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Friday, September 7, 2012

Jailed American fights Nicaraguan drug sentence

In this Aug. 20, 2012 photo, U.S. citizen Jason Sachary Puracal, left, sits next to other detainees during his appeals hearing in Granada, Nicaragua. As a three-judge appellate panel mulls the 35-year-old American's fate, the case has drawn the scrutiny of U.S. lawmakers and human-rights advocates, including the California Innocence Project, which works to absolve people who have been wrongfully convicted. In late 2010 masked policemen raided his seafront real estate office and took him to Nicaragua's maximum security prison. Prosecutors charged that Puracal was using his business as a front for money laundering in a region used to transport cocaine from Colombia to the United States. Because no drugs or cash were seized, Puracal's family and friends thought he wouldn't be held long, but nine months later, a judge convicted Puracal and sentenced him to 22 years in prison. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

In this Aug. 20, 2012 photo, a prison guard records a video with a cell phone during an appeal hearing for U.S. citizen Jason Sachary Puracal in Granada, Nicaragua. As a three-judge appellate panel mulls the 35-year-old American's fate, the case has drawn the scrutiny of U.S. lawmakers and human-rights advocates, including the California Innocence Project, which works to absolve people who have been wrongfully convicted. In late 2010 masked policemen raided his seafront real estate office and took him to Nicaragua's maximum security prison. Prosecutors charged that Puracal was using his business as a front for money laundering in a region used to transport cocaine from Colombia to the United States. Because no drugs or cash were seized, Puracal's family and friends thought he wouldn't be held long, but nine months later, a judge convicted Puracal and sentenced him to 22 years in prison. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

In this Aug. 20, 2012 photo, U.S. citizen Jason Sachary Puracal, center in blue shirt, is escorted out of court after his appeal hearing in Granada, Nicaragua. As a three-judge appellate panel mulls the 35-year-old American's fate, the case has drawn the scrutiny of U.S. lawmakers and human-rights advocates, including the California Innocence Project, which works to absolve people who have been wrongfully convicted. In late 2010 masked policemen raided his seafront real estate office and took him to Nicaragua's maximum security prison. Prosecutors charged that Puracal was using his business as a front for money laundering in a region used to transport cocaine from Colombia to the United States. Because no drugs or cash were seized, Puracal's family and friends thought he wouldn't be held long, but nine months later, a judge convicted Puracal and sentenced him to 22 years in prison. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

In this Aug. 20, 2012 photo, U.S citizen Jason Sachary Puracal, left, attends his appeals hearing in handcuffs in Granada, Nicaragua. As a three-judge appellate panel mulls the 35-year-old American's fate, the case has drawn the scrutiny of U.S. lawmakers and human-rights advocates, including the California Innocence Project, which works to absolve people who have been wrongfully convicted. In late 2010 masked policemen raided his seafront real estate office and took him to Nicaragua's maximum security prison. Prosecutors charged that Puracal was using his business as a front for money laundering in a region used to transport cocaine from Colombia to the United States. Because no drugs or cash were seized, Puracal's family and friends thought he wouldn't be held long, but nine months later, a judge convicted Puracal and sentenced him to 22 years in prison. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

In this Aug. 20, 2012 photo, U.S. citizen Jason Sachary Puracal speaks during his appeals hearing in Granada, Nicaragua. As a three-judge appellate panel mulls the 35-year-old American's fate, the case has drawn the scrutiny of U.S. lawmakers and human-rights advocates, including the California Innocence Project, which works to absolve people who have been wrongfully convicted. In late 2010 masked policemen raided his seafront real estate office and took him to Nicaragua's maximum security prison. Prosecutors charged that Puracal was using his business as a front for money laundering in a region used to transport cocaine from Colombia to the United States. Because no drugs or cash were seized, Puracal's family and friends thought he wouldn't be held long, but nine months later, a judge convicted Puracal and sentenced him to 22 years in prison. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

SAN JUAN DEL SUR, Nicaragua (AP) ? Jason Puracal made his home in this Pacific coast beach town after a Peace Corps stint, wed a Nicaraguan woman and had a son. He watched the surfing community on the crescent-shaped bay flourish as more expats arrived and settled.

But Puracal's seemingly paradisiacal life changed abruptly in late 2010 when masked policeman raided his real estate office and took him to Nicaragua's maximum security prison. Prosecutors charged that Puracal was using his business as a front for money laundering in a region used to transport cocaine from Colombia to the United States.

Because no drugs or cash were seized, Puracal's family and friends thought he wouldn't be held long. Court documents didn't explain the alleged connections between the Tacoma, Washington, man and suspected drug traffickers arrested the same day.

