A TRIBUTE POEM TO CHINUA ACHEBE

A TRIBUTE POEM TO CHINUA ACHEBE

by Patrick Amaefule





I will cloy me with egregious wine,
if he re-course to rest, I won't dine;
his demise lives me open to reproach;
death that made me felt like cockroach,
a thief with trait that reeks;
City’s reeled of its re-entry this weeks.
Embrace me, O vice of drunkenness;
on the day of Achebe's death,
I will clothe me with tears which a death of no importance chiselled in me;
to learn of the mystery ,
I have grown much older than fledgling;
not any more regarded as stripling.
I’m not destitute of sheer senses;
the blind could see it without lenses.
by his death, I strut on the stage with independent feet;
and keep up appearances without great feat;
I could not guide my faculties with orison;
with earnest haste I crave for benison.
Drunk though as I am, I keep reckoning him;
few among many speak ill of him;
He made learning a house of stone;
it pinnacle seemed like cone;
a place where I learn new tricks;
palace of castle built with bricks,
where I resort for joy
Alas, why this extinction? The gift endowed us with is the envy of our enemy.
The man who sure knew the manner of the day is gone,
the laureate who best knew the way to the happy ending,
possessed the strength of youth in the morning,
held the sapience of age as an octogenarian.
Good bye the great man of the East

TO KEEP NIGERIA ONE IS A TASK

TO KEEP NIGERIA ONE IS A TASK

By Patrick Amaefule







 Like many other African nations, Nigeria is an artificial institution initiated by former colonial authorities which had neglected to consider the dichotomy, religious, linguistic and ethnic differences. Nigeria, which obtained independence from Britain in 1960, had at that time a population of about 60 million people consisting of almost 300 differing ethnic and cultural groups.

The integration and unification as one common structure was made successful by Great Britain and was designed out of West Africa containing hundreds of different ethnic groups, calling it Nigeria. The area was made of many different groups, the three predominant groups were unarguably the Igbo, which formed between about 60–70% of the population in the southeast, the Hausa-Fulani, which formed about 65% of the peoples in the northern part ; the Yoruba, which formed about 75% of the population in the southwestern part.

The Federation of Nigeria, as it is known today, has never really been one homogeneous government, for it widely constituting peoples and tribes of diversified culture and interest. The easily understood fact notwithstanding, the former colonial powers decided to bring the deferring groups together as one in order to effectively control her vital resources for their economic interests. From the time mentioned until the present the only familiar thing these groups had was their common name-Nigeria because each differing aspect had unique administrative ambit and pattern. This exclusively was an insubstantial foundation for true unity.

A unification that should have brought various peoples together and provided a formidable system of proceeding for the tiring task of establishing closer cultural, social, religious, and linguistic bonds absolutely necessary for true unity among Nigerians. There was division, hatred, unhealthy rivalry, and pronounced disparity in development. The Governor General of Nigeria between 1920 -31, Sir Hugh Clifford, described Nigeria as “a collection of independent Native States, separated from one another by great distances, by differences of history and traditions and by ethnological, racial, tribal, political, social and religious barriers."

It would be pertinent to digress a while ,let us consider and try to consider this new force that entered Nigeria ,The Face Of Provocation From North, popularly known as Boko Haram .
Ever since Boko Haram opened the Pandora’s Box and from that moment, the pertinacious paroxysm created by their intermittent attack on Christians in the North, many, especially Igbos have been wondering if a common course for unity is still vital as a sole dream to be actualized by the three most prominent groups that were duly amalgamated by our erstwhile colonial masters. The true tragedy of the last sixty years, before and after our independence in 1960 is that the entire effort has been a monumental depression against the Igbos.

The faceless face of Boko Haram has swayed for half a decade now causing pandemonium and has repeatedly showed humiliating footage and cartoons of the slain Igbos forcing the Igbo community to want to secede, though Igbos have had a good reputation under the umbrella of Nigerian tunic, but obviously their tolerance and patience have endured enough territorial limit even as they have been provoked beyond measure and for the sake of harmony, wear calmness as clothe but the Northern militants(Boko Haram sect ) and their sponsors( Northern politicians) should not misconstrue Igbos endurance as white-livered.

