by Elizabeth Ann Roy The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled, in Kelo et al. v. City of New London et al. that the city of New London, Connecticut has the right to seize the private property of a group of homeowners, not directly for the city's use, but to award that property to a private land developer because the proposed project would bring new jobs and increased tax revenues. According to the ruling, the city has determined "that the [waterfront] area at issue was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic rejuvenation," in other words, it is an area that the city describes as suffering from urban blight, and cities may legally seize and develop the property in such areas. "As with other exercises in urban planning and development, the city is trying to coordinate a variety of commercial, residential, and recreational land uses, with the hope that they will form a whole greater than the sum of its parts." Most people in the United Stat...
by Elizabeth Ann Roy Previously published in Historical E-zine of Keep It Coming, Jan. 2004 Copyright 2004 Elizabeth Ann Roy Bravely, or foolishly, this series begins in the Middle East and settles upon Islam as the one common denominator among the Arab nations. Islam has its own divisions, however, the major one being that between Sunni Islam and Shi’ites Islam. The majority of Muslims accept the practices and beliefs of Sunni Islam. The word “sunna” refers to the example set by the personal behavior of the prophet Muhammad. The Sunna, along with the Qur'an, which is comprised of the words of Muhammad that are regarded as direct revelations from God, and the Hadith , which is comprised of the other sayings and teachings of Muhammad, form the basis of Islam and serve as a guide to spiritual, ethical, and social life for all Muslims. This much is accepted by all Muslims. The differences between the Sunni and the Shi’ites include matters of belief and the way in which the Qu’ran ...