Yet in a matter of weeks , Thomas goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee as President Bush 's nominee to join the increasingly conservative Supreme Court. ; Thomas ' dramatic political and philosophical transformation reveals more about the man than does his Horatio Alger journey from rural Southern poverty to Supreme Court nomination . To friends , his is a story of courage , to foes , a story of opportunism. ; Racial anger , protest lyrics ; The homespun homilies of his grandfather , the ruler-slapping discipline of the nuns who taught him at a Catholic school in segregated Savannah , Ga. , the racial anger in the writings of Richard Wright and Malcolm X , the iconoclastic theories of such academicians as Thomas Sowell and William Barclay Allen , even the protest lyrics of singer-songwriter Nina Simone -- all are parts of the story. ; As glimpsed in dozens of interviews and tens of thousands of pages of documents that Thomas has turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee , these influences helped shape a set of beliefs that are now the subject of bitter controversy. ; Thomas takes immense pride in having staked out an independent course despite suffering what he said was a heavy personal toll in lost friends and public condemnation. ; Black ` intellectual clones ' ; `` I refuse to submit to the racially derogatory orthodoxy which says that all blacks should share the same opinion on ... affirmative action , busing or welfare ... . I believe it is racist to act as though blacks are intellectual clones , '' he said in a 1984 speech to black students at Yale Law School , where he earned his law degree. ; Thomas underscores his role as a minority figure within a minority by repeatedly quoting Robert Frost 's poetic recollection : `` Two roads diverged in a wood , and I -- I took the one less traveled by , and that has made all the difference . '' ; Even his close friends have trouble explaining why Thomas took a different road. ; As a youth , Clarence Thomas shared the liberal attitudes of many bright young black people who were born into a segregated America and came of age after freedom rides , lunch room sit-ins and the 1964 Civil Rights Act began erasing the overt signs of racial discrimination. ; As a Holy Cross College student in the turbulent 1960s , he joined black protesters , wore a beret and a leather jacket , and decorated his dormitory room with a poster of Malcolm X. ; But Thomas came to see his college years as wrongheaded. ; His rightward shift -- or , by his account , his circling back to conservative values -- began while he was a Yale law student from 1971 to 1974. ; Thomas was admitted while an affirmative action program was in effect , although there is no evidence that he would not have gotten in without it. ; Friend 's view ; Whatever the reasons -- and his classmates and faculty members at Yale are unable to pinpoint any particular turning points or pivotal events -- Thomas `` became more conservative as he went through the process of legal education , '' said Harry Singleton , a friend. ; By the time Thomas arrived in Jefferson City , Mo. , in 1974 to work for John Danforth , now Thomas ' chief supporter in the Senate , then the Republican state attorney general , his attitudes were largely formed. ; `` His philosophy by that point was that he felt that this country was affording people opportunities if they were willing to work and that to rely on government was in the nature of servitude , '' said lawyer Harvey Tettlebaum , who worked with Thomas. ; Several years later he captured the attention of the Reagan transition team , which offered a civil rights job to a reluctant Thomas . His friends urged him not to shun a rare opportunity to make policy , and he accepted successive jobs as assistant secretary of education for civil rights and chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. ; A colorblind Constitution ; In those jobs , Thomas began questioning preferences in jobs and education for racial minorities who had historically suffered discrimination . Later , he began openly opposing such preferences , denouncing the Supreme Court decisions that upheld them and calling for a colorblind Constitution. ; Some critics cynically attribute his ideological metamorphosis to opportunism. ; Thomas , who has declined to be interviewed since his Supreme Court nomination , has not responded . But he has offered an explanation for his political change of heart . In handwritten notes from his files , he recalled telling his Democratic grandparents why he had turned Republican. ; `` You all made me become Republican , '' he told his incredulous grandparents . `` Remember ... when you told me that it was n't right to beg as long as I could work and get it myself ? ... Remember when you told me that if I ever amounted to anything it would be by the sweat of MY brow and MY elbow grease ? ; `` And remember when you said you would rather starve than have anyone give you something -- as long as you could work for it ? ... Politically , I had no choice : The only party openly standing for those values was the Republican Party . ''

O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

clarence thomas
senate judiciary committee
supreme court nomination
thomas sowell
affirmative action program
racial minorities
political change


A Although television networks were pushing to have the eclipse in prime time , nature refused to cooperate . In San Jose , the eclipse will begin at 10:10 a.m. , peak at 11:20 a.m. and end at 12:34 p.m. ; Q What is an eclipse ? ; A A solar eclipse occurs when the Earth 's moon moves into a position to impede the sun 's rays. ; Q Can I look at the sun ? ; A No , a thousand times no . You 'll burn your retina , causing permanent damage . You should n't look at the sun through film negatives , a camera viewfinder or sunglasses , either . So stand under a tree and watch the shadows . Or punch a hole in a piece of paper and look downward at the shadow. ; Q Where can I get those goofy eclipse eyeshades ? ; A Orion Telescope Center in Cupertino has sold out of the special glasses designed for viewing the eclipse safely . A few welding supply stores offer `` Mylar '' glasses . But some astronomers warn that there is no guarantee that even these glasses will prevent eye damage. ; Q Where is the best spot to experience the eclipse ? ; A Contrary to popular belief , you will not get a better sense of the eclipse on a mountaintop or from your roof . The major part of the shadow will fall mostly through Mexico and Hawaii , where it will get totally dark . The Bay Area gets cheated and will see the moon block only about half the sun 's diameter. ; Q Can I still get to Baja or Hawaii in time ? ; A Most flights to Baja are booked . And it 's too late to make it to Hawaii . So you 're missing 2,000 golfers who will play a shadowy round there with balls that glow in the dark. ; Q Can overcast skies block the eclipse ? ; A In most parts of the Bay Area , skies are expected to be sunny . But along the coast , the morning fog is not likely to have cleared . The eclipse will still be visible through the haze , astronomers say , and the shadows there may actually be more interesting than in sunny San Jose . Again , do n't stare at the sun , even through fog. ; Q Can children go outside ? ; A As long as they do n't look at the sun. ; Q Can I sunbathe in the nude during the eclipse ? ; A As long as you do n't open your eyes. ; Q When is the next major eclipse ? ; A In another 151 years . By then , you may be able to shuttle to the moon and watch it from there .

