4 Must Have Books For Homeschooling Parents | Work at Home ...

Every homeschooling parent knows that a well stocked library is one of their greatest assets. In addition to great pieces of literature and reference books, however, there are also wonderful books on the topic of homeschooling itself that are must have additions to the family library. Here are four that I consider to be must reads.

100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy

One of the most important decisions you?ll make as a homeschooling parent is finding the right curriculum. You want one that matches your educational philosophy and that also works with your child?s learning style. The trouble is the dizzying array of curriculums available. This book makes this process of picking one among the many available choices so much easier. It?s a must read for parents at the start of their homeschool journey or for any homeschooling parent who wants to make a change in their home education.

Susan Wise Bauer?s Story of The World

Susan Wise Bauer is the author of several books on classical homeschooling. Her Story of the World series are well loved by home educators. They help parents create a living history experience for children and I enjoy them too, which is no small thing considering history was my least favorite subject in school! The Story of the World books also have companion workbooks for those who wish to employ them alongside the volumes. These would be especially helpful for older children and teens.

John Holt?s Teach Your Own

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Source: http://wahm-articles.com/blog/2013/01/4-must-have-books-for-homeschooling-parents/

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McChrystal takes blame for Rolling Stone article

FILE - This July 23, 2010, file photo shows Gen. Stanley McChrystal reviewing troops for the last time as he is honored at a retirement ceremony at Fort McNair in Washington. Speaking out for the first time since he resigned, retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal writes in a new memoir that he takes the blame for the Rolling Stone article that ended his Afghan command and army career, including for the unflattering comments attributed to his staff about the Obama administration. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

FILE - This July 23, 2010, file photo shows Gen. Stanley McChrystal reviewing troops for the last time as he is honored at a retirement ceremony at Fort McNair in Washington. Speaking out for the first time since he resigned, retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal writes in a new memoir that he takes the blame for the Rolling Stone article that ended his Afghan command and army career, including for the unflattering comments attributed to his staff about the Obama administration. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Speaking out for the first time since he resigned, retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal takes the blame for a Rolling Stone article and the unflattering comments attributed to his staff about the Obama administration that ended his Afghanistan command and army career.

"Regardless of how I judged the story for fairness or accuracy, responsibility was mine," McChrystal writes in his new memoir, in a carefully worded denouncement of the story.

The Rolling Stone article anonymously quoted McChrystal's aides as criticizing Obama's team, including Vice President Joe Biden. Biden had disagreed with McChrystal's strategy that called for more troops in Afghanistan. Biden preferred to send a smaller counterterrorism and training force ? a policy the White House is now considering as it transitions troops from the Afghan war.

McChrystal adds the choice to resign as U.S. commander in Afghanistan was his own.

"I called no one for advice," he writes in "My Share of the Task," describing his hasty plane ride back to Washington only hours after the article appeared in 2010, to offer his resignation to President Barack Obama. McChrystal was immediately replaced by his then-boss, Gen. David Petraeus.

McChrystal devotes a scant page-and-a-half to the incident that ended his 34-year military career and soured trust between the military and media. The book, published by Portfolio/Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Group USA, comes out Monday.

The closest McChrystal comes to revealing his regret over allowing a reporter weeks of unfettered access with few ground rules comes much earlier in the book. "By nature I tended to trust people and was typically open and transparent. ... But such transparency would go astray when others saw us out of context or when I gave trust to those few who were unworthy of it."

McChrystal does try to explain the tensions that helped lead to Obama's decision to accept his resignation. At the center was the wrangle over McChrystal's recommendation for 40,000 more U.S. troops in Afghanistan ? and conflicting guidance.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told McChrystal to request the number he thought he needed. White House staff signaled that the newly election president wanted to keep the levels down.

McChrystal describes how he presented his war goal to the White House as "defeat the Taliban" and "secure the population," and was advised to lower his sights to "degrade" the Taliban.

Obama approved the addition of 30,000 troops, while simultaneously announcing a withdrawal date of 2014. McChrystal did not challenge those decisions, though he says he worried the timetable would embolden the Taliban.

