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Cross-Border cooperation in the Rhine-Meuse region: Aachen (D) and Heerlen (NLs)
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This article considers the role of land in (regional) development and the financing of such development. Specifically the article reflects on the application of legal provisions relating to the use of land and development, including considering how fiscal instruments can be used to promote economic development in a cross-border legal entity. The article concludes with recommendations as to how cross-border economic development can be improved. The article takes as its starting point the intention of the regions of Parkstad Limburg (NLs) and Aachen (GER) to establish a European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), with a view to promoting cross-border economic and spatial development.
JEL ClassificationK00
KeywordsRegional development Land European grouping for territorial cooperation Cross-border cooperation
1 Introduction
Recently seven municipalities in the south-east of the Netherlands (the Province of Limburg), called Parkstad Limburg (250.000 inhabitants), bordering the Aachen-region in Germany (570.000 inhabitants), decided to form a new development agenda, called the Pact van Parkstad.1 The focal point of this agenda is the execution of a public agenda, that has already been developed from a policy perspective. The agenda mainly consists of plans for economic and spacial developments in the area of Parkstad Limburg, including the restructuring of the housing volume and public provisions, adapting it to a sharply shrinking population and household base, the construction of new railways lines and a 27 km ringroad, the redevelopment of industrial estates and the development of several new tourist attractions. Pact van Parkstad amounts to a large and impressive restructuring and development agenda, not only in volume, but also in time.
To structure this agenda politically and legally, the Pact van Parkstad agenda will be organised in the form of a Collective Public Agreement (Gemeenschappelijke Regeling), with a Public Company (Overheids NV) that will manage the practical day-to-day activities.2
The content of the Pact van Parkstad agenda is not only interesting from a governance perspective, but also from an economic perspective. The question arises as to whether the legal entity responsible for implementing the Pact van Parkstad agenda can guarantee the property rights of the economic and spatial developments? However, this is not the only interesting element from a law and economics perspective. Of interest is also the role of land in (regional) development and the financing of the Pact van Parkstad. Moroever, the application of legal provisions to the use of land and development, for example the way in which fiscal instruments can be used to promote economic development in a cross-border legal entity, are also worth considering. This article will reflect on all of these issues, and will integrate the various insights in order to reach some observations. These observations will lead to the making of specific recommendations about how cross-border economic and special development, through the use of a specific agenda such as the Pact van Parkstad, can be improved. This article will try to answer these questions, not only with regard to Parkstad Limburg itself, but also with regard to a similar entity in neighbouring Aachen in Germany. Both regions wish to be connected through a European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC).3
The EGTC is a new EU legal instrument designed to facilitate and promote cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation.4,5 Unlike the structures which governed this kind of cooperation before 2007, the EGTC is a legal entity and, as such, enables national, regional and local authorities and other public bodies,6 from different Member States, to set up cooperation groupings with a legal personality. The EGTC is unique in the sense that it enables public authorities of various Member States to team up and deliver joint services, without requiring a prior international agreement to be signed and ratified by national parliaments. Member States must however agree to the participation of potential members from their respective countries. EGTCs can make binding decisions on a wide variety of cooperation issues and covering a large territory. Since they have legal personality, they can employ staff, own property and participate in legal proceedings. As one set of commentators have noted: "This legal stability reinforces decision-making among the partners, their position in interaction with the EU institutions, their possibilities for launching or improving their international position and the effective management of cooperation programs and projects."7 The law applicable to the acts of the EGTC is that of the Member State in which EGTC has its registerd office.8
In this article we will first take a look at the different characteristics of a Collective Public Agreement (Sect. 2). This will be followed by an economic analysis of land value and development issues (Sect. 3). In Sect. 4 the financial resources for development and restructuring the Parkstad-Limburg/Aachen region will be considered. Before reaching a conclusion and further observations in Sect. 6, we will address several issues related to the functioning of a cross-border authority and an EGTS designed to support the redevelopment of the region (Sect. 5).
2 The characteristics of a collective public agreement
The way in which a government and the citizens in a certain area interact with, and view, each other is of great importance for the design of institutional structures in the public domain. If we put the needs of the citizens first, then the design of the institutional structures and the research on such structures should focus on the way public services meet the needs of individuals.9 Research in this area, such as that carried out by local auditing chambers, focuses on the evaluation of actual policies with regard to their effective and efficient delivery of one or several products or services in a certain field, neighbourhood or sector.10 A local government can provide such products and services through its own employees, by subsidizing or contracting out the work to other parties, or by setting up a so-called Allied Party.
In an increasingly complex society, local governments have many ways in which to work together with other parties. Sometimes the local government is financially and managerial attached to such a party, because it owns such a party, or is part of the board of such a party, and so we speak about an Allied Party (Verbonden Partij).11 Examples of such Allies Parties are organisations that collect refuse in several municipalities, social services, the fire services etc.
In Parkstad Limburg, as elsewhere, some goods and services must be provided collectively, since it is necessary that all individuals in the region have access to the services. Examples of such services are the police and fire services. In addition, (local) government must impose restrictions on private suppliers of certain goods and services, to ensure that the action of one party does not cause negative effects on another party. In the case of negative external effects the government must be the supplier of the necessary collective goods, or must impose certain rules on other providers in order to combat negative external effects. An example of such an Allied Party is the Dutch Regional Health Service (GGD).
The need for collective goods and cooperation and the need to prevent that the efforts of one entity will benefit another, without any payment being made by that second party, have led to a large number of Collective Public Agreements in the Netherlands. This is a specific form of Allied Party involving the local government, in which several municipalities work together. Examples of Collective Public Agreements are the local fire services and the Regional Health Services; however, for economic and development purposes the most important regional Collective Public Agreements in Parkstad Limburg are the regional cooperation entity Parkstad Limburg12 (same name), Eurode13 (a cross-border organisation between the cities of Kerkrade (NL) and Herzogenrath (D)), and the sheltered workshops for people for disabilities.14
An important characteristic of a collective agreement is that all costs and benefits of this agreement are covered by, or attributable to, the members of the collective.15 Often, such agreements function well, but sometimes it is necessary for the local authority to provide significant financial support, such as through subsidies, to keep the collective good afloat. This is often the case because these collective agreements provide goods or services which are too risky, from a financial perspective, for the private sector to provide.16
Allied Parties are professional organisations. Their place in the public–private arena has given them the possibility to translate their experience with tasks and customers into a sustainable provision of products and services.17 Allied parties are capable of being innovative for longer periods, thereby ensuring their long-term existence.18
3 An analysis of land value and development issues
When developing a railway line, roads, or restructuring a certain area, future revenues are not limited to the sale of tickets, collection of tolls or value of the real estate. This is because, for example, the development of a railway line and new railway stations also adds extra value to the land in the proximity to the development. Examples of economic models which have been used to finance the development of railways are in fact quite old, as is shown by the history of the United States of America (the Homestead Act)19 where railway companies were compensated for their investment in the railways by being given land in the proximity of the rail track. By developing the railway line, the value of the land bordering the line rose, and could be used to finance the construction of the line.
In Germany, other means of financing the development of an area also have a long history. This began with the introduction of a successful scheme of land value taxation in the German Protectorat Kiau Tchau (Tsjing-tao) in China.20 After this success, the idea started to attract attention in mainland Germany. By the end of 1910 no less than 652 municipalities and provinces in Germany had a land value tax.21 The first German city to introduce such a tax was Frankfurt am Main in 1894.22 The first tax levied was without success, but a renewed effort in 1904 met with more success.23
The land in Kiau Tchau was leased by Germany from China (compare Hong Kong and Macao) and not bought. Therefore it is not strange to find that the general taxation system distinguished between a tax on land, and a tax on the improvements of the land.24 This reflects proposals that had been developed earlier by Henry George, an economist from New York.25 In his work George distinguished between land value and improvements to the land. In the case of Kiau Tchau this distinction made great sense. The implementation of the "Georgian Tax" in Kiau Tchau meant that 33,33% of the sales value of every piece of land property had to be paid to the government at the time of sale, with a deduction for the value of certain documented improvements, plus 6% of the total sales value.26 As a sort of pre-collection of the tax, each 25 years landowners had to pay one-third of the rise in value of the land. These obligations were not collected in the form of regular taxes, but in the form of mortgages held by the government, protected by the property title of the land.
We can now see how this system worked as a development strategy. From the start of the development process, the development authority, in this case the governor of Kiau Tchau, owned mortgages, the value of which depended on the success of the developments. These mortgages could also serve as a security for future credit. Therefore the funds for development existed from the start of the development activities, namely the moment at which a specific plan was presented and potential buyers were interested in the land that was described in the plan. This is a development strategy that can also be used in the same way with regard to the new railway lines and roads in Parkstad Limburg, or land in the neighbourhood of tourist attractions, industrial estates or nature reserves. It could also offer potential benefits for the neighbouring Aachen region in Germany, with the development of the Rhein Westfälische Technischer Hochschule (RWTH) and new housing developments in the north part of Aachen (Richterich).
The "Georgian" programme distinguishes between the "rent" of natural resources on the one hand, and the improvements to the resources on the other.27 The programme presumes that "rent" can be taxed completely, while improvements should be untaxed. This creates a tax base that can allow for economic development, with a special focus on economic efficiency. All these elements can be found in the system of real estate taxation in general in Germany,28 but play an even more important role in the interaction between income tax and investment projects of companies in certain assigned fields, such as the development of real estate, but also other fields like shipbuilding.
