Now that the NBA players have disbanded their union and taken their labor fight with the owners to the courts, they have given up a considerable level of control in how the whole process plays out.

Two groups of players have filed antitrust lawsuits against the league -- one in California and one in Minnesota -- in hopes of turning up the heat on the owners after negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement broke down Monday.

So begins a seemingly endless series of court filings and back-and-forth responses written by lawyers in complex legalese that promises to go on for months, if not years, until the two sides are able to reach agreement on a new deal.

Case in point: the NBA wrote a letter to the judge overseeing its pre-emptive lawsuit in New York on Tuesday arguing that the players' decision to disband the union proves the league's point that the union planned to do this all along.

The players fired right back in their own letter, arguing that the decision should not stop U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe from dismissing the league's lawsuit, saying the decision to disclaim interest was "uncertain until it was made."

""The hope is that the magnitude of the uncertainty and complexity will cause both sides to come back and put aside the legal arguments and get back to talking about BRI and system issues," said Gabe Feldman, director of the Sports Law program at Tulane. "The easiest way to get these lawsuits to go away is to agree on terms of a new collective bargaining agreement."

Meanwhile, impatient fans are making their voices heard. They have found a new definition of NBA -- saying it now stands for "No Basketball Anymore," a phrase that was trending on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.

With that in mind, here is a look at what's happening in the NBA labor fight and what could happen next.

Q: What is the difference between disclaiming interest in the union and decertifying?

A: Timing, more than anything else. Decertification is a more formal process that requires a petition being signed and a waiting period of 45-60 days for the National Labor Relations Board to conduct a full vote of the rank-and-file union members.

Disclaiming interest, on the other hand, is a much quicker means to a similar end -- filing an antitrust lawsuit. It is also easier to reform to a union, Feldman said, should the players need to band together again to approve a new collective bargaining agreement, as the NFL players did in their labor fight with the owners this summer.

Q: So what is the difference between the labor cases of the NFL and the NBA?

A: The biggest difference is the timing of the unions' dissolution. The NFL's union disbanded in March, almost six months before the 2011 regular season was scheduled to start. The reason is the previous collective bargaining agreement stated that if the players remained a union through the deal's expiration, they could not disband for six months. That prompted the NFL players to disband the union the day the agreement expired, which also gave both sides months to fight out the battle in court before games were jeopardized.

There was no such clause in the NBA's deal. The players continued negotiating with the owners through the summer and even after the first month of regular season games were canceled. The problem with waiting to disclaim interest, however, is that checks and games already are being lost while the fight enters the slow and deliberate legal system.

"The NFL owners and players had time to let the legal battle play out. The NBA owners and players don't," Feldman said. "This has to be a quick legal strike, and unfortunately in our litigation system, there aren't many opportunities to get a quick legal strike."

Q: Why have two antitrust lawsuits been filed?

A: There are a couple of reasons. First, because the players are no longer governed by a union, they are free to do as they please on an individual basis. One group, including star players Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant, has filed a lawsuit in Northern California in conjunction with the players' association. Another group, including rookie Derrick Williams and Timberwolves forward Anthony Tolliver, have filed in Minnesota.

It's no coincidence that those two district courts were chosen. The federal court in San Francisco is under the jurisdiction of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, considered the most liberal, and therefore labor-friendly, of the 13 circuit courts. The federal court in Minnesota was the venue for more than two decades of legal fights between NFL owners and players, who enjoyed a healthy share of victories in that venue.

The owners filed a pre-emptive lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, which has sided with the NBA several times before. It is likely they will push to get any labor-related cases transferred to Manhattan.

"That could be the threshold battle: where is the case heard," Feldman said.

Q: Can negotiations still take place while litigation is pending?

A: Yes and no. Union leaders Derek Fisher and Billy Hunter no longer have the power to negotiate and agree to terms for the players. No longer a union, the NBPA is now a trade association. It can't fight fines or suspensions or file grievances for players. It also cannot regulate player behavior or agent behavior, which has led to some concern about agent poaching.

What can happen, and what did happen this summer with the NFL, is lawyers and representatives for both sides can hold discussions under the guise of antitrust settlement talks.

Of course, Hunter and any attorneys representing the players must walk a fine line in such negotiations. Acting as a leader and decision-maker could strengthen the league's argument that the dissolution of the union was a sham and a negotiating tactic.

