Egypt's President calls parliament elections in April

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has announced the first post-constitution parliamentary elections to be held from April in an attempt to douse the mounting anti-government protests and continued political impasse.

Mursi, in a decree last night, announced that the vote will take place in four stages due to a shortage of election supervisors. The new parliament will convene on July 6.

The election process will take place in four stages, April 27-28, May 15-16 and June 2-3 and 19-20, according to the official decree released by the president's spokesman, Yassir Ali. Runoffs will be held one week after each stage.

More stages raise the possibility of more politically charged violence, particularly in the province of Port Said, the CNN reported.

In the past year, violent clashes in the coastal province along the Suez Canal have highlighted the longstanding resentment residents there feel towards Cairo. Both Port Said and Cairo are included in the first round of voting.

Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement hope the election will put an end to increasingly vocal opposition and street protests, experts said.

The Islamist-dominated parliament was dissolved last June after judges ruled election laws were unconstitutional.

Earlier, the upper house of parliament, the Shura Council, agreed to amend the elections law based on changes proposed by the High Constitution Court.

The election call comes at time of deep political crisis which has divided the country into two groups, one supporting political Islamists and another opposing it.

The secular opposition represented in the National Salvation Front has decided to boycott the elections as long as their preconditions are not met. The preconditions include guarantees for transparency of elections.

These will be the first elections since Egypt's [ Images ] highest court dissolved the lower house of parliament, and it will be the first full parliament in Mursi's presidency. The upper house, the Shura Council, has continued to meet.

A number of opposition groups staged anti-government rallies on Friday.

The demands of the protesters include, "holding President Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood to account for their crimes against Egyptians, the dismissal of the Mursi-appointed prosecutor-general, and the immediate release of detained political activists," a statement released by the opposition protesters said.

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Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/egypt-s-president-calls-parliament-elections-in-april/20130222.htm

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Will the Border Ever Be Secure Enough for Immigration Hawks? (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Congressman Paul Tonko to Saratoga Chamber members: Energy, foreign policies need change

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Congressman Paul Tonko met with the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce for a breakfast at Saratoga National on Thursday morning to discuss what he is doing to improve the local economy.

By PAUL POST
ppost@saratogian.com
Twitter.com/paulvpost

Congressman Paul Tonko met with the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce for a breakfast at Saratoga National on Thursday morning to discuss what he is doing to improve the local economy. Photo Erica Miller

SARATOGA SPRINGS ? Capital investment, retooling industry with advanced manufacturing and workforce training are keys to continued economic recovery, U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko said Thursday.

Improved energy efficiencies and increased renewable power generation, such as wind and solar, also would reduce America?s dependence on foreign energy, which represents a national security threat, he said.

Tonko, D-Amsterdam, was elected to his third term in Congress last fall and was recently named to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

?We?re getting hit hard at the pump,? he said. ?It?s out of our control. We?re spending hundreds of billions of American consumer energy dollars that?s being invested in foreign budgets, and they?re using these American dollars to train their troops to kill our sons and daughters. It?s immoral, and it ought to stop.

?It?s time to bring the troops home and go forward with nation building at home.?

Tonko addressed more than 100 area business people gathered at a Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce event at Saratoga National Golf Course.

A former state Assemblyman, Tonko was also president and chief executive officer of the New York Energy Research and Development Authority before running for Congress. Energy policy is what prompted him to seek national office, he said.

His 20th district, which includes southern Saratoga County and Saratoga Springs, is one of the country?s leading hotbeds for high-tech industrial growth. To supply its energy demands, old transmission infrastructure must be replaced with super-conductive cable that can carry up to 10 times more electricity than existing lines, he said.

Deregulating the industry caused more problems than it solved, he said.

?Our system was designed to be a monopoly, to serve a region,? he said. ?The system now is asked to wheel electrons from region to region, state to state, country to country because of our importing of power from Canada. Our system is aged. It requires research. That research requires jobs.? Continued...

