DMX has reportedly been accused by a former lover of owing over $ 1m in unpaid child support.

His ex-girlfriend, Patricia Trejo, made the claim at the LA Superior Court in response to DMX asking the court for permission to perform in Europe.

Trejo asserts that DMX owes her $ 1m in child support for their 10-year-old daughter, a claim which could lead to the rapper being prevented from travelling abroad.

Despite a core inflation print at just .2% for the month, which was in line with expectations, the 12-month rate of core inflation was still at a somewhat troublesome 2.3%. That number is a bit higher than the estimates put forth by the Fed and reveals that, despite the intentionally inaccurate means of measuring inflation, consumer prices are rising. Most analysts don’t expect the slightly increased inflation pressure to be a deterrent for the Federal Reserve to embark on a fresh round of Quantitative Easing in order to spur growth.

The markets have largely ignored any concerns about inflation, focusing instead on the ongoing debt drama in Greece. At this moment, it appears that yet another Greek “agreement” may be only days away, although that is the story that has been repeated for the better part of the last two years.

Much of the rise in gas prices can be attributed to the escalating tension in the Middle East involving Iran and Syria. The cat-and-mouse games being played by Iran, the U.S. and Israel have caused crude oil prices to rise on the uncertainty that the region will remain stable and oil flow will not be disrupted.

Of course, one factor that is being overlooked in keeping prices down is that the most populous areas of the U.S. have enjoyed a very mild winter. With early spring temperatures covering most of January and February, energy consumption at the consumer level is considerably lower than normal. It’s unlikely that a prolonged cold spell could grip the U.S. between now and the start of spring, but an especially hot summer could put extreme upward pressure on energy prices, driving inflation and consumer prices that much higher.

Super Tuesday comes just one week after the battle royal between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in Michigan on Feb. 28, and while all eyes in the media are fixed on the Wolverine State, the two campaigns are looking beyond it.

Santorum will give a major economic speech Thursday afternoon in Michigan, but this week he has worked his way through a handful of states that hold their contests on March 6. And Romney, whose poll numbers have begun to fall behind Santorum’s nationally and in some of the upcoming contests, is hot on his trail.

Romney remains the front-runner in the delegate count and should easily maintain that spot after Super Tuesday. By the Republican National Committee’s count, of the 271 delegates that have been at stake thus far, Romney has 73 to Santorum’s three. But the 271 total includes 158 “unbound” delegates, 156 of which are from contests Santorum won: Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri. (Those states decide through party processes at later dates how the delegates will be awarded and if they’re binding, but by most measures, Santorum has far more than three, and Romney would have more than 73.)

Fifty-nine delegates are at stake on Feb. 28 — when Arizona also votes — and regardless of whether Romney scores a victory in his native Michigan, he’s still expected to pick up the bulk of the delegates that day. The reason: Arizona, which has a relatively large Mormon population, is expected to break for Romney, meaning all 29 of its delegates will go in his column. But because Michigan awards its delegates proportionally, it makes sense for Santorum to contest it heavily whether he ultimately wins or not in order to pick up delegates.

The Super Tuesday states award delegates on a proportional basis, meaning even if Santorum wins a majority of those contests, Romney will still pick up delegates in most cases and likely will remain atop the delegate count.

He begins with an advantage in three of the 11 states holding contests on March 6 — a day that will see 466 delegates awarded. His rivals aren’t contesting his current home state of Massachusetts, so he should pick up the bulk of its 41 delegates. The only other candidate to qualify for the ballot in Virginia was Ron Paul, so Romney should get a disproportionate share of the 49 delegates awarded there. And Vermont holds an open primary, where any registered voter can vote, with 17 delegates at stake. Right off the bat, Romney will have a major advantage with those 107 delegates.

