{"id":3680,"date":"2005-03-14T15:26:29","date_gmt":"2005-03-14T19:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/03\/14\/romolo-and-thin-ice\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:57:54","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:57:54","slug":"romolo-and-thin-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/03\/14\/romolo-and-thin-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"romolo and thin ice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"a3453\" name=\"a3453\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,Times,Serif\"><em><strong> <span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"> potluck<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"> from Old Dorp<span style=\"color: red;font-size: small\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"><strong><em>R<\/em><\/strong>emember <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/albany.citysearch.com\/map?mode=geo&amp;id=7593303&amp;map_lat=428043&amp;map_lon=-739100&amp;fid=&amp;cslink=\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">Romolo Versaci<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">?  He&#8217;s the Schenectady, NY, lawyer who sued Diane Richie,<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> an unemployed widow with children, for defamation (seeking $100,000).  Ms. Richie had<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> referred to Romolo as a &#8220;so-called lawyer&#8221; on a local discussion website. (see <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/discuss\/msgReader$2044\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">our post<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">, and<\/span><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"> the coverage and discussion at <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schenectadyny.info\/cgi-bin\/Blah\/Blah.pl?b=cc,v=display,m=1093686829,s=all\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: black\">SchenectadyNY.info<\/span><\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">.)  Pat Zollinger, the site&#8217;s administrator,<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> was subpoenaed to be at court today (March 14, 2005), and she reports that the case was<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> dismissed by visiting Judge <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/216.239.63.104\/search?q=cache:1RROpFJyOzIJ:www.moderncourts.org\/Publications\/pdf\/cmr\/schen_county_02.pdf+%22Felix+Catena%22+%2B%22Montgomery+County%22+%2B%22New+York%22&amp;hl=en&amp;start=8\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: #000000;font-size: x-small\">Felix Catena<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> of Montgomery County.  Judge Catena apparently ruled<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> that the term &#8220;so-called lawyer&#8221; is merely an opinion and protected speech.  A Schenectady<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> G<em>azette<\/em> reporter was present, and I expect to have more details and be able to link to his story<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> tomorrow. [see <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/03\/15\/versacis-so-called-lawsuit-dismissed\/\">here<\/a> for the follow-up post]<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">Pat tells me that Lawyer Versaci believes that there is plenty of caselaw <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> supporting his complaint and he says he&#8217;ll appeal (giving any winnings to<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> his church).  I don&#8217;t know to whom Romolo is referring, but he was also<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> quoted saying &#8220;a lawyer&#8217;s worst enemy is another lawyer.&#8221; <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><em> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/files\/2008\/02\/skatersignn.gif\" alt=\"\" \/> <strong>S<\/strong>unshine Causes Thin Ice<\/em>:  Here&#8217;s another story from Schenectady, that I think <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">is appropriate for <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sunshineweek.org\/\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: #000000;font-size: x-small\">Sunshine Week<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">.  Basically, I want to know the identity of the man who<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> decided to take &#8220;a shortcut from Scotia&#8221; to Schenectady, by walking across the Mohawk River<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> on Saturday afternoon.  I guess he didn&#8217;t notice that the 1000 foot span of river looked at bit<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> unstable &#8212; sort of like a snow-covered, ice-floe-junkyard.  Unfortunately for the (I presume)<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> young man, the last 30 feet or so of the River on the Schenectady side had no ice cover at all.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> Happily, though &#8220;A pedestrian in Riverside Park heard the man&#8217;s calls for help and phoned for<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> emergency help.  Fortunately, a crew of three firefighters were nearby and heard the call.&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> &#8220;<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schenectadyny.info\/cgi-bin\/Blah\/Blah.pl?b=cc,m=1101117478\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">Firefighters pull man to safety after he falls into icy Mohawk<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">,&#8221; (<em>Gazette<\/em>, at B3, March 13, 2005)<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><em><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/tinycheck.gif\" alt=\"tiny check\" \/> <\/em><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> Deputy Fire Chief Robert Stanley &#8220;declined to name&#8221; the man.  Well, I think we should know his<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> identity.  He recklessly caused the expenditure of city resources, and some risk for our firefighters.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> He also might be applying for a job (or wanting to marry someone&#8217;s daughter).  While taking<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> shortcuts can be a sign of efficiency, it can also be quite shortsighted.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" align=\"left\">where the man<br \/>\nfell in yesterday \u2013<br \/>\nmore thin ice<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026. by<em> dagosan <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><em><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/files\/2008\/02\/bridge-closed.gif\" alt=\"\" \/> <strong>S<\/strong>peaking of crossing the Mohawk: <\/em>The 2005 rescue of the ice-walking River-crosser (see above), which<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> happened on the stretch of the River at the end of my block, reminded me of the history made,<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> or almost made there.   