Egyptians hand Islamists narrow win in constitution vote

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians voted in favor of a constitution shaped by Islamists but opposed by other groups who fear it will divide the Arab world's biggest nation, officials in rival camps said on Sunday after the first round of a two-stage referendum.

Next week's second round is likely to give another "yes" vote as it includes districts seen as more sympathetic towards Islamists, analysts say, meaning the constitution would be approved.

But the narrow win so far gives Islamist President Mohamed Mursi only limited grounds for celebration by showing the wide rifts in a country where he needs to build a consensus for tough economic reforms.

The Muslim Brotherhood's party, which propelled Mursi to office in a June election, said 56.5 percent backed the text. Official results are not expected until after the next round.

While an opposition official conceded the "yes" camp appeared to have won the first round, the opposition National Salvation Front said in a statement that voting abuses meant a rerun was needed - although it did not explicitly challenge the Brotherhood's vote tally.

Rights groups reported abuses such as polling stations opening late, officials telling people how to vote and bribery. They also criticized widespread religious campaigning which portrayed "no" voters as heretics.

A joint statement by seven human rights groups urged the referendum's organizers "to avoid these mistakes in the second stage of the referendum and to restage the first phase again".

Mursi and his backers say the constitution is vital to move Egypt's democratic transition forward. Opponents say the basic law is too Islamist and tramples on minority rights, including those of Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.

The build-up to Saturday's vote was marred by deadly protests. Demonstrations erupted when Mursi awarded himself extra powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies.

However, the vote passed off calmly with long queues in Cairo and several other places, though unofficial tallies indicated turnout was around a third of the 26 million people eligible to vote this time. The vote was staggered because many judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott in protest.

The opposition had said the vote should not have been held given the violent protests. Foreign governments are watching closely how the Islamists, long viewed warily in the West, handle themselves in power.

"It's wrong to have a vote or referendum with the country in the state it is - blood and killings, and no security," said Emad Sobhy, a voter who lives in Cairo. "Holding a referendum with the country as it is cannot give you a proper result."

INCREASINGLY DIVIDED

As polls closed, Islamists attacked the offices of the newspaper of the liberal Wafd party, part of the opposition National Salvation Front coalition that pushed for a "no" vote.

"The referendum was 56.5 percent for the 'yes' vote," a senior official in the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party operations room set up to monitor voting told Reuters.

The Brotherhood and its party had representatives at polling stations across the 10 areas, including Cairo, in this round. The official, who asked not to be identified, said the tally was based on counts from more than 99 percent of polling stations.

"The nation is increasingly divided and the pillars of state are swaying," opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on Twitter. "Poverty and illiteracy are fertile grounds for trading with religion. The level of awareness is rising fast."

One opposition official also told Reuters the vote appeared to have gone in favor of Islamists who backed the constitution.

The opposition initially said its exit polls indicated the "no" camp would win comfortably, but officials changed tack during the night. One opposition official said in the early hours of Sunday that it would be "very close".

A narrow loss could still hearten leftists, socialists, Christians and more liberal-minded Muslims who make up the disparate opposition, which has been beaten in two elections since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year.

They were drawn together to oppose what they saw as a power grab by Mursi as he pushed through the constitution. The National Salvation Front includes prominent figures such as ElBaradei, former Arab League chief Amr Moussa and firebrand leftist Hamdeen Sabahy.

If the constitution is approved, a parliamentary election will follow early next year.

DEADLY VIOLENCE

Analysts question whether the opposition group will keep together until the parliamentary election. The Islamist-dominated lower house of parliament elected earlier this year was dissolved based on a court order in June.

Violence in Cairo and other cities has plagued the run-up to the referendum. At least eight people were killed when rival camps clashed during demonstrations outside the presidential palace earlier this month.

In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of those casting ballots. There are 51 million eligible voters in the nation of 83 million.

Islamists have been counting on their disciplined ranks of supporters and on Egyptians desperate for an end to turmoil that has hammered the economy and sent Egypt's pound to eight-year lows against the dollar.

