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Nairobi (Alshahid) – The most popular columnist for Kenya's mainstream newspaper The Sunday Nation has been stopped from writing any articles for the paper following his unpublished article that had alleged a constitutional coup in case Kenyans voted for the government-backed proposed constitution.
Mr Mutahi Ngunyi a house-hold name because of his incisive and fearless articles received the wrath of the media owners whose policy is apparently to support the proposed new constitution.
Revealing the reason for his banning during an interview on K24's Capital Talk programme, Ngunyi said he could not continue with his weekly column in the Sunday Nation due to his claims in the unpublished article that exposed an alleged vacuum in the transition clause of the proposed law that would allow the two principles; President Kibaki or PM Raila Odinga to continue in office without going through an election.
Lovers of the prolific writer including renown former CCN journalist Jeff Koinange have loudly voiced their disappointment threatening to boycott reading the Sunday Nation.
The following is a full excerpt of the contraversial article
Are we headed for 'civilian coup' with draft law?
President Kibaki's "Yes" is not the same as Mr Odinga's "Yes". And the difference is unclear. What we must record, however, is this: One of them is more "No" than "Yes". But we do not know which one. We must record another thing. All along, Mr Odinga supported a Parliamentary system.
But Mr Odinga abandoned this idea. And when he embraced the pure presidential system, he threw everyone off. The question, therefore, is this: Did he go underground? Or maybe it is the president who went underground. Once we figure this out, we will understand our present darkness including the ''Sunday grenade''. And my hypothesis is this: In their ''unity'', the war has gone underground. Now it is our responsibility to uncover it.
To do so, we must use a simple technique in Game Theory. We must take the draft constitution, play it forward first. Then ask; if it passes, who is the winner, who is the loser? From the answers, we must play it backwards. Here we must ask the question: Today, how are the winners behaving? And how are the losers behaving? Today I will ''play it forward'' and leave you to ''play it backward''. I will do it by playing out two scenarios.
One, chapter 9 of the draft favours the president and his coalition. If there are 14 million voters, ''KKK'' has close to 8 million. To the contrary, ODM's assured vote is about 4 million. While the ''KKK'' vote meets the 50-plus-one per cent rule, the ODM one stands at 30 per cent.
The Senate is also dominated by KKK. The first 11 Senators, or 23 pc, will be from the Nation of Islam as per the First Schedule. Close to half will be from KKK. Between the two principals, therefore, who stands to gain from the 8 million votes and a dominant presence in the Senate? President Kibaki, of course. Is he in ''Yes'' because of this? I have no idea.
What about the Prime Minister; our man of the future? If the draft disadvantages him, why is he in the "Yes" camp? Consider my second scenario based on Game Theory. Here is my reading of the Sixth Schedule of the draft. Articles 3, 9 and 10 of this schedule make an election in 2012 impossible. Article 10 allows Parliament to finish its ''unexpired term'' but does not tell us how Parliament will be dissolved.
And this is because Article 3 removes Section 59 of the current constitution. This is the section that tells us how to dissolve Parliament. Because the President will not dissolve Parliament, it must dissolve five years from when it first sat on January 16, 2008. And this translates to January 15, 2013. From this date, Article 9 and 3 require us to hold an election in 60 days. Arithmetically, this takes us to March 17, 2013 as the earliest date of the next election. But there is a bigger problem.
Article 3 does not suspend the provisions that define the President's term. In other words, President Kibaki's term will expire on December 29, 2012 as per Section 9(1) of the current constitution. And if this happens, we will have to wait for close to three months for a presidential election to happen on March 15, 2013. In sum, we will have no president, constitutionally, for three months. Let us aggravate the situation further.
Strictly speaking, the draft does not allow Parliament to extend to January 15, 2013. In fact, it gives it five years from August 20 this year. The draft allows Parliament to finish its ''unexpired term''. However, the legal instrument that defines this ''unexpired term'' is Section 59(4) of the current constitution. This section is thrown out. In law, therefore, there is no way to define the ''unexpired term'' in the absence of Section 59(4).
No competent court will refer to this section after August 20 on account of Article 264. If this is true, the term of Parliament will only be defined through Articles 101 and 102 of the draft constitution. And, going by this, the next election will have to happen on the second Tuesday of August 2015.
Because we cannot have a presidential election until Parliament is dissolved as per Article 9(1) of the Sixth Schedule, this means that we will stay from December 2012 to August 2015 without a constitutionally elected president. But this should not be a problem anyway. The Peace Accord is retained and enhanced by the Sixth Schedule. There will be no power vacuum.
Whether we stay for three months or three years without a constitutionally elected President, the alternative principal, Mr Odinga, will assume executive power through a ''civilian coup''. Now the question to the public is this: If one of the principals is more "No" than "Yes", who is it?
I invite you to ponder the question with a man from the State of Chu in mind. The man was as passionate about war as we are about politics. One day, he was crossing a river using a boat. But his sword fell into the waters. With speed, he made a mark on the boat. The mark was made where his sword had fallen. This would help him trace the sword once the boat docked at shore.
When the boat stopped, he jumped into the water at the place where he had marked the boat to look for his sword. Unfortunately, the boat had moved on, but the sword had not. I submit that we dropped something in the 2008 crisis. We did not stop to ''collect'' it. Now we hope the draft constitution will do it. Like the man from Chu, we are deluded. Our hope is that when the constitutional ''boat'' stops on August 20, we will collect our possessions. This will not happen. On this, and my interpretation of the Sixth Schedule, I could be wrong.
Source: mutahingunyi.com/


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Hotels in Wetmore, Michigan
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- Most bookedAmericInn Munising
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"Hotel was easy to get to, and in great shape. Room was spacious and bed comfortable. I was expecting a better continental breakfast but it was just "okay"."
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"The room was fine, a little sparse and worn, but clean and comfy. The wifi was very slow. TV was a big flat screen, the heater was quiet, and there was a hair dryer. Continental breakfast was fine, nothing to write home about, but an okay selection and free. Desk clerk was nice."
A Traveller, Oct 2013, US
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"Beautiful modern hotel with pleasant staff & super comfortable rooms. Lovely pool, tub & steam room. Good breakfast. Microwave in room was in a unit & almost on the floor - looked nice, but not practical. Small things were annoying - turned the cold water on & it ran a bright ginger colour. I..."
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"Joanne has this beautiful house that she has opened up for tourists to stay ..Every thing in the house is imaculate and perfect. We loved our stay there and the view of Lake Superior from the living room as well as the our was breath taking. They are very friendly and gave us great tips about the..."
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subset: commoncrawl