The remaining eight states, with their 359 delegates, will be tougher for Romney to get a big share of. The contests include: Alaska conventions (27 delegates), Georgia primary (76 delegates), Idaho caucuses (32 delegates), North Dakota caucuses (28 delegates), Ohio primary (66 delegates), Oklahoma primary (43 delegates), Tennessee primary (58 delegates) and Wyoming caucuses (29 delegates).

Romney won Wyoming in his 2008 bid, but Ron Paul has been organizing for its rolling caucuses. Paul is also a major threat in Alaska. But Santorum is contesting Sarah Palin’s home state along with the other six states.

The two-term Pennsylvania senator started this week in Tacoma, Wash. The Pacific Northwest state holds non-binding caucuses on March 3 for 43 delegates. He held two rallies in Idaho on Tuesday, with several thousand attendees in Boise. And he bounced from there to North Dakota, where he held three events Wednesday, including another rally that drew a few thousand people in Fargo. Ron Paul’s campaign also has put a lot of emphasis on the North Dakota caucuses.

By Friday, he’ll be in Ohio, the marquee Super Tuesday battle, and he’ll campaign there on Saturday, as well. By Sunday, he’ll be in Georgia and on Monday he’ll hit Tennessee.

Newt Gingrich is leading in his home state of Georgia, but Santorum is creeping up on him in the polls. Santorum also leads in Ohio and Tennessee. Romney has campaigned in Ohio throughout the campaign and will be back Thursday night before he jets out to Idaho for an event Friday in Boise. Romney plans to return to Ohio for events early next week.

The Odyssey is a spectacular piece by Homer that recounts the trials and tribulations of Odysseus as he makes his way home to his wife, Penelope, after the Trojan War. It takes him twenty years to get home, and he encounters many monsters and vixens on his way, making it a delightful read for students of all ages. Whether they are reading it as a translation or in the original Greek as students of classical languages, or whether they have a toned-down version that is friendly for younger students, they will love the stories from the Cyclops, to Scylla and Charybdis, to Circe, to the suitors begging for Penelope’s hand in marriage. While the story is captivating in and of itself, having the right teaching tools makes all the difference.

Other Books Based on The Odyssey
Epic journeys have always been a popular theme in literature, and many of them have been based on The Odyssey without the audience even knowing about it. Using these as teaching tools can help spark interest in students. Perhaps the most popular adaptation of the famous Greek poem is Ulyssesby James Joyce. This novel follows Leopold Bloom on an epic, one day long journey through Dublin, Ireland on June 16, 1904. The chapter names are characters in The Odyssey, and each chapter contains a monster-like encounter similar to that of the epic poem. Another popular adaptation of Odysseus’ journey is Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. This is a Civil War novel, but the epic journey and hero’s quest is very similar to that of The Odyssey. In this novel, W.P. Inman is the Odysseus character, and he is a deserter from the Confederate Army. He is wounded and trying to return to his love, Ada Monroe. This novel has also been made into a film. Among many other adaptations of The Odyssey, there is The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. In true, feminist, Atwood fashion, this novel is told from the perspective of Penelope and her maids. It gives a very interesting perspective we do not get from the poem itself.

Possible Projects
With higher-level students, a great project would be to pair The Odyssey with one of these other novels and have the students compare the two in some way. They could create a presentation for the class. Each student could take on a different novel, which would give all the students in the class an idea of what these other novels were about. With lower-level classes, the teacher can have the students analyze the hero’s quest and compare it with quests of other heroes in literature. With very young students, an idea for a project would be to create a theme park based on The Odyssey. Divide the students into groups and have each group tackle a specific monster from the epic poem. Each group should come up with a ride that represents the monster, characters that will walk around the park, and menu items for the food court. Once all the groups put their ideas together, you will have a class theme park that represents the entire story.

Illustrations
There are many famous illustrations of The Odyssey out there, and a quick internet search will yield many results to study. However, teachers can also have students create their own graphic representations of the poem. This works especially well with students who are artistically talented. They can create these representations and then share them with the class to see if they have similar ideas about what the poem looks like when visualized.