h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

FINALLY, The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that cities may not use eminent domain to take land for economic gain. No longer will cities in Ohio be able to condemn and take possesion of a piece of land so that a large corporation can expand or create new buildings. Now if they could stop cities from giving tax abatements to the same large corporations what a wonderful state this would be. This has been going on too long. I just hope this is strong enough ruling to prevent people from losing their homes in the future.

The court ruled several years ago that the way Ohio funds it schools through the use of taxes against real estate was illegal. We still are funding schools the same way. I don't understand if the state is funding illegally why the courts can not force us to change our methods.

Lentilla, great mental image: "throwing weenies to the guard dogs "

It *does* seem that way at times, doesn't it (particularly the closer one gets to November)?

MoFoLo, I have always had a problem with eminent domain, since those affected are almost always the people who will not be able to afford comparable housing with what they're paid as "compensation". For whatever the reason -- commercial or municipal, seizing personal property for economic benefit *of someone else* is a no-no. Or it WAS...before this crop of supremes.

Does anyone know what's happening with that e.d. lawsuit on Souter's farmhouse?

SC

I wonder if the ruling just applies to Ohio, or if Ft. Worth business owners get to keep their land too. The city wants to tear up a bunch of businesses along the Trinity, and put in parks and some bike trails. I wouldn't mind seeing more bike trails, but I don't want anybody to have to move.

*US foreign Policy post*

Just so you are pre-warned... and can choose not to read this post.

May I ask you guys to read the following and please, please contact your representatives, asking them to halt these shipments. Please.

Wilma




1. Hizbullah is winning on the ground:

Even acknowledged by Newsweek:

“Let It Bleed - Leaders at the Rome summit on the Mideast are ignoring the real bottom line: Hizbullah is winning “by Christopher Dickey http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14045328/site/newsweek/



2. UN observers Evacuating South, after bombardment & killing of 4 observers by israeli air force

UN pulls back Lebanon observers http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/798682



3. US supplies israel with chemical materials for making SARIN NERVE GAS:

Excerpts From: Plane crash in Holland exposes a global health threat by Gar Smith

http://www.earthisland.org/EIJOURNAL/win2000/fe_win2000uranium.html

Flight 1862 was hauling 10 tons of chemicals, including hydrofluoric acid, isopro-panol and dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) - three of the four chemicals used in the production of sarin nerve gas.



4. USA is presently shipping “Hazardous Cargoes to Israel:

Excerpts from: Israeli arms shipped via Scotland

http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=75477&pt=n



Last night Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett was outspoken in her public criticism of the US, accusing it of not following the right procedures over arms flights and threatening a "formal protest" after raising the matter with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.

Mrs Beckett said she was "not happy" about reports Prestwick airport had been used for refuelling and crew rest for two chartered Airbus A310 cargo planes filled with GBU28 laser-guided bombs, adding she had "already let the United States know that this is an issue that appears to be seriously at fault.

“Procedures for handling hazardous cargoes did not appear to have been followed, she said.”

Today's Doonesbury covers a lot of things that my Flag burning speech covered, I like this! http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/

Wilma, we're all with you on these issues.
*goes off to look at Doonesbury*

I've just stumbled upon this thread and it seems an appropriate place to ask.

Why was "The West Wing" (HBO) dropped?

Almost all I know about the workings of American politics came from this programme, in addition to which it was one of the finest political dramas ever made IMHO.

Did the programme register on the radar with you guys?

I never actually watched the show myself but I believe it was dropped due to low viewership. I could be completely off base though.

It wasn't dropped due to low viewership: its rating were always high. It one fistfuls of Emmys.

The show wasn't dropped. The writers decided to stop because of the death of John Spencer last year. He was not just a principal character, but was due to move closer to the center of the stage by becoming Santos's VP candidate.

GDZ, do yourself a favor and rent the series. Start at season one and work your way through it. I guarantee that you'll be glad you did.

