Firefighter to Testify Against Sotomayor

(CBS/AP)  Republicans plan to call a white firefighter whose reverse discrimination claim was rejected by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to testify against her.

New Haven, Conn. firefighter Frank Ricci brought a lawsuit challenging his city's decision to scrap the results of a promotion test because too few minorities scored highly enough to qualify. He's one of 14 witnesses Republicans will call during Senate hearings on Sotomayor's confirmation that open Monday.

Sotomayor was part of an appellate court panel that rejected Ricci's claim. The Supreme Court reversed the ruling last week.

Democrats' witnesses include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, and former Major League Baseball pitcher David Cone.

The full list of witnesses, as released by the Senate Judiciary Committee, is below:

American Bar Association Witnesses

Kim Askew, Chair of Standing Committee
Mary Boies, Primary Reviewer

Democratic Witnesses

Michael Bloomberg, Mayor, City of New York
Chuck Canterbury, National President, Fraternal Order of Police
David Cone, former Major League Baseball pitcher
JoAnne A. Epps, Dean, Temple University Beasley School of Law, on behalf of the National Association of Women Lawyers
Louis Freeh, former Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Michael J. Garcia, former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York
Wade Henderson, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Patricia Hynes, President, New York City Bar Association
Dustin McDaniel, Attorney General, State of Arkansas
Robert Morgenthau, former District Attorney, New York County, New York
Ramona Romero, National President, Hispanic National Bar Association
Congressman Jose E. Serrano, New York 16th District
Theodore M. Shaw, Professor, Columbia Law School
Kate Stith, Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Republican Witnesses

Linda Chavez, President, Center for Equal Opportunity
Sandy Froman, Esq., Former President, National Rifle Association of America
Dr. Stephen Halbrook, Attorney
Tim Jeffries, Founder, P7 Enterprises
Peter Kirsanow, Commissioner, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
David Kopel, Esq., Independence Institute
John McGinnis, Professor, Northwestern University School of Law
Neomi Rao, Professor, George Mason University School of Law
Frank Ricci, Director of Fire Services, ConnectiCOSH (Connecticut Council on Occupational Safety and Health)
David Rivkin, Esq., Partner, Baker Hostetler
Nick Rosenkranz, Professor, Georgetown University School of Law
Ilya Somin, Professor, George Mason University School of Law
Lieutenant Ben Vargas, New Haven Fire Department
Dr. Charmaine Yoest, Americans United for Life

[conf512]

We do not need a racist woman as a supreme court justice.

[ibsteve2u]

The Republicans have a vested interest in injustice.

[speakinup22]

Anyone receiving a job nder reverse descrimination should be ashamed.

[ToolMangler1]

If it was the only way I could get a badly needed job, I would not be ashamed. I would hope that the person I beat out was not in as big of a need as I was. See, This cuts both ways! Even when the playing field has been 'artificially leveled'. "IF" I can't do the job, then I should not keep it.

[ddalco54]

First we had joe the plumber (or pseudoplumber), now we have Frank the fireman!

[speakinup22]

Yeah, amazing how these every day citizens have the gall to stand up for their rights isn't it ?

[cainemarko]

Can we at some damn point stop calling it "reverse" discrimination? Is it reverse murder if a white person kills a black one? How about reverse rape?

[ToolMangler1]

well said and true!!

[Joe_NY_15]

by gravyboat4000 July 9, 2009 2:35 PM PDT

It was appealed, to the Supreme Court, who ruled the law was unconstitutional
______________________________

So what you are really saying is that Sotomayor is making un-constitutional rulings, based on her hispanic bias, which then are overturned....how is this good, I don't have a clue........trust me, I know about the bias....I have first hand knowledge, I'm married to a "Wise Latina" from the Bronx,NY

[dwright1now]

The GOP is a dying wind bag and this is their last hurrah. This sleazy skin-head of a fire fighter is a racist dog looking for his 15 minutes of fame. Well you know Bozo you used up 14 minutes already so go put out a real fire instead of taking advantage of all the GOP swill and pork. Did you really get a hooker from the GOP to seal the deal?

[dwright1now]

The GOP is a dying wind bag and this is their last hurrah. This sleazy skin-head of a fire fighter is a racist dog looking for his 15 minutes of fame. Well you know Bozo you used up 14 minutes already so go put out a real fire instead of taking advantage of all the GOP swill and pork. Did you really get a hooker from the GOP to seal the deal?

[mojo1372]

I don't care what color you are as long as you are qualified to do the job .If you are not qualified you should not be doing the job . would you want these standards applied to getting a doctors degree
i think not you want someone who can pass there medical school tests.
no less should be expected of police , firemen ,emt's they all make life and death decisions .

[debinok1]

by tmittelstaed July 9, 2009 4:53 PM PDT
What makes a school "second rate" is how the STUDENTS choose to do.

The fact is that the biggest single motivator to the students getting a good education are the PARENTS, NOT THE SCHOOL. If you think your kid's school is second-rate, or your child isn't doing well in school, then get off your ass, download some school study sheets from the Internet (the Internet is full of them) and sit down in the evenings with your kid and work through them, instead of watching episodes of Lost on TV.

That's what we do with our kids. Both of them. Even during the summer. Do they like it? No. But, in the fall when they go back to school they are at the level that they were when school ended, they haven't forgotten 1/2 of the school year, like your kids. That's why our kids will be going through college and working at nice jobs in a decade or so and your kids will be flipping hamburgers. But, I'm sure you won't care since you won't have missed all those Lost episodes!

Get a clue. And I'm not even going to start with all the single women out there who think that their kids are better off with 1 parent while they are in school.


This comment makes me question just how much you work with your kids. Because I do this also, my boys not only do not "lose" what they learned over the previous school year, but actually advance in their learning. My youngest just finished Kindergarten and is at the beginning of the 2nd grade level in reading, math, and spelling. I do not usually brag about them, but your comment did not sit well with me.

[ToolMangler1]

Well, here's a good one for you. (I posted this earlier)


Are you Smarter than an 8th grader
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas , USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.


8th Grade Final Exam:
Salina , KS - 1895


Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play,' and 'run.'
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.


Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre?
8.. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt


U.S.History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.


Orthography (Time, one hour)
[Do we even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.'(HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last..
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks
and by syllabication.


Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena , Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!

Also shows you how poor our education system has become and,


NO, I don't have the answers!