Maxxis' Haagsma Wins WORCS Round 1 - Side x Side Vehicle News

by Jon Crowley on 30/01/13 at 6:16 am

Team Maxxis/H&M?s David Haagsma topped the podium

Team Maxxis/H&M?s David Haagsma topped the podium at the WORCS ATV season kick-off, while teammate Beau Baron took third place at the race, held January 26-27 in Peoria, Arizona.

Riding through thick mud for the entire race, Haagsma took the lead with a pass at the end of the 13^th lap. He held the front spot through to the finish line, and took first place with a seven-second margin of victory. Baron, who sparred with another rider for the third place spot for much of the event, scored the fastest Pro lap time of the race at 6:29.113 minutes. Both Haagsma and Baron trusted Razr Xc rears and Razr2 fronts for Round 1, and the tires were more than a match for the sloppy conditions. ?It rained a lot,? said Haagsma. ?We had a mud race, and I had a horrible start, but my tires got me all the way back up to the front, and I took first!?

The Pro contest wasn?t Baron?s only shot at a Round 1 podium: he also took first place in the Side x Side Pro Production race on 27? Vipr tires. In the Pro Am ATV class, Maxxis rider Grant Mitchell took second place.

Maxxis congratulates David Haagsma and Beau Baron on their victories, and thanks them for their outstanding performances.

Photo: AMP Promotions

About Maxxis International

For over 46 years, Maxxis International has delivered high-quality tires to both original equipment and aftermarket customers. Maxxis offers products for automotive, light truck, motorcycle, ATV, bicycle, lawn & garden and industrial use. The company has operations in Asia, Europe and North America, and its products are distributed in approximately 170 countries. For more information, please visit maxxis.com.

UK Walmart Ad Showing Moms Doing Housework ... - Business Insider

Asda

Asda's Christmas ad.

?

The U.K.'s advertising watchdog has cleared Asda's festive TV campaign featuring an exhausted mother doing all the work to make Christmas a success, despite more than 600 complaints it was offensive and sexist.

See the ad below. It was also accused of discriminating against fathers, who are portrayed as useless guests in their own homes during the holidays.

The TV ad showed a harassed mother swamped with festive preparations: shopping, cooking, cleaning, writing cards, wrapping presents and making beds.

The campaign, which ended with the line "Behind every great Christmas there's mum, and behind every mum there's Asda", prompted 620 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority.

Asda stuck to its guns, saying that while a large number people might have felt that the ad was sexist, it was simply a fact that women do the lion's share of work at Christmas.

"Extensive consumer research and feedback indicated that the majority of their customers identified with the ad's representation of Christmas," the supermarket said. "Eight out of ten mothers [of 1,896 surveyed] ... believed the ad reflected common experience, rather than outdated stereotypes."

The ASA said that the TV ad was "not likely to be seen as condoning or encouraging harmful discriminatory behavior, or reinforcing negative stereotypes of men or women in general, and, for those reasons, considered it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offense."

It dismissed the 620 complaints about the ad, which was created by agency Saatchi & Saatchi and also ran on ITV's video-on-demand service, Asda's website and YouTube channel.

? To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

? To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook

This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/uk-walmart-ad-showing-moms-doing-housework-at-christmas-cleared-of-sexism-charges-2013-1

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New genre of 'intelligent' micro- and nanomotors

Jan. 30, 2013 ? Enzymes, workhorse molecules of life that underpin almost every biological process, may have a new role as "intelligent" micro- and nanomotors with applications in medicine, engineering and other fields. That's the topic of a report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, showing that single molecules of common enzymes can generate enough force to cause movement in specific directions.

Peter J. Butler, Ayusman Sen and colleagues point out that enzymes -- proteins that jump-start chemical reactions -- are the basis of natural biological motors essential to life. Scientists long have wondered whether a single enzyme molecule, the smallest machine that could possibly exist, might be able to generate enough force to cause its own movement in a specific direction. "Positive answers to these questions," they explain, "have important implications in areas ranging from biological transport to the design of 'intelligent,' enzyme-powered, autonomous nano- and micromotors, which are expected to find applications in bottom-up assembly of structures, pattern formation, cargo (drug) delivery at specific locations, roving sensors and related functions."

They provide the positive answers in experiments with two common enzymes called catalase and urease. Catalase protects the body from harmful effects of hydrogen peroxide formed naturally in the course of life. Urease, found in many plants, converts urea to ammonia and carbon dioxide. The researchers show that these two enzymes, in the presence of their respective substrate (hydrogen peroxide or urea, which acts as fuel), show movement. More significantly, the movement becomes directional through the imposition of a substrate gradient, a form of chemotaxis. Chemotaxis is what attracts living things toward sources of food. The researchers also show that movement causes chemically interconnected enzymes to be drawn together; a form of predator-prey behavior at the nanoscale.

The authors acknowledge funding from The Pennsylvania State University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center supported by the National Science Foundation.

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Journal Reference:

1. Samudra Sengupta, Krishna K. Dey, Hari S. Muddana, Tristan Tabouillot, Michael E. Ibele, Peter J. Butler, Ayusman Sen. Enzyme Molecules as Nanomotors. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013; 135 (4): 1406 DOI: 10.1021/ja3091615

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/BK1GdCoclRU/130130121647.htm

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NASA to launch ocean wind monitor to space station

Jan. 29, 2013 ? In a clever reuse of hardware originally built to test parts of NASA's QuikScat satellite, the agency will launch the ISS-RapidScat instrument to the International Space Station in 2014 to measure ocean surface wind speed and direction.

The ISS-RapidScat instrument will help improve weather forecasts, including hurricane monitoring, and understanding of how ocean-atmosphere interactions influence Earth's climate.

"The ability for NASA to quickly reuse this hardware and launch it to the space station is a great example of a low-cost approach that will have high benefits to science and life here on Earth," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's International Space Station program manager.

ISS-RapidScat will help fill the data gap created when QuikScat, which was designed to last two years but operated for 10, stopped collecting ocean wind data in late 2009. A scatterometer is a microwave radar sensor used to measure the reflection or scattering effect produced while scanning the surface of Earth from an aircraft or a satellite.

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have studied next-generation replacements for QuikScat, but a successor will not be available soon. To meet this challenge cost-effectively, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the agency's station program proposed adapting leftover QuikScat hardware in combination with new hardware for use on the space station.

"ISS-RapidScat represents a low-cost approach to acquiring valuable wind vector data for improving global monitoring of hurricanes and other high-intensity storms," said Howard Eisen, ISS-RapidScat project manager at JPL. "By leveraging the capabilities of the International Space Station and recycling leftover hardware, we will acquire good science data at a fraction of the investment needed to launch a new satellite."

