gulliver travel: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

NYC's gay pride march celebrates Supreme Court win

NEW YORK (AP) ? Only days after the Supreme Court used her lawsuit to grant same-sex couples federal marriage benefits, Edith Windsor helped lead New York City's Gay Pride march on Sunday.

Signs along the route read, "Thank you, Edie" ? celebrating Windsor for her successful challenge of a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

"If somebody had told me 50 years ago that I would be the marshal of New York City's gay pride parade in 2013, at the age of 84, I wouldn't have believed it."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined hundreds of bikers whose motorcycles roared to life at noon to kick off the celebration, a colorful cavalcade of activists and others who marched down Fifth Avenue 44 years after the city's first pride march.

Longtime LGBT activist Cathy Renna said Windsor's suit and the Supreme Court's favorable ruling in a challenge to Proposition 8, the California gay marriage ban, made this year's celebration special.

"It is an especially thrilling year to march this year," she said. "I have seen more real progress in the past three years than the nearly two decades of activism before it."

But, she added, "we must remain vigilant; hate crimes, discrimination and family rejection loom in our lives still."

A spate of recent hate crimes in New York provide a stark reminder of work left to be done. In one case last month, police said a gunman used homophobic slurs before firing a fatal shot into a man's face on a Manhattan street alive with a weekend midnight crowd. The city's police commissioner called it an anti-gay hate crime.

A. Carlos Cardinas, a native of Colombia who lives in Queens, is a transvestite who dressed up in festive attire for the day: a green sequined top with a salmon-colored flower ringing the waist.

"We are so happy to live free in America," said Cardinas, a hairdresser who is engaged to be married to his boyfriend.

Carl Siciliano, who heads the Ali Forney drop-in center for homeless gay youth in Harlem, said he's happy about the court decision. But he said the humanitarian fight is not over.

"Now that our adults have won this wonderful victory, it is time for us to begin to build a safety net for the more than 200,000 homeless LGBT youth who are stranded on America's streets without shelter," said Siciliano.

Windsor said she long enjoyed the parade with her late wife, Thea Spyer, whom she married in Canada as Spyer was dying in 2007.

In 2009, she suffered a heart attack a month after Spyer's death. While recovering, Windsor faced a hefty bill for inheritance taxes ? more than $363,000, because Spyer was, legally, just a friend.

On Sunday, Windsor was one of three grand marshals, joining musician and activist Harry Belafonte and Earl Fowlkes, head of the Center for Black Equity.

"I have marched in the parade for the last several years carrying a huge rainbow flag," she said. "Last year, I was so elated that I danced my way down the whole street, for the entire route of the parade."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nycs-gay-pride-march-celebrates-supreme-court-win-152806276.html

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Court wins expected to bolster gay pride events

Cynthia Wides, right, and Elizabeth Carey file for a marriage certificate at City Hall in San Francisco, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Dozens of gay couples have lined up outside City Hall in San Francisco as clerks have resumed issuing same-sex marriage licenses one day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the state of California to immediately lift a 4-year freeze. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Peter Madril, left, and Monte Young embrace after getting married at City Hall in San Francisco, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Dozens of gay couples waited excitedly Saturday outside of San Francisco's City Hall as clerks resumed issuing same-sex marriage licenses, one day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the state of California to immediately lift a 4 ? year freeze. Big crowds were expected from across the state as long lines had already stretched down the lobby shortly after 9 a.m. City officials decided to hold weekend hours and let couples tie the knot as San Francisco is also celebrating its annual Pride weekend expected to draw as many as 1 million people. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Peter Madril, center right, kisses Monte Young after the two were married at City Hall in San Francisco, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Dozens of gay couples waited excitedly Saturday outside of San Francisco's City Hall as clerks resumed issuing same-sex marriage licenses, one day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the state of California to immediately lift a 4 ? year freeze. Big crowds were expected from across the state as long lines had already stretched down the lobby shortly after 9 a.m. City officials decided to hold weekend hours and let couples tie the knot as San Francisco is also celebrating its annual Pride weekend expected to draw as many as 1 million people. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Kevin Miller, left, and Luca Facchin pose for pictures with their marriage certificate at City Hall in San Francisco, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Dozens of gay couples waited excitedly Saturday outside of San Francisco's City Hall as clerks resumed issuing same-sex marriage licenses, one day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the state of California to immediately lift a 4 ? year freeze. Big crowds were expected from across the state as long lines had already stretched down the lobby shortly after 9 a.m. City officials decided to hold weekend hours and let couples tie the knot as San Francisco is also celebrating its annual Pride weekend expected to draw as many as 1 million people. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Cities across the nation were gearing up Sunday for what were expected to be especially well-attended and exuberant gay pride parades following the U.S. Supreme Court decisions restoring same-sex marriages to California and granting gay couples the federal benefits of marriage they were previously denied.

The gay pride celebrations scheduled in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Seattle and St. Louis are annual, and in most cases decades-old events whose tones and themes have mirrored the gay rights movement's greatest victories and defeats. This year's parades, coming on the heels of the high court's historic decisions, should be no exception.

In San Francisco, the four plaintiffs in the case that led to the end of California's gay marriage ban will be riding in a contingent organized by the city attorney. Newlyweds Kris Perry and Sandy Stier of Berkeley, and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo of Burbank, were able to marry Friday after a federal appeals court lifted a hold it had put on same-sex marriages while the couples' lawsuit challenging the ban worked its way toward and then through the Supreme Court. City officials decided to keep the clerk's office open throughout the weekend so couples who were in town for the celebration could get married.

On Saturday, defeated backers of the state's gay marriage ban made a last-ditch effort to halt the ceremonies. Lawyers for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom filed an emergency petition to the high court asking for a halt to the weddings on the grounds that the decision was not yet legally final. The filing came as dozens of couples filled City Hall in San Francisco to obtain marriage licenses.

The parade in New York City, where the first pride march was held 44 years ago to mark the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots that kicked off the modern gay rights movement, also will become a sort of victory lap for Edith Windsor, the 84-year-old widow who challenged the federal Defense of Marriage Act after she was forced to pay $363,053 on the estate of her late wife. Windsor was picked as a grand marshal for the New York parade months ago, before the Supreme Court used her lawsuit to strike down the provision of the act that defined marriage as only between a man and a woman.

