GOP Senate group aided Todd Akin despite disavowal

William Todd Akin (born July 5, 1947) is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. Akin won the 2012 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat in a crowded field. He will challenge Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill in the general election.

In describing his pro-life position in August 2012, Akin stated that women who are victims of what he called "legitimate rape" rarely get pregnant. The comment led to widespread calls for him to withdraw from the Senate race, as well as support from pro-life advocates. Akin apologized for his remarks and stated that he would continue his campaign.

Early life, education, and business career

Akin was born in New York City, New York, and raised in the St. Louis, Missouri area. He is the son of Nancy Perry (n?e Bigelow) and Paul B. Akin. Akin's father is a third-generation graduate of Harvard University who served as an officer in the Navy during World War II, and who later succeeded his own father, William Akin, as president of the Laclede Steel Corporation of St. Louis. Todd's great grandfather Thomas Russell Akin founded Laclede in 1911.

Todd Akin graduated from the John Burroughs School, a private prep school in suburban St. Louis, and went on to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, earning a B.S. degree in management engineering from WPI's School of Business in 1971.

Following his college graduation, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army with the Army Combat Engineers, then served in the Army Reserve until 1980. After his discharge from active duty, Akin worked as a salesman for IBM marketing large computer systems, and later went to work in management in the family steel business.

He earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1984 from Covenant Theological Seminary where he studied Greek, Hebrew and a socially conservative interpretation of the Christian scriptures. Instead of working in a church, he decided to make public service his ministry.

In 2011, Akin revealed that he was arrested for blocking the entrance to an abortion clinic about 25 years ago, saying "You know, don?t tell anybody I?m a jail bird, you know, but there were a bunch of us that were years ago involved in the pro-life movement." On October 23, 2012, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported that: "Congressman Todd Akin was arrested at least three times in the 1980s during anti-abortion protests, not just the one time he has publicly acknowledged. Akin's previously undisclosed arrests, in 1985, were for criminal trespass and resisting arrest at abortion clinic protests in St. Louis and Illinois." On his US house website , the congressman goes by Todd Akin, nowhere in his biography is his first name William ever mentioned. According to the Saint Louis Post Dispatch, that is the reason why his arrest record was missed when they searched their database for Todd Akin. He was arrested as William Akin and soon after ran for political office as Todd Akin using his middle name.

Missouri House of Representatives

Elections

Akin was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in November 1988, running unopposed to represent District 85 which included Town and Country and much of West Saint Louis County. He won re-election in 1990 with 59% of the vote. Due to re-districting, Akin represented District 86 from 1993 through 2000, never winning less than 66% of the vote.

Tenure

Akin served as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. During his 12 years in the state house, Akin advocated for homeschool rights, voted for carrying concealed weapons, voted against the parks and soils sales tax, and voted against the 1993 tax increase and education spending increase. Akin sponsored legislation to prohibit casino companies from contributing to Missouri state lawmakers. In 1995, he fought Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan over a bill providing state-funding for school nurses. Ultimately, the governor refused to sign the funding bill due to Akin's amendment which would have prohibited nurses from telling students about sources for information about abortion.

U.S. House of Representatives

Akin has represented since January 2001. The district includes western suburbs of St. Louis in St. Louis County and northwestern exurbs in St. Charles County.

Elections

In 2000, Akin ran in the Republican primary election to fill the House seat vacated by U.S. Representative Jim Talent, who was running for governor. Light voter turnout caused by heavy rains helped Akin win the tight, five-way primary by just 56 votes; he defeated two better-known candidates, former St. Louis County Executive Gene McNary and State Senator Franc Flotron. On the night he won the primary, Akin said, "My base will show up in earthquakes." He defeated Democratic State Senator Ted House in the general election, winning 55 percent of the vote. He never faced another contest as close, and was reelected five times. In 2010, Akin won re-election with 67.9% of the vote. He had been challenged for the seat by Democratic nominee Arthur Lieber, Libertarian nominee Steve Mosbacher, and write-in candidate Patrick M. Cannon.

Tenure

Akin earned a 96% rating from the American Conservative Union in 2008, and 100% in 2007.

Social issues

He is an outspoken opponent of abortion in all cases, including health reasons or in cases of rape or incest and opposes embryonic stem cell research. In a 2008 speech on the House floor, Akin called abortion providers "terrorists" and alleged that it was "common practice" for abortion providers to perform abortions on women who were not actually pregnant.