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Bahamian Food History
Located in the North Atlantic Ocean between Haiti and Florida, the Bahamas are actually a group of more than 700 islands. Each island carries with it individual foods, traditions and character. Traditional food of these islands includes local meat and produce, but it has also been very strongly influenced by Southern American cuisine.
Bahamian Food - Bahamian Cuisine
Food by Country » Caribbean Food » Bahamian Food - Bahamian Cuisine, Food in the Bahamas
Bahamian Cuisine
Bahamian History
Bahamian Food History
Food in the Bahamas
Traditional Food in the Bahamas
While almost many types of food can be found in the Bahamas, fish is often the main ingredient for a tradition Bahamian dish.
One of the most favorite seafood is Conch, a mollusk. The meat is white and firm and can be made using many different ways, including stews, chowders, fritters and salads.
Most of the truly Bahamian desserts have coconut in them. In fact, it is found in everything from ice cream to tarts and is even used in cakes, puddings and pies.
One of the most common traditional Bahamian meal includes steamed fish with baked macaroni and cheese, potato salad or crab and rice. For dessert, it is common to have bread pudding, pineapple or coconut tart. A breakfast favorite is grits and boiled fish such as grouper.
Bahamian food
Popular Dishes in the Bahamas
- Rock Lobsters - This food is often cooked by steaming or boiling. The meat of the lobster is often used in patties, sauces and salads.
- Cracked or Fried Conch - This Bahamian favorite is often made like a veal cutlet and is frequently served curried, creamed on toast, stewed or with Creole sauce.
- Conch Salad - This popular dish is prepared with conch that is uncooked and marinated in a spicy pepper sauce to help add extra flavor.
- Conch Chowder - This favorite has potatoes, sweet peppers, tomatoes, bacon or salt pork, salt, pepper and thyme.
- Guava Duff - This light and delicious dessert is made by folding fruit into dough and boiling it. Once done, it's served with sauce.
- Bahamian stew fish - This Bahamian meal consists of fish, spices, tomatoes, celery and onions.
- Peas n' Rice - Common and tasty, this Bahamian dish is made out of pork or bacon, salt, pigeon peas, rice, celery, tomatoes, pepper and thyme.
- Johnny cake - This is a favorite that consists of bread that is pan cooked and made from flour, sugar, butter and milk.
- Baked Crab - This is the most commonly enjoyed dish of the Bahamas and is made with crab, seasonings, bread crumbs and eggs. Once the mixture is made, the crabs are then put back into the shell and baked.
- Baked bonefish - This is another favorite dish among the locals. The fish is split and seasoned with salt and hot pepper sauce and baked.
Bahamian Drink
Popular drink in the Bahamas
- Kalik - This is the most famous beer in the Bahamas.
- Goombay Smash - This drink is made of pineapple juice, lemon juice, coconut rum, syrup and Triple Sec.
- Nassau Royale - This is a liqueur, which includes apricot brandy, pineapple juice and Canadian Club.
- Yellow Bird - Like other favorites, this is a drink of Bahamas. Made of crème de banana liqueur, orange juice, rum, pineapple juice, Galliano and apricot brandy.
- Bahama Mama - This is one of the most well known Bahamian drinks. It is made of bitters, nutmeg, citrus juice, rum, grenadine and crème de cassis.
About Bahamas
Discover more Bahamian Food and Drinks Resources
- Bahamas Background Information - provided by U.S. Department of State
- Bahamas Food Statistics - including tabacco and beverages by NationMaster.com
- Global Export Import Directory is a large-scale US-based Export Import Company Directory.
- Typical Drinks in the Bahamas: liqueur, beer.
- Bahamian Dessert - a typical Bahamian dessert which is served at various restaurants.


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Items Tagged with 'tablet computers'
Tablet computers springing up in more classrooms
Instructors are adapting their lessons to keep up with technology.
LANSING — How do you keep students interested? Novelty. Read More


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She'll Come Crawling by Lizbeth Dusseau
On a desolate country road, Annabelle finds a beautiful barefoot waif wandering aimlessly. It seems she's running away from Breckenhurst - a strange gothic mansion that rises from the flat Northern plains, inspiring wild gossip in the curious townspeople. They are certain there are strange sexual goings-on inside the sober walls. If they only knew the terrible truth!
After burgers and shakes in Kat's Diner, the waif, Sylvie, drops beneath the table and licks Annabelle's cunt to a hot unexpected climax. Bewildered, but intrigued by the girl, Annabelle takes her home, thinking she just might fit into the kinky lifestyle she shares with her boyfriend, Eric. Annabelle's no stranger to S&M; ruthless BDSM sex has been one cure for the persistent demons that make her life restless and discontent. At first, Eric loves having another willing female in the house, especially because this one is so utterly submissive. But later, when he takes off for a new job and expects Annabelle to follow, she refuses to go with him, saying Sylvie needs her. He's pissed. But he suspects, rightly, that it's not Sylvie who keeps his girlfriend tethered. It's the tales Sylvie's told her of Lawton Hurst and the mysterious Breckenhurst, that have his desperate girlfriend ready to crawl there on her knees.
Hurst attracts women like flies, all drawn to him for his dark sexual visions and his willingness to dominate willing females. Deciding to return Sylvie to where she belongs, Annabelle arrives at Breckenhurst, only to find that she cannot leave. The man's powerful allure holds her captive. One hour in his midst and she knows he will take her to the hard extremes of submission, in hopes of forever purging her of the dark past that haunts her life.
The two clash in a lusty battle of wills that sees Annabelle surrendering in ways as savage as her fiery anger. Readers looking for hard S&M, bondage, punishment, exhibitionism, public sex, human pony training, and orgies will find it all in this compelling story.
Posted by Lancelot Knight on 23rd Apr 2010
She'll Come Crawling by Lizbeth Dusseau
Reviewed by Lancelot Knight, Copyright (c) 2004
Lizbeth Dusseau has built a reputation as an explorer of the psychological nuances of submission and SM. Dusseau is, as well, a gifted storyteller whose stories unfold seamlessly, effortlessly and swiftly.
In this latest tale, Annabelle is in a relationship that is not entirely satisfying to her. Her boyfriend Eric dominates her, but she struggles against it, torments him with her willful disobedience. Like many submissives she at once wants and doesn't want to admit her submission. In any case, she cannot deny that she blossoms under the hard and rough sex he provides her.
While she struggles with her not to-be-denied needs, Anabelle picks up a waif-like submissive from the side of the road. Sylvie revels in her submission and she provides plenty of sex for both Eric and Anabelle. Sylvie has fled from Breckenhurst, a strange gothic mansion. There are rumors in town of strange goings on, of sexual slavery and beatings. The place is presided over by the mysterious Lawton Hurst.
Gradually, hearing the tales of life at Breckenhurst from Sylvie, Anabelle cannot deny that she is attracted to the place and its mysterious master.
In disgust, Eric leaves her, and Anabelle is free(?) to return Sylvie to Breckenhurst and explore her own special desires. Anabelle discovers that the mansion and its Master hold up a mirror for her to understand her own past and her self.
Brief mention should be made about the cover art for the Pink Flamingo books. Very professionally done, the covers are provocative and alluring. A great addition to great stories! It is touches like these that set Pink Flamingo books considerably above the standard reads in the field.


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Salem Community Hospital
Daughter, Jacquelyn Anna Jones, born Dec. 29, to Matthew A. and Christina J. Jones, 9784 Wayne Bridge Road, Lisbon.
Jacquelyn weighed 8 pounds and 1.2 ounces.
Maternal grandparents are Dan and Lynn Wittenmyer of Lisbon.
Paternal grandparents are Tom and Carol Jones of Lisbon.
Great-grandparents are Barney and Trudy Wittenmyer of Salem and Luther and Donna Dolan of Canton.
Daughter, Sadie Jo Weaver, born Jan. 9, to Jacob and Amy Weaver of 1948 state Route 225, Deerfield.
Sadie weighed 5 pounds and 11 ounces. She joins a brother, Kasen Jacob Weaver, 3.
Maternal grandparents are Larry and Beth Griffith of Damascus.
Paternal grandparents are Gregg and Karen Weaver of Salem.
Great-grandparents are Mahlon and Betty Griffith Jr. of Salem, Joan Raiger of Cornersburg and Donald and Phyllis Weaver of Canfield.