In a related matter, Tonko criticized proposed across-the-board ? so-called ?sequestration? ? federal budget cuts that are slated to kick in beginning next Friday, March 1, unless Congress and President Obama agree to a different deal.

Defense spending alone, a major contributor to Saratoga County?s economy, would be slashed $46 billion. The navy?s West Milton nuclear facility employs hundreds of people.

Also, Espey Manufacturing, in Saratoga Springs, relies heavily on military contracts and many Saratoga County residents are tied to the Air National Guard?s 109th Airlift Wing, at Stratton Air Base in Scotia.

Tonko said spending cuts should be priority-driven.

?Are you going to cut trips to the theater the same as trips to the grocery store?? he said. ?It?s mindless. It?s a lack-of-courage type of approach to the budget cutting we have to do. We?re going to hurt this economy with sequestration.?

Unlike recent predecessors, Tonko does not have a district office in Saratoga Springs, which be blamed on budget uncertainties.

However, his mobile office visited Malta last month and he?s planning a series of ?town hall? type meeting to garner public feedback including one from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 9 at Saratoga Springs City Center.

In late April, he and U.S. Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, are planning a business-oriented meeting in Saratoga Springs. Owens represents northern Saratoga County.

Also, Tonko will be at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library on Friday, March 22.

His district director, Sean Shortell, originally from Saratoga Springs, is a 2002 Saratoga Catholic Central High School graduate.

Source: http://saratogian.com/articles/2013/02/21/news/doc5126527b7cf41793708693.txt

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Curiosity makes history with scoop ? and begins Mars mission in earnest

NASA's Curiosity rover has successfully drilled into bedrock and scooped the sample ? a first for Mars exploration. It was the rover's last systems test, meaning the training wheels are off.

By Pete Spotts / February 20, 2013

NASA's Curiosity rover collects a sample after drilling into a Martian rock.

NASA/AP

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In drilling a small hole into bedrock on the floor of Gale Crater and tucking the sample into a scoop, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has made space-exploration history and passed a significant mission milestone.

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It's the first time any rover has done more than scratch the surface of rocks on the red planet. And it's the first time a robotic craft has drilled on any planet other than Earth since the then-Soviet Union put two landers on the surface of Venus in 1981, each of which drilled into soils and returned data during their brief operation on the planet's harsh surface.

The test represented the final step in the rover's commissioning period, which began shortly after landing last August. As Curiosity slowly exercised its robotic arm and each of the other nine science packages it carries, researchers grew increasingly excited by the results ? not just as confirmation that the experiments and tools were working, but that the evidence these tests gathered pointed to a landing zone where water once flowed.

The drilling "is a real big turning point for us," says John Grotzinger, a planetary geologist at the California Institute of Technology and the mission's lead scientist.

Like a teenager eager to slip behind the wheel of her first car, the scientists received the figurative keys to the rover last week from controllers overseeing these initial months of systems tests. Unless problems arise, destinations will now be picked more for their scientific interest than their value as a spot to test hardware.

"We're excited because from here on out what we're going to do is a repeat of something we've done before," Dr. Grotzinger says. "With that comes more confidence, a chance for fewer surprises, and increased efficiency."

Yet even the tests were a bit like movie trailers, giving researchers hints of discoveries to come ? yielding evidence for an ancient stream bed and rock types paving parts of the crater floor that appear to have formed in the presence of water.

Geological models of the surface, based on data from Mars orbiters, pointed to Gale Crater's floor as a once-watery site.

"But we had no idea that we were going to find the rest of this stuff," he says, referring to the types of rocks and their flagstone-path-type layout at Curiosity's current location ? a zone on the crater floor the team has dubbed Yellowknife.

If Curiosity had "gone long" and landed on the flank of Mt. Sharp instead of its planned landing site, "and we would have found stuff like this, we could have considered it to be very much the stuff we chose the landing site to go find," Grotzinger says.

