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Archive for the month “May, 2023”

26 May 2023

Templeton Project: A Press of Leaves

Back in October 2015 I wrote about the inauguration of the Abington Templeton Foundation (see here).  The project is now underway (see here) and I will be posting our writing here.

Check out the latest piece entitled “A Press of Leaves.”

See also:

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I took a handful of leaves to smell

And pressed them gently against my face.

What delight can be found in a silly thing.

What joy like a child’s such play can bring.

The scent was not of frankincense or myrrh,

But earthy, giving the sense a stir,

And sharing in the incense of the woods,

While different-scented winter looms.

The leaves of fall are desiccated things,

Apt portants of a barren time.

Once they were lush and richly green,

Reflecting the sun with a lively sheen.

But, all that lives must surely die,

As fallen leaves do testify.

They form an unburied host of the dead,

Reminder of the bones the prophet saw.

A cruel deception is played on our sense

That makes us unwary of what is true..

How can that press of leaves smell so sweet

As if death is sugar and not rotting meat?

And yet, there’s truth in our joyful play.

Grim death is gloom, but leads to Day.

It is the gate to endless light,

Where faith transmutes to keenest sight.

Michael Tavella  Easter 3  2023

Posted in Templeton Project | Leave a comment
25 May 2023
2 Comments

YesSource: Yes Tribute – A Collection of Arkady Shilkloper performances in 2017 and 2018

Here are my latest uploads to YesSource, my Yes rarities youtube page (about which you can read here).  This post is another addition to my series of Yes music posts and a collection of all my Yes-related posts is here.  Yes, of course, is a, if not the, premier progressive rock band, and I am an enormous fan of it.

You can see all of my Yessource uploads here.

My latest YesSource uploads can be found here:

Posted in YesSource
22 May 2023

9th Circuit Remands Employees’ Challenge to Vaccine Exemption Denial

This is from religionclause.blogspot.com which you can find here:

In Keene v. City and County of San Francisco, (9th Cir., May 15, 2023), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a decision from a California federal district court that denied preliminary relief to two city and county employees who were denied religious exemptions from CCSF’s COVID vaccine mandate. The appeals court said in part:

The district court erroneously concluded that “[n]either Plaintiff has demonstrated that their religious beliefs are sincere or that those beliefs conflict with receiving the COVID-19 vaccine….”…

Beyond the district court’s factual error, its decision reflects a misunderstanding of Title VII law. A religious belief need not be consistent or rational to be protected under Title VII, and an assertion of a sincere religious belief is generally accepted…. 

The district court did not explain its conclusion that Appellants had not established sincerity beyond stating that there are “no grounds upon which to assert the mistaken conclusion that the FDA-approved vaccines . . . are . . . derived from murdered babies” and generally stating that personal preferences are not sincere religious beliefs. And CCSF offered no argument or evidence that Appellants’ beliefs are insincere. Absent any indication otherwise, it seems that the district court erroneously held that Appellants had not asserted sincere religious beliefs because their beliefs were not scientifically accurate. Remand is warranted for the district court to reevaluate Appellants’ claims applying the proper failure-to-accommodate inquiry….

Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

You can learn more about this issue here.

Posted in Reblog: Religion Clause | Leave a comment
19 May 2023
3 Comments

Templeton Project: The Holy Sepulcher

Back in October 2015 I wrote about the inauguration of the Abington Templeton Foundation (see here).  The project is now underway (see here) and I will be posting our writing here.

Check out the latest piece entitled “The Holy Sepulcher.”

See also:

_____________________________

Beneath dressed stone of the medieval age,

Enclosed in darkness lies the more ancient grave

Of its sacred occupant, empty after three days,

Through which Christ the Lord our sins forgave.

A garden and then a pagan fane

To the Roman goddess of beauty and love

Was founded upon the Mount of the Skull

Where Jesus both died and rose again.

The goddess stood for imperial might

Of a people that brooked no violent dissent.

Until victory, Rome would not relent.

A day then came when she ruled no more.

The mother of Constantine the Great

Discovered a piece of the true cross of Christ

And had built the church that sheltered his grave

Near where our Savior was sacrificed.

No foe could blot out the sacred space,

Even though the church was destroyed

By Persians and the Egyptian al-Hakim.

Again God’s house stands in its place.

The Son of God in deep darkness lay.

The crucified vested in a linen shroud,

A spotless victim of the envious and proud.

But, God in both light and darkness dwells.

To the Lord the darkness is as light

And brightness goes before His path.