"We're very lucky, sometimes I like to think that when the decisions are made, they keep us in mind," joked NYC Pride media director Tish Flynn.

In an average year, an estimated 2 million people show up for what is one of the world's oldest and largest gay pride parades. But Flynn expects a surge in attendance like the one New York experienced two years ago, when the march was held days after Gov. Andrew Cuomo won legislative passage of a measure to legalize same-sex marriage in his state.

In Seattle, organizers of the city's annual Gay Pride parade were already planning on a larger gathering because Washington voters approved same-sex marriage last November. Voters upheld a law that the Legislature passed earlier in 2012. Since the measure took effect in December, more than 2,400 gay and lesbian couples have gotten married in the state.

Adam McRoberts, spokesman for Seattle Out & Proud, said it is expected that Sunday's parade will draw record crowds. Tens of thousands of people typically line the route through Seattle's Downtown and Belltown neighborhoods. McRoberts said the parade would have nearly 200 contingents participating.

In St. Petersburg, Fla., where Florida's largest gay pride event took place on Saturday, officials also made plans for a record turnout. It normally draws between 80,000-100,000 people, but Eric Skains, executive director of the St. Pete Pride Parade, said about 125,000 participants were expected, largely due to the Supreme Court ruling.

Although Florida is one of a few dozen states that does not recognize same-sex marriage, Skains said now is the time for the local LGBT community to work to change the laws locally and that the defeat of the Defense of Marriage Act "is an opportunity for us to be truly equal under the law."

This was the 11th year that parade was held in St. Petersburg. The mayor of Tampa, Bob Buckhorn, became the highest-ranking Florida official ever to participate when he walked the parade route on Saturday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-30-US-Gay-Marriage-Parades/id-f5e5cccff0fa4d4f8497a2bf2115c2b4

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PandaWhale's Slow And Steady March To Relevance

There is an interesting shift occurring in consumer websites and apps where users perform micro-work that reshapes experiences. Classic examples of this are how Pinterest users are grabbing images from the web, personally reorganizing them, and, in the process, building a new image search engine, much like Google Images. And some would argue even better and more relevant. Or consider Instapaper and Pocket users who grab content to read later, stripped free of bloated ads and other unnecessary information. There are more and more services fitting into this trend, which I?ve called a ?web of extraction,? and one emergent property that?s doing this in a novel way is one you may not have heard of: PandaWhale.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/yQRXtjbyubk/

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Britain's Cameron in thwarted Afghan peace talks push

By Andrew Osborn

KABUL (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron flew into Afghanistan on Saturday to try to inject momentum into stalled peace talks, but left empty-handed after the Afghan president said his country could break up if a deal was done with the Taliban.

Cameron, who hosted President Hamid Karzai for talks in February about Afghanistan's future, has cast himself as an honest broker able to use Britain's relations with Afghanistan's influential neighbor, Pakistan, to get the Taliban to talk peace.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Kabul after a visit to British troops in the southern province of Helmand, he said the moment to pursue peace had come.

"There is a window of opportunity and I would urge all those who renounce violence, who respect the constitution, who want to have a voice in the future prosperity of this country to seize it," he said.

His comments come barely a week after the United States revealed the Taliban were to open a long-anticipated office in Qatar, making a meeting with the Afghan state and the Taliban a possibility. Those talks collapsed within days after Karzai objected to the manner in which the office was opened, however, and Taliban militants later attacked central Kabul.

On Saturday, Karzai said he hoped peace talks could begin as soon as possible. But he complained about foreign peace plans, sounded a defiant note against the United States, and warned of the dangers of doing a deal with the Taliban.

SCEPTICAL OF PAKISTAN

He also made it clear he was skeptical of Pakistan's motives in the peace process.

"Any system that is imposed on us ... the Afghan people will reject," he told a news conference inside his palace. "Delivering a province or two to the Taliban will be seen by the Afghan people as an invasion of Afghanistan, as an effort from outside to weaken and splinter this country."

When a reporter asked Cameron why he was willing to talk to the Taliban at the same time as British soldiers were fighting the insurgents, Karzai praised the question.

A British source told Reuters Karzai remained "furious" about the opening of a Taliban office in Qatar this month replete with its own flag and plaque, symbols that he felt accorded the Taliban a degree of global legitimacy.

The Afghan leader suspended talks on a long-term security deal to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014 Washington said it was ready to talk to the Taliban and the Qatar flap. Karzai accused the Americans of duplicity.

On Saturday, he said he had held a video conference with President Barack Obama to discuss the matter, and that the U.S. leader had told him he hoped a deal could be struck by October.

Karzai's response was ambiguous. "I noted and reminded him (Obama) that Afghanistan continues to hold its unchangeable principles. If these conditions are met, the nation of Afghanistan will definitely be ready to agree to a security agreement with the U.S.," he said.

Karzai's stance underlines a dilemma for the West.

As it prepares to pull its troops out next year, it is caught between wanting to safeguard its legacy in Afghanistan - improved women's rights and access to education among other things - and allowing the Karzai government to roll back some changes to pave the way for talks with the insurgents.

SEEKING STABILITY

Britain is trying to magnify its diplomatic clout at the very moment it is reducing its contingent of some 7,000 troops.

Aides said Cameron was keen to boost political stability ahead of next year's presidential election, which he hopes will result in the first peaceful transition of power since 1901.

Karzai is not eligible to stand under the constitution and Cameron said he welcomed Karzai's "commitment to a democratic succession" after his second term expires.

Cameron flew on to Islamabad on Saturday evening for talks about Afghanistan with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

Pakistan could play a major role in any peace process. Its security forces backed the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and continue to serve as gatekeepers to insurgent commanders living on its territory.

Cameron said he was working to try to persuade both countries they needed to cooperate, but said only "some" progress had been made.

Cameron also used his Afghan visit to reinforce the message that British troops really would be pulling out next year and that only limited financial and other aid would be made available to Afghan forces after that time.

Four hundred and forty-four British troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001.

