GOP's Cosa Nostra Ethics

Apparently the family values the Republicans are incessantly espousing are of the 'never take sides with anyone against the family again' type. Word on The Hill is that Dennis Hastert and the Republican leadership are looking for a replacement for loose-lipped caporegime Joel Hefley, a Republican Congressman from Colorado who currently heads the House Ethics Committee. Hefley ruffled some feathers in his party a few months ago by breaking the GOP omerta and scolding House Majority Leader Tom DeLay for his highly questionable code of ethics.

Speaking of ethics, you may remember Hastert for his comments suggesting that a Kerry/Edwards presidency would be a boon to terrorists or his allegation (which he calls a misunderstanding) that billionaire liberal George Soros might have gotten his money from 'overseas or from drug groups'. Hastert is not resting on his laurels now that Bush has decided to continue squatting in the White House for another four years. No, Hastert and others in the Grand Old Party are looking to -- surprise! -- loosen ethics enforcement in the House of Representatives.

"Don't worry America, you can trust us! Now go back to watching the first episode of CSI Sante Fe."

The Legal System Bites!

Those damned lawyers I was telling you about are forcing me to actually work! And you know how much I hate that. Even worse, they are forcing me to work over the holidays!

If anyone knows anything about bankruptcy law, cometh to the Bossman. For those that don't -- and let's face it, among the slackers that read my blog, that's all of you -- I'd like to point you to an interesting work in progress. Most of you have heard of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia derived entirely from the collective knowledge of its readers. Well, there's also something called the dKosopedia over at the excellent Daily Kos blog. It endeavors to create a sort of Wikipedia for American politics. Check it out here.

That leads me to this. Why not start a wiki on legal recourse for the little guy? I suppose there are myriad applications for wikis, but right now, for some reason, this one springs to mind. Maybe after I find that three-piece corduroy suit I'll get on this.

See The Legal Brief!

Jeff Palfini
Pro Se
516 Church St.
San Francisco, California 94114
Phone: (415) 378-0995 

 
United States Bankruptcy Court
Northern District of California
San Francisco Division 

In re: 
Standard Media International, a Delaware Corp.,
Aka The Industry Standard and thestandard.com,
Fka Industry Standard Communications, Inc. and
Internet Industry Publishing Inc.
Debtor. 


Case No. 01-32214-TC
Chapter 11 


In response to the Omnibus Objection to Certain Claims Arising
From Employee Termination Agreements filed on Dec. 3, 2004. 


I am writing in response to the Omnibus Objection to Claims filed by the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP representing the Official Unsecured Creditors Committee. 

Being that my claim is small, and I am of modest means, I cannot afford to retain counsel for this proceeding. I will be representing myself. 

As such, I take issue with the aforementioned firm’s objection and their call for dismissal of my claim, Claim #1 in the proceeding, filed September 4, 2001. I ask that the objection, at least as it pertains to my claim, be dismissed, as the argument put forth by the firm lacks merit. 

I respond to their grounds for objection to my claim as such: 

1) Their objection begins by establishing the Petition Date, Debtor, Bankruptcy Code and Claims Bar Date – none of which I take issue with. 

2) Then they state that the Committee has reviewed a number of claims and found some (the 13 listed in their document, including my own) to be based on termination agreements signed on the day of the claimant’s departure from employment with the Debtor, agreements they believe to be lacking in consideration. This overarching argument I plan to address in detail later in this document. 

3) The Committee cites 11 U.S.C. 548(a)(1)(B) and puts forth that the claims in question are avoidable as fraudulent transfers and should be disallowed. The Committee also points to Bankruptcy Code section 502(d) saying that a claim based on an avoidable transfer must be disallowed. This argument is flawed in that there is no basis for my claim to be seen as a fraudulent transfer. In fact, there is no evidence to suggest that the severance agreement was construed to defraud potential creditors pending the Debtor filing for Chapter 11 protection. The circumstances rather suggest that Human Resources and my superiors at Standard Media International did not believe the company would be filing for bankruptcy, especially not 17 days after my departure. Very few people were laid off on or around the date of my departure, and the decision as to who was laid off seemed to be based on nothing more than whom the company believed it could let go to trim its costs and still conduct its business at a high-quality level. I received a very modest sum of money -- $2,134.62 – as part of a severance agreement signed by myself, The Claimant, and by The Debtor on August 10, 2004. I was promised this sum in installments. If The Debtor was attempting to defraud creditors, I would argue that they would not have stretched the payment of my severance into installments. If I had been paid my severance as is customary, by check on the day of departure from employ, then I would not have had reason to file a claim in this case in the first place. I would also point out that the amount of my severance, while termed ‘lucrative’ by the Committee is in actuality quite modest and showed fiscal restraint and responsibility on the part of the Debtor. The Debtor was in fact doing what it could to attract a renewed investment from its parent company or an offer from an outside investor or investors to buy the company from its current investors. From what I heard as an employee at Standard Media International, everyone up to the CEO believed until the very end that IDG, Standard Media International’s parent and largest investor would renew its investment in what had been the most profitable of its businesses. 