The army deployed about 120,000 troops and 6,000 tanks and armored vehicles to protect polling stations and other government buildings. While the military backed Mubarak and his predecessors, it has not intervened in the present crisis.

(Additional reporting Yasmin Saleh and Marwa Awad; Writing by Edmund Blair and Giles Elgood; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/violence-flares-cairo-egyptians-vote-033934702.html

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Review: Susan Crawford's ?Captive Audience? Prescribes the 19th ...

Ex-Obama official and Internet activist, Susan Crawford, is in the news of late. She has written a book, entitled ?Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age? ? an instruction guide of sorts for legislators, policymakers and anti-property misanthropes on how to hamstring successful communications companies in the 21^st Century so that they better and more fairly serve society.

Crawford?s thesis runs like this: The ?pixie-dust? of communications competition has failed America?s Internet experience, and, consequently, America?s biggest cable companies have won the broadband wars.? Why?? Well, telecom companies like Verizon have simply given up.? They just won?t expand the only truly useful, speedy technology to the home ? FiOS / fiber ? because it?s expensive and risky, and they?d rather focus on wireless broadband instead because it?s more profitable.? But, lo and behold, wireless broadband isn?t really fast enough to be of any social good.

So, Americans are in a world of hurt, being held hostage to essentially one real broadband choice ? Big Cable ? which is increasingly culturally bereft and commercialized, unacceptably vertically integrated, and more expensive than it needs to be.? Moreover, and perhaps most importantly to the author, America?s largest providers of Internet access (like Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T and Verizon), remain largely out of the grasp of regulators, essentially free to lock consumers into profit-harvesting capture.

For the author, this portends disaster for America.? Affordable access by all to truly speedy broadband is akin to access to water and electricity.? Lacking this, Americans ? especially those who are disadvantaged ? will not only become less prosperous, they will become more unequal, too.

To rectify this crisis, America needs a new social contract for broadband communications.? So, not surprisingly, Crawford?s solutions rely on invasive government meddling and regulation of privately owned U.S. broadband markets to achieve this end.? Among other suggestions, she calls for more municipally owned or supported broadband operations; giving the FCC control over high-speed Internet access via telephone-like regulations; and separating system transmission lines from content.

As she sees it, if policymakers follow her prescriptions, privately owned Internet access companies will be no more than indentured servants to the public weal ? basic utilities ? and through this, we?ll not only save ourselves from becoming a technological banana republic, we?ll be free again.

Crawford harbors particular disdain for Comcast and Time Warner, holding out their government-approved growth as exemplary of the so-called crisis.? In Crawford?s estimation, the marriage of speedy broadband pipes and content, while certainly good for the companies? profit margins, represents a false economy. For the author, this un-checked growth ? allowing them to richly? ?harvest? profit for shareholders ? is especially symbolic of capitalism?s (and policymakers?) failure to shape the Internet in ways that benefit society.

Throughout the 300-plus-page tome, the reader is never far from being reminded just how poorly network providers serve society, as Crawford repeatedly demonizes the private property, profit, paychecks of CEOs and protected free speech of individuals and corporations that give us Internet access.? To this end, Crawford?s monotonous hectoring rarely strays from her underlying admonition: Broadband networks are public goods; they?re just too important to be left in the hands of private property holders and subject to the unregulated flow of the free marketplace.? Americans deserve better. So, to get there, state-shackled communications markets remain the only real answer to ensure that Americans get all the digital broccoli they need.

Sadly, this 19^th Century view of world has prevented Ms. Crawford from seeing the true deregulatory success story that?s emerged over the past 15 years.? Quite simply, Americans have a ton of excellent broadband choice.? And, satisfied, they?re making more use of it every day.

