mike wants to know " Goodbye' in German? "
just say "ich bin ein schweinhundt und eine dreksau."
just kidding -- it's "Auf veidersehen." Really! 1st word pronounced like the "ou" in "ouch" with an "f" ending: ou + f = auf.
2nd word is pronounced vee + dare + sane - veidersehen ( to see you again ).
---
if you say the the first german phrase above, you would calling yourself a "pig-dog" and a "dirt-pig."
this would be violation of posting rules. reserve your name calling for others, or your heinee is out of here.
---
i am certain that everyone who read that post knows it is not you joseph.
unless, of course, you know yiddish terms.
although some of the posts mimic you almost perfectly joey boy.
but it is not me, the wolf, mr. weiss, wjw, Wolfgang Johannes Weiss von Hedienhiem-an-der-Brenz, zybarwulf (which does kind of echo the "cyber" in in cyberman, which sounds like a nice jewish name.
maybe there really is a Sam or Aaron Cyberman?
joseph, you know i don't mimic, i mock.
in as much as none of the "jb" or "joseph bellow" posts seem to mock, one can safely assume that i am not the mimic-er.
thus by inference, i am not joseph bellows or someone pretending to be him, such as george luftallah, for example.
i am not the only guy in the world who knows a little yiddish. I know a big yiddish, too.
is a little yiddish, like a little knowledge, a dangerous thing?
---
fear not, no one can harm your reputation except yourself.
the real 100% prime wolf
eine alter verkakter
(with natural and artificial flavor, red dye #2, mono-sodium glutamate, guar gum and flotsam to preserve and protect freshness and crispness).
Ssssh!!!
Wolf is saying something!...
What's he saying?
I haven't a clue!
LOL
-Mike Foulks
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Replying to:
mike wants to know " Goodbye' in German? "
just say "ich bin ein schweinhundt und eine dreksau."
just kidding -- it's "Auf veidersehen." Really! 1st word pronounced like the "ou" in "ouch" with an "f" ending: ou + f = auf.
2nd word is pronounced vee + dare + sane - veidersehen ( to see you again ).
---
if you say the the first german phrase above, you would calling yourself a "pig-dog" and a "dirt-pig."
this would be violation of posting rules. reserve your name calling for others, or your heinee is out of here.
---
i am certain that everyone who read that post knows it is not you joseph.
unless, of course, you know yiddish terms.
although some of the posts mimic you almost perfectly joey boy.
but it is not me, the wolf, mr. weiss, wjw, Wolfgang Johannes Weiss von Hedienhiem-an-der-Brenz, zybarwulf (which does kind of echo the "cyber" in in cyberman, which sounds like a nice jewish name.
maybe there really is a Sam or Aaron Cyberman?
joseph, you know i don't mimic, i mock.
in as much as none of the "jb" or "joseph bellow" posts seem to mock, one can safely assume that i am not the mimic-er.
thus by inference, i am not joseph bellows or someone pretending to be him, such as george luftallah, for example.
i am not the only guy in the world who knows a little yiddish. I know a big yiddish, too.
is a little yiddish, like a little knowledge, a dangerous thing?
---
fear not, no one can harm your reputation except yourself.
the real 100% prime wolf
eine alter verkakter
(with natural and artificial flavor, red dye #2, mono-sodium glutamate, guar gum and flotsam to preserve and protect freshness and crispness).
DN: Geh klop dein Kopf in Wand, Nahr.
wjw: OUCH!
I could have shot him something like: Geh kocken offen Yam. He would have assumed it was 2/8 German, AND IT IS. Why does anyone struggle so hard to hate? It seems results come a lot easier to those who work in consort with others who care.
We just need to keep focused on the issues that matter to the industry: ending medallion monopolies, giving drivers an opportunity to hold their noses above water, giving them a chance to have employment benefits that are routine in other industries, protecting them from the dangers of the streets. If we are sidetracked by those who would derail those efforts, the ones we struggle to help become the losers.
And there doesn't have to be something in it for any of us to make the struggle worth the while.
Mr. Nathan,
Are you not a man of your word?
Didn't you agree with Frank's advice to disengage yourself from your counter-productive behavior? When will you learn to stop farting in my general direction?
What 'results' have you achieved and with 'whom', exactly?
I don't struggle to 'hate you', Mr. Nathan. I struggle to defend myself, others, and the truth. From you and your 'meddling'.
Did you make a Freudian slip, 'Doctor' Nathan...what did you mean when you wrote that you're 'focused on the issues that matter to the INDUSTRY'?