*sneaks into her previous post and replaces the 'one' with a 'won'*

Uh... Wilma, I have to dispute point three of your post. Those chemicals can be used to make nerve gas (I guess), but they're also used in labs. DMMP's most common use is as a commercial fire retardant. Isopropanol is isopropyl alcohol- the same stuff you find in those little alcohol wipes in a doctor's office. It can also be used as a solvent in a lab. Hydrofluoric acid, while extremely dangerous and should NOT be handled by ANYONE without proper training and protective gear EVER, is probably your best choice if you want to dissolve metals and glass. I've used it myself in trace metal analysis for lake sediments.

You can find these three chemicals in any decent university science lab. That doesn't necessarily mean that the lab is making sarin and is harboring terrorists, it just means they're all in the same place at the same time.

I heard that earthquakes, tsunami, and major volcanic eruptions have both short term and long term affects upon the weather. Can this be true? We have had all three the past few years. Maybe it isn't all political hot air that has created our problems?

Of those three, only the volcanoes would have a direct effect on the weather, and even an eruption the size of Krakatoa would only affect weather for about a decade. You would need a whole network of monster volcanoes working for months to really tip the climate.

Michael Crichton's SF book "State of Fear" has as its plot a group of eco-terrorists who plot to bring attention to their cause by causing an earthquake which will generate a tsunami which will in turn wipe out LA. Very bogus: tsunamis have nothing to do with climate change.

Oh well - just a thought. Have to read Crichton's book. May be unrealistic but I enjoy reading his books. 'Course people who write medical, lawyer, and other specialize books probably write tongue-in-cheek. If they were realistic they would probalbly be a boring to the average reader.

Crichton kind of went over to the dark side with "State of Fear", with a load of so-called research in the book's appendices to prove that global warming is a liberal scare tactic intended to disrupt market forces and capitalism.

You can believe 250+ concerned scientists or you can believe a science fiction writer with a political agenda. He did, this Spring, receive a journalism award from the American Association of Petroleum Geographers (or a name quite like that), which is extremely weird. For one thing, when did the AAPG start giving out journalism awards, and secondly, since when is a science fiction novel journalism?

But that's a reality-based question, eh?

Are you trying to use logic????

You might as well move to the logic free zone of DC.

Crichton is definitely on the wrong side of the issue here... I wonder where he lives? And I wonder if he still thinks global warming is a myth?

Mo, we had lots more active volcanoes in the Ice Age... And the particulate matter in the air from volcanic activity actually helps to cool the Earth's temp. Pollution in the 70's and 80's kept the Earth from warming as much as it should have - weird, huh?

Wilma, the U.S. keeps trying to manipulate the situation in the Middle East. Selling jets to Pakistan, providing helicopter fuel to Israel, and giving nuclear power to India is just a sample. We're trying to play all sides of the game, and it's going to backfire - hard. We're all sick of it, but every time I call my state representative or my senator, they have some lame excuse as to why they need to stick with the Republican party line. All my reasoned statements are falling on deaf ears. So the only solution I can see is getting the people out that aren't listening to their constituents.

In the short run, this helps Lebanon not at all. I can only hope that world pressure will work to promote a cease-fire - soon. Certainly Syria is right - if we can't stop the violence, it will erupt into another world war.

I hear you, Lentilla, I truly do. I understand how huge the States is and how the politics work. I spent five years between Ohio, PA, Texas and bits of the East Coast one way or the other. We are doing what we can here in the UK, and the language of our very own TB has altered somewhat in the last couple of days - not that it has made much concrete difference on the ground.

Oh ... and on the subject of chem weapons... with respect, I have no doubt at all what those planes are carrying. We have decades of experience with the end result of Israel's 'self-defence'.

Here's some 'evidence' if you care to take a look...
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http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/07/27/5105.shtml
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=11762
http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?entry=4310
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/17/lebano13748.htm
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I really and truly appreciate that you guys are tolerant with me. I am trying hard to keep a handle on the fact that our crazy little Lebanon is not the centre of everyone's universe.

*tries to bow out of the thread gracefully*


W

Wilma, right now, Lebanon IS the center of the universe.

It's one of the most hotly contested pieces of real estate in the Middle East, and its independence and sovereignity is essential to keeping the peace. It's really frightening that 750 civilians have lost their lives over two Israeli soldiers.