Akin is a supporter of the right to keep and bear arms and has an A rating from the National Rifle Association. Akin is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he co-sponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.

Akin also authored the Protect the Pledge (of Allegiance) Act. In late June 2011, Akin objected to NBC's recent removal of the words "under God" from a video clip of school children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. After remarking that "NBC has a long record of being very liberal," Akin said,"at the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God and a belief that government should replace God". Two days later, Akin said he did not mean all liberals hate God, only that liberals have "a hatred for public references for God." The next day, he apologized, saying his statement had been "directed at the political movement, Liberalism, not at any specific individual".

During his 2012 US Senate bid, Akin reaffirmed his opposition to legislation like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which he voted against as a Congressman.

Fiscal issues

In his early years in Congress, Akin brought back earmarks for his district, voted to raise the debt ceiling, voted for off-balance-sheet wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and voted to create the unfunded Medicare prescription drug benefit. More recently, he has opposed increases in taxation and spending. He voted in 2007 against an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), objecting to its potential coverage of children in families making up to $62,000 a year, and stating that proof of U.S. citizenship was not required. He also said the bill would "weaken the private health care system" and lead the country "further down the slippery slope to socialized medicine." He has voted against federally funded school breakfasts and lunches, and called student loans "a stage-three cancer of socialism". He has also voted against increasing the minimum wage. He was a vocal critic of the September 2008 bank bailout, and voted against it. He voted no on the Affordable Health Care Act in March 2010, and yes on Paul Ryan's fiscal year 2012 budget.

Military issues

Akin has spent significant time working on military and veterans issues. On the House Armed Services Committee he currently serves as the Chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, which handles all Navy and Air Force issues. In the past, he has served as Ranking Republican on the Seapower Subcommittee and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. Akin has also introduced a number of veterans-related bills, most notably the Open Burn Pit Registry Act, which creates a registry for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were exposed to burn pits. He opposed repeal of the Dover Policy which reversed the ban on media coverage of caskets of troops returning home from overseas citing privacy and decorum issues.

Committee assignments

  • Committee on Armed Services
  • * Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
  • * Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces (Chairman)
  • Committee on the Budget
  • Committee on Science, Space and Technology
  • * Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
  • * Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
  • Caucus memberships

  • Republican Study Committee
  • Tea Party Caucus
  • 2012 U.S. Senate election

    In mid-May 2011, Akin announced he would seek the Republican nomination in 2012 to unseat Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill. Other candidates in the August 2012 Republican primary included businessman John Brunner, author and business executive Mark Memoly, and former Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman. Despite losing some momentum and in a crowded field, Akin won the Republican nomination in the August 7 primary, 36% to 30% for his nearest challenger. In August 2012, National Journal named Akin one of "Ten Republicans to follow on Twitter".

    Home of record

    In May 2011, questions were raised about Akin's official address for voting. According to the Associated Press and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Akin has lived in Wildwood, in far western St. Louis County, since at least 2009, and perhaps as early as 2007, since he and his wife purchased a second home there. However, he has continued to list his house in Town and Country as his official residence, and signed a polling place logbook attesting to his living there in April 2011.

    Controversial comments on rape and pregnancy

    In an August 19, 2012 interview aired on St. Louis television station KTVI-TV, Akin was asked his views on whether women who became pregnant due to rape should have the option of abortion. He replied:

    Well you know, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, well how do you, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that?s really rare. If it?s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let?s assume that maybe that didn?t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.

    The comment was widely criticized as false. Medical experts say there is no evidence to support the assertion that women are less likely to get pregnant from rape compared with consensual sex.

    Akin apologized for his remarks and issued a state-wide television commercial apologizing.

    His opponent in the 2012 Senate race, Claire McCaskill, told MSNBC, "For most Missourians I hope this is one of those gut check moments when they realize this is not somebody we want speaking for us and for our values on the floor of the United States Senate." Several pundits also believed that the remarks could change the race. Many Republicans dissociated from Akin as a result of the comments, with NRSC chairman John Cornyn saying the GOP would no longer provide him Senate election funding and describing Akin as "endangering Republicans? hopes of retaking the majority in the Senate". A campaign spokesman for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan said both disagreed with Akin's position and would not oppose abortion in instances of rape. Akin said, "In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it's clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year." Several commentators criticized this defense, suggesting the comment was a reflection of personal belief and that he only rescinded the comment for political expediency. These commentators noted past actions and statements from Akin that were seen as consistent with his comment, and suggested it was evidence of scientific ignorance and a lack of trust in women.