ISS-RapidScat will have measurement accuracy similar to QuikScat's and will survey all regions of Earth accessible from the space station's orbit. The instrument will be launched to the space station aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. It will be installed on the end of the station's Columbus laboratory as an autonomous payload requiring no interaction by station crew members. It is expected to operate aboard the station for two years.

ISS-RapidScat will take advantage of the space station's unique characteristics to advance understanding of Earth's winds. Current scatterometer orbits pass the same point on Earth at approximately the same time every day. Since the space station's orbit intersects the orbits of each of these satellites about once every hour, ISS-RapidScat can serve as a calibration standard and help scientists stitch together the data from multiple sources into a long-term record.

ISS-RapidScat also will collect measurements of Earth's global wind field at all times of day for all locations. Variations in winds caused by the sun can play a significant role in the formation of tropical clouds and tropical systems that play a dominant role in Earth's water and energy cycles. ISS-RapidScat observations will help scientists understand these phenomena better and improve weather and climate models.

The ISS-RapidScat project is a joint partnership of JPL and NASA's International Space Station Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, with support from the Earth Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more on NASA's scatterometry missions, visit: http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm . For more information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station .

You can follow JPL News on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/nasajpl and on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/nasajpl . The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/VY50CKvaD94/130129151735.htm

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Microsoft retools Office for touch screen, Web use

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Microsoft's retooled version of its Office software is hitting the market as the company tries to extend one of its key franchises beyond personal computers.

Tuesday's debut comes six months after Microsoft previewed the new-look Office, which includes popular word processing, spreadsheets and email programs.

The revamped Office boasts touch controls, just like the redesigned version of the Windows operating system that Microsoft Corp. released three months ago. The company, which is based in Redmond, Wash., is trying to ensure that its products retain their appeal at a time when people increasingly rely on smartphones and tablet computers instead of PCs.

Yet Microsoft still isn't trying to get Office on the largest number of devices possible. Office 2013 doesn't include an option that works on Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad or smartphones and tablets running the Android software made by Google Inc. That leaves out the majority of smartphones and tablets sold in the past two years.

The company believes Office 2013 is currently best suited for Windows devices, said Chris Schneider, Microsoft's senior public relations manager for Office. Microsoft is trying to become a bigger player in the mobile market with its own operating system for smartphones and tablets.

Office 2013 is the first overhaul of the software suite in three years.

The bundle of programs has become a staple on desktop and laptop computers, providing a rich vein of revenue for Microsoft.

The company has reaped most of its Office sales from licenses allowing buyers to install the suite of programs on individual machines, a very lucrative strategy. The Microsoft division anchored by Office generates about $24 billion in annual sales, accounting for nearly one-third of Microsoft's total revenue.

Revenue in the Office division fell from the previous year during the three months ending in December, partly because many prospective buyers have been awaiting the latest version.

In one of the biggest changes, Microsoft has tailored Office 2013 so it can be peddled primarily as a program that's used over Internet connections. All information is automatically stored in Microsoft's data centers, allowing for access to the same material on multiple devices. The content also can be stored on the hard drives of devices.

Microsoft is offering Office 2013 in a $100 annual subscription package, called 365 Home Premium, which includes online access on up to five Windows devices or Mac computers. The fee also provides 20 additional gigabytes of storage on Microsoft's SkyDrive to supplement the 7 gigabytes that the company gives away to accountholders for free. Subscribers also will get 60 minutes of free international calls on Microsoft's Skype service for Internet phone calls and video chats.

College students and teachers will be able to buy Office 2013's online product for $80 for four years, which works out to about $1.67 per month.

The online push reflects Microsoft's recognition that people want access to documents and email on whatever Internet-connected device they might have, wherever they may be, whether it's at work, home or a store while running errands.

"The technology needs to be able to move with you," Schneider said.

It's the first time that Microsoft has tried to persuade consumers that a recurring online subscription is the best way to buy and use Office. Microsoft had previously sold online Office subscriptions primarily to small businesses.

Office will still be sold under a one-time licensing fee that allows the software to be installed on a single machine. The fees start at $140.

Microsoft's decision to reshape Office into an online service makes sense, although it may take customers a while to sign up for the subscriptions, said Edward Jones analyst Josh Olson. He suspects major companies that rely on Office probably will be among the last users to make the switch.

"This is a good innovation, but the uptake may be slow to begin because it is so different," Olson said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/microsoft-retools-office-touch-screen-141236098--finance.html

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Bioinspired fibers change color when stretched

Jan. 28, 2013 ? A team of materials scientists at Harvard University and the University of Exeter, UK, have invented a new fiber that changes color when stretched. Inspired by nature, the researchers identified and replicated the unique structural elements that create the bright iridescent blue color of a tropical plant's fruit.

The multilayered fiber, described January 28 in the journal Advanced Materials, could lend itself to the creation of smart fabrics that visibly react to heat or pressure.

"Our new fiber is based on a structure we found in nature, and through clever engineering we've taken its capabilities a step further," says lead author Mathias Kolle, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). "The plant, of course, cannot change color. By combining its structure with an elastic material, however, we've created an artificial version that passes through a full rainbow of colors as it's stretched."

Since the evolution of the first eye on Earth more than 500 million years ago, the success of many organisms has relied upon the way they interact with light and color, making them useful models for the creation of new materials. For seeds and fruit in particular, bright color is thought to have evolved to attract the agents of seed dispersal, especially birds.

The fruit of the South American tropical plant, Margaritaria nobilis, commonly called "bastard hogberry," is an intriguing example of this adaptation. The ultra-bright blue fruit, which is low in nutritious content, mimics a more fleshy and nutritious competitor. Deceived birds eat the fruit and ultimately release its seeds over a wide geographic area.

"The fruit of this bastard hogberry plant was scientifically delightful to pick," says principal investigator Peter Vukusic, Associate Professor in Natural Photonics at the University of Exeter. "The light-manipulating architecture its surface layer presents, which has evolved to serve a specific biological function, has inspired an extremely useful and interesting technological design."

Vukusic and his collaborators at Harvard studied the structural origin of the seed's vibrant color. They discovered that the upper cells in the seed's skin contain a curved, repeating pattern, which creates color through the interference of light waves. (A similar mechanism is responsible for the bright colors of soap bubbles.) The team's analysis revealed that multiple layers of cells in the seed coat are each made up of a cylindrically layered architecture with high regularity on the nano- scale.

The team replicated the key structural elements of the fruit to create flexible, stretchable and color-changing photonic fibers using an innovative roll-up mechanism perfected in the Harvard laboratories.

"For our artificial structure, we cut down the complexity of the fruit to just its key elements," explains Kolle. "We use very thin fibers and wrap a polymer bilayer around them. That gives us the refractive index contrast, the right number of layers, and the curved, cylindrical cross-section that we need to produce these vivid colors."