Such an assigned area for economic development could also be formed in the Parkstad/Aachen region, within the borders of the EGTC. This is a picture that is drawn by Mayor (Oberbürgemeister) Linden of Aachen in his plea to connect the city of Aachen with Parkstad Limburg under the title Charlemagne Region at a meeting in Heerlen on the 1 April 2009.29 His idea is that this cross-border region could obtain a special fiscal status, making it even more attractive to carry out projects on a European scale within the EGTC.
From a more defensive perspective, it is also good to keep the coherent idea of spacial development in mind. This is because development, disinvestments, additional write-offs and other developments influence the value of land and should be regarded from an integral administrative perspective. This coherence is also the basis for the counterbalancing of certain risks concerning spacial developments. This can be regarded as allowing solidarity between the several public parties involved in the Parkstad Limburg and Aachen region, but can also be seen as a potential incentive to policy making, because the advantages for the one, will also be the advantages for the other.
By choosing the centre of Heerlen, the central municipality in Parkstad Limburg, as a focal point for development, the value of land and the value of the real estate in this area will be influenced positively. However, in a situation of negative demographic change, as is occurring in the former coal-mining region of Parkstad Limburg, choices regarding which areas to develop will also lead to lower property values in areas where real estate is going to be demolished. In the EGTC all parties can put their cards on the table, and (non-)decision making and political tensions can be reduced to a manageable level. The EGTC will also enable the fair use of official instruments, equalization funds etc. to limit negative effects.
4 Financial resources for development and restructuring
There are various possibilities for raising investment funds to support the different development and restructuring projects, other than the acquisition of regular public and private money used to fund these kind of investments. A first additional possibility is to make use of a benefit-tax or exploitation regulation. Given that infrastructure development in the vicinity of the land will have external positive effects, fiscal regulation can (partly) tax the rise in the value of land. This is important in a development strategy, although in practice there is often much more attention given to negative external effects of such taxation, than for possibilities to bring returns to the original investor, such as a regional government or an EGTC.30 However, one should note that, under EU law, an EGTC cannot exercise powers conferred by public law, such as the levying of tax.31 Therefore, if this means of raising income is to be pursued within the EGTC, it must be carried out by the individual members, such as the local municipalities, or by national government. Nevertheless, an EGTC could provide the framework within which cooperation and agreement on such issues could be reached.
A second additional possibility for raising investment funds arises if we put the EGTC and the financial implications of an EGTC and its development and restructuring agenda in its own time frame. By this we mean that the development of the railway lines, motorways, renovation of housing in Parkstad Limburg, the development of new housing projects in Aachen-North, the enlargement and opening of tourist attractions, the development of the university campus around Melaten and Westbahnhof in Aachen-West, the upgrading of the cross-border industrial area Avantis and the restructuring of other industrial estates, will take 30 or more years.32
Such a lengthy period of time is of great importance for long-term investors, like pension funds. In economically uncertain times, land is a relatively safe investment, because land cannot "disappear", like stocks and money can. For example, in the spring of 2009, the Dutch pension fund for civil servants (ABP), the second largest pension fund in the world, based in Parkstad Limburg, announced that it was looking for infrastructure projects in the Netherlands as long-term investment projects.33
Investment projects with a substantial size and many possibilities to diversify risks can provide a relative steady cash flow for long-term investors, like pension funds, resulting from availability payments34 for roads and railway lines, user fees for roads and railway lines, mortgages, rents, leases, entry fees, benefit-taxes and exploitation indemnities. This will give the different investment projects carried out within the EGTC a special collective value.
If we consider the development of different projects from a side-by-side and public–private partnership perspective, there can also be quite a few efficiency gains, that can serve as compensation for exploitation losses in other parts of the total development. Efficiency gains can provide the money to pay for several basic investments in railways lines and roads, the demolition of houses, the restructuring of industrial estates, and compensation for negative external effects.
In the summer of 1997, the Oder Valley experienced an almost unprecedented flood. By calling in the army, the German government prevented the dykes from bursting, yet massive floods occurred in neighboring Poland, as the River Oder is now the border between Germany and Poland.
The emergency occurred not only due to poor maintenance of dykes and dams under state socialism, nor only due to luvial rainfall, but in particular due to the neglect of forestation in the Silesian and Moravian mountains. Hence, preventing future floods will involve not only repairing and improving dykes and dams as well as the irrigation systems, but also and most importantly re-foresting and properly maintaining the forest in the Silesian and Moravian mountains.
As a consequence of drawing border lines during and after World War II, both the mountaintops and the rivers Oder and Neisse have become frontier lines, which implies that ecological entities have been dissected. Hence, what as a consequence of the Silesian war had become both an ecological and a political entity—the Kingdom of Prussia enclosing the relevant parts of the River Oder and most of its tributaries as well as the relevant mountaintops—has now lost its concomitant political authority to enforce the proper ecological management. Likewise, since the relevant jurisdiction has been lost, the tax base has likewise been lost that could allow for the clean-up effort of rebuilding dykes and the re-forestation of the mountains needed to repair the damage and prevent future flooding.
A solution to this problem can be found in the writings of Henry George (George, 1880). The funds required for the repair of damage; improvements of dykes, dams, and ditches; and the re-forestation of the mountaintops are available in the value of the improvements of lands thereby achieved. These improvements would accrue to the owners of land as an increase in the land rent without their own labor, and hence, according to the precepts of Henry George's "remedy," they would be subject to his single tax.
Since no political authority presently exists that could levy the tax, a substitute solution is called for. Through an international treaty, an Oder Authority can be set up, with very much the same statutes as the German-Polish Foundation. The Oder Authority's purpose would be the ecological management of the mountain ridge. To this end, it would have to acquire land and manage it, generating proceeds from the exploitation of woodlands and river sites. It could reclaim the land rent increase due to its activities through a scheme of options propagated in modern finance theory.
A call option gives its owner the right to buy stock at a specified exercise or striking price. Similarly, a put option gives the owner the right to sell at (an obviously lower) exercise price. The present owner of lowlands faces the prospect of either owning land that is going to be flooded frequently or owning land that will be protected from flooding, and the difference in the value of these two types of land is attributable to the activities that the Oder Authority envisioned. Hence, the authority can issue put and call options. It should actually have the exclusive right to do so. Farmers will be interested in selling land subject to frequent flooding and buying land protected from such peril. The authority itself controls the risk, and the value of the improvements must be at least as high if not in excess of the cost of making the improvements. Hence, the revenue source lies in selling the insurance (through put and call options) so as to assume the risk the landowners would like to discharge or transfer. Obviously, the authority will also buy up land at present market value, mortgaging it at close to 100 percent.
Therefore, when assessing investment projects and area development from a financial perspective, it is important that the value of the options identified above are considered in addition to the direct benefits of the project. The value of a put or call option can be calculated by professionals, and are possibly easy to rewrite in the case of real options on the land that result from the development of the infrastructure in Parkstad Limburg and Aachen. Special attention in this case should also be given to the pension funds, because they have a large amount of expertise on the calculation of the value of real options.
5 The functioning of a cross-border authority
Earlier in this paper we have noted that government investment could be earned back through macro-economic benefits, the rise in the value of land, and through the value of real options on the land in the investment areas. We have given attention to the role of a pension fund in financing the different developments over a long time period, both with regard to the coordination of the different projects, cash flows and investments, and in regard to the participation of several partners when executing the different project in public–private partnerships. Such a way of operating requires strong government, in addition to private parties which have access to large amounts of capital. Government must be able to set those fiscal and compensation measures that are necessary for the development of the area, to plan the development, to support the auditing on the project, and to provide the conditions for the conservation of property rights in the area, so that development, building, financing and maintenance can be coordinated simultaneously, and macro-economic costs and benefits can be combined together in an optimal way.
However if such a public entity (government) does not exist, because of competence and power struggles between different levels of government, property rights get diluted, and the long-term added value for investors will disappear. For example, if the new railway line between Heerlen and Aachen leads to a better access to the housing market in Parkstad Limburg, and, as a result there is an additional demand for 500 houses from the German side of the border, the cost of the restructuring in Parkstad Limburg will be reduced by € 35 million through the sale of the extra houses. If we take a time period of 30 years, this means that, even with 1 million euro losses on the exploitation on the railway line each year, this will still result in a return on the investment.
Perhaps this example is a little too simplistic, but the power of this analysis is that the legal, fiscal, financial and public governance issues can be combined through an EGTC and area development in the Aachen-Heerlen (Parkstad Limburg) region. In this analysis we can learn lessons from the development strategy that was used in China 110 years ago.
The main task of an EGTC in this case would be to protect the unity of the property rights in the whole cross-border area, and to protect the value of the land. If those property rights were divided between several governments, the investments will always incur a loss, because the division of property rights will destroy the value of the possibilities for development, and the possibility for levying a land tax will disappear.