O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

eclipse
san jose
shadow
sun
eye damage
sunglasses
eyeshades


Consuelo wishes she could share her First Communion this year with Abuelita . She misses her grandmother very much . Abuelita was not very old -- just 62 -- but there was not much the doctors could do to save her life . She had uncontrolled diabetes : her kidneys were failing , her blood pressure was too high and she finally died of a heart attack . Consuelo and Abuelita are n't actual people , but their story nevertheless is played over and over again among the more than 3 million Latinos in the Los Angeles metropolitan area , health officials say . The reason is diabetes , a silent killer that afflicts one in eight Latino adults . This rate is higher than that of any ethnic group except for American Indians . Nationwide , it is estimated that there are more than 2 million Latinos who already have diabetes , many of them undiagnosed . That is why the American Diabetes Assn. and other health education groups in the Los Angeles area and California have begun a major push to educate Latinos about diabetes . The effort is being aided by interested physicians and by drug companies , which make insulin and other drugs used for diabetes that ca n't be controlled by changes in eating habits . Like heart disease , the adult-onset diabetes most common among Latinos is a condition that can be largely prevented with proper diet and exercise , doctors say . Being 20 % or more overweight is one of the major diabetes risk factors . `` We need to get into the communities and start teaching the kids and the adolescents and the parents to make some changes in their habits , '' said Dr. Jaime Davidson , a Dallas physician who has spearheaded the diabetes association 's Latino education efforts . `` Many people think that when Latinos come here -LRB- to the United States -RRB- they gain weight because they continue to eat the way they ate at home . But in fact , they change , '' Davidson said . `` What happens is , fast foods are readily available . . . and they are higher in fat and calories . And at home they did n't have a car , and here instead of walking we take the car to go one block . `` That ends in having more obesity . If you have already a predisposed group of people , such as the Latinos , you get more obesity and you get more diabetes . '' With funding from Upjohn Co. , the Los Angeles chapter of the American Diabetes Assn. sponsored a diabetes health fair at Olvera Street Plaza on Aug. 26 . Of 3,000 who attended the fair , 1,000 underwent tests for diabetes . More of this kind of effort and wider education among the public and physicians can be expected in the future , said Janet Matkin , of the association 's California affiliate . Diabetes is a defect in the body 's system for using sugar in the blood . It results from the body 's failure to make insulin or , some studies indicate , from its inability to use insulin that is available . Latinos are more than twice as likely to get diabetes than are Anglos , and incidence of the disease increases with age . In one survey done in San Antonio , a third of the Latinos between the ages of 55 and 65 had diabetes , Davidson said . Latinos ' higher susceptibility is thought to result from a combination of both heredity and diet . Similarly , American Indians have the highest diabetes incidence of any ethnic group in the United States . Genetically controlled defects in the body 's insulin system are also thought to exist both for them and Latinos . In addition , Latino diets can be rich in high-calorie fried foods that promote obesity and increase the chance of getting diabetes . Diabetes that begins in childhood requires daily insulin injections . Most commonly in Latinos , however , diabetes takes the form called Type II , which first appears in adulthood and often can be controlled with proper diet and exercise . The disease tends to show up in the late 20s and early 30s among Latinos , a decade earlier than it does in Anglos , Davidson said . But , because it progresses slowly , Type II diabetes can go undiagnosed for years , allowing complications such as kidney failure , heart disease , blindness and the need for amputation of a foot or toe . Latinos , who often have less access to regular health care than Anglos , are more likely to go undiagnosed , Matkin said . The new educational efforts to change that picture are necessary , not only because they help individuals stay healthy but also because the nation 's health care funding crisis will only get worse if the problem is not reduced , Davidson said . `` We are facing a problem that is going to grow , maybe at epidemic proportions , '' Davidson said . `` In some states like California or Texas , if nothing is done we 're going to pay so much money for health care for people of Latino origin that it may become prohibitive . '' The number of Latino diabetics in the United States will nearly quadruple by the year 2000 to 8 million , according to projections by Eli Lilly Co. . Caring for them will cost more than $ 10 billion a year , even if the disease has no complications , the company projects . Yet life-style changes today to cut down on obesity can prevent many of those cases from ever occurring , health officials say . That means adapting an Anglo-oriented health education network to the needs of a diverse Latino community that has a different social structure , health beliefs and eating habits from the majority culture . For instance , the fact that Type II diabetes frequently shows up in women during or shortly after pregnancy gives health educators an ideal chance to influence an entire Latino family 's eating habits , said Dr. Martin Montoro , co-director of the diabetes and pregnancy service at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center . Any Latino woman whose child was born at 9 pounds or larger should consider herself at risk of diabetes and alter her diet , Davidson said . Recent immigrants and even some longtime U.S. residents are not likely to want to switch completely away from a diet reliant on beans , tortillas and other carbohydrates , Montoro noted , but modifications can be made easily . One of the most important is to cut down on fat in the diet by eliminating fried foods -- for instance , by not frying tortillas for tacos or enchiladas . Other barriers to Latinos getting care for diabetes are more subtle , doctors interested in the issue say . Chief among these is that the Latino patient is less likely to volunteer information or to notice early diabetes symptoms than the Anglo patient , said Dr. Aliza Lifshitz , a board member of the California Hispanic American Medical Assn. . Any physician practicing in Southern California needs to be aware of that and to learn to ask more diabetes-related questions of their Latino patients , Lifshitz said . Davidson said he is confident that Latinos will respond to education efforts on diabetes . He pointed to the recent indications that Americans ' risk of heart disease is lowering as examples of how educational programs can work . `` I think that if we give them the opportunity and the tools that Latinos are no different than anybody else , '' Davidson said . `` We need to give them the opportunity to enter the health care system , and we need to give them the opportunity to learn that diabetes is the biggest health care issue that they are going to face into the year 2000 . '' FACTS ON DIABETES EARLY WARNING SIGNS OF DIABETES * Excessive thirst * Frequent urination , including having to get up in the middle of the night * Wounds that take longer than usual to heal * Excessive weight gain during pregnancy ; giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds * Extreme hunger * Blurred vision * Dramatic weight loss * Itching * Fatigue HOW TO AVOID DIABETES * Eat less to get rid of extra pounds . For instance , eat one tortilla instad of three * Cut down on fats -- broil meat instead of frying it , remove chicken skin before cooking it , do n't put bacon or chorizo in beans , do n't fry tortillas for enchiladas or tacos * Eat more fruits and vegetables * Get regular exercise . Walking 30 minutes a day is the easiest and cheapest form of exercise * Cut down on simple sugars such as in pastries * See a doctor regularly DIABETIC DIET BOOK The Los Angeles district of the California Dietetic Association has published a helpful booklet , `` La Dieta Diabetica , '' which it revised this year . The booklet , written in both English and Spanish , is available for $ 5.76 from the California Dietetic Assn. , Box 3506 , Santa Monica , CA 90403 . TELEPHONE NUMBERS For brochures or more information on diabetes , call American Diabetes Assn. , -LRB-800-RRB- 828-8293 ; -LRB-213-RRB- 381-3639 ; or -LRB-714-RRB- 662-7940 . DIABETES COMPLICATIONS According to the American Diabetes Assn. , in the United States every year : * 150,000 people die of diabetes and its complications * 5,000 people go blind because of diabetes * 10 % of all cases of kidney disease necessitating dialysis were caused by diabetes * 45 % of all non-traumatic amputations of the leg and foot were caused by diabetes * Heart disease is 2 to 4 times more likely in people with diabetes

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

uncontrolled diabetes
blood pressure
latino diabetics
american indians
diabetes complications
major diabetes risk factors
education efforts

adult-onset diabetes
american diabetes assn.