The researchers say that the process could be scaled up and developed to suit industrial production.

"Our fiber-rolling technique allows the use of a wide range of materials, especially elastic ones, with the color-tuning range exceeding by an order of magnitude anything that has been reported for thermally drawn fibers," says coauthor Joanna Aizenberg, Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science at Harvard SEAS, and Kolle's adviser. Aizenberg is also Director of the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard and a Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard.

The fibers' superior mechanical properties, combined with their demonstrated color brilliance and tunability, make them very versatile. For instance, the fibers can be wound to coat complex shapes. Because the fibers change color under strain, the technology could lend itself to smart sports textiles that change color in areas of muscle tension, or that sense when an object is placed under strain as a result of heat.

Additional coauthors included Alfred Lethbridge at the University of Exeter, Moritz Kreysing at Ludwig Maximilians University (Germany), and Jeremy B. Baumberg, Professor of Nanophotonics at the University of Cambridge (UK).

This research was supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and through a postdoctoral research fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The researchers also benefited from facilities at the Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems, which is part of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation. The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard also contributed to this research.

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Journal Reference:

1. Mathias Kolle, Alfred Lethbridge, Moritz Kreysing, Jeremy J. Baumberg, Joanna Aizenberg, Peter Vukusic. Bio-Inspired Band-Gap Tunable Elastic Optical Multilayer Fibers. Advanced Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1002/adma.201203529

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/F55whN1jT3w/130128151938.htm

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SCGS - Family Tree Maker Software User Group - February 10

SCGS Family Tree Maker Software User Group ? Meeting Notice, February 10, 2013

Continuing with charts in the Publish Workspace, we will compare the various chart styles ? Pedigree, Descendant, Bow Tie, Fan, Hourglass, etc.

Additional topics will address PDF output for charts and demonstrate the installation of a free PDF printer driver.

Finally we will review major features of the Plan Workspace and revisit the saving of record images from Ancestry.com, noting the differences between the Standard and Advanced Image Viewers.

For questions, contact Dick Humphrey at rlh1335@gmail.com.

Sunday, February 10, 2013
4:00 p.m.? 6:00 p.m.
Southern California Genealogical Society Family Research Library
417 Irving Drive
Burbank, California 91504

Source: http://scgsgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/01/scgs-family-tree-maker-software-user.html

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Power helps you live the good life by bringing you closer to your true self

Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Anna Mikulak
amikulak@psychologicalscience.org
202-293-9300
Association for Psychological Science

How does being in a position of power at work, with friends, or in a romantic relationship influence well-being? While we might like to believe the stereotype that power leads to unhappiness or loneliness, new research indicates that this stereotype is largely untrue: Being in a position of power may actually make people happier.

Drawing on personality and power research, Yona Kifer of Tel Aviv University in Israel and colleagues hypothesized that holding a position of authority might enhance subjective well-being through an increased feeling of authenticity. The researchers predicted that because the powerful are able to "navigate their lives in congruence with their internal desires and inclinations," they feel as if they are acting more authentically more "themselves" and thus are more content.

Their findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

In their first experiment, the researchers surveyed over 350 participants to determine if internal feelings of power are associated with subjective well-being in different contexts: at work, with friends, or in romantic relationships.

The results indicated that people who feel powerful in any context tend to be more content.

The most powerful people surveyed felt 16% more satisfied with their lives than the least powerful people. This effect was most pronounced in the workplace: Powerful employees were 26% more satisfied with their jobs than their powerless colleagues. The power-based discrepancy in happiness was smaller for friendships and romantic relationships. The researchers posit that this may be because friendships are associated with a sense of community rather than hierarchy, and therefore having power in this kind of relationship is less important.

In the second and third experiments, Kifer and colleagues examined the causal relationship between power, feelings of authenticity, and general well-being, by manipulating each of the factors independently. The results revealed that being in a position of power causes people to feel more authentic and "true to themselves" that is, it allows their actions to more closely reflect their beliefs and desires. Feelings of authenticity, in turn, enhance subjective feelings of well-being and happiness.

"By leading people to be true to their desires and inclinations to be authentic power leads individuals to experience greater happiness," the researchers conclude.

Kifer and colleagues propose that future research into power dynamics, happiness, and authenticity should focus on specific kinds of power, both positive (such as charisma) and negative (such as punishment).

Together, these findings suggest that even the perception of having power can lead people to live more authentic lives, thereby increasing their happiness and well-being.

###

Co-authors on this research include Daniel Heller of Tel Aviv University, Wei Qi Elaine Perunovic of University of New Brunswick, and Adam Galinsky of Columbia Business School.

This research was supported by grants from the Henry Crown Institute of Business Research in Israel and by a Harrison McCain Young Scholar award.

For more information about this study, please contact: Yona Kifer at yona.kifer@gmail.com.

The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "The Good Life of the Powerful: The Experience of Power and Authenticity Enhances Subjective Well-Being" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Anna Mikulak at 202-293-9300 or amikulak@psychologicalscience.org.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Anna Mikulak
amikulak@psychologicalscience.org
202-293-9300
Association for Psychological Science

How does being in a position of power at work, with friends, or in a romantic relationship influence well-being? While we might like to believe the stereotype that power leads to unhappiness or loneliness, new research indicates that this stereotype is largely untrue: Being in a position of power may actually make people happier.

Drawing on personality and power research, Yona Kifer of Tel Aviv University in Israel and colleagues hypothesized that holding a position of authority might enhance subjective well-being through an increased feeling of authenticity. The researchers predicted that because the powerful are able to "navigate their lives in congruence with their internal desires and inclinations," they feel as if they are acting more authentically more "themselves" and thus are more content.

Their findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

In their first experiment, the researchers surveyed over 350 participants to determine if internal feelings of power are associated with subjective well-being in different contexts: at work, with friends, or in romantic relationships.

The results indicated that people who feel powerful in any context tend to be more content.

The most powerful people surveyed felt 16% more satisfied with their lives than the least powerful people. This effect was most pronounced in the workplace: Powerful employees were 26% more satisfied with their jobs than their powerless colleagues. The power-based discrepancy in happiness was smaller for friendships and romantic relationships. The researchers posit that this may be because friendships are associated with a sense of community rather than hierarchy, and therefore having power in this kind of relationship is less important.

In the second and third experiments, Kifer and colleagues examined the causal relationship between power, feelings of authenticity, and general well-being, by manipulating each of the factors independently. The results revealed that being in a position of power causes people to feel more authentic and "true to themselves" that is, it allows their actions to more closely reflect their beliefs and desires. Feelings of authenticity, in turn, enhance subjective feelings of well-being and happiness.

"By leading people to be true to their desires and inclinations to be authentic power leads individuals to experience greater happiness," the researchers conclude.