As long as the property rights of the land are divided between several authorities, or get diluted for other reasons, long-term investors will find it less attractive to become a partner in the Parkstad Limburg–Aachen EGTC. A cross-border integration of property rights has the political benefit that projects on both sides of the border can allow for internal compensation and differentiation of risks, and thus contribute to the wished-for cross-border solidarity. Moreover, individual developments can potentially benefit from a compensation fund set up within the framework of the EGTC, as is provided for in financial and investment standards. Without such solidarity schemes, big differences in wealth and income will develop between the municipalities in the region, and especially in Parkstad Limburg.
As we have seen earlier, the choice for a certain part of the region as a central point of development, will lead to a certain distribution of the (increased) value of the land, in comparison with when another choice is made. This difference may lead to political tensions, because the costs and benefits of restructuring will differ per municipality. These tensions can be changed, in a positive direction, if the property rights linked to development are organised by one public entity. This is a further reason to choose for one authority to regulate the whole restructuring of the Parkstad Limburg–Aachen region.
The Pact van Parkstad is an impressive agenda and a quick execution of this agenda requires a merger of all economic and spacial portfolios of the seven municipalities in Parkstad Limburg. This merger should be matched by a counterpart on the German side of the border. It is only in this way that the property rights for the whole restructuring area can be secured, and opportunities, threats, risks, profits and losses can be shared with each other and with as many private partners as possible. This can also lead to the establishment of a knowledge base for the large amount of work that has to be done concerning the different developments, and can lead to a large improvement in the knowledge of local government employees, especially those who work in small municipalities.
If an integral policy forms the necessary conditions for a successful, effective and efficient restructuring of the old coal mining area of Parkstad Limburg, then this can only be achieved by administrative, political and legal unity. The seven municipalities and the Province of Limburg can only achieve this by putting all their possessions in the form of land, development companies, land reserves, and other forms of real estate in one government company, in return for shares in this company. This will bring important opportunities. For example such an entity can qualify for a special fiscal status, that supports investment in certain buildings, field or areas by giving investors a special deduction from their income tax, as described by Reginald Hansen in the "die Anlagen" (Annexes) to Die praktischen Konsequenzen des Methodenstreits: eine Aufarbeitung der Einkommensbesteuerung.36
The Dutch and German authorities have already developed cross-border industrial estates, where companies situated in special industrial sites are still subject to their own tax authorities, although they are actually housed on the other side of the border.37 Two of these sites are based in the Parkstad Limburg-Aachen region: Industrial Estate Avantis in Heerlen/Aachen and the Eurode Business Centre, an office building build on the border of Kerkrade (NL) and Herzogenrath (D).
Although the possibilities for the Aachen-Parkstad region still have to be developed, given that the organisation of the Parkstad-Aachen EGTC is still in the development stage, there are different combinations of law and economics at stake. A key issue to be resolved concerns the location of the registered office of the EGTC, because when the registered office is based in Aachen, the whole EGTC area will fall under the jurisdiction of the German authorities, and when the registered office is based in Heerlen, the whole area will fall under Dutch jurisdiction.38 So far this matter is still undecided.
6 Observations and conclusions
The economic considerations in this article with regard to the Pact van Parkstad give a further insight to those factors that should be taken into account, when giving form and structure to an EGTC in the Parkstad Limburg-Aachen Region.
The first observation is that all the planned developments in the region are strongly connected to each other, so that it is preferable to consider these developments from an integral administrative perspective. This perspective also focuses attention on the need to enlarge the Pact van Parkstad in the Dutch part of the region to an EGTC covering the whole economic area of Parkstad-Limburg and Aachen. This is necessary both with regard to the Allied Parties that need to be established, as well as with regard to use of other cross-border legal instruments.
A cross-border authority is needed in order to connect the developments in Aachen with those in Parkstad Limburg, so that the whole region is able to share development risks, possibilities, and problems. Such an authority will come to quicker decisions and act from a common cross-border solidarity perspective.
The second observation is that an efficient and effective development of the region, with it new roads, railway lines, neighbourhoods, industrial estates, institutions and tourist attractions will have many implications for the use of land, that will stretch over a period of 30 years or longer.
Such a period of development for the restructuring of a region presents an interesting investment opportunity for a pension fund, such as ABP. However, this will only be an opportunity if the property rights on the land can be secured by a specific regional authority. This also applies without the involvement of ABP, or other investors, because efficiency reasons will require an integral overview of the whole development agenda on both sides of the border. Therefore it is important that the execution of the Pact van Parkstad and the EGTC allows for an integral bundling of all land possessions, including the development companies that are already owned by government in that area, and the merger of all the civil service departments that are responsible for spacial, economic and building planning.
This third observation involves the need for the creation of the conditions for the application of innovative public–private partnerships, fiscal conditions to tax added value resulting from public investment, and the provision of revenue to cover exploitation losses, negative external effects, and other non-profitable investments, to supplement public money received from the governments in Maastricht, Düsseldorf, the Hague, Berlin and Brussels.
The fourth observation is that cooperation on a large scale can only be sustainable if the property rights of the investors can be secured on a long-term basis. The dilution of property rights, for example when participating local governments want to keep a part of the agenda to themselves for political reasons, will be fatal for the rest of the agenda, in terms of financing. From an administrative perspective, this implies that all the governments, including the provincial government in Limburg, will become participants in the Allied Parties included in the Pact van Parkstad and the EGTC, and that all parties will act accordingly to protect all the property rights.
- 1.
Preparation for the merger of all local government departments dealing with spacial, economic and building affairs in the Dutch part of the EGTC, as well as civil servants from the Province of Limburg, into one public entity. The public entity should be structured in such a way, that it can secure the property rights on lands and development.
- 2.
The parties to the public entity described under 1 should put all their belongings in terms of land and property on this land into the public entity in return for shares in this entity.
- 3.
The foundation of an EGTC between Aachen and Parkstad Limburg.
- 4.
The preparation of all kinds of financial activities needed to differentiate and distribute risks, and all necessary financing and treasury activities, that are connected to the integral development and restructuring agenda.
- 5.
The preparation of public–private partnerships.
This article has provided some considerations concerning the Pact van Parkstad and the potential EGTC in the Aachen-Parkstad Limburg region from a law and economics perspective. Putting things into practice is normally not the work of academics, but for those politicians and civil servants who are directly involved on both sides of the border. Nevertheless we have seen in this article that the Pact van Parkstad and an EGTC have many economic and financial implications, which need to be considered if the agenda is to become a success. This success is attached to a global or cross-border vision of the future of the region in the European Union, which puts the role of borders into a special perspective. An EGTC and the redevelopment of a former old coal mining area is a project requiring real solidarity, sincerity and the willingness to share political power. Without those shared values it will be difficult to make the Pact van Parkstad and the EGTC a true success. Time will tell if such shared values exist and are sustainable.
- 1.
Het Pact van Parkstad, http://www.parkstad-limburg.nl/ (last accessed 5 June 2010).
- 2.
See Rekenkamercommissies Parkstad Limburg, Het Pact van Parkstad (2009), available at: http://www.rekenkamersparkstadlimburg.nl/ (last accessed 5 June 2010).
- 3.
Representatives of the local municipalities in Limburg (Parkstad Limburg) and Aachen (City of Aachen and and the Region of Aachen) signed a statement of intent, expressing their desire to develop an EGTC, on 19 October 2009. See: Ondertekening Intentieverklaring EGTS, available at: http://www.parkstad-limburg.nl/index.cfm/parkstad-limburg/informatie/nieuws/nieuwsartikel/Ondertekening-intentieverklaring-EGTS (last accessed 5 June 2010).
- 4.
See Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on a European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC), O.J./L 210/19. Article 1(2) of the Regulation provides: "The objective of an EGTC shall be to facilitate and promote cross-border, transnational and/or interregional cooperation … between its members … with the exclusive aim of strengthening economic and social cohesion."
- 5.
See also Gianluca Spinaci and Gracis Vara-Arribas, The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC): New Spaces and Contracts for European Integration?, EIPASCOPE 2009/2, 5 and Committee of the Regions, The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC): state of play and prospects, available at: http://portal.cor.europa.eu/egtc/en-US/Publications/Pages/welcome.aspx (last accessed 4 June 2010).
- 6.
Regulation (EC) No. 1082/2006 provides that bodies governed by public law within the meaning of Article 1 of Directive 2004/18/EC on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contract can be members of an EGTC (Article 3(1)(d)). Therefore public bodies which are subject to EU public procurement rules are eligible for membership of an EGTC.
- 7.
Gianluca Spinaci and Gracis Vara-Arribas, The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC): New Spaces and Contracts for European Integration?, EIPASCOPE 2009/2, 5 at 6.
- 8.
In this respect, Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No. 1082/2006 provides that "Where it is necessary under Community or international private law to establish the choice of law which governs an EGTC's acts, an EGTC shall be treated as an entity of the Member State where it has its registered office". Various other provisions of the Regulation also refer to the jurisdiction and competent authorities of the Member State in which the EGTC has its registered office, see e.g. Arts. 6 and 15.
- 9.
Harvey S. Rosen, Public Finance, 6th edition (McGrawHill, 2002), chapter 1.
- 10.
See for example the goal of local auditing chambers in Parkstad Limburg available at www.rekenkamersparkstadlimburg.nl.
- 11.
Het Verband met Verbonden Partijen, Rekenkamercommissie Parkstad Limburg, 2007. This report is available at: http://www.rekenkamersparkstadlimburg.nl/ (last accessed 5 June 2010).
- 12.
Ibid., page 83.
- 13.
