Government to Steal Church for Development

Stephen Gordon at Hammer of Truth notes a shitty, though predictable, outgrowth of the Kelo v. New London decision. The government in Sand Springs, OK is taking a black church to redevelop a "rundown area of town".

With bulldozers churning up the earth at the front door, the small Centennial Baptist Church in this struggling industrial hub west of Tulsa seems about to fall to the wrecker.

The Rev. Roosevelt Gildon in his Centennial Baptist Church, in Sand Springs, Okla. The church is resisting the city's plan to clear the church and other occupants to make way for superstores like the Home Depot.

But the construction is just roadwork, for now. And that is all it will ever be if the congregation has its way.

"The Lord didn't send me here to build a minimall," said the longtime pastor, the Rev. Roosevelt Gildon

Admittedly, the city is not using eminent domain yet; they're just keeping it as a last resport, if they can't come to an agreement on the price of the buyout. So, either negotiations are successful, or we steal your church. What an option.

Yours truly,
Mr. X

...disgusted...

Cereal Killer

In These Times story, "Snap, Crackle ... Patents" reports on how one Arizona company is using IP law to prevent anyone else from selling cereal the way they sell cereal.

Back in 2000, David Roth had one of those "eureka" moments that are the stuff of American entreprenurial legend. After spotting a box of Cocoa Puffs hidden behind the desk of a Wall Street executive, Roth dreamed up a retail business that would sell cereal all the time.
...
Across the country, Rocco Monteleone was getting set to open Bowls, a cereal cafe in Gainesville, Florida, (near the University of Florida) when he found out that Cereality had beaten him to the punch. OK, he figured, no harm, no foul: It's America. Anyone can open a restaurant selling cereal. Right?
...
In May, Monteleone received a letter from Cereality's attorney warning him that he may be in violation of a patent application the company had filed for its "methods and system" of selling cereal. These included: "displaying and mixing competitively branded food products" and adding "a third portion of liquid."

That's right, this company decided to patent selling cereal with milk to college kids.

In the end, the PTO denied the patent application, but this is the kind of bullshit that begs for IP reform.

Yours truly,
Mr. X

...happy new year...