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Prototype Review
Prototype looked like it was going to be a hell of a lot of fun each and every time we saw it over its extended development, and it is fun, just not all the time.
There's been an open-world overload in recent months. It seems as though everyone is trying to make the next big thing by building a big city to play in, and Prototype from Activision Blizzard is no exception. This action packed free-roamer also features a main character who has superhuman powers and a storyline that's unravelled as you progress – sounds similar to another recent video game, does it not? In truth Prototype feels very different to Sony's PS3 exclusive inFamous, and has enough ideas of its own to make it a very solid entry in the genre, even if it doesn't quite come together as we'd have hoped.
Prototype's protagonist is Alex Mercer, a man confused about who and what he is. The game begins with Mercer slicing enemies to pieces and smashing up tanks in Manhattan, packing more superpowers than he knows what to do with . This is Mercer as he's become some 18 days after a virus hit the city, but you didn't think you'd get to play with all the toys from the start did you? After this brief, spectacular opening you're taken back to day one and have to earn all your abilities and upgrades again.
It sounds like the usual trick developers play, but in Prototype you're never left wanting for abilities. As standard Mercer can jump really high, run up walls and use some pretty nice parkour skills to avoid anything that gets in his way, but the abundance of experience points thrown at you for almost everything you do can be spent on a ton of new powers and upgrades. Early on you'll get the ability to glide after jumping, which is ideal for getting about the city, while new offensive and defensive moves and tools give you more options while in a scrap.
There are far too many to list here, but you'll eventually be able to choose between fighting enemies off with massive fists, claws or a huge blade, rip them to pieces with a wave of giant spikes, pick up and throw cars at helicopters, and turn into something that looks like the Guyver. This is just a small fraction of what you can unlock, plus you can buy upgrades to your running speed, jump height and air dash moves.
All this would be largely pointless if the game that required all these moves wasn't actually any good, so thankfully developer Radical has remembered to include some fun open-world gameplay too. The brunt of the action will see you storming through the city, fighting soldiers and large pink mutants – more often than not at the same time. The soldiers pack a punch from the sheer fire-power at their disposal (they call in helicopter strike teams on a whim), while the mutants are just incredibly quick and powerful, sending you flying if you're not careful. Missions generally vary from killing enemies or destroying objects, to getting from point a to b or taking on a disguise.
Disguises are what makes Prototype feel a little different to its open world superhero cousins. Mercer is able to consume people and take on their likeness at the press of a button. The game utilises this by throwing a number of objectives at you that can't be completed unless you've consumed a certain character in the game world, so for example you might need to consume a helicopter pilot in order to walk into the army base and take a chopper for a spin. As long as you remain somewhat in character and don't start super jumping in front of a line of marines you'll stay hidden and be allowed to get on with the task at hand.


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PhD Theses to go online
Oct 9, 1998
The German research council, DFG, is considering putting all German PhD Theses on the internet. They hope to create a national digital archive of material that would provide access to research carried out at every university in Germany. Since January a consortium of societies, including the German physical society (DPG), have been experimenting at the Duisburger university library with a program that can automatically add special tags to theses that will enable the document to be accessed via a key word or term search. Their research was publicized earlier this week at the Frankfurt book fair.
The DFG has been experimenting with different ways of digitizing postgraduate dissertations for some time. These documents are usually one of the hardest sets of scientific information to access because copies are held only at national libraries or at the awarding institution, and students tend to only publish 3 or 4 copies.
This new program generates meta data tags so that internet search engines can understand the title tags of the thesis. At the same time it indexes the subheadings of the document so that sections of the report, such as chapters on experimental techniques, are not lost within a wealth of data.
The next stage of the project is to be able to produce a program that can keyword search whole documents. PhD students will also be expected to submit their thesis in a standard suitable for conversion on the web. The first prototype guidelines on dissertation web formats were shown at the fair.


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Top Definition
Dakis is an amazing display of extreme unsurpassed awesomeness.
Hot damn, Chuck Norris is Dakis.
de Chodacious 05 Noiembrie 2007
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?
An indian bred freshie- ie the flowery shirt, the tight jeans, the 1980s haircut, the bad facial hair and grease.
"I saw these two dakis over there"
de rivani 08 Decembrie 2003


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Scene from the sketch Song of the Jellicles in The Punch Revue
Museum no. TM 897-41
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Punch was founded in 1841 and for 150 years continued its tradition of humorous political and social comment and cartoons. In the 1955 The Punch Revue almost all the material was adapted from, or contributed by, writers and cartoonists for the magazine. As its then editor Malcolm Muggeridge explained, they tried to 'reproduce the present temper for this curious, apparently indestructible publication'. The revue included two poems by the American poet T.S.Eliot, taken from his popular Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. They were spoken by Paul Daneman, accompanied by dances set to music by Alan Rawsthorne. The two dancers pictured are Malcolm Goddard (who later went on to become a respected choreographer) and 21 year old Wendy McClure, whose first big break this was. Nowadays of course, 'The Song of the Jellicles' and 'The Old Gumbie Cat' are more familiar to most people in their settings by Andrew Lloyd Webber, who used the Old Possum poems to create his phenomenally successful musical Cats.


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Hey, I noticed your comment about Death by Stealth. I have a thread in the forums section about printing in women's sizes because I was so bummed they only printed it in mens. If you feel like it, lend a comment to show your support, several ladies have expressed they want it in their size as well. I think if we show them we're serious, they'll print it in women's http://www.designbyhumans.com/forums/show/676730
If you feel like it.


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Help save abandoned animals
Franklin was abandoned by his family, and cruelly dumped in a park in a cardboard box.
Will you help animals like Franklin by donating today?
Volunteers are vital to the work of the SPCA. Find out how you can help us today.
Learn about caring for your pet as well as legal Minimum Standards for care.
Become an SPCA Guardian and help take action for Auckland's animals in need.


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An unknown amount of wastewater has been released into the backwaters of Saylorville Lake in Iowa.
The state Department of Natural Resources says a pressurized sewer main in Polk City sprang a leak, affecting the Polk City Wildlife Refuge.
The break was reported Wednesday night after liquid was seen bubbling up through a roadbed.
City officials, who later shut off the main, believe the discharge ran for about three hours. It flowed into a road ditch and then to backwaters of Saylorville Lake north of the marina.
DNR spokesman Bill Gibbons said a barrier dam may have limited the wastewater discharge. He said the wastewater would have been very dilute because it entered the backwaters about a quarter mile north of the barrier.


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McDonald's' modest World Cup ad shot on the streets with no special effects whatsoever may have some of the most impressive shots of any World Cup commercial. Jen Markham explains.
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College basketball recruiting for 2014 classes has hit crunch time. Prospects all over the country are declaring where they will play next season. Indiana is in the thick of it all, trying to lock down another superb freshmen class.
In the last two weeks, a lot has happened with Indiana's targets, including a verbal commitment to the program.
Let's take a look at where the Hoosiers stand with their top prospects.