Ibid., page 82.
- 14.
Ibid., page 92.
- 15.
Rosen, chapter 4.
- 16.
Ibid., chapter 4.
- 17.
Het Verband met Verbonden Partijen, page 3.
- 18.
Ibid.,page 3.
- 19.
The Homestead Act May 20, 1862. (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. XII, p. 392 ff.)
- 20.
J.G. Backhaus, Land Value Taxation in Germany: Theoretical and historical issues (1997), Essay prepared for a Compendium on Land Value Taxation Around the World to be published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of Henry George.
- 21.
Backhaus, page 9.
- 22.
Ibid., page 10.
- 23.
Ibid., page 10.
- 24.
Ibid., page 12.
- 25.
Henry George, Progress and Poverty, San Francisco, 1979, New York: Appleton, 1880 (2).
- 26.
Backhaus, page 12.
- 27.
Ibid., page 2.
- 28.
Reginald Hansen, Die praktischen Konsequenzen des Methodenstreits: eine Aufarbeitung der Einkommensbesteuerung, Duncker & Humbold, Berlin 1996.
- 29.
Meetings and discussions on the Pact van Parkstad, 1 April 2009, Parkstad Limburg Theaters, Heerlen
- 30.
Backhaus (1997).
- 31.
Regulation (EC) No. 1082/2006, Article 4(4).
- 32.
Rekenkamercommissies Parkstad Limburg, Het Pact van Parkstad (2009).
- 33.
NRC-Handelsblad, 25 April 2009, page 1.
- 34.
Availability payments are payments from the regional governments to the financial institution that has financed the road construction. When the road is completed, it is available for the people to use, and to pay for this service the local government pays a rent.
- 35.
J. Backhaus, "Land Rents and Ecological Crisis: The Case of the Oder River Valley", American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 58, nr. 2, April 1999, pp. 249–252.
- 36.
Reginald Hansen, Die praktischen Konsequenzen des Methodenstreits: eine Aufarbeitung der Einkommensbesteuerung, Duncker & Humbold, Berlin 1996.
- 37.
Het Verband met Verbonden Partijen, page 26 and page 29.
- 38.
Although note that Regulation (EC) No.1082/2006 provides that Community (now EU) legislation on jurisdiction shall apply to disputes involving an EGTC (Article 15(2)). However, the Regulation itself provides that an EGTC shall be treated as an entity of the Member State in which it has its registered offices (Art. 2(1)). If EU law does not provide for the determination of jurisdiction, the competent courts for the resolution of disputes.
Dr. Simon Duindam is grateful to Prof. Dr. J. Backhaus for giving him the opportunity to present this paper at the seminar and to the participants of the seminar for their helpful comments. Naturally all remaining errors are the responsibility of the authors.
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.


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Target: Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan
Goal: Don't let a man who said he would shoot up elementary schools and kill Jewish leaders obtain guns again.
A man stated that he would like to shoot and kill grade school children and attack Jewish leaders on Twitter and was arrested for his numerous threats. David Joseph Lenio tweeted to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence communications director Jonathan Hutson that: "I bet I'd take out at least a whole classroom and score 30-plus if I put my mind to it."
The police found two rifles in Lenio's home and a handgun in his vehicle after his arrest, plus a variety of ammunition. Recently, it's become clear that the matter will be resolved via plea deal. Disturbingly, the plea deal is rumored to include an agreement that would allow Lenio to have his guns returned and purchase additional guns if he desires.
It would be nice if we could just assume that Lenio is merely an Internet troll looking to get attention by saying horrendous things. However, considering the fact that the United States has not gone eight days in a row without a mass shooting in 2015, we can't take that chance. These days, men like Lenio seem very much willing to get attention by actually performing the actions that he threatened to take on his Twitter account.
For the safety of the children in the community, Lenio cannot be allowed to legally obtain firearms ever again. Demand that the prosecutor of the case refuse to allow this man to retain his right to own guns in any plea deal that he might agree to.
Dear Mr. Corrigan,
You are currently involved in a case with David Joseph Lenio, a man who threatened to shoot elementary school children and Jewish leaders in an argument with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence communications director on Twitter. Lenio literally said that he would like to slaughter little kids and bragged that he could "score" 30 or more deaths.
It's recently come to light that you may be considering a plea deal that would allow this disturbing individual to once again own and purchase firearms. While this man's behavior may be easy to dismiss as harmless, we can no longer risk ignoring threats like this in a nation where mass shootings have become so incredibly common, even occurring in elementary schools.
Any person who threatens little children to the point that he gets himself arrested needs to be treated as a real threat to his community. Do not accept any plea deal that would let this potentially dangerous man once again own guns and possibly murder dozens of little kids.
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Fabrizio Rinaldi

subset: commoncrawl


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Channel Ten, 9.40pm
The third season of this American legal drama had a wobbly start with the clumsy introduction of new characters and a messy storyline tangle. But it quickly returned to a confident and engrossing style, deftly balancing court action and the lawyers' outside activities. Featuring a sexual-harassment case and a domestic drama for Alicia (Julianna Margulies), the 10th episode marks the welcome return of Michael J. Fox and affords Alan Cumming room to play as political strategist Eli Gold.


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The LA QUINTA INN AND SUITES LAS VEGAS AIRPORT SOUTH is a Tourist hotel. Located in LAS VEGAS - NEVADA area. Shopping is accessible by bus/taxi and the nightlife/restaurants are easily accessible by taxi or bus from the hotel.
Located 5-miles from the University of Nevada, this Las Vegas hotel features an outdoor pool and jacuzzi. Free shuttle service to McCarran International Airport is available 24-hours a day.Guest rooms at La Quinta Inn & Suites Las Vegas Airport South are furnished with a microwave, a refrigerator and coffee facilities. Each room provides a 37-inch flat-screen cable TV.A gym is available at the La Quinta Inn & Suites Las Vegas. Guests can also use the business center with fax and copying services.The Las Vegas Strip is 3-miles from the Las Vegas La Quinta Inn & Suites. The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is 23-miles away.


text:
Why in the world are we in the same time zone as NY, Boston, Miami, and DC, rather than Chicago?
I live in Terre Haute, right on the boarder and 1/3 of my staff and my customes live in Illinois. It's going to make a lot of work for me.
I will be ticked if they make us change to Chicago time. We are just as economically tied to Cincinnati and New York as we are Chicago--even more so in my case. I don't want it to be daylight at 4:00 am and dark at 4:00 pm when the kids walk home from school. It's next to impossible to get anything done outside in the evening after work. When I was a kid we could play outside until late in the evening. If it gets dark even earlier, the kids will have even less outside time. It's no wonder they are all couch potatoes. They can't play out after dark.


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Posted on 04 April 2011, 15:27
For those who have accepted the strong evidence that consciousness survives death and lives on in another realm of existence, there remains a major debate. It is the enigma of reincarnation. Outside of organized Western religions, most people accepting survival seem to believe in reincarnation. However, there is a fair percentage rejecting it.
Many spirit communicators those speaking through mediums have said that they have discovered that reincarnation is for real. Moreover, compelling evidence in favor of reincarnation has come to us through credible researchers, such as Dr. Ian Stevenson (Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation) and Dr. Brian Weiss (Many Lives, Many Masters).
On the other hand, intriguing books by Rosemary Brown (Unfinished Symphonies), Suzy Smith (The Book of James) and Betty Eadie (Embraced By The Light) further repudiate reincarnation, at least in the way most people think of it. Reincarnation, as usually understood, does not really happen, the spirit of the great composer Franz Liszt purportedly told Brown. The truth is subtly different from the teachings of a reincarnationist on earth.
In A Course in Miracles we read: In the ultimate sense, reincarnation is impossible. There is no past or future, and the idea of rebirth into a body has no meaning either once or many times.
Thus, there seems to be strong evidence for reincarnation but, at the same time, seemingly credible mystics and spirit communicators have said that it is not so. The conflict can easily lead one to reject all revelation coming to us through mediums, near-death experiencers, and past-life studies.
One possible explanation is that we do not become all-knowing when we cross over, and spirits in the lower spheres still believe as they believed when alive in the flesh. It is said that on the third sphere, often referred to as Summerland, many people still practice the religions they practiced on earth, and their beliefs remain the same. If they didnt believe in reincarnation, they continue to disbelieve in it. If they believed in reincarnation, they continue to believe in it.
Most spirit communication apparently comes from the lower spheres because the spirits there are closer in vibration to those of us on the earth plane. The more one advances in the spirit world, the more difficult it is for him or her to communicate because of the difference in vibrational frequency.
When William Stainton Moses, one of the most credible mediums of the late 19th Century, asked Imperator, the name adopted by an apparently advanced spirit, about reincarnation, he was told that only the most advanced Intelligences are able to discourse on that subject and that it is not given to the lower ranks of the spiritual hierarchy to know. There are still mysteries, we are fain to confess, into which it is not well that man should penetrate, Imperator cautioned. One of such mysteries is the ultimate development and destiny of spirits. Whether in the eternal counsels of the Supreme it may be deemed well that a particular spirit should or should not be again incarnated in a material form is a question than none can answer, for none can know, not even the spirits own guides. What is wise and well will be done
There are other aspects of the question which, in the exercise of our discretion, we withhold; the time is not yet come for them. Spirits cannot be expected to know all abstruse mysteries, and those who profess to do so give the best proof of their falsity.