"If I felt like the decision to set a withdrawal date would have been fatal to the success of our mission, I'd have said so," he writes.

As for the Rolling Stone fallout, a Pentagon inquiry into the magazine's profile cleared McChrystal of wrongdoing and called into question the accuracy of the June 2010 story. The review, released in April 2011, concluded that not all of the events at issue happened as reported in the article.

Rolling Stone issued a statement saying it stood behind freelance writer Michael Hastings' story, which it called "accurate in every detail."

There is no bitterness or score-settling with the White House staff that had pushed for his departure over the article. McChrystal and the White House moved beyond the matter, and first lady Michelle Obama invited McChrystal to serve on the board of Joining Forces, a White House initiative for troops and their families.

The book details the general's rise through the ranks, from his time as a West Point cadet to serving in the 82nd Airborne Corps and earning his Special Forces Green Beret, and then commanding a battalion of the 75th Ranger regiment.

McChrystal describes only briefly an incident that nearly ended his career years earlier: allegations of a cover-up involving the friendly fire incident that killed football-star-turned-Army Ranger Pat Tillman. McChrystal approved a Silver Star for valor, with a citation that stated Tillman had been cut down by "devastating enemy fire."

But as reports came in from the troops at the scene, McChrystal realized Tillman may have died by fratricide. He sent an oblique warning to his superiors that President George W. Bush should delete mention of enemy fire from his remarks, when presenting the award to Tillman's family at his memorial service.

McChrystal told the investigators that he believed Tillman deserved the award, and that he wanted to warn top U.S. military and political leadership that friendly fire was a possibility. The Pentagon later cleared him of wrongdoing.

In the book, McChrystal writes only that he followed "standard practice" to quickly process a Silver Star for Tillman's actions on the battlefield, in time to present it to the family at the memorial service. He does not explain the incident further.

The man portrayed in the Rolling Stone article as arrogant comes off as far more down to earth in the book.

McChrystal writes of his doubts when he was asked to take charge of the military's top counterterrorism unit, the Joint Special Operations Command. He worried the troops would reject him because he had not served in any of its elite units such as the Army's Delta Force or the Navy's SEAL Team 6.

He says he helped JSOC evolve from a disconnected organization that was slow to catch targets early on in Iraq, because the operators lacked the manpower or communications equipment to analyze intelligence they gathered quickly enough. It eventually grew into closely networked teams that worked with the CIA and FBI and others to take down up to a dozen targets a night in Afghanistan, with intelligence gathered from the first target leading to the others.

At the request of Pentagon security reviewers, the former general made famous by his command at JSOC doesn't use that term, instead substituting "Task Force 714" for JSOC, "Green team" for Delta, and "Blue" for SEAL Team 6.

Those are part of the changes the general agreed to make, because those units and their missions are classified, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the security review. They spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The review process delayed the release of the book, which had been scheduled to come out in December. Pentagon officials decided to give the book another read, after a member of the Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden released an account of the raid without submitting the manuscript for a security review.

McChrystal said he "accepted many suggested changes and redactions, some reluctantly, particularly where public knowledge of facts and events has outpaced existing security guidelines," in order to "keep faith with the comrades I had served alongside."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-05-McChrystal%20Book/id-7a0b13875f1b43a5af18b9d1aded5a91

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FDA proposes sweeping new food safety rules

FILE - This Sept. 28, 2011 file photo shows the sign leading to the Jensen Farms near Holly, Colo. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)

FILE - This Sept. 28, 2011 file photo shows the sign leading to the Jensen Farms near Holly, Colo. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)

FILE - This Sept. 28, 2011 file photo shows cantaloupes rotting in the afternoon heat on a field on the Jensen Farms near Holly, Colo. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens.

The long-overdue regulations are aimed at reducing the estimated 3,000 deaths a year from foodborne illness. Just since last summer, outbreaks of listeria in cheese and salmonella in peanut butter, mangoes and cantaloupe have been linked to more than 400 illnesses and as many as seven deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The actual number of those sickened is likely much higher.