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What to do if I was coerced into giving custody of my children to my ex husband?
04/28/2009 - Category:Divorce - Child Custody - State: ALL #16255
Full Question:
A situation arised in that a parent had filed for protection order for a child against an ex's girlfriend. These occurred in two different counties. She was granted a temporary order in her county. Due to concern for the saftey of the child, she withheld visitation, as the girlfriend lived with the ex. He filed for contempt. While waiting for the final hearing on the protection order the contempt was heard in the other county. The judge refused to wait until the final hearing on the protection order, and told the mother if she did not accept what the father offered she would go to jail. The mother also has a 2 year old child by another father, who works together with the other father in their legal battles. The father said he would drop the contempt charge if she dropped the order of protection. The mother knew if she did not do this she would go to jail and lose both the children. (father had tried several times in passed months to enforce jail order even with attempt to set her up). She did not want to agree to this request, her attorney encouraged her to do so in order to keep her out of jail. She felt she was failing her child, but realized the father was not going to stop until he got her into jail. Residential parent was also changed to the father, which then voided the use of jail time for any contempt in the future. Since getting residentual parenting he has withheld visitation, charged the mother with abuse and filed to remove all her parental rights. The child was withheld from the mother for over 2 months, she is not allow any phone contact with her, placed her in activities during her visitation times, and refuses to change times. The child voices fears of what will happen to her if she dosen't do what he says. The court is siding with the father aside from there being no evidence to his charges other than his said so. He is the only one who takes the child to talk to anyone about what is happening. My question is this: The agreement made to drop the order of protection and change residental parenting (they still are to be having shared parenting, although he claims full custody) was agreed upon due to the fact that she felt if she did not she would be going to jail, which was reinforced the day before by the attending judge, and she would lose both children, would then be considered a felony, and denied any parental rights to the children. She never believed the father would do what he did. She felt the abuse would stop when he had the child, as the child was used to abuse of the mother. Is this not a case where coercion was used against the mother to enter into an agreement that she would not other wise have done if not for the threat of going to jail, and losing both children. She had every reason to believe this would occur becasue of a earlier order of contempt that said this would be a outcome. Also could someone else pick up the protection order that was for the child even thought the mother as it states 'agreed' to drop. Of course they have no knowledge of the conditions to which caused her to drop the order. What are our legal rights to protect these children, against a system that has been manipulated by a narrasistic socialpatic father. Are you aware of any cases where this has been used to revok the agreement and return custody back to the mother?
I am unable to find case law involving these circumstances and revocation of a custody order. I'm unsure what you mean by someone else picking up the protection order, but generally the request for such an order must be made by the person in need of protection or their legal representative. Modification of custody may be made when a party demonstrates a significant change in circumstances. Generally, custody is not revoked as a means of punishment to the parent, but is based upon the best interests of the child.
Factors the court will consider in determining the best interests of the child include: 1. The wishes of the child's parents 2. The wishes of the child 3. The child's interaction and interrelationship with parents, siblings and any other person who may significantly affect the child's best interest 4. The child's adjustment to home, school and community 5. The mental and physical health of all involved 6. Which parent is more likely to honor and facilitate court-approved parenting time rights or visitation and companionship rights 7. Whether either parent has failed to make all child support payments, including arrearages 8. Whether either parent has been convicted of a criminal offense which resulted in the child being an abused or neglected child 9. Whether the residential parent has continuously and willfully denied the other parent's right to parenting time in accordance with a court order 10. Whether either parent has established a residence or is planning to establish a residence outside of the State of Ohio.
The following is an Ohio statute:
2905.12 Coercion.
(A) No person, with purpose to coerce another into taking or refraining from action concerning which the other person has a legal freedom of choice, shall do any of the following:
(1) Threaten to commit any offense;
(2) Utter or threaten any calumny against any person;
(3) Expose or threaten to expose any matter tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule, to damage any person's personal or business repute, or to impair any person's credit;
(4) Institute or threaten criminal proceedings against any person;
(5) Take, withhold, or threaten to take or withhold official action, or cause or threaten to cause official action to be taken or withheld.
(B) Divisions (A)(4) and (5) of this section shall not be construed to prohibit a prosecutor or court from doing any of the following in good faith and in the interests of justice:
(1) Offering or agreeing to grant, or granting immunity from prosecution pursuant to section 2945.44 of the Revised Code;
(2) In return for a plea of guilty to one or more offenses charged or to one or more other or lesser offenses, or in return for the testimony of the accused in a case to which the accused is not a party, offering or agreeing to dismiss, or dismissing one or more charges pending against an accused, or offering or agreeing to impose, or imposing a certain sentence or modification of sentence;
(3) Imposing a community control sanction on certain conditions, including without limitation requiring the offender to make restitution or redress to the victim of the offense.
(C) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under division (A)(3), (4), or (5) of this section that the actor's conduct was a reasonable response to the circumstances that occasioned it, and that the actor's purpose was limited to any of the following:
(1) Compelling another to refrain from misconduct or to desist from further misconduct;
(2) Preventing or redressing a wrong or injustice;
(3) Preventing another from taking action for which the actor reasonably believed the other person to be disqualified;
(4) Compelling another to take action that the actor reasonably believed the other person to be under a duty to take.
(D) Whoever violates this section is guilty of coercion, a misdemeanor of the second degree.
(E) As used in this section:
(1) "Threat" includes a direct threat and a threat by innuendo.
(2) "Community control sanction" has the same meaning as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.
Effective Date: 01-01-2004
Please see the information at the following links:
http://lawdigest.uslegal.com/family-laws/child-support-and-custody-overv iew/
http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=72935244240952&mkt=en-US〈=en-US &w=a2caeea4&FORM=CVRE2
http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=72935244240952&mkt=en-US<=en-US&w= a2caeea4&FORM=CVRE2>
04/28/2009 - Category: Child Custody - State: ALL #16255
See more Questions in the Child Custody Category


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Amsterdam RECOMMENDATIONS See all
New Year's Eve Events in Amsterdam
By Sasha, December 2012
1. Street Parties
Amsterdam's largest – and free – street party kicks off in Oosterdok at 11.15pm with a massive firework display over the NEMO Science Centre and live music, but there are celebrations everywhere. The streets of the Jordan overflow with merrymakers pouring out of the bars for spontaneous firework parties and in Chinatown firecrackers shriek on every corner.
Editor's Note: This recommendation was taken from our Amsterdam Things to Do blog. Visit the original post to continue reading the full post and to learn more about things to do in Amsterdam.
Photo courtesy of bjaglin via Flickr.


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Mind & Brain
Researchers test blood flow in athletes' brains to find markers that diagnose concussions
A hard hit to the head typically prompts physicians to look for signs of a concussion based on symptoms such as forgetfulness, wobbly gait and disorientation.
But symptoms such as those are subjective, says physiologist Sushmita Purkayastha, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
Now a new study aims to find noninvasive objective indicators to diagnose whether an athlete has suffered a concussion. Continue reading
Students grasp abstract math concepts after they demonstrate them with arm motions
Students who make relevant arm movements while learning can improve their knowledge and retention of math, research has shown.
Now researchers at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a model using geometry proofs that shows potential for wide adoption — a video game in which students make movements with their arms to learn abstract math concepts. Continue reading
New York Daily News: Shocking viral video of 5-year-old boy being paddled
The New York Daily News quoted SMU Psychology Professor George W. Holden, psychology, for his expertise on spanking in an article about a Georgia principal paddling a 5-year-old boy as punishment. The paddling was caught on video and went viral on the Internet by viewers who were horrified and shocked.
The article, "Shocking viral video of 5-year-old boy being paddled shines light on legal but 'damaging' corporal punishment," published April 15, 2016.
Continue reading
SMU Research Day 2016: Students present their research to the SMU and Dallas community
SMU graduate and undergraduate students presented their research to the SMU community at the University's Research Day 2016 on Feb. 10.
Sponsored by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, the research spanned more than 20 different fields from schools across campus. Continue reading
SMU 2015 research efforts broadly noted in a variety of ways for world-changing impact
SMU scientists and their research have a global reach that is frequently noted, beyond peer publications and media mentions.
It was a good year for SMU faculty and student research efforts. Here's a small sampling of public and published acknowledgements during 2015, ranging from research modeling that made the cover of a scientific journal to research findings presented as evidence at government hearings. Continue reading
$2 million NIH grant to help team from SMU and U-Maryland develop pediatric asthma monitor
Two SMU psychology professors working with University of Maryland engineers have been awarded a National Institutes of Health grant that will bring nearly $2 million to their joint project to create a wearable device for pediatric asthma patients that helps them avoid asthma triggers.
The asthma device will monitor air quality, carbon dioxide levels in the blood, physical activity and other stimuli to identify triggers and alert a patient when conditions are ripe for an attack. Continue reading
At peak fertility, women who desire to maintain body attractiveness report they eat less
Biology isn't the only reason women eat less as they near ovulation, a time when they are at their peak fertility.
Three new independent studies found that another part of the equation is a woman's desire to maintain her body's attractiveness, says social psychologist and assistant professor Andrea L. Meltzer, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. Continue reading
Public News Service: Hug it out — experts warn against physically punishing children
Public News Service quoted SMU Psychology Professor George W. Holden, psychology, as an expert source in the article "Hug it Out: Experts Warn Against Physically Punishing Children" about a new study from Duke University that warns against resorting to physical punishment.
Holden is a leading expert on parenting, discipline and family violence. He strongly advocates against corporal punishment and cites overwhelming research, including his own, that has demonstrated that spanking is not only ineffective, but also harmful to children, and many times leads to child abuse. Continue reading
DMN: SMU professors aim to prevent sexual assault with bystander program
The Dallas Morning News covered the work of SMU psychologists Lorelei Simpson Rowe, Ernest N. Jouriles and Renee McDonald.
The three developed a video-based program for teaching young women sexual assertiveness training with the goal of helping them resist unwanted sexual overtures. Jouriles and McDonald devised a bystander intervention program that teaches young adults how to recognize and intervene in a dangerous situation. Continue reading


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I'll have a more thorough recap on the Seattle Seahawks' draft later on this week. But until then, I'd like you to meet my new favorite "dirtbag", John Moffit. Just watch this short clip, and you'll understand why. He's the big guy on the FAR right side of the screen (he's missing from the first few seconds of the video).
John Moffit, My New Favorite Dirtbag
Posted by Daniel Luu on May 2, 2011 21:03


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David Cone had surgery yesterday to repair an aneurysm in his right shoulder, but neither the New York Yankees nor the doctors who performed the operation would predict when he'll pitch again.
Doctors took a one-inch vein from Cone's upper left thigh and used it to repair two arteries in his right shoulder during the three-hour operation at New York's Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.
``The surgery was performed without disturbing any muscles, nerves or veins in the region,'' a hospital spokesman said. ``The shoulder joint itself was not affected by the aneurysm or the surgery.''