Imperator, who claimed to be on the seventh sphere, said that it was necessary for him to relay messages to Moses through spirits on lower spheres because of the difference in vibration.
Another possible explanation is one of definition or semantics. You will find that the higher the ascent in the spiritual scale, the more recognition is there that there is reincarnation, Silver Birch, another apparently advanced spirit communicated through the trance mediumship of Maurice Barbanell, but not in the facile form that is so often propounded.
Silver Birch explained that the individual personality on earth is a small part of the individuality to which he or she belongs. He likened it to a diamond with its many facets, pointing out that the personality on earth is but one facet of the diamond. what you express on earth is but an infinitesimal fraction of the individuality to which you belong. Thus there are what you call group souls, a single unity with facets which have spiritual relationships that incarnate at different times, at different places, for the purpose of equipping the larger soul for its work.
Silver Birch also likened the soul to an iceberg in which one small portion is manifesting and the greater portion not manifesting. He apparently was referring to what others have called the Higher Self, the Greater Self, or the Oversoul. Trying to explain reincarnation to humans, Silver Birch added, is like trying to explain the color of the sky to someone who has been blind from birth.
The group-soul concept had earlier been advanced by the discarnate Frederic Myers through the mediumship of Geraldine Cummins. When I was on earth, I belonged to a group-soul, but its branches and the spirit which might be compared to the roots were in the invisible, Myers, one of the pioneers of psychical research before his death in 1901, communicated. Now, if you would understand psychic evolution, this group-soul must be studied and understood. For instance, it explains many of the difficulties that people will assure you can be removed only by the doctrine of reincarnation. You may think my statement frivolous, but the fact that we do appear on earth to be paying for the sins of another life is, in a certain sense, true. It is our life and yet not our life. In other words, a soul belonging to the group of which I am a part lived that previous life which built up for me the framework of my earthly life, lived it before I had passed through the gates of birth.
Myers further explained that the group soul might contain twenty souls, a hundred, or a thousand. The number varies, he said. It is different for each man. But what the Buddhist would call the karma I had brought with me from a previous life is, very frequently, not that of my life, but of the life of a soul that preceded me by many years on earth and left for me the pattern which made my life. I, too, wove a pattern for another of my group during my earthly career.
Myers added that the Buddhists idea of rebirth, of mans continual return to earth, is but a half-truth. And often half a truth is more inaccurate than an entire misstatement. I shall not live again on earth, but a new soul, one who will join our group, will shortly enter into the pattern or karma I have woven for him on earth.
Myers likened the soul to a spectator caught within the spell of some drama outside of its actual life, perceiving all the consequences of acts, moods, and thoughts of a kindred soul. He further pointed out that there are an infinite variety of conditions in the invisible world and that he made no claim to being infallible. He called it a general rule based on what he had learned and experienced on the Other Side.
In 1918, even before the communications by Myers, Liszt, and Silver Birch, a spirit entity identifying himself as Johannes of Glastonbury, a monk who had lived from 1497 to 1533, communicated by means of automatic writing a number of messages to Frederick Bligh Bond, the director of excavations at Glastonbury Abbey, concerning the layout of the abbey grounds in his day. Johannes alluded to a group soul when it was suggested by another spirit entity that Johannes might be earthbound and his recollection colored somewhat by clinging to vanished dreams. In fractured English, Johannes responded: Why cling I to that which is not? It is I, and it is not I, butt parte of me which dwelleth in the past is bound to that which my carnal soul loved and called home these many years. Yet, I, Johannes, amm of many partes, and ye better parte doeth other things Laus, Laus Deo only that part which remembreth clingeth like memory to what it seeth yet.
Communicating through Helen Greaves, Frances Banks, an Anglican nun when on the earth plane, said that she used to believe that there were souls with whom we had been in contact with in other incarnations and to whom we owed karmic debts or who owed us reparations for wrong inflicted. What I believed may still be true in part, but now I realize that those souls who attract us are part of ourselves, she communicated through Helen Greaves. They belong to the same Group, the same Spiritual family, the same Group Soul. Their connection with us is deeper and far more permanent than mere earth contacts could make it. They may be part of the same Spirit as that Spirit is itself part of the Great Spirit, the great Company of Divinity, far beyond our comprehension, the Company of Heaven, the Co-Creators, the Divine and Beautiful Sons of God.
In his 1939 book, Reincarnation for Everyman, author Shaw Desmond states that there are two approaches to reincarnation the terrestrial and the celestial. The former view has the individual returning again and again as the same man, while the latter view has man solely as spirit and his temporary inhabitancy of the physical body as but a tiny projection of the Greater Self, Thus, it may be that those mystics and spirits who have rejected reincarnation were rejecting it in the terrestrial sense but not in the celestial. Think of an atom, Liszt told Brown. It is made up of protons and neutrons which all go to make up the nucleus surrounded by electrons. That is what a soul is like. These separate parts are held together in the nucleus, but the parts can be isolated. And it is the isolated parts of the nucleus of the soul so to speak which can manifest as various personalities in your world. These are what the reincarnationalist calls different incarnations but they all belong to one soul which can choose which particular part of the soul it wishes to manifest.
When Frederick Bligh Bond asked another of the Glastonbury spirits, a more fluent speaking one, about reincarnation, the spirit replied: You understand not reincarnation, nor can we explain. What in you reincarnates, do you think? How can you find words? Blind gropers after immutable facts, which are not of your sphere of experience.
Personally, I am content to view reincarnation as I view God beyond my comprehension. It is enough to know that consciousness survives physical death and lives on in a progressive spirit world.
Michael Tymn is the author of The Afterlife Revealed: What Happens After We Die, Resurrecting Leonora Piper: How Science Discovered the Afterlife and Dead Men Talking: Afterlife Communication from World War I.
You say: "Thank you for your comments. You may very well be right about linear reincarnation. I hope not, though, as I dont want to do this again."
I recommend "self-enquiry" as taught by the sage Ramana Maharshi in his pamphlet "Who Am I?". And if that's too complciated, read Edward Muzika (a modern teacher of self-enquiry) "Hunting the I: Expanded Version). It's basically the easiest and fastest way for "enlightenment", goes deeper than the causal subtle or astral bodies
If you get so-called "enlightenment" (or whatever you call it) then you'll at least know you won't NEED to reincarnate again, if personal reincarnation happens. But I would think it doesn't, it's way more complicated as this article suggests, and "enlightenment" is not the meaning of life in my opinion.
So interesting. Thank you. I once was skeptical about reincarnation but had my own profound experience. Woke one morning and had to buy a drum. It was months later when I read you can meditate with a drum. Tried this and saw myself as an American Indian woman performing a ceremony of sorts with an American Indian Man.
There is much we cannot comprehend accept that we are here to "learn how to become more spiritual" in the words of Redcloud. (afterlife entity) Life goes on in one way or another and it behoves us to grow in wisdom and understanding in this life… perhaps with the view to making it easier for the oversoul. For others who may be directly linked to our lives.
We are to grow in grace. It takes work and dedication and an open mind. A discerning mind.
The Glastonbury spirit who said "....blind gropers after immutable facts, which are not of your sphere of experience, in my opinion said it all.
The only thing we can know for sure from the evidence is that there is an
The rest is beyond our comprehension. The afterlife inhabitants admit that a true description of things there would need concepts and celestial semantics to which our minds are insensitive.
So our preconceptions of what we will see there one day soon will be very inaccurate!
Timms your book,"The Articulate Dead", is magnificent!
As a child from a very early age I was able to see hear and feel normally unseen people and energies, I have always felt this is a one time journey in this world,but we journey many many times in the world of spirit,it makes perfect sense to me that we are connected to group souls but individuals at the same time, it is and always has been my belief that spirit,souls can commune with incarnate beings "us" in such a close proximal way that we may be lead to believe we were them in a past life, I conclude from my years of experience and spiritual work that, we are connected to eachother through the spirit within but are also seperate within our personality,reason and logic, through free will and the action of self we arrive at our destination,"spirit world" and take up our pool source position in accordance to how we have lived. In spirit we move forward and progress…only returning to earth as spirit form to help others or provide evidence of life after death "survival" continuous existance,,,not reincarnation..I have had much evidence to support my inner understandings…blessed be xx
Hello, Titus, good to see your comments here!
I don't know if mankind would ever be in a position to determine whether incarnation runs in linear or non-linear ways - or in a way we just can't conceive of. I do know that I become surprised at times, when I am researching my past life works, how many times I run across an idea my past persona had that seems completely tied to the events and mindset of my present times, which makes me wonder how the time flow really operates.
I am working on a think piece right now which gives a way of resolving the disagreements between ideas that rise up out of different personal realities, something that mystics are really good at constructing but those inner realities don't always make sense to others. I'm with Titus about channeling; I'm not comfortable with that concept, even though I know it happens. As a medium I have had the unpleasant experience of something trying to work through me, and I don't like it. I have seen presentations of channeling that were flat out dishonest. Reports of ideas being channeled and therefore coming from a higher plane don't impress me unless the information makes good common sense.