The FDA's proposed rules would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, to include making sure workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean, and that animals stay out of fields. Food manufacturers will have to submit food safety plans to the government to show they are keeping their operations clean.

Many responsible food companies and farmers are already following the steps that the FDA would now require them to take. But officials say the requirements could have saved lives and prevented illnesses in several of the large-scale outbreaks that have hit the country in recent years.

In a 2011 outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe that claimed 33 lives, for example, FDA inspectors found pools of dirty water on the floor and old, dirty processing equipment at Jensen Farms in Colorado where the cantaloupes were grown. In a peanut butter outbreak this year linked to 42 salmonella illnesses, inspectors found samples of salmonella throughout Sunland Inc.'s peanut processing plant in New Mexico and multiple obvious safety problems, such as birds flying over uncovered trailers of peanuts and employees not washing their hands.

Under the new rules, companies would have to lay out plans for preventing those sorts of problems, monitor their own progress on those safety efforts and explain to the FDA how they would correct them.

"The rules go very directly to preventing the types of outbreaks we have seen," said Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner for foods.

The FDA estimates the new rules could prevent almost 2 million illnesses annually, but it could be several years before the rules are actually preventing outbreaks. Taylor said it could take the agency another year to craft the rules after a four-month comment period, and farms would have at least two years to comply ? meaning the farm rules are at least three years away from taking effect. Smaller farms would have even longer to comply.

The new rules, which come exactly two years to the day President Barack Obama's signed food safety legislation passed by Congress, were already delayed. The 2011 law required the agency to propose a first installment of the rules a year ago, but the Obama administration held them until after the election. Food safety advocates sued the administration to win their release.

The produce rule would mark the first time the FDA has had real authority to regulate food on farms. In an effort to stave off protests from farmers, the farm rules are tailored to apply only to certain fruits and vegetables that pose the greatest risk, like berries, melons, leafy greens and other foods that are usually eaten raw. A farm that produces green beans that will be canned and cooked, for example, would not be regulated.

Such flexibility, along with the growing realization that outbreaks are bad for business, has brought the produce industry and much of the rest of the food industry on board as Congress and FDA has worked to make food safer.

In a statement Friday, Pamela Bailey, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the country's biggest food companies, said the food safety law "can serve as a role model for what can be achieved when the private and public sectors work together to achieve a common goal."

The farm and manufacturing rules are only one part of the food safety law. The bill also authorized more surprise inspections by the FDA and gave the agency additional powers to shut down food facilities. In addition, the law required stricter standards on imported foods. The agency said it will soon propose other overdue rules to ensure that importers verify overseas food is safe and to improve food safety audits overseas.

Food safety advocates frustrated over the last year as the rules stalled praised the proposed action.

"The new law should transform the FDA from an agency that tracks down outbreaks after the fact, to an agency focused on preventing food contamination in the first place," said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-04-Food%20Safety/id-0bd13b49776244dd85764486a34b8c01

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Google?s original Android mascot would have given children everywhere horrible nightmares

An image alleged to be of?Samsung?s (005930) upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone was published on Friday by SamMobile. If authentic, the image reveals that Samsung will finally ditch its traditional?home and navigational buttons for on-screen keys. The bezel around the device is thinner, giving the upcoming Galaxy smartphone a near edge-to-edge display, similar to Motorola?s DROID RAZR M. The Galaxy S IV is rumored to feature a 4.99-inch Super AMOLED full HD 1920 X 1080 display, and include a 2GHz quad-core Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel rear camera. It should be noted, however, that SamMobile could not 100% confirm that the image is authentic. The most recent rumors suggest the Galaxy S IV will be released in

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-original-android-mascot-given-children-everywhere-horrible-170600989.html

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PINK rides again to fight breast cancer - Cabinet.com

News

Friday, January 4, 2013

By JON LAVOIE

Special to the Journal

HOLLIS ? The Merrimack Sno-Buds will join the Hollis Nor?Easters on the second annual snowmobile ride to benefit breast cancer research.