And for the sentimentalists , there will be 83-year-old Johnny Kelley starting in his 60th Boston Marathon . There have only been 35 editions of this race run without him. ; The last three Boston marathons have turned into reckless speed duels . They have produced five of the top 10 times and eight of the top 15 in the race 's storied history. ; They also have resulted in a race of attrition , with many of the early speedsters burning out completely or faltering in the late stages. ; Along the historic route that begins in Hopkinton , west of Boston , and ends in Copley Square in the Back Bay section of the city , checkpoint records have fallen at an alarming rate. ; For example , all 11 checkpoint records were shattered through the first 20 miles last year , either by Simon Robert Naali or Juma Ikangaa , both of Tanzania . Neither won. ; The winner was 1988 Olympic champion Gelindo Bordin , who outsmarted the early pacesetters by running a patient , calculating race. ; Running alone about 200 meters behind a pack of six Africans , Bordin passed them all by 21 miles and went on to win in 2 hours , 8 minutes , 19 seconds , the second-fastest time in the race 's history , behind only the 2:07:51 by Rob de Castella in 1986. ; Ikangaa finished a distant second in 2:09:52 . It was his third consecutive runner-up finish in Boston. ; Ikangaa is back again , along with several other formidable Africans . They include Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya , the 1988 winner in 2:08:43 , the third-fastest time in Boston and one second ahead of Ikangaa ; Abebe Mekonnen of Ethiopia , the 1989 champion in 2:09:06 , Boston 's eighth-best time ; Douglas Wakiihuri of Kenya , the 1987 world champion and 1988 Olympic silver medalist who is making his Boston debut ; and Naali , the third-place finisher in the 1990 Commonwealth Games. ; Among those chasing them will be John Treacy , the 1984 Olympic silver medalist and the third-place finisher in Boston in 1988 and 1989 ; Geoff Smith , the Boston winner in 1984-85 ; Ed Eyestone , the top-ranked U.S. marathoner ; Salvador Garcia , the runner-up to Wakiihuri in last year 's New York City Marathon ; and Rolando Vera , who finished third in his marathon debut in Boston in 1990. ; The women 's division also is filled with many respectable entrants. ; Foremost among them are Kristiansen , the 35-year-old Norwegian who holds the world record of 2:21:06 and won in Boston in 1986 and 1989 , and Samuelson , 33 , the U.S.-record holder at 2:21:21 , 1984 Olympic gold medalist and Boston champion in 1979 and 1983. ; Challenging them will be Uta Pippig , Wanda Panfil and Kim Jones. ; Pippig finished second in Boston last year in a career-best 2:28:03 . Panfil won the London Marathon in 2:26:31 , her personal best , and won the New York City Marathon in 1990 .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O B I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

60th boston marathon
boston marathons
checkpoint records
alarming rate
respectable entrants
race run
storied history


There is a recurring temptation in American politics to wreak vengeance on one 's adversaries by overhauling the political institutions that they dominate . What usually results from this ill-considered radical surgery is that the very people who scheduled the operations end up in the recovery room . Franklin D. Roosevelt 's plan to expand the Supreme Court in 1937 to dilute the votes of conservatives resulted in the creation of an opposing political coalition that lived on after the controversy to plague every subsequent Democratic President . The Republicans in 1951 wanted to ensure that there would never be another F.D.R. , so they pushed through the 22nd Amendment limiting presidents to two terms . The first President to come under the restriction was Dwight D. Eisenhower , a Republican who might very well have won a third term . The latest institutional patients to be wheeled into the shock-trauma unit are the state legislatures . The quack therapy being performed on them is the imposition of limits on the number of terms that state lawmakers can serve . The first cut took place on Sept. 18 , when Oklahoma voters endorsed overwhelmingly a ballot initiative limiting state lawmakers to 12 years ' service . By itself , the term limitation in Oklahoma might be written off as a cranky act of vengeance in a state not renowned as a political trend-setter , but similar measures will be voted on in November in California and Colorado . Eager for straws in the wind in an otherwise trendless political year , some journalists have seen in the Oklahoma vote a backlash against incumbents , a manifestation of public alienation and an ominous sign to the Democrats , the party that holds the largest number of legislative seats . The Oklahoma referendum is none of these . It is , rather , the kind of minor political tempest that gets highlighted briefly by the media , is copied in a few places and then disappears . It is Republicans , naturally enough , who seem to be the most enthusiastic puffers of term limitation , since they have the most to gain , at least in the short term , from an indiscriminate clean-out of the nation 's deliberative bodies . What makes term limitation such a singularly inappropriate tool is the almost total lack of connection between the fancied sins of the lawmakers and the discipline proposed . The very weakness and vulnerability to corruption that have often plagued state legislatures usually result from the amateurism of lawmakers -- the quality that term-limitation backers now assert as a virtue . Where state legislators are underpaid , have no professional staffs and meet rarely , they usually come under the sway of full-time governors , executive-branch bureaucrats and highly paid lobbyists . Indeed , the goal of legislative reformers for the past 50 years has been more professionalism in the state assemblies , not less . By turning out the legislators every 12 years -- or even worse , every six years -- you pretty much guarantee that those who are elected wo n't have much of a stake in their jobs . They will use them as temporary hitching posts on their way to other offices without term limitations . Not every state lawmaker has his eye on a seat in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives . But it 's a safe bet that more people will be using state seats to groom for higher office if they know that the law will force them out soon . Lobbyists , of course , will rejoice . Their influence over these legislative birds of passage will grow because they will be guaranteed a perennial crop of callow and ignorant lawmakers . One thing that legislators now have going for them is that they can become conversant with public issues and so challenge , if they care to , the self-serving propaganda of the special interests . Celebrating , along with the lobbyists , will be the legislative staffs whose tenure would be unaffected . These unelected officials are permanent and beyond the reach of voters , while the very people who are in some measure accountable will be hustled out of office . Ultimately , what the term limit amounts to is an indictment of citizenship . It is an admission that the voters are civic imbeciles who can not discriminate between bad lawmakers and good ones . Where surgical strikes are needed to eliminate the incompetent or corrupt , the term limitation uses carpet bombing in the hope that in the resulting carnage , some of the guilty will suffer along with the innocent . At the most basic level , term limitation is just flat-out wrongheaded and illogical : To throw everybody out when all you want to do is throw out the rascals is like burning down your house in order to get rid of the rats .

