents' backyard. Then I hear her, she is close. Suddenly, my feet are in the air, and my figs fall to the ground. She kisses me. And I think to myself: Life simply does not get any better.
But as the rabbi prepares me for the ritual breaking of the glass to symbolize tragedies in Jewish history, I remember learning as a teenager that she has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and dystonia. She tells me she can't move like she used to, how her hands shake, that she feels her voice is changing a little. And worst of all, something is pulling, something is always pulling, and it sometimes hurts so badly. I tell her that she'll be OK, and that we'll take her to the best doctors. I feel the pain, though she tries to conceal it. She senses my sadness and tries to act happy. And though she may act happy, I know that she really has never been sadder. And I think to myself: Life just can't get any worse.
It's now two years since I last saw them at my wedding. I walk quietly into my parents' house. My wife is behind me and she is holding our son Yoel's hand. I see my grandmother in the living room. I yell hello, and she runs, but not to me. Before I know it, Yoel's feet are swept into the air and his Cheerios fall to the ground. I'm not insulted; it is, after all, her first great-grandson. And then I think to myself: Thank G-d for doctors. If you look carefully, her hands are shaking and her face looks a little flat. But I know that she shakes not because of Parkinson's, but because she can't possibly contain her excitement at meeting my son for the first time. And though her face looks a little sad, it's been a long time since I saw her so happy. Sixteen years to be exact. And then I realize that her face isn't really sad at all. She is trying to concentrate. And then she says out loud, with all of her might, the "Shehechyanu," the traditional Jewish blessing to thank G-d in times of joy, like when you wear a new suit, eat a new fruit, or meet your great-grandson for the very first time. And I think to myself: Life just can't get any better.
©2006 American Academy of Neurology
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A speeding violation has led to the arrest of a Houston, Texas man who has been on the run since December of 2012.
"On Monday evening, an officer was working a traffic detail when he stopped a vehicle for speeding. During the stop, the officer discovered that the driver was wanted from Texas for a December 2012 murder in the Houston area" stated Chief K.P. Gibson.
"Once the officer discovered that the driver was wanted for murder, he used good judgment, waited for back up and took the suspect into custody without incident" stated Chief Gibson.
Arrested on the Houston warrant for murder was Adrian Aguilar, 43 who at booking listed his address as Douglasville, Pennsylvania.
"Citizens often wonder why police officers are direct when speaking with people especially on traffic stops. This is a great point that you never know who you are dealing with" stated Chief Gibson.