But nine months later, a judge convicted Puracal and sentenced him to 22 years in prison for money laundering, organized crime and drug trafficking. "It's never made sense," said Jesse Pedro Resau, Puracal's best friend in San Juan del Sur and a fellow American. "Somebody got convicted and I have no idea how."

As a three-judge appellate panel mulls the 35-year-old American's fate, the case has drawn the scrutiny of U.S. lawmakers and human-rights advocates, including the California Innocence Project, which works to absolve people who have been wrongfully convicted. A decision is expected any day from the court, which began hearings on the case in mid-August and had been expected to rule last Tuesday.

Puracal's family has been assisted by another American, Eric Volz, who was absolved by a Nicaraguan appeals court after being charged in the 2006 strangling death of his ex-girlfriend. The Los Angeles-based David House Agency that Volz founded after his ordeal offered to help navigate international justice, file petitions and publicize the case. "It was very easy to get people involved in this case because everything was so clear," Volz said.

A complaint that his attorneys filed with the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention early this year alleges that Puracal did not receive a fair trial and was arrested illegally in a raid conducted without a warrant. The complaint further alleges Puracal has been imprisoned in unsanitary conditions and at times has been denied food, water and medical care.

The Nicaraguan government did not respond to a request by The Associated Press to interview Puracal at the prison outside Managua, and did not return calls regarding his case.

The U.S. State Department has been in contact with the Nicaraguan government, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in May. In a letter signed by 42 other members of Congress, U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington, has asked Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega for an independent review of the case.

"The judicial process in Nicaragua is underdeveloped, and the case wasn't handled as it should have been," said William LeoGrande, an American University professor who specializes in Latin American politics.

Puracal arrived in Nicaragua in 2002 as part of a Peace Corps mission to teach vegetable gardening to local farmers. The University of Washington graduate spoke little Spanish, but fell in love with the place and the people.

Born in Evanston Illinois, but raised in Tacoma, Puracal finished his Peace Corps stint in 2004 and decided to stay in Nicaragua with his pet Rottweiler, which he named Trueno, or Thunder. Puracal was among expatriates who settled on Nicaragua's coast near the Costa Rican border in the mid-2000s.

There, on the southwestern tip of the nation, huge mansions are built atop green cliffs that drop down to the sea, and large umbrella-like guanacaste trees offer shadow from the intense sun.

"Living the American Dream in Tropical Paradise" Puracal wrote in his biography on the real estate company's website. In San Juan del Sur, he rented a three-bedroom house with a second-story deck overlooking the ocean and a hill topped with a white statue of Jesus Christ. He soon began selling homes.

In 2006, he met Scarleth Flores. They wed and had a son, Jabu, who was born with Down syndrome in March 2007.

Townspeople remember Puracal as a long-haired man with tattoos, big sunglasses and a Mercedes Benz G-Class SUV. But they say he was also a loving caretaker.

"He was all Jabu," said Julie Speier, head of the English day school the boy attended. "He was the one who woke up in the morning, fed Jabu, gave Jabu a shower, put Jabu into a strap-on backpack, walked down the beach with him and the dog, brought him to school."

Puracal was featured in a 2007 episode of HGTV House Hunters International, helping North Americans choose the perfect home along Nicaragua's exotic beaches. That year, he obtained a Re/Max real estate franchise and opened his business with three other Americans.

Puracal was working in the real estate office when National Police agents burst in without a warrant on Nov. 11, 2010. According to court documents, police said they had intelligence reports that Puracal and 10 other suspects were awaiting the arrival of a vessel containing drugs.

Nicaraguan prosecutors charged that Puracal had used the money of suspected drug trafficker Manuel Ponce Espinoza to buy area farms, but didn't explain how the two men were allegedly connected. Ponce testified in court that he didn't know the American and Puracal said he didn't know Ponce or any of the other nine defendants.

Weeks later, prosecutor Rodrigo Zambrano offered the first document of evidence that named several purchase and sale agreements Puracal had allegedly made as a co-owner of the Re/Max franchise. It didn't establish a connection between presumed drug traffickers and the purchases, but said Puracal had made national and international deals buying properties with large sums of money from unknown sources "to legitimize the flow of cash coming from the criminal organization."

Puracal has said all of the large cash transactions involved legitimate real estate transactions.

"Why not then investigate the people who own all these properties?" asked Fabbrith Gomez, Puracal's local attorney.

Puracal's trial date was postponed several times, and a new judge was assigned to the case when the original judge was attending a training session out of town. Judge Kriguer Alberto Artola Narvaez ruled Aug. 29, 2011, that Puracal was guilty, and said in a sentencing document that the American's bank accounts had registered deposits and withdrawals of large sums of money.