I don't think individual entities ever become all knowing or that a single individual ever has completely uniform ideas of reality and non-reality. Perceptions change and our realities adjust with those changes. What we go through from life experience to life experience, whether we are talking about one life or many lives, feeds the knowledge of the overall universal consciousness we are just parts of. The whole may know everything, but the parts are moved to learn more by pursuing the mysteries we can never quite lose.
Thank you for your comments and support. Your site appears to be a very dynamic one. I wish I could read Italian. I have not recently come across any Italian speaking people who don't also speak English, but if I do I will certainly refer them to your site. Keep up the good work.
What a great analysis. I found Jane Robert's Seth Speaks to provide one way to reconcile the confusion over reincarnation. Seth states that there are fragment personalities of the soul/consciousness that exist in non-time and are non-local. Linear reincarnation beliefs are a result of incarnates assuming time is linear and objects/people are localized in existence. Instead, various incarnations exist simultaneously in a matrix or web. Non-time and non-locality are also accepted concepts in quantum physics with evidence provided by the behavior of subatomic particles that also act as waves simultaneously (i.e. being everywhere at once).
Beautiful article, Mike! It matches well with Bruce Moen's ( http://www.afterlife-knowledge.com/) researches on the Afterlife. Yes, reincarnation is a big mistery, but we DO KNOW that it does exist in a way or another! Please know, that if you need to publish my translations of your articles in italian language, that they're at your disposal on my site (http://www.ampupage.it). I'll be happy to send you all of them by mail. Even if I don't know if there are in your Land some italians guys, I'm sure they're quite everywhere!
Go on with your great job, we OUGHT to tell the truth to the world!
Best regards and italian ABBRACCI (HUGS) .
Amos, I think Lurancy Vennum was more a case of possession or overshadowing than it was of reincarnation. Lurancy ("Rancy") was a year old when Mary Roff, who purportedly took over Rancy's body, died in 1865. A very large percentage, if not nearly all, of reincarnation cases can be explained by possession or "overshadowing." Stevenson recognized this. The birthmark aspect mentioned by NBT may be in conflict with the possession/overshadowing hypothesis, but not necessarily. As Myers communicated, there seems to be a difference between "individuality" and "personality."
It is often suggested that because of the non-local time aspect, we are living many lives at the same "time." That seems to tie in more with what Myers, Silver Birch, and the others have said about the group soul or "oversoul." As I wrote, it is beyond my comprehension.
As far as the "all-knowing" part, I don't think there is any question about that. Numerous credible communicators have repeated over and over again that when we transition we awaken not knowing amy more than we did when we gave up the ghost.
Hi Mike,
For me channeling is any type of mediumship that primarily aims at getting messages from higher beings. Regardless of whether this happens through automatic writing, trance mediumship or physical mediumship.
I hope that clarifies it.
Best wishes,
Stevenson's research, especially the birthmark/birth defect cases, seems to be powerful evidence for reincarnation.
A child starting when he begins to speak makes a number of specific statements and elicits behaviors, phobias and philias, likes and dislikes, which all identify him/herself as a particular deceased person. Further, the two families had no knowledge of each other before the case developed. Then it turns out that there is a close correspondence between the killing wounds on the deceased person, and prominent rare birthmarks/birth defects on the child. In some cases there are even two correlating birthmarks, for instance one larger and one smaller correctly corresponding to the entry and exit bullet wounds. The case studies have great authenticity - Stevenson always exhaustively investigated the cases and ruled out alternative explanationsfor instance that the child had somehow discovered or been exposed to the information in a normal way or that the witnesses were lying to him or to themselves, combined with just chance coincidence for the birthmarks.
Remembering previous lives seems to happen mainly when the death was relatively recent and violent. They occur all over the world, but there are many more cases reported in South Asia, especially India though not so many in Bengal. Why such differences based on culture - why are there so few cases of children remembering previous lives in America and Europe? At least, some sort of strong paranormal effect is going on, but the best most simple explanation seems to be reincarnation. "Super psi" explanations seem to be rather labored and more unlikely. For instance that the developing fetus somehow latches onto floating memory information (or the Akashic Records) which is all that is left from the previous personality, and then this information imprints itself so deeply that the death wound birthmarks are formed in the fetus.
Another great article, thanks!
I especially liked the final paragraph ...
Thank you for your comments. You may very well be right about linear reincarnation. I hope not, though, as I don't want to do this again.
I would not classify the mediumship of Maurice Barbanell (Silver Birch)or Stainton Moses (Imperator) as "channeling," although it is a matter of definition. Channeling seems to be a "New Age" term dealing primarily with automatic writing. Barbanell and Moses were trance mediums, although some of what Moses produced could be classified as automatic writing. Both Silver Birch and Imperator make so much more sense than what comes through "channelers." Everything they have to say appeals to reason and what they had to say fills volumes.
Keith, I recall the Blavatsky comments coming through Mrs. Wickland. Thanks for reminding me.
Loes, Thank you for your interest.
Well, interesting overview Michael. I think that some people have difficulty letting go of the idea of themselves as a physical being and their concept of reincarnation is closer to the concept of resurrection. That is, perhaps they think of themselves as looking a certain way, e.g., male, white, English and not as a spirit temporarily occupying a physical form of some kind (many kinds perhaps). For such individuals the "terrestrial" concept of reincarnation may make sense. I think Stevenson's cases are very good examples and though not strictly a reincarnation case, Lurancy Vennum "The Watseka Wonder" is a unexplained example of a spirit coming back to a physical form for a short period of time—-a kind of reincarnation if you will. The many current-day reports by children of having lived a past life are very convincing to me also. Your comment that "One possible explanation is that we do not become all-knowing when we cross over, and spirits in the lower spheres still believe as they believed when alive in the flesh." I think, may be true.
If we, that is—-some of us, do reincarnate, then in the spirit world we are a sum of our parts and our "real" self is not just who we are now but an amalgam, or "oversoul" of all we have ever been. According to Shakespeare "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players having their exits and their entrances." (He put exits first and then entrances next. Probably not meaningful but interesting to think about.)
There's an interesting contribution to this discussion by Madame Blavatsky communicating from the Other Side with Dr Carl Wickland, author of 'Thirty Years Among the Dead'. During her lifetime Madame Blavatsky, a founder of Theosophy, promoted the idea of reincarnation. But she told Dr Wickland that now she was in the spirit world and in a better position to know, she realised she had been mistaken, that there was no reincarnation, and she felt guilty for having assured her followers otherwise while she was still alive on Earth.
Hi Michael,
I've read a lot about all these theories of an Oversoul etc., but let's not forget that these are theories as well. I my view, there is really no good reason to be against the good old 'literal' or if you like 'simplistic', personalist concept of reincarnation as I try to explain in this paper: http://members.multimania.nl/titusrivas/personalreincarnation.html
To be honest, I don't value channeling possible higher spirits as much as you seem to do.
Anyway, I do agree that the main point is that individual evolution is a progressive phenomenon. but in my view linear reincarnation is an important part of that evolution before one reaches a stage on which further progress will only possible in a 'spirit realm'.
Titus Rivas
Great that you are going to publish a new book, Michael. I'm looking forward to it.
Thanks for all the interesting blogs!
Best regards, Loes
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Seth Rogen's Witty, Yet Heartfelt Plea For Battling Alzheimer
Actor Seth Rogen gave an opening statement before a Senate hearing at Capitol Hill Wednesday, addressing the topic of Alzheimer's disease and speaking on how it has affected his wife's family.
Known for his roles in comedies such as "Knocked Up," "Pineapple Express," and "Freaks and Geeks," the actor brought some of his trademark humor to his speech, but didn't mince words when it came to discussing what he called "the ugly truth" of the disease. Watch Seth Rogen's plea on HLN…


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Stop Debating and Start Testing
It's amazing the lengths people go through to avoid making a simple mistake. I think the reason is that we're so conditioned to believe that making a mistake is something bad, so we go overboard in trying to avoid making mistakes altogether — to the point of being unintelligent about it.
There are a number of reasonable risks to be taken where the negative consequences of failure are negligible, but the potential upside is considerable if things work out. That's the time when it's often a good idea to dive right in and risk making a mistake, even if it's probable that you're wrong.
For example, consider the decision many bloggers face of whether or not to put ads on their blogs. Some bloggers type many words discussing and debating this matter, trying to decide whether or not it's a good idea for them. Such words are wasted. With programs like Adsense, it's so easy to just put up some ads and test them in a matter of minutes. Then you can see what kind of feedback and income you're generating and have all the facts in front of you to make an informed decision. Guesswork, polling, and debate are pointless when it's so easy to test something and get the facts. If the ads don't work out as you'd planned, you can remove them within minutes. Just try it for a week and see what happens. Then you'll know.
For example, by running Adsense ads on this site, I know several things: 1) hundreds of people click on the ads every single day, 2) the ads make me a significant amount of income, 3) that income has been increasing by more than 50% per month for the past 9 months, 4) only a very tiny percentage of people complain about the ads (maybe one complaint a week), 5) traffic is still growing rapidly (40x increase so far this year), and 6) the ads appear to be relevant to the content. I also know how the ads perform in terms of CTR, CPM, weekends vs. weekdays, and other stats.
Given all those facts, the decision to continue showing ads is a no-brainer for me, unless of course someone wants to pay off my mortgage for me.
