Social Justice comes in many forms

Here are two great stories about the triumph of good people over bad things. The first story is from my sister who moved to Sydney, Australia several years ago. There was a massive flood in Brisbane that flooded the CBD and many residential areas. The second is about the US Parks Police Chief Teresa Chambers that was wrongfully fired by the Bush II administration for pointing that she could not hire more police without funding after 9/11.

The flood waters have receded in most of the flooded areas. The cleanup has begun.
The Queensland Premier called for volunteers to help with the cleanup. She said "If you can operate a mop or a broom, please volunteer to help". Over 22,000 people have in Brisbane.  The government organised buses to take volunteers, who are armed with buckets, brooms, and mops, to areas that are hardest hit. The TV news has shown clips of dozens of people cleaning homes, businesses, golf courses. The homeowners and shopkeepers are overwhelmed: they had not known where to start. And now to have this small army of workers, sweeping, taking out rubbish, mopping. It is incredible. Some volunteers flew in from other states to participate.
This week, photos were on the news of Haiti. It is the one-year anniversary of the disaster there. The rubble remains. Even a Catholic Church remains strewn with rubble a year on.
In Queensland, the mess will be mostly gone in a matter of weeks. Some houses will be demolished and rebuilt: those bits could take a year. But what a big difference between Queensland and Haiti. I think a big factor is that people in Australia pitch in and work to fix things. In Haiti, they wait for someone else to do it.
It is very moving to me to see the thousands of everyday Aussies, queuing up to get on the busses, sweeping footpaths and homes, raking golf courses, taking out rubbish.  If I didn't have to go to work tomorrow, I would travel there to be part of it. Amazing.


REINSTATEMENT ORDERED
After seven years, one month, and six days, Chief Chambers has had all administrative charges dismissed by the Merit Systems Protection Board, which has ordered that she be reinstated as the Chief of the United States Park Police.  Here's an excerpt from the MSPB decision:
Accordingly, we ORDER the agency to cancel the appellant's December 5, 2003 placement on administrative leave, cancel the appellant's July 10, 2004 removal, and restore her effective July 10, 2004. . . The agency must complete this action no later than 20 days after the date of this decision.
The Board also ordered "the agency to pay the appellant the correct amount of back pay, interest on back pay, and other benefits under the Office of Personnel Management's regulations, no later than 60 calendar days after the date of this decision" and has invited Chief Chambers to file a motion for attorneys' fees and related expenses.
Meetings have been scheduled to work out the logistics of transitioning Chief Chambers back to the position that was illegally taken from her.
The members of the Merit Systems Protection Board are to be commended for taking a fresh, unbiased look at this case, carefully reviewing the evidence, and seeing that justice was served.
http://www.honestchief.com/nj/index.html#twodown

For more information on government employees fighting for what is right and/or legal against the crush of the corporations, check out http://peer.org/.

 I am grateful that there are people and societies out there that take it upon themselves to do the right thing, no matter what. Chief Chambers story is one of amazing dedication, perseverance and sacrifice. If there were more like her, we would not have invaded Iraq under the pretext of non-exist WMDs. It is good that we have Teresa Chambers standing up for the rule of law.