Nigerian Woman Seeks Withholding of Removal from Gender ...

SR is a 39-year-old woman from Nigeria. She initially arrived in the United States on a tourist visa in February, 1999. She left in 2009 to return to Nigeria to visit family, and returned in March, 2009.? She is afraid to return to Nigeria because her ex-husband?s family has been threatening her and blaming her for his death from a stroke in 2005.

SR?s has been the victim of brutal domestic violence in two separate relationships in Nigeria. Her boyfriend from her first relationship is the father of her two children, and beat her brutally, causing her to run away. While fleeing this relationship, SR met her husband, who protected her from her abusive boyfriend. However, SR married her protector, a tribal king, and after the marriage he became violent and would frequently beat and rape her. He brought her to the US for vacation in 1999, and when it came time to go back to Nigeria, SR hid and remained in the US with her sister.

In 2005, while she was away, SR?s husband died of a stroke. His family blames SR for his death, claiming that the stress she caused him resulted in his death. When SR returned to Nigeria in 2009 to visit her children, she was attacked in the street by a group of men who tried to beat her and pour acid on her. She managed to escape and fled back to the United States.

SR was granted a green card in 2009, but this was revoked when she was charged with marriage fraud. She also has a conviction for shoplifting in Rhode Island, for which she received one year of probation.

This pro bono opportunity will involve assisting SR apply for withholding of removal. SR is eligible for this forms of relief because she fears returning to her home country because of her membership in a particular social group, a woman fleeing gender-based violence as defined in Matter of Kasinga, 21 I&N Dec. 357. (BIA 1996).

SR speaks English. She is detained at Hampton Roads Region Jail, which is roughly 3.5 hours away from Washington, D.C. CAIR Coalition has a Video-Teleconferencing System which allows attorneys to communicate with detained clients via televideo from our office in DC.? CAIR Coalition is also available to assist in visiting the client at the jail.

Please contact our Staff Attorney, Pamela Guzman del Real at (202) 331-3320, ext. 14, if you are interested in taking this case.??

Source: http://www.caircoalition.org/2012/07/27/nigerian-woman-seeks-withholding-of-removal-from-gender-based-violence/

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Refinance frequency, deterrants, timing :: Southwood Mortgage

• How often should you refinance your primary home mortgage??? Answer:? Whenever you can save money by doing so.? We can run the numbers for you at any time and compare your monthly savings by refinancing with the cost of doing so, and compute a ?breakeven point?.
• Once you?re past the ?breakeven point? you?re profiting every month from the refinance.
• The beggest deterrants to refinancing a mortgage?? Knowledge, Fear and Laziness.? There are still a lot of people out there happily paying their 5.5? mortgage every mont.? They wonder if they should refinance but don?t know where to start.? They leave money on the table each and every month.
• Is now the time to refinance?? It?s hard to pull the trigger and say ?lock me in? when rates seem to fall every week.
• Rates may fall again, but not by much.? They?re so low now that if they were much lower lenders would stop lending because investors would stop buying mortgages with such a low yield.
• And you don?t have to refinance just once.? As rates have dropped over the past year+, many people have refinanced more than once.
• If the real estate market starts looking stronger, rates will rise.
• If the employment picture in the US begins to brighten, rates will rise.
• If Europe looks like it?s beginning to fix itself, rates will rise.
• Keep these things in mind.? Change could come quickly.

?

Source: http://southwoodmortgage.com/2012/07/26/refinance-frequency-deterrants-timing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=refinance-frequency-deterrants-timing

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Suspect in hepatitis C outbreak was fired in Ariz.

