annavenger

Self Defense Video

2008-02-11T20:07:00.000-05:00

Justified Lethal Force Self Defense Training

"Insider look at multi-day live training for agents at Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in New Mexico. "

But catch it soon as there's no guarantee it will be up for long.

Florida: What Were You Thinking?

2008-01-29T21:37:00.000-05:00

MIAMI - Sen. John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida Republican primary Tuesday night, edging past former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and seizing precious campaign momentum for next week's string of contests across 21 states.

Oh, please no.

What were they thinking?

I've never sat out an election in my life. If McCain gets the nod, would it even be worth it to go to the polls????

Maybe it's just been called too early?

Primary Blues

2008-01-28T19:55:00.000-05:00

While I probably wouldn't have put it as Paul did, I just can't get worked up over these political campaigns either.

On the Left, we have the same message. Diversity, in this case, is merely different faces. Obama just seems the nicest and most sincere.

On the Right, it's clear who the media thinks we should vote for. McCain the Maverick or Huckabee--the two least likely to give the Left any competition on issues and ideas. McCain v. Hillary. What kind of race would that be? I don't see a lot of excitement among conservatives with McCain on the ticket. I heard or read somewhere that "Evangelicals don't like [McCain] because he's not one of them". Isn't that deep? Such insight! Apparently that "journalist" doesn't think the past has any bearing on the present. No mention of the fact that McCain was openly hostile to Christians a couple election cycles ago, or of any of the other betrayals of conservative belief he's committed over the years--McCain-Feingold and Amnesty to name two.

Huckabee can amuse, but can he govern? Probably as well as any liberal, I suppose.

Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney don't enthuse the base much either. And Ron Paul doesn't seem to get much attention. I talked with a Ron Paul supporter the other day who was very upset that Paul is painted as isolationist. Her reaction was the first bit of passion I've seen on the right for quite a while.

It doesn't look good for us.

Bill and Ted Meme

2008-01-17T18:48:00.000-05:00

Anyway, on to the meme portion of this post. In the movie, Bill and Ted bring back eight historical figures for their history report. They are, Billy the Kid, Socrates, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Sigmund Freud, Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc, and Ludwig von Beethoven.Which eight other historical figures would you bring back? Then tag five people, because it's the typical number for these things.
-Jokers to the Right

I've been tagged! I've been debating whether to begin blogging regularly again and still haven't quite decided, but I'll play along. And if Alan Levin can debate within himself whether to run for governor for an extended period of time, then I can debate about blogging for a while, I figure. Shame about Levin, though.

Anyway, as difficult as choosing is, here goes...

George Washington (truly an incredible man)
John Adams (I love that irascible guy!)
Charles Martel (Europe needs him!)
Winston Churchill (Europe needs him, too)
Ronald Reagan (the world needs him)
Queen Elizabeth
Moses
Apostle Paul

Fire Safety

2007-11-20T20:29:00.000-05:00

Fire In Kitchen - The most popular videos are a click away

Here is the explanation.

h/t: Mt. Pleasant Classical Academy

Inner European

2007-11-17T19:13:00.000-05:00

This is scary. Obviously this quiz is flawed, very flawed.

Your Inner European is Russian!

Mysterious and exotic.

You've got a great balance of danger and allure.

Who's Your Inner European?

Russian? Russian????

I don't think so.

h/t: Duffy

Wah-hoo!

2007-11-09T08:35:00.000-05:00

Well, this is good news....

The federal government should be making immigration policy, and that's what I'm going to do as president again
-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

"again." Again? Again!!!!!

Pulling out my trusty copy of the Constitution of the United States, I find that the 22nd Amendment says in part:

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.

Granted, Hillary was never actually elected. However, since Hillary admits that she has acted as President--groan--for eight years worth of term(s) to which some other person was elected President, the worst that can happen is that Hillary serves only one term as an actual elected President of the United States. That would severely limit the havoc she could create.

Just think, she would be a lame duck after just two years!

Wah-hoo! The worst case scenario just got a whole lot better.

Where Were They?