Two years ago, Sue Keough had an idea to encourage more women to ride in the town of Hollis. She put together a plan and organized an introductory trail ride for women in the area. Keough, the secretary for The Hollis Nor?Easters, enlisted the help of the club to groom and prepare for the ride. Many local women joined the ride ? more than expected ? and had a great time. Keough said the abundant interest by women could be put to good use in the future, and the ?PINK RIDE? was born.

The PINK RIDE is a snowmobile ride to raise money for breast cancer research. Keough discovered that her club?s local hospital, St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, had a breast care center and they were happy to help and pointed her in the right direction. From there, Keough did the rest with a little help from her friends. She put together an information sheet and a sponsor sheet. Her plan was to have her large following of female riders gather donations and sponsors, collect the donations, and give all proceeds to the hospital?s breast care center.

Little did Keough know that after all of her hard work and effort, that southern New Hampshire would have one of the worst snowfall total winters in history. In the days leading up to the PINK RIDE, there was literally no snow on the ground. The PINK RIDE seemed doomed. A benefit solely planned around a snowmobile ride, with no snow to ride on. But the good in people always seems to shine through in times of difficulty.

Keough put a twist on the ride name and decided to informally call it, ?The little PINK RIDE that could.? She announced that the ride would now be a walk.

The riders would instead walk the very route they were planning to ride, and much to her surprise, everyone joined her.

On the day of ?The little PINK RIDE that could,? each participant showed up at the PINK RIDE starting point, and a check for over $3,000 was handed to representatives from St. Joseph Hospital.

The ride/walk went as planned and the PINK RIDE was cemented as a mainstay in Hollis Nor?Easter lore.

This season?s PINK RIDE will take place Saturday, Feb. 9.

The ride leaves from Silver Lake State Park in Hollis and will feature a ride through a brand new trail cut by the Hollis Nor?Easters this past off season called the Vista Trail.

There is a lot of interest from neighboring clubs and club members to participate this year.

The Brookline Icebreakers, Merrimack Sno-Buds, and the Wilton Lyndeborough Winter Wanderers will join the cause and encourage their members to join, too.

The riders will be welcomed back from the ride with a large winter cookout at the park.

If you are not located in the area but are interested in donating to the PINK RIDE, you can do so through the Nor?Easters? website, www.noreasters.org/pink_ride.html. The link provides a Pay Pal, a secure way to donate directly to the cause.

For more information contact Sue Keough, Hollis Nor?Easters, at www.noreasters.org or email to skeough@bentleymnge group.com.

? Jon Lavoie,
member of the
Hollis Nor?Easters

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Source: http://www.cabinet.com/merrimackjournal/merrimacknews/989099-308/pink-rides-again-to-fight-breast-cancer.html

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Christian Ponder Out, Joe Webb Starting: Elbow Injury Leads To QB Change For Vikings vs. Packers

Joe Webb

Joe Webb will get the unexpected playoff start with Christian Ponder inactive.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) ? Christian Ponder is inactive for Minnesota's wild-card playoff game against the Green Bay Packers because of a right elbow injury.

The surprise announcement about 90 minutes before Saturday's game means Joe Webb will start at quarterback for the Vikings.

Ponder was hurt when Packers safety Morgan Burnett delivered a jarring hit on a blitz when the teams played last Sunday. Ponder finished the game with a career-high 120.2 passer rating and three touchdowns in the 37-34 win.

His participation in practice this week was limited and Webb took many of the turns with the first team offense. Ponder was listed as questionable on the injury report, though, and he took only about a dozen soft, short throws in early warm-ups.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/05/christian-ponder-joe-webb-vikings_n_2417042.html

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Lease to own - Zillow Real Estate Advice

Tax assessed value and market value are two different subjects.??? If you wish to get a better perspective of true market value, either pay for an appraisal or see if you can twist the arms of a couple of agents to provide CMAs.

I personally wouldn't touch lease to own with a 10 foot pole as it tends to be a losing proposition for the potential buyer.

While the theoretical concept of rent with the option to buy may seem attractive, some of the realities are considerably less so.