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President Obama honored troops in Afghanistan with a surprise visit to Bagram Airfield on Friday.
Air Force One landed in the war zone under the cover of darkness as the president made his second trip to the region since taking office. The trip was unannounced and plans were tightly guarded.
President Obama told troops that the U.S. will not allow Afghanistan to be a save haven for terrorists.
"You will succeed in your mission," Obama told more than 3,500 troops. "We said we were going to break the Taliban's momentum. That's what you're doing. You're going on the offense, tired of playing defense."
The president said they are continuing to make progress in the region, but that that progress has come at a high price. He thanked the troops and handed out five purple hearts to wounded warriors.
"On behalf of me, on behalf of Michelle, on behalf of Malia and Sasha, and on behalf of more than 300 million Americans, we are here to say thank you," Obama said.
The president's visit comes nearly a year to the day after he announced he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to the region.
He had also planned to visit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai during his trip, but those plans were scrapped at the last minute because of bad weather.
High winds forced the White House to decide it was too dangerous for President Obama to fly to his meeting near Karzai's presidential palace.
Instead, the White House proposed the two leader speak via video conference, but those plans were also later scrapped.
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The family has released a photo of the Wisconsin girl, in which she's surrounded by purple heart-shaped cards – it's her favorite color – as she holds up a sign that reads, "Thank You." The image does not show the girl's face in order to protect her identity, but it clearly communicates the family's appreciation to those who have sent letters as well as provided financial support for her medical treatment via the Hearts for Healing Fund.
"Our family would like to thank everyone who has supported our daughter on her miraculous road to recovery," the family said in a statement. "Our little girl has received thousands of purple hearts from numerous countries and from most continents. We simply cannot put into words how grateful we are for the prayers, packages and heartfelt messages. We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support."
The statement added: "Together as a family, we continue to adjust to our 'new normal.' Though many days consist of medical appointments and rehabilitation, recently she and her father enjoyed a 'daddy-daughter night at the movies' and thoroughly enjoyed a Disney film. It also included (after much persistence) a stop for a much-deserved treat in the snack area."
The girl, identified by the initials PL in court documents, was allegedly stabbed May 31 by her friends Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser and left for dead in the woods, following a weekend slumber party.
The two 12-year-old girls told authorities the attack was inspired by Slender Man, a character popular on online horror fiction sites.
Courtesy Hearts for Healing


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text: Explore Central South Island Hanmer Springs and the Lewis Pass Porter's Pass and the Craigieburn Range Arthur's Pass National Park The South Canterbury foothills The Mackenzie Country Share The Godley and Cass rivers feed into the 83-square-kilometre Lake Tekapo which spills into the Tekapo River then wends its way across the Mackenzie Basin. On Lake Tekapo's southern shore, the burgeoning village of TEKAPO revolves around a roadside ribbon of cafés and gift shops surrounded by new housing developments. Its name derives from the Maori taka ("sleeping mat") and po ("night"), suggesting that this place has long been used as a stopover. It still is, with visitors keen to spend a sunny afternoon picnicking on the lakeshore, enjoying the sunset from a hot pool then stargazing after dark. Minimal light pollution presents perfect conditions for observing the night skies, and the 1000m summit of Mount John, 9km northwest of Tekapo, has sprouted telescope domes operated by the University of Canterbury and astronomical institutions around the world. There's an excellent hike up here and great reward in the form of Astro Café, though the star attraction is the range of observatory and night sky tours.


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From the University Hospital Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Requests for Reprints: Dyde A.K.C. Huysmans, MD, Department of Nuclear Medicine, De Weezenlanden Hospital, P.O. Box 10500, 8000 GM Zwolle, the Netherlands.
Acknowledgments: The authors thank the technicians of the departments of Nuclear Medicine, Radiology, and Pulmonary Medicine for their assistance; the nursing staff of unit E30 for their care of the patients; and Professor H. Folgering and Dr. J. Festen for their advice.
Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of radioiodine therapy as an alternative for surgery in elderly patients with a large, compressive goiter using objective methods for measuring thyroid volume and tracheal compression.
Design: Prospective study.
Setting: University hospital in the Netherlands.
Patients: 19 patients (mean age ±SD, 66 ±14 years) with a large, compressive multinodular goiter who had a high operative risk or refused to have thyroid surgery.
Intervention: A single intravenous dose of Iodine-131 at 2.6 ±1.0 GBq (70 ±28 mCi) (3.7 MBq or 100 microcuries/g of thyroid tissue), followed by daily administration of L-thyroxine in doses that did not suppress thyroid-stimulating hormone.
Measurements: Clinical evaluation and measurements of thyroid volume, maximal tracheal deviation, and the smallest cross-sectional area of the tracheal lumen with magnetic resonance imaging before and 1 year after Iodine-131 treatment.
Results: No exacerbation of compressive symptoms after Iodine-131 therapy was observed. Thyroid volume was 269 ±153 mL before treatment and 154 ±73 mL 1 year after treatment (P < 0.001). Thyroid volume was reduced 40% ±15% (range, 19% to 68%). Maximal tracheal deviation (1.9 ±0.8 cm before and 1.5 ±0.7 cm 1 year after therapy) had decreased by 20% ±20% (range, −4% to 73%; P < 0.001), and the smallest cross-sectional area of the tracheal lumen (0.78 ±0.38 cm2 before and 1.04 ±0.48 cm2 1 year after therapy) had increased by 36% ±38% (range, −3% to 125%; P < 0.001). Clinical signs and symptoms improved in 8 of 12 patients with dyspnea and inspiratory stridor and in both patients with compression of the superior vena cava.
Conclusions: Therapy with Iodine-131 is an effective alternative to surgery for elderly patients with a large, compressive multinodular goiter.
Data are expressed as percentages of pretreatment values.
6 GBq (150 mCi) of Iodine-131. Note the distended neck veins and edematous face as signs of compression of the superior vena cava before therapy (A) and their improvement 1 year after therapy (B). Published by permission of patient.
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Scratchbox - June 10, 2012
Issued: 16:12hrs Sunday 10th June 2012
Simon: Heavy showers now forming again on west Wales coast, heading for Aberystwyth. Rain, heavy at times into southern England with showers down the Pennine chain and into southern Scotland too. See Weatheronline radar here. dsc Heavy showers now forming again on west Wales coast, heading for Aberystwyth. Rain, heavy at times into southern England with showers down the Pennine chain and into southern Scotland too. See Weatheronline radar here.
Issued: 10:54hrs Sunday 10th June 2012
Latest predicted total rain to 7am Tuesday morning showing 40mm+ across a swathe of southern England.
Issued: 08:39hrs Sunday 10th June 2012
Simon: Get set for some very, very wet weather across SE and S England in the next 48-hours, 80+mm of rain is possible with the risk of flooding.
Issued: 07:57hrs Saturday 09th June 2012
Simon: Flooding in Wales caused by 81mm of rain which has fallen at Trawscoed (near Aberystwyth) in the last 24-hours and 67mm at Capel Curig (Snowdonia). See all rain totals here.
Issued: 07:30hrs Saturday 09th June 2012
Simon: It's a better day today, but still lots of cloud. Further showers and rain across northern England and Scotland. The best of the sunshine through more central parts of England and Wales. Winds easing too.
Issued: 08:00hrs Friday 08th June 2012
Simon: More rain today for the Edgbaston Test Match, could be some brief spells of play though, although I suspect not much. Should be better for Saturday.
Issued: 07:51hrs Friday 08th June 2012
Simon: Great satellite pictures this morning. Really shows the low over the UK very well and all the cloud associated with it. Just look at how much cloud is in the Mediterranean too!
Issued: 07:00hrs Thursday 07th June 2012
John: Heavy rain in the south west spreads up across England, Wales and Northern Ireland today as strong gales develop in the south west of England and South Wales later today with gusts to 50 mph.
Issued: 08:09hrs Wednesday 06th June 2012
John: An area of heavy rain may skirt the southern coasts this morning with another area of heavy rain to affect eastern Scotland today. Otherwise, a showery day to come, some of these heavy with the risk of thunder.