So on the one hand, I risked running ads for a bit, calling the experiment a failure, and turning them off. That's the downside. The upside is a free house, free groceries, and free medical insurance for my family, and possibly much more down the road. Hmmm…. tough call, tough call. 😉
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Quality Care Our Heroes Deserve
To fulfill President Lincoln's promise ? "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" ? by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans.
How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate care to Veterans?
Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses are not
authorized for this position.
Major duties include, but may not be limited to:
Ã? Facilitates patient throughput with an ongoing focus on quality and efficiency.
Ã? Screens admissions, using approved criteria, for appropriateness of level of care orders and bed assignments.
Ã? Escalates medical necessity issues, admission status issues, and bed assignment conflicts through the established chain of command.
Ã? Prioritizes bed requests, coordinates bed reservations, and assigns bed reservation holds timely for all admissions and transfers in the hospital.
Ã? Educates nurses, physicians, and ancillary staffs in level of care and bed placement issues.
Ã? Through effective and professional communication, acts as a liaison between and with physicians, patient/family, hospital staff and patient care areas, and outside agencies in an effort to promote efficient patient flow.
Ã? Communicates with Emergency Department frequently to prevent a backup of admissions and activates saturation protocols to alleviate the backlog.
Ã? Demonstrates ability to plan, supervise, instruct and evaluate ancillary nursing personnel, floats, intermittent and registry staff. Ensures that documentation is completed each shift for registry staff.
Ã? Routinely rounds throughout the hospital to identify available beds on every unit.
Ã? Keeps nursing leadership (as appropriate) abreast of critical situations impacting the hospital.
Ã? Facilitates daily bed management meeting and effectively communicates resources and issues to appropriate areas of the facility.
Ã? Responsively monitors facility triggers and capacity/occupancy and initiates actions to mitigate facility saturation.
Ã? Provides personnel to ensure appropriate staffing in accordance with budgeted matrix standards and patient care needs.
Ã? Uses systematic methods to resolve problems and evaluate outcomes.
Ã? Demonstrates knowledge of regulatory requirements and quality initiatives; monitors self- compliance and implements process changes to ensure compliance to such regulations and quality initiatives as they relate to the provision of Bed Management Services.
Ã? Treats customers of all ages, creeds, genders, disabilities and diagnoses with dignity and respect, without bias or prejudice.
Ã? Demonstrates knowledge of, respect for, cultural and spiritual needs of others.
Ã? Maintains clinical knowledge regarding disease entities; epidemiological issues and circumstances that may change where a patient can be placed.
Ã? Tracks and trends barriers to patient flow; makes recommendations and develops action plans to improve processes and systems.
Ã? Completes Bed Management (BCMA & EDIS)/InterQual training and serves as facility local resource for the end-user.
Ã? Actively functions as a system resource by supporting parallel and go live activities for Bed Management.
Ã? Serves as a first line liaison for problem solving for Bed Management (BCMA & EDIS).
Ã? Shares enhanced knowledge and skills related to Bed Management (BCMA & EDIS)/InterQual scenarios.
Ã? Reinforces enhanced staff/colleague training with hands-on Bed Management (BCMA & EDIS)/InterQual scenarios.
Ã? Accepts reassignment and additional duties, when necessary, in a flexible and positive manner.
Bring your expertise to VA and be valued as part of a team that is recognized and respected for significant contributions to medicine. Youâ??ll enjoy a patient-focused environment, terrific benefits and incentives, and the ability to practice at any VA facility in the country.
Urgent Care Association of America
387 Shuman Blvd. Suite 235W
Naperville, IL 60563
Email Us »


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Carnival Dream
4 out of 5 stars
Download the FREE app and meet your ship mates!
The key to cruising is relaxing and enjoying. Never get in a rush, and participate in every activity you can. Also, you are legally allowed to purchase and bring home 1.5 Lt of alcohol per person. So if you are a couple you get to legally bring back 3 Lt's. With that said, I bring back a whole lot more than that🙀 In any event, I'll see Yall on the Lido Deck😎
So I took our car in to be serviced. Had a small nail in a tire, so got that all patched up. The car we're driving to New Orleans is usually driven by my husband. Um, yeah, its also going to need to be detailed! On another note, my hair is done and I LOVE it. Some last minute shopping, packing and paying bills, and we'll be good to go!
We offer three different types of plans that can be purchased for either a 24 hour period or for the entire length of the cruise at a discount - price for voyage plans vary by length of cruise:
Social ($5 USD per day) – Access the most popular websites and applications. Includes: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Does not include access to other websites or apps.Value ($16 USD per day) – Surf all your favorite sites, including e-mail, news, sports, weather, banking and finance. Note: Does not support Skype calling or music streaming (such as Spotify).Premium ($25 USD per day) – From e-mail to Skype, our Premium plan promises the fastest possible connection, at speeds up to 3 times faster than our Value Plan. Supports Skype video calling, where coverage allows.
Users may easily upgrade from one plan to another. Users may use one device at a time on each plan, including either their personal devices or one of our on-board computers. All plans exclude video streaming (such as Netflix or Hulu) and Snapchat. Cellular-network-dependent WiFi Calling and Facetime services are also not supported at this time. Printing is offered at no charge.
Ok Lol. I read on here somewhere where there was someone who did if you can't afford to tip then you can't afford to cruise or something like that and they give $100 to the steward the first day etc and I'm like in my head like I'm confused lol. Just trying to tie up these lose ends of being a first timer
Ok yes. We haven't prepayed yet but will be. So that was my question. I've read different things and I was just wondering how much extra money should I bring for tips and if I prepay the gratuities, would the staff already know and expect something or not. I don't want to be cheap but I would like someone to realize that we did pay our gratuities and will tip on top of that accordingly. I knew when I go on our shore excursions to bring extra money for tipping etc. I just know we're so close and I want to make sure I bring enough money!
My thing is that while I know the staff on the ship work very very hard, and I appreciate them very much, I'm not going to pay them to do their job. That's what Carnival is supposed to do. We always prepay gratuities without complaint. Beyond that, unless I am REALLY impressed by them, I'm not just on this cruise to pay anyone a wage or throw money around.
Please understand, I am not cheap. But I tip as a reward for exceptional service, and not just because someone does their job. I owe them nothing!
Okay. So if I am understanding, you have already prepaid your gratuities when you booked? If yes, in my OPINION, you don't NEED to tip anything additional. If you really feel that someone goes above and beyond and you WANT to tip them additional, that's at your discretion. The amount is at your discretion. However, some people like to give "pre-emptive" tips to ensure good service. To me, that's backwards. IF and WHEN I get good service, I may tip additionally. Not BEFORE. (But that's just me!) Also, I've read that if you make friends with (by tipping) a bartender at a certain bar early in the week, you may be setting yourself up for good/better service and better/stronger drinks for the rest of the cruise.
All drinks do already have an additional 15% tacked on, so unless you're just hanging out somewhere for a while and hoping to keep service coming back often, I don't think that tipping on top of that is really needed. Just my opinion!
Anyone else nervous that the election results may set the mood for our cruise?! My husband actually asked me if there are police on the ship. I told him that there is on-board security. I hope that the mood is light and there are no problems if anyone feels that the election doesn't go their way. (Notice I'm being as un-political as possible.) Just a concern that I have.
There's a website called roadtrippers.com that may be able to help!
Also, I would highly recommend a car jump starter pack (it can jump your vehicle off by itself, without needing another vehicle) and some of them have air compressors to air up tires, and can be used to charge your phone as well. Just Google "car jump starter pack" and you'll see what I mean. Amazon and Wal-Mart have them as well. I got one from Harbor Freight. We'll have ours with us when we drive from Arkansas!
Sounds like you two have a great relationship! That's awesome!
There's a lot that we want to be able to do too! Especially seeing all of the old, rich culture in England. Our country is so young by comparison. "Old stuff" from U.S. history is from the 1700's, but "old stuff" in Europe may be thousands of years old! I also want to go to Hawaii and see the volcanos and (it pains me to say) Alaska, to see the glaciers, but not really, because its too cold! I'm plus sized but I STAY cold! 😂😂
Good for you, for giving your son those experiences and memories! 😊 I've never been to Disney or Universal, but maybe some day! Our ultimate goal is a European cruise, or maybe just a European land vacation. I have been to Ireland but my husband hasn't, and he wants to see England and Scotland and France, etc. I know that they have European river cruises but I haven't checked out all of the options. This cruise is our 5 year anniversary, and maybe by the time we hit our 10 year, we'll be at a place where we can do that. 😆
So is this trip a way of celebrating your weight loss?! It's definitely something to be celebrated!
I'm probably gonna be in a Slim Fast diet this next week, to make sure that my clothes fit for the cruise! 😂 I truly am so excited and can't wait to get on the ship!
One thing that we haven't taken advantage of in the past is the sea day brunch in the main dining room. We usually just eat the breakfast buffet or room service, but the food quality is much better in the main dining room. And I want steak and eggs for breakfast! I have been craving it! 😂
160 pounds! Wow! 🙌🙌🙌 Congratulations, that's an AMAZING accomplishment! You must tell me how you did that! I could stand to lose about 60 to 70 pounds myself.