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Hampshire shows David Kwiatkowski, a former lab technician at Exeter, N.H., Hospital, arrested at a hospital in Massachusetts where he is receiving medical treatment. Kwiatkowski, originally from Michigan, was charged Thursday, July 19, 2012, with causing a hepatitis C outbreak involving at least 30 patients who were treated at Exeter Hospital's cardiac catheterization lab. (AP Photo/U.S. Attorney's Office)

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Hampshire shows David Kwiatkowski, a former lab technician at Exeter, N.H., Hospital, arrested at a hospital in Massachusetts where he is receiving medical treatment. Kwiatkowski, originally from Michigan, was charged Thursday, July 19, 2012, with causing a hepatitis C outbreak involving at least 30 patients who were treated at Exeter Hospital's cardiac catheterization lab. (AP Photo/U.S. Attorney's Office)

The Hays Med campus, located in Hays, Kansas, is pictured in this June 2012 photo. Officials are notifying former patients of this hospital that they may have been exposed to hepatitis C by a traveling hospital technician who's accused of causing a hepatitis C outbreak in New Hampshire. David Kwiatkowski is accused of stealing anesthetic drugs from Exeter Hospital and contaminating syringes used on patients. Officials have confirmed that Kwiatkowski worked in Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania before being hired in New Hampshire last year. (AP Photo /The Hays Daily News)

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) ? A dozen hospitals in seven states are scrambling to identify people who might have been infected with hepatitis C by a traveling medical technician who was charged a week ago with causing an outbreak in New Hampshire.

With details of David Kwiatkowski's resume still emerging, a hospital official in Arizona said he had been fired from her facility in April 2010, after he was found unresponsive in a men's locker room with syringes and needles. Kwiatkowski was treated at the hospital, and tests showed he had cocaine and marijuana in his system, said Monica Bowman, chief executive officer of the Arizona Heart Hospital.

Kwiatkowski, 33, is accused of stealing anesthetic drugs from Exeter Hospital in New Hampshire and contaminating syringes used on patients. His same strain of hepatitis C, a blood-borne viral infection that can cause liver disease and chronic health issues, has been diagnosed in 30 of the patients.

Testing has been recommended for about 4,700 people in New Hampshire alone, and officials are still determining who should be tested elsewhere. In addition to Arizona, hospitals and state health agencies have confirmed that Kwiatkowski also worked in Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania before being hired in New Hampshire in April 2011.

While other health care workers have been prosecuted for diverting drugs and infecting patients, the Kwiatkowski case stands apart, said U.S. Attorney John Kacavas.

"Because of his employment as a traveler, working for agencies and being sent around the country to various states, it really has tentacles all over the country," he said. "Its scope is unprecedented and scary."

A court-appointed lawyer declined to comment at a court hearing this week. Messages left for Kwiatkowski's lawyers after business hours Thursday were not immediately returned.

Kwiatkowski, who is being held on federal drug charges, told authorities he did not steal or use drugs. He said he learned he had hepatitis C in May, but authorities say there is evidence that it was diagnosed as early as June 2010. Kacavas said nailing down that date is his top priority, but in the meantime, the uncertainty is further complicating efforts by hospitals to make recommendations about testing.

In Michigan, officials at Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne noted that there was no indication that Kwiatkowski had hepatitis C when he was employed there from January to September 2007, and that he passed at least two drug tests during that time. State health officials said they are still looking into other locations where Kwiatkowski worked and what steps, if any, they need to take.

Other states have moved ahead with notifying patients and offering free testing.

Twenty-five former patients at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where Kwiatkowski worked for three months in late 2007 and early 2008, have been asked to get tested. In Kansas, state health officials are sending letters to about 460 patients who were treated at the cardiac catheterization lab at Hays Medical Center from May 24, 2010, to Sept. 22, 2010. The state also is setting up an informational website, and the hospital has set up a telephone hotline.

In Maryland, hundreds of patients are being contacted by the four hospitals where Kwiatkowski worked between May 2008 and March 2010. None of the four, which include The Johns Hopkins Hospital and a Veterans Affairs hospital in Baltimore, reported that Kwiatkowski was fired or that his behavior raised red flags.

That wasn't the case in Arizona. Kwiatkowski completed one stint at Maryvale Hospital from March to June 2009 without apparent incident but was fired 11 days into his second stint, at the Arizona Heart Hospital.