4) Their argument also hinges on the idea that the severance packages were avoidable and also that Standard Media International received ‘less than a reasonably equivalent value’ for the money they agreed to pay out in severance. They say that the ‘waiver of claims’ inherent in the severance agreement were of no value to Standard Media International being that they would file for bankruptcy 17 days later. They go on to state that the employees in question – being at-will employees – could not file a claim (of any kind that would warrant a severance) against their employer -- something that strikes me as patently untrue. Furthermore, as I postulated before, the decision-makers at Standard Media International as regards my severance had no foreknowledge that the company would be forced to file for bankruptcy protection weeks later.  

5) The next point in the Creditors Committee’s argument is that the range of size of the severance packages show a lack of consideration for finding reasonably equivalent value. Here I would argue two points: a) That the employees in question signed their severance agreements at different points over a five-month period during which the company’s standing changed considerably. Also, the lengths of employment varied greatly as did their level of commitment – some having uprooted their lives and moved to other countries to help Standard Media International expand its presence internationally. There were also varying levels of responsibility. b) My severance package is the smallest of the 13 contested claims and included, I suspect, to both illustrate what the Committee sees as an unreasonable disparity between the packages and also in hopes that those of us with smaller claims might let them drop rather than get counsel or prepare a response to their objection. In any case, my severance (likely to amount to about $1,250 from what I understand to be the likely payout rate) will not ‘harm innocent creditors’ as they argue; nor is it a ‘lucrative severance package’ as they state. Nor is there a ‘significant disparity between the value received and the obligation assumed’. Twenty-one hundred dollars in San Francisco is a modest severance payment by any measure. Whether the scale of the larger severances is one that has merit or is fair to the creditors is immaterial to my particular case. 

In closing, I would also like to note that while Shepard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton have had more than three years to prepare their case, I was given less than a month, during the holiday season no less, to make heads or tails of this objection, decide whether I should, or even could, retain counsel and then come up with a counter to the objection.

I look forward to attending the hearing on January 3rd and arguing my case. I feel that the Unsecured Creditors Committee is unfairly targeting former employees who deserved to receive their severances in a timely manner – three and a half years ago.  


Respectfully Submitted, 


Jeff Palfini
Pro Se

Please Don't Encourage Him

George W. Bush named Time's Person of the Year.

Bush also nabs Total Film magazine's Villain of the Year, narrowly defeating Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface and Gollum, from the Lord of the Rings series. (Check out more Gollum pictures, here and here.)

Beane There, Done That

It's December again, baseball's Winter Meetings are in full swing (har, har) and once again, Oakland A's fans (like me) are lamenting the A's...well...being the A's.

Last year it was the Tejada trade, three years ago, Giambi -- this year, the Big Three moniker goes back to being a reference to American car manufacturers.

For weeks, rumors had been circulating about the A's shopping Tim Hudson, possibly to the Dodgers, or to the Braves for second baseman Marcus Giles. Sports journalists began salivating after hearing A's GM Billy Beane say he was 'feeling creative'. But few expected to hear that the A's would deal two of their Big Three pitchers, the backbone of their impressive 5-year string of playoff appearances (which unfortunately ended this past year).

So with Hudson headed to the Braves for a couple of young pitchers and a promising young outfielder; and Mark Mulder bound for St. Louis in exchange for two young pitchers and a much-heralded backstop; A's fans are once again left wondering if their team is indeed a major league franchise or just a farm team for the large-market outfits.

This is not a lonely plight for the A's -- just ask a team like the Kansas City Royals who have been forced to trade away Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye and Carlos Beltran in the last few years. Or the Pittsburgh Pirates, who, even before dealing Jason Kendall to the A's last month, had to part with Kris Benson, Brian Giles and Aramis Ramirez.