There is every indication that with only residual power left to the central government, Nigeria politically has taken a turn for the worse, and there is truly an obvious possibility of three countries emerging out of Nigeria unless we must commit ourselves and our entire strength to finding a viable solution to our national predicament which has not favoured the Igbos. The entire weight of our national aspiration cannot be balanced if Nigeria failed to put an end to genocide against the essential cog (Ndi Igbo) upon which the nation’s foundation all depends.

It is pertinent that I remind us of the mass exodus of over 300,000 Igbos from the North to the East resulting from agitation of many riots and Igbo killings in August, 1966, a replica to the chains of brutality, unprecedented bombing and killing of Igbos in the North in this era. For all it signifies, it is visible form of indifferent believe and devil’s conduct. It has recreated disaffection and panic, there is persistent preoccupation in the minds of those victimized, and as Igbos wake to consciousness, the gap between the regions widens, a wake-up call for the act of secession rings bell in their ears, unity has deteriorated, assurgency calls for new sovereignties as Nigeria wears a look of disintegration, it is approaching a terminal stage.

Sooner than later people must carry their differing culture hoist a flag of their beloved republic and ostentatious flaunting of tunics that represent many hues of a common symbol.

‘Nothing will happen in our nation, in our society which did not first happen in our minds. If wrong is rampant, if indiscipline is rife, if corruption is the order of the day, we have to search our individual minds for that is where it all starts’---Justice Oputa

Sir Hugh Clifford, described Nigeria as ‘‘a collection of independent Native State, separated from one another by great distances, by differences of history and tradition and by ethological, radical, tribal, political ,social and religious barriers ’’.

The building of Nigeria as a multi – lingual state will continue to be faulted if the ugly wing of tribalism and sectionalism of the Northern parents fashioned by many of the political leader of the North are not detracted. The leaders ride with their notorious wing, secretly heralding as crest of perpetrators, they are the sponsors of the Islamists-fundamentalists killers of the fellow citizens which Igbos are taking the highest extent of loss of lives and properties.

But civil response of the Igbo seen in the face of extreme , continual cold blooded murder of Igbos does not make them poltroon .Nation’s interest has derailed ,its direction has constantly strayed away from a strong centre towards a formidable union of differing ethnics groups that proclaim continuity and harmony.

This Federation had an ailment from inception and by January 1966, the bedridden, ailment child broke down.
From independent to January 1966 and to this present day, the Federation system called ‘Nigeria’, has been in a serious commotion, but the genocide targeting the Igbo nation put Nigeria in a worse situation.

Most of the bombing sponsors are from Northern territories, thus the Northern leaders in particular see it as a deliberate act to forestall the progress of the present government of Goodluck Jonathan in order to pave way for the Northerners to reclaim leadership role. It is a civil coup staged by Northern leaders with three aims: reduce Igbo population, destroy properties, and a breakup of the country.

Though the delicate act has swayed, senseless bombing and killing have spread through the North like wild fire, its aimless purpose cannot prevail. They have made Igbos appear to hate with the hatred of a rejected suitor but all along Igbo people have had to love all the tribes with the consuming affection of a mother’s love for her precocious child.

Riot and killing of Igbos are the immediate major cause of the Nigeria-Biafra war which altered the political equality and destroyed the fragile singleness among the major ethnic groups. As Igbos prepared to return home with news of continual brutality and chains of bombing against them, any form of peace negotiation with Federal Republic of Nigeria, the likes of the one which Late Lt.col. Ojukwu was called under the auspices of Gen,Ankrah of Ghana in Aburi, could be fruitless.

It is finished, late Ojukwu declared in 7 June, 1966, after May incident in North: ‘‘we are finished with the Federation. It is all a question of time’’. If all the three differing ethnics groups must coagulate, immediate steps should be taken to nullify all the degrees of genocide against the Igbo nation. The highest authority must make all condition suitable for co-habitation by the three ethnic groups as further means of lowering tension.
Without this, Igbos are through with the Federation. It is just a matter of time.----Patrick Amaefule

Detained in Cameroon's hospitals

Estelle Koulman has recently celebrated her first birthday - and her first taste of freedom as she spent the first 11 months of her life imprisoned - in a Cameroonian hospital.