Since 1996 ? when government-sanctioned communications monopolies were essentially outlawed by Congress and deregulation began ? figures show that more than $1 trillion of private investment has flooded onto America?s broadband communications landscape.? As a result, in any given market, broadband access is universal.? In fact, 99% of Americans can access at least one flavor of facilities-based broadband ? be it cable, DSL, fiber, cable-fiber hybrids, satellite, broadband over powerline or wireless services.? Over 80% of America has at least two broadband choices, with these numbers growing daily.

Wireless broadband has been particularly explosive, with nearly 70% of the world?s LTE subscribers coming from America.? Overall, wireless? growth has been propelled by over $25 billion in wireless infrastructure investment last year alone ? a number bigger than similar investment in the 15 largest European Union economies combined.

This market-guided expansion has had profound, positive impact on the Internet ecosystem.? As U.S. broadband infrastructure has advanced and become faster, it?s helped forge whole new industries, too ? such as the smartphone, the tablet, the cloud, Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, etc. ? enabling an $8 trillion exchange of goods and services each year.

It?s also made the American worker among the most productive and competitive in the world, and which, according to government-cited estimates, has driven 15% of our GDP growth since 2004.? Moreover, it?s kept Americans competitive through the global downturn.

Could this Internet success story have occurred in a heavily regulated, 19^th?Century model as advocated by Ms. Crawford?? In a word ? no.? The pro-consumer growth of the Internet pie happened via a model almost diametrically opposed to Crawford?s hyper-regulatory urgings.

In reading ?Captive Audience,? it becomes clear that Crawford?s thinking suffers from the myopic belief that today?s communications marketplace is frozen like a sepia-toned snapshot, lodged in the depths of a long forgotten shoebox, hidden in the corner of an unfrequented closet.? That broadband winners now have won the jackpot for all of time. ??And, that pro-consumer change can only occur if foisted upon market leaders by ?progressive? regulation.

That notion is plainly false.

America?s broadband market is vibrant, resilient and dynamic.? It is far from unregulated, too.? Among other checks, it is guided by the advance of technology, consumer transparency tools, industry best practices, ecosystem symbiosis, ecosystem competition, and present laws that police against actual consumer harm.? It does not sit in stasis, as Crawford implies.? Rather, it lives and breathes, flexibly serving the public interest to deliver what we need.

Crawford makes much hay about over-clocked, taxpayer-paid broadband alternatives as being key to browbeating private broadband providers into delivering what Americans truly need.? But quite simply, everyone does not need wired, gigabit broadband service to enjoy the American dream; they are being denied nothing if they don?t have it.? It?s akin to demanding that everyone water his Victory Garden with a full-on fire hose.?? Over-clocked equals overkill.

Still, consumers may someday want it.? And, that?s what the marketplace is for.? Unmolested, it remains far better at allocating resources in a way that more sustainably serves the public interest while also minimizing taxpayer waste and regulatory abuse by competitors and bureaucrats.

In the end, ?Captive Audience? really reflects the wish of its author herself to capture and compel communications policy to her better mousetrap.?? Like so many other progressive cants ? such as those we hear surrounding global warming, campaign finance reform, or the food movement ? the book?s main message ultimately calls for subservience to the state and better knowing regulators, who, under the guise of ensuring that communications markets are more fair, culturally diverse and accessible, use the coercive and distorting power of the state to control the delivery of the Internet to Americans.? If that means taking the private property of so-called monopolists, and shutting their mouths closed with regulatory duct tape so they cannot speak, then so be it.? In her big government view, the greater good demands no less.

This is not say that government has no role in promoting the rollout of speedy Internet access to Americans.? For a variety of reasons ? i.e., cultural, age, socio-economic, geography, education level, etc. ? many Americans still either lack, or choose not to, access the broadband Internet, no matter how fast it is.? In this regard, government does have specific tools to help improve these numbers.? But, to suggest, as Crawford does, that the best way to get everyone online is through the heavy hand of Uncle Sam and his regulatory machinery, well, the facts belie Ms. Crawford?s techno-panic lamentations.

We have it good here in America.? At no point in our history have we had more affordable, effective and accessible communications choices ? in all markets, such as content, applications, services, devices, computing power and network access.? The crisis of which Crawford writes isn?t.? Moreover, it will not be.

