Re: Huffington Post~Melinda Balllard's Father Passed Away

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Sharon:

First, if you don't want people to respond to your posts, then
please stop posting nonsense.

Secondly, Ms. Ballard is not considered noteworthy by many who
have suffered as a result of the frivolous mold claims that
followed hers.

Lastly, you’re not doing her family any favors publicizing their
loss.

Okay?

RD

On 2/17/10, Sharon wrote:
> RemDude,
>
> Once again, you have not only proven your lack of decorum and
> social graces; you have again proven you write without fact
> checking.
>
> Although the jury awarded Melinda Ballard $32M, she ultimately
> never received that amount. And...the award had NOTHING to do
> with mold. The illnesses they experienced were not even part
> of the trial.
>
> It was solely for insurance bad faith.
>
> Please, RemDude, I urge you to show a little respect for the
> family who just lost a loved one, and do not post anymore
> bashings of Melinda on this thread.
>
> Drop it. Okay?
>
> Thanks,
> Sharon
>
>
> On 2/17/10, Rem Dude wrote:
>> While you may champion Ms. Ballard, many do not. Her $32
>> million dollar award and the mirid of frivolous get-rich-
>> quick black toxic mold cases it spurred, resulted in the
>> insurance industry unilaterally capping mold claims. Now,
>> those who need to have mold removed from their home can no
>> longer afford to do so thanks to Ms. Ballard and her ilk.
>>
>> Sorry to hear of her father’s passing, however, anyone who
>> champions Ms. Ballard as some sort of hero should see first
>> hand what her “cause” has done to the less fortunate.
>>
>> Maybe she should set aside her $32 million to help those who
>> now cannot afford to have mold removed from their home
>> thanks to her. THAT, my dear, would be a true hero.
>>
>> RD
>>
>> On 2/16/10, Sharon wrote:
>>> I bet there are a lot of people on this board who do not
>>> understand where Melinda got her salt and tenacity to
>> stand
>>> up for what is right. Here is the answer.
>>>
>>> Huffington Post.
>>> Andrew Reinbach: Claude M. Ballard, Jr. -- Rest in Peace
>>>
>>> Claude M. Ballard Jr. died on Friday, Feb. 11th . Why
>> isn't
>>> important; he had to go, and we are here. Those who knew
>>> him, and valued his friendship, will miss him.
>>> I will. Every journalist with an established beat has what
>>> they call in New York a rabbi -- somebody who vouches for
>>> them, steers them in the right direction, and warns them
>>> when they're heading for the rocks. When I was covering
>> the
>>> big-time real estate business in the 1980s, Claude was
>>> mine. He opened doors for me, all over the world, that I
>>> might not have even have known of. I owe him.
>>>
>>> To people outside real estate, Claude's name doesn't mean
>>> much. But in that world, Claude was a great man -- one of
>>> the handful of people who make things move. Attached to
>>> some project or idea, his name was all that was necessary
>>> to attract respectful attention.
>>>
>>> He earned that position by being a walking real estate
>>> computer, data base, and Rolodex. But what really earned
>>> him his place was...being Claude. A big six-foot-three,
>>> Claude was overwhelming. Nothing, and no one, could
>> buffalo
>>> him. And in a business filled with over-sized
>>> personalities, that is a valuable commodity. Even sitting
>>> at a table, saying nothing, everyone knew he was there.
>>>
>>> That wasn't his best quality, though; his best quality was
>>> that he knew that every one -- and no one -- is important.
>>> So he treated everybody the same -- straight on, one to
>>> one. Claude never gave himself airs or acted like he was
>>> important -- though he certainly was. He had the gift of
>>> meeting everyone straight-on. Maybe that was because he
>> was
>>> a self-made man, son of a Memphis railroad traffic
>>> controller.
>>>
>>> Considering he'd survived at the pinnacle of the national
>>> and international commercial real estate industry for 50
>>> years, I'm sure he'd had his share of knock-down meetings -
>> -
>>> probably more than his share. And I know that if he'd
>>> wanted to, he could have had me for breakfast, and not
>> even
>>> known I was on the spoon. But in the 30 years I knew him,
>> I
>>> never saw him push anybody around.
>>>
>>> The heights Claude reached, and lived in, never went to
>> his
>>> head. It could have. He was a general partner of Goldman
>>> Sachs, back when it was a private partnership; chairman of
>>> Rockefeller Center Properties; in retirement, he owned
>>> interests in, among other things, 88 malls, plus other
>>> properties; served on many boards; and lectured at the
>>> nation's top schools. But he had no appetite for luxury,
>>> excess, or display. In his days at Goldman he kept no
>> limo.
>>> Taking the subway to work was good enough for him.
>>>
>>> If he said a deal was good, people didn't question it.
>>> Sometimes, a project he sponsored was subscribed in an
>>> afternoon. And he was so good at what he did that the same
>>> people who'd sat across the table from him in a deal would
>>> hire his services after it closed -- they knew nobody
>> could
>>> possibly do a better job.
>>>
>>> Until he left Goldman, Claude had only worked for two
>>> companies -- Prudential Insurance, and Goldman Sachs.
>> After
>>> he retired, he served on the board of CBL& Associates, a
>>> major mall owner.
>>>
>>> He started at Prudential as an analyst in 1948, and when
>> he
>>> left in 1981 he was senior vice president in charge of
>>> commercial real estate. Along the way he and a friend,
>>> Meyer Melnikoff, laid the foundation of pension fund
>>> investing in real estate. Before this, pension funds only
>>> invested in stocks, bonds, and U.S. Treasuries: Today,
>>> they're the backbone of large-scale real estate investing
>>> and ownership.
>>>
>>> And it was Claude and his friendships that made Goldman
>>> Sachs the dominant real estate investment banking house in
>>> the 1980s. Those were the sort of things that made him, in
>>> his time, one of the acknowledged leaders of his industry.
>>>
>>> But that's all to one side. Real estate will go on, and so
>>> will the world. What will take a pause, however, is the
>>> world Claude informed -- the world of his wife, Mary, his
>>> daughters Karen, Melinda, and Robyn, his grandchildren,
>> and
>>> his many friends.
>>>
>>> As I said, he had to go, and we are here. Those of us who
>>> knew Claude will know he is no longer among us.