    Akin has been defended by some social conservative organizations and notable Republicans, including the Family Research Council and Mike Huckabee. A spokesman for the Council said that "We feel this is a case of gotcha politics... We know who Todd Akin is. We've worked with him up on the hill. He's a defender of life." Akin's remarks were also defended by the evangelical Christian activist Kirk Cameron. A representative of the American Family Association cited a 1999 article by Doctor John C. Willke to argue Akin "was exactly right". Pro-life theologian Pia de Solenni called Akin's remarks "idiotic", but also claimed that there is "no solid data" on the question of whether rape inhibits pregnancy, and opined that it was not a "far stretch [from effects of long-term stress on fertility] to wonder if women who are raped might have a lesser rate of pregnancy resulting from the rape". Robert Fleischmann, director of pro-life group Christian Life Resources, similarly argued that Akin's point was plausible but lacked data ("I have yet to see a study that demonstrates some sort of contraceptive effect from a rape. I do believe, however, it is not an unwarranted conclusion." and "Statistically speaking, it appears something happens in a rape, either with the victim or with the perpetrator, that reduces the incidence of pregnancy."). In response to Republican demands that he resigns, Personhood USA spokeswoman Jennifer Mason said that Akin's position "is an integral part of the Republican Party platform, the same position that was held by President Ronald Reagan" and that "[we] are left with Reagan Republicans, who agree with the Republican Party platform on abortion, and Romney Republicans, a fringe group of liberals who compromise on human life." Mike Huckabee supported Akin by soliciting donations for his Senate campaign, in which he accused the "Republican establishment" of a "carefully orchestrated and systematic attack."

    In response, some Democrats began calling a platform provision at the 2012 Republican National Convention which calls for a "human life amendment" to the Constitution banning abortion without an exception for rape or incest, the "Akin Plank". The wording of the amendment is the same wording that the party approved in 2004 and 2008.

    Personal life

    Akin married Lulli Boe, a graduate of Hollins University, in June 1975. The couple has six children. Lulli became a home schooling activist and all of the children were home-schooled. Three sons attended the Naval Academy and became officers in the Marines. One of his sons served in the assault on Fallujah, Iraq.

    Akin enjoys playing guitar and singing gospel songs, and over the years, has dressed in Revolutionary War attire for Fourth of July celebrations.

    Akin and his wife resided for many years in the Town and Country, Missouri home that he grew up in and that his father owned. When his father sought to subdivide the 8.5 acre property a few years ago, Akin moved to a house in Wildwood.

    Electoral history

    Year Office Republican Democratic Libertarian Ref

    References

    External links

  • U.S. Congressman Todd Akin official U.S. House site
  • Todd Akin for Congress official campaign site
  • |- (Class 1)|years=2012}} |-

    Category:1947 births Category:American Presbyterians Category:Covenant Theological Seminary alumni Category:IBM employees Category:Living people Category:Members of the Missouri House of Representatives Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri Category:Missouri Republicans Category:People from New York City Category:People from St. Louis County, Missouri Category:Worcester Polytechnic Institute alumni

    de:Todd Akin fr:Todd Akin it:Todd Akin fi:Todd Akin sv:Todd Akin

    Source: http://article.wn.com/view/2012/12/07/GOP_Senate_group_aided_Todd_Akin_despite_disavowal/

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    Samsung Galaxy Muse, shaped like a skipping stone, on sale for $50

    Samsung has released a small, sleek, smooth MP3 player called the Galaxy Muse. Move music from your Galaxy smartphone to the Galaxy Muse with a tap of your finger.

    By Matthew Shaer / December 7, 2012

    The Samsung Galaxy Muse MP3 player.

    Samsung

    Enlarge

    Conventional wisdom has it that smartphones are rapidly becoming the equivalent of high-tech Swiss Army Knives ? everything from cameras to e-readers to credit cards to video game systems to MP3 players fits neatly inside. But that doesn't mean plenty of manufacturers aren't still pursuing purpose-built, pocket-sized devices. Consider the PlayStation Vita, the Amazon Kindle, or the Apple iPod.?

    Skip to next paragraph

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    Or look to the Samsung Galaxy Muse, a pint-sized music player the size and shape of a skipping stone. The Muse, which is on sale now through the Samsung site or online retailers such as Amazon, is priced at $49.99 ? on par with the $49.00 Apple iPod Shuffle. The device comes in two color schemes ? white or blue ? and packs?4 GB of memory and a clip on the back to attach to running shorts or the collar of your shirt.?