A senior military source had said earlier that Western troops would have to undertake follow-on missions after 2014 that could last up to five years.

But Cameron suggested no British soldiers would be involved.

"There will be no (British) combat troops after the end of 2014. British troops are coming home," he said.

(Additional reporting by Mirwais Harooni; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Dylan Welch; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-cameron-afghanistan-push-peace-talks-112358416.html

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Obama has new power initiative for Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) ? President Barack Obama on Sunday will announce a new initiative to double access to electric power in sub-Saharan Africa, part of his effort to build on the legacy of equality and opportunity forged by his personal hero, Nelson Mandela.

As residents await word on former South African President Nelson Mandela?s condition, U.S. President Barack Obama is announcing a major initiative, ?Power Africa,? on Sunday, June 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Obama, who flew from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Sunday, is paying tribute to the ailing 94-year-old Mandela throughout the day. The president and his family visited Robben Island, where the anti-apartheid leader spent 18 years confined to a tiny cell, including a stop at the lime quarry where Mandela toiled and developed the lung problems that sent him to the hospital for most of the month.

The White House said Obama?s guide during the tour was 83-year-old South African politician Ahmed Kathrada, who also was held at the prison for nearly two decades and guided Obama on his 2006 visit to the prison as a U.S. senator. The president also saw the prison courtyard where Mandela planted grapevines that remain today, and where he and others in the dissident leadership would discuss politics, sneak notes to one another and hide writings.

?On behalf of our family, we?re deeply humbled to stand where men of such courage faced down injustice and refused to yield. The world is grateful for the heroes of Robben Island, who remind us that no shackles or cells can match the strength of the human spirit,? Obama wrote in the guest book in the courtyard, his U.S. Secret Service agents standing watch in the old guard tower above.

During the tour, which took place under sunshine and clear, blue skies, Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha took in the expansive view of the quarry, a huge crater with views of the rusty guard tower from where Mandela was watched. Obama commented on the ?hard labor? Mandela endured and asked Kathrada to remind his daughters how long Mandela was in prison.

Michelle Obama asked how often Mandela would work and was told he worked daily. As the family turned to leave, Obama asked Kathrada to tell his daughters how the African National Congress, the South African political party, got started.

After the tour, Obama will visit with retired archbishop Desmond Tutu before delivering what the White House has billed as the signature speech of his weeklong trip, an address at the University of Cape Town that will be infused with memories of Mandela.

Obama will use the address to unveil the ?Power Africa? initiative, which includes an initial $7 billion investment from the United States over the next five years. Private companies, including General Electric and Symbion Power, are making an additional $9 billion in commitments with the goal of providing power to millions of Africans crippled by a lack of electricity.

Gayle Smith, Obama?s senior director for development and democracy, said more than two-thirds of people living in sub-Saharan Africa do not have electricity, including 85 percent of those living in rural areas.

?If you want lights so kids can study at night or you can maintain vaccines in a cold chain, you don?t have that, so going the extra mile to reach people is more difficult,? Smith said.

The U.S. and its private sector partners initially will focus its efforts on six countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania, where Obama will wrap up his trip later this week. Former President George W. Bush, who supports health programs throughout the continent, will also be in Tanzania next week, and the White House did not rule out the possibility that the two men might meet.

Obama will also highlight U.S. efforts to bolster access to food and health programs on the continent. His advisers said the president sees reducing the poverty and illness that plague many parts of Africa as an extension of Mandela?s example of how change can happen within countries.

The former South African president has been hospitalized in critical condition for three weeks. Obama met Saturday with members of Mandela?s family, but did not visit the anti-apartheid icon, a decision the White House said was in keeping with his family?s wishes.

Obama?s weeklong trip, which opened last week in Senegal, marks his most significant trip to the continent since taking office. His scant personal engagement has come as a disappointment to some in the region, who had high hopes for a man whose father was from Kenya.

Obama visited Robben Island when he was a U.S. senator. But since being elected as the first black American president, Obama has drawn inevitable comparisons to Mandela, making Sunday?s visit particularly poignant.

The president said he was eager to bring his family with him to the prison to teach them about Mandela?s role in overcoming white racist rule, first as an activist and later as a president who forged a unity government with his former captors.

He told reporters Saturday he wanted to ?help them to understand not only how those lessons apply to their own lives but also to their responsibilities in the future as citizens of the world, that?s a great privilege and a great honor.?

Ben Rhodes, Obama?s deputy national security adviser, said Mandela?s vision was always going to feature prominently in the speech. But his deteriorating health ?certainly puts a finer point on just how much we can?t take for granted what Nelson Mandela did.?

Harkening back to a prominent theme from Obama?s 2009 speech in Ghana ? his only other trip to Africa as president ? Obama will emphasize that Africans must take much of the responsibility for finishing the work started by Mandela and his contemporaries.

?The progress that Africa has made opens new doors, but frankly, it?s up to the leaders in Africa and particularly young people to make sure that they?re walking through those doors of opportunity,? Rhodes said.

Obama will speak at the University of Cape Town nearly 50 years after Robert F. Kennedy delivered his famous ?Ripple of Hope? speech from the school. Kennedy spoke in Cape Town two years after Mandela was sentenced to life in prison.

Source: http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/06/30/obama-has-new-power-initiative-for-africa/

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In key Mexican state, opposition leads in poll for July vote

By Miguel Gutierrez

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's main opposition conservatives are on track to retain the key electoral bastion of Baja California next month, according to a poll released on Friday, in a vote that could strengthen a fragile cross-party alliance built by President Enrique Pena Nieto to re-energize the economy.

Falling short of a majority in Congress when he won office last year, Pena Nieto forged a loose pact with the two major opposition parties to work together on economic reforms.

Sparring between the National Action Party (PAN), the opposition leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, has threatened to derail his plans to improve the tax take and overhaul state oil giant Pemex. The conservative PAN is seen as his most natural ally, especially on high stakes energy reform.

Since its 2000-2012 rule of Mexico ended in December, the PAN has been rocked by infighting, and on July 7 voters will elect a new governor in Baja California, which was the first state to bring PAN to power 24 years ago. To lose it would be a heavy blow for the party.