Kifer and colleagues propose that future research into power dynamics, happiness, and authenticity should focus on specific kinds of power, both positive (such as charisma) and negative (such as punishment).

Together, these findings suggest that even the perception of having power can lead people to live more authentic lives, thereby increasing their happiness and well-being.

###

Co-authors on this research include Daniel Heller of Tel Aviv University, Wei Qi Elaine Perunovic of University of New Brunswick, and Adam Galinsky of Columbia Business School.

This research was supported by grants from the Henry Crown Institute of Business Research in Israel and by a Harrison McCain Young Scholar award.

For more information about this study, please contact: Yona Kifer at yona.kifer@gmail.com.

The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "The Good Life of the Powerful: The Experience of Power and Authenticity Enhances Subjective Well-Being" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Anna Mikulak at 202-293-9300 or amikulak@psychologicalscience.org.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/afps-phy012813.php

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The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: She Might Be Cray Cray

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Brother Stephen Baker Commits Suicide, Franciscan Friar Accused Of Sexual Abuse In 2 States

PHILADELPHIA ? A Franciscan friar accused of sexually abusing students at Catholic high schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania killed himself at a western Pennsylvania monastery, police said Saturday.

Brother Stephen Baker, 62, was found dead of a self-inflicted knife wound at the St. Bernardine Monastery in Hollidaysburg on Saturday morning, Blair Township Police Chief Roger White said. He declined to say whether a note was found.

Baker was named in legal settlements last week involving 11 men who alleged that he sexually abused them at a Catholic high school in northeast Ohio three decades ago. The undisclosed financial settlements announced Jan. 16 involved his contact with students at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio from 1986-90.

The Youngstown diocese previously said it was unaware of the allegations until nearly 20 years after the alleged abuse.

"Let us continue to pray for all victims of abuse, for Brother Baker's family and the repose of his soul," Youngstown Bishop George Murry said in a statement Saturday.

After the settlements were announced, the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese in central Pennsylvania said it received complaints in 2011 of possible abuse by Baker at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Bishop McCort High School hired an attorney to investigate after several former students alleged they were molested by Baker in the 1990s. Attorney Susan Williams said three former students had talked to her in detail about the alleged abuse.

Baker taught and coached at John F. Kennedy High School in the late 1980's and early 1990's and was at Bishop McCort from 1992-2000.

Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese said in a statement that he was saddened by the news of Baker's death, but declined further comment citing pending legal action involving the diocese.

A message left for Father Patrick Quinn, the head of Baker's order, the Third Order Regular Franciscans, was not immediately returned.

Judy Jones, assistant Midwest director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the organization still hopes people who know about other abuse allegations against Baker will continue to come forward.

"We feel sad for Br. Baker's family but even sadder for the dozens of boys who Baker assaulted," she said in a statement.

___

Dan Sewell in Cincinnati contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/friar-accused-of-abuse-suicide_n_2559345.html

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German lawmakers give Britain's Cameron qualified backing on EU

BERLIN (Reuters) - Britain is right to demand greater openness in the European Union but cannot expect to be accorded special rights that might unravel the bloc, senior members of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition were quoted on Sunday as saying.

British Prime Minister David Cameron triggered dismay in many European capitals last week with his call for radical reform of the EU and his promise of an "in-out" referendum on Britain's membership by the end of 2017, provided he wins a second term.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, is keen to keep a kindred advocate of free trade and open markets inside the EU and has been more measured in its criticism while making clear there are limits to how far it can go in accommodating British concerns.

"It would be entirely wrong to respond to Prime Minister Cameron's overture with a kneejerk rejection," said Alexander Dobrindt, general secretary of the Christian Social Union (CSU), Bavarian sister party of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).

"Whoever condemns wholesale Cameron's idea for a national referendum on Europe fans distrust towards Europe, as if Europe must hide away from people," he told weekly Spiegel magazine.

Bavaria's Economy Minister Martin Zeil, of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), junior partner in Merkel's coalition, also defended Cameron's speech, especially his call for measures to improve Europe's competitiveness.

Both the CSU and the FDP have become more critical of the European Union during the euro zone debt crisis amid concerns the currency area may turn into a 'transfer union' whereby richer countries such as Germany have to keep bailing out poorer neighbors.

But Dobrindt also signaled the limits of German patience.

"It is clear that in an optimal Europe there can be no place for special rights for individual countries," he said, adding that included Britain's cherished rebate negotiated in the 1980s that reduces its contribution to the EU's central budget.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle of the FDP said in an article for Die Welt newspaper there could be no far-reaching repatriation of EU competences to the national level as Cameron wants because it would wreck the single market.

"I fear that in so doing we would call up spirits which, like the sorcerer's apprentice in Goethe's poem, we would no longer be able to control," he wrote in an article which also endorsed British calls for more transparency in the EU.

Merkel, speaking in Chile during a summit of European and Latin American leaders, repeated her view that London and its European partners must seek a mutually acceptable compromise.

Merkel said she told Latin American leaders quizzing her about a possible British exit: "We, insofar as we represent here the whole EU, say quite unanimously that we wish Britain to stay in the EU."

(Reporting by Gareth Jones in Berlin and Andreas Rinke in Santiago de Chile; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/german-lawmakers-britains-cameron-qualified-backing-eu-174024952.html

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Hot Real Estate Investment News This Week 2013-01-26

All the Real Estate News That?s Fit to RE-Print?

Welcome to our weekly edition of Hot Real Estate Investment News.

Real estate investing news items this week:

• The Milken Institute released its ?Best Performing Cities 2012.? Is your city on the list?

• Zillow?s fourth quarter Real Estate Market Reports? shows a 5.9 percent appreciation rate, the largest annual gain since August 2006.

• The number of loans in foreclosure shadow inventory decreased from Q2 to Q3

• DataQuick?s Property Intelligence Report for January 2013 is now available.

Here are the real estate investing related news items that caught our attention this past week. We hope they help you stay up-to-date with your real estate investment strategies and inspire some profitable real estate deals for you.

Where America?s Jobs are Created and Sustained

We?re always excited to see the release of this annual report by the Milken Institute. It tries to answer some very interesting questions and offers valuable insights for real estate investors.

From the report:

?Why are some places in America prospering, and some struggling? What separates the cities that are positioned well for the future from those that are still mired in the setbacks inflicted by the financial crisis and the Great Recession?

Our annual Best-Performing Cities index provides a data-driven, comprehensive measure of economic strength across metropolitan areas. We include job, wage, and technology metrics over a five-year period to capture the structural elements.

A relative handful of communities have seen employment rebound to pre-recession levels; they are poised to gain a bigger share of the accelerating expansion we expect to see. Identifying the regions that weathered the downturn best and are recovering fastest reveals a range of ideas and strategies for seizing opportunity and keeping risk at bay.