2007-11-08T11:41:00.000-05:00

From Breakpoint:

Since late September, the crackdown on pro-democracy forces in Burma has brought unwelcome attention to one of the most oppressive regimes on Earth. For many people, the defining image of the Burmese struggle for human rights has been Buddhist monks in red robes staging demonstrations. Reports about Burma focus on the plight and plans of the estimated 400,000 Buddhist monks in the country.
Given the coverage, people might be surprised to learn that Burma not only has a substantial Christian population, but that these Christians have long been the junta's preferred target.
Late last month, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called on China to use its influence with the Burmese government to promote democratic reform. Aside from the unintentional irony of China promoting democratic reform anywhere, I could only wonder of the French foreign minister, "Where were you when Burma's Christians needed you?"
For instance, the U.K. Telegraph reported about a Burmese government document describing a plan for eradicating Christianity in that country. The document began with the words "there shall be no home where the Christian religion is practiced."
What followed were "point by point instructions on how to drive Christians out of the state." While the junta denied authorship of this specific document, it "made no public attempt to refute or repudiate its contents."
It could hardly do otherwise—its persecution of Burma's Christian minority is well-documented. Christian churches have been torn down and replaced by Buddhist pagodas; and Christians have been forced to financially support Buddhist projects and festivals.
It gets worse: Christian children have been removed forcibly from their homes never to be seen again. And members of largely Christian ethnic groups—the Chin, Lachin, and Karen— have been tortured by the Burmese army. Christian women are gang-raped by soldiers, killed, and their mutilated bodies placed on display as a warning to others.
Read the rest

I applaud the media's attention to the plight of Buddhist monks. But where were they when Christians were (and are) being ruthlessly persecuted?

2007-11-04T15:20:00.000-05:00

A man ahead of his time....

Woman Found; Red Tape Delayed Search

2007-09-28T12:23:00.000-04:00

This makes me sick.

A woman fails to return home from work; the husband reports her missing. The cops can't do anything because she's not missing long enough, it's not in their jurisdiction, it is long enough but now hubby is a suspect....Ugh. This unfortunate man went crazy for eight days wondering where his wife was and if she was okay while fending off suspicions from police while the poor wife lay in some ditch too injured and dehydrated to move.

Why do the police need so many hours to pass when it is clear that someone is not following her routine? Time delays such as these could have cost her her life. And the attitude of the police could only have made her husband's nightmare even more surreal and unbearable.

Sometimes "standard procedure" sucks.

DSU Shooting

2007-09-21T12:23:00.000-04:00

Poor Delaware State University! After the horrible execution style murders this past summer of three of their promising young students, now this (from delawareonline):

The Delaware State University campus remains closed after two students – one of them reportedly a cheerleader – were shot on campus early today. One suspect is still at large, officials said....

The two students -- one male and one female -- were shot near Memorial Hall about 1 a.m., officials said. Both were taken to hospitals. The male was said to be in stable condition but the female's injuries are considered serious.

So far there don't appear to be any leads as to the identity of the shooter or the motive.

May both these young people make full recoveries.

Carpool Fun

2007-09-19T20:20:00.000-04:00

Transporting a carload of kids home today, I noticed that the busload of girls directly in front of us were looking and waving at us--or to be more exact, at my son, Venger Jr., seated beside me in the front of our vehicle. Once the girls had our attention they started holding up their fingers to communicate numbers---seven fingers, then three fingers, etc.

"Oh, look guys, those girls are giving Jr. their phone numbers!"

Laughter all around, and one rather embarassed boy...

On a hunch that one of the girls would know a little sign language since girls are always fascinated by it, I pointed to my son and signed "cute".

Ah, one of the little cherubs did indeed know a little sign. "Yes," she nodded.

Laughter on the bus and one girl pushed the head-nodder.

More teasing in our car.

But all good things must come to an end. We approached the on-ramp to the interstate, and I switched lanes. The mass movement on the bus to the starboard (right) side would surely have capsized a boat, but being in a bus they were safe. Sensing an additional opportunity to pester my son further, I put down my window, slowed down as we passed, and called out, "He's cute, huh?" and the girls all vociferously agreed while the carpool continued to laugh and to tease my poor boy who was actually a very good sport about the whole thing.

Was I ever that young?

2007-09-17T10:58:00.000-04:00

A Pennsylvania man, searching for a cure for cancer utilizing radio waves, found that radio waves can cause the hydrogen in salt water to be released and to ignite. If salt water really can be used for our energy needs, we should pursue this immediately. Oh, to be energy self-sufficient and to kiss oil good-bye! What an amazing serendipitous discovery!