Q: Did dissolving the union work for NFL players?

A: It depends on how you define "work." It's true the NFL and its players agreed on a new deal without missing any regular season games. It is also true that the NFL players were granted a temporary injunction by U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson that lifted the lockout the week after the NFL draft in June.

But that injunction was overturned on appeal to the 8th Circuit Court in St. Louis, a ruling that could be influential in the NBA's case.

Ultimately, Feldman believes, it was the motivation provided by $9 billion in NFL revenues to be split up that provided the onus for the owners to negotiate a deal with the players, not the threat of losing an antitrust lawsuit and the enormous monetary damages that would have come with a defeat.

"The NFL owners didn't claim they were losing money or that the system was broken," he said. "In the NBA, many owners are claiming they're losing money and that the system is broken. So the ownership side is a little more entrenched in their position."

NEW YORK – A crowd of several hundred protesters marched from Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan toward the New York Stock Exchange a few blocks away on Thursday as Occupy Wall Street demonstrators across the country promised mass gatherings to mark the movement's two-month anniversary.


Several people who sat in the street trying to block traffic were arrested. Protesters had to break into two groups as they encountered police at each intersection leading to the exchange.

The demonstrators said in a statement they want to "exchange stories instead of stocks" — stories about the income inequality and corporate malfeasance they claim is crippling the economy.

It was the first of several planned events to mark the anniversary and came two days after police dismantled the protesters' camp at the park. Events planned around city include speeches and talks with commuters at subway stations.

Occupy spokesman Bill Dobbs said Thursday, "This day is about taking our ideas to every block, every street, every subway." Organizers said on the Occupy website there were no plans to disrupt subway service.

The day of action had been planned before the city and park owners cracked down on the encampment in Zuccotti Park, but took on added importance to the protesters after tents, tarps and sleeping bags were cleared out early Tuesday and the granite plaza was cleaned for the first time since the group arrived more than two months ago.

"This is a critical moment for the movement given what happened the other night," said Paul Knick, 44, a software engineer from Montclair, N.J. "It seems like there's a concerted effort to stop the movement and I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen."

Transit officials were preparing to deal with the crush of people. After the rally near the New York Stock Exchange, protesters planned to fan out across Manhattan before gathering downtown and marching over the Brooklyn bridge.

India lost 0-3 to China in the semi-finals of the Volkswagen World Junior Table Tennis Championships here.
India were already assured of a bronze when they beat fancied South Korea 3-2 in the quarterfinals Monday But they gave a good account of themselves against China before going down. Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai and G. Sathyan each managed to take at least a game off their respective Chinese opponents. That, in a nutshell, displayed their growing confidence of how they are not afraid of the best in business.
 Peter Karlsson, at whose academy the boys train regularly, congratulated them for winning bronze. "Their confident approach against China proves that India’s future in the game is bright." Gaoyuan Lin defeated Ghosh 11-2, 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6. Desai, too, took two games off his Chinese rival but Hongyuan Song was too good for the Indian and won 11-5, 9-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6. In the third rubber, Jiai Wu accounted for G. Sathyan 11-13, 11-6, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8.
Coach Kamlesh Mehta admitted that his boys were a little overawed by the occasion. “They fought well against the Chinese and that is what matters." "This would have given them a nice feel and they can carry the confidence in individual events,” he said. China entered both the boys and girls finals and will take on Japan in title clashes.

Four more players including one Indian have flunked the dope tests in the ongoing Kabaddi World Cup, taking the toll of offenders to a whopping 22.
"There is one player from India among four who have tested positive today. The sample of the Indian has tested positive for stanozolol," National Anti Doping Agency`s (NADA) director general, Rahul Bhatnagar told reporters. He said two other players belonged to Australia and one from Canada tested positive. Yesterday, six players - two each from UK, Norway and US had tested positive.
"We have taken immediate action and have suspended the players and restricted them from taking further part in the tournament," Organising Secretary of the event and former Indian hockey captain, Pargat Singh said. Other players who have tested positive so far include those from Italy, Argentina, Spain and Germany. All the 22 players have been suspended and barred from taking part in the competition till their names are cleared, Pargat said.
The tests are being conducted by NADA, who have dispatched three teams to the venues, to conduct random tests. Before start of the tournament, a special five-member anti-doping committee had also been formed. More than 100 samples have been taken already.