One clear takeaway is that communities and industries that embrace technological know-how can claim an enviable advantage. In 2012, rewards accrued to those that designed and produced communications and computing devices. It also helped to have the stuff in the ground to meet America?s energy needs and host industries that lent stability to the local economy, if not spectacular growth.?

Is your city on the list? Get your free copy of ?Best Performing Cities 2012? here.

?But High Growth Rate Likely Unsustainable?

Zillow?s fourth quarter Real Estate Market Report, released Monday, show home values increased 2.5% from the third to fourth quarter of 2012 to $157,400. This quarter marks four consecutive quarters of national home value appreciation. On an annual basis, the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) rose 5.9% from December 2011 levels?.

See also:

Home Values See Largest Annual Gain Since 2006

The 5.9 percent appreciation rate is the largest annual gain since August 2006, near the peak of the housing bubble.

Esther Cho reports:

According to a report from Moody?s Investors Service, ??Moody?s revealed the number of loans in foreclosure shadow inventory, or loans in the process of foreclosure but with no resolution, decreased from Q2 to Q3, with the exception of jumbo loans from Citi and subprime loans from Bank of America.

From DSnews.com:

?Lender Processing Services (LPS) offered preliminary data on mortgage performance in December, revealing foreclosure inventory and delinquency rates were both down year-over-year.

The foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate fell to 3.4 percent in December. The figure represents a 2 percent decrease from November and an 18 percent drop from December 2011.?

December was yet another positive month for most measures of housing performance. While a recovery in housing is underway nationally, the strength of the housing market varies across the country. In comparison to prior reports, we see that home price growth and sales performance improved, while foreclosure performance worsened.

Key Findings:

• Home price growth was positive in all 42 reported counties over the last month, quarter, and year.

• ?Sales increased in 32 of the 42 reported counties over the last month.

• Sales increased in 12 of the 42 reported counties over the last quarter.

• Sales increased in 38 of the 42 reported counties over the last year.

• Foreclosures increased in 26 of the 42 reported counties over the last month.

• Foreclosures increased in 27 of the 42 reported counties over the last quarter.

• Foreclosures increased in 21 of the 42 reported counties over the last year.

Source: http://www.creonline.com/blog/hot-real-estate-investment-news-this-week-2013-01-26/

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Canadian natives vow to battle on as chief ends fast

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian native leaders vowed on Thursday to carry on the fight for better living conditions as a chief at the center of a simmering aboriginal protest movement ended her six-week hunger strike.

Chief Theresa Spence, from a remote northern Ontario reserve, called off the strike after holding negotiations with other aboriginal leaders and opposition lawmakers in Canadian Parliament.

"There was an awakening here," Danny Metatawabin, a spokesman for Spence, told a news conference in Ottawa. "Now we have to move forward."

"The fight does not end because the hunger strike ends."

Spence, who survived on a liquid diet while living in a tepee, was taken to a hospital for observation on Thursday and released.

"Always remember that we're here together and here for our people ... especially our youth," Spence told a crowd after leaving the hospital, according to CTV News.

She traveled to Ottawa from her remote northern Canadian reserve in December and set up camp on an island in the Ottawa River in view of Parliament to raise awareness about poor living conditions for natives across Canada.

She was a flashpoint in a boisterous Canadian aboriginal protest movement called "Idle No More." It began with four women in the province of Saskatchewan turning to Twitter and other social networks in a bid to rally North American natives.

They were protesting legislation by Canada's Conservative government that they say promotes industry while reducing environmental protection for lakes and rivers on their lands.

"These acts, these bills, they will kill us," said Raymond Robinson, an aboriginal elder from Manitoba who also ended a six-week hunger strike on Thursday. "We just need our equal opportunities."

Ottawa spends about C$11 billion ($11.1 billion) a year on its aboriginal population of 1.2 million. But living conditions for many are poor, and some reserves have high rates of poverty, addiction, joblessness and suicide.

Canadian native groups staged a day of action this month with protests that included blocking a rail line and slowing traffic across an Ontario-to-Michigan bridge crucial to U.S.-Canadian trade.

(Reporting By Russ Blinch; Editing by Xavier Briand)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/canadian-natives-vow-battle-chief-ends-fast-215237141.html

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'Self-financing' and managing housing debt ? the interests of tenants ...

Download a PDF of this article here selffinancing

As a result of Swindon?s Housing ballot result, when 72% of tenants voted against selling off our homes, the Council maintained ownership of its housing stock and was thus one of the local authorities included in the new Housing Finance system ? ?self-financing?. The government closed down the national Housing Revenue Account and shared out the national ?housing debt? amongst all the local authorities that still own their housing. Swindon?s share of that ?debt? was deemed to be ?138.6 million. The Council had to pay it off in one lump sum on March 28th of this year. In order for it to be able to so, the government?s Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) lent the Council that sum so it could pay the government. Having handed over this money to the government the Council is in debt to the PWLB. However, the money it borrowed from the PWLB was not one loan. It borrowed 22 of them, of varying sizes, for varying periods (see attached document). The debt structure determines what interest you pay and when the loans themselves fall due for payment. This has an impact on what money is available and when, for maintaining and improving tenants? homes. Yet despite the importance of this decision the Council did not consult tenants at all on the structuring of the debt.

Then they decided on the amount of debt to ?pay? at the end of the first year of the new system. Once again there was no discussion with tenants. As we shall see the amount of debt they decided to ?pay? means that tenants will suffer an insufficient level of renewals of some of the key components of their homes. The Council has been making decisions which impact upon us, behind our backs and without our involvement.

A Despite the new system being introduced in April of this year there has been no serious discussion about it, what it means on a practical level and how the interests of tenants can be best served in the new circumstances. Tenants have been kept in the dark. It?s time to try and throw some light on the situation.

The debt structure which the Council decided on, without consulting us, appears to have been determined not by the interests of tenants but according to the interests of the Council and its General Fund. For instance, none of the 22 loans borrowed from the PWLB is payable until Year 11 (2023). The reason they decided that there would be no debt payable to the PWLB for the first 10 years was so that the Council could ?take advantage? of the cheaper loans the PWLB gave them for the ?one-off (housing) debt settlement?. The advantage for the Council is that instead of borrowing new money direct from the government they are proposing to transfer money from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) to the General Fund (GF). Can they do that when the HRA is ?ring-fenced?, supposedly to stop our rents being used for non-housing purposes? Good question.

