Post Your Interesting News Articles Here

[_BP_]

I was tempted to stop here, but unfortunately I pressed on

Gonzales is enough to make you yearn for the good old Ashcroft days.

[mivida2k]

I was tempted to stop here, but unfortunately I pressed on

Gonzales is enough to make you yearn for the good old Ashcroft days.

Dang.


Ohio court blocks eminent domain project
By JULIE CARR SMYTH, Associated Press Writer
49 minutes ago
 


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that a Cincinnati suburb cannot take private property by eminent domain for a $125 million project of offices, shops and restaurants.
 
The case was the first challenge of property rights laws to reach a state high court since the        U.S. Supreme Court last summer allowed municipalities to seize homes for use by a private developer.

The case involves the city of Norwood, which used its power of eminent domain to seize properties holding out against private development in an area considered to be deteriorating.

The court found that economic development isn't a sufficient reason under the state constitution to justify taking homes.

In the ruling, Justice Maureen O'Connor said cities may consider economic benefits but that courts deciding such cases in the future must "apply heightened scrutiny" to assure private citizens' property rights.

"For the individual property owner, the appropriation is not simply the seizure of a house," she wrote. "It is the taking of a home — the place where ancestors toiled, where families were raised, where memories were made,"

Targeting property because it is in a deteriorating area also is unconstitutional because the term is too vague and requires speculation, the court found.

O'Connor wrote that the court attempted in its decision to balance "two competing interests of great import in American democracy: the individual's rights in the possession and security of property, and the sovereign's power to take private property for the benefit of the community."

[redemption]

The racists are driven by envy of Asian success

My home town, Preston, doesn't feel like Britain's race hate capital. But the social decay in white areas has created tensions

Faisal Bodi
Wednesday July 26, 2006
The Guardian

To the outsider there's little to suggest that Fishwick Parade, the scene of Saturday's fatal stabbing of 20-year-old Shezan Umarji, is much different from any other predominantly Asian inner-city area in northern England, or that Shezan was a victim of a rampant racism that has led to Preston, my home town, being described as Britain's race-hate capital.

The floral tributes to Shezan, around a tree near where he fell, are signed by both Muslims and Christians. White and Asian residents tick off journalists for portraying a misleading image of a racially torn town. And the heavy police presence isn't too unusual in a part of Preston renowned as one of its toughest and roughest.

Residents are used to things kicking off around here. They put it down to youths fighting over turf, burnishing their gang credentials. But that is to gloss over the fact that in most cases the conflicts are played out along racial lines. Even now, beneath the shared sense of grief at the loss of a young life, the climate is one in which two communities coexist uneasily in the knowledge that a highly charged youngster from either side could trigger another clash.

Head east along Fishwick Parade and the predominantly Asian area gives way to the almost exclusively white Callon estate. Callon is the kind of place where youths tear up and down the streets on mini motorbikes and hurl bricks at fire engines arriving to put out car blazes they have started - and where their parents hang the cross of Saint George out of bedroom windows to tell the "darkies" that this is a white area.

Another conspicuous difference is the ubiquitous presence of CCTV cameras. Perched on 10m poles, these were installed several years ago to control rising crime - drugs, prostitution, burglary and violence - on the estate. Cameras never lie, and their location reflects an uncomfortable truth. They begin at Callon, which indicates that crime here is of a much higher order than in neighbouring Fishwick, which is predominantly Muslim and south Asian.

The social demography will be familiar to most south Asian Muslims living in areas bordering working-class white and, for that matter, black estates. Politicians seem preoccupied with the problems Muslim communities present in terms of "social cohesion". In fact it is Britain's white and black underclass that is in more urgent need of integration into mainstream society and the common values it upholds.

Callon is one such example. Marked by high unemployment, low educational achievement, high incidence of single-parent and broken families, endemic crime, welfare dependency and a culture of hedonism, these estates are easy prey for the far-right and its diagnosis that "you're poor because they're better off". True, many Asian Muslim communities suffer from similar social conditions, but these are often mitigated by a family-centred culture that values self-help and educational achievement. For all the relatively poor showing of their communities in socioeconomic indices, they are nevertheless outperforming their white working-class peers.

But instead of being emulated, Asian Muslims have increasingly found themselves becoming targets. Last year's racial unrest in the Handsworth and Lozells areas of Birmingham, between Bengali/Pakistani Muslims and African-Caribbeans, originated in the unfounded perception that Asians - with their highly visible businesses - had benefited disproportionately from public funds. The same resentment had been brought to the surface before the Oldham and Bradford riots of 2001. And a common view among the Asians who live near Callon is that the racism they suffer at the hands of local whites arises from economic jealousy.