I am focused on the issues that matter to the CABDRIVERS. Aren't there 'players' in the INDUSTRY who benefit from the 'medallion monopolies'?
Maybe these are the holders of the 'treasure' you seek. Can they pay you to go away? I'm sure they can.
You wouldn't be as obligated as a 'volunteer' lawyer to pursue the interests of your 'chosen' clients, the cabdrivers, would you 'Dr.' Nathan? You could cash in your chips and leave the table at a moment's notice, couldn't you?
You want to 'give the drivers an opportunity to hold their noses above water'? What EXACTLY does that mean, 'Dr. Trained Wordsmith'?
I want to secure us cabdrivers a significant fare increase, among other reforms. I've actually DONE SOMETHING towards that end. What EXACTLY have you done LATELY, Mr. Nathan?
You want to 'give them a chance to have employment benefits that are routine in other industries' such as...what, like the 'Workmens Comp' we now 'get'? I think the cabdriver is the last on the food chain to actually benefit from that, if at all. Good for cabdriver-lawyers, though.
If you had anything to do with that stinker, please own up. That kind of 'help' we don't need no more of.
You haven't been on 'the streets' recently enough to know 'the dangers' or how to 'protect' us from them. You don't strike me as the type who picked up everybody and drove in every neighborhood. (I am.)
You strike me as the type who contributed in your own small way to the negative stereotypes given cabdrivers just as you today contribute to the negative stereoypes given lawyers.
EXACTLY WHO IS 'SIDETRACKING' WHO OR 'DERAILING' EXACTLY WHAT 'EFFORT' HOW?
And when you say 'WE', who, specifically, real or imagined, real or abstractly, is 'with' you?
How have you 'struggled' to 'help', and who are you 'helping'?
Do you have a 'Saviour Complex', 'Dr.' Nathan? Are cabdrivers hopelessly lost without your divine help (and that of your imaginary compadres or lieutenants)?
One quote from my investigation of Don Nathan...'There's always something in it for Don Nathan'. (Source protected due to high confidence of accuracy.)
Did you ever personally benefit from 'making referrals' of cabdrivers with 'cases' to other lawyers? If so, how. If no, could you explain why one might claim to the contrary.
Are we really supposed to accept your 'free help' blindly, Mr. Nathan? Aren't we better off paying for someone's services? Shouldn't we at least investigate your resume?
Shouldn't you post a detailed one so we don't have to piece it together ourselves?
Which way is the foolish one, Wise-Ass?
Keep on trying to denigrate me or any formal or informal organization of cabdrivers who are smart enough to avoid you. Luck is a lady, but Karma, she's a real ******
Let me quote the late, great Chris Elliot, (as 'The Guy Under The Seats' on The David Letterman Show)...
'Never forget I'm here under the seats, watching you, always. I'll be back, Mr. Big Shot NATHAN, to make your life a living hell.'
-Mike Foulks
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Replying to:
I could have shot him something like: Geh kocken offen Yam. He would have assumed it was 2/8 German, AND IT IS. Why does anyone struggle so hard to hate? It seems results come a lot easier to those who work in consort with others who care.
We just need to keep focused on the issues that matter to the industry: ending medallion monopolies, giving drivers an opportunity to hold their noses above water, giving them a chance to have employment benefits that are routine in other industries, protecting them from the dangers of the streets. If we are sidetracked by those who would derail those efforts, the ones we struggle to help become the losers.
And there doesn't have to be something in it for any of us to make the struggle worth the while.
Mike,
If you can take someone to a hell, you can also bring someone to the heaven. Why don't you try with your 52 CCO members first?
Can you still have time for the fare increase? Will it be the fare increase first or sending Mr. nathan to hell first? How many CCO members needed to accomplish either missions?
What if Mr. Nathan goes to the heaven anyway, or by a mistake, regardless all your efforts? Where will you have to go then?
It is always good to be free. I wonder that anyone else who can match your talents within CCO. They deserve something better before they care someone who should go to the hell first.
Okay, Yi, it's time for you, Mr. Nathan, and Mr. Weiss to start posting about the 'real issues' for a while without me, and without referencing me or the CCO.
Can you do that for 48 hours? Don't reply to this. Just go to the top of the forum and start posting as if I don't exist.
I'll be back in a couple of days. (To sort out the Truth from the Lies, if necessary.)
-Mike Foulks
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Replying to:
Mike,
If you can take someone to a hell, you can also bring someone to the heaven. Why don't you try with your 52 CCO members first?