Cruising is the best way to vacation, hands down! We cruised for our honeymoon in 2011 and every year since! Sorry the trip to the DR didn't work out, but everything happens for a reason! 😊
Yes driving from Jersey near Atlantic City and yes I'll be bringing a sweater as I'm already cold a lot since I've lost 160 pounds lol. I originally had a trip to the Dominican Republic booked since last December but when the airline discontinued the flights to the DR and it was double elsewhere, I decided to cancel the entire trip and with the refund we booked this cruise just in September! I'm happy we did so far.
You have plenty of time to make up your mind! Can't believe we're down to the last week!!! We booked in January or February so it's been a long time coming!
Are you packing a sweater?! Sometimes it gets chilly in the dining rooms and even the lounges where they hold the shows.
Did you say that you're driving from Jersey? Is it already pretty chilly up there? You'll probably be ready for some warm temps in the Caribbean! 🌴
I have long, wavy hair and I bought a $22 curling wand from Wal-Mart. Gonna do it myself for formal night, maybe half up. Try YouTube for some tutorials. Bring some bobby pins and maybe a pretty clip?! YouTube is how I figured out how to use this curling wand. Too bad it couldn't teach me how to not burn myself! I now have burns on my forehead, left thumb, and right forearm! That'll look cute in the pictures! 😆😆😂😂
You could bring garment bags for the dresses and suit, but that may be more of a hassle. Sounds like you have a good plan. I'm completely packed now, except last minute stuff. My hair appointment is Tuesday and I'll get my nails done on Friday. I even have made lists of all my clothes and planned an outfit for each day! (Over the top!) I'm sure you'll be fine at Fulton. I tried to convince my hubby to park over there to save money but he prefers the convenience of the port. Odd, since he's usually so cheap!
I just know that all this preparation will be worth it and we're gonna have the time of our lives!
I know! I'm booking my car maintenance today! Oil change and tire rotation in order! Still haven't packed but I'll be doing that between working this week. Wednesday is salon day for me and I'll do my son's hair and then get him a shape up. I've bought every single darn thing I can think of! I'm just putting my dresses and his suit in the luggage and then get them dry cleaned on the ship because I don't know what other way to keep them wrinkle free lol. I'm so excited. I think we've decided to park at the Fulton Garage. I wonder how the uncovered parking is. I mean my driveway is uncovered at home so I don't know what I should do. Its obviously cheaper to do the uncovered parking. Decisions decisions!
My husband just isn't the most adventurous. Not to mention, 3 port days in a row is pretty intense and can be exhausting. We just prefer less action and more relaxation while on vacation. 😆 Also, I've read (over and over) that vendors in Jamaica are very aggressive. And finally, my brother in law (27), who lives with my husband and I, is autistic and is somewhat limited to what he is physically capable of. So jet skis and things like that are out of the question.
Everyone remember to notify your bank and/or credit card companies that you will be traveling, which dates, and where you'll be going. Otherwise, your debit cards may be declined when you're attempting to make purchases. I almost forgot myself, and was reminded by a comment that I read in another thread! We're getting close, everyone!
So yesterday we tried out all of our new stuff for the cruise! Snorkel gear ✔ fake go pro ✔ goggles ✔ Waterproof cell phone pouches ✔. They are all a go lol. Dresses are hemmed and fitted, suits are tailored ✔ cruise documents printed ✔. Now to pack it all in and not forget anything! I'm mentally ready to check out!
I bought the unlimited sofa package once...once! I was bound and determined to get my money's worth. By the end of the week I frank so many cans of Coke that the cost was under 50 cents a can. But sofa has lots of sodium. By the 4th day I couldn't walk because the sodium retained water and my feet swelled and was in so much pain. I drank more Sosa in that week than I ever had. Never again.
I would say no, but it depends on how much you'll drink. $50 per person per day plus 15% gratuity comes out to about $800. And 3 of the 7 days of our cruise are port days, so you'll spend very little time on the ship on those days (if you're planning to get off the ship). Just my opinion, but for us, $800 for one week of beverages just isn't worth it.
No iron in the room. There are laundry rooms with access to irons. I bring Downy Wrinkle Release. They do provide shampoo and body wash but you can bring all of your own toiletries, even full sizes. Carnival doesn't have size restrictions. The room does have a hair drier but if your hair is very long or thick, I would bring your own, theirs are very weak.
Oh, absolutely! We've always cruised in either late October or early November and its always been nice and warm. On our 2014 cruise it was a tiny bit windy/cool on the last day when we were headed back to New Orleans, but always plenty warm to hit the pool and the beach in the ports. Maybe just being a light sweater because it does get windy at night.
Okay Baby I have a question. I've cruised several times but this is our first cruise in November and I was wondering this: Is it warm enough to swim on boat and at the ports? Just wanting to know your opinion. I've looked at average temps and I know weather trends but just wanted your thoughts.
Pro tips for the first timers: Being a power strip (no surge protector). There's only one outlet in the room. Bring an over the door shoe organizer to help keep clutter and all items off the counter tops. Bring water shoes, because beaches in Cozumel can be rocky. You don't need to bring a beach towel, Carnival provides them.
The Dream is a larger ship and is pretty stable. You'll probably be okay in heels as long as you're not drinking too much 😉😆. Wedges are a good option too. Yes, there are night clubs. I don't know what people wear cuz I don't go to them, but I would imagine the same thing you would wear to a club on land. Pretty much bring like 2 outfits per day...casual for walking around the ship during the day, and something dressier at night. Also, the regular shows, I wear what I wear to dinner to those.
Captains dinner is an extra $75 I think and we've never done that. Probably pretty dressy tho.
I do plan on doing one of the formal nights as I can't get my son to dress up more than that lol. My travel agent said to do the captains dinner? What about going to shows? Is there a night club and if so, what do people wear to that? I think I mostly have dresses. I don't wear shorts but I do have capris
It may be cool in New Orleans, but it will be warm once we're out in open water. It does get windy at night. I would say bring shirts/capris/sundresses for walking around the ship during the day. Super casual. At night, I usually wear black dress pants or leggings and a nice blouse in the main dining room, but jeans are acceptable too. There are 2 "elegant" nights where you can REALLY dress up if you want (cocktail dress or evening gown) but it's completely optional. You can skip it and eat buffet orn room service on those nights if you want. I hope that helps. Just ask if you need to know Any thing else.
We are getting so close!! This is our 5th carnival cruise and this time it's our HONEYMOON! 💍👰🏼❤☀We are so excited! Cozumel and Georgetown are our favorite places we have been before. We are planning on doing Mr Sanchos again because we had such a blast the last time. Not sure about the other two. Almost time to start packing. It'll be here before we know it! 😎
I have no idea why anyone would look straight down! 😆 It's just a complaint that I have read that some had had about the balcony cabins on deck 6. I've never booked one myself. 😆😆 It does soon more logical to look OUT instead of DOWN, though, doesn't it? Also, I went and read some other reviews for balconies on deck 6 after your post, and evidently some of them may be above the Encore lounge. Check the deck plan and make sure your room isn't above anything that may disturb you. I hope you enjoy your cruise SO MUCH.
When we pick our check in time and accidentally wind up being late for the check in time we picked, can we still get on? We are driving in and we plan to leave in enough time to have a cushion but if we wind up with unforseen circumstances that will make us late for our check in time, I just want to make sure we can still get on. This is our first time cruising. TIA
I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but here is something to be aware of. There's a lanai that wraps around the Promenade deck (Deck 5). So your view straight down may be obstructed by that. Furthermore, people who are walking on the lanai will be able to look up and see onto your balcony. Just something to be aware of.
Obviously your view straight OUT to see won't be obstructed. I'm sure you'll enjoy your balcony!


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Former Arizona state senator Rich Crandall who headed Wyoming's education department before a court reinstated that state's school superintendent as head of the agency says he's returning home to Arizona.Read More »
Yuma County sheriff loses appeal over medical marijuana seizure
Cops take your pot? They've got to give it back if you've got a medical marijuana card -- even one from another state.Read More »
Arizonans join Roe v. Wade anniversary protest in D.C.
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Arizona "dark money'' groups face combined $1 million in fines
California's Fair Political Practices Commission has reached a settlement with two so-called "dark money" groups in Arizona that will see them pay a combined $1 million in fines.Read More »
Tougher laws, more clinics
Arizona abortion facilities increased slightly since 2010 despite restrictive laws
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Capitol Quotes: Sept. 13, 2013
This week's most outstanding quips, gibes and utterances from Arizona's political scene.Read More »
Marijuana advocates: DOJ memo clears path for Arizona, other states
When it comes to possession or use of marijuana, the United States Department of Justice will not focus on enforcement of federal marijuana laws where state laws allow it, a memo released today explains.
Marijuana law reform advocates declared it a victory and identified its broad implications for Arizona and other states.
Former justices add star power to case against new law for appointing judges
Having a Dream Team of six former state Supreme Court justices brings more than just brain power to a lawsuit seeking to strike down a new law giving the governor a larger pool for appointing judges.Read More »
Some 'disappointed' by Supreme Court's ruling on Indian adoptions
Arizona experts said the Supreme Court's recent ruling against a Native American father who was fighting to stop his daughter from being adopted may only have "muddied the waters" for future cases.Read More »
The perils of voting yes to Medicaid expansion
Long before casting their votes for Medicaid expansion and a bipartisan budget proposal, Republican lawmakers who chose to support Gov. Jan Brewer had been issued a warning: Vote yes at your own risk.Read More »