The warrior goes forth for His people to fight.

So writes King David in ancient times.

The Lord arose in darkest night

And shone forth in splendor with the sun.

The tomb is empty by God’s own might,

That left it forlorn of the conquering Son.

Pilgrims come the shrine to view,

As the church’s worship continues on.

And then the Lord the foe subdues

To make the City and all things new.

Michael Tavella  Thursday in Holy Week, 2023

Posted in Templeton Project
15 May 2023

8th Circuit Upholds Constitutionality of Federal Ban on Damaging Religious Real Property

This is from religionclause.blogspot.com which you can find here:

In United States v. Hari, (8th Cir., May 10, 2023), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality under the Commerce Clause of 18 USC §247.  The statute bars damaging religious real property because of the religious character of the property, and bars obstructing a person’s enjoyment of free exercise of religion by force or threat of force against them or against religious real property, when the person’s conduct affects interstate commerce. The court said in part:

Here, the statute specifically requires that the offense “affects interstate or foreign commerce.” This “ensures, through a case-by-case inquiry, that each defendant’s [offense] affected interstate commerce.”

The court also upheld defendant’s conviction under 18 USC § 924(c)(1) for carrying or using a destructive device during and in relation to any crime of violence.  The conduct for which defendant was convicted was described by the court:

In August 2017, Emily Hari loaded a pickup truck with a 20 pound pipe bomb, two assault rifles, and a sledgehammer and drove with two confederates from Illinois to the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The trio smashed a window of the Imam’s office before the parishioners’ dawn prayer and threw gasoline, diesel fuel, and the pipe bomb inside. The bomb detonated. No one was injured; the building suffered fire and smoke damage. Hari and the others fled.

You can learn more about this issue here.

Posted in Reblog: Religion Clause | Leave a comment
11 May 2023
2 Comments

Yes Tribute: 10/21/95 – Tales from Yesterday

Here are my latest uploads to YesSource, my Yes rarities youtube page (about which you can read here).  This post is another addition to my series of Yes music posts and a collection of all my Yes-related posts is here.  Yes, of course, is a, if not the, premier progressive rock band, and I am an enormous fan of it.

You can see all of my Yessource uploads here.

My latest YesSource uploads can be found here:

Posted in YesSource
09 May 2023
1 Comment

You’re Entitled to What?

America is a melting pot of immigrants, and New York City is a prime example of this. On a recent trip there I was given a tour through Central Park by an enthusiastic young man who was born in North Africa, spoke 3 languages, was a college student in international relations, and earned his living  and college tuition doing the strenuous job of driving people through the Park in a bicycle cab. He was knowledgeable about the Park’s history and funny and enthusiastic about his job. It was wonderful to meet this young man, who was so happy to be doing a job few Americans would do.  And, he didn’t act as if he was entitled to anything. He pointed out the residences of the rich and famous high in the sky in buildings surrounding the Park, worth many millions of dollars. It is interesting to note that the Park was created and landscaped by man, sheep grazed on its flat fields, and its original inhabitants were the poorest in New York City who lived in shanties.

                At some point in life, usually at a young age, each of us learns, via our parents, teachers, friends or the police, that we aren’t entitled to do whatever we want and get whatever we want to have. But, that doesn’t stop the human species from trying to get what they want and feel they are entitled to things.  Entitlement is a concept shared by all classes of society, although many people feel that it applies only to lower income people who receive some form of government assistance.  That is not true.  I read the other day that the wealthy have weathered the latest recession best because they didn’t have to rely on their jobs or the equity in their property, which resources make up the majority of an average person’s assets.  But, in a survey, most of the wealthy felt they would be even happier if they had over $5 million in assets. I also read about a top executive at a large company who earned $6 million dollars a year, and although he stated that he was in favor of medical care for everyone, and he had family members who are burdened by large medical expenses, he didn’t think it was fair for him to pay more taxes than people who earned less simply because he earned so much.  In other words, for most people, enough is never enough.

                The same day I met the tour guide I spoke with a potential client who I felt had been discriminated by her employer by not being accommodated when she had a disability. Employment and civil rights clients rarely suffer physical injury in their jobs, but they often suffer what I call “psychic” injuries such as emotional distress, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.  Usually this is due to mental abuse at the hands of supervisors or co-workers, or the effort involved in just trying to do or keep their jobs, when someone has decided for one reason or another, which may not have anything to do with the person or their work performance, that they have to leave.  The trauma of having to leave one’s job can be severe.  Yet this trauma must be balanced against the law in most states, which is that an employee serves at the will of their employer, and can be discharged at will, but cannot be discriminated against based on specific civil rights laws.