But Oakland's Billy Beane has a track record of making what seem like rebuilding years look like championship runs -- witness 2002, when the loss of the 2000 AL MVP (and 2001 runner-up) Giambi led to a 103-59 season, punctuated by an AL record 20-game win streak.

Add to that the fact that the A's are one of few teams that can afford to lose two Cy Young contenders, with very impressive young talent in the wings like Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, and now Danny Haren and Dan Meyer.

What Beane has managed to do with his latest string of moves is bolster what has been a shaky bullpen with enviable young talent like Kiko Calero and Juan Cruz, who will bridge the gap to minor league phenoms Huston Street and Jairo Garcia. He's also added a 30-year-old three-time All-Star catcher with considerable upside, Jason Kendall. Kendall has had a couple of injury problems, including an ankle dislocation in 1999 and a thumb injury in 2001 that bothered him for the next two seasons. But he hits well over .300 when healthy, though not for power.

Kendall is known as a scrappy, hardworking player and will likely benefit from being traded from a perennial cellar-dweller to a perennial contender. In short, the A's have finally found a more-than-worthy replacement for Ramon Hernandez. And behind Kendall and current backup Adam Melhuse, the A's have Moneyball prospect Jeremy Brown and a potential star-in-the-making in 19-year-old Daric Barton.

Beane has also added a solid young glove in the outfield in Charles Thomas, a speedy baserunner and talented defensive player who hit .288 with 7 HR and an .813 OPS in 83 games as a rookie last year. So despite parting ways with Jermaine Dye, the A's outfield is still looking pretty good for the coming years with Mark Kotsay, Eric Byrnes, Nick Swisher, Bobby Kielty and Thomas fighting for everyday roles.

Lastly, Beane acquired 28-year-old second baseman Keith Ginter from Milwaukee (see discussion of trade on Brewer fan blog, here) -- quite an upgrade from 40-year-old workhorse Mark McLemore. Ginter has been steadily improving since his first significant big league season in 2002. Last season he hit .262 with 19 HR, 60 RBI and an .812 OPS in 113 games. With Ginter and Ellis vying for the second base position, the A's have firmed up what has been a problem spot for them for several years. (remember Frank Menechino?)

While Beane is rolling the dice banking on so many young players fulfilling their potential, he has already succeeded in cutting what was left of the fat from the A's already lean payroll. The departure of Hudson and Mulder frees up $9.5 million next year, which will pay for Kendall's 2005 contract and the $1 million the A's promised to the Pirates. The rest of Beane's pickups should not impact the A's pocketbook noticeably.

Meanwhile, by jettisoning boondoggles like Jermaine Dye ($11.7 million), Jim Mecir ($3 million) and Chris Hammond ($2.4 million) and trimming more reasonable contracts like Damian Miller ($3 million), Mark Redman ($2 million) and Arthur Rhodes ($1.8 million), the A's have quite a bit of money to make any acquisitions from now until the trade deadline.

Sure the team won't be the same without Hudson and Mulder, but that's the grim reality of being a fan of a team with one of the oldest, ugliest and least profitable stadiums in baseball, plunked just across the bay from one of the best and most lucrative in San Francisco's SBC Park. A's fans will give the two pitchers standing ovations whenever they return to Oakland with their respective teams and move on, like they have every year, to finding the next hidden gem in Billy Beane's magical jeweler's pouch. A's fans can also take comfort in the fact that Hudson and Mulder were traded to National League teams, and, in the regular season anyway, the A's should only face Hudson, during a three-game road series against the Braves in June.

Zito v. Hudson? One can only hope.

A Bossman Editorial

Just after the election, I was trying to figure out what tone to take on my blog. After such a thorough drubbing, us liberals were left with a bitter taste in our mouths and vitriol on our tongues waiting to be spewed at red staters, conservative pundits, family groups, etc.

In fact, much of the post-election editorial from the left was focused on wailing, chest-beating, hair-rending, apocalyptic takes on the coming four years or petty carping about who was at fault for the loss to one of the least accomplished first-termers in history.

