goodfellowsmansfield.com

June 24, 2005

In a major decision, the Supreme Court of the United States has expanded the right of government to seize private property for public good by allowing the city of New London, Connecticut to invoke eminent domain and seize homeowners’ property for economic development reasons.

In a closely-divided decision, 5-4, the court determined that the city’s economic development plan constituted a “public use”, and therefore qualified under the U.S. Constitution’s fifth amendment’s Eminent Domain clause.

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the majority decision, and was joined by Justices David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Anthony Kennedy. “Promoting economic development is a traditional and long accepted function of government,” Stevens wrote, and justified the decision further by saying municipal authorities are better positioned to make decisions regarding a community’s best interests than judges.

Writing the dissenting opinion, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor rejected the economic justification as a public use, pointing out that wealthy individuals are more capable of defending themselves and so are less at risk. But the greatest issue was the liklihood of abuse of eminent domain:

“The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall or any farm with a factory.” A separate dissent was also included written by Justice Clarence Thomas.

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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Funerals began Monday across Newfoundland for the deceased of the downed Sikorsky S92 helicopter that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on Friday killing 17 of the 18 people on board. All bodies have now been recovered, and the voice and flight data recorders have been retrieved to aid the investigation.

“We have a big attachment to the sea, even if a family is not directly involved you know how dangerous it is out there. Some funerals are strictly a family matter. In this situation there’s a large extended family because we’re all affected,” said Jim Maher, the uncle of Allison Maher, 26, the first deceased recovered after the crash.

The Archbishop of St. John’s, Martin Currie, said, “Tragedy is no stranger to the people of Newfoundland. They’re very resilient people and in a time of tragedy, they come together to support each other. Most of the communities in Newfoundland are small communities. Everybody knows everybody.”

The Transportation Safety Board has retrieved nine more bodies from the wreckage. The Atlantic Osprey is the offshore supply vessel which has been with the search and rescue effort since day one. The newly recovered bodies were taken back to St. John’s aboard the ship.

Since the recovery operations began Monday “it took 24 hours to get nine bodies out Each presents its own challenges depending on how it is entangled inside the aircraft” said RCMP Sergeant Wayne Newell.

Operations continued Tuesday to recover the final seven bodies tangled inside the mangled wreck 120 to 150 meters (394 to 492 feet) below the ocean surface. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are being used in the icy waters to place the bodies in a basket so they can be raised to the surface. After the Atlantic Osprey arrived in port, the bodies were taken to the Newfoundland’s chief medical officer by hearse for identification.

Of the 19 people aboard, Robert Decker is the sole survivor. Decker’s family has informed the RCMP that he is not yet able to communicate. Decker, who was put on life support when first admitted to hospital with injured lungs and broken bones, has said a few words; RCMP investigators hope that he will be able explain what happened in the accident and assist with the investigation, possibly toward the end of the week.

Twelve names of the missing victims had previously been announced, and with family permission, the RCMP have now released the names of Corey Eddy, from Paradise, N.L., age 32, and John Pelley, from Deer Lake, N.L. age 41.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

What you are about to read is an American life as lived by renowned author Edmund White. His life has been a crossroads, the fulcrum of high-brow Classicism and low-brow Brett Easton Ellisism. It is not for the faint. He has been the toast of the literary elite in New York, London and Paris, befriending artistic luminaries such as Salman Rushdie and Sir Ian McKellen while writing about a family where he was jealous his sister was having sex with his father as he fought off his mother’s amorous pursuit.

The fact is, Edmund White exists. His life exists. To the casual reader, they may find it disquieting that someone like his father existed in 1950’s America and that White’s work is the progeny of his intimate effort to understand his own experience.

Wikinews reporter David Shankbone understood that an interview with Edmund White, who is professor of creative writing at Princeton University, who wrote the seminal biography of Jean Genet, and who no longer can keep track of how many sex partners he has encountered, meant nothing would be off limits. Nothing was. Late in the interview they were joined by his partner Michael Caroll, who discussed White’s enduring feud with influential writer and activist Larry Kramer.