Can you still have time for the fare increase? Will it be the fare increase first or sending Mr. nathan to hell first? How many CCO members needed to accomplish either missions?
What if Mr. Nathan goes to the heaven anyway, or by a mistake, regardless all your efforts? Where will you have to go then?
It is always good to be free. I wonder that anyone else who can match your talents within CCO. They deserve something better before they care someone who should go to the hell first.
The bait can't be resisted even though I know I ought not to stoop to the gutter to respond.
Mr. Nathan,
"Are you not a man of your word? Didn't you agree with Frank's advice to disengage yourself from your counter-productive behavior?"
--- Foolishness #1 - starts from a presumption my "behavior" is "counter-productive".
"When will you learn to stop farting in my general direction? What 'results' have you achieved and with 'whom', exactly?I don't struggle to 'hate you', Mr. Nathan. I struggle to defend myself, others, and the truth. From you and your 'meddling'."
--- Foolishness #2 - By "farting" in your general direction, I've given you a platform from which to organize. You presume that you "defend...the truth" because you see yourself as the Godshead of truth. And that's fine with me if it inspires organization of a cadre of committed cabbies in Chicago who are willing to go to the mat for the things each of us want them to achieve.
"Did you make a Freudian slip, 'Doctor' Nathan...what did you mean when you wrote that you're 'focused on the issues that matter to the INDUSTRY'? I am focused on the issues that matter to the CABDRIVERS. Aren't there 'players' in the INDUSTRY who benefit from the 'medallion monopolies'? Maybe these are the holders of the 'treasure' you seek. Can they pay you to go away? I'm sure they can."
--- Foolishness #3 - Actually, I do have a doctoral degree: Juris Doctor. And I freely admit to having worked for the captains of the industry in years past: my first job in civil law was with Sherman Dickholtz whose brother Art owned about 190 Flash Cabs in the mid '70's; Delta Casualty was owned by Art Dickholtz - it insured the 300+ Flash Cabs - Delta was my biggest defense client in the '80's; After Art Dickholtz died in the '90's, I set up shop at 2353 W. Belmont for a couple of years - unfortunately Big Tony Bottalla passed away too.
After that, recognizing I didn't need to work like a sled-dog any longer, I began to retire. I bought a home in rural Monterey County, California - near where Steinbeck wrote of Lenny hiding in the reeds to the East of Eden - and stopped worrying about the almighty buck.
"You wouldn't be as obligated as a 'volunteer' lawyer to pursue the interests of your 'chosen' clients, the cabdrivers, would you 'Dr.' Nathan? You could cash in your chips and leave the table at a moment's notice, couldn't you?"
--- Foolishness #4 - In a word: NO. A lawyer cannot abandon his clients any more so than a medical doctor can abandon his patients. It would be ethically inappropriate to do that without providing quality representation for the clientele.
Of course, a lawyer can die and thereby "leave the table at a moment's notice". But there's no way to "cash in your chips" as a lawyer by clicking the fingers even through death.
"You want to 'give the drivers an opportunity to hold their noses above water'? What EXACTLY does that mean, 'Dr. Trained Wordsmith'? I want to secure us cabdrivers a significant fare increase, among other reforms. I've actually DONE SOMETHING towards that end. What EXACTLY have you done LATELY, Mr. Nathan?"
--- This one isn't foolishness. Holding noses above water becomes progressively harder when a significant fare increase is not won. You and I have that shared goal, sir. You've done a lot toward that end, and you are to be roundly praised for your efforts. I have not been in a position to do as much as I wish I could other than to try to inspire drivers to piece together a viable organization to work toward our shared goal.
You have been much more successful at this than I could ever hope to be because you took the time to camp out at Kabob Corner every day for weeks on end. My life and professional commitments would not have permitted that kind of Herculean effort. My sincere hope is that your work is going to bear fruit. The only thing I can do is to try to inspire others - like you too - to organize efforts to achieve the goal. I'm in a position to offer advice toward that end: to be a resource person. I'm not in a position to be in the trenches like you are, and I don't want to be.
"You want to 'give them a chance to have employment benefits that are routine in other industries' such as...what, like the 'Workmens Comp' we now 'get'? I think the cabdriver is the last on the food chain to actually benefit from that, if at all. Good for cabdriver-lawyers, though.
--- Major Foolishness #5 - Because over 50% of cab drivers do not report income to the Federal government, they end up shooting themselves in the foot with Illinois Workers Compensation benefits. Under The Workers Compensation Act, an injured driver is entitled to 2/3 of average weekly wages for a 40 hour week for the 52 weeks immediately preceeding injury for temporary total disability. That means while under medical care after a crash, a driver SHOULD get 2/3 of what is normally made just like a guy who punches a time card. Of course, if the driver doesn't report income, it's easy to say that he ought not to get anything more than the absolute minimum benefit.
