There are plenty of good analyses already on yesterday's Supreme Court ruling strengthening eminent domain, in Kelo v. New London, a power granted in the Constitution that allows the goverment to seize private property. The power has been greatly expanded by stretching "public use" to include "public purposes" such as expanding the tax base. it's sad to think that while we're aghast that Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe is bulldozing neighborhoods that voted against him in the last elections, our own government has pretty much given itself the power to do the same. Finaly, while we may see an ammendment banning flag burning, we'll never see one that limits this potentially abusive government power. This morning, I heard on the radio a DC government official happy about the ruling since it may make it easier to seize land needed for new stadiums.\

Links to read:

• What's Yours is Mine: "Kelo informs us that taking people's homes to hand over to private developers building an office complex is a "public use."
• Damaging 'Deference': "Government became radically unlimited in seizing the very kinds of private property that should guarantee individuals a sphere of autonomy against government."
• A Klansman Klaps for Kelo: "Think if the Court had limited eminent domain instead! Then how would President Kucinich make everything perfect in America again,"
• Eminent Domainist: "I can't believe that it's getting easier for the government to take your property."
• Hosannas to the Force-Specialists: "Consider the lamentable U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down today..."
• Land Rights hits Home: "...loosening of this definition will lead to any instances of abuse and privitization of property under the guise of 'public good'.

Great news for Ben Olsen, who was named to the US squad for the Gold Cup next month. After two injury plagued years, Olsen restablished himself in the DC United lineup during last season's championship run. Its great to see him get a shot at returning to national team, where he was a regular before the 2002 World Cup and injury. From the looks of the rest of the resoter, Arena will be using this tournamet at players he hasn't called up or have been available for recent World Cup qualifiers.

Buried at the bottom of the same Washington Post article is news that United may participate in the Copa Sudamericana, a South American club tournament. Think the UEFA Cup equivalent in South America, not quite as prestigious as the Copa Libertadores but still an important competition. The team might play in a group with Chilean and Peruvian teams.

Jon Udell's column on tacit knowledge about computers touches on a trait that can be used to separate computer geeks from regular users. Computer geekds know how to and are comfortable figuring out how to do something with their computer (setup mail filters, reconfigure their desktop, automate repetitive tasks) and casual users are frustrated by the seeming non-obviousness of such tasks. He doesn't touch on if such behavior is more of a trait you possess or a skill you can acquire. I would think its more of a skill that improves with practive, but you need to have acquired it fairly early in life, no later than the teen years I bet, for it to be second-nature.

he clash of these cognitive styles -- knowing how to do things versus knowing how to find out how to do things -- is a source of friction between IT folk and our clientele. From our perspective, it's annoying to be asked constantly to write down detailed step-by-step procedures. If we don't rely on them, why should anyone else need to?\ From the perspective of the folks we support, on the other hand, it's equally annoying to have to figure things out. Why aren't things like turning off Smart Quotes just obvious?