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Hi, my name is Katarina and I love beading. My favorite technique is the peyote stitch and my favorite materials are the tiniest Japanese delica and seed beads.View all patterns by designer (80) »
Use this pattern to create a Chinese zodiac sign peyote bracelet!
The PDF file includes:
1. The pattern design
2. A bead legend - bead numbers and colors needed
3. A large, detailed, numbered graph of the pattern
4. A word chart of the pattern
1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002
Horse people are extemporaneous and quick-witted. They are quite intelligent and use their practicality to their advantage in their business and personal lives. Their sharpness makes them quick to pick up new skills and are able to handle many tasks at one time. However, this ambition can be harmful because Horse people often don't finish what they start for fear of missing out on the next big challenge.
Horses are trustworthy, friendly and open-minded. They are good friends to have and will always be honest with you. Although they are good confidants, Horse people do enjoy their alone time and are usually independent people. They can struggle with obstinance and self-centeredness, which can lead to a flare of the temper if they don't get their way. Usually, after an episode or temper-tantrum a Horse can feel remorse, yet not all people will be able to forgive their reaction.


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The Eden Prairie, Minn.-based third-party logistics provider has added Oceania as a new region to its Global Forwarding division, thanks to the company's acquisition of Melbourne-based APC Logistics.
The United States imported 2.99 million net tons of steel in August, an 8.5 percent month-over-month decline, driven down by lower volumes from Brazil and South Korea from a month prior.
Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., said he will fight the trade deal in the Senate, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., hinted the deal could fly in 2017 if controversial language giving corporations the right to challenge a nation's regulations is removed.
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Japanese container carrier Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha could be targeted by Singapore-based hedge fund Effissimo, the firm's largest shareholder as of early August, according to recent media reports.
Edward Greenberg, the association's general council, said the Federal Maritime Commission's revision would offer "much needed flexibility" to non-vessel-operating common carriers when including rate and surcharge changes in their service arrangements.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske told customs brokers and forwarders Tuesday that members of a key trade facilitation program, known as CBP's Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, need "enhanced benefits.


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- Final Fantasy XII - The Zodiac Age
Announcement Trailer
- Hard Reset Redux
Gameplay Video
- Yooka-Laylee
E3 Trailer
- Horizon Zero Dawn
Aloy\'s Journey Trailer
- Agents of Mayhem
Announcement Trailer
- LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
BB-8 Gameplay Trailer
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Keri "Pwny" Honea
I am the biggest baby when it comes to horror anything. I couldn't handle Dead Rising, the first season of The Walking Dead gave me nightmares (when I wasn't bawling my eyes out), and I could not hack Alan Wake. So when I found out that Bethesda was treating me to a presentation and a hands-on demo for their upcoming horror, The Evil Within, I was extremely nervous. How grossed out would I be? Would I yell out in front of complete strangers? Would I have to drink myself into a stupor in order to finally sleep and pray I won't have nightmares? Fortunately for me, The Evil Within was not scary in the slightest. That's probably not a good thing for Bethesda.
On paper, the game has everything you would think would add up to a pretty darn scary game experience. There's gore, there's not knowing what in the world is going on, there's people doing some really deranged things that don't make sense, there are horrible monsters that won't die unless you knock them down AND set them on fire, and there are some monsters you can only run away from. It seems to contain the perfect ingredients for a great recipe of a survival horror game. Somehow, none of this gels together in the way that I'm sure Bethesda intended.
Where's me perks? Fallout-style!
Yeah, your hands will protect you against that. Good call.
The Evil Within is supposed to be a survival horror, but that's a complete misnomer; it's an action horror game. Health refills and ammunition were scattered all over every room I explored in. I found so many, I had to check my difficulty setting as I started to think it was set to the easiest setting. And yeah, it was not. When I think of survival horror, I think that ammunition is scarce, especially in instances where shooting something is the only way to put it down (before you light it on fire). Since melee will only buy the player time, not defeat the enemy, you would think ammunition should be a highly valued commodity, something that the player needs to be careful with and not waste a single bullet. Since you can find bullets in almost every room, feel free to shoot away like a cowboy. Granted, doing so can alert other enemies, but by then, the thought of more enemies in the room isn't too horrifying or stressful.
In cut scenes, the game often relied upon typical suspense-building and scare tactics that you see in every horror movie ever made. Oh you mean after I cut into this cadaver and it suddenly grabs my hand with an abrupt crash of music, I'm supposed to be startled? Sorry to say, everyone saw that coming, even this complete wuss who jumps at every little suspense moment in movies.
What made it worse was the grainey art style the developers chose. I'm not sure if they're trying to make it look antique or from an old black-and-white film with the grainey textures, but it only looks like something isn't complete with the art design or code. The graininess also takes away from anything that could be scary, even something subtle as the way some of the enemies stare down on you before charging.
I was fully prepared to be humiliated at this demo and to write about how much this game terrified the big sissy. For a game as hyped as Bethesda has pumped this one, I'm honestly flabbergasted at how not scary it really was. I was also surprised with how easy the combat felt. Shoot the things. Set the things on fire. On occasion, run from the things or hide from the things under the bed. Maybe the story holds it all together; something certainly has to.


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Russian Roulette
Deaglán de Bréadún
It has been said that the reason academic politics is so bitter is that the stakes are so low. But this episode leaves even your humble scribe – who thought he had seen everything – quite gobsmacked. For more, click here and here.
I note the following paragraph from the second item with particular interest: Rachel Polonsky is the heroine of the story. It was she who employed an expert in computer forensics, who established practically beyond doubt that "Historian" lived under the Figes family roof. As Ms Polonsky put it to us, "a hoaxer would have had to set up an account pretending to be Orlando Figes in 2001 or earlier with a view to bringing the insane hoax to fruit in 2010".
Inreresting to see that the web d0es not provide total anonymity. From time to time I have wondered about certain individuals contributing to our little debates here and whether they are really who they claim to be, e.g., is that "dissident Israeli soldier" really a Palestinian activist?
It's also quite puzzling that someone as successful as Figes would want to do these things to others in his field. Human nature never ceases to amaze.