Local news media reported that Artola was not registered as an attorney with Nicaragua's Supreme Court. Courts spokesman Roberto Larios said there was just one signature lacking on Artola's paperwork for him to be fully certified, and it was not enough to keep him from being named a judge. "In the eyes of the court, he was legally practicing law," said Larios.

Congressman Smith wrote a subsequent letter with four other senators last year asking Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to push for a speedy appeal in the case.

Following complaints of Puracal's alleged mistreatment in La Modelo prison just outside the capital, where his family and friends claim he lost more than 40 pounds, he was moved this year from a cell shared with about seven other men to solitary confinement.

Recently at the appeal's hearings, Puracal's defense insisted there was no connection between the home and lot sales and the other defendants, and that police officers testifying had offered different dates and no documents for what they described as suspicious travels with money to Costa Rica.

"I have never sold, bought or consumed cocaine. I have never laundered money in any way," Puracal said at the hearing. "I know you will find the truth."

___

Luis Manuel Galeano contributed to this report from Managua, Nicaragua

___

Adriana Gomez Licon is on Twitter http://twitter.com/agomezlicon

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-09-06-Nicaragua-Jailed%20American/id-b2c50939eb65457bb7bf86cffdb8a267

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Valentine: Threat to punch radio host was a joke

Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine watches the game against the Oakland Athletics in the seventh inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012 in Oakland, Calif. Oakland won 7-1. (AP Photo/ Tony Avelar)

SEATTLE (AP) ? Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine insisted Wednesday he wasn't serious when he threatened to "punch" a radio talk-show host in the mouth.

Valentine said he made it clear he was kidding when he made the comment earlier in the day during an interview on Boston station WEEI with hosts Glenn Ordway and Michael Holley.

"Didn't I go, 'Ha, ha?'" the embattled Valentine asked before his fourth-place team played the Seattle Mariners. "I don't think physical violence is necessary for 60-year-old people."

Ordway, sighting a newspaper report that Valentine arrived later than normal for a game last week in Oakland, asked if the manager had "checked out" on the season.

Valentine responded on the air:

"What an embarrassing thing to say. If I were there right now, I'd punch you right in the mouth. Ha, ha," Valentine said. "How's that sound? Sound like I checked out? What an embarrassing thing. Why would somebody even, that's stuff that a comic strip person would write. If someone's here, watching me go out at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, working with the young players, watching me put in the right relief pitchers to get a win, putting on a hit-and-run when it was necessary, talking to the guys after the game in the food room ? how could someone in real life say that?"

Meeting later with reporters in Seattle before the game, Valentine acknowledged he took offense to Ordway's question and explained that he arrived at the Coliseum in Oakland later than usual ? but still 3 hours before the game ? because he had picked up his son from the airport and got stuck in traffic.

"If anyone in this room or any other room I've been in in my life wants to question my integrity, I will ask someone to referee that situation," he said.

Valentine added that if a writer "thought that was important and wanted to write seriously about it, they could have asked what the situation was and I would have been happy to tell them. No one asked the reasons."

He went on to describe them.

Valentine said he picked up his son from the San Francisco airport in the morning for his first visit on the road during "this lousy season." The plane was late, then he had to return to his San Francisco hotel to pick up his game information before driving over the Bay Bridge to the Coliseum.

"That was a mistake," Valentine said. "There was traffic around the hotel and an accident on the freeway. I got there a little later than normal, not late. My workday starts at 4:30 p.m., in my opinion. I got to the stadium at 4:04 p.m."

He said he had called in that night's lineup at 2 p.m. and had checked with the trainer on the condition of injured players.

"To see my son for a couple more hours," he said, "is more than worth the trade-off of sitting around in my underwear in the clubhouse for two hours.

"Just ask me the question. Don't think everyone in the room is smart enough to figure out what I meant? That's not my fault."

Valentine said he told his coaches he would be a little late, and he called in to say he was delayed in traffic on his way to "the stupid Oakland Coliseum."

"For someone to say that I was late is an absolute disgrace to their integrity if they have any," he said.

During the radio interview, Valentine went on to say that his first season as Red Sox manager has been "miserable."

Asked to clarify later, he said: "The last two weeks have been very trying. Lots of obstacles in my way and I thought I've jumped them, and sometimes you get knocked down by them.

"It's turned out to be not what I expected. It's been a little misery, yeah," he said. "I'm not sure it's 24/7, but I would think after a loss I'm miserable. ... It's been adventurous, challenging."