Barbara Yeninas, a spokeswoman for SpringBoard Healthcare Staffing and Search, said her agency reported Kwiatkowski's firing to a state regulatory board, as well as a national certification organization. Aubrey Godwin, director of the Arizona Radiology Regulatory Agency, said as the agency began investigating, Kwiatkowski surrendered his certification that allowed him to work in the state.

"His statement was that he didn't have enough resources to fight it," Godwin said.

Officials have identified 270 patients at Maryvale and fewer than 200 at the heart hospital who could have been exposed to Kwiatkowski.

At Houston Medical Center in Warner Robins, Ga., CEO Cary Martin the identification process hasn't been completed yet. Kwiatkowski worked in the cardiac cath lab there from October 2010 to March 2011 but did not have access to the hospital's medication system, he said.

Kwiatkowski didn't have direct access to Exeter Hospital's medication system, either, but investigators believe he was able to steal medication that other employees were in the process of preparing for patients and switch it with syringes he had filled with another liquid, possibly saline. Former co-workers reported that he sometimes came in on his days off and attended procedures he wasn't assigned to.

Testing originally was recommended only for patients who had been treated at Exeter's cardiac lab, but state officials have expanded the recommendation to include anyone who underwent surgery or was admitted to the intensive care unit because Kwiatkowski sometimes took patients to those areas. Clinics planned for this weekend and early next week were postponed Thursday due to logistical problems.

If convicted of the charges he currently faces ? tampering with a consumer product and fraudulently obtaining a controlled drug ? Kwiatkowski could get as many as 24 years in prison for.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Felicia Fonseca and Paul Davenport in Arizona, Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Ben Nuckols in Washington, David Runk in Detroit, John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., and JoAnn Loviglio in Philadelphia.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-07-26-Hepatitis%20C%20Outbreak/id-6c4fa99c4b7947b8a6e7cf698702e904

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'Enact planning and budget law' | Zambia Daily Mail

By TEDDY KUYELA
A CONSORTIUM of 10 civil society organisations (CSOs) has urged Government to expedite the process of enacting the Planning and Budget Bill, to ensure transparency and accountability in the budgeting process.
The CSOs are Action Aid Zambia, Caritas Zambia, Centre for Trade Policy and Development, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR), Council of Churches in Zambia and Economics Association of Zambia. Others are Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, Participatory and Ecological Land Use Management, Platform for Social Protection Zambia and the Zambia Civic Education Association.
Last year, Parliament adopted the report of the Committee on Estimates that, among other issues, proposed the enactment of the Planning and Budget Bill into law.
CSPR programmes manager Isabel Mukelabai said the Ministry of Finance should, as a matter of urgency, take the Planning and Budget Bill to Parliament for enactment into law to ensure transparency and accountability in the budgeting process.
Ms Mukelabai said this in Lusaka on Tuesday when she read on behalf of the CSOs, the proposals on the tax and non-tax revenue policy submitted to the Ministry of Finance for the 2013 national budget.
She also said the ministry should set aside funding in next year?s budget for the establishment of the Parliament Budget Office to kick-start the process.
?The coalition therefore commends Government for opening up the budgeting process to the public and CSOs and we welcome this opportunity to make contributions to the revenue side of the budget, looking particularly at tax and non-tax revenue measures for the 2013 national budget,? she said.
She said a wider consultative process is desired to instil a sense of ownership and enhance accountability of the budgetary process.
Ms Mukelabai said the current legal framework could have served the country well in the past but the situation is no longer the same because of the increasing number of groups demanding a participatory budgetary process.
The CSOs have also recommended that Government should re-introduce windfall tax to enable the country to generate enough revenue from mineral resources.
Ms Mukelabai said Government should also stop treating mineral royalty as an expense when computing corporate tax, as this will result in increased corporate tax revenue from the mines.
The CSOs have also recommended to Government to increase export duty on copper and cobalt concentrates from 10 percent to 20 percent, to discourage the export of mineral concentrates and allow for value addition in the manufacturing and extractive industry.
They also recommended that Government increases company tax rate for mining companies holding large mining licences from 30 percent to 35 percent, to align the company tax for mining companies with firms in other sectors that pay the same tax at 35 percent.