It made me realize that bad luck, bad judgment and aborted<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> development projects existed here long before our little Metroplex Authority was<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> formed (see, <em>e.g.<\/em>, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/02\/28\/schmittle-italy\/\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: #000000;font-size: x-small\">schmittle Italy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">). <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">The Mohawk is particularly treacherous in the section where I reside, especially when<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> the ice is breaking up.  (see &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.historicstockade.com\/historycenter\/bridging_the_mohawk.htm\">Bridging the Mohawk<\/a>,&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> by J. Gara, J. Garver):<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">&#8220;An important crossing was the one from the Stockade to what is now the<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> Village of Scotia, where a cable ferry once operated. This site would be the <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">site of the first serious effort to bridge the river. Theodore Burr, a cousin to <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> Aaron Burr, envisioned a suspension bridge at this relatively narrow point. <\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">&#8220;Work began in the winter of 1794-95 to build a wooden cable on the ice and<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> lift it onto piers before ice-out. Unfortunately, a thaw opened the river and <\/span><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"> destroyed the work. <strong>If successful, it would have been the first long bridge<\/strong><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"><strong> in the 13 colonies.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"> <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: xx-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11031\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/files\/2005\/03\/burrbridgeabutmentschdy.jpg\" alt=\"former Burr Bridge abutment at the end of Washington Ave., Schenectady\" width=\"97\" height=\"76\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/files\/2005\/03\/burrbridgeabutmentschdy.jpg 368w, https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/files\/2005\/03\/burrbridgeabutmentschdy-300x233.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 97px) 100vw, 97px\" \/><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: xx-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"> Schenectady side . . Burr Bridge Abutment . . Scotia side <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11032\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/files\/2005\/03\/burrbridgeabutmentscotia.jpg\" alt=\"former Burr Bridge abutment at Washington Ave. Scotia, NY\" width=\"88\" height=\"80\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/files\/2005\/03\/burrbridgeabutmentscotia.jpg 319w, https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/files\/2005\/03\/burrbridgeabutmentscotia-300x275.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 88px) 100vw, 88px\" \/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">&#8220;In 1806, construction began on the Burr Bridge again only to have more setbacks due to ice. Again, workers took advantage of the frozen river only<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> to have their pier scaffolding destroyed when the river ice opened up in mid-<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">winter. Finally, in 1808 the wooden cabled suspension bridge was finally<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> completed and the river between Schenectady and Scotia was spanned..&#8221; <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">[It was 997 feet long.]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">Twenty years later, the Schenectady-Scotia bridge was covered. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">Local lore [<em>e.g<\/em>., see the 6th Fun Fact at page 11, of the CBRE <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schenectadymetroplex.org\/download.cfm\/Capital_Region_Profile.pdf?AssetID=43\">Capital Region Profile<\/a><\/em>] says that it was the longest covered bridge in the Western Hemisphere.  However, I have found<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> no sources outside the Capital Region that confirm that assertion.    Nothing is left of<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> the Burr Bridge, except the abutments on each side of the River, at the end of Schenectady&#8217;s Washington Avenue and Scotia&#8217;s Washington Avenue.  You&#8217;ll often find me<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> sitting or standing on the Schenectady abutment, especially around sunset.  (more info see<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"> <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">&#8220;<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nysowa.org\/Docs\/Mohawk.pdf\">Mohawk &#8212; Discovering the Valley of the Crystals<\/a><\/em>,&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"> <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">by M. Paul Keesler, <\/span><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wpbstv.org\/NorthCountryBooks\/HomePage.htm\">North Country Books<\/a>)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\" dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/files\/2009\/01\/images_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"85\" height=\"71\" \/><strong><em> update<\/em><\/strong> (Jan. 14, 2009): For more on Schenectadians repeatedly falling through thin ice, see our post &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2009\/01\/14\/schenectadys-slow-learners-on-thin-ice-again\">schenectady slow learners on thin ice again<\/a>,&#8221; about plows falling through Iroquois Lake.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/JudgeBarnesS.gif\" alt=\"JudgeBarnesS\" \/> <strong><em>Y<\/em><\/strong>esterday&#8217;s <em>Sunday Gazette <\/em>had an interesting local angle on the killing <span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\">of Judge Rowland <span style=\"color: black\">Barnes (<\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/03\/11#a3428\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: black;font-size: x-small\">our post<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><span style=\"color: black\">).<\/span> Many who knew him spoke of his humor and<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> comedic acting and singing.  