Shortly after she was born in a ward in Ngousso, on the outskirts of Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, she was operated on for a bowel problem.
The little girl made a quick recovery, but she and her mother Germaine Abeboulouguiye were unable to return home as the bill came to $600 (about £375).
The government hospital refused to release them until the medical fee was settled.

Germaine Abeboulouguiye and her baby were recently freed after a paper highlighted their plight

But the family was broke - Ms Abeboulouguiye was unemployed, her partner, who did have a job, had abandoned her when she became pregnant and her parents were retired, living by subsistence farming.
"There is a lot of stress and complications - the atmosphere is not good to help raise a baby," Ms Abeboulouguiye told the BBC during her detention.
Ms Abeboulouguiye's mother came to visit at the time - bringing food and other essentials, but otherwise they were prevented from leaving the hospital.
When Cameroon's Le Jour newspaper reported their case, it caused outrage in Cameroon and a local charity intervened and paid part of the bill.
The authorities, embarrassed by the furore, waived the rest of the fee and mother and baby were finally allowed home after 11 months of detention in a white-walled hospital ward.
They are the most extreme case of the government's policy to get patients to help fund healthcare.
It makes up about 70% of the hospital budgets - and patients are expected to cover the rest.
Some free services are carried out, like malaria diagnosis for children under five.

If my family members can't help, where else should I turn to?”

Mary Akwa Patient in Buea Regional Hospital

'Held back'

But now it is common for patients who cannot pay their bills for other treatments to be detained until their relatives pay up some or all of the debt.

It was not a government policy that was ever announced, but it has come in gradually over the last five years.
Three weeks after Mary Akwa was admitted to Buea Regional Hospital for a stomach problem she was unable to find money for her bill.
"If my family members can't help, where else should I turn to?" she asked, clearly distressed.
The health authorities in Cameroon declined to comment on the allegations.
A doctor at Hospital Laquintinie in the commercial capital Douala, says the government policy brings with it difficult choices - and sometimes treatment is withheld.
"If patients don't pay me, I can't treat them," he told the BBC, requesting anonymity.
However, Dr George Enow Orock, director of Buea Regional Hospital, says while some patients may be "held back" to pay their bills they are never denied assistance.
"[We will] do something to cater for somebody dangling between life and death," he said.
"It is our obligation to care for citizens."

Traditional doctors accept produce and animals as payment for their services

Security at government hospitals has been tightened over the last five years, with high walls, fences and gates erected at institutions across the country.
Private and public security guards have been drafted in - usually on duty at the gates to ensure no patient escapes without paying their bill.
'Escaped'

I worked for six long months to pay off that bill. Cleaning, washing plates, gardening - any odd job that cropped up”

Former patient at a Catholic hospital

"We check patients before they leave the hospital premises if they have paid all the necessary dues. We check the various receipts and ensure that they are authentic," says Samuel Njie, a guard at Buea Regional Hospital.

"We've had cases of patients who have escaped from the hospital without our knowledge."
Some religious or mission hospitals and private clinics, which receive a small government subsidy, operate a similar policy in order to cover their costs.
But instead of expecting patients to pay, some ask them to work in lieu of their bill.
A tall man in Yaounde, who asked to remain anonymous, told me he was detained until July in a mission hospital in the north-west of Cameroon for six months.
He said he had contracted typhoid fever and gone to a Catholic hospital for treatment.
After the little money he had on him ran out, he was told he would have to work off the rest of his medical fees.