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Art for the eyes and ears will be on display at Maui Crafts Guild in Paia. Local artist Monica Morakis mixes the auditory and visual arts to pay homage to the "art and joy of music," and her exhibition will kick off with a reception from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday at the guild.
"To me, music is not an option in my life," Morakis said in a release. "It is an essential part of daily life. It is like art for the ears. I want to celebrate the musicians, the singers, the dancers and participants who just enjoy what music brings to all of us. Music carries our heart."
The reception will offer refreshments and live music in conjunction with Paia's Fourth Friday event. Morakis' work will be highlighted at the gallery through July 7.
Article Photos
Maui Crafts Guild featured artist Monica Morakis' "Maile Lei"
To create her original works, the artist cuts, assembles and glues sheets of stained glass, both opaque and transparent, onto various surfaces. "I love working with glass because of the endless possibilities of light dancing on the surface or light piercing the glass to explode the saturated reds, blues and greens found in stained glass," she said.
Maui Crafts Guild is the island's only artist-owned and -operated cooperative gallery. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 69 Hana Highway. For details, call 579-9697 or visit www.mauicraftsguild.com.
The works of Maui-based artists Sidney Yee and Kevin Omuro and Oahu-based artist Scott Groeniger are on display in the Hui No'eau Visual Art Center's Solo Artist Exhibition, which continues during gallery hours through July 23. Yee and Omuro's "I Turned to the Turnip" and Groeniger's "Welcome to the New Lifestyle" were unveiled during a public reception June 17 at the Hui's Upcountry grounds. For details, visit www.huinoeau.com.
Viewpoints Gallery's annual Makawao Plein Air Festival is in full swing through Wednesday at various locations throughout Maui.
The annual event, which gives the public a chance to see professional and amateur artists create work outdoors as they vie for various awards, started last Sunday and continues through Wednesday. Don't miss artists capturing island scenes at Pi'iholo Ranch/Pi'iholo Zipline on Friday, Ali'i Lavender Farm on Saturday and O'o Farms on Monday.
The artwork will be judged by George Allan, Jolle C. and Joseph Fletcher and will be on display in the Makawao gallery from July 2 through 12. The public opening reception and awards ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. July 2 at The Courtyard off Baldwin Avenue. For details, call 572-5979.
East Maui Watershed Partnership and Viewpoints Gallery recently announced Malama Wao Akua 2011, an artistic celebration of Maui's native flora and fauna. The annual juried exhibition, which started in 2004, is open to Maui County residents of all ages, both amateur and professional.
Original artwork in all media will be accepted, with the condition that the piece has not been shown with any exhibition, gallery or website. The subject of each piece must be a native landscape or native species of Maui. Entry fee is $10 for adults and $5 for keiki 18 and younger. A portion of all entry fees and art sales will be donated to EMWP for the protection of native rain forests. For details, eastmauiwatershed.org/.
Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2012 call for artists continues; the Schaefer International Gallery will begin the jurying process exhibition in September and October. The statewide juried triennial art exhibition, scheduled for public view in January 2012, will feature artists whose work best captures Hawaii's extraordinary portrait subjects. The prospectus and application are available via MauiArts.org, under Exhibits.


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Tip: Follow the link of an Egg Move Parent to see its own parents and easily form breeding chains. Egg Parents that appear in bold (or their evolutions) also belong to a different group than the current Pokémon. Only Diamond & Pearl parents are shown therefore there might be possible chains that do not appear here. Make sure you understand all Breeding mechanics.
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It's the most wonderful time of the year and the most wonderful giveaway. Since it is far better to give than to receive, I am thrilled to be giving away the most amazing prizes to nine of my fabulous readers! I have teamed up with some of my absolute favorite companies and they are filling Santa's sack with tons of … [Read more...]
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U.S. - Latin American Relations
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation's U.S.-Latin American Relations (USLAR) Program closed as a stand-alone program at the end of 2004. Beginning in January 2005, the Foundation's continuing work in Mexico was housed within a new Global Development Program. Air quality and transportation projects in Brazil and Mexico moved to the Foundation's Environment Program.
The U.S.-Latin American Relations Program sought to strengthen U.S. and Latin American institutions – and foster cooperation among them – in order to address a specific set of common challenges facing the Americas.
The mission was built upon two central premises. First, continuing hemispheric economic and social integration is highly likely and desirable. Second, the shape that future integration takes is anything but preordained.
The program sought to help develop the institutional capacity, the human resources, and the informatio nthat will shape and improve hemispheric relations into the future.
The program conceived of U.S.-Latin American relations broadly: relations in the Americas are those among institutions and communities of interest as well as among nation-states. The program thus did not focus narrowly on diplomatic or "strategic" relations. Rather, it included within its focus environmental issues, political and institutional consolidation, and economic and social policy.