O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

term limitations
political institutions
legislative reformers
state legislatures
state lawmakers
opposing political coalition
american politics


Proposals to limit the terms of members of Congress and of state legislators are popular and getting more so , according to the pundits and the polls . Students of government like me find it hard to understand why . Contrary to most of the propaganda on the subject , these constitutional changes wo n't do what their proponents say they want to accomplish . For example , term limitations will not decrease the influence of interest groups and their money on elections . Quite the contrary . Forcing senior members of a legislature to retire means that the new candidates who try to take their place will have to invest heavily in achieving the name recognition that the veterans already have . This will require large new infusions of money and electoral alliances with interest groups who can supply it . Veteran members -- proven vote-getters -- are much more powerful in relation to special interests than candidates who have to prove themselves in an uncertain and expensive campaign environment . Term limitations wo n't improve the functioning of the legislature , either . People need time to learn their jobs . Term limitations throw away the benefits of learning from experience . Inexperienced legislators are less powerful in relation to legislative staff , executive branch bureaucrats and interest-group lobbyists from whom they must learn the customs and routines of legislative operations and the stories behind policy proposals . New people in any complex institution are highly dependent on the people around them . Term limitations just shift power from elected officials to the relatively inaccessible officials , bureaucrats and influence peddlers who surround them . Why do we assume that new blood is automatically better than old ? Of course we should pay attention to the quality of our legislators and vote against those whose performance we find wanting . Term limits merely guarantee that the good will disappear along with the bad . Finally , term limitations wo n't enhance representative democracy . Just the opposite , since they create an artificial barrier preventing voters from returning to office legislators they might otherwise favor . Why are we so certain that voters have such terrible judgment that they need a constitutional restriction keeping them from voting for incumbents they know and like ? It is hard to see how restricting voters ' alternatives in this arbitrary way can be proposed in the name of representative government or of democracy . One must conclude that other forces are at work . More likely , groups and interests that now have a hard time winning against incumbents are seeking term limitations to improve their chances of winning office . They are undoubtedly calculating that non-incumbents are easier to beat , or buy . They 're probably right about that .

O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

term limitations
term limits
state legislators
constitutional changes
interest groups
electoral alliances
constitutional restriction
representative democracy


This is not an argument regarding the merits of gun control laws . Second Amendment states -LRB- 1791 -RRB- : `` A well regulated militia , being necessary to the security of a free State , the right of the people to keep and bear Arms , shall not be infringed . '' As often happens in law , a simple English sentence may have legal significance which determines the application of the words . The Second Amendment was , as was the rest of the first 10 amendments -LRB- the Bill of Rights -RRB- , insisted upon by some of the states for their own protection from the federal government . The Second Amendment stated one of the subjects about which the federal government was prohibited from making any laws . The word `` people '' as used in constitutional law is used collectively and refers to a political entity , such as a state , and does not mean `` persons '' or individuals . An early ruling in 1875 in U.S. vs. Cruikshank established the view of the U.S. Supreme Court , upheld in cases in 1886 , 1894 and 1939 . The court in Cruikshank said that the Second Amendment did not create a federally protected right of individuals but was an express limitation on the powers of the national -LRB- federal -RRB- government . There have been lower federal court decisions regarding the Second Amendment , all supportive of this established principle . The status of the Second Amendment as a constitutional issue is and has been for nearly 200 years : 1 -RRB- A restriction on the power of the federal government to limit or deny the states the right to have state militia . 2 -RRB- Not a federally protected right of individuals . There is no national document controlling the states with regard to arms . The states may regulate arms within their borders . WILLIAM NEALY Studio City

O O O O O O O O O B I I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B O O O O O O O O

gun control laws
second amendment
federal government
constitutional law
security
arms


