bloggod: September 2020

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

ULAE NYC Bob Goldston

https://news.okstate.edu/articles/communications/2017/osu-student-grows-through-internship.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/itsartlaw.org/2016/02/17/case-review-rauschenberg-estate-saga-of-trust-and-fees-explained-again/amp/

Prior to his death, iconic artist and philanthropist Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) established a revocable trust whose sole remainder beneficiary was the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. The Foundation is an organization he had established to further his philanthropic and educational initiatives, and to support artists and art related issues. The trustees were three of Rauschenberg’s long time friends and business associates: Darryl Pottorf, the artist’s business partner and companion of over twenty-five years; Bennet Gruntman, his accountant for over eighteen years; and Bill Goldston, a trusted associate.

During their four years as trustees, the value of the assets in the trust, comprised mainly of high-value works of art created by Rauschenberg, increased from $605 million to over $2 billion.

This increase was due at least partially, to the trustees’ “strategic plan to withdraw Rauschenberg’s art from the market, in order to prevent a decline in value from speculators or collectors flooding the market with his art,” a fate that other famous artists’ estates, such as Andy Warhol’s estate, were not as lucky to avoid. In Re Estate of Rauschenberg, Circuit Court of Florida, 20th Judicial Circuit (Lee County), File No. 08-CP-2479 (Aug. 15, 2014). The trustees maintained a hands-on approach to the job throughout their tenure, and the trial court noted that “Rauschenberg’s artistry was recognized in the marketplace, and some of that recognition is attributable to the Trustee’s management of his ‘brand,’” though the artist’s talent and favorable market conditions at the time after his death should also be mentioned. Id.

The written instrument outlining the parameters of the Trust did not contain a provision addressing the methodology to be used in determining trustee’s fees, and the difference between what the parties thought the fees should be, or $59.625 Million, would prove impossible to settle. So the parties looked to the Florida statute addressing trustee fees. Unfortunately, the statute provides only that the award be “reasonable under the circumstances” without providing any criteria, methodology, or further explanation. § 736.0708(1), Fla. Stat. (2007).

At trial, both sides brought in experts and utilized case law to explain their differing world views. The Foundation focused on the amount of time that the trustees worked and sought to set a reasonable hourly rate. The Foundation thus calculated trustee fees using the “lodestar” method, set forth in Florida Patient’s Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1985), by multiplying the number of hours reasonably expended by a reasonable hourly rate. This method is typically used to determine attorney’s fees but was expanded to determine reasonable fees for guardians or personal representatives in In re Estate of Platt, 596 So. 2d 328 (Fla. 1991). The Foundation sought to expand the doctrine and apply this method to trustee fees.

The trustees, on the other hand, focused on the work rendered and value created for the trust. They argued that the court should use the criteria set forth in West Coast Hospital Ass’n v. Florida Nat’l Bank of Jacksonville, 100 So. 2d 807 (Fla. 1958), a case in which trustee fees were actually being contested. The eleven factors to be considered are:

The amount of capital and income received and disbursed by the trustee;
The wages or salary customarily granted to agents or servants for performing like work in the community;
The success or failure of the administration of the trustee;
Any unusual skill or experience which the trustee in question may have brought to his work;
The fidelity or disloyalty displayed by the trustee;
The amount of risk and responsibility assumed;
The time consumed in carrying out the trust;
The custom in the community as to allowances to trustees by settlors or courts and as to charges exacted by trust companies and banks;
The character of the work done in the course of administration, whether routine or involving skill and judgment;
Any estimate which the trustee has given of the value of his own services; and
Payments made by the cestuis to the trustee and intended to be applied toward his compensation.

