Press of Atlantic City

Book details another reason blacks wary of justice system

Published: Jul 24, 2008

He was walking one evening from the train depot in Goodwater, Ala., when a white man appeared in the road. "Nigger," he demanded, "have you got any money?"

The white man, Robert Franklin, was a constable. He claimed Davis owed him. This was news to Davis.

"I don't owe you anything," he said. More

Jul 24, 2008

• Is La. Gov. Bobby Jindal the one the GOP has been waiting for?

Drum roll. Suspense. Who will it be?

Jul 24, 2008

• More drilling? Sure, but keep expectations realistic

Jul 23, 2008

• No president can solve energy crisis Any leader can, however, make some small but helpful gestures

President Bush says he doesn't have a magic wand, so he "can't just say, 'low gas.'"

Jul 23, 2008

• 160 years later, women are still fighting for equality

Last weekend marked the 160th anniversary of the first women's rights convention in history.

Jul 23, 2008

• Bush flip on Iran deserves praise

Recently, I defended Sen. Barack Obama's seeming flip on his policy for withdrawing troops from Iraq. Although it looks as if he might be flopping back now, I still think he's giving himself some needed wiggle room. At least I hope he is.

Jul 22, 2008

• We know what works - why don't we just do it?

This will be the last What Works column.

Jul 22, 2008

• Alas, today's candidates lack that biting sense of humor

Oh, for a good riposte.

Jul 21, 2008

• New Fed rules let mortgage brokers off easy; states must act

Two years after the mortgage meltdown started, the Federal Reserve finally released updates to its mortgage regulations last week, replacing rules that were so lax and ineffective that the Fed bears significant responsibility for the mortgage debacle and the larger financial fallout.

Jul 21, 2008

• IQ isn't enough - weigh candidates' emotional intelligence

After Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes was introduced to Franklin D. Roosevelt, he famously described the president as having a "second-class intellect, but a first-class temperament." Most historians would agree; Roosevelt's success as a leader rested more on his emotional intelligence than his analytical IQ.

Jul 21, 2008

• Obama's right - a second language is critical these days

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's recent comment that Americans should get their children to study Spanish or another second language has drawn an avalanche of criticism from English-only advocates and cable television anti-immigration zealots.

Jul 21, 2008

• On being green ... an old couch ... and not caring what people think

It's high summer, so my three teenage daughters and I have heaved the yard couch off the big porch of our 1910 Craftsman bungalow here in Riverside, Calif., and onto the front lawn under the Raywood ash tree, where this couch - now 10 years old - will remain in state until the first rains in November.

Jul 20, 2008

• Princeton admissions policy unfair to some high achievers

Jian Li graduated Livingston High School in 2006. He had a perfect SAT score and was ranked in the top 1 percent in his high school class. He also had countless honors in connection with his extracurricular activities. But as The Star Ledger of Newark reported on Sunday July 13, when Jian Li applied for admission at Princeton University, he was rejected.

Jul 20, 2008

• McCain's time-worn Reaganomics undercut by events

"Government is not the solution to our problem," Ronald Reagan told his fellow Americans in his first inaugural address. "Government is the problem."

Jul 20, 2008

• Obama's narcissism is both stunning and boundless

Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast - a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins - would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.

Jul 18, 2008

• Gramm is right about the economy

"In serious consideration for ambassador to Belarus." That's the role John McCain joked that former senator Phil Gramm might have in a McCain administration. Gramm is McCain's most senior economic adviser, the one best qualified to lead the finance team of a McCain presidency. Now, however, Gramm faces political exile because he made the mistake of telling the truth.

Jul 18, 2008

• Stop exaggerating terrorist threat

Sen. John McCain has repeatedly characterized the threat of "radical Islamic extremism" as "the absolute gravest threat ... that we're in against." Before we simply accept this, we need to examine the nature of the terrorist threat facing our country. If we do so, we will see how we have allowed the specter of that threat to distort our lives and take our treasure.

Jul 18, 2008

• U.S. automakers waited too long before responding to the new reality

U.S. automakers have no one but themselves to blame for their dilemma.

Jul 17, 2008

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Why pay a fee at all to put sand between one's toes, or to feel the cool of an ocean wave, or merely to gaze at a far-off horizon? The answer is simple: Because those shore towns are greedy and because the state lets them get away with it.

Jul 17, 2008

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Beach fees at the New Jersey shore are nothing if not varied. They can cost $4 a day in one town, $12 in another. Some towns sell season passes; others sell daily or weekly ones. There are discounts for seniors and sometimes for children.

Jul 16, 2008

• Give kids veggies, not statins

My daughter Kaitlyn is 8 years old. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, she's ready for cholesterol-lowering drugs. Yes, you read that right. In a move that has left many parents incredulous, the nation's pediatricians recently issued new guidelines calling for cholesterol screening of children as young as 2 - and cholesterol drugs for kids as young as 8. Without intervention, the doctors say, today's overweight youngsters are doomed to become tomorrow's heart patients.

Jul 16, 2008

• On Iraq, Obama should focus on U.S. role in long-term

Barack Obama has been teetering between two imperatives on Iraq. He needs to adjust his withdrawal plan, drawn up more than 18 months ago, to the dramatic changes on the ground during the past year - so that he will have the political mandate to pursue a sensible policy if he becomes commander in chief. But he also needs to keep his anti-war base happy and not blur what looks like a big contrast between his strategy and that of John McCain.

Jul 16, 2008

• McCain is on to something - attack college students

A few weeks ago, John McCain made a little joke at his wife's expense. Referring to her alma mater - Cindy McCain is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where she was a cheerleader and sorority sister - he called it "USC, the University of Spoiled Children."

Jul 15, 2008

• Jerusalem's wall dividing Arabs, Jews 'united' within it

The little supermarket in the German colony of Jerusalem has a famously good meat counter; the man who has run it for the past 10 years or so is named Abed. He is a Jerusalem-born Arab, a Muslim, about 40 years old, the father of three (or is it now four?) children, whose pictures hang behind the counter. The store is a place residents of the neighborhood wander into several times a week, looking for blueberries or chestnuts.

Jul 15, 2008

• Baracko loco: Immigrants must learn English

La cucaracha, la cucaracha, ya no puede caminar. La cucaracha, la cuca ...

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