Valentine signed a two-year deal last winter and has said he wants to return in 2013. Red Sox management has maintained that no decision will be made until after the season is over.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-09-05-BBA-Red-Sox-Valentine/id-412799d060f547e5b953e71ed3e31958

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Thursday, September 6, 2012

Fall Fitness: 5-Day Workout and Food Plan | Pure Matters ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Healthy living tips, diet & nutrition info, supplement, mineral & vitamin info, and everyday wellness. Pure Matters Blog: ... Fall is just around the corner and there's no better time to get your fall fitness plan in gear. Here is a ...

Source: http://blog.purematters.com/fitness/fall-fitness-5-day-workout-and-food-plan

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Enterprise Risk Management Goes Mainstream

By Christopher S. Johnson, CPA

If you?re in any way involved in the management of a business enterprise, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, chances are you?re hearing the term Enterprise Risk Management (?ERM?) with growing frequency. Once reserved for large organizations with complex controls and reporting obligations, ERM is increasingly being implemented by smaller organizations that need to document reasonable governance practices, or which simply need a reliable system of identifying and mitigating risks before they develop into financial losses.

ERM can be a difficult concept to absorb because it varies widely in application; one size does not fit all. In its most refined form, ERM may encompass rigid frameworks such as those adopted by the Casualty Actuarial Society or the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the National Commission on Fraudulent Financial Reporting (the Treadway Commission), both viewed as authoritative sources in the ERM world. By contrast, and in a simpler setting, ERM could be summarized in a spreadsheet that serves as a checklist used routinely by management to avoid the seemingly endless obstacles that are a reality of operating a business or program. Regardless of the degree of complexity, a successful ERM program will always be comprised of certain key elements.

??Documentation: The best of plans is doomed to fail if not committed to paper. To be effective, ERM must be in the form of a documented set of policies and procedures that can be monitored and evaluated for effectiveness.

??Structure: Effective ERM is reliant upon a suitably-designed process to identify, quantify, and prioritize risks; delegating the responsibility of mitigation; and establishing suitable monitoring. To deal with judgmental aspects, a structured approach whereby risks are quantified and weighted will typically be utilized. This will generally be in the form of a spreadsheet with a series of questions with assigned values. Answering the questions results in a ?score? for purposes of measuring the severity of risks. As such, using an appropriate structure or template is critical.

??Process Ownership:? Accountability is an inherent element of ERM and therefore, each risk and each mitigating control must be assigned an ?owner? or responsible party. Although results can vary, the means by which identified risks can be most economically mitigated will typically be best developed when the process owner participates in the design process. As such, participation at the director or trustee level would generally consist of approval of the ERM program and on-going monitoring.

??Monitoring:? Once specific risk management processes are in place, they must be monitored on an on-going basis to provide assurance that risks are being appropriately mitigated as planned. This means the design of any process must be conducive to monitoring by virtue of regular reporting or a similar audit trail that can be spot-checked periodically. Monitoring also involves periodic re-assessment of the risk and the suitability of the control process implemented to mitigate it. It?s not unusual for operational or staffing changes to render a process ineffective or unnecessary.

You may be wondering why your organization doesn?t have a formal ERM process and, like many, you may have already concluded that it?s not really necessary. After all, if there?s no net financial benefit and if it?s not mandated by some regulatory authority, what?s the incentive behind implementing ERM, especially when it seems like a lot of work!? Well, as it turns out, there really are incentives to implementing ERM. In evaluating risks, there will normally be some improvements in efficiency, either through identifying redundant controls or those with a poor cost/benefit relationship, or through identifying risks associated with lost opportunity. And when process owners understand that ERM is as much about streamlining their workloads as it is about protecting the future of the organization and its mission, the result is usually a high level of enthusiasm.

In terms of the regulatory mandate issue, there is currently no direct regulatory requirement to utilize ERM, although it?s certainly considered a best practice. Naturally, the AICPA has embraced the concept since ERM is an excellent process for designing entity-wide as well as transactional-level internal controls. In July of 2012, the AICPA issued its annual Financial Reporting Alert for Not-for-Profit Entities in which it cited government regulations (compliance) as an example of a risk for which ERM is an appropriate mitigation strategy, and in 2010, the AICPA added an ERM component to its ?Not-for-Profit Audit Committee Toolkit?, long considered a staple for basic good governance practices. These are part of a long list of ERM documents and links that the AICPA offers on a dedicated ERM-only web page with an accelerating growth rate (18 new items added in 2011 as compared to just one in 2005). With so much building support from the AICPA, it would not be a surprise to see ERM adopted in some authoritative form in the near future, a move which could open the door for regulatory requirements in the same manner in which Governmental Auditing Standards (the ?Yellow Book?) has incorporated the existing AICPA audit risk standards by reference.