After hearing from 21 witnesses and seeing over 300 exhibits, the Circuit Court found “that there is no precedent for use of the lodestar analysis to determine a reasonable fee for trustees, and further [found] that the use of the lodestar analysis would be unreasonable under the particular facts and circumstances of this case.” In Re The Estate of Rauschenberg. While the trial court applied the West factors recommended by the trustees, it found that they were still asking for more than was appropriate. Using the same factors as the trustees, the court awarded trustee’s fees in the amount of $24,600,000, approximately half of $55,000,000 requested at trial. (For an analysis on how the court weighed the factors and came to this conclusion, please see Rauschenberg Estate Saga of Trust and Fees Explained). Despite the trial court reducing the award and splitting the difference, the Foundation appealed, believing that the judgment frustrated the testator’s intent and hoping to persuade the Court of Appeals that the lodestar method was really the correct way to calculate trustee fees.

On appeal, Circuit Court Judge Silberman, writing for a unanimous court, upheld the trial court’s decision and wrote “only to explain why the trial court correctly refused to calculate fees using the lodestar method.” The opinion focused on the history of applying the lodestar method, emphasizing that it was to proper in determining attorney fees, but there were no cases on point in which the lodestar method was used to determine trustee fees. Since the Florida Statute discussing trustee fees, Fla. Stat. § 736.0708(1) (2007), merely explains that trustees should receive reasonable compensation, the Court of Appeals looked to the statute’s legislative history. The decision relied heavily on the Senate Staff Analyses in support of the bill, which explained “[o]n the factors to be taken into account in determining a reasonable compensation, see West Coast Hospital Association v. Florida Nat’l Bank of Jacksonville.” Therefore, while attorneys will continue to be paid following an hourly rate, trustees fees must be calculated based on the particular trust over which they have control and how well they’ve maintained the trust assets.

The three trustees were represented by Michael Gay, Partner at Foley & Lardner LLP in Orlando Florida, and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation was represented by Robert W. Goldman, attorney at Goldman Felcoski & Stone P.A. law firm.

Sources:

In Re The Estate of Robert Rauschenberg, No. 08-CP-2479 (Fla. Cir. Ct., Aug. 15, 2014).
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation v. Grutman et al, 127 So.3d 514 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App., 2016).
Fla. Stat. § 736.0708(1) (2007).
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, http://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/ (last visited Feb. 15, 2016).
Juan C. Antunez, 2d DCA Says YES to $24.6 Million in Trustee Fees; NO to Hourly Billing, Probate & Trust Litigation Blog (Jan. 29, 2016), http://www.flprobatelitigation.com/2016/01/articles/new-probate-cases/compensation-disputes/2d-dca-says-yes-to-24-6-million-in-trustee-fees-no-to-hourly-billing/.

"Prior to his death, iconic artist and philanthropist Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) established a revocable trust whose sole remainder beneficiary was the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. The Foundation is an organization he had established to further his philanthropic and educational initiatives, and to support artists and art related issues. The trustees were three of Rauschenberg’s long time friends and business associates: Darryl Pottorf, the artist’s business partner and companion of over twenty-five years; Bennet Gruntman, his accountant for over eighteen years; and Bill Goldston, a trusted associate. During their four years as trustees, the value of the assets in the trust, comprised mainly of high-value works of art created by Rauschenberg, increased from $605 million to over $2 billion. This increase was due at least partially, to the trustees’ “strategic plan to withdraw Rauschenberg’s art from the market, in order to prevent a decline in value from speculators or collectors flooding the market with his art,” a fate that other famous artists’ estates, such as Andy Warhol’s estate, were not as lucky to avoid. In Re Estate of Rauschenberg, Circuit Court of Florida, 20th Judicial Circuit (Lee County), File No. 08-CP-2479 (Aug. 15, 2014). The trustees maintained a hands-on approach to the job throughout their tenure, and the trial court noted that “Rauschenberg’s artistry was recognized in the marketplace, and some of that recognition is attributable to the Trustee’s management of his ‘brand,’” though the artist’s talent and favorable market conditions at the time after his death should also be mentioned. Id.

The amount of capital and income received and disbursed by the trustee;
The wages or salary customarily granted to agents or servants for performing like work in the community;
The success or failure of the administration of the trustee;
Any unusual skill or experience which the trustee in question may have brought to his work;
The fidelity or disloyalty displayed by the trustee;
The amount of risk and responsibility assumed;
The time consumed in carrying out the trust;
The custom in the community as to allowances to trustees by settlors or courts and as to charges exacted by trust companies and banks;
The character of the work done in the course of administration, whether routine or involving skill and judgment;
Any estimate which the trustee has given of the value of his own services; and
Payments made by the cestuis to the trustee and intended to be applied toward his compensation.

