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Page A2
‘’^Jurtlanb (Dhseruer
December 21. 2005
F amily
Displaced by
House Fire
The Red Cross is providing
shelter for a Portland family
after a fire tore through their
home at 532 N.E. Church St.
Saturday afternoon. Firefighters
arrived to find flames coming
out of the building’s first floor,
extending to the second floor.
No injuries or a possible cause
for the fire were reported.
P hoto by R on W eber /
T he P ortland O bserver
NAACP Opposes Alito Nomination
Hostility to civil
rights cited
undermine the rights o f criminal defendants. In the
area of affirmative action, the NA ACP group high­
lighted "troubling signals” that Alito would tip the
i delicate Court balance to
. unravel policies “at the
epicenter of the modern
struggle for racial equal­
The N A ACP Legal Defense and Educa­
tional Fund has announced opposition to I
the nomination of Samuel Al ito Jr. to the U. i
ity ”
S. Supreme Court, citing his hostility to I
“We can predict with
strong enforcement of civil rights laws.
substantial certainty that
The group warns that the confirmation
Judge A lito will very
of Alito would threaten to shift signifi- (
Samuel Alito Jr.
likely vote in a manner
candy the Supreme Court's jurisprudence
that,
given
the
current
composition
of the Court,
relating to affirmative action, voting rights, employ­
will cause a substantial shift in the Court’s civil
ment and criminal justice issues.
rights jurisprudence with devastating effects,” the
A 70-page report by the organization cites cases
in which Alito has attacked congressional legisla­ LDF report cautioned.
Judge Alito is scheduled to appear before the
tive authority in a manner that his colleagues viewed
Senate Judiciary Committee in early January for
as extreme. As a Justice Department lawyer, he
confirmation hearings.
argued to uphold police use o f deadly force and
W
”
. IV
Congressman Lived Like a King
(A P)— As Tom DeLay became
a king of campaign fundraising, he
lived like one too. He visited cliff-
top Caribbean resorts, golf courses
designed by PGA champions and
four-star restaurants - all courtesy
of donors who bankrolled his po­
litical money empire.
O ver the past six years, the
form er House m ajority leader and
his associates have visited places
o f luxury m ost A m ericans have
never seen, often getting there
aboard corporate je ts arranged
by lobbyists and other special
interests.
Public docum ents review ed by
The A ssociated Press tell the
story: at least 48 visits to golf
clubs and resorts w ith lush fair­
ways; 100 flights aboard com ­
pany planes; 200 stays at hotels,
many w orld-class; and 500 m eals
U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay (left) and
President Bush golf at Andrews
Air Force Base in 2002.
at restaurants, som e averaging
nearly $200 for a dinner for two.
Instead of his personal expense,
the meals and trips for DeLay and
his associates were paid with dona­
tions collected by the campaign
committees, political action com ­
mittees and children’s charity the
Texas Republican created during
his rise to the top of Congress.
Put them together and an opu­
lent lifestyle emerges.
AP’s review found DeLay’s vari­
ous organizations spent at least $1
million over the last six years on top
hotels, restaurants, golf resorts and
corporate jet flights for their boss
and
Until his recent indictment in
Texas on political money launder­
ing charges, DeLay was the second
most powerful lawmaker in the
House.
Bush Spying Program Defended
( A P)— Accused o f acting above
the law. President Bush defended a
domestic spying program on Mon­
day as an effective tool in disrupt­
ing terrorists and insisted it was not
an abuse of A mericans' civil liber­
ties.
Despite the defense, there was a
growing storm of criticism from
Congress and calls for investiga­
tions, from Democrats and Repub­
licans alike.
“Where does he find in the Con­
stitution the authority to tap the
wires and the phones of American toll o f more than 2,150 Americans
citizens without any court over­ in Iraq.
Appealing for support, Bush
sight?” asked Sen. Carl Levin, D-
Mich. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D- used the word “understand" 25
Calif., said Bush’s interpretation of times in a nearly hour-long news
the Constitution was “incorrect and conference. “I hope the American
people understand - there is still an
dangerous.”
The spying uproar was the lat­ enemy that would like to strike the
est c o n tro v ersy about B u sh ’s United States o f America, and
handling o f the w ar on terror, a f­ they’re very dangerous,” he said.
ter questions about secret pris­ Similarly, he said he hoped that
ons in Eastern Europe, secrecy- black Americans who doubt his
cloaked governm ent directives, intentions “understand that I care
torture allegations and a death about them.”
Hundreds Attend Williams Funeral
(AP) — Hundreds of people at­
tended a star-studded funeral Tues-
day for executed killer Stanley
Tookie Williams in the violence-
wracked South Los Angeles sec­
tion where he co-founded the mur­
derous Crips gang three decades
ago.
Under heavy police presence,
mourners including gang members
flashing hand signs waited in line whom he asked to spread a m es­
to enter the 1,500-seat Bethel A ME sage to loved ones.
“Teach them how to avoid our
Church. A big TV screen was set up
in a parking lot for an overflow d e s tru c tiv e fo o ts te p s . T e a c h
crowd. Vendors sold T-shirts with them to strive for higher educa­
tion. T each them to prom ote
W illiams’ picture.
“The war w ithin me is over. I peace and teach them to focus on
battled my dem ons and I was tri­ reb u ild in g the neig h b o rh o o d s
um phant,” W illiam s said in a re­ that you, others and I helped to
c o rd in g p la y e d to m o u rn e rs. d e stro y .”
N ew Year s Eve
OPB RADIO
Gospel Explosion *
2006eAnother Level
Fridays at 2pm, Sundays at 7pm
October 21 - January 27, 2006
Rich content and schedule information at opb.org.
Dec. 31.2005
9pm until
at Highland's New location. New Beginnings
7600NEGiisan Portland,Oregon 97213
♦»** F r e e to A ll ♦**»
For more information call 503.287.9567
www.higlilandministries.org
I