The PAN has held the state continuously since 1989, increasing the risk that voters could opt for a change.

However, the voter survey by polling firm Demotecnia showed some 53 percent of the electorate favored the candidate representing the unusual PAN/PRD coalition running in the state, while 45 percent backed the PRI's hopeful.

Sharing a border with the United States, Baja California is one of 14 states that will hold local elections next weekend. It is the only governorship up for grabs, and has become a symbol for the PAN since its capture from the PRI.

The centrist PRI dominated Mexico in the 20th Century, holding the presidency from 1929-2000, during which it acquired a reputation for corruption, vote-rigging and authoritarianism.

Both the PAN and the PRD have pounced upon any hint of electoral fraud by the PRI, and Pena Nieto's reliance on the so-called Pact for Mexico he created with the opposition means his party has to tread carefully in the elections.

A change of power in Baja California would increase pressure on national PAN chairman Gustavo Madero, who has faced persistent grumbling from internal party critics that the Pact for Mexico has undermined support for the conservatives.

The pact has produced a major education reform as well as a landmark law aimed at curbing the power of Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim and broadcaster Televisa, though many of the details of those bills must still be thrashed out in Congress.

Madero has responded to critics by threatening to quit the pact if the PRI does not play fair, and has repeatedly accused the governing party of abusing its power to gain an advantage in the first major round of elections since last July's presidential vote.

If the PAN cries foul following the elections, it is likely to complicate negotiations over the national energy and tax reforms, both of which are due to be presented the Mexican Congress in the next 10 weeks.

The survey, conducted between June 25 and 26, consulted 1,000 people and has a margin of error of 3.2 percent.

(Reporting by Miguel Angel Gutierrez; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Alden Bentley)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/key-mexican-state-opposition-leads-poll-july-vote-202632499.html

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3 schools would share redeveloped Dynamo House

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- A major Providence landmark that has sat vacant since 1999 would be redeveloped for shared use by Brown University and two public higher education institutions under a $200 million redevelopment plan announced Thursday.

Under the plan, about half of the Dynamo House would become home to a joint nursing education program operated by Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island. Brown would occupy the other half ? about 120,000 square feet ? with administrative offices.

The project at the former South Street Power Station on Eddy Street also calls for construction of student housing for nearly 300 graduate, medical and nursing students; a restaurant and other retail space; space for startups and small high-tech companies; and a 600-space parking area.

Members of the state Senate introduced a resolution Wednesday supporting a facility shared by the three schools that would be redeveloped by Commonwealth Ventures, based in Southport, Conn. It calls for the state to work with the developer to negotiate a long-term lease for the URI-RIC nursing center.

Commonwealth Ventures President Richard Galvin said the project would be financed by about $28 million in state tax credits, $26 million in federal historic tax credits, $137 million in private equity and debt and $16 million in city money for the parking structure. He said Commonwealth is forming a new venture with Baltimore-based Beatty Development, whose affiliates control the building.

He hopes construction can begin next spring.

"I think all systems are go," Galvin said in an interview. "We have a lot of work to do but I feel like we're going to get there."

Earlier ? and equally ambitious ? plans to redevelop the building as the Heritage Harbor Museum fell apart, leaving one of Providence's most visible and distinctive buildings empty.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who has promoted the development of the high-growth "meds and eds" industries as a way to boost the state's struggling economy, called the project promising.

"The proposal we put forward today is a perfect example of the job-generating potential of the meds and the eds," he said in a statement. "Our institutions of higher learning are partnering ? with state and city support ? with a private developer to breathe new life into a building, a neighborhood and our entire capital city."

Mayor Angel Taveras also expressed support for the project, saying the city has made it a high priority to find a new and productive use for the building.

"This project significantly advances our efforts to transform Providence's Jewelry District into a regional hub for health care, research and higher education," he said in a statement.

The Dynamo House is on the edge of downtown in an area that once was a jewelry manufacturing district but is beginning to be redeveloped into a so-called "Knowledge District."

Brown opened a new medical school building there in 2011. In a statement Thursday, university President Christina Paxson said Brown has invested $200 million in the district over the last decade.

"By pursuing this project and this partnership, we hope to further enliven the neighborhood, transforming this important but neglected facility into an enduring asset, adding value to a critical area of our city and state," she said.

Senate Finance Chairman Daniel DaPonte, D-East Providence, said the project has great potential but that he wants a cap on the rent charged to URI and RIC to ensure it's "reasonable and affordable."

DaPonte said leasing the space has an advantage in that the owner will be responsible for the upkeep of the property.

Associated Press writer David Klepper contributed to this article.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3-schools-share-redeveloped-dynamo-144924686.html

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Ada Polla: The Perfect Button Down Shirt: Tips from an Expert

Over the past 6 months, I have seriously cleaned out my closet. I have taken pieces to the tailor, given clothes to Goodwill, sent really cute items to my similarly-sized BFFs when I decided they just weren't for me anymore. Which means that now, I have a very specific list of what I am missing, what I need to replace, what I need to shop for.

rochelle behrens
Credit: The Shirt.

Item #1 on this list -- one (maybe three?) button down shirts. Believe it or not, there is not a single button down shirt in my closet right now. Granted I don't work in corporate Washington, so this is not part of my daily uniform, still, that doesn't seem right. I started day dreaming about the perfect, classic, somewhat sexy white shirt. Then I started thinking about all the questions that come with purchasing a new button-down... and turned to my fellow Washingtonian Rochelle Behrens, from The Shirt, for some answers.

Rochelle set out in 2011 to fix a common problem for women in the corporate world: gaping shirts; a problem she herself faced. "I would always need to safety-pin my shirt at the button," she says. "If the shirt fit across my bust, it was too large everywhere else, and vice versa. I got so fed up, I could think of nothing else but how to solve that problem." And so she did. In 2011, Oprah called her shirt the "must have fashion item of the year." Her company, The Shirt by Rochelle Behrens, was thus born. Today, her shirts, having since been featured in People, In Style, Glamour Magazine, Marie-Claire and more, are available online and at select Bloomingdales locations.

Credit: The Shirt

Here are her answers to my most pressing questions about button-down shirts.

Ada Polla: Of course, I had to start by asking what to do if shirts "gape" at the bust?

