27 Feb
Source: Reuters
A Haitian judge is expected to continue with taking testimony accusing two U.S. missionaries of child kidnapping charges who are meanwhile being held in jail.
Investigative judge Bernard Sainvil said that before freeing Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter he wanted witnesses that he had already examined in the Dominican Republic to give their testimony in Haiti.
“The Americans will have to stay in jail while I hear those people … the hearings will take place Monday and Tuesday, and they won’t be released before I finish,” Sainvil told Reuters.
“The people I met in the Dominican Republic all confirmed statements made previously … by the Americans. The statements played in their favor,” he added.
Uncertain Road Ahead
Although much of the testimony against the two U.S. workers seems to lean in their favor, that they were trying to help child victims of the Haitian quake by transporting them across the boarder into the Dominican Republic, there is no telling how this judge will would. But, the case seems to be leaning toward release.
It’s not as if we are dealing with a sex crimes lawyer and children in the U.S. That would be straight forward. Nor are we talking about the transporting kids over the Canadian border and considering provincial offenses. The D.R. and Haitian republic are not easy to understand from the legal perspective and it will be interesting to see how these cases work out.
Sainvil said on Tuesday that Silsby and Coulter could be released this week.
They were among 10 Americans arrested on January 29 on charges that they tried to take 33 Haitian children out of the country without proper documentation after the devastating January 12 earthquake.
Eight were released last week, but Silsby, the group leader, and Coulter, her assistant, were held in detention for further questioning.
They have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying they only wanted to help orphans left destitute by the quake.
But they had no Haitian identity or exit papers for the children. Many of the children had living parents who acknowledged turning them over to the missionaries in the belief they would have better care in the hands of the Americans.
Haitian President Rene Preval estimates the magnitude 7 earthquake killed about 300,000 people.
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My Take: I’m still not sure I understand what gave these Americans the idea that they could transport kids that don’t belong to them across the border without a governmental nod of approval, or at the very least, permission from the family members. In many of these cases the kids had not seen their parents since the quake, as reported by several news agencies. It doesn’t take your typical criminal attorney to automatically figure that somewhere in here some laws were violated. Whether you want to call it kidnapping or not, kids were relocated without consent or country clearance, and that’s just got to be something these guys will have to stand up and face charges on.
Even if these were legitimate aid workers out of New York, I’d be willing to bet that they’d need the help of a pretty solid NY employment contract lawyer to help navigate the laws of working down in Haiti and how they apply to children.
You can bet if the these had been church workers from Long Island accused of drunken driven or some other form of abuse, they’d be calling on thier Cornwall impaired driving lawyer. But it’s difficult to say whether laws in Haiti would apply to the law in the United States as understood by your typical NY Long Island harassment lawyer, or child advocates for that matter.
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26 Feb
Source: Reuters
Specialized tours that cater to your whims, such as for Zumba, wine tasting, or een volley ball, are on the rise.
Travel industry experts say these so-called affinity tours are as fast growing as they are far flung.
“It’s really a specialized week that we offer to customers,” said Kate Moeller of Club Med. “I would say if we compare an affinity week to the week prior and after we generally see a 25 to 50 percent increase in that week.”
Moeller said among the global resort group’s offerings are a food and wine experience in the Dominican Republic, a volley ball clinic in Florida and a Zumba fitness and music festival in Mexico.
Most of Club Med’s affinity weeks take place during the industry’s slower, or shoulder, seasons of spring and fall.
“We do it when people are less apt to travel,” Moeller said. “It’s also when consumers can get the best deals.”
It seems no interest is too niche to be ignored. A recent week in Mexico was devoted to food bloggers.
“People who signed up for this were able to meet with different food bloggers and take seminars,” Moeller said.
“We have relatively small properties so we’re able to cater to individual needs. Our resorts typically only have about 300 rooms,” she explained.
Group Think:
Just as on land the high seas are drawing groups of like-minded folks together that you’d normally not think of as the cruising type. But there’s nothing like a four-day cruise on the azure seas of the Mexican Riviera to get a hair doctor contingency together.
Where else could you talk about your success in hair restoration without the distractions of phone and e-mail? Think about what a group of Arlington carpet cleaning executives could accomplish on a ship with nothing but the horizon and revolving banquets to attend?
Terry L. Dale, president of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) an association of cruise lines, says affinity cruises are part of a rising trend in group travel.
“Multigenerational travel, food and wine cruises, destination weddings/honeymoons are all popular,” Dale said. “In the case of small ships, it is not uncommon for an affinity group of some sort to charter the entire vessel and plan a customized itinerary.”
Margie Jordan, CEO of ASAP Travel, said her Florida-based company is changing to accommodate the growing market.
“This is an area near and dear to my heart,” Jordan said. “By the end of the second quarter of 2010, my agency will deal primarily with affinity groups.”
She believes it is suited to the economy and a less expensive way to travel.
“You pretty much nail down your expenses before you leave home. And when you’re going to a country where the dollar is strong you pay for the trip up front with a great exchange rate.”
Jordan defines the affinity experience broadly to include a wedding in the Dominican Republic or senior citizens seeking safety in numbers.
“They get to see the world and they’re escorted,” said Jordan, who has group trips to South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania in the works.
But she admits affinity tours are not for everyone.
“If you’re the type who prefers to have your privacy and you want to do off-beat travel, this probably would not be the best opportunity for you,” she said.
Moeller agrees: “Not everybody wants to participate with pro volley ball players in clinics, not everyone wants to go to a food blogger camp.”
Or maybe they just haven’t found their niche.
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My Take: I’m not a big fan of cruises myself. But it I was going to take one, I’d sure as heck not want to be with a group of people I work with or that are connected to my hobby of choice, which happens to be hiking in the Sierras. I’d much rather join my fellow hikers on the trail and around the campfire than on the deck of a big ship set for sail to the middle of nowhere.
I do have a friend who runs a very successful SEO company and he has been on these specialty cruises. He says it’s not a bad idea for networking purposes. He’s been on cruises with fellow tech and SEO gurus where everyone does their best to focus on like topics and shared interests, but eventually things start to shift. Maybe it’s the fresh air. Maybe it’s all that rich food. But according to him, the propensity is to start moving away from talking all about what you do back on dry land and on to something else. But that’s probably the point: get like minds together who have a common interest and the rest of the cruise if more socially cohesive?
I know if you run a Silver Spring cleaning services, or a company that focuses on cleaning VA homes for the wealthy, you get a lot of opportunity to talk to clients about cruises. The wealthy customers love to go on cruises and they can certainly afford it.
Speaking of cleaning, if you are in the state of Maryland and need to find a solid, reputable housekeeper, try to find a maid services MD that also focuses on using green cleaning products and equipment. This is a trend you can trace back a few decades to the Green King himself, Ed Bagley Jr.: He started a green cleaning supplies company years ago and it is now run primarily by his daughter.
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