Source: http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/?p=9433

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The Tangled Mess of EV Chargers

This spring PM got to drive the Mitsubishi i, the company?s tiny, futuristic EV offering. As we?d learned from driving a Nissan Leaf, it?s not easy to get used to managing the limited range of an electric car. But we had a leg up on being responsible EV owners?a 240-volt Level 2 charger we?d installed while driving the Leaf.

Or so we thought. Although our charger fit onto the Mistubishi, it wouldn?t charge the car. Similarly, when we tried to charge the i on a public charger in Michigan, no juice flowed forth.

Such is the state of EV charging. While the charger you buy through the dealer at the time of purchase will definitely work, there?s no guarantee that you?ll get a true connection just because a cord plugs into the car?even though there?s supposed to be. "There are a fair number of problems out there," says Richard Lowenthal, chief technical officer and founder of Coulomb Technologies, which operates the ChargePoint public charging network.

The problem, according to Lowenthal, is that carmakers focused on ensuring that their cars would work with their chargers, without a lot of consideration of public charging stations. "Automakers didn?t go through that realization until recently," he says. To aid in the compatibility process, Coulomb offers carmakers testing of their cars for compatibility. "Usually we find a problem," Lowenthal says.

EVs come with a 120-volt Level 1 charger that you can plug into pretty much any outlet. But this works in slow motion. To own an electric car, you need to set up a 240-volt Level 2 charger that gets the job done in decent time. This is the kind that you?d find in a public charging station. But it?s what gave us the trouble.

Joe Delello, Mitsubishi Motors North America?s director of franchise development, said that this problem should not have occurred, because the company that manufactured our Nissan charger, AeroVironment, is one of Mitsubishi?s approved companies. The i is also tested to work with Eaton chargers sold at Best Buy, he says. "We?re taking very expensive measures to ensure [charging failure] doesn?t happen."

Another reason it shouldn?t happen: Things are supposed to be standardized. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)?the same SAE whose specification you see on a quart of oil?set a standard called J1772 to specify both the physical dimensions of the plug and the electrical characteristics of the current passing through it. In the interest of charger compatibility, all the new EVs sold in the U.S. comply with the J1772 standard.

But, it turns out, some engineers have interpreted the guidelines differently than others. Britta Gross, General Motors? director of global energy systems and infrastructure commercialization, says that this is an unavoidable issue in a nascent industry. "There is no replacement for experience," she says. "There is always an evolutionary aspect to standards, to tighten it up so the problems go away."

Manoj Karwa, director of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) programs for electrical-component manufacturer Leviton, says the situation will get better, and probably because of consolidation. Currently there are 35 EVSE vendors. "Each one has interpreted the recommended package differently," he said. "We have found some significant differences [among J1772-compliant chargers]." Karwa predicts that a handful of big companies will emerge in the future, easing these problems.

For the moment, though, EV drivers might run into multiple setbacks while trying to recharge their cars. Most commonly, Lownthal says, the charger mistakenly identifies a ground fault in the vehicle and, assumes there is a short, and refuses to charge the car. Or the pilot signal (which is the EV equivalent of old dial-up modems squawking at one another until they negotiated a communication speed) fails in its job of letting the charger and the car decide how quickly to charge the battery.

Despite these difficulties, Karwa says that in 95 percent of cases where the driver has a problem with the charger, it will charge the car eventually. For instance, ChargePoint?s public chargers have a toll-free phone number printed on them; call it and the operator can manually override the charger and command it to charge your car. In most cases of incompatibility, Lowenthal says, you lose some of the intended functions of the charger, such as remote control or delayed charging, but it will still do its main job and charge the car.

