| July 21, 2005 | - The U.S. House of Representatives voted to keep most of the USA Patriot Act, extending provisions that allow the search of library and medical records by ten years. “Periodically revisiting the Patriot Act,” said Representative Martin Meehan (D.-Mass.), “is a good thing.”
| Source:
AP
|
| June 23, 2005 | - The Supreme Court ruled that the government can take property under eminent domain for private development. “Under the banner of economic development,” said Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, “all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner, so long as it might be upgraded.”
| Source:
The New York Times
|
| April 17, 2004 | - Bob Woodward reported in a new book that Colin Powell warned President Bush that if he invaded Iraq he would have to face the "you break it, you own it" rule. "You're going to be the proud owner of 25 million people," Powell told the president in the summer of 2002. "You will own all their hopes, aspirations, and problems. You'll own it all." Powell also let it be known that Dick Cheney was the "powerful, steamrolling force" behind the decision to invade.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| March 15, 2004 | -
China amended its constitution to say that "the state respects and preserves human rights." Another amendment declared that "private property obtained legally shall not be violated."
| Source:
Boston Globe, Cybercast News
|