Drivers who don't pay taxes shoot themselves in the foot.
Lawyers who take on cases for temporary total disability benefits do so without the expectation of being awarded a fee by the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission unless they have to fight for it in a courtroom. Usually insurance companies pay these benefits without a squawk, especially so when it's for minimum rate.
Even after a court battle, a lawyer gets only 20% of the purse in most cases. With the typical cabbie for a client, no lawyer can afford to embroil himself in a battle like this.
Medical bills get paid at the click of the finger under The Act. Why an injured driver would FAIL to get free medical care through workers compensation is incomprehensible to me. Over the years, I've had to go to court only a few times for medical benefits. Of course, I charged a percentage for my efforts - a contingency fee of 20%, and I was never ashamed to do so because I never lost such a case - ever.
PERMANENT total disability is the tough one for a cab driver to win big bucks if no taxes are paid. A major injury brings a lousy result for the guy who lies on his return or who files none at all. If a driver tells the TRUTH in a tax return, the result that can be obtained at the IWWC is fairly significant. The fee charged for this by an attorney who has to fight for his client is usually 20%. But if the injury is one that brings an automatic award (i.e. an amputation), the fee is all of $100 for filling out the papers.
Until the Penny Cab and Morgan Cab cases in the mid 1970's, cab drivers had no right at all to workers compensation. The right to W/C benefits was underscored where it counted in a series of cases against Yellow Cab and Checker Taxi in the 1980's.
At this point in my career, I do not get involved in Workers Compensation cases for cab drivers unless the injuries are catastrophic. In most such cases, the fee is $100 for filling in the blanks of the applications for benefits.
If you had anything to do with that stinker, please own up. That kind of 'help' we don't need no more of.
--- Foolishness #6 - My involvement with "that stinker" is meaningless at this point. Mike, just make sure you tell the IRS the truth every April 15, and you'll get your due if you get hurt in your next crash. If you think you don't need "...That kimd of 'help'..." then just make sure you try to screw the government out of income taxes. As with many other ways to shoot yourself in the foot, this would be just another way.
You haven't been on 'the streets' recently enough to know 'the dangers' or how to 'protect' us from them. You don't strike me as the type who picked up everybody and drove in every neighborhood. (I am.) You strike me as the type who contributed in your own small way to the negative stereotypes given cabdrivers just as you today contribute to the negative stereoypes given lawyers.
--- Foolishness #7 - It's not necessary to sit behind the wheel of the cab to know the dangers drivers face. Granted, I haven't driven a cab since letting C/L #11473 expire at the end of 1975. But that doesn't mean ipso facto that I have lost my memory of what danger was all about.
Granted, I used to be able to sit at a cab post at Chicago and Cicero and study contract law while listening to the American United dispatcher with one ear. Now I might hesitate to do that. But back in the old days when I drove into Cabrini-Green, it wasn't filled with "Gen-X-ers". When I took a load off the radio at the Westside VA, I didn't know where it was going, and I didn't care.
I don't see my function as protecting drivers from the dangers that lurk on the streets at this point in my career. You are to be roundly praised for your willingness to do so, although I am not sure how you would propose to do so on an individual basis. Whatever you have in mind, I say that's great. Do it.
"EXACTLY WHO IS 'SIDETRACKING' WHO OR 'DERAILING' EXACTLY WHAT 'EFFORT' HOW? And when you say 'WE', who, specifically, real or imagined, real or abstractly, is 'with' you? How have you 'struggled' to 'help', and who are you 'helping'? Do you have a 'Saviour Complex', 'Dr.' Nathan? Are cabdrivers hopelessly lost without your divine help (and that of your imaginary compadres or lieutenants)? One quote from my investigation of Don Nathan...'There's always something in it for Don Nathan'. (Source protected due to high confidence of accuracy.)"
--- Foolishness #8 - This is the product of your personal animus toward me. I don't see myself as a savior of anyone. I am concerned about a number of issues, but the need to spread a global message is one you're projecting on me. It's not one I feel the need to spread. The problem is yours, young man. Get over it.
"Did you ever personally benefit from 'making referrals' of cabdrivers with 'cases' to other lawyers? If so, how. If no, could you explain why one might claim to the contrary."
