| Gay Marriage Ban Effort Proceeds
A constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Florida is closing in on a spot on the 2008 ballot, triggering a political battle that could sway voters in a presidential year. Florida4Marriage, the group pushing the amendment, has garnered 597,000 signatures and needs only 13,000 more to put it before voters. Proponents of the ban are heartened by polls showing that the amendment has a good chance of getting the 60 percent of votes necessary for passage. "People intuitively understand why marriage should be between a man and a woman," said John Stemberger, head of Florida4Marriage. "This campaign is not a shot in the dark." The issue is more complicated than it sounds. Gay marriage is already illegal in Florida, because it is a state that adopted the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Tanzania: Plans Underway to Formalise Legal Aid
Many Tanzanians lose their rights because they are either ignorant of the law or cannot hire private lawyers but the government is planning a law that will make provision of legal aid more formal. Addressing the Legal Aid Day rally at Makumbusho Grounds in Arusha last Saturday, the guest of honor advocate Alute Mughwai, Secretary General of Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) said the government was aware of the many people who lose their rights, either because of ignorance of the law or some other reasons and is taking action on that. .
Foreclosure Among The Upper Class
Once, they were dream homes, with views of the golf course, a marble-floored music room, servants' quarters and a taste of the good life behind the gates of some of Tampa's most posh communities. Now, they sit abandoned, with overgrown lawns, leaky roofs and deep-green, algae-filled pools. They are empty and overpriced. All are in foreclosure. One has been declared a public nuisance by Tampa Code Enforcement, and two others have active cases against them. All were bought sight unseen by a South Florida investor who is suing his former business partners and lawyer for fraud and identity theft. The five transactions took place between February and June 2006. All involved the same team of real estate agents and a broker from Florida Executive Realty.
3 accused of mortgage fraud
A Web site maintained by one of the key players in a Modesto-based mortgage elimination scheme sug- gested that homeowners could legally write off their loans by filing some simple paperwork with government agencies. Real estate agents who face a host of fraud and theft charges must have known they were engaged in a risky venture, an investigator said in court records, because they created a fictitious fall guy. The men rented an office in Menlo Park for "Seth Davis," who had a desk and computer as well as a cell phone that could not be traced by law enforcement. According to authorities, the men intended to blame everything on that imaginary financier when the scheme inevitably failed. A tip from a suspicious lender may have foiled that plan. "If they wouldn't have been so greedy, they might still be in business," said Richard Morris, a partner with Capital Finance Mortgage Brokers in South Lake Tahoe.
These 6 fees can be swatted away
Doesn't it feel like every time you make a transaction - rent a car, use a credit card, invest in a mutual fund - some fee you didn't expect and don't understand claims more of your money? It's hard not to feel cheated. What are those fees for, anyway? Are they justified? And most important, is there a way to avoid them? .
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