Rochelle Behrens: That's an easy answer, try The Shirt. It will solve your problem and save you the frustration of pinning or taping your shirt so that it fits. Before I launched my shirt, the typical response was to size up, or to wear a tank top under your shirt and open up the top buttons.

AP: How do you keep a white shirt white?

RB: I love talking about the classic white shirt... and I have to admit that the reality is that it is really hard to keep a white shirt white. They need to be replaced often. I would say a white shirt has a lifespan of a year to 18 months, no longer.

Even though dry cleaning is expensive, I do recommend dry cleaning white shirts. This will make the shirt retain its color and shape and crispness as long as possible. Also, I do not believe you need to clean your shirt after every wear; you should be able to get at least two wears before you need to wash or dry clean it.

Remember to avoid spraying perfume on a white shirt. Don't rub your makeup on it. Be careful with deodorant application, as that is what causes yellowing in the armpits.
Bleach is a wonderful thing... if it's a sturdy cotton shirt, you can use bleach as maintenance. Otherwise, with synthetics and stretch and higher-end cotton, be careful with bleach.

AP: How can I make sure my shirt stays tucked in my pants or skirts?

RB: This is tough, and really depends on your body type: if you are long-waisted, this will be a more significant concern than if you are short-waisted. Look for shirts with a long tail, which helps them stay tucked in. Specifically, by long tail, I mean the tail should cover your bottom, and hit right around the bottom of your bottom. But don't size up, don't buy a shirt that has too much extra fabric, otherwise you won't be able to fit all of that fabric in to your pants or skirt. Also, while there should always be a scoop on the side, make sure that the scooped area is also on the side. If it scoops up too high it will pull out of your pants of skirt.

AP: Do you recommend different cuts of shirts for different body types and shapes?

RB: It is less about cuts than about how you wear it. If you are really trim or athletic, a very tightly tucked in shirt will be very chic. If you are more voluptuous, a slightly blousy look will be more flattering. Just remember that the natural inclination of the shirt during the day will be to come out a bit, so don't start too blousy. If you are short-waisted, tying the shirt in a knot is very current and summery, and if done in a sophisticated way, without showing midriff, can be very office appropriate. Finally, long-waisted people can wear shirts (in particular slim-fits) untucked, for a breezy look.

AP: What are your words of wisdom about sleeve length?

RB: I usually recommend that if you are going to wear a shirt with the cuffs buttoned all the way down, the cuffs should hit right below the wrist. However, there are a lot of modifications possible.

To give you a really trim, slender look, hitting just at the wrist can also be perfect. My personal favorite way of wearing shirts (which I wear every day!) is to rather have the sleeves buttoned and pushed up, or unbuttoned and rolled up. The sexiest length is to mid-forearm, you don't want to push the sleeve up much more, because otherwise it looks too casual.

In terms of short sleeves, what is important is to make sure the sleeve comes down to the mid upper arm, meaning closer to the elbow than to the shoulder. This creates a nice casing for the upper arm, which is often not a favorite body part... And make sure the fit is perfect, because too tight is uncomfortable.

If you want to go sleeveless, which is kind of retro, but having a resurgence, make sure the arm holes are cut quite close to the armpit, so that your bra is not exposed. Also make sure that the shoulder part is not too wide so as to hide your shoulders, but wide enough so that, again, your bra strap is not showing.

In general, regardless of sleeve length, the fit in shoulders is the key. Pay attention to where the shoulder seams hit -- they should be squarely on your shoulders, not above or below. And just say no to shoulder pads.

AP: Is there ever an occasion when a button-down shirt is not appropriate?

RB: The wonderful thing about shirts is how versatile they are. Shirts are inherently appropriate, as long as they fit. You can wear a long one as a tunic to the beach. You can wear a tailored one tucked into pants to the office. You can wear them with jeans. You can ever wear one to a black tie event! Think of Carolina Herrera, with her princely white shirts, pearls, and a long ball skirt! Maybe if you are the mother of the bride, a button-down shirt is not the best look...

AP: How would you accessorize a shirt?

RB: I love necklaces with shirts! There are really two ways of wearing necklaces with button down shirts. For fall and winter, I love to button up my shirt all the way to the collar and to wear a very editorial, big statement necklace under the collar. The length should be right at the clavicle. I call this "making the collar the statement."

Alternately, unbutton your shirt low and to wear long necklaces, which dangle over the open neckline, and should hit at the top of your bust. If the necklace is too long, they dangle off your bust and then become awkward looking.

AP: What are 3 shirts every woman should have?

RB: With these three items you could build an entire wardrobe:
1. A white cotton long sleeve
2. A black cotton long sleeve
3. A cream colored silk long sleeve.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ada-polla/the-perfect-button-down-shirt_b_3517131.html

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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Searchers looking for Mt. Hood climber spot body

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) ? Authorities searching for a climber who has been missing on Mount Hood since last weekend said Saturday that they have spotted a body near the top of a glacier.

Oregon Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter crews made the discovery at an altitude of about 8,400 feet, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The sheriff's office said officials believe there's a high probability that the body belongs to Kinley Adams, a 59-year-old Salem dentist who failed to return June 22 from a climb on the west side of Oregon's tallest mountain.

The terrain is extremely difficult and authorities won't be able to reach the body on Saturday. Recovery teams will begin to try to reach the body early Sunday.

Avalanche risk from warming temperatures prevented rescue teams from climbing to the upper part of the 11,239-foot peak.

Adams is an experienced climber who had been making frequent trips to Mount Hood in preparation for a trip to Nepal. He is thought to have a cellphone, but searchers have been unable to pinpoint the signal. His mountain locator beacon was found at home, apparently with gear he was planning to take to Nepal.

He was reported missing Saturday night, about six hours after he was due to return. His vehicle was found on the mountain at Timberline Lodge.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/searchers-looking-mt-hood-climber-spot-body-231753763.html

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The US Army Is Blocking Staff Access to the Guardian Website

After getting upset about the fact that Guardian has been breaking news and leaking classified documents about the many and varied spying programs of the NSA, the US Army has decided to block access to the news site among its employees.