In order to ?take advantage? of our rent they decided (no discussion with us) that despite the fact that no debt repayment has to take place until 2023, the HRA would make a ?debt repayment? by way of an internal transfer between the HRA and the GF. By the use of an accountancy procedure the money would be shifted into the GF and deemed to be a ?debt repayment?. A ?minimum revenue payment? is registered, which would mark it down as a debt payment which would actually be paid at some unspecified date in the future. A Finance Manager described it as ?a set aside of cash to repay debt at some point?. The GF would take on responsibility for the debt and would pay the interest rate on the part of the debt which was transferred over from the HRA.

So, in the first year they decided (no discussion with us) that an ?8 million ?debt payment? would be transferred into the GF. This would save the HRA interest payments of ?250,000 a year. So the tenants? benefit out of this accountancy procedure then? Yes and no. Yes, insofar as the HRA has to pay ?250,000 interest a year less than it would otherwise do. However, the high level of ?debt repayment? means that tenants lose out big style.

To understand why we have to look at how the new system operates. When it is called ?self-financing? it means it literally. The end of the national Housing Finance system meant that all the Councils have been set adrift on their own. There are no more grants like the Major Repairs Allowance. We have only the money which is collected in from tenants? rents, service charges and one or two minor items.

Having been given the ?138.6 million debt we have to pay the interest on these loans and the loans themselves from the surplus which the Housing Revenue Account makes each year ? the income from rents etc, minus the expenditure on repairs and maintenance, management costs and so on. The surplus this year is expected to be ?19.1 million.

The interest we pay on the ?138.6 million is just over ?4.5 million a year. Housing debt which predated this has an interest payment of ?477,900. Added together this is as near as matters ?5 million a year. How much debt you pay off and when, is a question for discussion (or it should be). The Council decided that ?8 million ?debt repayment? would be made in the first year, leave aside the fact that this isn?t a real debt repayment for the moment, so that has to come out of the surplus as well as the interest payment.

The amount of debt ?paid? will determine how much money you have for the upkeep of the housing stock. This is graphically shown when we look at the amount of work projected for next year. Take the example of bathroom and kitchen renewals. The Council is proposing a miserable 150 renewals of each in 2013/14. You may recall that at the time of the ballot tenants were told that so dire was the situation because of the debt which the Council was going to be given by the government that they could ?only afford? to do 150 bathroom and kitchen renewals a year, for the first ten years. Swindon Tenants Campaign Group never believed this to be true. But we were never given the 30 year ?business plan? which was the Council?s projections for continued ownership if the tenants voted against transfer, so we had no idea about the ?debt payments?.

Now we discover that the reason why they can only ?afford? to do 150 bathrooms and 150 kitchens is precisely because they are proposing to ?pay? ?8 million debt (in reality an internal transfer). If, on the other hand ?5 million was ?paid?, that would mean there would be ?3 million extra for our homes. So for 2013/14 the budget for Kitchen modernisation is ?672,000 and for Bathroom modernisation is ?465,000. If you scaled those up to 450 of each the budgets would be ?2,016,000 and ?1,395,000. The increase in spending for the kitchens would be ?1,344,000 and ?930,000 for bathrooms, or ?2,274,000 and you would still have ?726,000 to spend on other things from the extra ?3 million. It would also be possible to pay no debt and this would mean an extra ?8 million was available for work on our homes. There is in fact no need to pay the loans in the early years though whether or not you do is a matter of judgement which requires a discussion on the various elements of the finances.

So the Council is proposing a ?debt repayment? which is counter to the interests of tenants and would inevitably lead to a deterioration in the stock , building up a backlog of work. A lower level of renewals will mean a higher number of repairs, wasting money. So the ?debt management strategy? which they have decided on without any discussion whatsoever with tenants means that the interests of tenants are being sacrificed in the interests of the Council?s administration for the benefit of the General Fund.

Although the decision on the ?8 million ?debt repayment? was made earlier in the year, in fact it does not fall due until the end of this financial year. Since it has not yet been made then there is time for the decision to be reversed or amended. The Council has an obligation to consult with tenants and it did not. This unilateral decision was out of order, completely unacceptable.

Another curious thing about the debt structure is that at the time of the ballot we were told that the debt had to be paid off over 30 years. In fact there is no obligation to pay off the debt at all. As a Finance Manager said to me, you could decide not to pay it off so long as you were happy to carry on paying the interest. Whether that would be wise is another matter. As it happens the Council has actually borrowed money for 40 years (no discussion with us). Some ?29 million falls due after 30 years. We don?t know why they decided to borrow it for that long. Whatever the reason their decision means that tenants will have to pay more money through their rent than they would have if the loans were over 30 years because the longer the borrowing is for then the higher the rate of interest.

How you manage this debt is infinitely variable. You might decide to pay it off in 30 years or 40 years. If you were to pay it off in equal instalments it would require ?5 million a year over 30 years (the overall debt is ?150 million since there was nearly ?12 million ?outstanding debt?), or it could be paid off over ?40 years which would be an equal payment of ?3.75 million a year, which would leave even more money for work on the stock. As you can see there are any number of variants of how you deal with this debt. The key question for us is what is in the best interests of existing and future tenants. However, this is a question which the Council has ignored because it has made a decision on the basis of its interests and not ours.

Whatever the technicalities involved in this discussion there is a very simple principle on which it must be based. It is the responsibility of the Council to maintain and improve the housing stock . It should not be determining ?debt management strategy? such that the stock deteriorates.

Certainly the Council should be neither deciding on debt structure nor debt repayment without the involvement of tenants in meaningful discussion. What this sorry situation underlines is the need for a Housing Finance Committee to? set up to discuss debt management strategy and to have an oversight of the finances as they develop through the course of each year, so that, for instance, any money programmed but not spent is utilised elsewhere. For instance, because of the welfare ?reforms? an extra 120 voids have been added into the programme, in the expectation of more people asking for moves. However, evidence is that barely any of those facing the ?bedroom tax? are requesting to move. If this remains the case throughout the year then this money can be used for other things.

We also need to discuss the relationship between the ?ring-fenced? HRA and the GF. One of the intentions of the ?self-financing? system was to move to a situation where all housing debt was kept in the? HRA so that there was transparency and it was clear that no rent money was used for non-housing purposes and visa versa. Whilst there is no illegality in relation to the transfer of money from the HRA for the purposes of ?debt payment?, it is highly dubious because as currently proposed the action is directed at benefiting the GF to the detriment of the tenants and the housing stock. The GF is saving money at our expense.

One final thing which needs emphasising is this. The housing debt will be paid for by the tenants, not by the GF or the Council Tax. It was the price we paid for being able to keep all the rent which our tenants pay when the old Housing Revenue system was ended. Whatever ?debt repayments? are made, be they to the PWLB, or internal transfers to the GF, they only have any legitimacy if the strategy serves the interests of tenants and helps to improve our housing stock. Our rent is for the benefit of tenants it is not for the convenience of the Council or the GF. Moreover the Council should not be deciding how to use it without discussing with tenants. It is after all our living conditions that are positively or adversely affected by ?debt management strategy?.