Patients are urged not to make corrupt payments

"I worked for six long months to pay off that bill," he said.
"Cleaning, washing plates, gardening - any odd job that cropped up.
"There was nothing I could do about it."
With the average Cameroonian surviving on less than $1 a day, some people prefer visiting traditional doctors when they get sick.
When a patient cannot pay for their treatment in cash, traditional practitioners allow them to pay in kind.
One traditional doctor in Buea told me the most popular items people use to pay their bills are fowls, goats and other things easily available in rural areas.
It is an option Germaine's mother, Mrs Abeboulouguiye, wished she could have used to settle her daughter and granddaughter's bill.
"For the first time in my life I could not help my daughter. They kept asking me to bring money to pay - even when I said I had no money."

Doctor: Puerto Rico boxer Camacho is brain dead

• This Sept. 13, 1997 file photo shows Hector Camacho, left, of Puerto Rico, and Oscar De La Hoya of Los Angeles exchanging blows in the first round …
• 
  In this Sept. 13, 1997, photo provided by Las Vegas News Bureau, Hector Camacho, left, fights Oscar De La Hoya in a boxing match at Thomas and Mack Center …

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Famed Puerto Rican boxer Hector ''Macho'' Camacho is clinically brain dead, doctors said Thursday, but family members disagreed on whether to take him off life support and two of the fighter's aunts said later that relatives had agreed to wait two more days.

Dr. Ernesto Torres said doctors had no more medical tests to perform on Camacho, who was shot in the face Tuesday night.
''We have done everything we could,'' said Torres, who is director of the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan. ''We have to tell the people of Puerto Rico and the entire world that Macho Camacho has died, he is brain dead.''
He said at a news conference Thursday morning that Camacho's father indicated he wanted the boxer taken off life support and his organs donated, but other relatives opposed the idea.
''This is a very difficult moment,'' Torres said.
One of the fighter's aunts, Aida Camacho, said Thursday evening that two of Camacho's sisters had asked to have two more days to spend with him, and other family members had agreed even though they felt it was time to give in.
''I'm a person of a lot of faith, and I believe in miracles, but science has spoken,'' she said.
Another aunt, Blanca Camacho, also said the family had agreed to the wishes of the two sisters from New York to hold off on ending life support. But, she added, ''There's nothing left here. He's already dead.''
Most of Camacho's relatives left the hospital by Thursday night without commenting.
About a dozen people stood vigil outside. One, Orvil Miller, a singer and actor, expressed sadness about Camacho's fate and recalled his admiration for the fighter's flamboyance.
''He had the combination of the skills of a boxer along with a great sense for entertainment,'' Miller said.
Steve Tannenbaum, a friend and a former boxing agent for Camacho, said in a phone interview that he idolized Camacho as a boxer.
''He is one of the greatest small fighters that I have ever seen,'' he said. ''Hector Camacho had a legendary status.''
Tannenbaum said he initially believed Camacho would survive. ''He was almost like the indestructible man. He had so many troubles with the law, so many altercations in his life. It's a great shame.''
The 50-year-old Camacho was shot as he and a friend sat in a Ford Mustang parked outside a bar Tuesday night. Police spokesman Alex Diaz said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket, and a 10th bag open inside the car. Camacho's friend, identified as 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, was killed in the attack.
Doctors had initially said Camacho was expected to survive, but his condition worsened and his heart stopped briefly overnight Tuesday, Torres said. The bullet entered his jaw and lodged in his shoulder after tearing through three of four main arteries in his neck, affecting blood flow through his brain, doctors said.
''That lack of oxygen greatly damaged Macho Camacho's brain,'' Torres said.
Camacho was born in Bayamon, a city within the San Juan metropolitan area, but he grew up mostly in New York's Harlem neighborhood, earning the nickname ''the Harlem Heckler.''
He won super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s and fought high-profile bouts against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. Camacho knocked out Leonard in 1997, ending the former champ's final comeback attempt. Camacho had a career record of 79-6-3.
In recent years, he divided his time between Puerto Rico and Florida, appearing regularly on Spanish-language television as well as on a reality show called ''Es Macho Time!'' on YouTube. In San Juan, he had been living in the beach community of Isla Verde, where he would readily pose for photos with tourists who recognized him on the street, said former pro boxer Victor ''Luvi'' Callejas, a neighbor and friend.
Camacho battled drugs, alcohol and other problems throughout his life. He was sentenced in 2007 to seven years in prison for the burglary of a computer store in Mississippi. While arresting him on the burglary charge in January 2005, police also found the drug ecstasy.
A judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation. He wound up serving two weeks in jail, though, after violating that probation.
His wife also filed domestic abuse complaints against him twice before their divorce several years ago.