    But best of all, at least for folks who already own a Samsung smartphone, may be the ability to sync tracks between devices.?

    "Users can get their music on the Galaxy Muse by simply downloading the Muse Sync app from the Google Play marketplace or Samsung Apps," Samsung reps wrote in a press release. "After connecting Galaxy Muse to the Galaxy S III or Galaxy Note II via the included connector cable (USB to 3.5mm headset jack), users can sync the songs they want and leave their phone behind."

    In plain English: You'll be able to cart over tracks and playlists from your Galaxy smartphone to the Galaxy Muse with a tap of your finger.?

    In related news, Samsung has released a new, Android-powered Galaxy Camera. The machine is pricey ? 500 bucks ? but if you're looking for a wired camera, writes CNET's Joshua Goldman, you could do much worse.?

    "Outside of its relatively high cost of ownership and average point-and-shoot picture quality," Goldman notes in a mostly positive review, "the Samsung Galaxy Camera definitely delivers the shoot-and-share experience of a smartphone with the features of a compact camera."?

    For?more tech news, follow us on?Twitter @venturenaut.

    Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/mJltqpWvbBc/Samsung-Galaxy-Muse-shaped-like-a-skipping-stone-on-sale-for-50

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    Canada OKs China's largest overseas energy acquisition

    TORONTO Canada approved China's biggest overseas energy acquisition, a $15.1 billion takeover by state-owned CNOOC of Canadian oil and gas producer Nexen, but vowed Friday to reject any future foreign takeovers in the oil sands sector by state owned companies.

    Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the government would only consider future takeover deals in the oil sands by state-owned companies in exceptional circumstances.

    "To be blunt, Canadians have not spent years reducing ownership of sectors of the economy by our own governments only to see them bought and controlled by foreign governments instead," Harper said.

    Harper's Conservative government has been studying whether CNOOC's deal and a smaller foreign takeover, Malaysian state-owned oil firm Petronas' $5.2 billion bid for Progress Energy, represent a "net benefit" to the country. The Harper government also approved the Petronas deal on Friday.

    The prime minister's comments shed light on Canada's policy toward foreign takeovers in the oil sands, particularly when the foreign company is owned by the state.

    Concerns have been raised that approvals could lead to a flood of deals that put control of Canada's vast energy resources in foreign hands.

    "I do not believe that any major industrialized country would allow a major sector of its economy to be transformed into the property of a foreign government through a couple of transactions," Harper said.

    The prime minister said the Alberta oil sands represent 60 percent of all the oil production around the world that is not already in state hands and said he wants to keep it that way.

    "The government's concern has been that very quickly a series of large-scale controlling transactions by foreign state-owned companies could rapidly transform this industry from one that is essentially a free market industry to one that is effectively under the control of a foreign government," Harper said.

    "That is obviously not something that we find desirable."

    CNOOC and other big state-owned Asian energy companies have increased purchases of oil and gas assets in the Americas as part of a global strategy to gain access to resources needed to fuel their economies. Chinese companies have moved more carefully since CNOOC tried seven years ago to buy Unocal but was rejected by U.S. lawmakers who cited national security fears.

    Harper's government originally turned down Petronas' bid for Progress Energy in October. The government did not publicly explain the decision to block the deal but said a new policy framework for foreign takeovers will be released soon. Petronas was allowed to reapply.

    The decision to turn it down in October has raised doubts about whether Canada is open to foreign investment.

    Harper's Conservative government also rejected Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton's hostile takeover bid for Potash Corp. in 2010 and the sale of Vancouver-based MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates' space-technology division to an American company in 2008.

    Harper has lobbied the Chinese to invest in Canada's energy sector and has said foreign investment is needed to develop Canada's vast oil and gas deposits. Turning down CNOOC's bid would have harmed relations with China. China's growing economy is hungry for Canadian oil. Chinese state-owned companies have invested billions in Canadian energy in recent years.

    The Canadian province of Alberta has the world's third-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela: more than 170 billion barrels. Daily production of 1.5 million barrels from the oil sands is expected to increase to 3.7 million in 2025.

    Nexen, a mid-tier energy company in Canada, operates in western Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Africa and the Middle East, with its biggest reserves in the Canadian oil sands. It produced an average of 213,000 barrels of oil a day in the second quarter of this year.