Martin Wicks

Secretary, Swindon Tenants Campaign Group

January 20th 2013

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Source: http://martinwicks.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/self-financing-and-managing-housing-debt-the-interests-of-tenants-come-first/

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Best Buy's Got a Crazy Sale on the MacBook Air

Best Buy apparently didn't lose enough money matching Walmart's iPhone prices. Now it's running an absurd two day sale on MacBook Airs. You can save $200 off four 2012 models, which is the deepest discount on a new MacBook Air Dealzmodo has ever seen. The promotion is running through tomorrow, so you've got a day to figure out whether you want to pull the trigger. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/nm4jOdlll7k/best-buys-got-a-crazy-sale-on-the-macbook-air

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Angry protests leave 7 dead on Egypt anniversary

Egyptian protesters take cover as they clash with riot police, not seen, near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Two years after Egypt's revolution began, the country's schism was on display Friday as the mainly liberal and secular opposition held rallies saying the goals of the pro-democracy uprising have not been met and denouncing Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. With the anniversary, Egypt is definitively in the new phase of its upheaval. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Egyptian protesters take cover as they clash with riot police, not seen, near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Two years after Egypt's revolution began, the country's schism was on display Friday as the mainly liberal and secular opposition held rallies saying the goals of the pro-democracy uprising have not been met and denouncing Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. With the anniversary, Egypt is definitively in the new phase of its upheaval. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

An Egyptian protester evacuates an injured boy during clashes near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Two years after Egypt's revolution began, the country's schism was on display Friday as the mainly liberal and secular opposition held rallies saying the goals of the pro-democracy uprising have not been met and denouncing Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Thousands of Egyptian protesters gather in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Two years after Egypt's revolution began, the country's schism was on display Friday as the mainly liberal and secular opposition held rallies saying the goals of the pro-democracy uprising have not been met and denouncing Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. With the anniversary, Egypt is definitively in the new phase of its upheaval. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Skirmishes break out between protesters and security forces, unseen, near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Egyptian opposition protesters are gathering in Cairo's Tahrir Square to mark the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's autocratic regime. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Skirmishes break out between protesters and security forces, unseen, near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Egyptian opposition protesters are gathering in Cairo's Tahrir Square to mark the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's autocratic regime. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

CAIRO (AP) ? Violence erupted across Egypt on Friday as tens of thousands took to the streets to deliver an angry backlash against President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, demanding regime change on the second anniversary of the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak. At least seven people were killed.

Two years to the day after protesters first rose up against the autocratic ex-president, the new phase of Egypt's upheaval was on display: the struggle between ruling Islamists and their opponents, played out against the backdrop of a worsening economy.

Rallies turned to clashes in multiple cities around Egypt, with police firing tear gas and protesters throwing stones. At least six people, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in Suez, where protesters set ablaze a building that once housed the city's local government. Another person died in clashes in Ismailia, another Suez Canal city east of Cairo.

At least 480 people were injured nationwide, the Health Ministry said, including five with gunshot wounds in Suez, raising the possibility of a higher death toll.

Early on Saturday, army troops backed by armored vehicles deployed in the area outside the building housing the local government in Suez. The Third Field Army from which the troops were drawn announced that the deployed force was there to protect state institutions and that it was not taking sides.

Friday's rallies brought out at least 500,000 Morsi opponents, a small proportion of Egypt's 85 million people, but large enough to show that antipathy toward the president and his Islamist allies is strong in a country fatigued by two years of political turmoil, surging crime and an economy in free fall. Protests ? and clashes ? took place in at least 12 of Egypt's 27 provinces, including several Islamist strongholds.

"I will never leave until Morsi leaves," declared protester Sara Mohammed as she was treated for tear gas inhalation outside the presidential palace in Cairo's Heliopolis district. "What can possibly happen to us? Will we die? That's fine, because then I will be with God as a martyr. Many have died before us and even if we don't see change, future generations will."

The opposition's immediate goal was a show of strength to force Morsi to amend the country's new constitution, ratified in a national referendum last month despite objections that it failed to guarantee individual freedoms.

More broadly, the protests display the extent of public anger toward the Muslim Brotherhood, which opponents accuse of acting unilaterally rather than creating a broad-based democracy.

During his six months in office, Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected and civilian president, has faced the worst crises since Mubarak's ouster ? divisions that have left the nation scarred and in disarray. A wave of demonstrations erupted in November and December following a series of presidential decrees that temporarily gave Morsi near absolute powers, placing him above any oversight, including by the judiciary.

The Brotherhood and its Islamist allies, including the ultraconservative Salafis, have justified their hold by pointing to a string of election victories over the past year. The opposition contends they have gone far beyond what they say is a narrow mandate ? Morsi won the presidency with less than 52 percent of the vote. Brotherhood officials depict the opposition as undemocratic, using the streets to try to overturn an elected leadership.

The extent of the estrangement was evident late Thursday when, in a televised speech, Morsi denounced what he called a "counter-revolution" led by remnants of Mubarak's regime.

Early Saturday, Morsi called on Egyptians to express their views "peacefully and freely," without violence. Writing on his Twitter account, he offered his condolences to the families of those killed and pledged to bring the culprits to justice.

His tweets appeared to be an attempt to project an image of himself as president of all Egyptians, in the face of repeated opposition claims that he has been biased in favor of the Brotherhood, from which he hails and to which he remains loyal.

Unlike in 2012, when both sides made a show of marking Jan. 25, the Brotherhood stayed off the streets on Friday's anniversary. The group said it was honoring the occasion with acts of public service, such as treating the sick and planting trees.

On the horizon are key elections to choose a new lower house of parliament. The opposition is hoping to leverage public anger into a substantial bloc in the legislature, but must still weld together an effective campaign in the face of the Islamists' strength at the ballot box. Last winter, the Brotherhood and Salafis won around 75 percent of the lower house's seats, though the body was later disbanded by court order.

Pending the election of a new lower house, Morsi gave legislative powers to parliament's Islamist-dominated upper house, a normally toothless chamber elected by only about 7 percent of Egypt's 50 million voters in balloting last year.

Friday's protests re-created the tone of the 18-day uprising against Mubarak, including the same chants, this time directed against Morsi: "Erhal! Erhal!" ?"Leave! Leave!" ? and "The people want to topple the regime."

Clashes erupted outside the presidential palace in Cairo when youths tried to push through a police barricade. In other cities, protesters tried to break into Brotherhood offices as well as government and security buildings.

Clashes between protesters and police outside the state TV building in central Cairo continued into the small hours of Saturday. Some of the protesters held sit-ins in major squares and streets, insisting they would not disperse until Morsi leaves office.