One of the discussion areas between the two major party U.S. presidential candidates has been North Africa and the Middle East.

One of the discussion areas between the two major party U.S. presidential candidates has been North Africa and the Middle East.

While President Barack Obama, the Democratic Party’s White House candidate, and his Republican Party challenger Mitt Romney may have strong differences on a number of domestic policy issues, their views on the Middle East don’t have many sharp contrasts.

Arab Spring

Both presidential candidates voice support for the Arab Spring, the popular uprising in Arab nations that has toppled autocratic governments in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt.

President Obama demonstrated his support in his U.N. address on September 25. “The world has been captivated by the transformation that’s taken place. And the United - the United States has supported the forces of change,” he said.

Former Governor Romney, in a speech on October 8, pledged his effort to continue U.S. support for democracy advocates in Arab nations should he be elected.

“I will begin organizing all of our diplomatic and assistance efforts in the greater Middle East under one official, with the authority and accountability necessary to train all of our soft power resources on ensuring that the Arab Spring does not fade into a long winter,” he said.

Libya

An armed man waves his rifle as buildings and cars are engulfed in flames after being set on fire inside the U.S. consulate compound in Benghazi late on September 11, 2012.

​​On September 11, 2012, an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others.

Mitt Romney harshly criticized the president in their second debate for what he says is a lack of candor about the origins of the Benghazi attack.

"There were many days that passed before we knew whether this was a spontaneous demonstration, or, actually, whether it was a terrorist attack," he said.

President Obama gave a strong response to Romney regarding Benghazi.

“The day after the attack, Governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror," he said.

Syria

A rebel fighter retreats for cover as enemy fire targets the rebel position during clashes at the Moaskar front line, one of the battlefields in the Karmal Jabl neighborhood, of Aleppo, Syria, October 24, 2012.

​​Both candidates say they support those trying to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and agree that the U.S. military should not get directly involved.

But President Obama says his support for the opposition does not extend to providing weapons.

"We have to do so making absolutely certain that we know who we are helping, that we’re not putting arms in the hands of folks who eventually could turn them against us or our allies in the region,” he said.

Former Governor Romney took a very different stance on weapons in the final debate.

“I want to make sure they get armed, and they have the arms necessary to defend themselves, but also, to remove Assad. But I do not want to see a military involvement on the part of our troops,” he said.

Iran, Israel, Palestinians

Both President Obama and former Governor Romney are emphatic in their support for Israel, especially in the face of Iranian threats against the Jewish State, as they both stated during the final debate.

“Israel is a true friend. It is our greatest ally in the region. And, if Israel is attacked, America will stand with Israel. I’ve made that clear throughout my presidency,” said the president.

"If I’m President of the United States - when I’m President of the United States - we will stand with Israel. And, if Israel is attacked, we have their back, not just diplomatically, not just culturally, but militarily," said the Republican challenger.

What hasn’t been discussed much by either candidate is U.S. efforts for resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Iraq

One Middle East Analyst, Khaled Elgindy at Brookings Institution, says the ethnic and sectarian conflict seen in Iraq after the 2003 war should caution both presidential candidates that Washington ultimately cannot control the Arab Spring.

"The United States - cannot determine outcomes. Of elections, of uprisings, of a political process. We cannot pick ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ on the ground and expect to come out victorious," said Elgindy.

Elgindy says that in these countries, their disparate elements need to find ways of reconciling their political and other differences in order to develop inclusive, representative governments.

Michelle Obama: Her four-year evolution

In 2008, some controversial remarks threatened to derail her husband's election campaign. Yet four years later, Michelle Obama is widely regarded as a political star.

