It's the Scabs fault, It the Scabs fault II

[your boss]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that one-time stripper and Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith could pursue part of her late husband's oil fortune.
Justices gave new legal life to Smith's bid to collect millions of dollars from the estate of J. Howard Marshall II. Her late husband's estate has been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion.

VIDEO: Court rules for Anna Nicole

Smith has been embroiled in a long running cross-country court fight with Marshall's youngest son, E. Pierce Marshall. The court's decision means that it will likely not end anytime soon — although there is no guarantee she will collect any money.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in the opinion that a Texas court did not have the last word when it ruled against the blonde reality television star.

"This is just another battle in a very long war," said Douglas Baird, a bankruptcy expert at the University of Chicago.

The ruling gives federal courts more authority to resolve disputes that arise out of estates.

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a separate opinion to say that he would have given federal courts more jurisdiction. He said Smith's appeal was "an easy case."

Smith was a 26-year-old topless dancer when she married Marshall, then 89, in 1994. He died the following year, setting off an intense family fight.

At issue for the justices was competing court jurisdiction. A Texas court held a five-month trial before deciding that Smith was entitled to nothing from Marshall's estate. Smith brought a separate claim in federal court in California.

Justices said Monday that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong in ruling that federal courts could not handle Smith's case.

Smith, the spokeswoman for a diet products company, had been awarded $474 million by a federal bankruptcy judge. That was later reduced by a federal district judge and then thrown out altogether by the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit. The case now goes back to California.

"I will continue to fight to uphold my father's estate plan," Pierce Marshall said Monday.

Ginsburg noted that there are several pending issues that could still keep Smith from collecting any money.

Before his death Marshall showered Smith with $6.6 million in gifts that included two homes, expensive jewelry and clothes. She contends that he also promised her half his estate.

Ginsburg's opinion, and announcement from the bench, included only a hint of the nastiness of the family feud. She said there were accusations that Pierce Marshall "engaged in forgery, fraud, and overreaching to gain control of his father's assets" and, on the other side, that Smith had defamed her former stepson.

Pierce Marshall said in a statement that he would "fight to clear my name in California federal court. That is a promise that (Smith) and her lawyers can take to the bank."

Smith's case had brought unusual drama to the normally sedate high court.

Dressed in all black, she wept in the courtroom in late February as justices discussed Marshall and whether he had intended to provide for his young wife in death. When Smith arrived at the court, several photographers were knocked to the ground in a scuffle to take her picture.

The case is Marshall v. Marshall, 04-1544.

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

I believe that would be another case of getting what you signed up for.

In other news:

Originally Posted by Houston Chronicle

May 1, 2006, 2:59PM
Striking Minor League Umps Nix Settlement


By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Striking minor league umpires rejected a tentative strike settlement by a 2-1 margin. (My edit: So some actually thought it was acceptable or realized that they were f-ed.)

The umpires, who have been on strike since the start of the minor league season on April 6, had reached a tentative agreement last Thursday following two days of bargaining that were assisted by a federal mediator.

"Minor league baseball will continue with replacements," management lawyer George Yund said after union lawyer Robert Weaver told him of the vote Monday. "No further negotiations are scheduled or contemplated."

The rejected contract called for a $100 per month salary increase across the salary scale starting in 2006. The umpires say their salaries average $15,000 at Triple-A, $12,000 at Double-A, $10,000 in full-season A-ball and $5,500 in rookie leagues.

The tentative agreement also called for a $2 rise in per diems to $27 at Triple-A, $24 at Double-A and $22 at Class A. Per diems would have increased each year, rising in 2011 to $39 at Triple-A, $34 at Double-A and $29 at Class A.

Talks stopped Jan. 31 after management made what it called its final offer to the Association of Minor League Umpires, and they did not resume until last Wednesday.

"The proposed salaries and per diems were ridiculously low," said John Hirschbeck, president of the major league umpires' union, the World Umpires Association. "It would have been unconscionable to increase salaries only $100 dollars per month and to expect adults to live on the road spending only $22 a day in 2006 and $29 a day in 2011.

`The WUA will continue to support the minor league umpires and their union," Hirschbeck said, "until an agreement is reached providing for livable wages and realistic per diems."

Yund has said umpiring in the minors is more comparable to training than to a lifetime job.

Wasn't there just a story from the AMLU that said how the AMLU umpires were well prepared for the strike? Apparently almost all have other jobs that pay them more than what they make umpiring. How much did they want for a five month job?

[orangeump]

Now you guys are just getting out of hand.

Keep on keepin' on. I wish I was as much in tune with the brotherhood and support giving to these guys as you all seem to be.

You guys will be the first ones calling the locker room in your minor league town asking for tickets or to go have a drink with these guys as well, I bet. Good luck.

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

I enjoy a touch of gambling...I'll take your bet.

What was so touchy about that post?

[orangeump]

I just think now you guys are blaming everything on the scabs in an effort to be cute and really try to stick it to people, such as myself, who feel that Adam Dowdy's name and the word scab should be nowhere within a three block radius.

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

I don't think you know anything about me then.

As for the person starting the thread, I can only assume that he is trying to get a rise out of people who strike at any bait thrown in the water. The title will draw views. Relax...logical people know that Dowdy earned his spot and that The Boss is just blowing off steam. You don't get there without being competent (unless your last name is Wendlestedt).

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by WhatWuzThatBlue

You don't get there without being competent (unless your last name is Wendlestedt).

Thank you, I was afraid to say that, and I'm glad you have the nads to do so. I feared that the MLB Jock Sniffing Society would be up in arms over such a comment.

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

I'm sorry it took so long for you to notice that I have no compunction about challenging anyone.

Life is far too short to remain quiet...just ask Marcel Marceau (wait, you can't!).