There , in the segregated black Georgia of four decades past , began the toughening of Clarence Thomas , nominee to the United States Supreme Court. ; Abandoned by his father , driven by his hard-eyed grandfather and a band of nuns sent south to teach black children , young Clarence learned sharecropping and scholarship , hard labor and the Latin mass , and how to survive the walk home through black Savannah in his Catholic school uniform. ; From these roots , he might have become one of any number of bright , activist black men to rise out of Southern poverty and press a politically aggressive liberal agenda of civil rights and affirmative action -- as did men like Thurgood Marshall , the retiring justice whose Supreme Court seat Thomas might take. ; Instead , Thomas , now 43 , became something else -- a hybrid product of harsh Southern history and baby-boom ambition , a proponent of personal strength over dependence , of individualism over government activism. ; By the time he arrived in Washington with the Reagan administration , he had developed into a rare breed -- a black conservative so impressive to Republican presidents that he was set on the road to the highest court in the land . But he was so disturbing to traditional liberals that they are eager to deprive him of Senate confirmation in September. ; Historically , trying to predict Supreme Court nominees has been extremely risky . Still , many liberals are convinced that Thomas ' past clearly shows his future . He would , they say , oppose abortion rights , school busing plans and affirmative action programs . He would also weaken the wall separating government and religion and further restrict the rights of criminal suspects and defendants. ; Not surprisingly , Thomas ' many friends and supporters draw different conclusions . They see him as an independent spirit , a probable centrist on a court that has been steering rightward for several years. ; The Georgia beginning ; But any attempt to understand the potential successor to the revered Thurgood Marshall must begin in Georgia. ; There , just the other day , Leola Williams , Thomas ' mother , talked about how the force of family worked on her son : ; `` Clarence was surrounded by all our older parents . He saw how our family and other people struggled to make a living. ; `` I guess Clarence wanted to prove to himself he could be what he wanted to be -- and prove to his grandfather he could be the kind of person -LRB- his grandfather -RRB- wanted him to be . '' ; The grandfather , the late Myers Anderson , began training Thomas in earnest when the boy was 9 and Leola Williams ' life suddenly began coming apart . Her house off Pin Point Avenue had gone up in smoke , and some months later , her husband went north to Philadelphia , leaving her with two young children and a third on the way. ; Williams took her daughter , Emma Mae , and moved in with an aunt while she awaited the birth of her second son , Myers . Clarence went to live with his grandparents in Savannah , to help with Anderson 's year-round oil and ice delivery business. ; His grandfather proved to be a profound force in Thomas ' life -- a mentor , a role model , an unrelenting taskmaster and the embodiment of a personal philosophy that Thomas once recalled this way : ; `` He used to tell me that there was no problem that elbow grease could n't solve . Then he 'd say , ` Old Man Ca n't is dead . I helped bury him . ' '' ; When Anderson was n't coaching Thomas , in his farm fields or on his delivery truck , he made sure the lessons continued , in the hands of the Franciscan nuns of all-black St. Benedict the Moor School. ; Thomas , who had experienced racial mistreatment by white seminarians in Georgia , ultimately rejected seminary life . He has identified an episode at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Conception , Mo. , in 1968 as the final humiliation . He said he heard a seminarian there react to the shooting of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by saying , `` Good , I hope the son of a bitch dies . '' ; Thomas left the seminary and went north to enroll at Holy Cross College in the gritty New England factory city of Worcester , Mass. ; A Southerner in New England ; The Southern farm boy was forced to endure not only the harsh winters of New England , but also the chilly atmosphere of a white college just beginning to widen opportunities for blacks. ; Within days of King 's assassination , the school created a scholarship fund named after the civil-rights leader and stepped up the recruiting of blacks . And so Thomas , who was driven from the Missouri seminary by racism , became one of the beneficiaries of an effort to combat it. ; Thomas , who paid for his college education with loans , jobs and the newly raised scholarship funds , soon was drawn into the turbulence of Vietnam War and `` black power '' politics. ; He helped found a Black Student Union , writing and typing its constitution . In December 1969 , he and other black students resigned to protest the suspensions of black students who had blocked a General Electric recruiter on campus . Stung , school officials granted a blanket amnesty and the students returned. ; Thomas went on to run track and write for the campus newspaper . He graduated from Holy Cross with honors and left for Yale University Law School in New Haven , Conn. ; Freewheeling liberalism ; `` He came into law school espousing liberal views from his freewheeling , unattached undergraduate days , '' said Harry Singleton , a black classmate , close friend and a former civil rights official in the Reagan Education Department. ; `` But he became more conservative as he went through the process of legal education . '' ; Yale law students , Singleton explained , were exposed to conservative law professors with powerful minds. ; `` I used to discuss conservative ideas with Clarence and he was interested in them , '' Singleton said . `` They were about the dangers of big government trying to solve all the ills of society and how every time you do that you take away from the liberties of the people . '' ; But it was Thomas Sowell , the conservative black economist now at Stanford University 's Hoover Institution , whose work came to grip Thomas ' mind. ; Shortly after his arrival at Yale , Thomas remembered when someone gave him one of Sowell 's books and `` I threw it in the trash '' because `` it really went against all the things we 'd been indoctrinated to believe about the radical movement and the peace movement . '' ; But after law school , Thomas rediscovered one of Sowell 's books . Sowell 's provocative 1983 work , `` The Economics and Politics of Race , '' was `` manna from heaven , '' Thomas said. ; In that book , Sowell , arguing from a laissez-faire perspective , endorsed the notion that blacks would benefit more from pursuing economic achievement than political agitation. ; From Yale to Washington ; Thomas , always a top student , was recruited out of Yale in 1974 by John Danforth , R-Mo. , then Missouri attorney general , a Yale trustee and a frequent campus visitor . Danforth brought Thomas to Jefferson City , Mo. , to work in the attorney general 's office. ; When Danforth became a U.S. senator in 1977 , Thomas stayed in St. Louis to work as an assistant counsel for the Monsanto Corp. , then in 1979 joined Danforth in Washington as a legislative aide. ; Reagan administration officials were so impressed by Thomas and his new conservative leanings that they appointed him assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education . In 1982 , they promoted him to the more visible post of chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission . There controversy dogged him for the next eight years. ; Congress learned in 1989 that the EEOC under Thomas ' direction had permitted more than 13,000 age discrimination claims to lapse. ; Civil-rights groups accused Thomas of failing to enforce other anti-discrimination laws as well , and of retaliating against employees who disagreed with his policies. ; Thomas concentrated on winning relief for victims of actual discrimination . He steered away from lawsuits based on statistical evidence and remedies that included timetables for future hiring. ; But he was unwilling to go along with more strident voices in the Reagan administration who opposed most legal remedies for discrimination , so he often felt isolated from both the administration and the civil rights establishment. ; Several years ago , a top Reagan domestic adviser who wanted his coffee cup refilled at a black-tie dinner looked up and spotted a black man in a tuxedo hovering near the table . Holding the cup aloft , the official asked for more coffee . The black man reached past the cup to shake hands and said evenly : `` Perhaps we have n't met . I 'm Clarence Thomas . '' ; SUNDAY IN PERSPECTIVE : A reporter who saw Clarence Thomas at his most candid writes about the nominee 's opinions , fears and frustrations. ; Nomination Of Clarence Thomas ; President Bush has chosen Judge Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Court of Appeals to replace Justice Thurgood Marshall , who is retiring from the Supreme Court. ; Nominee 's background ; Age : 43 ; Birthplace : Savannah , Ga. ; Family : Married to Virginia Lamp Thomas ; he has one son , Jamal ; Education : Bachelor 's degree , 1971 , Holy Cross College ; law degree , Yale Law School , 1974 ; Professional experience : Missouri assistant attorney general , 1974 - ' 77 ; chairman of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , 1982 - ' 89 ; judge on U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia since . 1990 ; ... ; On quotas : ; `` Federal enforcement agencies ... turned the statutes on their heads by requiring discrimination in the form of hiring and promotion quotas , so-called goals and timetables . '' ; ... ; On affirmative action : ; He referred to it as `` social engineering ... . We 're standing the principle of non-discrimination on its head . '' ; ... ; How justice is chosen ; President : The president nominates Supreme Court justices. ; Senate : Senate holds hearings into qualifications of a nominee prior to confirming , rejecting or failing to act upon the nomination. ; Qualifications : The Constitution sets no qualifications for justices . Traditionally , justices have had some legal training and most have been judges , lawyers or law teachers. ; ... ; Past Nominees ; David Souter : Confirmed by Senate , 1990 , despite concerns of some Democrats about his views on the right to privacy ; Anthony M. Kennedy : Confirmed unanimously , 1988 ; Robert H. Bork : Rejected , 1987 , because of his strict interpretation of the Constitution , which critics said would have set back progress on individual rights ; Douglas H. Ginsburg : Ginsburg asked that his nomination be withdrawn , 1987 , after he admitted having smoked marijuana as recently as 1979 ; ... ; Sources : Chicago Tribune , World Book Encyclopedia , Compton 's Encyclopedia , Who 's Who Among Black Americans , news reports ; Knight-Ridder News Service