--- Foolishness #9 - This presumes there is something wrong with referring a case to another lawyer. As long as the client approves it or authorizes it in the contract executed at the outset of representation and the relationship between the lawyers is made known, there is nothing illegal, immoral or fattening about referral of a case from one lawyer to another.
Anyone might have the notion that a referral was made that ended up in a bad result. After all, in each case one ends up a winner and the other ends up the loser. That means 50% of all cases are won and 50% are lost. If I referred a case to another lawyer when I began to retire, it would have been with the contractual authority to do so from my client. And it would have been done so as not to abandon that client.
No guarantee is ever made in representing people that victory is going to follow. And if a case was referred to another lawyer that went sour, it may well not have been that lawyer's fault. After all, when you win you're a hero, and when you lose you're a bum.
If I realized a profit from referring a case, it means that driver who had his case referred ended up a winner.
"Are we really supposed to accept your 'free help' blindly, Mr. Nathan? Aren't we better off paying for someone's services?"
--- Foolishness #10 - Suit yourself, Mike. Maybe YOU are better off "...paying for someone's services". Most people with our shared interests are not.
"Shouldn't we at least investigate your resume?"
A resume is all you'll find on my web page. It's unfancy and straightforward; not professionally done. I came up the hard way just like you, only I did it more than a generation the earlier.
"Shouldn't you post a detailed one so we don't have to piece it together ourselves?"
It's been there for the inspection all the while. Google me if you like. Lawyers are public figures, from the Kings of Torts to the simple guys like me.
"Which way is the foolish one, Wise-Ass? Keep on trying to denigrate me or any formal or informal organization of cabdrivers who are smart enough to avoid you. Luck is a lady, but Karma, she's a real ******"
Hostile, hostile. what are you trying to accomplish here? Does this hostility bring dozens to your side? I guess there are enough haters out there who are going to respond to it. But to what end is it?
"Let me quote the late, great Chris Elliot, (as 'The Guy Under The Seats' on The David Letterman Show)... 'Never forget I'm here under the seats, watching you, always. I'll be back, Mr. Big Shot NATHAN, to make your life a living hell.'"
I'm no big shot. I'm nobody - small potatoes. You're in no position to do much of anything to me because I'm not here to compete with you or step on your turf. At this point, more than half of my practice is out of the Chicago Metro area - more and more of it out of the State of Illinois. And I don't really have to practice law actively anyway. So your personal enmity doesn't threaten me one iota.
As I said in a prior posting, go bang your head against a wall if you need something to do. Attacking me won't get you anything worth your while, try though you might. The drivers deserve better.
Are you better than that?
Donald Nathan
#1...Most of your interaction with me is counter-productive, especially to me. Please refrain from mentioning the me or the CCO for 48 hours. Talk about the 'real issues'. I'll be back...
#2...You haven't provided any platform for me, Mr. Nathan...I was already on the stage before you got here...
#3...You don't have a dog in this fight, Doc...
#4...You could walk away at any time...no contract to bind a volunteer, ethics or not...
#5...Workmens Comp is not regarded by cabdrivers as anything but another fee or tax. They're mostly right...
#6...Your involvement is relevant...
#7...You said it, not me...
#8...Then quit trying to 'unite' factions that got to work it out themelves. You didn't help by coming to Kabob Corner or by trying to raise the 'dead' organizations...
#9...No such presumption made- who's projecting now?...
#10...My opinion...most are better off with someone other than you...informed opinion based on fact...
#11?...Go away and we couldn't possibly have a conflict...nobody has really asked you to be here, have they?...you are only a unnecessary distraction to me...you don't figure in the bigger picture at all...
I'm not banging my head against a wall...I'm counter-attacking you Mr. Nathan...I would have never sought you out as a 'target' as you have done to others...
I'm as good as it gets.
I'll let the cabdrivers be my judge, jury, and executioner, Mr. Nathan.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Replying to:
The bait can't be resisted even though I know I ought not to stoop to the gutter to respond.
Mr. Nathan,
"Are you not a man of your word? Didn't you agree with Frank's advice to disengage yourself from your counter-productive behavior?"
--- Foolishness #1 - starts from a presumption my "behavior" is "counter-productive".
"When will you learn to stop farting in my general direction? What 'results' have you achieved and with 'whom', exactly?I don't struggle to 'hate you', Mr. Nathan. I struggle to defend myself, others, and the truth. From you and your 'meddling'."
--- Foolishness #2 - By "farting" in your general direction, I've given you a platform from which to organize. You presume that you "defend...the truth" because you see yourself as the Godshead of truth. And that's fine with me if it inspires organization of a cadre of committed cabbies in Chicago who are willing to go to the mat for the things each of us want them to achieve.