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Defining the "Rural" in Rural America
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The term "rural" conjures widely shared images of farms, ranches, villages, small towns, and open spaces. Yet, when it comes to distinguishing rural from urban places, researchers and policymakers employ a dizzying array of definitions. The use of multiple definitions reflects the reality that rural and urban are multidimensional concepts, making clear-cut distinctions between the two difficult. Is population density the defining concern, or is it geographic isolation? Is it small population size that makes it necessary to distinguish rural from urban? If so, how small is rural? Because the U.S. is a nation in which so many people live in areas that are not clearly rural or urban, seemingly small changes in the way rural areas are defined can have large impacts on who and what are considered rural.
Researchers and policymakers share the task of choosing appropriately from among the more than two dozen rural definitions currently used by Federal agencies. For example, research on suburban development and its effect on rural real estate prices would probably define rural differently than a study designed to track and explain economic and social changes affecting rural people and places. Programs developed to address the unique problems that small rural governments face will not necessarily target the same rural areas as will programs that are developed to help rural businesses operating in credit-constrained markets. The key is to use a rural-urban definition that best fits the needs of a specific activity, recognizing that any simple dichotomy hides a complex rural-urban continuum, with very gentle gradations from one level to the next.
Delineating a precise line between rural and urban America that best serves the purpose, given the complexity of today's settlement patterns, involves answering two questions:
By identifying urban areas first, rural is defined as the territory that is not included. Good decisionmaking in choosing an appropriate rural definition requires an understanding of the key characteristics of urban entities and how they, in turn, determine the characteristics of rural definitions derived from them.
There are three different concepts of "urban" that lead to very different boundary definitions, and thus to very different rural definitions:
These three concepts represent progressively expansive urban boundaries that differ considerably from one another. For instance, in 2000, Peoria, IL, as defined by its municipal boundaries, encompassed an area with about 113,000 people but as an economic entity it included nearly 367,000 people. Applying a land-use concept resulted in an area with a population between these two alternatives.
For rural development programs that provide assistance to or through local governments, an administrative definition of rural is often a starting point for determining program eligibility. On the other hand, infrastructure programs meant to overcome the disadvantages sparsely populated areas face in providing water and sewer services may find rural definitions derived from the land-use concept helpful in targeting assistance. For programs requiring the coordination of efforts within broader market areas, such as area-wide transportation planning assistance, a definition based on economic concepts may be more appropriate. So ubiquitous are county-level data that researchers often divide urban and rural areas along county lines, making "nonmetro" the de facto economic definition of rural for most research purposes (see box below, "How Are the Boundaries Between Rural and Urban Developed?").
In addition to being defined as the area outside urban boundaries—determined in different ways depending on the concept—rural includes some set of towns and villages below a chosen population threshold. For the 1910 Census, rural meant open countryside and any place with fewer than 2,500 people. Though the Census Bureau modified its definition over the decades to keep up with suburban expansion, it did not change the 2,500 population threshold as the minimum size for urban places. Over the same period, thresholds for some USDA rural development programs were adjusted upward, arguably an appropriate response to rapid urbanization. For example, the Rural Housing Program began in 1949, serving communities with fewer than 2,500 people, but it now sets eligibility at less than 20,000 people.
Proponents of a higher threshold point out that towns of 2,500 people typically have not maintained the levels and diversity of employment, goods, and services that existed in 1910. The tremendous transportation and communication advances of the past 100 years helped reorganize economic and social activities around larger towns and cities. The debate over an appropriate population size threshold between rural and urban places is ongoing. Definitions used by Federal agencies use population-size thresholds ranging from 2,500 to 50,000 people. For instance, the definition of rural used for USDA's Community Facilities programs consists of territory outside Census places of 20,000 or more. In contrast, the definition of nonmetro areas used by most researchers applies a 50,000 population threshold.
Depending on the boundary choice and the population threshold, the share of the U.S. population defined as rural and its socioeconomic characteristics vary substantially. In 2000, 21 percent of the U.S. population was designated rural using the Census Bureau's land-use definition (outside urban areas of 2,500 or more people), compared with 17 percent for economically based nonmetro areas (outside metro areas of 50,000 or more).
However, alternative definitions increase that range from 7 to 49 percent. Raising the population size threshold for the land-use definition from 2,500 to 50,000 increases the rural population from 21 to 32 percent. Lowering the threshold for the economic definition from 50,000 to 10,000 decreases the rural population from 17 to 7 percent.
Holding the population threshold constant at the minimum level of 2,500 people but moving from an administrative to a land-use definition drops the U.S. rural population by a third, from 31 to 21 percent. This change represents a shift in the designation of people who live in areas typically described as suburban, who are counted as rural under the narrower administrative concept but as urban under the land-use version. A similar shift in suburban population occurs at the upper population threshold of 50,000, where rural population decreases from 32 percent based on the Census Bureau's land-use concept to 17 percent under the economic definition. (For descriptions of each definition, see box below, "How Are the Boundaries Between Rural and Urban Developed?")
Alternating the definition of rural also varies the socioeconomic characteristics of designated areas. Rural populations consistently show lower education and income levels than the overall U.S. population, however they are defined. Given that rural definitions based on administrative boundaries include larger shares of what could be classed as suburban areas, the education and income levels of their populations are closer to those of the general U.S. population. The suburban population counted as rural is much smaller for the economic definition represented by nonmetro areas. Thus, the share of the rural population with a college degree drops from 28 to 18 percent across this range and the average household income drops from $56,000 to $40,000.
Rural definitions are not limited to the options discussed here. For instance, ERS provides an alternative to OMB's metro and micro definitions that uses census tracts instead of counties (see box below, "What Are the RUCA Codes?"). In the 2002 farm bill, administrative and land-use concepts were essentially combined for a rural definition adopted by several USDA funding programs. Eligible territory includes areas outside Census places of 50,000 or more and their adjacent urban areas.
With so many options, which definition is best? The choice of a rural definition should be based on the purpose of the activity. For instance, analyzing the effect of population loss on per capita fiscal costs for rural communities is best approached using administrative boundaries because taxation and service provision often follow these lines. Tracking urbanization and its influence on farmland prices is best approached from a land-use definition that can distinguish built-up territory from surrounding, less developed land and the degree to which this boundary shifts over time. Mapping discontinuities in the supply and demand for medical services and analyzing their effect on rural well-being would likely focus on distance to labor markets as a key determinant of health care accessibility.
In any application involving measurement, data availability will play a major role. Studies of the effects of unemployment, poverty, retirement, industrial restructuring, and other trends on rural areas cannot easily employ administrative or land-use definitions because data are not available to support them. County-level, economic definitions (nonmetro areas) dominate rural research for this reason. However, researchers need to carefully analyze and report the implications of any definitional choice: Who is included in the study and who is left out? What information is being masked by using large geographical building blocks, such as counties? How does this rural geography vary by State?
Policymakers face the same questions when crafting eligibility rules that best fit particular rural programs but are not as limited by data considerations. Considerable flexibility exists in tailoring definitions to suit a given application, and the appropriate choice may vary depending on program goals. A program providing housing assistance may be designed to target more isolated or economically distressed rural settings than would programs designed to stimulate business starts and job creation. Rural communities lacking access to health services may not be the same areas missing broadband support. Careful consideration of alternative definitions of rural and their socioeconomic characteristics has the potential to improve the overall efficiency of economic development programs by enabling them to better target the intended beneficiaries.
Rural definitions based on the administrative concept start with the Census Bureau's list of "places." Most places listed in the 2000 Census are incorporated entities with legally prescribed boundaries (e.g., Peoria City), but some are locally recognized, unincorporated communities. Rural is defined as territory outside these place boundaries, together with places smaller than a selected population threshold. For example, USDA's Telecom Hardship Loan Program defines rural as any area outside Census places of 5,000 or more people.
Rural definitions based on the land-use concept most often start with the Census Bureau's set of urban areas, consisting of densely settled territory. Rural as defined by the Census Bureau includes open countryside and settlements with fewer than 2,500 residents. Urban areas are specifically designed to capture densely settled territory regardless of where municipal boundaries are drawn. They include adjacent suburbs that are outside place boundaries and exclude any territory within places that does not meet the density criteria.
The most widely used rural definition based on the economic concept consists of the 2,050 nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) counties lying outside metro boundaries. Metropolitan (metro) areas are county-based entities that account for the economic influence of cities. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines them as:
Using these criteria, urban entities are defined as countywide or multicounty labor market areas extending well beyond their built-up cores.
Prior to 2000, the land-use concept (Census urban areas) and the economic concept (OMB metro areas) were not applied to urban entities below 50,000 people. In 2000, the Census Bureau added urban areas ranging in size from 2,500 to 49,999 (labeling them urban clusters to distinguish them from the larger urbanized areas that had been defined since 1950). OMB added a new micropolitan (micro) area classification, using the same criteria as used for metro areas but lowering the threshold to 10,000 people. These modifications greatly increase the flexibility of researchers and administrators to tailor rural definitions to different target populations.
Counties are often too large, especially in Western States, to accurately represent labor market areas in all cases. Thus, metro and micro areas often include territory that is legitimately rural from both a land-use and economic perspective. ERS Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes provide an alternative, economic classification using census tracts rather than counties. Although relatively new, these codes have been widely adopted for both research and policy, especially in rural health applications.
RUCA codes follow (as closely as possible) the same concepts and criteria used to define metro and micro areas. By using the more detailed census tracts, they provide a different geographic pattern of settlement classification. While counties are generally too large to delineate labor market areas below the 10,000 population threshold, RUCA codes identify such areas for towns with populations as small as 2,500. Additional information and files containing the codes are available here.
Rural Definitions, by John Cromartie, USDA, Economic Research Service, July 2012
Rural Classifications, by John Cromartie and Timothy Parker, USDA, Economic Research Service, June 2016
Land Use, Land Value & Tenure, by Daniel Bigelow, USDA, Economic Research Service, May 2016
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Chimpanzee population plummets 90 percent in supposedly strong region
Jeremy Hance
May 06, 2009
Perhaps most troubling about this new survey is Cote d'Ivoire was supposed to be a stronghold for chimpanzees in West Africa. The report warnsit is likely that similar declines have occurred in other West African nations.
Researchers point to an increase of humans in Cote d'Ivoire as the primary reason. Since 1990 the nation has seen its human population grow by 50 percent. This has lead to increases in poaching and deforestation, activities which target both chimps and their habitat.
"The habitat is gone, and all the protected areas have been invaded by people. It's not just the chimps—[there's] no animals at all," lead author Genevieve Campbell told National Geographic.
In the 1960s it was estimated that chimpanzee population in Cote d'Ivoire was 100,000 individuals.
Related articles
Wildlife trade creating "empty forest syndrome" across the globe
(01/19/2009) For many endangered species it is not the lack of suitable habitat that has imperiled them, but hunting. In a talk at a Smithsonian Symposium on tropical forests, Elizabeth Bennett of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) outlined the perils for many species of the booming and illegal wildlife trade. She described pristine forests, which although providing perfect habitat for species, stood empty and quiet, drained by hunting for bushmeat, traditional medicine, the pet trade, and trophies.
Rwanda launches reforestation project to protect chimps, drive ecotourism
(03/17/2008) conservationists in Rwanda have launched an ambitious reforestation project that aims to create a forest corridor to link an isolated group of chimpanzees to larger areas of habitat in Nyungwe National Park. The initiative, called the Rwandan National conservation Park, is backed by the Rwandan government, the Great Ape Trust of Iowa, and Earthpark, a group seeking to build an indoor rainforest in the U.S. Midwest.
Outbreak may be killing chimps in Guinea - Reuters
(12/03/2006) Endangered chimpanzees are disappearing in the West African country of Guinea according to a report from Reuters.
Original source: http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0506-hance_chimpcotedivoire.html
Copyright mongabay 1999-2014


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POINT PLEASANT BEACH — A plastic heel, underwear, a medical mask, and parts of a pier were among the stranger items collected by volunteers from the sands of this Ocean County shore town during weekend beach sweeps.
Clean Ocean Action held its annual fall beach cleanups in 60 spots up and down the Jersey shore, removing thousands of items that were either left behind by beachgoers, or were washed up by the tides.
On Sandy Hook alone, volunteers picked up nearly 3,500 food and candy wrappers; 142 rubber balloons; 3,300 plastic straws and stirrers; more than 100 plastic light sticks, and nearly 600 plastic forks, knives and spoons.
Since 1985, over 90,000 volunteers have removed over 4.5 million pieces of debris from New Jersey's beaches and waterways.
Related coverage:• Volunteers pick up 475K pieces of garbage on dozens of N.J. beaches in two days
• Cigarette butts slide down list of most common Jersey Shore trash