Free Republic

This paper discusses the origins of the “Visioning Process”. This is not only a common land-use planning tool used in specific areas of our country, but it has become institutionalized by many local governments and non-governmental organization (NGO) activists across the United States, as well as around the world. It is specifically designed to build consensus from a diverse group of stakeholders. A brief explanation of the Visioning Process:  Elected officials and their staff see Visioning as an opportunity to get a better fix on what their citizens want from government.  Civic minded volunteers are recruited to this...

Mel Gibson has politely turned down the chance to publicly apologise in a Los Angeles synagogue for anti-Semitic comments he made last month. The 50-year-old Braveheart star has already apologised for acting confrontationally towards police officers when he was picked up for drink-driving on California's Pacific coast highway near Malibu. Gibson blamed his 'horrific relapse' into the alcoholism which has cursed him throughout his adult life for the anti-Semitic comments he made then. Now it seems he has not intention of repeating that public apology on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, as Rabbi David Baron has suggested. Alan...