Owners who will consider rent to own are very rare, so it will cut down your options for properties considerably. ? You've found one, perhaps that is your dream home. ? I consider it much smarter to spend a year or two working on improving your credit and (if necessary) saving up a good down payment.?? Yeah, it is tough to move but it even tougher to lose a lot of money attempting to buy.

Some features of rent to own:

1.? Down payment required - often substantial (say 10% or even 20%) and is non-refundable if the potential buyer doesn't purchase.

2.? Monthly rental is above fair market rent, with the only amount going to purchase is the amount above the fair market rent.? This is also not refundable.

3.? If not qualified for financing at the agreed upon? time and price, then you lose everything.?

4.? The price is agreed upon at the beginning of the contract, and housing prices may still be decreasing or not, depending on the area.

5.? You still depend on the owner to pay their mortgage.?? If they fail, you lose.

If you do get involved in this, please involve an attorney in the contract.

Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/Lease-to-own/473107/

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Could $1 trillion coin fix debt crisis? (CNN)

Different challenges in Central African Rep., Mali

The final contingent of reinforcements under current deployment plans, a group of around forty soldiers from Cameroon, departs by truck after arriving to bolster the multinational central-african regional force known as FOMAC which now numbers around a thousand troops, at the airport in Bangui, Central African Republic Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Facing an insurgency by a new rebel coalition, Central African Republic President Bozize consolidated military power under his control Thursday after dismissing his own son as acting defense minister along with his army chief of staff. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

The final contingent of reinforcements under current deployment plans, a group of around forty soldiers from Cameroon, departs by truck after arriving to bolster the multinational central-african regional force known as FOMAC which now numbers around a thousand troops, at the airport in Bangui, Central African Republic Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Facing an insurgency by a new rebel coalition, Central African Republic President Bozize consolidated military power under his control Thursday after dismissing his own son as acting defense minister along with his army chief of staff. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A Chadian soldier fighting in support of Central African Republic president Francois Bozize, sits on a truck in a convoy of other Chadian soldiers near Damara, about 70km (44 miles) north of the capital Bangui, Central African Republic Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. After troops under Bozize seized the capital in 2003 amid volleys of machine-gun and mortar fire, he dissolved the constitution and parliament, and now a decade later it is Bozize himself who could be ousted from power with rebels having seized more than half the country and made their way to the doorstep of the capital in less than a month. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

FILE - A Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012 photo from files showing Malians demonstrating in favor of an international military intervention to regain control of the country's Islamist-controlled north, in Bamako, Mali. The placard at center reads 'No negotiation with the rebels in the north.' Two land-locked, desperately poor African countries many Americans would struggle to find on a map are both gripped by rebellions in the north that have left huge chunks of both nations outside of government control. So why are neighbors rushing troops into Central African Republic after only a few weeks, while Mali is still awaiting military help from its region nearly one year after its political chaos began? (AP Photo/Harouna Traore, File)

FILE - A Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012 photo from files showing a man carrying a sign reading "No to the destructive soldiers of ECOWAS" as Malians opposed to a military intervention to retake Mali's Islamist-controlled north march in the streets of the capital, Bamako, Mali. Two land-locked, desperately poor African countries many Americans would struggle to find on a map are both gripped by rebellions in the north that have left huge chunks of both nations outside of government control. So why are neighbors rushing troops into Central African Republic after only a few weeks, while Mali is still awaiting military help from its region nearly one year after its political chaos began? (AP Photo/Harouna Traore, File)

The final contingent of reinforcements under current deployment plans, a group of around forty soldiers from Cameroon, departs by truck after arriving to bolster the multinational central-african regional force known as FOMAC which now numbers around a thousand troops, at the airport in Bangui, Central African Republic Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Facing an insurgency by a new rebel coalition, Central African Republic President Bozize consolidated military power under his control Thursday after dismissing his own son as acting defense minister along with his army chief of staff. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

(AP) ? Two land-locked, desperately poor African countries are gripped by rebellions in the north that have left huge chunks of both nations outside of government control. Neighboring countries are rushing troops into Central African Republic only a few weeks after rebels started taking towns but Mali's government is still awaiting foreign military help nearly one year after the situation there began unraveling. Here's a look at why there's been quick action in one country, and not in the other.