Beyonce's father sues Rupert Murdoch's Sun for defamation

By Tim Kenneally

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Matthew Knowles, father and former manager of music superstar Beyonce Knowles, has filed suit against the Sun, claiming that Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid made "malicious and false statements" in an article about him.

The suit claims that Knowles consented to an interview with reporter Georgina Dickinson on the condition that he would not "discuss personal family topics, only his career and the career of his artists, and music or business topics." Dickinson promised that her article would "paint a well-rounded picture of Mr. Knowles, both as a loving family man and force to be reckoned with in the music world."

However, according to the suit, the story published in the Sun contains multiple falsehoods, including the claim that Knowles had suffered a "bitter rift with his famous daughter - admitting he is devastated at being pushed out of her life."

Knowles' suit states that the article also claims that he "has reportedly not yet met Blue Ivy," despite photographic evidence to the contrary.

TheWrap has reached out to Murdoch's News Corporation for comment.

Knowles' suit claims that, when he confronted Dickinson about the assertions in the article, she could "only apologize that someone in London, not me" changed the story, and sent him the story as she submitted to the paper.

The difference between the filed story and the published story, the suit claims, "is stark."

On top of it all, the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Texas on Tuesday, claims that Knowles was promised payment for the interview in exchange for pass on future interviews with U.K. publishers, but "the promised payment, however, was never made."

Alleging defamation and breach of contract, Knowles is seeking unspecified damages.

(Pamela Chelin contributed to this report)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/beyonces-father-sues-rupert-murdochs-sun-defamation-003332619.html

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Friday, June 28, 2013

Seniors are not just wrinkly adults

Public release date: 27-Jun-2013
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Contact: Julie Lloyd
jlloyd@acep.org
202-728-0610
American College of Emergency Physicians

They have special needs in the ER

WASHINGTON Emergency patients over the age of 74 have significantly different and more complex health and social needs than their younger counterparts, even after controlling for illness severity, which has important implications about aging populations and emergency departments of the future. The results of the most extensive international study of the characteristics and outcomes of older emergency patients to be reported to date were published online Tuesday in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Profiles of Older Patients in the Emergency Department: Findings from the InterRAI Multinational Emergency Department Study") http://tinyurl.com/npenmba.

"These patients have complex profiles before they come to the ER, and even more complicated needs once they get there," said lead study author Leonard C. Gray, MD, PhD, of the Centre for Research in Geriatric Medicine at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. "Dependence on others and geriatric illnesses, such as cognitive impairment and mobility problems, affect the majority of older emergency patients across a wide range of nations with different health systems and cultural contexts. They require specialized care to avoid missed diagnoses, pressure ulcers and a range of other potential problems associated with this particular population."

Researchers examined medical records for 2,282 patients older than 74 in 13 different emergency departments in seven countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Iceland, India and Sweden). Functional and cognitive problems increased dramatically after patients arrived at the emergency department.

More than one-third (37 percent) of patients had a recent fall, prior to coming to the emergency department.

Prior to visiting the emergency department, nearly half (46 percent) were dependent on others in one or more activities of daily living; after coming to the emergency department, only 33 percent were completely independent in all activities. In the emergency department, 26 percent displayed symptoms of cognitive impairment, whereas before coming to the ER only 20 percent had cognitive difficulties. Before coming to the ER, 26 percent of older patients could not walk without supervision; after coming to the ER, that number rose to 49 percent.

"Frailty, confusion and dependence on others make these our most fragile emergency patients," said Dr. Gray. "Specialized training in geriatric care and even specialized layout and procedures can help us provide the best assessment and care. The growing prevalence of older patients in ERs around the world suggests a need for careful scrutiny of current clinical practice and design of emergency departments worldwide."

###

Annals of Emergency Medicine is the peer-reviewed scientific journal for the American College of Emergency Physicians, the national medical society representing emergency medicine. ACEP is committed to advancing emergency care through continuing education, research, and public education. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services Chapter represents emergency physicians employed by military branches and other government agencies. For more information, visit http://www.acep.org.

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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.

Seniors are not just wrinkly adults

Public release date: 27-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Julie Lloyd
jlloyd@acep.org
202-728-0610
American College of Emergency Physicians

They have special needs in the ER

More than one-third (37 percent) of patients had a recent fall, prior to coming to the emergency department.

###

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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/2013-06/acoe-san062713.php

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Businesses to Buda: Grow up! Lack of retail space could hinder city's ...

businesses to budy for web

by MOSES LEOS III

From television commercials to billboard advertisements, the saying is one in the same: ?what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.?

However, for Buda Economic Development Corporation (EDC) executive director Ann Miller, information gathered from a recent trip to Sin City was more than worth breaking the Vegas code.

During the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) National Conference May 19-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Miller learned from the biggest and brightest retail companies how Buda can better attract more business.

At the conference, Miller and a retail study team hired by the Buda EDC, The Retail Coach, met with numerous national retail businesses.

According to Miller, The Retail Coach had already planned to attend the conference and set up a booth. The city currently has a contract with the company, with the outcome of investment of attracting retailers and developers to Buda.

?The contract with The Retail Coach was for $15,000,? Miller said in an emailed response. ?These services included developing a list of retailers whose site selection criteria is a match to the area market analysis, competition assessment, demographic and psychographic profiles, and Retail Gap/Opportunity Analysis and are a good fit for Buda.?

In addition, The Retail Coach will compile a retail feasibility package for retailers met at the conference. The company also helped with identifying developers in the area, and helped create a ?developer marketing package? to help present development opportunities in the city. The Retail Coach also helped analyze retail sites for usage and made recommendations for them.

buda map for web

However, retail businesses? message to Buda was the same: the town needs more space.

?Buda must develop more areas of retail space to take advantage of retail leakage,? Miller said, referencing a recent study done by the Pegasus group, which was presented to the Buda City Council on May 7.

Pegasus found $247 million dollars of annual retail leakage ? residents of a town spending their money elsewhere ? which the city has yet to take advantage of. A few of the largest areas of leakage are through eating establishments ($63.2 million) and radio, TV and computer stores ($39.9 million).

As such, many retailers see the Buda area as a prime location for business development. With the help of The Retail Coach, Miller hopes to quell the retail leakage in Buda.