Sources:

In Re The Estate of Robert Rauschenberg, No. 08-CP-2479 (Fla. Cir. Ct., Aug. 15, 2014).
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation v. Grutman et al, 127 So.3d 514 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App., 2016).
Fla. Stat. § 736.0708(1) (2007).
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, http://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/ (last visited Feb. 15, 2016).
Juan C. Antunez, 2d DCA Says YES to $24.6 Million in Trustee Fees; NO to Hourly Billing, Probate & Trust Litigation Blog (Jan. 29, 2016), http://www.flprobatelitigation.com/2016/01/articles/new-probate-cases/compensation-disputes/2d-dca-says-yes-to-24-6-million-in-trustee-fees-no-to-hourly-billi

Tripled the Trust money in 4 years

Fuck you Dean

Fuck you Lees

Printing on canvas PVS

woodburnt art PVS Portland

PVS

forest at PVS

Custom Shoes Production

Monday, September 28, 2020

Sunday, September 27, 2020

club 205 Portland

Covid-19 enforcement is non existent

One complaint ot OSHA and it's 86

Karmas on the plate

Saturday, September 26, 2020

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Prudence Crandall, Freeman and Ophelia Bloodgood, Elk Falls Elk County Kansas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudence_Crandall

"Prudence Crandall (September 3, 1803 – January 27, 1890) was an American schoolteacher and activist.

She ran the first school for black girls ("young Ladies and little Misses of color") in the United States.[1]

When Crandall admitted Sarah Harris, a 20-year-old African-American female student in 1832 to her school,[2][3] she had what is considered to be the first integrated classroom in the United States.[4] Parents of the white children began to withdraw them.[2] Prudence was a "very obstinate girl", according to her brother Reuben.[5]

Rather than ask the African-American student to leave, she decided that if white girls would not attend with the blacks, she would educate black girls. She was arrested and spent a night in jail.

Soon the violence of the townspeople forced her to close the school and leave.[2]

Much later the Connecticut legislature, with lobbying from Mark Twain, a resident of Hartford, passed a resolution honoring Crandall and providing her with a pension.

Twain offered to buy her former Canterbury home for her retirement, but she declined.[6] She died a few years later, in 1890."

"On May 24, 1833, the Connecticut legislature passed a "Black Law", which prohibited a school from teaching African-American students from outside the state without town permission.[15]

In July, Crandall was arrested and placed in the county jail for one night—she refused to be bonded out, as she wished the public to know she was being jailed. (A Vermont newspaper reported it under the headline "Shame on Connecticut".[16]) The next day she was released under bond to await her trial.[2]

Under the Black Law, the townspeople refused any amenities to the students or Crandall, closing their shops and meeting houses to them, although they were welcomed at Prudence's Baptist church, in neighboring Plainfield.[10]:51. Stage drivers refused to provide them with transportation, and the town doctors refused to treat them.[15]

Townspeople poisoned the school's well—its only water source—with animal feces, and prevented Crandall from obtaining water from other sources.[2]

Not only did Crandall and her students receive backlash, but her father was also insulted and threatened by the citizens of Canterbury.[2] Although she faced extreme difficulties, Crandall continued to teach the young women of color which angered the community even further.

Crandall's students also suffered. Ann Eliza Hammond, a 17-year-old student, was arrested; however, with the help of local abolitionist Samuel J. May, she was able to post a bail bond. Some $10,000 was raised through collections and donations."

"After the death of her husband, Crandall relocated with her brother Hezekiah to Elk Falls, Kansas, around 1877, and[1] it was there that her brother eventually died in 1881.[20] A visitor of 1886, who described her as "of almost national renown,"[23] with "a host of good books in her house", quoted her as follows:

"My whole life has been one of opposition.

I never could find anyone near me to agree with me. Even my husband opposed me, more than anyone.

