He was first a Democrat for four years before becoming a politician. Smith switched parties in 2011 and ran for the United States Senate in 2012 as a Republican, losing to the current Democratic Senator Bob Casey, Jr..
Smith died at his home in Shelocta, Pennsylvania, aged 67.
Ore-bulk-oil carrier
An ore-bulk-oil carrier, also called a combination carrier or OBO, is a ship that carries wet or dry cargo. The idea is to reduce the number of empty voyages in which large ships carry cargo one way and are empty for another.
OBO carriers are today not as common as in the 1970s and 1980s.
One of the most famous OBO carriers is the "Derbyshire". It sank during a typhoon in 1980 in the Pacific.
Ex post facto law
An "ex post facto" law (Latin for "after the fact" or "from after the action") is a law that changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions that were committed before the law went into effect. In criminal law, an "ex post facto" law may criminalize actions that were legal at the time they were committed, or may make a crime worse by bringing it into a more severe category than it was in when it was committed.
It may make the punishment prescribed for a crime, more severe. It may also add new penalties or it may extend a sentence. It may change the rules of evidence in order to make conviction for a crime likelier than it would have been when the deed was committed. , a form of "ex post facto" law, commonly called an "amnesty law", may certain acts. A pardon has a similar effect in a specific case. Other legal changes may lessen or eliminate possible punishments (for example by replacing the death sentence with lifelong imprisonment) ly. Such legal changes are also known by the Latin term in mitius.
The United States Constitution s "ex post facto" laws. Two clauses in the constitution prohibit "ex post facto". Article 1 Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution states: 'No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed,'. Section 10 says: 'No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law. . .'
"Ex post facto" laws relate only to criminal laws passed by legislations. It does not apply to civil laws "that affect private rights adversely." In 2003 the US Supreme court noted the difference between civil and penal laws. In the case of Smith v. Doe, the court questioned the constitutionality of the Alaska Sex Offender Registration Act's retroactive requirements. Alaska's Megan's Law was applied to sex offenders before the law went into effect. It required offenders to register with the local police. It also required public notification via the Internet. The court made a legal precedent in deciding the intent of the law was civil and non-punitive. That it was to protect the public saftey by "protecting the public from sex offenders."
The European Parliament prohibits "ex post facto" legislation by all member nations. They determined ""Ex post facto" legislation may also violate citizens’ right to effective legal redress and a fair trial..."
In English law, "ex post facto" laws are very rare. One example was the War Crimes Act 1991 by the Parliament of England. It allowed British citizens to be put on trial for war crimes that took place during World War II.
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
Between 1519 and 1521, Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernán Cortés, overthrew the Aztec Empire. This event is called the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Cortés helped old enemies of the Aztecs defeat them in one of the most important events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The Spanish conquest was devastating to the Aztec people. By 1680, 94% of the Aztec population had died.
In 1515, two of the states in the Aztec Empire rebelled. This was nothing new for the Aztecs. However, this time, the Tlaxcala and Huexotzingo rebels beat the Aztec military.
Then, in April 1519, Spanish conquistadors, led by Cortés, arrived on the coast of Mexico. In August they marched to Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. At first, Montezuma II, the Aztecs' ruler, invited the Spanish into Tenochtitlan, and things were friendly. Even when the Spanish made Montezuma II a prisoner, the Aztecs stayed friendly.
However, soon, while Cortés was away, Spanish soldiers attacked and killed many Aztecs during a festival. When Cortés got back, he got Montezuma II to tell the Aztecs to stop fighting the conquistadors. By this time, though, the Aztecs had made Montezuma II's brother, Cuauthemoc, the king. Nobody did what Montezuma II said. They kept fighting the conquistadors, and they killed two out of every three Spanish soldiers. In July 1520 the Spanish survivors fled to Tlaxcala, where enemies of the Aztecs protected them.
Ten months later, Cortés came back to Tenochtitlan with more Spanish soldiers but mostly Tlaxcaltecas and other indigenous enemies of the Aztecs. They started a siege of Tenochtitlan, so that no food or supplies could get in. After 91 days, without any food, and with disease throughout the city, Cuauhtemoc finally surrendered to the Spanish on August 13, 1521. The Spanish destroyed Tenochtitlan. They started a Spanish colony that they named New Spain. The Aztec Empire had ended.
There were many different reasons why the Spanish were able to take over the Aztec Empire.
Different wepons were used through the battle to help Cortes overrule the aztecs.
First, their weapons and armor were better than the Aztecs'. Aztec warriors had only cotton armour and shields made of wood or reeds to protect them. The Spanish had metal armor and shields.
For weapons, Aztec warriors had a few choices:
None of these weapons could compare to the conquistadors' guns and steel swords. Their horses and war dogs gave them even more of an advantage against the Aztecs.
As early as 1528, reports have said that Montezuma II thought Hernán Cortés was the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. Aztec legends said that Quetzalcoatl would return as a man, and Cortés had arrived on Quetzalcoatl's birthday. Aztec writings from the time say that when Montezuma II greeted Cortés, he gave an abdication speech, giving up the Aztec throne to "Quetzalcoatl-Cortés":
As historian David Carrasco explains: Motecuhzoma II is welcoming "Quetzalcoatl-Cortes ... back to his city in order to reoccupy the throne which has been guarded by Montezuma and the other [kings] ... The ancient prophecy has been fulfilled and the returning lord is invited to occupy his throne and visit the palace. There could hardly be a clearer statement of returning the sovereignty to the original king."
Some historians say that the Spanish conquistadors were not the only reason the Aztec Empire fell apart. By 1519, the Empire had other problems that made it easier for Spain to take it over. For example:
Cortes wanted to conquer the aztecs for gold glory and god.
Because of these things, many people in the Aztec Empire were unhappy. Some of them helped the Spanish conquistadors take over the Empire. Some historians, like Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani, say that the Empire would have fallen apart even if the Spanish had never come. However, because so many people had died of smallpox, there were also not enough people left to fight against the conquistadors when they did come.
Under Spanish control, the Aztec Empire did not exist any more. The Spanish tried to change the Aztecs into Catholics and make them act like Spanish people. They made it easier to change from Aztec rule to Spanish rule by letting many Aztec nobles become Spanish nobles.