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

clarence thomas
supreme court nominees
senate confirmation
affirmative action programs
thomas sowell
black conservative


Scientists and engineers in Chile , which has the distinction of playing host to the largest earthquake ever measured , are waiting with serious interest reports on the Oct. 17 San Francisco earthquake . Measured by magnitude , `` Chile is the world 's most seismic country , '' said building engineer Elias Arze , president of the Chilean Seismology and Anti-Seismic Engineering Assn. . The San Francisco quake measuring 7.1 was comparable to the earthquake that struck Santiago and central Chile in March , 1985 , killing 180 people and toppling some 70,000 homes . And like California , Chile is still waiting for another `` big one , '' an earthquake of magnitude 8 or more . Both areas are situated along the Pacific `` ring of fire , '' the huge faults created by the collision of massive plates of the earth 's surface . `` Chile , along with Alaska , are the sites that have had the biggest seismic occurrences , '' said Prof. Edgar Kausel , chairman of the Geophysics Department at the University of Chile . Chile has about 2,270 miles of its coast along the earthquake fault between the Nazca plate and the South American plate . The frequency of earth movements prompts Chileans to say that every president has at least one major earthquake during the traditional six-year term in office . The long history of earth movements in Chile has led to a sharing of information with U.S. and Japanese scientists and engineers over the behavior of the earth and of buildings during earthquakes . Arze said after the 1985 earthquake , teams of foreign experts arrived in Chile to study the effects of the earthquake on buildings . `` Our buildings performed very well , '' he said . Since earthquake building codes were implemented in Chile in the 1930s , only two engineered buildings have collapsed , he said . Older buildings have been replaced over the years . `` We have so many earthquakes in Chile it has cleaned up our construction , '' Arze said . Chilean earthquakes tend to be sharper and last longer than those of California , leading to differences in building design . While California engineers have promoted a flexible design of steel framed buildings that allows them to swing in a quake , Chileans opt for stiffer construction . Chilean buildings are of reinforced concrete with more inside walls . `` Our buildings move little compared to -LRB- those of -RRB- the Americans , '' said Arze . Descriptions of earthquakes in Chile date back to Spanish settlers in 1575 . In an 1835 journal entry about a stop the ship the Beagle made in Chile , scientist Charles Darwin described an earthquake he experienced . Just a few months before the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco , a quake measuring 8.5 struck the central Chilean coast , destroying the city of Valparaiso . On May 21 , 1960 , an earthquake measuring 9.5 struck an area about 600 miles long in southern Chile , releasing energy nearly 1,000 times that of this year 's San Francisco quake . Parts of the coast stretching south from the city of Concepcion , 325 miles south of Santiago , dropped nine feet . `` It was the biggest registered in the history of seismic instrumention , '' said Kausel . About 5,000 people were killed in the sparsely populated area , most of them when the coastline dropped . A tsunami , a tidal wave created by the earthquake , killed others and caused considerable damage in Japan and Hawaii .

O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O B O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O

chilean earthquakes
chile
seismic country
chilean seismology
san francisco earthquake
considerable damage
massive plates
major earthquake
earth movements
chilean buildings


From Hawaii to Mexico to Central America , more than 40 million people saw the moon obscure so much of the sun that only a blazing ring was visible . In Hawaii , Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in six years , stunning scientists by releasing a dazzling fountain of lava at the height of the eclipse. ; And in the Bay Area , more than half the sun was covered when the eclipse peaked at 11:20 a.m. . The world will not see such a long-lasting eclipse for another 151 years. ; Few people who saw it today will forget `` The Big One . '' ; `` It looks neat . It looks like someone took a bite out of an apple , '' said Matthew Mauranoh , 8 , of Mountain View , who peered through a homemade black box at the Foothill Observatory. ; The view was diminished for many in Hawaii and Mexico , where low cloud cover obscured the celestial display . In the 160-mile-wide swath from Hawaii to Baja to Mexico to Brazil , the morning turned into night -- the only region where the eclipse made the Earth totally dark. ; Clouds obscured eclipse ; As totality arrived at sea level on the Big Island , the sun was hidden by a cloud layer . At the astronomy observatory at the top of 13,800-foot Mauna Kea , high cirrus clouds thwarted three of the 10 scientific experiments. ; It still got dark , but the clouds disappointed about 500 people gathered on the driving range at the Mauna Lani resort in south Kohala . Their hopes had fallen and risen in the previous hour as the clouds came and went. ; `` I came especially for this , and hope we get to see it , '' said Margaret MacLeod , a mathematics and science teacher from Manhattan Beach shortly before the eclipse in Hawaii . `` If we do n't get to see it , I may have to go to Iraq for the next one . '' ; Because of the clouds , most were unable to see the stages of the eclipse until it got totally dark. ; In the Bay Area , though , mostly sunny skies made eclipse watching a treat , except along the coast , where it was obscured by fog. ; Parks , parking lots , shopping centers , back yards and planetariums became Eclipsefests as the peak approached. ; More than a hundred sun gazers showed up at the Branham Lane Park in south San Jose with almost as many gizmos to help them spot sunspots and watch the moon cross the sun. ; There were funny Mylar glasses , big pinhole cameras , small pinhole cameras , welder 's glass , welder 's masks , binoculars projecting images onto cardboard and telescopes. ; None was as impressive as Ralph Reeves ' interference birefrigent hydrogen alpha filter telescope . All most of us need to know is that it takes electricity -LRB- provided by a gas generator -RRB- to run . And that you can take pictures of the eclipse through it . That is , if you have film. ; `` I did n't bring any film with me , '' said Reeves , a retired Lockheed instrument builder . `` Is n't that awful ? '' ; At the Children 's Discovery Museum in downtown San Jose , hundreds of youngsters and adults made cardboard telescopes , which projected the eclipse on white cards through a needle hole opening. ; Paul Stonecipher , a discovery museum staff guide , said , `` We wanted to make little theaters for all of the kids to see the eclipse without burning their eyes . '' ; Using mirrors , the eclipse also was projected on the exterior walls of the lavendar-colored museum. ; Eclipse theme park ; For nearly a week now , Hawaii turned into an eclipse theme park . More than 500 astronomers and tens of thousands of amateurs flocked to the islands to sell nearly everything under the sun. ; Sun-minded entrepreneurs hawked eclipse T-shirts -LRB- 60 different designs -RRB- , hats , posters and cookies . There was even an eclipse haircut and , of course , an eclipse drink at the Eclipse restaurant in Kailua-Kona. ; `` Everything is selling pretty well except for the eclipse Frisbees . Nobody wants eclipse Frisbees , '' said `` Wild Bill '' Lawrence , who helped out at Moonshadows , one of many small shops set up to

