What Did You Do During Your "Gap Period"?

Sheesh, I didn't even know I had a "gap period," but the 11th ruled today that FedEx employees cannot proceed on a class-wide basis for failing to be paid during their "gap period."

A fairly standard opinion, though I think they went off the rails a bit on the quantum meruit ruling.

Still, for many of us the question is what work did we do during our "work period":

Time spent on social networking sites has doubled in only a year, according to a 2009 study by Nielson Online. Time spent on Facebook has jumped to 13.9 billion this year as opposed to 1.7 billion last year, which is a 700 percent increase.

Twitter saw a 3,712 percent year-over-year increase between this year and last and Myspace users spent 384 million minutes viewing videos on the site.

Kids these days, right? Well, not so fast. According to the study, the greatest growth for Facebook has come from the 35-to-49-year-old demographic. Not to mention, twice as many 50-to-64-year-olds created profiles for the site than the under-18 age group.

You know Facebook is no longer cool when the parents are way more active on it than the kids.

Finally, for you Jack Thompson junkies, if you were curious to know his views on Professor Gates' arrest, his column is here.

Jack Thompson Now Muckraking From Inside the GOP Governor's Convention

Please please please let's not get all Jack-Thompson-chronic here, but I see Mr. Jack has taken out his pencil and pad and is now working the beat for conservative humanevents.com, reporting on the GOP Governor's convention going on at the Hotel Intercontinental this week.

Here is how Jack describes himself at the end of the article:

Mr. Thompson is a writer and former lawyer in Miami who was Janet Reno's Republican opponent in 1988 for State Attorney. He secured the first broadcast decency fines ever levied by the FCC (1989) and represented Oliver North at the 1992 Time Warner shareholders meeting, persuading TW to pull rapper Ice-T's "Cop Killer" from store shelves worldwide.

Alrighty then!

Jack Thompson: It's Official

BREAKING -- Jack Thompson Free To Start Life Anew in Federal Court

I don't want our crappy little blog to get all Jack Thompsony-chronic-all-the-time, but I did see that hotshot reporter and boy mechanic Billy Shields is breaking word that Jack has been disbarred:

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday permanently disbarred crusading anti-porn lawyer Jack Thompson after years of review but left open a slim window of opportunity for reconsideration.

Web Extra: Court ruling

The Coral Gables attorney represented himself as he contested a disbarment recommendation from Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dava Tunis in July and challenged a March opinion from the state’s high court barring him from future filings without the signature of another Bar member as a sanction for alleged abusive filings.

Thompson said in a telephone interview that he would file a request for an emergency stay in U.S District Court in Miami, where he has filed a civil rights complaint against the Florida Supreme Court, The Florida Bar, Tunis and others involved in his case.

“I’m just getting warmed up,” he said. “They won this phase of the battle. Now we’re in a federal venue, which will give me relief.”

Is this the proceeding before Judge Jordan? Should be interesting.

What A Long Strange Trip It's Been

This is more Rumpy's territory, but I have had several civil and pleasant dealings with Jack Thompson over the years and found him to be perfectly professional. So it it is with some regret that we receive the news that Jack will be no longer be among us (as an attorney, at least):

Coral Gables attorney and anti-porn crusader Jack Thompson should be disbarred and not allowed to apply for readmission for at least 10 years, The Florida Bar recommended at a hearing Wednesday.

Web Extra: Thompson's formal objections

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Dava Tunis, the referee overseeing a Bar grievance case against Thompson, has already recommended that he be found guilty of 27 Bar rule violations. Tunis held a hearing Wednesday to help her determine what penalty she will recommend the Florida Supreme Court impose against Thompson.

“It’s a privilege to practice law in the state of Florida, it is not a right,” Bar counsel Sheila Tuma told Tunis. “If you look at case law in the state of Florida, enhanced disbarment is appropriate.”

A typical disbarment generally allows an attorney to reapply for admission to the Bar after five years.

I know this isn't the end (from Jack's perspective, for sure). I did get a kick out of this part:

At the hearing Wednesday, Tuma also submitted an affidavit from Lawrence Kellogg, a partner with Tew Cardenas, that she said indicated Thompson has sent that firm more than 100 e-mails criticizing Kellogg and partner Alberto Cardenas since December.

That's it? I get more than an hundred emails a day offering great refinancing terms or certain pharmaceutical enhancements, but maybe that's just me.