"Did you make a Freudian slip, 'Doctor' Nathan...what did you mean when you wrote that you're 'focused on the issues that matter to the INDUSTRY'? I am focused on the issues that matter to the CABDRIVERS. Aren't there 'players' in the INDUSTRY who benefit from the 'medallion monopolies'? Maybe these are the holders of the 'treasure' you seek. Can they pay you to go away? I'm sure they can."
--- Foolishness #3 - Actually, I do have a doctoral degree: Juris Doctor. And I freely admit to having worked for the captains of the industry in years past: my first job in civil law was with Sherman Dickholtz whose brother Art owned about 190 Flash Cabs in the mid '70's; Delta Casualty was owned by Art Dickholtz - it insured the 300+ Flash Cabs - Delta was my biggest defense client in the '80's; After Art Dickholtz died in the '90's, I set up shop at 2353 W. Belmont for a couple of years - unfortunately Big Tony Bottalla passed away too.
After that, recognizing I didn't need to work like a sled-dog any longer, I began to retire. I bought a home in rural Monterey County, California - near where Steinbeck wrote of Lenny hiding in the reeds to the East of Eden - and stopped worrying about the almighty buck.
"You wouldn't be as obligated as a 'volunteer' lawyer to pursue the interests of your 'chosen' clients, the cabdrivers, would you 'Dr.' Nathan? You could cash in your chips and leave the table at a moment's notice, couldn't you?"
--- Foolishness #4 - In a word: NO. A lawyer cannot abandon his clients any more so than a medical doctor can abandon his patients. It would be ethically inappropriate to do that without providing quality representation for the clientele.
Of course, a lawyer can die and thereby "leave the table at a moment's notice". But there's no way to "cash in your chips" as a lawyer by clicking the fingers even through death.
"You want to 'give the drivers an opportunity to hold their noses above water'? What EXACTLY does that mean, 'Dr. Trained Wordsmith'? I want to secure us cabdrivers a significant fare increase, among other reforms. I've actually DONE SOMETHING towards that end. What EXACTLY have you done LATELY, Mr. Nathan?"
--- This one isn't foolishness. Holding noses above water becomes progressively harder when a significant fare increase is not won. You and I have that shared goal, sir. You've done a lot toward that end, and you are to be roundly praised for your efforts. I have not been in a position to do as much as I wish I could other than to try to inspire drivers to piece together a viable organization to work toward our shared goal.
You have been much more successful at this than I could ever hope to be because you took the time to camp out at Kabob Corner every day for weeks on end. My life and professional commitments would not have permitted that kind of Herculean effort. My sincere hope is that your work is going to bear fruit. The only thing I can do is to try to inspire others - like you too - to organize efforts to achieve the goal. I'm in a position to offer advice toward that end: to be a resource person. I'm not in a position to be in the trenches like you are, and I don't want to be.
"You want to 'give them a chance to have employment benefits that are routine in other industries' such as...what, like the 'Workmens Comp' we now 'get'? I think the cabdriver is the last on the food chain to actually benefit from that, if at all. Good for cabdriver-lawyers, though.
--- Major Foolishness #5 - Because over 50% of cab drivers do not report income to the Federal government, they end up shooting themselves in the foot with Illinois Workers Compensation benefits. Under The Workers Compensation Act, an injured driver is entitled to 2/3 of average weekly wages for a 40 hour week for the 52 weeks immediately preceeding injury for temporary total disability. That means while under medical care after a crash, a driver SHOULD get 2/3 of what is normally made just like a guy who punches a time card. Of course, if the driver doesn't report income, it's easy to say that he ought not to get anything more than the absolute minimum benefit.
Drivers who don't pay taxes shoot themselves in the foot.
Lawyers who take on cases for temporary total disability benefits do so without the expectation of being awarded a fee by the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission unless they have to fight for it in a courtroom. Usually insurance companies pay these benefits without a squawk, especially so when it's for minimum rate.
Even after a court battle, a lawyer gets only 20% of the purse in most cases. With the typical cabbie for a client, no lawyer can afford to embroil himself in a battle like this.
Medical bills get paid at the click of the finger under The Act. Why an injured driver would FAIL to get free medical care through workers compensation is incomprehensible to me. Over the years, I've had to go to court only a few times for medical benefits. Of course, I charged a percentage for my efforts - a contingency fee of 20%, and I was never ashamed to do so because I never lost such a case - ever.