O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

eclipse
moon obscure
hawaii
mexico
sun
eclipsefests


And , a reporter asked , what would she say to Anita Hill if she had the chance ? ; `` I 'd tell her to pray , '' she replied . `` She needs God bad . I wo n't say nothing bad about her because she 's a mother-child , too . But , whoever put her up to it , I just pray she 'll get her life straightened out . '' ; In Thomas ' birthplace , the hometown crowd has made no attempt to disguise where its heart lies . A handwritten sign on the main thoroughfare announces : `` Pinpoint Georgia , the home of Judge Clarence Thomas . '' ; Not surprisingly , no one here seemed to believe Hill 's allegation that Thomas had sexually harassed her between 1981 and 1983 while she worked for him. ; From a roof , a sign announced : `` We believe Clarence . '' ; Much of the community gathered before the only big-screen television available , at the home of Abraham Famble , deacon of the Sweet Fields of Eden Baptist Church , as the time for the Senate vote neared. ; Williams prayed silently in the kitchen , asking God to watch over her son as she rubbed her hands nervously . The crowd joined her in the 23rd Psalm : `` Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death ... '' ; As the tally reached a majority for Thomas , a cry of joy and applause rang out. ; `` Earth hath no sorrow that heaven can not heal , '' Famble said .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

clarence thomas
hometown crowd
birthplace
senate vote
georgia
williams


Two propositions on California 's Nov. 6 ballot would , among other things , limit the terms of statewide officeholders and state legislators . Proposition 131 would limit statewide elected officials to two consecutive four-year terms , state legislators to 12 consecutive years in office ; Proposition 140 would hold Assembly members to six years in office , state senators and statewide elected officials to eight . If either passes , or both do , what would state government be like by 1996 and thereafter ? Would passage of such measures be likely to spur similar legislation in other states , or at the federal level ? The Times asked six legislators and legislative specialists . Richard L. Mountjoy , member of the state Assembly -LRB- R-Monrovia -RRB- , first elected in 1978 , a former general contractor who has served as mayor and city councilman of Monrovia -LRB- 1968-76 -RRB- : By 1996 , there would be all new faces . The argument that the lobbyists would take advantage of them , I believe , is not valid . Term limits would give the people of California more control over the Legislature , and the Legislature would be less prone to special interests , because legislators would know they are going to be there for six years and they 're out . -LRB- Term limits -RRB- would stop -LRB- politics -RRB- from being a professional occupation . For many members , that 's all they 've ever done -- be in the Legislature , legislative staff . I think it will return the Legislature to more of a citizen-type legislator . The Legislature , right now , is controlled by those people who have a vested interest in legislation . I came to the Legislature after eight years on the -LRB- Monrovia -RRB- City Council . I knew the system there pretty well . I knew how to get things done . I think that the legislative committee hearings are nothing more than City Council meetings on different subject matters . I think that what would happen in the Legislature is more expertise coming out of the citizenry . I think there would be people from all walks of life . I think the age bracket would creep up a little more . Get people who have been in business . Folks who want to do it as a public service . At least it would not be dominated by professionals . Robert Presley , state senator -LRB- D-Riverside -RRB- since 1974 , formerly a member of the Riverside County Sheriff 's Department for 24 years , 12 of them as undersheriff : My guess is that in about 20 years , there would be another initiative to change -LRB- term limits -RRB- because we will have found that -LRB- they -RRB- did n't work . The lobbyists are there for a very long time , and they become very expert in their fields ... and will be even more influential , more powerful . They are not really accountable to anyone except their employers . It would become clear rather quickly that you have a bunch of elected amateurs trying to run a very complex , complicated system of state government . We are not a little backwater state , anymore . We have a population of about 30 million people . We are growing at the rate of three-quarters of a million people a year , and that , alone , is hard for people to comprehend . It is not just the numbers . It is the ethnic mix , the cultural diversity -- all of those things have to be cranked in . So , governing the state of California . . . is not as easy and simple as a lot of people would think . And the other thing a lot of people seem to think is that you the governor -- or you the legislator -- can get up there and solve these problems tomorrow . Well , there are some of them that are almost not solvable . You have to keep trying . Karl T. Kurtz , director of state services , National Conference of State Legislatures : The most negative and pernicious impact of term limitations will be on the leadership of the Legislature ... They need leaders who have a great deal of experience , skill and ability to lead and to get things done , so that they avoid the kind of stalemate we have had in Congress in recent years . But legislatures also need strong committee chairmen , and term limits mean that relatively inexperienced people are going to be in leadership and that they are -- by definition -- lame ducks from the very beginning . That is probably the most negative impact . There has been a national movement that started in California , 25 years ago , to really strengthen the role of legislatures and to make them co-equal branches of government ; things like term limitations , which would restrict the power and authority of legislatures , are a step backward in that movement . It would mean that , in relative terms , the legislatures would cede more power and authority to the executive branch , to lobbyists and to legislative staff . Mark P. Petracca , assistant professor of politics and society , UC Irvine : The national effect would be very impressive because , unlike Oklahoma -LRB- where voters recently approved a 12-year-limit on legislators -RRB- , which does not have a reputation for being in the vanguard of political change in America , California does . Because it is the largest political state in the country , a success for either proposition here is likely to have spinoff moves around the country ... . Since states do have the power to amend the Constitution on their own , although it is much harder to do it that way , it could very well be that the groundswell of support for -LRB- this -RRB- movement in some key industrial states would lead to , not only initiatives in those states to restrict their own state legislative terms , but also ... a demand for a constitutional amendment to do the same . As to what are the implications of term limitations in the state of California , a lot of people think that this is a partisan issue . I have tried to make the argument that it is not really partisan at all . The parties could be helped by this ... people would have to become more dependent on the party for funding and for guidance , and less dependent on the special interests . The big problem is that nationally -- or locally -- we do not have a culture that encourages and rewards public service for short periods of time . Democracy requires that , and yet we do not have it . That is why we created what , in effect , is a professional elite to govern us . Representation does not occur well then . Antonia Hernandez , president of the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund : The Schabarum initiative -LRB- Proposition 140 , backed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum -RRB- , with a six-year limit -LRB- for Assembly members -RRB- , would have an adverse effect on the Latino community . We have begun to look at whether it would violate the Voting Rights Act . Running for election is a very expensive proposition . For minorities who do not have a financial base , it is usually extremely hard to raise the money ... well-financed , well-organized candidates who are supported by other communities will have a much better chance . It seems that as we -LRB- Latinos -RRB- begin to make entries into the political process , the rules are beginning to change . Elected officials are supposed to represent the people who elect them . If there are constant changes , the impact of term limits would be to empower the bureaucracy -- the people who are not elected -- and -LRB- they -RRB- would definitely empower the special interests who have the finances and the ability to assist the bureaucrats . Being an elected official takes experience . The first two years you are just finding your way around ; the second two you are just hitting your stride , and in the third two years , you are on your way out -LRB- if 40 passed -RRB- . It just does n't make sense . There are a lot of problems with our political process , but this is not the solution . There is some merit to term limits , but they have to be done in a way that does n't unduly strengthen the bureaucracy and others who are not elected . We should throw the rotten apples out , but not the whole system with it . Gary C. Jacobson , fellow , Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences , Stanford University ; professor of political science , UC San Diego : The standard argument is that the legislative branch would be weakened . Information will be held by bureaucrats , staff , special interests . I think that is true , but what we are overlooking are the perverse incentives we set up . Instead of worrying about what their constituents think , as it gets toward the end of their term , legislators are going to be worried about what their next employer thinks , possibly in the private sector , or in their next constituency , which will not necessarily share the same interests as the one that elected them . So what it will do is reverse the incentive . If you give someone a job , for instance , and tell them that no matter how well they do it , they will be fired , the incentive to do that job well is not there .