H/T: Paul

Ebola in the Congo

2007-09-12T17:57:00.000-04:00

Ebola has struck fear in my heart ever since reading The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. (Demon in the Freezer was excellent also.) Now there's been another ebola outbreak in the Congo. Over 100 people have died since August. The disease kills fairly rapidly which does make it harder to jump from person to person, but apparently it has managed to kill quite a few recently which is worrisome. With travel from continent to continent so easy, ebola could be anywhere in the world within a day. "Bleeding out" from absolutely every conceivable orifice of one's body has got to be a most horrible way to go. (If you haven't read the book, you'll have to use your imagination. Shudder.) Hopefully, terrorists won't decide it's a bright idea to weaponize ebola.

h/t: Reformed Chicks Blabbing

9/11 Remembered

2007-09-12T16:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of 9/11. My heart goes out to those who lost family and friends and to others whose lives were personally changed forever by the 9/11 murders. In my prayers, I lifted up the victims' families who must still carry so much pain in their hearts. May God bring true healing and also justice in their lives.

On the one hand, we cannot become paralyzed as a nation every 9/11. Yet on the other hand, we cannot ever forget that horrible day when America was attacked as innocent men and women were just going about their day. Three thousand died on 9/11 for being Americans.

Lessons from History

2007-09-10T19:19:00.000-04:00

I love this one! What have we learned from history? Not much...

I laughed months ago when I first saw it. And I laughed again when I viewed it on Miriam's site, so I thought I should share it here.

Books I've Read: Not Without My Daughter

2007-09-07T14:41:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine has been saying for years now that she will not allow her daughter to leave for college without reading Not Without My Daughter. Never having read it or seen the movie myself, I checked it out of the library recently. How I missed this powerful tale of oppression and adventure, I’m not sure, but I think I’ll follow my friend’s lead and have my daughter read it before she leaves home.

For those of you not familiar with the story, in 1977, Betty Mahmoody had married an Iranian doctor practicing medicine in the United States. He was loving and kind during their courtship and even during the early part of their marriage. He was also apparently not a devout Muslim.

Then the revolution overturned the shah’s rule in Iran. Suddenly, Moody, as she called him, became increasingly interested in Iranian-American politics and critical of the United States of which he almost became a citizen. His interest in and practice of Islam increased wildly.

A few years later in 1984, one of Moody’s relations arrived for an extended visit. Shortly after his departure, Moody decided that they needed to go on a two week visit to visit his family in Tehran. Moody swore on the Koran that they would come right back after their trip. The two weeks were miserable for Betty and her little girl, Mahtob. Moody’s family was unfriendly toward Betty and unsanitary. Betty and Mahtob counted down the days; soon it was time to leave. However, at that time, Moody and his family announced that they would not be returning to the United States after all. Thus Betty’s life was reduced to separation from her sons and aging parents in America, beatings, imprisonment, and separation from her daughter for a time as a punishment, all at the hands of her “loving” husband.

Some of Moody’s female relatives eventually felt bad about his treatment of Betty, but there was nothing they could do to intervene. No one would defend her when Moody beat her. No one would help her escape when he imprisoned her for various lengths of time. One relative said she was sorry about what she was going through but not to feel bad because all men were like that.

In addition, Betty met Ellen, another American woman to whom a similar thing had happened, but who had finally accepted her fate. Betty initially felt a kinship with Ellen upon meeting her at a class as they were from the same state in the U.S. Ellen’s husband had been an engineer in the U.S. and was very Americanized when they had met, but he changed drastically when they moved to Iran. He beat her into submission and imprisoned her for a year. Ellen finally converted to Islam and accepted her oppressed role. Betty never did.

Although Moody had beaten Betty at their daughter’s school in front of all the teachers and the principal, they would not go to the police for her. Even if she had gone to the police, there was little they would or could do. The Iranian constitution gave no real rights to her, a woman.

While the extremists argued that hyper-modesty would protect women, it somehow failed to prevent sexual abuses against them. Daily, girls and women were raped in Tehran, sometimes murdered. Not only did women have to completely cover themselves to avoid immodesty and inciting men to lust, but they couldn’t travel alone safely anymore in Tehran even when covered. To be alone was to be at risk. Betty herself was accosted twice but managed to get away both times. Funny but even a chador revealing only a small part of a woman’s face was not enough to quell the lust in some men’s hearts. Could it be that women’s modesty or lack thereof wasn’t the problem?

Betty did manage clandestinely to make contacts with people in the underground, who also wanted out of Iran. She snuck such meetings into her shopping schedule when she was able to move about. The Swiss Embassy and a few other people, both Iranian and American, wanted to assist her out of the country. Her escape could have been accomplished fairly easily if she had been willing to leave without her child, but she refused. Several times Helen of the Swiss Embassy strongly suggested she just forget about her daughter and they could get her out. Those of Iranian background, such as Helen, could not understand her refusal as in their worldview the children belonged to the man.