PERMANENT total disability is the tough one for a cab driver to win big bucks if no taxes are paid. A major injury brings a lousy result for the guy who lies on his return or who files none at all. If a driver tells the TRUTH in a tax return, the result that can be obtained at the IWWC is fairly significant. The fee charged for this by an attorney who has to fight for his client is usually 20%. But if the injury is one that brings an automatic award (i.e. an amputation), the fee is all of $100 for filling out the papers.
Until the Penny Cab and Morgan Cab cases in the mid 1970's, cab drivers had no right at all to workers compensation. The right to W/C benefits was underscored where it counted in a series of cases against Yellow Cab and Checker Taxi in the 1980's.
At this point in my career, I do not get involved in Workers Compensation cases for cab drivers unless the injuries are catastrophic. In most such cases, the fee is $100 for filling in the blanks of the applications for benefits.
If you had anything to do with that stinker, please own up. That kind of 'help' we don't need no more of.
--- Foolishness #6 - My involvement with "that stinker" is meaningless at this point. Mike, just make sure you tell the IRS the truth every April 15, and you'll get your due if you get hurt in your next crash. If you think you don't need "...That kimd of 'help'..." then just make sure you try to screw the government out of income taxes. As with many other ways to shoot yourself in the foot, this would be just another way.
You haven't been on 'the streets' recently enough to know 'the dangers' or how to 'protect' us from them. You don't strike me as the type who picked up everybody and drove in every neighborhood. (I am.) You strike me as the type who contributed in your own small way to the negative stereotypes given cabdrivers just as you today contribute to the negative stereoypes given lawyers.
--- Foolishness #7 - It's not necessary to sit behind the wheel of the cab to know the dangers drivers face. Granted, I haven't driven a cab since letting C/L #11473 expire at the end of 1975. But that doesn't mean ipso facto that I have lost my memory of what danger was all about.
Granted, I used to be able to sit at a cab post at Chicago and Cicero and study contract law while listening to the American United dispatcher with one ear. Now I might hesitate to do that. But back in the old days when I drove into Cabrini-Green, it wasn't filled with "Gen-X-ers". When I took a load off the radio at the Westside VA, I didn't know where it was going, and I didn't care.
I don't see my function as protecting drivers from the dangers that lurk on the streets at this point in my career. You are to be roundly praised for your willingness to do so, although I am not sure how you would propose to do so on an individual basis. Whatever you have in mind, I say that's great. Do it.
"EXACTLY WHO IS 'SIDETRACKING' WHO OR 'DERAILING' EXACTLY WHAT 'EFFORT' HOW? And when you say 'WE', who, specifically, real or imagined, real or abstractly, is 'with' you? How have you 'struggled' to 'help', and who are you 'helping'? Do you have a 'Saviour Complex', 'Dr.' Nathan? Are cabdrivers hopelessly lost without your divine help (and that of your imaginary compadres or lieutenants)? One quote from my investigation of Don Nathan...'There's always something in it for Don Nathan'. (Source protected due to high confidence of accuracy.)"
--- Foolishness #8 - This is the product of your personal animus toward me. I don't see myself as a savior of anyone. I am concerned about a number of issues, but the need to spread a global message is one you're projecting on me. It's not one I feel the need to spread. The problem is yours, young man. Get over it.
"Did you ever personally benefit from 'making referrals' of cabdrivers with 'cases' to other lawyers? If so, how. If no, could you explain why one might claim to the contrary."
--- Foolishness #9 - This presumes there is something wrong with referring a case to another lawyer. As long as the client approves it or authorizes it in the contract executed at the outset of representation and the relationship between the lawyers is made known, there is nothing illegal, immoral or fattening about referral of a case from one lawyer to another.
Anyone might have the notion that a referral was made that ended up in a bad result. After all, in each case one ends up a winner and the other ends up the loser. That means 50% of all cases are won and 50% are lost. If I referred a case to another lawyer when I began to retire, it would have been with the contractual authority to do so from my client. And it would have been done so as not to abandon that client.
No guarantee is ever made in representing people that victory is going to follow. And if a case was referred to another lawyer that went sour, it may well not have been that lawyer's fault. After all, when you win you're a hero, and when you lose you're a bum.
If I realized a profit from referring a case, it means that driver who had his case referred ended up a winner.
"Are we really supposed to accept your 'free help' blindly, Mr. Nathan? Aren't we better off paying for someone's services?"
--- Foolishness #10 - Suit yourself, Mike. Maybe YOU are better off "...paying for someone's services". Most people with our shared interests are not.