Standing near Tahrir Square, retiree Ahmed Afifi said he joined the protests because he was struggling to feed his five children on less than $200 a month.

"I am retired and took another job just to make ends meet," Afifi said, his eyes filling with tears. "I am close to begging. Under Mubarak, life was hard, but at least we had security. ... The first people hit by high prices are the poor people right here."

Tens of thousands massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where the 2011 uprising began, and outside Morsi's palace, where banners proclaimed "No to the corrupt Muslim Brotherhood government" and "Two years since the revolution, where is social justice?" Others demonstrated outside the state TV and radio building overlooking the Nile.

In the Nile Delta towns of Menouf and Shibeen el-Koum, protesters blocked railway lines, disrupting train services to and from Cairo. In Ismailia on the Suez Canal, protesters stormed the building housing the provincial government, looting some of its contents. There were also clashes outside Morsi's home in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiyah.

The demands of the loosely knit opposition were varied. Some on the extremist fringe want Morsi to step down and the constitution rescinded. Others are calling for the document to be amended and early presidential elections held.

"There must be a constitution for all Egyptians, a constitution that every one of us sees himself in," Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei said in a televised message posted on his party's website.

Democracy campaigner and best-selling novelist Alaa al-Aswany marched with ElBaradei to Tahrir. "It is impossible to impose a constitution on Egyptians ... and the revolution today will bring this constitution down," he said.

Morsi's opponents complain that he has kept government appointments almost entirely within the Brotherhood, installing its members to everything from governorships and chiefs of state TV and newspapers, down to preachers in state-run mosques.

Many were also angered by the constitution and the way Islamists pushed it through in an all-night session and then brought it to a swift referendum in which only a third of voters participated. The result is a document that could bring a much stricter implementation of Shariah, or Islamic law, than modern Egypt has ever seen.

Looming over the struggle between the Islamists and opposition is an economy in tatters since Mubarak's ouster. The vital tourism sector has slumped, investment has shriveled, foreign currency reserves have tumbled, prices are on the rise and the local currency has been sliding.

More pain is likely in coming months if the government implements unpopular new austerity measures to secure a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

____

Associated Press reporters Aya Batrawy and Mariam Rizk contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-25-Egypt/id-e8e8f19294a44fae9e67165ea62de020

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NM teen spent day at church after family slain

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? Just hours after a New Mexico teen allegedly gunned down his parents and younger siblings inside the family's home, he was spotted walking the campus of one of Albuquerque's largest Christian churches as security personnel conducted a safety class for dozens of Sunday school teachers.

Video surveillance shows 15-year-old Nehemiah Griego had spent the better part of the day at Calvary Albuquerque last Saturday.

Church security chief Vince Harrison says he doesn't know why Griego decided to come to the church other than it was like his second home.

Harrison says it was a familiar place and people had embraced the teen that Saturday morning, unaware of what had happened.

Griego is facing murder and child abuse charges in connection with his family's slaying. Authorities say he also had plans to drive to a Wal-Mart to shoot more people.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

The New Mexico teen accused of killing his parents and three siblings is portrayed in charging documents as a boy haunted by homicidal and suicidal thoughts that included fantasies of killing his girlfriend's parents and gunning down random people at a Wal-Mart.

To his family, he was a bright and talented musician who played guitar, drums and bass with a church group. He also was a champion wrestler who dreamed of following his family's long tradition of military service, and a boy who accompanied his pastor father on rescue missions to Mexico.

In a statement issued Tuesday night on behalf of family, the boy's uncle Eric Griego described those traits, and called on the media and the public not to use 15-year-old Nehemiah Griego "as a pawn for ratings or to score political points."

"He is a troubled young man who made a terrible decision that will haunt him and his family forever," the statement said.

It gave no clue as to what might have prompted the alleged assault by the teen, who authorities say confessed to shooting his mother and three younger siblings in their beds early Saturday, then waiting in a bathroom with a military-style semi-automatic rifle to ambush his father upon his return from an overnight shift at a homeless shelter.

"Our family is heartbroken over this senseless tragedy," the statement said. "We have not been able to comprehend what led to this incredibly sad situation. However, we are deeply concerned about the portrayal in some media of Nehemiah as some kind of a monster."

The family noted they had no indication such a tragedy could happen, but said it's clear something went terribly wrong.

"Whether it was a mental breakdown or some deeper undiagnosed psychological issue, we can't be sure yet," the statement said. "What we do know is that none of us, even in our wildest nightmare, could have imagined that he could do something like this."

After killing his parents, younger brother and two sisters at the family's home in a rural area southwest of Albuquerque, Griego planned to randomly shoot people at a Wal-Mart, Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston said Tuesday. The teen also contemplated killing the parents of his 12-year-old girlfriend, Houston said.

Griego loaded guns and ammunition into the family's van, but it was unclear if he ended up going to a Wal-Mart or how seriously he contemplated continuing his rampage, the sheriff said.

The attack happened Saturday, the same day thousands of gun advocates rallied around the country to oppose the gun-control measures proposed by President Barack Obama following the December elementary school massacre in Connecticut.

What authorities know, Houston said, was that Griego texted a picture of his dead mother to his girlfriend, then spent much of Saturday with the girl and her family. That evening, Griego went to the church where his father once worked, and he confessed later that night to killing his parents and three siblings, authorities said.

"We know Nehemiah had been contemplating this for some time," Houston said. Griego apparently had told others of his plans, but whom and when were still under investigation, the sheriff said.

The motive, Houston said, "was purely that he was frustrated with his mother."

"He did not give any further explanation," he said.

The teen waived his right to arraignment in adult criminal court Tuesday on charges of murder and child abuse resulting in death and was ordered held without bond. He was arrested Saturday at his family's home.

The sheriff's office identified the dead as Greg Griego, 51, his wife, Sarah Griego, 40, and three of their children: a 9-year-old boy, Zephania Griego, and daughters Jael Griego, 5, and Angelina Griego, 2.

The teen had no history of mental illness or run-ins with the law, and neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to be a factor, Houston said. The sheriff noted the teen liked violent video games such as "Modern Warfare" and "Grand Theft Auto," but he didn't say whether he believed the games were a factor.

Greg Griego was a gang member-turned pastor who had served at Calvary, one of Albuquerque's largest Christian churches. He had an extensive arrest record from his gang days, but was best known throughout the law enforcement community for his work as a volunteer chaplain.

The church planned a prayer vigil Wednesday night.

"We are doing what we can as a church body to minister to the remaining family members," Calvary Pastor Skip Heitzig said in a statement. "Only the Lord Jesus Christ can heal this type of pain and heartache."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nm-teen-spent-day-church-family-slain-011106787.html

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