Despite Callon, Preston is probably no worse for racism than other northern towns. Certainly its tag as Britain's race-hate capital does not tally with the experiences of most residents - of all colours. The national high of 3.82 racially motivated incidents per 1,000 people in 2004-05 is better viewed as the result of local police efforts to persuade victims to come forward. Last year a city council survey found that 81% of ethnic-minority residents saw Preston as a tolerant place to live.

However, four out of five of Preston's racist crimes in 2004-05 were perpetrated by whites against Asians. It's a pattern that is repeated across the north. The task for policy makers is to get to grips with the source of the racism - a destructive resentment born of being locked in an underclass characterised by a debilitating poverty of aspiration, exacerbated no doubt by stereotypes of "terrorist Muslims".

Local and national governments can only do so much: they can help improve people's life chances, as they have tried to do with large injections of social and economic capital into Callon. The rest is up to the people who live in these working-class communities. They need to accept that huge changes will have to be made to their own attitudes and habits if they are not to remain stuck on the lowest rungs of the socioeconomic ladder.

·

[AshyLarry]

I hope none of us get this desperate!!
++++++++++++++++


WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A bald, mustachioed lawyer turned up at court wearing a skirt and blouse and toting a purse to protest a lack of care and sensitivity among New Zealand's male-dominated judiciary, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Rob Moodie, 67, arrived at Wellington's High Court on Monday in a navy blue woman's suit complete with diamond brooch and lace-topped stockings over his hairy legs, The Dominion Post reported.

"I will now, as a lawyer, be wearing women's clothing," Moodie said. He said he wants the court to address him as "Ms. Alice" — and that his wife and three children support his protest.

His attire, he insisted, is to highlight the insensitive "old boys' network" of New Zealand's judiciary.

"My confidence in the male ethos is zilch. It's a culture of intimidation, authority, power and control," the high-profile lawyer said.

Moodie said that although he is heterosexual he was born with an innate understanding of the female gender.

Calls to Moodie's family home rang unanswered Tuesday.

His protest was prompted by frustration over a long-running case involving a farming couple held responsible for a bridge built by the army on their land that collapsed, killing a beekeeper.

He told The Dominion Post that the "last straw" was last month's Court of Appeal ruling that ordered the couple — who have already sold their farm to fund their legal efforts — to pay the army $6,200 in costs.

[faith2005]

um md--bp's post is in response to that same article you just posted which is on the previous page. he was saying that he was tempted to stop reading the article at the headline, but he continued to read. lacoste posted it.

[crazy8]

Thanks Faith I haven't been paying much attention to Lacoste's posts  I just read it in the paper.  I'll remove.

[2Lacoste]

See what I'm saying?  This thread = utter confusion.  That is all.

[crazy8]

It's not that I didn't see it, I just skipped over it, hence I didn't realize it wa t he same thing.  That is all.

[crazy8]

 

Surgery could end Faulk's career
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/07/22/NFL.faulk/index.html?section=cnn_latest
Saturday, July 22, 2006

NEW YORK -- St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk's career is in jeopardy because of a damaged knee.

He will certainly miss the 2006 season because of reconstructive surgery, the team announced.

Rams coach Scott Linehan told a news conference: "I think reality is setting in for sure that potentially his career is winding down."

The Rams were quick to say that Faulk was not retiring, but the running back did not attend the news conference.

Faulk had recently been contemplating retirement, even before the latest news on his knee.

He is expected to have surgery next week, although the team would not confirm that or say which knee would be operated on.

Faulk was the NFL's MVP in 2000. He ranks ninth on the career rushing list with 12,279 yards, but managed just 292 yards last season and started just one game, the season finale.

He played for five seasons with the Indianapolis Colts before being traded to the Rams in 1999, helping them to the Super Bowl in 2000.

Faulk has been a Pro Bowl selection seven times, but lost his starting running back job before the 2004 season.

[mivida2k]

 Civil-Rights Victory: Corporate Support Key in Voting Rights Act Renewal
Compiled by the DiversityInc staff
© 2006 DiversityInc.com®
July 27, 2006
 

The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to renew the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) last Thursday, prompted by the many civil-rights and advocacy groups that rallied in support of the historic legislation. But alongside these organizations' demands was another sound, one less commonly heard on social-policy battleground: the voice of corporate America.