When Michelle Obama takes the stage on Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, she does so as a popular public figure with bipartisan appeal.
But four years ago, on the campaign trail in 2008, Mrs Obama was labelled by her critics as angry, bitter and militant.
Statements from her thesis at Princeton, in which she examined the effect of being black at a predominantly white college, saw her portrayed as obsessed with race.
Campaigning for her husband in Wisconsin, she told supporters that she was proud of America "for the first time in my adult life". It was a comment that dogged her throughout the summer.
"She was depicted as being unpatriotic and un-American," says Mia Moody-Ramirez, a professor of journalism, PR and new media at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
But then, at the Democratic convention in Denver, she gave a speech introducing a new version of Michelle Obama - one that would help portray her as a loving wife, mother and daughter, and would help reshape her image into the one that is much-loved today.
Michelle Obama's prominent - and some say distracting - role on the campaign trail in 2008 came despite her initial displeasure at her husband's political ambition.

Michelle Obama's 2008 speech

As I tuck that little girl and her little sister into bed at night, I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they - and your sons and daughters - will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country - where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House - we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.
Source: Huffington Post

"There is a pattern - at different points in their lives, she is very sceptical and hesitant about entering into political races, and once she does [back her husband], she's his strongest advocate," say Jodi Kantor, a reporter for the New York Times and author of The Obamas.

And in the campaign of 2008, Michelle Obama was bringing the full force of her personality and her training to bear.
"People who have known her for a long time say she is a naturally frank, forceful person. She's a Harvard-trained lawyer. Her tendency was to go in and argue her husband's case," says Kantor.
But the effect on the public was less than positive, in part because political wives normally take on a less prominent role, and in part because Michelle Obama was forging new ground.
"There was this perception that she was a problem for the campaign," says Bonnie Dow, an associate professor of communication at Vanderbilt University.
"The outlines of that problem are so easily tied to negative stereotypes about African-American women - that they are matriarchal, pushy loud."
When it became clear that Mrs Obama's campaign style was a detriment to her husband, she and the campaign team sought to modify her image, from dogged lawyer to loving mother and wife.
"Obama advisers put a lot of effort into tailoring her image. They brought through maternal warmth and left behind her bluntness," says Kantor.
"I don't think the Michelle Obama we see on the campaign trail is fake, she's a highly edited version."
That tailoring began over the summer of 2008, and in some ways made its public debut at the convention in Denver. Introduced by her brother, Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama gave a speech about her husband that her supporters thought was warm, funny and loving .
"When we go into the DNC... and she gives this speech, introducing the president by saying 'I stand here as a wife, mother, daughter, sister', you see the beginnings of a very purposeful rehabilitation of this image," says Dow.
The convention speech helped accelerate Mrs Obama's popularity, and by the time of her husband's inauguration in January of 2009 she was on her way to becoming a media darling.

Michelle Obama's 2008 evolution

• February 2007: Barack Obama declares his candidacy
• 18 February 2008: Says that she is "proud of my country" for the first time in her adult life
• February 2008: Princeton thesis published online
• July 2008: New Yorker cover features machine gun-toting Michelle Obama fist-bumping her husband, dressed in Muslim attire
• August 2008: Speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Denver
• October 2008: Appears on a late night talk show in a J Crew sweater set, which quickly sells out
• November 2008: Barack Obama wins election

"On inauguration day she stepped out in eye-catching dresses, and her children looked so adorable in their little winter coats and tights," says Katherine Jellison, who has studied first ladies as a professor of history at Ohio University.

"She came across on that occasion as the kind of first lady that I think America is largely most comfortable with - the devoted wife and mother."
While Barack Obama's approval ratings began dropping within his first months in office, Michelle Obama's have continued to rise. When Gallup last measured the two Obamas head-to-head, in May 2012, Mrs Obama had a 66% approval rating, while her husband had 52% approval.
Once she became the first lady, she adopted projects with a maternal focus, a role embraced by the women who came before her.
"Every issue that she takes up is linked to children and to family - she doesn't even do that many issues that are specifically linked to women who aren't mothering," says Dow.
While former librarian Laura Bush promoted literacy, Mrs Obama worked on projects for military families and Let's Move, an initiative to fight childhood obesity. In that role, she has planted a vegetable garden in the White House, appeared on reality TV to promote weight loss and written a book about her gardening success.
"Once she got into office, she realised that this was about [Barack Obama] and it had to just be about him, or there was going to be a problem. She focused on issues that did not put her in the forefront and did not overshadow him," says Allison Samuels, a senior writer at Newsweek and author of What Would Michelle Obama Do?