He would not let me read the books that he himself read, but I did read them. I read all sides, and searched for the truth whether it was in science, religion, or humanity.

I sometimes think I would like to live somewhere else.

Here, in Elk Falls, there is nothing for my soul to feed upon.

Nothing, unless it comes from abroad in the shape of books, newspapers, and so on. There is no public library, and there are but one or two persons in the place that I can converse with profitably for any length of time.

No one visits me, and I begin to think they are afraid of me.

I think the ministers are afraid I shall upset their religious beliefs, and advise the members of their congregation not to call on me, but I don't care.

I speak on spiritualism sometimes, but more on temperance, and am a self-appointed member of the International Arbitration League.

I don't want to die yet.

I want to live long enough to see some of these reforms consummated.[4]:528–529"

In 1886, the state of Connecticut honored Prudence Crandall with an act by the legislature, prominently supported by the writer Mark Twain, providing her with a $400 annual pension (equivalent to $11,400 in 2019).[4][24]

Prudence Crandall died in Kansas on January 28, 1890, at the age of 86. She and her brother Hezekiah are buried in Elk Falls Cemetery."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudence_Crandall

______________

"1880 Elk Co, KS Census

Elk Falls

p. 273D

Freeman BLOODGOOD Self M Male W 48 NY Retired Hotel Keeper NY NY

Ophelia BLOODGOOD Wife M Female W 37 NY Milliner NY NY

Elsworth BLOODGOOD Son S Male W 17 NY At Home NY NY"

http://www.combs-families.org/combs/records/ks/elk.htm

"ELK FALLS.

Elk Falls is situated in the Southern part of Elk County, on the line of the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Kansas Railroad, and about thirty miles west of the city of Independence.

The town is favorably located near the fork of Wild Cat Creek with Elk River, and in consequence enjoys the advantages of a large amount of surrounding valley land. The greater portion of the country surrounding, however, is rough and broken, much of it being useless for agriculture.

The town derived its name from the presence of a waterfall in Elk River close by, and which is formed by the falling of the water over a projecting ledge of rock ten feet high and about one hundred feet wide."

The first house for public entertainment was a two-story frame built and run by F. Bloodgood in 1871.(FREEMAN Bloodgood) After running the house about seven years,

it was sold to Josiah Carr, who kept it only two years, and it was again sold to H. C. Hitchen, and is now known as the Cape Cod House, under the management of J. M. Lufkin.

"Middleburgh, July 28. – Word has been received here that Freeman Bloodgood, ninety-two, formerly of Conesville, near Middleburgh, is dead at State College, N. M. Mr. Bloodgood moved to New Mexico in 1881. He engaged in teaming and hauled freight between Las Vegas and White Oaks.

He also hauled the first load of ore out of Kingston in New Mexico, when that place was a mining camp. The ore was hauled to Nut station before Deming was founded. At Kingston he was a crony of Doheny, the oil magnate.

He later conducted a ranch in the Mogollones, after which he went into the cattle business near Kingston. He was born in New York state.

About four years ago he fell and since then had been in poor health, making his home with his son, Dean Bloodgood. The later was a former student in Middleburgh High school before locating in the west.

Surviving are his wife, who was Ophelia A. Shoemaker, oldest daughter of Abram Shoemaker, formerly of Conesville, at that time called Stone Bridge; two sons, Dean Bloodgood of State College and Ellsworth Bloodgood of Kingston, N. M. He was also a brother-in-law of Weidman Shoemaker, eighty-five, of Middleburgh. Dr. Garrison E. Shoemaker of Cobleskill is a nephew. Interment was made in the Masonic cemetery at Las Cruces, N. M."