    Nexen's board approved the takeover in July after CNOOC offered a 62 percent premium on the stock price. Shareholders voted overwhelmingly to support the deal in September. The stock has long traded at 10 percent discount to the offer on fears Canada would not approve the takeover.

    Nexen stock traded down 6.5 percent after Industry Canada said an announcement would be made after the close. Progress traded down 5.4 percent.

    In an apparent show of commitment to Canada's interests, CNOOC is pledging to set up a regional headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, where Nexen is based. It also says it will keep the Canadian company's management and projects in place and list shares on the Canadian bourse in Toronto.

    Petronas has also made a series of promises in the proposed takeover of Progress.

    Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsBusiness/~3/x7EfWtbcsxs/

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    Is Your Relationship on Life Support? | World of Psychology

    Is Your Relationship on Life Support?If your relationship is on life support, it?s time for serious remediation. You can?t just hide your relationship problems under the rug, because they will only fester and worsen over time.

    For a relationship to work, you need to address your relationship problems ? just as you would work on a problem at school or at work.

    So if you?re ready to get down to work, here are two ?must-do? assignments for you.

    1. Stop the zero-sum game. Start a team effort.

    A zero-sum game is one where there?s a winner and a loser. It?s a great model for competitive sports but a miserable model for personal relationships.

    If you?ve been playing a zero-sum game ? or a game of tug-of-war ? with your spouse, quit. Right now. Quit. Simply drop the rope.

    Yeah, right. Like it?s that easy. Almost as easy as quitting that cigarette habit you still have. Wait! Maybe you have quit that habit. At least you probably know somebody who has. So it?s possible. No, it?s not easy. But it becomes easier when you?re dying for a smoke (pun intended) but have something else to do to help you curb your urge.

    When you?re absolutely certain that you have a monopoly on the truth and that your partner doesn?t know what he or she is talking about, here?s what you can do to avoid slipping into a zero-sum game: Believe that something, even if it?s a small thing, about what your partner believes is valid. The simple phrase ?you?ve got a point? will help you accomplish this.

    Saying ?you?ve got a point? does not mean you?re caving in or giving up. It?s simply creating a climate for respectful communication, despite your differences. It will help you end the polarizing tug-of-war game. And it will help you start a team effort to deal with whatever issues you are facing.

    2. Curb your impatience.

    Remember when your kid?s antics used to seem cute but now they?re downright exasperating? Remember when your spouse?s innocence used to seem appealing but now it?s just annoying?When others rub you the wrong way, you may get impatient and want to scream,

    • ?Why can?t you program the DVR??
    • ?Why can?t you cook a decent meal without messing something up??
    • ?Why can?t you keep track of your things so you can find your stuff without a crisis??
    • ?Why can?t you figure out how to balance a checkbook? It?s not brain surgery.?

    Yes, it?s easy to get impatient with others for their failures. But know that what seems easy to you is actually a practiced skill, a strength, maybe even a talent. If that weren?t true, you?d be more empathetic with your criticism, responding with something such as:

    • ?Yup, it?s so hard to keep up with the new technology.?
    • ?I?ve got my own kitchen disaster tales I can share with you.?
    • ?We?ve all got so much stuff; it?s tough to keep track of it all.?
    • ?Balancing a checkbook is easier online once you get the hang of it.?

    Next time you find yourself losing your patience with your loved one, instead of laying on the criticism, compliment yourself on what you do well. And know that not everyone can do what you do or know what you know, even when it seems oh-so-simple.

    Dr. Sapadin is a psychologist, author and success coach who takes joy in helping people reach their potential, enhance their relationships and overcome self-defeating patterns of behavior. To subscribe to her FREE E-newsletter, go to www.PsychWisdom.com. To learn about her newest publication, How to Beat Procrastination in the Digital Age, go to www.SixStylesofProcrastination.com. Contact her at DrSapadin@aol.com

    Like this author?
    Catch up on other posts by Linda Sapadin, Ph.D (or subscribe to their feed).



    ????Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 5 Dec 2012
    ????Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

    APA Reference
    Sapadin, L. (2012). Is Your Relationship on Life Support?. Psych Central. Retrieved on December 7, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/12/06/is-your-relationship-on-life-support/

    ?

    Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/12/06/is-your-relationship-on-life-support/

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    Corrections

    Red pen

    Photograph by Gabriela Insuratelu.

    Because of an editing error, a Dec. 5 "Politics" misattributed a quote from Paul Ryan??Republicans must steer far clear of that trap??to Marco Rubio.