                The potential client suggested that she would like a year’s salary, or $50,000, as a settlement because I felt her employer may have violated a civil rights law.  She also said that she didn’t want to return to her job, and that the $50,000 would not be significant to her large and wealthy corporation. I pointed out that in my learned opinion $50,000 is not an insignificant amount, and regardless of whether corporations can afford it, money is not given out by them on a willy-nilly basis.  Yet, this is a common issue lawyers face—convincing their clients that simply feeling that they are entitled to money is not enough. Sometimes a long, hard, and expensive battle must be fought and the client may not always prevail, as the legal system has many pitfalls.  That is why, many lawyers, including me, include in our fee agreements that clients must accept an offer which I consider to be reasonable, and not an amount they feel they are simply entitled to.

__________________________________________________________________

Faye Riva Cohen has provided personalized, creative, and zealous legal representation to clients in the areas of Employment and Labor Law, Civil Rights and Discrimination, Estate Planning and Litigation, Real Estate, and Family Law for more than four decades. She enjoys a well-earned reputation for successfully litigating multi-faceted, complex cases against large and powerful adversaries, often in David and Goliath situations.

Please feel free to get in touch with Faye at: frc@fayerivacohen.com or 215.563.7776

Posted in Reblog: Toughlawyerlady
05 May 2023
3 Comments

Templeton Project: Chaos Set Right

Back in October 2015 I wrote about the inauguration of the Abington Templeton Foundation (see here).  The project is now underway (see here) and I will be posting our writing here.

Check out the latest piece entitled “Chaos Set Right.”

See also:

_____________________________

Swirling and Swirling and Swirling and Swirling.

Maelstrom to storm to the galaxy’s center.

Turbulence, mayhem, confusion, disorder.

In the beginning the earth was shapeless.

Darkness covered the face of the deep.

God said, “Let there be light.” And it was.

Thence–order, calm, and arrangement

Entered the world and kept chaos back.

To us was given an ordered world.

The Lord unswirled what had been swirled.

Tempest and flood are in limits confined

That from the outset God designed.

Swirling and Swirling and Swirling and Swirling.

From meridian to meridian and pole to pole.

Turbulence, mayhem, confusion, disorder.

Near the beginning two mortals fell

And were sent away from the sacred place.

God said, “To dust you shall return.”

Thence–order, calm, and arrangement

Re-entered the world to keep evil back.

For us Christ won a world set right

By gaining the victory over the night.

His arms outspread to suffer and bless

So we may life through Him possess.

Michael Tavella

March 24, 2023

Posted in Templeton Project
04 May 2023
2 Comments

YesSource: Yes Tribute – Arkady Shilkloper – Symphonic Tribute to Yes Live in Novosibirsk

Here are my latest uploads to YesSource, my Yes rarities youtube page (about which you can read here).  This post is another addition to my series of Yes music posts and a collection of all my Yes-related posts is here.  Yes, of course, is a, if not the, premier progressive rock band, and I am an enormous fan of it.

You can see all of my Yessource uploads here.

My latest YesSource uploads can be found here:

Posted in YesSource
01 May 2023

Former Cantor’s Claims Against Synagogue Are Dismissed

This is from religionclause.blogspot.com which you can find here:

In Sklar v. Temple Israel, Westport Inc., (CT Super., April 21, 2023), a Connecticut state trial court dismissed breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims asserted by the former Cantor of defendant synagogue, Temple Israel.  Plaintiff contended that the Temple failed to provide him the procedural protections to which he was entitled under his contract before it fired him for three incidents of unsatisfactory performance of duties. The court held that the ministerial exception doctrine precludes plaintiff’s contract claims, saying in part:

[T]he manner in which the defendant Temple Israel discharged or disciplined the plaintiff would constitute government interference with an internal decision that affects the faith and mission of the synagogue, thereby violating the Free Exercise Clause. The Court also finds that it would also violate the Establishment Clause, which prohibits government involvement in ecclesiastical decisions because it concerns internal management decisions of the synagogue as to its employment relationship with its clergy.

The court concluded that plaintiff’s other allegations, while serious, are legally insufficient to support a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiff had complained of lapses in COVID protocols and lack of enhanced security which exacerbated his post-traumatic stress disorder.

You can learn more about this issue here.

Posted in Templeton Project | Leave a comment

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