However, if we follow Crawford?s suggestions ? and we go back to a 19^th Century regulatory mindset to guide 21^st Century communications services ? then instead of receiving more choices, better services and greater value, we?ll actually find ourselves captive to the ossified, Bakelite-phone mousetrap of the past.

Tagged as: AT&T Time Warner, Big Cable, Comcast, Susan Crawford, Verizon

Source: http://mediafreedom.org/2012/12/review-susan-crawfords-captive-audience-prescribes-the-19th-century-to-save-the-21st-century-internet/

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Obama urges solidarity as America mourns shooting victims

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Americans on Saturday to join in solidarity as they mourn the victims of a shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school, saying the hearts of parents across the country were "heavy with hurt" for the lives lost.

In his weekly radio and Internet speech, Obama also repeated a message he put forth on Friday, just hours after one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history, on the need to set aside politics and "take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this."

But Obama went no further than that, and again stopped short of specifically calling for tighter gun-control laws.

Twenty children were killed by a heavily armed gunman who opened fire at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday. He killed at least 26 people there before turning his gun on himself.

"We grieve for the families of those we lost. And we keep in our prayers the parents of those who survived," Obama said.

The shooting spree reignited a debate over gun-control in a country with a flourishing gun culture and a strong gun lobby, which has discouraged most politicians from any major efforts to address the easy availability of firearms.

Obama mostly steered clear of the issue during his successful re-election campaign this year, and it remains unclear whether he might be willing to take a more assertive approach now that he has secured a second term.

OBAMA URGED TO ACT

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who runs a coalition of mayors on gun policy, said on Friday the Democratic president should press ahead despite likely opposition from Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives.

"We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership - not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today," Bloomberg said in a statement.

Ticking off some of the recent shooting incidents, Obama said in his Saturday address: "As a nation, we have endured far too many of these tragedies in the last few years."

His response to previous high-profile shootings was to call for a national conversation on how to curb gun violence.

"This weekend, Michelle and I are doing what I know every parent is doing - holding our children as close as we can and reminding them how much we love them," he said.

"There are families in Connecticut who can't do that today. And they need all of us now," he said. "All of us can extend a hand to those in need - to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them."

The 20-year-old gunman, who law enforcement sources identified as Adam Lanza, opened fire on a classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which serves children from ages 5 to 10.

Authorities found 18 children and seven adults, including the gunman, dead at the school, and two children were pronounced dead later after being taken to a hospital.

"Most of those who died were just young children with their whole lives ahead of them. And every parent in America has a heart heavy with hurt," Obama said.

Obama had to struggle to control his emotions during his televised statement on Friday in the White House briefing where his voice cracked and he wiped away tears.

Partisan bickering in Washington, divided by a battle over a looming "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts, was put on hold amid mourning for the Connecticut dead.

House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, said he had canceled the Republican weekly address for Saturday "so that President Obama can speak for the entire nation at this time of mourning."

(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tearful-obama-calls-meaningful-action-school-shooting-020855550.html

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Horse Racing Tips ? Making It Possible To Choose The Winning ...

You?ll be able to have an easy time in picking out a winner if you love betting on equestrian sports. There are a lot of horse racing tips that will enable you to cash in winning tickets. Win bets are the ideal option if you believe that it is your lucky day in making money. Apart from being thrilling to watch, these are also simple. In order for you to acquire the money following the event, the horse you bet on should come in first, second, or third place. Instead of just having one opportunity, you get to have three.

It?s helpful to be present on the race track. Before the horses take part in an event, you will be able to take a better look at them. Whether you are just watching or betting on them, thoroughbred animals are still nice to look at. Check out the paddock area in order to see them being saddled. Look for the animal that has the shiniest coat because its chances of winning a race are high. You will be able to determine its health by looking at its coat. A shiny coat means they are healthy. An excellent performance is guaranteed by healthy animals.

