India: Gujarat Massacre Cases Sabotaged
Human Rights Watch -
Afsara, a Muslim woman, clutches a photo of family murdered in the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat. Five close family members were murdered, including her daughter.

Defenders Asks High Court to Put An End to Arduous Takings Litigation
Defenders of Property Rights
Defenders of Property Rights urged the Supreme Court to open federal courthouse doors to property owners seeking their Fifth Amendment-guaranteed just compensation from state and local governments that take their property in Kottschade v. City of Rochester (No. 02-1848). Since 1985, the Supreme Court has required property owners to sue first in state courts for just compensation. An individual must first lose in state court before filing suit for federal court relief.

We're Spreading Out!
Ecology.com -
If you are not sure what to think about all of the new growth and development in your community, you are not alone. Since people naturally spread out (instead of up), our human development activities start taking up valuable land and resources outside of the cities. So what gives? A group of high school students have a lot to say about urban sprawl.

Study Finds No Health Risks for Above-Average Mercury Levels
HEARTLAND INSTITUTE -
A comprehensive study of 643 children, tracked from the womb to 9 years of age, has found no health risks resulting from exposure to above-average levels of mercury in their diets. The study calls into question ongoing state and federal efforts to further regulate mercury emissions, which have already sharply declined in recent years.

About Name
National Association for Multicultural Education-
The Founders of NAME envisioned an organization that would bring together individuals and groups with an interest in multicultural education from all levels of education, different academic disciplines and from diverse educational institutions and occupations. NAME today is an active, growing organization, with members from throughout the United States and several other countries.
 

Finally, Good News on Marriage
Family Research Council -
As we mentioned in yesterday's Update, gay activists are already pouncing on the opportunity to challenge marriage laws around the nation because of the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas. It remains to be seen whether they will be successful in forcing same-sex marriage on the U.S., but one area where the gay agenda is faltering is in the court of public opinion.

New Miss America version of LoveMatters.com
LoveMatters.com-
New Miss America version of LoveMatters.com newspapers are ready for March for Life, January 22, 2003. Please call 1-800-858-3040 to order your FREE COPY of LoveMatters.com.
 

Communities Reject Coca-Cola in India
CorpWatch -
Coca-Cola is in trouble in India. Communities have been fighting the multinational for depleting the groundwater and contaminating what's left. A Special Series from the India Resource Center.

Is animal testing really necessary to our health?
Americans for Medical Progress -
We all benefit from the necessary and responsible use of animals in biomedical research. A recent Newsday viewpoint by Tom Shanahan ["Viewpoint: Human Health Needs Animal Tests," July 23, 2001] offers an honest, personal appraisal of the value of animals in medical research. Most of us, in fact, can stand alongside Shanahan as beneficiaries of medical progress in which animal research was instrumental.

Sir Paul McCartney Takes on KFC CEO David Novak
PETA -
Exploited animals can always count on Paul McCartney to advocate in their behalf. Paul recently penned an open letter to KFC CEO David Novak, asking him to implement PETA’s eight-point plan to eliminate the most egregious cruelty to chickens.

From Peacekeeping to Peacebuilding
Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution -
I will begin with the central issue that confronts both the perpetrators and the victims of international peacekeeping. This is, "why?" Why do troop-contributing nations get involved and why do belligerents let them? Do they do so only to serve their own strategic interests, or do they have altruistic intentions to resolve a conflict in the interest of all the parties?

Encouraging our enemies to attack our troops - then and now
Center for Security Policy -
Bush's partisan critics who want to replace him unwittingly may have generated a more dangerous effect. They could well be reinforcing the hopes of Saddam Hussein and his loyalists that their strategy of bleeding US forces in Iraq will compound Bush's domestic political problems, possibly precipitating another disastrous American retreat under fire. Just like Senator John Kerry helped do when he threw away his combat medals and joined the Hanoi solidarity movement during the Vietnam War. Now he's calling his wartime president a liar.