July 13, 2009

Sotomayor hearings begin:

Confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor begin today before the Senate Judiciary Committee. If confirmed she will become the first Hispanic and third woman on the Supreme Court.

President Obama's first pick for the court is expected to be confirmed comfortably but will face some sharp questioning from Republican senators. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the committee, has said the hearings are not a foregone conclusion.

She will certainly be asked about her remark that a "wise Latina" might make better decisions than a white male, and her 2005 comment that "policy is made" in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Among the Republican witnesses is Frank Ricci, one of the New Haven, Conn., firefighters who brought suit against the city after the results of a promotion exam were set aside because minority candidates performed poorly. Sotomayor was on the court that decided they had not suffered illegal discrimination, a decision overturned last month by the Supreme Court.

Sotomayor is of Puerto Rican descent and grew up in a South Bronx housing project before attending Princeton and Yale Law School. She was first appointed to the federal bench as a district judge in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush. If confirmed she will fill the seat of Justice David Souter who is retiring.

Kim cancer report:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer, the South Korean TV channel YTN reports, citing unnamed intelligence resources. Korea's National Intelligence Service said it could not confirm the reports.

Kim appeared last week looking gaunt and pale at the annual memorial for his father, Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder. Korean media reported last month North Korea had imported high-tech medical equipment related to cancer treatment.

The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is 5.5 percent.

Chinese and South Korean officials are meeting in Seoul Monday to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue. North Korea has withdrawn from the six-party talks on the matter, and recently tested a nuclear device and test-fired several missiles, drawing U.N. sanctions.

Some observers say these developments are related to the internal politics of preparing Kim's succession.

N.Y. black unemployment:

Unemployment is hitting blacks much harder than whites in New York City, a report released Monday by the city comptroller's office concludes. Unemployment among blacks grew four times faster than among whites during the first quarter of 2009, the report says.

Black unemployment hit 15 percent in April, with 80,000 more blacks than whites out of work despite there being 1.5 million more whites in the city.

Blacks were heavily represented in the retail trade which has been badly hit by the credit crunch and drop in consumer spending.

Spanish nobles revolt:

Aristocracy and its traditions are not dead yet -- at least in Spain. It was being slowly strangled though until the nobles began to fight back.

What stirred their ancestral martial ardor was a recent law preventing a title passing to the eldest son if he has an elder sister. The law was passed in response to a ruling by Spain's highest court confirming male primogeniture. A group of women had challenged the tradition under Spain's gender equality laws.

The law has sparked acute angst in many noble breasts because it might be applied retroactively. If that happens, current male counts might have to cede their titles to their older sisters with untold consequences for centuries of family tradition.