    In a Dec. 4 "Bad Astronomy," Phil Plait implied that autism rates were studied in vaccinated versus completely unvaccinated children, but the major study done was only for children given the MMR vaccine versus those who were not. He also wrote that the MMR vaccine contained thimerosal, when it did not. Neither correction affects the overall argument of the article.

    In a Dec. 4 "Explainer," Brian Palmer identified King George VI as the brother of George V. George VI was the son of George V.

    In the Dec. 3 ?Frame Game,? William Saletan stated that Israeli construction in West Bank sector E1 would "make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible." That statement was based on the linked New York Times article, which described E1 construction as "dividing the West Bank in two" and "making the contiguous Palestinian state endorsed by the United Nations last week virtually impossible." This is incorrect. An interactive map from the pro-Palestinian Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem indicates that an Israeli barrier round E1 would close non-barriered Palestinian access to East Jerusalem and would block direct access between Ramallah and Bethlehem, but it would leave a 10-mile-wide eastern strip connecting the northern and southern portions of the West Bank.

    In a Dec. 3 "Future Tense," Kim O'Connor wrote that the deluxe edition of The 50 Year Sword was stitched in Nepal. It was stitched with Nepalese binding.

    In a Dec. 3 "Medical Examiner," J. Bryan Lowder misspelled Dr. Jack Drescher's last name.

    In a Nov. 30 ?Books,? Jenny Hendrix described Evelyn Waugh as converting to Catholicism after the annulment of his marriage. In fact, he converted after the dissolution of his marriage but was granted an annulment afterward. The piece also incorrectly named Marilynne Robinson as a Catholic novelist.

    In a Nov. 27 "XX Factor" post, Alyssa Rosenberg incorrectly spelled a New Girl character?s name. It should be Sadie, not Sady.

    In a Nov. 23 ?Science,? Jason Bittel misidentified the suborder of rodent to which mice and rats belong.

    Slate?strives to correct all errors of fact. If you've seen an error in our pages, let us know at?corrections@slate.com. General comments should be?posted?in our comments sections at the bottom of each article.

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    Paraguayan farmers question probe into killings

    In this Nov. 13, 2012 photo, a farmer walks behind black flags representing 11 landless farmers who were killed during clashes with police in the Yvy Pyta settlement near Curuguaty, Paraguay. The ?Massacre of Curuguaty? on June 15 occurred when negotiations between farmers occupying a rich politician's land ended with a barrage of bullets that killed 11 farmers and 6 police officers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

    In this Nov. 13, 2012 photo, a farmer walks behind black flags representing 11 landless farmers who were killed during clashes with police in the Yvy Pyta settlement near Curuguaty, Paraguay. The ?Massacre of Curuguaty? on June 15 occurred when negotiations between farmers occupying a rich politician's land ended with a barrage of bullets that killed 11 farmers and 6 police officers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

    In this Nov. 14, 2012 photo, Lidia Romero cries holding a family photo album as her husband Catalino Aguero talks in their home's yard in the Carro Cue settlement, near Curuguaty, Paraguay. The couple's son De Los Santos was killed and their daughter Lucia was imprisoned during the ?Massacre of Curuguaty? on June 15 when negotiations between farmers occupying a rich politician's land ended with a barrage of bullets that killed 11 farmers and 6 police officers. ?They gave me my son's decomposing body in a black plastic bag. He had bullet wounds in both feet, but a huge hole in his neck,? said Catalino Aguero. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

    In this Nov. 15, 2012 photo, Lucia Aguero lies in the hospital on the 50th day of her hunger strike in Coronel Oviedo, Paraguay. Aguero, a 25-year-old mother of two small children, was jailed after a chaotic pass through a hospital emergency room where doctors were too busy with the wounded to remove the bullet from her thigh. Aguero witnessed the ?Massacre of Curuguaty? on June 15 when peace negotiations between farmers occupying a rich politician's land ended with a barrage of bullets that killed 11 farmers, including her brother, and 6 police officers. Aguero joined the hunger strike with others to protest being jailed without formal charges for the last six months. She lasted 59 days without food, and nearly died before a judge said she and three others could return home under police custody until the hearing. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

    In this Nov. 14, 2012 photo, Catalino Aguero poses under his son's collection of animal skulls at his home in the Carro Cue settlement near Curuguaty, Paraguay. Aguero's son De Los Santos was killed and his daughter Lucia was imprisoned during the ?Massacre of Curuguaty? on June 15 when negotiations between farmers occupying a rich politician's land ended with a barrage of bullets that killed 11 farmers and 6 police officers. ?They gave me my son's decomposing body in a black plastic bag. He had bullet wounds in both feet, but a huge hole in his neck,? said Catalino Aguero. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