Grandpa Dean W. Bloodgood, New Mexico

Freeman and Ophelia Bloodgood, NY https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/66971873/ophelia-a_-bloodgood

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/66970277/freeman-bloodgood

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

smokey sky eye

Egmont cheese

surreal and sister isis

gathering of awesome

grok grok

i had to cheat she says to

deduce the woe of the day in four letters which no one

wordsmithed or noodled out of the bank bunker so one letter

provided wrongly led me off track

blank blank R blank led fruitlessly to "lore" which nearly fits the foot

for the search target "understand... intuitively" VERB

so the next day the chalk smear belied a breadcrumb trail mixed with inedible leggo pegs

so today i rooted out the kerfuffle and came to grok

grok

grok the enigma and she said " you cheated" as if there's a prize at the bottom of the snacker tracks

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

snafu duct tape rainmaker lore

hours sorting thru boxes in a cramped storage unit,

reacquainting the position of tools, clothes, precious items.

the lights click off after every 60 minutes

spin the dial like a washer/dryer and tumble my eyes clean.

off to the bar at 2pm, free coffee that she pours

half full of half and half, needs no sugar, and like i said

free, a hard cider and then back to storage

for a backpack with tent, coat, blanket

and a pop up canopy which sets up with a few snafus and duct tape.

over to the store midnight run

there by the sidewalk is a free pile of things i need:

a camp stool, a small cooler for food, two big iron crowbars,

and a tire-changing kit that doubles excellently for

tent-spikes to anchor the canopy. i look in a bag

for my glass pipe, it is broken

but usable so i fragrance my mood

and drive the crowbars deep into the soil

as i recently referenced John Henry the iron driving man

and with two clangs atop the beaked heads

the rain commences, and all that was dust is settled

for a little while

9-22-20

se Portland

Monday, September 21, 2020

Not the Last Nazi and Not the Last word on the subject

"In 1865, after the war, Lee was paroled and signed an oath of allegiance, asking to have his citizenship of the United States restored. However, his application was misplaced and as a result he did not receive a pardon and his citizenship was not restored.

On January 30, 1975, Senate Joint Resolution 23, A joint resolution to restore posthumously full rights of citizenship to General R. E. Lee was introduced into the Senate by Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr. (I-VA), the result of a five-year campaign to accomplish this.

The resolution, which enacted Public Law 94–67, was passed, and the bill was signed by President Gerald Ford on September 5."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_Confederate_monuments_and_memorials

"Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials is an ongoing process in the United States since the 1960s. Many municipalities in the United States have removed monuments and memorials on public property dedicated to the Confederate States of America (CSA), and some, such as Silent Sam in North Carolina, have been torn down by protestors.

The momentum to remove Confederate memorials increased dramatically following the high-profile incidents including the Charleston church shooting (2015), the Unite the Right rally (2017), and the killing of George Floyd (2020).

The removals have been driven by the belief that the monuments glorify white supremacy, memorialize an unrecognized, treasonous government whose founding principle was the perpetuation of slavery, and that the presence of these Confederate memorials over a hundred years after the subjugation of the Confederacy continues to disenfranchise and alienate African Americans."

____________

Last Known WWII Nazi Living In U.S., Deported To Germany Last Year, Is Dead at 95

January 11, 20196:49 AM ET

"A Nazi war criminal, living safely in the United States until his deportation to Germany last year, has died.

He had been the last known World War II Nazi living in the U.S."

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/11/684324935/last-wwii-nazi-living-in-us-deported-to-germany-last-year-is-dead-at-95

German prosecutors have intensified their hunt for the last remaining Nazis before they die of old age, USA Today reported last year.

Nazi hunters estimated that dozens of Nazis could still be alive."

_________

"f anyone has ever said or written anything bad about you, you may have wondered if you could sue that person for doing so. "Defamation" is the legal word for some kinds of false statements.

Libel and slander are two forms of defamation.

Defamation is defined as a false statement communicated to another person that damages your reputation. Libel is communicating a defamatory statement by writing or picture, while slander is defamation by oral or spoken communication.

If such words were written or spoken about you, you are not defamed if the words were true.

Truth is a complete defense to defamation. Even if your reputation is damaged by a defamatory communication, you cannot collect any money if the communication was true.

Other defenses include statements made in jest (where the communication was not intended to be taken seriously), and when the communication was an opinion (not actionable) and not a fact"

https://www.osbar.org/public/legalinfo/1186_LibelSlander.htm