"Shouldn't we at least investigate your resume?"
A resume is all you'll find on my web page. It's unfancy and straightforward; not professionally done. I came up the hard way just like you, only I did it more than a generation the earlier.
"Shouldn't you post a detailed one so we don't have to piece it together ourselves?"
It's been there for the inspection all the while. Google me if you like. Lawyers are public figures, from the Kings of Torts to the simple guys like me.
"Which way is the foolish one, Wise-Ass? Keep on trying to denigrate me or any formal or informal organization of cabdrivers who are smart enough to avoid you. Luck is a lady, but Karma, she's a real ******"
Hostile, hostile. what are you trying to accomplish here? Does this hostility bring dozens to your side? I guess there are enough haters out there who are going to respond to it. But to what end is it?
"Let me quote the late, great Chris Elliot, (as 'The Guy Under The Seats' on The David Letterman Show)... 'Never forget I'm here under the seats, watching you, always. I'll be back, Mr. Big Shot NATHAN, to make your life a living hell.'"
I'm no big shot. I'm nobody - small potatoes. You're in no position to do much of anything to me because I'm not here to compete with you or step on your turf. At this point, more than half of my practice is out of the Chicago Metro area - more and more of it out of the State of Illinois. And I don't really have to practice law actively anyway. So your personal enmity doesn't threaten me one iota.
As I said in a prior posting, go bang your head against a wall if you need something to do. Attacking me won't get you anything worth your while, try though you might. The drivers deserve better.
Are you better than that?
Donald Nathan
I'm confused...
Is this an 'inside' or an 'outsider' joke?
-Mike
P.S. I don't get it either way. LOL
P.P.S. The German censor got S. Che is sk. opf!
P.P.P.S. 'County' IS a dirty to word to some if 'Cook' precedes it!
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Replying to:
DN: Geh klop dein Kopf in Wand, Nahr.
wjw: OUCH!
It's neither inside, nor is it outside. It's tough to translate for someone who is only 2/8. Ask Wolfgang someday. I think he apprciates it. Or go ask someone you pay for counsel who can "vershteh" it. I can only give you 3/8 of a translation, but I'm just a three bit wordsmith.
No argument from the Nahr...
-Mike
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Replying to:
It's neither inside, nor is it outside. It's tough to translate for someone who is only 2/8. Ask Wolfgang someday. I think he apprciates it. Or go ask someone you pay for counsel who can "vershteh" it. I can only give you 3/8 of a translation, but I'm just a three bit wordsmith.
er ist ein verkakte junger kakker.
“They lied to you. The Devil is not the Prince of Matter; the Devil is the arrogance of the spirit, faith without smile, truth that is never seized by doubt. The Devil is grim because he knows where he is going, and, in moving, he always returns whence he came.” (Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose)
“I’m a fuzzy-headed warm-hearted liberal, and I think fuzzy-headed warm-hearted liberalism is an ideological stance that needs defending—if necessary, with a hob-nailed boot-kick to the ******** of budding totalitarianism.” (Charles Stross)
Awa 'n' bile yer heed, Mikey!
Now in darkness, world stops turning
As the war machine keeps burning
No more war pigs of the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
All right now!
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Replying to:
er ist ein verkakte junger kakker.
“They lied to you. The Devil is not the Prince of Matter; the Devil is the arrogance of the spirit, faith without smile, truth that is never seized by doubt. The Devil is grim because he knows where he is going, and, in moving, he always returns whence he came.” (Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose)
“I’m a fuzzy-headed warm-hearted liberal, and I think fuzzy-headed warm-hearted liberalism is an ideological stance that needs defending—if necessary, with a hob-nailed boot-kick to the ******** of budding totalitarianism.” (Charles Stross)
Awa 'n' bile yer heed, Mikey!
(Han has decided to go searching for Luke)
ECHO BASE OFFICER: You'll freeze to death before you reach the first marker!
HAN SOLO: Then I'll see you in Hell!
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Replying to:
er ist ein verkakte junger kakker.
“They lied to you. The Devil is not the Prince of Matter; the Devil is the arrogance of the spirit, faith without smile, truth that is never seized by doubt. The Devil is grim because he knows where he is going, and, in moving, he always returns whence he came.” (Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose)
“I’m a fuzzy-headed warm-hearted liberal, and I think fuzzy-headed warm-hearted liberalism is an ideological stance that needs defending—if necessary, with a hob-nailed boot-kick to the ******** of budding totalitarianism.” (Charles Stross)
Awa 'n' bile yer heed, Mikey!