    In this Nov. 14, 2012 photo, Lidia Romero cooks in her home in the Carro Cue settlement near Curuguaty, Paraguay. Romero's son De Los Santos was killed and their daughter Lucia was imprisoned during the ?Massacre of Curuguaty? on June 15 when negotiations between farmers occupying a rich politician's land ended with a barrage of bullets that killed 11 farmers and 6 police officers. For Romero, the fight for a plot of farm land drew much too high a price. ?With my daughter in jail and my son dead, I am destroyed,? she said. ?I barely have the will to keep on living.? (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

    (AP) ? Lucia Aguero stood with the other farmers in the standoff. About 300 of them had occupied the rich politician's land that they insisted wasn't legally his. On the other side of the clearing were some 200 riot police. She watched as the two negotiators walked up to each other and began talking.

    And then the shooting started.

    The negotiators were both hit. The young woman threw herself to the ground, shielding a friend's 4-year-old boy beneath her as she felt a bullet's sting in her thigh. In the end, 17 were dead, including the men who were trying to resolve the six-week-old occupation.

    Politicians opposed to President Fernando Lugo seized on the "Massacre of Curuguaty" on June 15 to vote the sandal-wearing leftist out of office for "mismanaging" the property dispute. Paraguayans' hopes that Lugo would make good on his promises of land reform died.

    Six months after the shootout, there has been no official accounting of how a peaceful negotiation ended with a barrage of bullets that killed 11 farmers and six police officers. Farmers and their supporters say the official investigation is a one-sided effort to make an example of the farmers, so nobody will dare challenge the interests of powerful landowners ever again.

    Grieving relatives suspect the dead farmworkers were wounded and then summarily executed by police after the firefight. In separate interviews, they described bullet wounds in three of the corpses that they said showed people were shot at close range in defensive positions.

    Catalino Aguero, Lucia's father, lost his 24-year-old son, De los Santos, in the firefight.

    "They gave me my son's decomposing body in a black plastic bag. He had bullet wounds in both feet, but a huge hole in his neck," Aguero said. "Witnesses of the tragedy told me my son begged for help, lying face down, because his wounds were painful, but a police officer came close and shot him."

    His daughter Lucia, a 25-year-old mother of two, was arrested along with 11 other people, mostly farmers. She was taken to a hospital emergency room after she was wounded, but doctors were too busy with other victims to remove the bullet from her thigh.

    "When I couldn't stand the pain any longer, I used a razor blade in jail to make a cut, and pulled out the .38-caliber bullet with my finger," she said

    Aguero joined a hunger strike to protest being jailed without formal charges. She lasted 59 days, and nearly died before a judge said she and three others could return home under police custody until a hearing Dec. 17.

    The former president, Lugo, has called the shootout a setup. His land redistribution efforts were threatening the economic interests of the country's most powerful businessmen, and they needed a scandal big enough to bring him down, he said.

    "This government of coup-plotters has no interest or political will to seriously investigate and clear up the case. And the prosecutor's performance gives little credibility," Lugo declared last month.

    Promises of land reform got Lugo elected, but he made no headway as president, with no available state land to redistribute or money to pay for expropriations. No major landowners wanted to sell, with soy prices reaching historic highs.

    One leader of the new president's Authentic Radical Liberal Party, Deputy Elvis Balbuena, told the AP that Lugo has only himself to blame.

    "He was entirely responsible for the Curuguaty case," the legislator said. "He has as his presidential legacy the deaths of 17 people. Lugo was commander of the security forces, he was a friend of the leaders of different groups of landless farm workers, and he . oversaw the office that administers the distribution or purchase of land."

    Prosecutor Jalil Rachid has had six months to investigate and is expected to deliver his evidence to a judge Dec. 17. Police have made no comment, deferring to the prosecutor.

    Despite complaints that he has ignored human rights violations by police, Rachid told The Associated Press that he's only building a case against the farm workers.

    The suspects are "accused of murder, criminal conspiracy, invading private property and resisting authorities. We also have a list of 54 fugitives," Rachid said in a brief AP interview. "I'm only bringing forward these accusations."

    Most of the suspects were among the wounded, while the fugitives' names came from a list of people who hoped to claim a plot of land through the occupation.