?Ideally, we?d like to try to recapture 10% of the leakage over the next 3 to 5 years, which would increase Buda?s sales tax revenue by over $370,000 annually,? Miller said.

However, she realized a lack of retail space keeps many companies from making their way to Buda. A complaint from a few companies was the cities? lack of vacant commercial structures.

?We [Buda] need to work with developers to bring in more commercial and retail space,? Miller said.

An additional problem is being landlocked in an overdeveloped area. With Kyle and Austin Extra Territorial Jurisdictions (ETJ) impeding outward expansion, Miller said the city has to find ways to develop responsibly.

Even with the prospect of adding more businesses, the EDC does not want to expand vertically, a decision seconded by the city council.

?We at the EDC do not want to build structures over three stories,? Miller said. ?We want to make the best use of our land, but at the same time, continue to keep the charm of the city.?

Despite the challenges, Miller believes the city has positive aspects going for it. She thinks retailers will be enticed by the relatively high incomes of residents in the city. According to numbers provided by Miller, 2013 estimates show the average household in Buda as making $79,748; median households bring in $68,220, with the per capita income at $22,792.

The primary retail trade of the city, along with the rapid growth of the area, also pushes retailers to consider Buda.

In 2000, the population of Buda was roughly over 3,500 residents, with the retail trade at 22,068. By 2013, both numbers grew significantly, with the current population estimated at more than 8,700 and retail trade at 63,318.

By 2018, the EDC estimates the population will top 10,000, with retail trade exceeding 70,000.

Miller and the EDC are in a race against other cities to get the attention of retailers. While she would not comment on specific retailers, she did say any retailer to make their way to Buda would not come from Kyle or Southpark Meadows in Austin.

?Many retailers with business in Kyle or Southpark Meadows will not develop in Buda. They do not want to cannibalize on their business,? Miller said. ?We aim to bring new businesses to the Buda area.?

The sky is the limit for the Buda EDC, according to Miller. She sees a golden opportunity to continue to bring in revenue and increase sales tax for the city.

?We [Buda EDC] aim to meet the needs of our citizens. We want to ensure they do not have to shop outside of Buda,? Miller said. ?We also want to bring in more businesses; to give them what they need to come to Buda.?

In total, the Buda EDC spent $1,497.29 for Miller to attend the ICSC conference; $817.29 on hotel, airfare, meals, transportation and $680 on registration.

WSJ: Google working on an Android-powered game system, smart watch and new Nexus Q

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google might make another foray into living room hardware as it's currently developing an Android powered gaming console. Since that's just not enough of a rumor bomb, the talkative "people familiar with the matter" also claim a wristwatch and followup to its "postponed" Nexus Q project are on the way. If you believe the rumors, its reason for jumping into all these categories is to beat products Apple is reportedly developing in the same categories, with at least one of them launching this fall. Finally, the leaks indicate Google's next major Android update will be "tailored to low-cost devices in developing countries," and are ready to go in a much wider variety of devices.

That could mean laptops or even appliances running the rumored Key Lime Pie flavor of Android, built by manufacturers like Samsung which is already working on a watch of its own. Also mentioned is HP, which the report goes on to claim is building laptops that run Android. Companies like Ouya, Mad Catz, Pebble and GEAK probably think Mountain View is already late to the party, but official OS-level support and heavily marketed hardware could take these segments to the next level.

Filed under: Gaming, Wearables, HD, Mobile, Samsung, Google, HP

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Source: Wall Street Journal

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/lV6QZTLa7Nw/

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South Africa's Aspen in $1 billion deal with Merck

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Aspen Pharmacare said on Thursday that it would acquire drugs and a plant from U.S. firm Merck in a $1 billion deal that bolsters its presence in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Africa's biggest maker of generic drugs said it would buy an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) business located in the Netherlands and a portfolio of 11 drug brands from Merck.

Aspen said the deal was subject to the approval of various competition authorities and the South African Reserve Bank.

Last week, Aspen said it would acquire the Arixtra and Fraxiparine/Fraxodi brands of thrombosis drugs from GlaxoSMithKline, except in China, Pakistan and India, a deal that could also be worth $1 billion.

Shares in Aspen, rose more than 1 percent on the news, outperforming a 0.7 percent decline in Johannesburg's benchmark Top-40 index.

(Reporting by Tosin Sulaiman and Tiisetso Motsoeneng; editing by David Dolan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africas-aspen-1-billion-deal-merck-105508263.html

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Egypt's opposition criticizes president's speech

In this Wednesday, June 27, 2013 image released by the Egyptian Presidency, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi delivers a speech, in Cairo, Egypt. Morsi told his opponents to use elections not protests to try to change the government and said the military should focus on its role as the nation's defenders in a nationally televised address on Wednesday, days before the opposition plans massive street rallies aimed at removing him from office. (AP Photo/Egyptian Presidency)

Egyptian protesters flash red cards with Arabic that reads "Leave" and shout slogans against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi as they watch his speech at Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. In abstract terms, protests planned for Sunday, June 30 aiming to force out Egypt's Islamist president violate a basic principle of democracy: If an election has been held, all must respect the results, otherwise it?s political chaos. Supporters of President Mohammed Morsi have been angrily making that argument for days. Those behind the protests insist he lost the legitimacy of that election victory by power grabs and missteps. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian protesters chant against the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi during a protest in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. In abstract terms, protests planned for Sunday, June 30, 2013 aiming to force out Egypt?s Islamist president violate a basic principle of democracy: If an election has been held, all must respect the results, otherwise it?s political chaos. Supporters of President Mohammed Morsi have been angrily making that argument for days. Those behind the protests insist he lost the legitimacy of that election victory by power grabs and missteps. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

An Egyptian protester carries her daughter and flashes a red card with Arabic that reads: "Leave" against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi as they watch his speech at Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. In abstract terms, protests planned for Sunday, June 30, 2013 aiming to force out Egypt?s Islamist president violate a basic principle of democracy: If an election has been held, all must respect the results, otherwise it?s political chaos. Supporters of President Mohammed Morsi have been angrily making that argument for days. Those behind the protests insist he lost the legitimacy of that election victory by power grabs and missteps. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's main opposition coalition on Thursday rejected the Islamist president's offer for dialogue on reconciliation and said it insists on holding early elections, ratcheting up pressure on Mohammed Morsi just days ahead of planned mass protests seeking his ouster.