Today, President Bush signed legislation extending for 25 years the Voting Rights Act, the historic 1965 law which opened polls to millions of black Americans by outlawing racist voting practices in the South. "Congress has reaffirmed its belief that all men are created equal," he declared.


Bush signed the bill amid fanfare and before a South Lawn audience that included members of Congress, civil-rights leaders and family members of civil-rights leaders of the recent past. It was one of a series of high-profile ceremonies the president is holding to sign popular bills into law.

According to an article in The Hill, more than 10 senior-level executives publicly advocated renewal of the VRA, including officials from Verizon Communications (No. 1), The Coca-Cola Co. (No. 3), PepsiCo (No. 18)—all in The 2006 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity— as well as CBS, Tyco, Eli Lilly, Freddie Mac, the Walt Disney Co., and three companies on DiversityInc's 25 Noteworthy Companies this year: AT&T, Wal-Mart and Comcast. Pfizer CEO Hank McKinnell pledged support on behalf of the Business Roundtable, an association of more than 150 CEOs whose companies generate $4.5 trillion annually in combined revenue and have more than 10 million employees.


Corporate involvement came after a July 10 Black Leadership Forum conference call, when forum leaders from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Urban League and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) petitioned executives for assistance in what had become a highly volatile debate. Last month, a group of conservative House Republicans objected so vociferously to two provisional sections of the VRA that the bill was pulled from the floor because it did not have enough support to pass.

While most of the VRA is permanent, particularly the part that guarantees equal voting rights for all people regardless of race or color, three enforcement-related provisions were due to expire in August 2007 unless reauthorized by Congress and undersigned by President Bush. These included:


·    Section 5: Requires jurisdictions with a history of discriminatory electoral practices to pre-clear any mid-decennial district changes with the U.S. Department of Justice or the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

·    Section 203: Ensures that non-English-speaking or limited-English-proficiency citizens receive voting assistance as necessary to be informed participants in elections.

·    Sections 6 through 9: Authorize the attorney general to appoint election monitors and poll watchers to protect election-related civil rights.

Recent Senate legislation making English the official national language, redistricting in Louisiana post-Katrina and related unfavorable Supreme Court decisions had cast doubt on whether or not the government would renew these provisions, all enacted to protect voting rights for people of color, which unscrupulous electoral practices previously had denied. Congressional hearings held in 2005 and 2006 found tactics such as at-large elections, annexations, last minute poll-site changes and redistricting had discriminatory impacts on these voters, a conclusion supported by more than 12,000 pages of testimony, according to the NAACP. 

This relationship building activity focuses on individual trust, conflict resolution, and team effectiveness in the workplace. An ideal exercise or full-day activity for groups that are experiencing conflict and stagnation, or groups that simply want to increase their team's productivity and satisfaction.

The Hill article tags such corporate advocacy as unusual, highlighting companies' tendencies to avoid controversial social issues and stick to legislative matters that directly impact their respective industries or the economy at large. But the article neglects a vital point: This one does.


According to the Business Roundtable's Web site: "The Roundtable believes that the basic interests of business closely parallel the interests of the American people, who are directly involved as consumers, employees, shareholders, and suppliers."


Wal-Mart was the first large company to back the VRA reauthorization, which it did publicly after a 2005 meeting with CBC members. CEO Lee Scott wrote to President Bush in June 2005 and to Congress last month to advocate his company's support.


Corporations backed the bill for various reasons, including efforts to sustain democracy, stimulate the economy and promote workplace diversity, according to the article, which finds it uncommon for businesses to use controversial legislation as an avenue for advancing this agenda. While this may be rare, it has most certainly happened in the past, and not all that long ago.


Remember when 65 corporations filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the University of Michigan's race-conscious admissions policies in the critical affirmative-action 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger? President Bush himself denounced affirmative action, calling the school's system "hopelessly flawed." Indeed, it was corporate support that helped sustain civil rights in this scenario.


While not the sole influence pushing Congress to reauthorize the VRA, corporate advocacy may have resonated with many elected officials.

"Corporate influence is heavy in this institution for good or bad," CBC Chairman Melvin Watt, D-N.C., told The Hill. "A lot of members believe that when a corporation takes a position, it gives them the necessary justification and/or cover to support it."

Despite four amendments opposing the renewal, the VRA passed in the House by a ratio of nearly 12-to-1 on July 13 and cleared the Senate in less than 30 minutes a week later, according to the NAACP. Now it awaits the signature of President Bush, who has already said he will sign the bill into law, a statement he reaffirmed at Thursday's NAACP annual convention.