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The city of Norwood, Ohio used its power of eminent domain to take an 11 acre site in a deteriorating neighborhood and turn it over to a private developer.  The plan was to build a 125 million dollar shopping and office complex.  Seventy homeowners sold but three fought the case in court.  A lower court offered 3 times the appraised value of the houses but the homeowners fought on to the Ohio Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme court had ruled in favor of similar economic takings in Kelo v New London, Connecticut.  The Ohio Supreme ruled in favor of property rights, unanimously rejecting the U.S. Kelo ruling. 

The homeowners castles have been returned.  After a three year court battle, the three dilapidated structures are the only houses still standing on the site next to a busy highway.

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Floyd Landis won the Tour de France with a dramatic 80 mile up and down ride high in the French Alps.  It was a thrilling come from behind victory for a guy about to have hip replacement surgery.

The thrill was gone, however, when he tested positive for testosterone.

Landis explains that he's just a very manly man.  "My physiological parameters for testosterone and
epitestosterone are naturally high," …"I was the strongest guy in the stage and in that race,
and I deserved to win," he said.

Or, as James  Taranto said in Opinion Journal,  "Only the French would consider the  presence of testosterone in a man's system suspicious." 

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World leaders met in Rome to decide what to do about the war in Lebanon.  Europeans wanted an immediate cease-fire.

It was agreed a multi-national peace force would be a good idea but no one volunteered to send troops.

I'm not the first cartoonist to draw politicians in a circle pointing fingers at each other (Bush isn't trying to give Merkel a back rub here).  Thomas Nast may have been first with this cartoon.

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The Israelis have been warning the enemy before they attack by dropping leaflets telling civilians to leave the area.  Still there has been "collateral damage" and Israel has been criticized for killing babies and U.N. observers.

Hezbollah has killed innocent civilians too.  But not as "collateral damage". In Hezbollah's case civilians are the targets as well as the shields.

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I like negative campaigns. U.S. Senator Mike DeWine didn't disappoint me.  He wanted to show that his opponent, Sherrod Brown, is weak on defense.  His campaign produced the obligatory 9/11 Smoldering Twin Trade Towers ad.  Except it didn't.  It showed a doctored photo with smoke coming out of the south tower but not the north tower.

Impossible says a U.S. News.Com investigation.  The north tower was hit first and there should be smoke coming from it.

"I can't tell you why graphics people do things," , said DeWine, blaming his staff.  Neither can I.

Sherrod Brown was understanding: "Mike DeWine has always run campaigns with … distortions," Brown told U.S. News. "And this is another example."

And this is just the beginning.

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Busting Internet child predators is so popular, they're going after the adult ones too.

On July 16 the FBI arrested the CEO of a Costa Rica gambling business that caters to Americans.

China stifles Internet dissent.  The U.S. Congress cracks down on on-line gambling.

Taking a page from the Chinese, you can even be busted for writing about on-line gambling if it's considered promotional. What about drawing about it?

All you people watching ESPN poker, drop your chips and come out now with your hands up.

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The litmus test for Democrats used to be abortion.  Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey was denied a speaking role at the 1992 Democratic convention due to his opposition to the practice. 

The new litmus test seems to be opposition to the war in Iraq.  Joe Lieberman is being horsewhipped by fellow democrats.  The Connecticut senator, who wrote a Wall Street Journal column supporting the war, faces a tough primary challenge from anti-war rich guy Ned Lemont. 

Lots of Democrats still hate Lieberman and consider him  a sanctimonious traitor due to a speech he gave in 1998 criticizing Bill Clinton's mentor-ship of Monica Lewinsky.

Ann Coulter isn't the only one to call a Democrat a
traitor.

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Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and Gaza hasn't gone well for the Lebanese and Palestinians.  Israel moved out and Iranian funded terror groups, Hezbollah and Hamas, moved in.  In the words of Mark Steyn, …"These territories are now in effect Iran's land borders with the Zionist Entity.  They're "occupied territories" but it's not the Jews doing the occupying".
 
 

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Do Arab leaders fear Persian Iran more than they hate Jews?  A USA Today editorial thinks Hezbollah overplayed it's hand by provoking war with Israel.

"Speaking in an unusually blunt tone, Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain openly rejected what they described
as unilateral "adventurism," … More important, indications are surfacing that a
long-silent Arab majority has had enough of being hijacked by
extremists in its midst."

Or maybe not. The International Herald Tribune says Hezbollah is popular with the "Arab Street".  The paper quotes a Sunni Egyptian lawyer named Ahmed Mekky:  "We are praying that God would make Hezbollah victorious,"… "All
the Arab governments are asleep."

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Some people favor holding parents liable for the crimes of their children.  Here in Akron, landlords are accountable for their tenant's inability to get along with others.

If the police receive over 3 nuisance calls about loud noise, barking dogs, and such, the landlord is warned in writing and then fined $200 for each subsequent call.

Akron Police Chief Michael Matulavich says,"Sometimes we respond within a year's period over 100 times to a single residence."   Tenants willing to turn up the volume mignt have a negotiating advantage here.