Adding to an already explosive political atmosphere in Egypt, authorities issued a travel ban on a media tycoon and an arrest warrant for a popular TV presenter ? a sharp critic of Morsi ? in what appears to be an escalation against private media accused by the president of instigating violence and being funded by those loyal to the former regime.

A statement by the National Salvation Front read by reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei said Morsi's 2 ?-hour speech late Wednesday reflected a "clear inability to acknowledge the difficult conditions in Egypt because of his failure in running the country since he took office a year ago."

In the speech, Morsi told his opponents to use elections not protests to try to change the government, and counseled the military, which has warned it would intervene if violence breaks out, to focus on improving its capabilities and defending the nation.

He defended his performance in his first year in office, admitting some mistakes but also claiming achievements. At one point he apologized for fuel shortages which have partially paralyzed the nation, increasing frustration and anger at his government.

But the president offered no compromises in the confrontation with his opponents. Those organizing the protests for Sunday ? the anniversary of Morsi's inauguration ? say he must go because he has mismanaged the country, given a monopoly on decision-making to the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist allies, and encroached on the judiciary.

"The president ... did not take responsibility for the polarization he has caused among the sons of one nation since taking office," ElBaradei said.

The Nobel Peace Laureate and a former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog added: "nothing will change our determination to go out on June 30 everywhere in Egypt. We are confident that the Egyptian masses will go out in their millions in peaceful protests that fill the streets and squares of Egypt on Sunday June 30."

"Our strength is in our numbers and our nonviolence and we must not forget that. No one can stand in the way of the will of Egyptian people," he said in response to a reporter's question.

ElBardei spoke after a senior opposition leader and a fellow member of the Front, former foreign minister Amr Moussa, criticized Morsi for not offering a detailed road map for national reconciliation and accused him of not taking the opposition seriously.

In a statement, Moussa also criticized Morsi for not offering a "clear" economic recovery plan and for blaming the nation's woes on street protests and strikes. He later told The Associated Press that Morsi and his Islamist backers "don't want to recognize there is anger. They are missing the point, a major point. They are in a state of denial."

Another key opposition leader and member of the Front, Hamdeen Sabahi, said Morsi's speech did not rise to the occasion.

"He talked a lot but did not say anything," he told a television interviewer late on Wednesday. Sabahi also called on Morsi to step down, saying he was "bearing what (he) cannot handle."

Moussa said the opposition, like the military, wanted a genuine reconciliation, something he said was not mentioned in the president's speech.

"We didn't hear anything about this reconciliation having a plan, a rational direction or a detailed proposal worthy of study and discussion. What we heard was a routine call for dialogue and the creation of committees like those that were promised before but never materialized," he said.

He said economic reforms introduced by Morsi so far were inconsequential and the economy is going from bad to worse. "Furthermore, what does a strike by certain group, a gathering in a square, have to do with repairing hospitals or reforming the railways?"

The opposition leaders and Morsi before them spoke as tension built up in Egypt ahead of Sunday's protests with the army reinforcing its positions outside major cities in anticipation of possible violence.

Moussa, also a former Arab league chief, said it was unbecoming of the president to mention by name and accuse of corruption a serving judge along with the owners of two TV networks that have been critical of his policies for their alleged difficulties in settling outstanding tax or debts.

In his speech, Morsi also railed against judges who have acquitted officials accused of corruption or police commanders who faced charges of killing protesters during and after the 2011 uprising that ousted Egypt's longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The president also repeated assurances that he respects the judiciary.

"When he accuses people by name, he must at least present the evidence," said judge Amir Ramzy. "It was obvious from the president's words and gestures that he has a grudge against judges."

The president also criticized the country's minority Christians of what he called fear of all things Islamic and complained that church leaders greet him with insincere smiles that conceal that fear.

Less than 24 hours after Morsi's speech, Prosecutor General Talaat Abdullah ?a Morsi appointee ? issued a travel ban against media tycoon Mohammed el-Ameen, owner of the popular TV network CBC, official news agency MENA said.

The agency said el-Ameen is being investigated for nearly 427 million Egyptian pounds ($61 million dollars) of alleged tax evasion. The ban came hours after Morsi named el-Ameen as one of several Mubarak loyalists who aim to thwart his rule.

The prosecutor general then issued an arrest warrant for another Morsi critic, Tawfiq Okasha, while the government ordered the shutdown of his popular "Al-Fareen" TV station. Okasha stands accused of spreading false news and causing panic among the population.

Okasha, whose station has been shut down before and is still fighting similar charges that include insulting the president and the Brotherhood, has emerged as one of the most popular TV personalities of post-Mubarak Egypt.

Meanwhile, the Brotherhood said two of its members were killed, one by gunfire, in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya, where it accused "thugs" of storming the headquarters of its political wing. In another Delta province, security officials said riot police fired tear gas to disperse anti-Morsi demonstrators and Brotherhood members fighting after protesters torched the group's local office and houses believed to be owned by its members.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The prosecutor, Abdullah, also referred Mubarak and his two sons to a criminal court over alleged squandering of public funds. The three are already being tried on other corruption charges, and Mubarak himself over his role in the killings of protesters during the 2011 uprising.

Protesters are hoping to bring out massive crowds Sunday, saying they have tapped into widespread discontent over economic woes, rising prices and unemployment, power cuts and lack of security. The June 30 protests are rooted in a campaign by young activists called "Tamarod," or rebel. They claim to have collected about 15 million signatures of Egyptians who want Morsi to step down.

Morsi's Islamist allies are planning a counter-demonstration on Friday in support of his "legitimacy." Some say they are planning an open-ended sit-in at a mosque near the presidential palace ? the planned destination of the main anti-Morsi protest two days later ? raising fears of street violence.

____

Associated Press writers Maggie Michael and Mariam Rizk contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-27-Egypt/id-361692cdecc24758a35570ec6ebb9081

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