O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

term limits
term limitations
california
statewide officeholders
state legislators
professional occupation
political process
special interests
negative impact
political change


In mid-June , a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department was settled when police agreed to stop using a martial-arts weapon , nunchakus , while arresting anti-abortion advocates. ; Hundreds have charged that police in more than 50 cities have used excessive force in removing demonstrators intent on closing down abortion facilities . The demonstrators , most associated with Operation Rescue , have charged and testified that police tactics used during the past 2 1/2 years in cities such as Denver , Atlanta , Pittsburgh and Los Angeles have resulted in serious injury and led to sexual abuse against women who have been arrested. ; Operation Rescue , which draws participants largely from conservative Catholic and Protestant circles , is a national movement that organizes demonstrations at abortion facilities . It is the practice of the protesters to go limp when ordered to move but to otherwise offer no resistance to police. ; The persistent complaints and numerous suits against police by Operation Rescue have taken on a new significance in recent months in the wake of the Los Angeles police beating of motorist Rodney King. ; The images of Los Angeles police swinging nightsticks at King as he lay on the ground , played repeatedly on national news programs , were burned into the national conscience and led to widespread calls for investigation of police brutality. ; But government agencies , the press and civil libertarians have reacted quite differently to Operation Rescue videos showing apparent police brutality and to reports of police abuse of hundreds of the activists across the country. ; A videotape of an Operation Rescue demonstration shows a man 's arm apparently snapping under the pressure of being lifted in a manner similar to that used on Lynch . Other scenes show police apparently placing fingers into the nostrils of one demonstrator and grabbing the breast of a female protester to force compliance. ; The settlement over police use of nunchakus in Los Angeles , like the videos and photographs showing police using pain compliance techniques on Rescue participants , received little attention from the public , civil rights groups or the press . Some critics say the lack of attention is a sign of a double standard. ; Police , including Assistant Chief Craig Carrucci of West Hartford , deny the claims of brutality . The FBI investigated complaints of misconduct by members of his department , he said , and `` every single case was closed . '' ; He called pain compliance `` a valid tool '' used `` in direct proportion to the amount of resistance . '' Even Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. , when arrested , cooperated with police and the courts , he said. ; Shortly after Rodney King 's beating , a news program on ABC illustrating police brutality showed a still photo of police using a martial-arts weapon against a person being arrested , but there was no mention that the episode involved Operation Rescue. ; Similarly , the CBS Evening News reported March 27 `` on various aspects of police brutality '' but did not include examples involving anti-abortion activists , a producer said. ; `` It -LRB- police abuse -RRB- has not attracted much attention because a lot of people are not sympathetic to Operation Rescue , '' said Dr. James Fyfe , a professor of justice at American University in Washington , D.C. ; Police may also have a predisposition to use excessive force against the anti-abortion activists , said Fyfe , a former New York City policeman . Their tactics -- going limp and in some cases chaining themselves to buildings -- are `` a little more than police are used to dealing with . '' ; Dr. Philip Wogaman , professor of Christian social ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington , D.C.believes the comparison with other kinds of protests breaks down at several points . For instance , he said , civil rights demonstrators normally were picketing to assert their right to eat at a lunch counter or ride on a bus , not closing facilities to deny the rights of others. ; As early as 1989 , soon after Operation Rescue began widespread sit-ins to disrupt abortion facilities , William B. Allen , then chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission , sounded an alarm . `` I am concerned that anti-abortion protesters are receiving selective prosecution and selectively harsh treatment , unlike that received by other demonstrators for other causes , '' said Allen , who generally opposes abortion. ; Colleen O'Connor , the American Civil Liberties Union 's national public education director , and Carol Sobel , the ACLU 's senior staff counsel in Los Angeles , said they agree that police have abused Operation Rescue participants . The ACLU is supporting Operation Rescue in some of those situations , they said. ; But the civil liberties group is clearly caught between conflicting rights . The ACLU may support some of Operation Rescue 's claims of police brutality , but Sobel said it also has won a $ 110,000 judgment in a case in which the ACLU had obtained an injunction against the anti-abortion group. ; The Civil Rights Commission in 1989 , under pressure from some members of Congress , decided against an investigation of alleged police brutality against anti-abortion activists and decided not to ask the Justice Department to investigate. ; A commission spokeswoman said its legal mandate prohibits dealing with abortion issues . Critics of the commission 's decision not to investigate say the issue was , and is , police brutality , not abortion .

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police brutality
excessive force
serious injury
police abuse
demonstrations
civil rights demonstrators