Well, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/reallawyers.lawoffice.com\/attorneys.htm\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">James M. &#8220;Jamie&#8221; Bendall<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">, a 33-year-old Atlanta<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> lawyer who was born in a Schenectady suburb, worked with Judge Barnes on several<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> of his dramatic ventures &#8212; including redoing the song A Man of Constant Sorrows,&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> which Barnes performed in a rendition about filing for bankruptcy.  Bendall said<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> Barnes &#8220;was a really wise and gentle judge with a terrific sense of humor.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">Jamie Bendall is the son of one of Schenectady&#8217;s most respected<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> personal injury (and med-mal) attorneys, and he opened an Atlanta<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: black;font-size: x-small\"> branch of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/reallawyers.lawoffice.com\/\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: black;font-size: x-small\">Bendall &amp; Mednick<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><span style=\"color: black\">, where<\/span> Jamie is also a personal injury<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> lawyer.  His love of comedy led Jamie to spend a couple years as<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> a stand-up comedian, and he is now the owner of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.punchline.com\/aboutus.asp\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">The Punchline<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">, an<\/span><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"> Atlanta comedy club.   (are <span style=\"color: black\">you envious Evan?) <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: black;font-size: x-small\">Bendall is also co-host of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/216.239.63.104\/search?q=cache:LGTSN2DL77sJ:www.whel.com\/lineup_wknd.html+%22The+Legal+Edge%22+%2BBendall&amp;hl=en&amp;start=9\"><em><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: black;font-size: x-small\">The Legal Edge<\/span><\/em><\/a><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><span style=\"color: black\">, a<\/span> three-hour talk show on<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> station WGST.  He expected that the show on Saturday (March 12)<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> would center around the courthouse killings. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/tinycheck.gif\" alt=\"tiny check\" \/> <em><strong>O<\/strong><\/em>ne last Schenectady blurb:  I have not mentioned it before, but <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/03\/13\/national\/13trucker.html?ei=5090&amp;en=a07d178d427211eb&amp;ex=1268370000&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;pagewanted=all&amp;position=\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">Tyrone M. Williams<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">,<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> the defendant on trial for allegedly driving the 18-wheeler in which 19 illegal immigrants<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> were found dead in Harlingen, Texas, is from Schenectady.   I have always thought<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> that his alleged role in this tragedy was sufficiently different from others involved<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> that singling him out for harsher punishment did not appear to be racially-motivated,<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> as his counsel has argued. <\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">_________________<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"color: red\"><strong>* <\/strong><\/span><em><strong>S<\/strong><\/em>chenectady was originally settled by the Dutch.\u00a0 Probably because the word &#8220;Schenectady&#8221; is tough on headline writers and old typists, our<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> City is often referred to by its nickname &#8220;Dorp&#8221; or &#8220;<strong>Old Dorp<\/strong>,&#8221; from the Dutch word for <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.m-w.com\/cgi-bin\/dictionary?book=Dictionary&amp;va=dorp\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">village<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> or <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/machaut.uchicago.edu\/cgi-bin\/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=dorp\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">hamlet<\/span><\/a>.<span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"> I just learned <span style=\"color: black\">from <\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/encarta.msn.com\/encnet\/features\/dictionary\/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=561503840\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: black;font-size: x-small\">Encarta<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><span style=\"color: black\">, that<\/span> &#8220;dorp&#8221; is especially used in South Africa to refer<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\"> to a village &#8220;perceived as backward or unappealing.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">in the owl&#8217;s opinion<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">every day<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">is long<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">useless me<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">useless weeds&#8230;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: x-small\">the cuckoo&#8217;s opinion<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"http:\/\/haikuguy.com\/issa\"><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;color: #ff0000;font-size: xx-small\">ISSA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size: xx-small\">, translated by David G. Lanoue<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>potluck from Old Dorp* Remember Romolo Versaci? He&#8217;s the Schenectady, NY, lawyer who sued Diane Richie, an unemployed widow with children, for defamation (seeking $100,000). Ms. Richie had referred to Romolo as a &#8220;so-called lawyer&#8221; on a local discussion website. (see our post, and the coverage and discussion at SchenectadyNY.info.) Pat Zollinger, the site&#8217;s administrator, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-Xm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3680"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13322,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3680\/revisions\/13322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}