Under pressure from friends, Moody finally agreed to let Betty go back to visit her dying father but refused to allow their daughter to accompany her. First he told her that she would need to sell off all their assets in the States and send the money to him before she would be allowed to return, then he slipped his master plan to her that she would never see her daughter again. With the situation now more desperate than ever, one of her secret friends pulled all his favors to execute a dangerous cloak and dagger plan to hide Betty and her daughter and shepherd them out of the country.

Most striking to me in reading Not Without My Daughter was the consistent witness of the oppression of women in Islamic societies. Reading Lolita in Tehran and Infidel both corroborate Mahmoody’s tale. Reading Lolita in Tehran obviously focused on oppression in Iran following the revolution thereby confirming Mahmoody’s eyewitness account while Infidel demonstrated the dire circumstances of women’s lives in several countries. In Saudi Arabia in particular, the author related how every night she and her family would hear the cries of women beaten by their husbands in homes close to theirs. Everyone heard, and everyone could recognize the voices, but no one talked about it or did anything. Brutality against women was just a fact of daily life.

Certainly violence against women occurs in the United States as well. I’ve known many women who have shared details of their nightmarish lives before their escapes with me. Yet the law was on their side, and the culture as a whole backed them in their desire to live free from familial harm. Such violence is not brushed off as "just part of life" or "all men are like that". Spousal abuse is deviant behavior.

Therefore, it is a mystery to me how a religion of peace can brush off this kind of oppression against women. It is a mystery to me how Westernized men can so quickly return to brutality against women they supposedly loved, once they return home. It is a mystery to me how people anywhere can witness violence and oppression and not intervene and how “law” can side with the guilty. And it is a mystery to me how anyone claiming a faith in God can justify to himself violence against women and children. But no one seems to have any answers, and I remain mystified.

Spare Me the Tears

2007-09-05T09:01:00.000-04:00

In a jail chapel, with two renderings of the Last Supper overhead, the family of a 21-year-old University of South Florida student gathered around him Saturday. His father did most of the talking, as they delivered the bad news.
The accusations that he and a fellow student had a pipe bomb in the trunk of their Toyota Camry as they drove near a Naval weapons station had turned into a federal indictment. Their hopes that state charges, filed by South Carolina authorities, would be dropped after a hearing this month were dashed. Instead, the two now face the likelihood they’ll be held in federal custody without bail, their attorneys said.
Youssef Megahed’s reaction was shock, and then despair, his family said. Sitting in solitary confinement, he’s terrified of the warnings FBI agents have given him and his family – that he’ll be held interminably in a military prison like Guantanamo Bay.
Adding to their anxiety was a quote in the Charleston newspaper Saturday from the local sheriff, predicting Megahed and fellow student Ahmed Mohamed soon will be moved from this jail in Berkeley County to the brig on the nearby Naval complex. The Megaheds know the brig is used to hold prisoners the president has deemed “enemy combatants.”
Worse for Megahed’s father, Samir, was the moment he was leaving and saw Mohamed talking to his own attorney. Mohamed, teary, had also just heard about the indictment.
He hugged and kissed Samir and asked him to deliver a message to his own father in Egypt: “Tell my father I am not going to meet him in this life again.”
Mohamed, 24, fears he will be imprisoned longer than his father will be alive, Samir said.
Source: A Family in Despair
via

Of course their families are upset--whose wouldn't be--but do we all need to cry with them?

Of course, these guys are innocent until proven guilty in a fair trial, but things don't look good. They were driving around with a pipe bomb on a road that led only to a military installation. Sounds innocent enough. I always drive around with pipe bombs and visit military installations for fun. Doesn't everyone?

So spare me the tears--unless you're crying for the victims of terrorism and for those who die trying to protect our nation.

h/t: Bos'un Locker

Breaking News!

2007-09-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

Paul takes advice from Anna V!

:)

Sorry, Paul. I couldn't resist. Surely you of all people can understand that!

Listening to...

2007-09-04T16:47:00.000-04:00

...American Ideals: Founding a "Republic of Virtue" by Professor Daniel N. Robinson.

Dr. Robinson's enthusiasm for the Revolutionary era, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution shines through his lectures. His deep respect for the Founders is apparent, yet he never sounds mawkish.

The lectures begin by tracing the colonists' history as loyal Englishmen through their break with England and include the intellectual underpinnings of the Declaration of Independence. From there Professor Robinson discusses the Articles of Confederation and the drafting and ratifying of the Constitution. He ends his lecture series with a comparison of Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke.