If you?re thinking about buying an EV, Karwa has two recommendations. First, always use a charger that is endorsed by the car?s manufacturer. Second, look for approval by Underwriters Laboratories, a global safety firm that checks the quality of such things.

Just don?t expect the industry to reach consensus overnight?in part because the players haven?t completely sorted out what EV chargers can do. "Where could this go?" Gross says. "Are we ready for the smart grid? What information could be communicated?" In the future, quick chargers could let connected cars? batteries discharge into the power grid to power residential air conditioning during peak afternoon hours. Or, consumers waiting for their cars to charge could also enjoy video streamed through an Internet connection in the charger. For now, automakers and EV servicing companies are building flexibility into plug standards to allow for that evolution over time, Gross says. In the short term, however, it just means confusion will reign.

Another example: The next thing that could help EVs become more practical is DC fast charging, the next step up from Level 2 chargers. But there are three competing standards for fast charging. One system is Tesla?s proprietary design, which probably won?t become widespread. The others are a Japanese design already used by Nissan and Mitsubishi, and an extension to the SAE J1772 standard that won?t hit the market for a couple of years at the earliest. "I don?t know if you can call it a standard if there are three of them," Lowethal says.

The result? We?ll have dueling VHS versus Beta quick-charging standards that will require having duplicate, incompatible public charging stations. "It will be a lot like gasoline and diesel pumps," Lowenthal says.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/electric/the-tangled-mess-of-ev-chargers-11016411?src=rss

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Grants Available to Expand Participation in Hunting, Fishing ...

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is offering grant funding for local sportsmen?s groups to promote or facilitate hunter, angler, shooter or trapper recruitment and retention programs through their events and activities.

The department is making $75,000 available this grant cycle. Applications must be received by the department by 5 p.m. (MST) on Monday, Aug. 6, 2012.

Examples of eligible projects include mentored, hands-on hunting camps for big or small game animals; fishing clinics or camps; trapping seminars; and educational outreach promoting hunting, fishing, shooting sports or trapping.

?The Local Sportsmen?s Group Grant is perfect for organizations that are looking to start up or expand their introductory programs for their communities, but are lacking funding needed to make it happen,? said Craig McMullen, the department?s chief of wildlife recreation. ?This grant program is an investment in the local organizations that, day-in and day-out, are teaching people how to be safe, ethical, and responsible participants in these important American traditions.?

Funds will be awarded through a competitive application process. Multiple awards may be made. To be eligible, a group must: (1) be a local Arizona-based 501(c)(3) sportsmen?s group with a focus on hunting, fishing, shooting or trapping, (2) propose a project that fits the eligibility criteria, and (3) complete the project before June 30, 2013. Projects funded by the grant must be open to the public.

McMullen added, ?There is plenty of public interest in hunting and fishing, but many folks are from families that did not grow up with this type of recreation and need an experienced mentor to show them the way. The local sportsmen?s organizations are the perfect solution.?

To apply, download an application packet from www.azgfd.gov/i_e/local_sportsmens.shtml. Packets can also be obtained by calling Grant Coordinator Robyn Beck at (623) 236-7530. The deadline to submit applications for Local Sportsmen?s Group Grants is Monday, Aug. 6, 2012 by 5 p.m. (MST). Three copies of the application and any supporting documents must be submitted.

For those that are interested in participating in the events funded by the Local Sportsmen?s Group Grant Program, visit www.azgfd.gov/outdoorskills for a complete listing of current events scheduled.

Note: There is no cost to Arizona taxpayers for this grant program. The Arizona Game and Fish Department does not receive any of the state?s general funds, and operates under a user-pay, user-benefit model. The Local Sportsmen?s Group Grant Program is an investment in the continuance of wildlife conservation efforts and outdoor recreation participation in the state of Arizona.