At the time, I arrived at the idea of offering just the opposite: What positives we could take from what seemed to be a complete and utter defeat. The first that came to mind was the campaign to pressure Sinclair Broadcasting into taking "Stolen Honor" off of their schedule. Through a well-organized email campaign, liberals had managed to affect a change in Sinclair's programming. Though many were still not happy with the program that did air, it seemed that the left had scored a minor victory. And beyond that, it was a victory that could be used as a template for later actions. After all, if anyone has the White House's ear and if anyone can be punished directly by the people, it is corporate interests whom we support with our dollars, cents and virtual credit-card money.

Alas, I was tired and not adequately inspired after the election, and that post never came to fruition. But today -- lo and behold -- there is a group that is resuming the fight against Sinclair. A group led by Media Matters for America (and including MoveOn, Working Assets and others) is again urging liberals to send emails and letters to Sinclair advertisers protesting the company's one-sided take on news and politics. In particular, they object to a segement called The Point (you might notice the lack of 'Counterpoint'). Please check out their site and send an email or letter if you can. In the coming four years, our most effective tool to counter the dangerous ideas of this administration will be to put pressure on their friends.

Bye, Bye Bernie

I was just going to write a post about Bernard Kerik stepping down from consideration for Head of the Department of Homeland Security, but then I realized we've already talked about him too much. Let's just let him slip back into well-deserved obscurity. Bye, Bye Bernie.

I'll Put the System on Trial an' Shit

Pardon my lapse in bringing the righteous message to the people, but I have been busy preparing my case in the matter of Palfini v. Corporate America.

You see, I have received notice that certain entities have opted to contest the modest and, yes, well-deserved severance package owed me by former employer, Standard Media International (formerly dba The Industry Standard). I don't want to name any names, but it seems that corporate giants like Yahoo, Oracle, Corio, Siebel and The Four Seasons Resort in Carlsbad, California have decided that my $2,134.62 claim is causing undue harm to their respective bottom lines.

So they've sicked their high-powered, Aqua-frequenting West Coast lawyers on me. Well, not really, but they did file an omnibus objection to several claims based on severances, of which, mine was one. Now I don't know what an omnibus is (unless it's one of those doubledeckers they have in London). Hey, I'm just an average Joe leading an average workaday existence. But I'll be damned if I'm going to let a bunch of empty suits take my beer money without a fight!

And a fight they will get! So far, my efforts have been focused on obtaining a vintage tan corduroy three-piece suit circa 1977 to wear to the hearing on January 3rd, but I plan to brush up on "the law" as soon as I'm done with that...and some other stuff.

Keep in mind people, Standard Media International filed for bankruptcy 3 1/2 years ago and I'm still waiting to get paid.

Meet Bernard Kerik, Your New Homeland Security Chief

President Bush has once again proven that he seeks to unite, not divide our troubled country by choosing Bernard Kerik (remember the bald guy that was Giuliani's shadow after 9/11?) as the next Head of the Department of Homeland Security.

You may also remember Kerik if you watched Fox News during the election. The former NYC police chief was a regular Kerry-basher in the late days of the campaign. Way to bridge the gap to the 57 million (and counting...) people who voted for Kerry, Mr. President!

Anyway, if you think that Kerik is the great hero that Bush and Giuliani make him out to be (and you aren't a regular reader of Salon's War Room), you may want to read this:

Kerik story

Phlip Seymour Hoffman: Best Actor Under 40?

You'd never guess it from what you've seen of him in the movies, but Philip Seymour Hoffman used to be a jock. He played three sports in high school in upstate New York: baseball, wrestling and football. He even claims to have been quite good at baseball. He began acting later in high school either to impress a girl (if you believe his story) or as the result of a career-ending sports injury (if you believe his brother, Gordy).

Whatever the reason for his first foray on the stage, Hoffman has become perhaps the most underrated and underappreciated acting talent in Hollywood. You may even have a hard time picturing him until someone reminds you of one of his memorable characters, like:

Brandt, toadying assistant to the 'other Lebowski' in the Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski.Memorable moments: (showing The Dude through his boss' trophy room) "This picture was taken when Mrs. Reagan was the first lady of the nation, yes, yes, not just California." or this exchange:

Bunny Lebowski (to The Dude): I'll suck your cock for a thousand dollars.
Brandt: Ah ha ha ha ha! Wonderful woman. Very free-spirited. We're all very fond of her.