    The farmers say the prosecutor should be investigating police, too.

    Martina Paredes said her brother's body had one bullet wound in the leg and another in the head. "For me, they shot him from above," she said, execution style.

    When the non-governmental Human Rights Coordinator complained to the prosecutor's office, it was told that "Paraguayan law doesn't penalize summary executions, so the prosecutor's office can't investigate a complaint about an act that's unpunishable," said the group's lawyer, Jimena Lopez.

    Paredes said victims' families want to file an official complaint against the national police, but their lawyer's priority is to defend the 12 suspects ? who face 18 to 25 years in prison if convicted.

    Ballistics tests would presumably indicate whether the negotiators were felled by the kind of automatic weapons that police carried, or by one of the handful of low-caliber hunting rifles recovered from peasants. But Rachid has not revealed what evidence he's gathered.

    Advocates for the farmworkers say he's biased because his father was close friends with the owner of the occupied ranch. Rachid has dismissed those accusations, saying his critics are only trying to influence the country's presidential election, scheduled in April.

    The peasants say they're afraid. Early Saturday morning, one of this community's few surviving leaders, Vidal Vega, was killed by two masked gunmen on a motorcycle as he fed his chickens. He was expected to be a witness for the defendants.

    "We think he was assassinated by hit men who were sent, we don't know by whom, perhaps to frighten us and frustrate our fight to recover the state lands that were illegally taken," Paredes told the AP.

    Most of the jailed suspects are farmers. A businessman who gave a ride to a wounded survivor was also detained, as was a Communist Party activist who helped organize the occupation.

    The underlying dispute that set up the clash was decades in the making. The area's poor residents allege the land was stolen from the state by Sen. Blas Riquelme, a leader of the Colorado Party that backed dictator Alfredo Stroessner from 1954 to 1989 and has dominated the nation's politics ever since.

    Riquelme, who died of a stroke in September at age 83, took over the property in 1964, benefiting from a Stroessner law that granted free title to any adult male willing to farm fallow land. So many military officers, politicians and businessmen took advantage of the law that by the end of the dictatorship, all of Paraguay's rural state-owned land was in private hands.

    Local farmers challenged Riquelme's claim, but after eight years of legal fights, the peasants lost patience and invaded a forested corner of the 135-square-mile ranch in May.

    "Our leader, Ruben Villalba, told us with such conviction that the property would be divided up. And so we followed him," said Roberto Ortega, 58. He sold his tiny shack and plot of land to a neighbor for $3,000 and marched onto the Riquelme ranch with his wife, carrying all their remaining possessions. Their only son was killed there.

    Most of the occupiers came from Yby Pyta, or "Red Dirt" in the native Guarani, a settlement of wooden shacks that runs along the asphalt highway that carries soy to Brazil. The town is surrounded by vast, privately owned industrial agriculture: the Riquelme soy operation across the highway, and an even bigger Brazilian-owned sunflower plantation behind them. Beyond that there's soy, and more soy.

    For Lidia Romero, the mother of Lucia Aguero, the fight for a plot of farm land came at much too high a price.

    "With my daughter in jail and my son dead, I am destroyed," she said. "I barely have the will to keep on living."

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-05-Paraguay-Land%20Killings/id-2dbf8f5bea4d485692630fc16f68a503

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    Home Based Business Information That Is Very Valuable | Kenny's ...

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    Keep your lines of communication open and give all consumers the chance to reach you if needed. See if you can stay in touch with your customers through a newsletter, ask for feedback from them, and use site analytics to see what products customers are buying the most often. You can then track if your answers influenced their decision to buy your product. Keep in mind your actions, and keep doing it if it worked the first time!

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    Write a business description by writing you what your business is all about. State what your company focuses on and the things that you want to accomplish. Theses sentences should describe what makes your business unique and what your business is trying to achieve.

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    It is a good idea to have all your contracts for home business enterprise in a single place so that they are easy to locate. If you have to discuss something with your client, you will know where they are. It also helps to keep a file containing all of your service provider contracts for services such as internet, phone and cable, so they?re easily found if you have any type of issue come up.

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    It is important to always look to the future. Past success is no indication of future profits.

    Now that you have a greater idea of what you need to do to create and manage a home business enterprise, you should start feeling like you can accomplish your home business enterprise goals. Remember that the information you learned is only going to work if you apply it. If you follow the tips in this article, then your home based business should succeed.

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    Source: http://www.wahonline.com/home-based-business-information-that-is-very-valuable/

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