Outdoor Hub, The Outdoor Information Engine - Grants Available to Expand Participation in Hunting, Fishing, Shooting Sports and Trapping in Arizona

Source: http://www.hunteroutlet.com/2012/07/grants-available-to-expand-participation-in-hunting-fishing-shooting-sports-and-trapping-in-arizona/

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The New Standard Number For Retirement Planning

Saving for retirement: we?re all stressing about it. Are you saving enough? Are your investments helping or hindering? Do you find yourself anxiously rechecking the savings numbers for your retirement plan and wondering ? Where did I go wrong?

If you?ve invested your time and effort in creating a detailed financial plan, and you?re still not seeing your savings meet their annual savings targets ? maybe there?s a reason. Maybe you?re using the wrong number in your financial plan. Maybe you?ve based everything on a total fiction of numbers!

Is 70 Per Cent Really The Standard?

If you?re working with an advisor or read financial planning articles, no doubt you?ve accepted the standard retirement number ? ?in retirement, you will need 70 per cent of your pre-retirement income!? ? really?

For example, standard retirement planning states that if your family earns $100,000 annually before retirement, you will require $70,000 of income in your retirement. For simplicity sake, let?s assume you and your spouse will receive $24,000 in annual pension income (OAS, CPP, QPP, etc.) and the balance ($46,000) will come from your RRSPs and non-registered savings.

So, in today?s low interest rate and tough investment climate, let?s say you can safely earn 4.0 per cent on your savings in retirement. With a little simple math, you determine that you will need to save a total of $1,150,000.00 if your retirement is going to support your expected lifestyle.

So, according to the standard retirement planning committees, your simple plan says you need have savings equal to $1,150,000 before you can retire! So? ?how are you doin? so far?

Reach A Little Lower

But what if that widely accepted 70 per cent of pre-retirement number is garbage? What if the number is actually lower ? closer to the range of 60, 50 or 40 per cent?

It?s easy to see why the investment industry would want you to save the 70 per cent ? they want you to save as much as you possibly can. Think about it: the more of your money they can play with, the more money they can make.

So, what if in reality you only needed 43 per cent of your pre-retirement income in retirement? What would your new retirement planning numbers look like then?

New Numbers On The Block

I didn?t just pull that number out of thin air. That?s the number recommended by the retirement experts over at Morneau Shepell. In a recent article of theirs, they suggest that the real retirement planning numbers for Canadians should be much less than the accepted 70 per cent:

?Last time, we showed that a working couple with two children and household earnings of $100,000 could maintain their lifestyle in retirement with income of just $51,000 a year (51 per cent) from CPP, OAS and RRSPs. For the sake of simplicity, this calculation was performed on a pre-tax basis. In our latest analysis ? we have reflected the impact of income tax and the results are even more startling. The target retirement income for this particular couple reduces from 51 per cent to only 43 per cent.? ? Vision, January, 2011

So, there you have it. This 43 per cent is a planning number that?s been determined and supported by one of the largest Canadian-based human resources firms, and they know their stuff.

So, if we use our same simple example from earlier, but substitute 43 per cent for the standard 70 per cent, how would your financial progress look then?

Let?s say you have $100,000 in pre-retirement income. Planning for only 43 per cent means $43,000 less the $24,000 in retirement pension income. This means the new number that your savings will need in order to generate $19,000 annually in a 4 per cent investment environment is actually $475,000.

That?s $475,000 versus the $1,150,000 you?re being told to come up with ? a $675,000 difference! (Did you feel that? That was your anxiety and blood pressure dropping.)

Let?s Rethink The Standard Numbers

Take a few minutes to think about this difference. If it?s true that you only need 43 per cent of your pre-retirement income, then maybe you?re not failing. Maybe, you?re closer to retirement than you ever dreamed. And just maybe, you just don?t have to sacrifice so much living today, with the faint hope of enjoying tomorrow instead. The new realistic number lets us all live more peacefully today.

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Source: http://www.ratesupermarket.ca/blog/the-new-standard-number-for-retirement-planning/

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