___

THE INSURGENTS

The simple answer lies in the vastly different challenges faced by intervention forces. Northern Mali is home to al-Qaida-linked militants who are stocking weapons and possess stores of Russian-made arms from former Malian army bases as well as from the arsenal of toppled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The local and foreign jihadists there are digging in and training forces in preparation for jihad and to repel an invasion. Central African Republic, by contrast, is dealing with home-grown rebels who are far less organized and have less sophisticated weapons.

The numbers of troops being sent to Central African Republic are relatively small ? Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Gabon are each sending about 120 soldiers. The rebels stopped their advances toward the capital on Dec. 29, perhaps at least in part because of the presence of the foreign troops who have threatened to counterattack if the rebels move closer to Bangui, the capital. In Mali, it will take far more than the 3,000 African troops initially proposed for a military operation to be successful in ousting the militants, analysts say.

___

THE MISSION

The military objectives are also a stark contrast. In Central African Republic, neighboring nations have a mandate to help stabilize the region between rebel-held towns and the part of the country that is under government control. The intervention force will fire back if fired upon, but so far are not being asked to retake the towns already in rebel hands.

The mission in Mali that foreign forces are slowly gearing up for is far more ambitious. It involves trying to take back a piece of land larger than Texas or France where militants are imposing strict Islamic law, or Shariah. Making things even more complicated there: A military coup last year that created chaos and enabled the rebels to more easily take territory has left the country with a weak federal government and the country's military with a broken command-and-control structure, and with its leaders reluctant to give real power to the civilians.

"In Mali you have a very undefined mission. What does it mean to retake the country and give it back to government forces that were not able to hold it in the first place?" noted Jennifer Cooke, director of the Africa program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Central African Republic's situation "is a more limited, defined and frankly somewhat easier mission in the military sense," she said.

___

THE TERRAIN

Northern Mali is a scorching desert that is unfamiliar to many of the troops who would be coming from the West African regional bloc of countries known as ECOWAS. By contrast, Central African Republic's neighbors already have been pulled into past rebellions in the country.

Chadian forces helped propel President Francois Bozize into power in 2003 and they have assisted him in putting down past rebellions here.

"These forces ? particularly the Chadians ? have been there before," Cooke said. "They know the players, they have an interlocutor in Bozize however fragile he is. This is familiar territory to them."

The Economic Community of Central African States, or ECCAS, also already had established a peacekeeping force in Central African Republic known as MICOPAX.

"From the beginning, they knew that they needed to have troops on the ground. MICOPAX was already there, had already been deployed there. There was already a structure in place," said Thierry Vircoulon, project director for Central Africa at the International Crisis Group.

___

DIFFERING MOTIVATIONS

The rebels in Central African Republic are made up of four separate groups all known by their French acronyms ? UFDR, CPJP, FDPC and CPSK. They are collectively known as Seleka, which means alliance in the local Sango language, but have previously fought one another. For instance, in September 2011 fighting between the CPJP and the UFDR left at least 50 people dead and more than 700 homes destroyed. Insurgent leaders say a 2007 peace accord allowing them to join the regular army wasn't fully implemented and are demanding payments to former combatants among other things. Rebel groups also feel the government has neglected their home areas in the north and particularly the northeast, said Filip Hilgert, a researcher with Belgium-based International Peace Information Service.

In northern Mali, the Islamist rebels are motivated in large part by religion. Al-Qaida fighters chant Quranic verses under the Sahara sun , displaying deep, ideological commitment. They consider north Mali as "Islamic territory" and say they will fight to the death to defend it. They also want to use the territory to expand the reach of al-Qaida-linked groups to other countries. This would seem to make other countries more motivated to intervene in Mali than in Central African Republic, but the challenges are so steep and convoluted that an intervention mission is still on the drawing board.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-04-AF-Central-African-Republic-Mali-News-Guide/id-9f8e383a57eb41dba83607aaaf64a13f

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