Wingnuttery at its finest

Utah governor decides taking back federal lands is a good idea. (Has he conveniently forgotten the Indians own some of it?)

On Saturday, Gov. Gary Herbert signed two bills authorizing efforts to invoke eminent domain as a way to reclaim land from the U.S. government, which owns more than 60% of Utah. Lawmakers say the gambit could lead to a court ruling that permits Utah to take back valuable parcels, including a coal-rich plateau, from the feds. Proceeds from developing those lands would be used to bankroll the state's cash-strapped public schools. “This is the solution to being the lowest-funded education system in the nation,” Utah Rep. Ken Sumsion, a Republican, told the Salt Lake Tribune last month.

As the Wall Street Journal and the AP report, however, it's highly unlikely that judges would back a bid to seize federal lands:

The goal is to spark a U.S. Supreme Court battle that legislators' own attorneys acknowledge has little chance of success.

But Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and other Republicans say the case is still worth fighting, since the state could reap millions of dollars for state schools each year if it wins.

States' rights! States' rights! Bring back states' rights!!

Wikipedia:

States' rights as "code word"

The term "states' rights," some have argued,[11] was used as a code word by defenders of segregation.[citation needed] It was the official name of the "Dixiecrat" party led by white supremacist presidential candidate Strom Thurmond.[12][13] George Wallace, the Alabama governor—who famously declared in his inaugural address, "Segregation now! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!"—later remarked that he should have said, "States' rights now! States' rights tomorrow! States' rights forever!"[citation needed] Wallace, however, claimed that segregation was but one issue symbolic of a larger struggle for states' rights; in that view, which some historians dispute, his replacement of segregation with states' rights would be more of a clarification than a euphemism.[14]

What happens in China when you say no to developers

At least the view is good....

Definition of a nail house:

update: ding zi hu (lit. "nail house"): person or household who refuses to move and bargains for unreasonably high compensation when the land is requisitioned for a construction project.

Apparently the woman has been without electricity or water for two years:

On March 19 the China Legal Daily published what it claims is the first interview with the woman who owns the house. Her demand? To be given an apartment in the new building that is going up on the same spot, with comparable square footage to the house she now lives in. This will be impossible, says the developer. According to Chongqing law, says the article, there are three possible ways to compensate owners in this type of situation: 1) provide housing on the same spot; 2) provide housing in another spot; 3) provide a sum of money. The city is only willing to provide Ms. Wu, the resident, with the third option, but she is not willing to accept a sum of money.

Because the two parties cannot come to an agreement, they have not budged since relocation at the site started in September, 2004. although excavation of the worksite is already well underway..."On January 11, 2007, the developer brought an administrative action against Ms. Wu with the department responsible for relocation, the Chongqing Jiulongpo District Housing Management Bureau. The result was a demand for the resident being relocated to voluntarily move within 15 days and to return the house to be demolished by the developer. If the party being relocated does not agree with this ruling he or she can file a suit with the Chongqing Jiulongpo District Court within 3 months or apply for a reconsideration within 60 days from the Chongqing Jiulongpo District Government or the Chongqing Municipal Housing Bureau.

Ms. Wu's response to the Legal Daily reporter: I simply won't accept this mistaken ruling!

The Jiulongpo District Housing Management Bureau says it will apply for a legal ruling to institute forced relocation.

China now is shutting down all media attention and silencing websites:

The owner, 51-year-old restaurateur Yang Wu, has become a folk hero in China for defending his property rights and refusing to surrender, even when his home became an isolated island in a vast excavated pit at a construction site.

But with the Chinese Internet rapidly transforming the case into a national media sensation, the government stepped into the fray this weekend, abruptly banning any further reporting or commenting on the nail house.

The publication ban was disclosed yesterday by China Digital Times, a website at the University of California that has close contacts with China's Internet community. It quoted a source saying that all Chinese web media were given an urgent notice on Saturday to delete all feature pages about the nail house, and to block access to all comments on the case.

Update 4/10: Via Phila at Bouphonia, Kosmograd has more.

Mark Frauenfelder of BoingBoing has a series of pics of people who said no and meant it.