When I researched Dr. Robinson a bit further to purchase history books by him, I learned that he, in fact, had earned his Ph.D. in neuropsychology. I've found some of the best historians are not those who earned their degrees in history but who approach history from another viewpoint altogether and simply love a certain topic. (Rodney Stark, for example)

Check your local library to see if it carries this course. Many libraries do stock the Teaching Company courses, and if not, they might order it for you if you request it. I've found that lectures can help fill those otherwise monotonous moments behind the wheel, walking the dog, or doing mindless housework.

More FGM in Egypt

2007-09-02T12:00:00.000-04:00

From Khaleej Times Online

Egyptian man forces his wife to be circumcised(AP)1 September 2007
CAIRO, Egypt -
An Egyptian man forced his 20-year-old wife to be circumcised after a year of marriage, resulting in her hospitalization for acute bleeding, the state-run news agency reported on Saturday.
According to the police commissioner of the Cairo’s gritty northern suburb of Shubra el-Kheima cited by the Middle East News Agency, a dispute erupted between Shaaban el-Menshawi and his wife because she had never been circumcised, a once common operation in Egypt that has since been banned by the government.
When her husband started beating her, Ashgan Riyadh Abdelati fled to her mother’s house. Once there, however, her mother brought in a doctor to conduct the illegal operation on the spot, said the news report.
Abdelati was later admitted to Nasser General Hospital for acute bleeding. Hospital officials declined to comment on her condition.
Egypt has been reeling from two cases of young girls, one 12- and 13-year old, dying from the operation of the summer, prompting the government to renew its largely ineffective ban on the practice.
Female circumcision, which is also known as female genital mutilation, is a widespread traditional procedure in Egypt, practiced by Muslims and Christians alike.
Despite the fact that top clerics insist the practice has nothing to do with Islam, many Egyptians, especially in lower income rural and urban areas, believe the removal of the clitoris lowers a women’s sexual desires and thus helps maintain their honour.
Female circumcision is still practiced in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Egypt, as well as in Yemen and Oman.
A 2003 survey by UNICEF said that 97 percent of married women in Egypt have undergone genital mutilation, though a recent study by the country’s Health Ministry found that only 50.3 percent of girls between the age of 10-18 years have been circumcised.

When will this violence stop?

See Amnesty International for more details on this barbaric, woman-hating custom.
via

Swiss Deportation Suggestion

2007-09-01T10:47:00.000-04:00

Hmmm. I'll have to think about this one.

The nationalist Swiss People's Party is proposing a deportation policy that anti-racism campaigners say evokes Nazi-era practices. Under the plan, entire families would be expelled if their children are convicted of a violent crime, drug offenses or benefits fraud.

Generally, I'm not a big fan of making a whole family pay for the crimes of one of its members. A wife, for example, is not responsible for the actions of her husband, nor he for hers. Though parents have incredible influence over their children, children do have free will, and parents can do everything right and their children still turn out bad.

"We believe that parents are responsible for bringing up their children. If they can't do it properly, they will have to bear the consequences," Ueli Maurer, president of the People's Party, told The Associated Press.

He explained that his party has long campaigned to make deportation compulsory for convicted immigrants rather than an optional and rarely applied punishment.

The party claims foreigners — who make up about 20 percent of the population — are four times more likely to commit crimes than Swiss nationals.

The point is that immigrants are guests in a country and not citizens. As guests, if they don't behave properly, they should be asked to leave, and be forcibly expelled, if necessary. We don't tolerate persons who refuse to respect us in our homes. Bars bounce people who are disruptive. Why shouldn't countries do the same?

(Despicable) Quote of the Day

2007-08-31T11:28:00.000-04:00

"A man can marry a girl younger than nine years of age, even if the girl is still a baby being breastfed. A man, however is prohibited from having intercourse with a girl younger than nine, other sexual act such as forplay, rubbing, kissing and sodomy is allowed. A man having intercourse with a girl younger than nine years of age has not comitted a crime, but only an infraction, if the girl is not permanently damaged. If the girl, however, is permanently damaged, the man must provide for her all her life. But this girl will not count as one of the man's four permanent wives. He also is not permitted to marry the girl's sister."
-Ayatollah Khomeini

Sexual activity with a little girl is permissible if they're married? How can a little girl be consentually married?

Not permanently damaged? What does that mean? Physically? Emotionally? How can she not be?