Scotty, the sheepish and gay PA that has a thing for Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights. His big moment: Tries to kiss Dirk while 'showing him his new car'. When rebuffed, he beats his head with his hands, blubbering 'I'm such a fuckin idiot, fuckin' idiot, fuckinidiot, fuckinidiot, fuckinidiot, fuckinidiot."

Lester Bangs -- Steals the show as Cameron Crowe mentor and pill-popping philosopher/rock critic/icon in Almost Famous. Memorable quotes: "The only true currency we have in this bankrupt world is what we share with someone else when we're uncool." and "Of course I'm home. I'm always home. I'm uncool."

Sean in Next Stop Wonderland -- A short but hilariously memorable turn as Hope Davis' smarmy activist ex-boyfriend who breaks up with her by videotape (Six Reasons Why Our Relationship is Doomed) in Brad Anderson's 1998 sleeper.

Hoffman creates memorable characters in every movie in which he appears. Anyone who's seen him in films like Love Liza (his best), Owning Mahoney, Punch-Drunk Love, the Talented Mr. Ripley and Flawless knows that he has acting chops that rival those of anyone working today. Sadly, he has never even been nominated for an Oscar, much less won one.

He may have his first shot at the statue next year when he portrays literary icon Truman Capote in Capote. I'd have to wager that he'll be tough to beat.

Heads Swimming, Toes Up

Everyone I talk to these days seems to be a little (or a lot) out of sorts since the reelection of our peerless leader, George Walker Bush. It's as if all people left of the ideological center have been cut from their moorings and are drifting in the deep, dark waters of confusion, self-doubt and ineffectuality. I suppose we are now experiencing a little of what it feels like to live as one of the racial minorities in our country. America's leaders don't represent us and we are forced to carve out a life in a world that is hostile to us and our ideals. It's a refugee's life.

Well that's precisely how I felt last week in Texas while spending Thanksgiving with my brother and his new fiance in the suburbs of San Antonio. Dizzied by dodging big honking 4x4s, I found myself often stumbling into giant chain restaurants and spending most of my time lost in sprawling superstripmalls. No amount of Shiner Bock could dull the feelings of resentment I had for Texas and its whole 'biggest of everything' ethos. Especially troublesome for me were the ubiquitous American flags and ribbon decals sporting the message 'Texas supports our troops'.

Texans like to believe that they are the most American of Americans -- which may be the case, but not in a way that should make one proud. The decals (one of which adorns the bumper of my brother's enormous pickup truck) seem to me to send the message that while Texas supports our troops, certain other states may not. I imagine that if you polled Texans that a significant number would hold the belief that states like California and Massachusetts do not support our troops -- or at least don't support them as much as Texas.

It seems to me that most Texans support the Bush administration first and our troops second. I would argue that California's protestors, activists and progressive pundits are more actively backing our troops than the bumper-sticker patriots of Texas who vote for hawks, keep us dependent on foreign oil by driving gas-guzzling behemoths, alienate our former allies by renaming french fries and the such, and ignore the fact that their beloved GWB cuts funding for veterans and first responders and can't adequately outfit our military (though he seems to find money for private contractors to give their workers the best of everything). They do all this while accumulating bumper stickers, plastic flags and decals like high schoolers at a pep rally.

Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of things I like about Texas, especially Austin, like great BBQ, South by Southwest, good Mexican food, some quality publications like the Texas Observer, and of course that story about Ozzy Osbourne pissing on the Alamo. And I don't count my brother as part of what's wrong with Texas -- he's going to Iraq next month to be a hospital administrator and before that he'll mercifully sell that pickup. I also quite liked my brother's fiance and her family -- often Texans are among the most personable people you'll meet. But as a state, they have to meet the rest of the country halfway. I'm tired of people letting them get away with everything saying 'Oh, that's just how Texas is'.

Texas needs a little more Jim Hightower and Molly Ivins and a little less Tom DeLay and Ken Lay. They need to first realize that they aren't even the biggest state. Then they need to realize that going big isn't always the best way. Then they need to realize that people in other parts of the country, and yes, other parts of the world are a lot like them and want many of the same things that they do, though they express it in a different way.

But before I get too uppity about Texas I should remember that 2.8 million Texans voted for Kerry. Two of the most interesting images of my trip to Texas were a teenage boy wearing a 'Not My President' t-shirt in front of the Alamo and a middle-aged single mother in a business suit panhandling by the entrance to the San Antonio airport. Clearly Texas has big problems too, just like the rest of us.