Last week, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a statement that offered encouragement to persons who invested in OLINT, the failed ponzi scheme operated by Jamaican David A. Smith. Smith is currently serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence in Her Majesty's Prison Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands. In July 2012, Smith was found guilty in the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands on two counts of money laundering and two counts of conspiracy to defraud.

The DOJ release indicated that persons who lost money from investments in companies operated by Smith doing business as Overseas Locket International Corporation (OLINT) and in other related companies, may be eligible to receive compensation from the United States Government.

Smith claimed that the companies were private investment clubs that purportedly traded in foreign currency on investors' behalf. Smith made false and fraudulent statements indicating that members could expect high returns on their investment with low risk to principal. Rather than investing the funds as promised, Smith used them for personal gain and paid returns using new investors' money, in a classic ponzi scheme.

Smith was also convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, in September 2011, on multiple counts of wire fraud and money laundering, in the case of United States v. David A. Smith, No. 6:10-cr-232-35DAB (M.D.Fla.). As part of his criminal sentence, Smith was ordered to forfeit assets seized by federal authorities.

Juliana and Juliette Berry, 21-year-old twins who were born in the Caribbean and raised in Plantation, Broward County by their mother, Ruth, want the community to be aware of the power of their mother's love on this Mother's Day, May 12. "Seriously, our mom is the greatest," said the girls in unison.
Ruth is an American who worked in the Caribbean for a number of years before returning with her husband and twin daughters in 2001 to live in Plantation. Within five years, she had two sons and another daughter. However, a few years later her husband, Adam, was forced to retire from his aviation mechanic job because of a serious lung ailment. However, Ruth was determined not to let her husband's illness affect the family financially, or interfere with her commitment to ensure her five children had the best possible education.
She continued working as a senior pastry chef in a large Miami hotel, and supplemented her income by working also as a part-time real estate agent. When the housing market tanked and home sales dropped, she began baking cakes and pastries from home, distributing these baked goods to local stores and restaurants. She also taught Juliana and Juliette her baking skills and they were able to take over the in-house baking responsibilities, allowing Ruth to also work evenings in the bakery of a local supermarket.

An analysis of the 2012 America presidential elections determined that Black voterd at a higher rate than other minorities, and in several districts voted in higher numbers than white voters. The analysis, not surprisingly, showed Black voters overwhelmingly supported President Barack Obama and large numbers of white voters didn't show up at the polls.

The analysis conducted for, and reported by the Associated Press concluded that if the voting pattern was similar to that of 2004 when Black votes were lower than normal in the reelection of President George W. Bush, Republican candidate Mitt Romney would most likely have won last year.
The data underscores the power of the Black vote, which despite fears and concerns about measures in some states about possible disenfranchisement of Black voters because of new voter-identifications laws, they still turned out in very large numbers.
According to a Miami political analyst, the research based on U.S. census data and exit interviews, is a major achievement for Black American voters. "It is one of the nation's most open secrets that Black voters, if they really turn out to vote, will make a major difference in state, and federal elections. The problem is, for many Blacks before the unimaginable prospect of electing and reelecting a Black president, there was little motivation to vote. And, imagine a significant percentage of Black voters still didn't vote last year."
Overall, voter turnout in 2012 was approximately 58 percent, compared to 62 percent in 2008 and 60 percent in 2004.

As investigations determine that the explosion of two bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday was an act of terror, the fear of terrorism has rekindled among Americans after 12 years of relatively sound national security.
Relatives, friends and general spectators greeted runners finishing the marathon as the bombs exploded within seconds of each other. Three spectators were killed, including an 8 year-old boy waiting to see his father finish the race, and over 170 were injured. On Tuesday morning, a triage doctor in Boston said some of the injured were in critical condition, but were expected to live.
As speculation of terrorism grew, memories of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. by al Qaeda terrorists resurfaced. In an ironic twist, it was from Boston's Logan airport that terrorists boarded and flew a passenger jet into the World Trade Center in New York on 9/11.
While the FBI and other U.S. national security entities investigate the bombing, President Barack Obama has assured the nation that the perpetrator or perpetrators will be found and brought to justice.