Hello? This is pedophilia, not holy matrimony, that he's advocating.

This shocking quote cannot be chalked up to that of an errant, obscure cleric. No, this is the religious teaching on marriage and women by the leader of a religious and political revolution that overtook an entire country.

We have a place for men in our country that would use little girls this way. It's called prison.

Revolting.

Source

One Child Program Sucks for Girls

2007-08-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

...and everyone else, over the long haul.

China's one-child family planning policy is generating serious long term problems for China and possibly for the world.

Because boys will carry on the family name, are more able to help with physical labor, and are just more valued culturally, people have responded to the one-child rule with abortion or infanticide of baby girls. As a result, the disproportionate ratio of boys to girls has skyrocketed.

From LifeNews:
The eastern city of Lianyungang is one of the worst offenders, according to a BBC
report, with 163.5 boys for every 100 girls four years old or younger.

But it's not alone as the family planning group reports that 99 cities out of 125 surveyed had ratios higher than 125-100.

But don't think fewer women will increase their standing or given them more power. On the contrary, the gender imbalance has "already led to the selling of girl babies, forced marriages, sexual slavery, an increase in crime and a host of other social problems."

Long-term, a nation of mostly men will find themselves without partners and experts predict serious mental health issues and other negative effects. It will also lead to fewer children supporting their older parents and grandparents and a potential financial collapse or poverty as a result.

With a surplus of young men, many may also find the military much more appealing. Just imagine lots of young men with no possibility of settling down seeking adventure elsewhere in the form of conquests.

It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature by messing up the birth ratios of males and females. There could be hell to pay.

Wilmington Land Grab

2007-08-25T09:51:00.000-04:00

...or "we're from the government and we're here to help"....

The Wilmington City Council voted to use eminent domain to snatch properties from business owners in downtown Wilmington to turn them over to a developer. It's Kelo gone wild.

From the Wilmington News Journal:
After two hours of heated debate, the City Council overwhelmingly passed a plan Thursday that allows the city to use eminent domain to condemn as many as 62 properties in South Wilmington.

The council voted 11-1 to approve the South Walnut Street Urban Renewal Plan. The plan is the city's blueprint for South Wilmington's future and includes taking properties of up to 38 working businesses and selling them to developers who would continue high-end residential and commercial redevelopment of the once entirely industrial area.

Charles Potter Jr. was the only council member who voted against the plan....

Potter was unsuccessful in an attempt to get his colleagues to table the plan. He thinks private developers should be talking directly with the property owners in the area. "Let the natural progression of seller and buyer take place," he said. "The city shouldn't be involved in this, not at all."

A wonderful display of conscience by Mr. Potter.

One council member denied this vote had anything to do with eminent domain. Another said he would only vote to condemn a property if "there was clear evidence that serious, serious negotiations had taken place."

Well, that's encouraging.

...business owners who pleaded with the council to table or reject the plan said taking away their livelihood was just as bad as taking their homes would be.
Keith Harvin of Harvin Foods said he came to Wilmington from Chester, Pa., 17 years ago. He was recruited by the city, which was trying to get businesses to locate in the then-barren area. "Now somebody wants to take my business," he said.
Gabe Feini, owner of Rodney Square Engineering, said he worked 14 hours a day, seven days a week, for years to make his skyscraper maintenance business a success. He used to live in his workplace as well, and he has thwarted four burglaries there over the years.
Now, he feels kicked to the curb by others wanting to share in the area's redevelopment, which he feels he helped launch.

Question: did those recruiters inform Mr. Harvin that the city council would take away his business seventeen years later when they no longer wanted him and he'd served their purposes?

Part of the area in question is across the street from the $200 million Christina Landing residential development. Christina Landing resident Catharine Lloyd suggested that both sides agree to do what's best for the city -- which is having the businesses agree to move. "You will get fair market value," she said to a chorus of boos from the property owners and their supporters.

Did Catharine Lloyd happen to notice those businesses across the way when she bought her home in Christina Landing? Why did she buy there if she didn't want to live across from them?

One of the reasons for the continued poverty of third world nations stems from a lack of property rights. (See the works of Hernando de Soto.) People aren't stupid. Why work day and not and take chances on a business if you don't have any right to the land and to your livelihood and everything can be taken at will by government thugs? While no one is accusing the Wilmington City Council of thuggery, having all one's worked for taken away by the government, offering "fair market value", can't feel good.

Why should anyone take a risk on establishing, operating and building up their business and clientele in Wilmington if the government can shut them down at will?