Mt. Sharp is a towering summit inside Gale Crater. Its strikingly layered slopes hold the promise of revealing much about the early history of Mars's climate and the geological forces that built the mountain. Near the base, Curiosity will be hunting for signs that the crater might have been a suitable place for life to emerge shortly after Mars formed and its climate ? it is believed ? was warmer and much wetter.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/6g5LUB-gmVY/Curiosity-makes-history-with-scoop-and-begins-Mars-mission-in-earnest

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Today on New Scientist: 20 February 2013

First exoplanet smaller than Mercury discovered

A planet just larger than the moon has become the smallest known world - but two others could depose it if their sizes are confirmed

Conductor of speech uncovered in the brain

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Bulgaria government resigns after national protests

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's government resigned from office on Wednesday after nationwide protests against high electricity prices, joining a long list of European administrations felled by austerity.

Prime Minister Boiko Borisov had tried to calm protests by sacking his finance minister, pledging to cut power prices and punish foreign-owned companies but the measures failed to defuse discontent and protests continued on Tuesday.

Many Bulgarians are deeply unhappy over high energy costs, power monopolies, low living standards and corruption in the European Union's poorest country. Twenty-five people were taken to hospital after protesters clashed with police late on Tuesday.

"I will not participate in a government under which police are beating people," Borisov said as he announced his resignation on Wednesday.

The premier did not say if a parliamentary election scheduled for July would now be brought forward.

Borisov has said the electricity distribution license of central Europe's largest listed company, Czech-based CEZ will be revoked, setting Bulgaria on a collision course with its EU partner the Czech Republic.

(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Sam Cage and Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bulgaria-government-resigns-national-protests-073220738.html

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Wedding Invitations by Tango Design in Australia?s Top Ten

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ABIA-Web-Top10-Stationery'12

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb. 19, 2013 - On Thursday the 14th of February, Valentine?s Day 2012, the Australian Bridal Industry Academy (ABIA) announced their National Designer of Dreams Awards for the most outstanding weddings suppliers over the past four years (2009-2012).

The ABIA conducts a series of awards each year to determine the best wedding suppliers in each mainland State. Combining the results of these State awards over 4 consecutive years, determines the Winners of the National Designer of Dreams Award. These awards are determined by the only entity qualified to do so; past brides, who have been through the process of organizing a wedding and have rated each of their wedding providers based on the quality of their product, quality of service, value for money and attitude of staff.
A total of 7,560 wedding suppliers were rated in one or more years by past brides across 41 wedding categories over the 4 years (2009-2012). Out of these a total of 564 businesses qualified for the prestigious Designer of Dreams award. The total number of past brides who determined the list of qualifiers for the 2012 ABIA Designer of Dreams Awards was 39,735; this was up from a total of 31,251 in 2011.

The Chairman of ABIA, Mr John O? Meara stated that, recognition of excellence is a goal which every business aspires to achieve. Being proclaimed by ABIA as one of Australia?s Top 10 wedding providers is the ultimate recognition for any wedding provider. It is a great honour for Invitations by Tango Design to achieve this recognition of excellence. Mr O' Meara went onto say that it was business like Invitations by Tango Design which complimented and elevated the wedding industry with their attention to detail and the pride, passion and professional manner in which they delivered their wedding product to the customer. To see why Invitations by Tango Design ranks so highly, visit www.tangodesign.com.au

The ABIA was founded in 1997 as a means of enabling past brides to evaluate the performance of their wedding providers based on ABIA?s four (4) Pillars of Perfection being; quality of product, quality of service, value for money and attitude of staff. The ratings provided by past brides enables future brides to confidently select their wedding providers, knowing that past brides have ranked, rated and evaluated their performance.

The Chairman of ABIA said that ?a wedding is a one off day where every provider must perform to the maximum as there are no second chances to come back and rectify faults, everything must be perfect.

Further information on the ABIA Designer of Dreams Awards can be found on their website www.abia.com.au

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/12083245/1

Source: http://www.prlog.org/12083245-wedding-invitations-by-tango-design-in-australias-top-ten.html

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