There are other helpful signs you can look into. Be suspicious of horses that are very sweaty prior a race. A lot of it can never be a good sign, but a bit of perspiration is acceptable. You can also determine if a horse is excited by taking a look at the way it prances around. It would mean he is thrilled and prepared for a race if there is a bit of spring to his prance.

Take into account the coach and jockey if you wish to increase your chances of winning. You can look at their statistics and see which one has a higher number of wins. These people and their statistics should be the first factors you need to consider in a race. Once you find a good bet, the next step for you to do is to take a look at their horses.

Your odds of winning bets will be substantial when you find the best jockey who possesses the animal that seems to be the best in the bunch due to the fact that he can come in at first, second, or third place. If you want to have a lot of fun with horseracing, don?t take it too seriously. You always win some and lose some in this game, always remember this.

Tags: horse racing tips, horseracing

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Source: http://recreationandsports.russiacourse.com/uncategorized/horse-racing-tips-making-it-possible-to-choose-the-winning-animal/

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Photography Tips To Get The Most From Your Images

When taking photographs, learning the art of getting a picture perfect moment every time is easy if you know the right tricks. After following the advice found in this guide, you will have a much better understanding of ways to enhance your current abilities, and discover other ways to improve your talents.

Always take more batteries and have a larger memory card than you think you'll need when you are taking your camera on a trip. Memory cards are vastly more inexpensive than just a few years ago, so it's easy to buy a larger memory card than you'll think you need. You never know when you'll happen upon a scene that you'll want to document thoroughly. Throw some extra batteries in your bag too, as you don't want to miss that once in a lifetime shot because your camera ran out of power.

Create the perfect photo! There is no such thing as taking a great shot, unless you just happen to be at the right place at the right time. For all the rest of the times, great images have to be created by you, the photographer. Take the time to set-up the images that you want to shoot.

To experiment with photography, be sure to play around with shutter speeds. A slower speed means the shutter is open longer and can capture motion. Photos of a waterfall with a slow shutter speed would make the water look like one continuous motion. Faster shutter speeds capture action and are frequently used in sports photography. A photo of a waterfall in this example would show every drop of water clearly.

An important tip to consider with photography is to always shoot with the lowest ISO possible. This is important because it assures that you get the most out of your shots. Increased ISO levels will cause distracting image noise, a loss of contrast, and an overall loss in dynamic range.

Price

Remember that bigger names bring about bigger price tags at the store, so always check the specs of a camera and ignore the name brand. Brand X might have everything you need in a camera, but because this item is advertised on TV and in magazines, you'll pay upwards of 40% more for this than the brand Y camera with the same features.

Lighting

Try to plan out all of your shots. You should plan out everything from the subject, to the angle, to the lighting in the area where you will be shooting. Taking a bit of time to plan all of this out, can lead to much better and more interesting photographs.

If you are looking to improve as a photographer, you should begin to shoot anything and everything. Of course, you'll want permission before you snap a shot of your significant other, climbing out of bed in the morning, but you should be out shooting everything to practice with lighting, angles, coverage and other areas of importance.

Play with the shadow of your object. When a shadow is projected on a distorted surface it adopts interesting shapes. You can even have an original shadow become the subject of your photograph. Arrange the lighting and the background to make shadows change and adopt a shape you want to work with.

To get an interesting photograph, play around with the lighting. If the natural lighting is not perfect, do not feel the need to resort to your camera's flash. Play with the shadows on the scene, or move your subject into the light and let the darkness eliminate the background behind them. There are many ways to play with light that might initially seem less than favorable but work out well in the end.

With this newfound information about photography, you are well on your way to taking better shots. You will enjoy spending less time deleting pictures and rustling through the catalog looking for the right picture. Just apply this information to what you already know and watch your photographs come to life.

If you are looking for a professional commercial photographer in Manchester. www.davidburrowsphotography.co.uk covers all aspects of commercial photography.

Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/photography-tips-to-get-the-most-from-your-images-307394

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