The Obamas have reprised their 2008 campaign double act this time around

This election cycle, Democrats hope Michelle Obama can be a powerful weapon in the re-election arsenal, not a liability to be managed.
Some Republicans number among her fans but over the years her detractors have found fault with her clothes, her projects and her views.
Her speech on Tuesday in 2012 will seek to convince the few and crucial undecided voters that her husband's plan is the best for the country. And in an era when many families are worried about paying the bills, Samuels says Michelle Obama's message may resonate more than her Republican counterpart, Ann Romney.
"Ann Romney was talking in theory, whereas Michelle had to go back to work quickly after every child because they didn't have the money," she says. "When she talks about the issues of women and poor women, it's more authentic."
To counter that argument, her critics would point to reports that she spent $6,800 on a jacket when Americans are finding it hard to make ends meet. And Ann Romney, who has fought breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, appealed directly to women when she gave a speech that ignited the Republican party's gala last week.
Just because Michelle Obama is no longer a political lightning rod, it doesn't mean she has lost her political pull.
"Even though she is able to look like she is above the fray, of course she is political. She's out there campaigning, she's out there fundraising, she's one of the most popular political figures in the country," says Kantor.
This week, she will try to use the power of her popularity to bolster her husband's hopes of winning a second term in office.
"Remember the contradiction of first lady-hood is that the less overly political a first lady seems, the more politically effective she is," says Kantor.

World's Shortest Man and Woman Meet

For the first time in history, the shortest man and woman in the world have met. The shortest man, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, 72, is from a remote area of Nepal and stands 21.5 inches tall. Eighteen-year-old Jyoti Amge hails from Nagpur, India and measures just under 25 inches tall.
It was a match made in heaven for Guinness World Records, which arranged the introduction for a photo shoot to promote the upcoming release of Guinness World Records 2013 on September 13. To provide scale, a record book (12 inches in length) was placed between Chandra and Jyoti for one of the photos.
“It was an extraordinary moment,” says Marco Frigatti, the official Guinness World Records Adjudicator, who also took part in the photo shoot. “They’re both such incredible individuals. Everyone knew this was a special moment, and the atmosphere was magical.”

A Record-Breaking Birthday

Jyoti secured the World’s Shortest Woman title simply by reaching womanhood on her 18^th birthday in December of last year. She has a condition called achondroplasia, a genetic disorder that affects bone growth and cartilage formation. Achondroplasia is the most common cause of dwarfism.
Jyoti won't grow any taller than her current height. Due to her size, she has her clothes specially made. She sleeps in a tiny bed and uses special plates and cutlery to eat. Jyoti is currently pursuing her dream of becoming a successful actress. She has already starred in a number of Indian films.
“Since being recognized by Guinness World Records, I have been able to visit lots of different countries,” says Jyoti. “I love travelling. I have visited Japan and parts of Europe, and now I can’t wait to visit the UK.”

A Record-Breaking Discovery

In February this year, Chandra made headlines around the world when he was crowned the World’s Shortest Man. Until his recent discovery, he had spent his entire life in the remote Nepalese mountain village of Rhimkholi, about 250 miles west of Kathmandu. Because Chandra has never been examined by a doctor, the cause of his short stature is unknown.Doctors suspect he has a form of primordial dwarfism.
Chandra’s 21.5-inch height also snagged him the title of Shortest Man in History, breaking the previous record of India’s Gul Mohammed, who was 22.5 in tall.
“I’m very happy that I’m being recognized by Guinness World Records and that my name will be written in a book,” says Chandra. “It’s a big thing for my family, my village and my country. I am very happy.”