Regulatory mandate or not, ERM is here to stay and the Not-for-Profit sector, with all of its regulatory requirements, appears to be the perfect environment for implementation. Whether the objective is a leaner and more effective system of controls, detection and prevention of situations that may develop into financial losses, or documenting prudent oversight and governance practices, ERM is a proven method to help your organization achieve its mission.

For more information on this topic, contact cjohnson@pmn.com

Note: This article represents a general overview of Federal and/or Massachusetts general topic issues or developments and should not be relied upon without an independent, professional analysis of how any legal provisions alluded to may apply in a specific situation.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE: In compliance with U.S. Treasury Circular 230 Regulations and any applicable state laws, we hereby notify you that any tax advice contained in the body of this document, or attachments thereto, was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by the recipient or any other party for the purpose of (1) avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code or applicable state or local tax law provisions, or (2) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

Source: http://www.pmn.com/blog/enterprise-risk-mgmt/

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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Africa?s Elephants Are Being Slaughtered in Poaching Frenzy

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Conservation groups say poachers are wiping out tens of thousands of elephants a year, more than at any time in the previous two decades, with the ivory trade becoming increasingly militarized.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/world/africa/africas-elephants-are-being-slaughtered-in-poaching-frenzy.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Raising Youngsters The Green Way | Buy Articles Pro | Articles ...

Posted by BurgdorfTinkham241 on Sep 5, 2012 in Home Business | Comments Off

Vegans exempt animal goods from their life style. This is straightforward sufficient for committed older vegans, but how to raise a kid with no milk, ice cream, chocolate, or candy? In todays, predominantly meat-dependent and animal style crazed planet, it is undoubtedly a challenge for vegan parents to raise their youngsters. Fortunately, the years brought an abundance of information about vegan style, vegan shoes, vegan recipes, vegan lifestyle, and veganism. All that vegan parents need proper now are determination and creativity to encourage their children to take up the vegan way of life.

The 1st hurdle vegans have to face is the question of feeding their kids. There are lots of offered food selections in the industry these days for vegan fare. Vegan recipes are not just salads they extend to casseroles, baked dishes, and even desserts. Vegan ice creams, smoothies, and candies are now offered in the industry. These items taste just as excellent as the traditional dairy products minus the animal abuse. Children being raised on vegan diets wont really feel any different from non-vegan kids. The trick is to consist of substitutes for well-liked kiddie treats so vegan kids will not feel out of location with their non-vegan peers. Vegan dieticians advocate substituting tomato sauce with meat substitutes for normal meat sauces. There is a variety of soy cheeses and flavored soy milk drinks that are completely vegan without having sacrificing flavors. Fruit waffles and juices are most welcomed treats. Meat substitutes in pork, beef, poultry, or fish flavors are offered. Vegan youngsters would not miss out on the joys of junk food, except that theirs will not lead to them acne and make them healthier. ?Junk? foods like popcorn, baked potato and vegetable chips, sweetened dried fruits, raisins, and fruit chips are well-known options. Beverages like fruit smoothies and fruit juices are deliciously sinful sufficient to be considered junk food.

Nevertheless, children are less difficult to handle than teenagers, far more so when they are vegans. There are the fashion trends to reckon with: that trendy leather jacket, the fur scarf, or the chic leather boots everybody is talking about. A teenager must have them. Remind them if they are actually up to wearing dead animal skins on their body and then acquire them some enviable vegan style items. There are boutiques that sell exclusively vegan apparel. Vegan online shops also have substantial, not to mention, reasonably priced and chic selections for vegan shoes, vegan clothes, vegan jackets, and even vegan accessories. Vegan cosmetics are also accessible and they have been established to be much better than the ones that are animal-tested and made with animal oils. Immediately after all, slim and fit vegan bodies deserve fashionably gorgeous vegan clothes.

Vegan household assistance groups assert that appropriate education and information about animal rights and abuse is crucial. Understanding the vegan life style tends to make managing and raising vegan kids easier. When they are aware and informed, youngsters are surprisingly simple to handle. They do make their own options, but with data, they normally make the correct choice. So they strongly advise starting vegan households to encourage each and every other and educate their children to make them comprehend why is it very good to be vegan. With understanding, the kids turn out to be cooperative and healthier, and the loved ones stays together longer.

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Source: http://www.buyarticlespro.com/home-business/raising-youngsters-the-green-way/

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Video: Democrats Rally in Charlotte

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/48907747/

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