Nov 17 Batala: Punjab Pradesh Congress and the cabinet of former Minister Santokh Singh Randhawa has died. His first elected in 1969 and 1972 from Dera Baba Nanak and two-time cabinet minister in 1980. In 1985 and Randhawa, the Punjab Pradesh Congress leader was in 1997. Santokh Singh Randhawa funeral on Thursday Dhirovali village, in Dera Baba Nanak Condoled the demise of many distinguished people coming to join the District Congress leader and former Parliamentary Secretary Sukhjinder Singh

: Indian Railways will invest Rs 5 crore to revamp Dhandari Railway Station in Ludhiana.
Indian Railways plans to expand the existing platforms and make important trains stoppage at the station as well.

Divisional Railways Manager (DRM) Firozpur Unit of Indian Railways Vishlesh Chaube said he came to Ludhiana for annual inspection. He further said Chakki Bank and Jalandhar stations will also be expanded. He reached the city on Wednesday evening.

New railway quarters to be built The DRM said the old and weary railway quarters will be rebuilt and the proposal for the same will be soon sent to the railways headquarters.

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany (Nov. 15, 2011) -- Instructors from the United States Olympic Committee's Paralympic Military Program led an adaptive sports clinic at the Kleber Gym and Fitness Center in Kaiserslautern, Germany Nov. 7-10, for Warrior Transition Battalion-Europe Soldiers, cadre, and Army Morale Welfare and Recreation staff.

The training clinic, which included wheelchair basketball, archery, seated volleyball and several strength and conditioning drills, was presented in a train-the-trainer design. This method not only introduced Soldiers and leaders to adaptive sports techniques, it also taught them how to develop adaptive sports and fitness programs that can be incorporated into WTUs throughout Europe.

This lines up with the Army Warrior Transition Command's broader goal of promoting active lifestyles within the wounded warrior community, according to Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Gragg, the command sergeant major of WTB-E.

"In the process of promoting active lifestyles, we're trying to foster the spirit of competition within our warriors here in the WTB-Europe," said Gragg. "We don't want to let that competitive fire die, because they feel that they're limited by certain activities. Now we'll provide them activities that they can do within their limits and still stoke that fire."

Civilians from several MWR facilities throughout Europe also participated in the training. Having them on hand served several purposes, according to Lt. Col. Michael Richardson, the WTB-E commander.

The MWR representatives are key resources as they manage and operate the facilities that will enable future adaptive sports programs to be successful. By having them participate, they saw first-hand the benefits of establishing these types of activities in their respective locations, which could benefit wounded warriors, as well as members of the U.S. Army Europe community, Richardson said.

The US men kabaddi team has been banned from the ongoing World Cup in Punjab after the players refused to take doping tests, an official said Wednesday.
The disciplinary action has been taken after the refusal of US team players to give urine samples to National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) officials in Hoshiarpur Monday. "Taking a serious note of the refusal by the players, the technical committee (of World Cup kabaddi) held a meeting and decided to impose ban on the US team for rest of the matches," a spokesman of the organising committee said.
The US team is leading Pool-B of the tournament in the men's section and the ban imposed on it will have a bearing on the event. The team is in line to make it to the semi-finals of the tournament. Five players from the team have been suspended after they tested positive in dope tests conducted randomly on players of various teams from 14 countries.
So far, over 30 players have tested positive in doping tests in the 20-day tournament which ends Nov 20. Hosts India and Canada have already made it to the semi-final. Neighbouring Pakistan is also likely to reach the next round. The opening ceremony was held in south-west Punjab town of Bathinda while the final match and the closing ceremony will be organised at Ludhiana

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on that it has reopened its window to accept petitions for H-2B visas with immediate effect for the year 2009.

In a statement USCIS said about 25,000 of the Congressional mandated 66,000 H2B visas are still left to be filled out for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009.

On January 7, 2009 USCIS had announced to have received enough applications to fill Congressional mandated cap of 66,000 H2B visas. However, the Department of State received far fewer than expected requests for H-2B visas and as a result, has issued only 40,640 H-2B visa for the fiscal year 2009.

Since there is much less time left between now and September 30, before which all these visas have to be used, USCIS has advised prospective employees and applicants to submit their petitions in the premium processing by depositing an additional fee of USD 1,000.

Dhadi Sant Singh Paras interview by Amarjit Khela for Apna Panjab TV