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Source: http://duniarvulati.blogspot.com/2012/12/albertfinneye-there-is-no-place-better.html
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Affiliate marketing is helpful for companies in the promotion of services and products, and is used instead of, or in addition to, traditional marketing methods, such as television and print media. For more inspiration and ideas on marketing your business online, read on!
One tip webmasters forget is to keep their sites simple. Interactive media like Adobe Flash can be tempting when designing your website, and website designers might try to convince you to use it. Make it simple enough for everyone to use! A website does not need to have a bunch of crazy features, as long as it is efficient and user-friendly.
Reward those people that buy things from you. Make sure that you keep your current customers, as they will provide a lot of value over time. When customers feel appreciated, they pass the information about your business to new potential customers.
TIP! Do not use the same tactics or content as others if you wish to use Internet marketing well. Not only is unique content more effective with site visitors, but it also ranks better in search results.
While having a profile on every social networking site available seems like a good idea, remember that each of these profiles takes time and effort to make it a profitable venture. When profiles are not updated regularly, people start to view them as being spam.
Give your customers a variety of specials to choose from at the check-out page. A customer can add another product for a discount as a thank you. This is a good way to get rid of old stock, and your customer will feel valued.
Consider marketing your website as some sort of social club or gathering rather than a simple business website. This can hep build traffic to your website as customers come back to interact with others. This helps to keep your site at the front of people?s minds. Give people graphics they can use on their websites to advertise their memberships; it?s free advertising.
TIP! Find some type of service that you can provide free to users of your site. A lot of people will visit your site because of the free product or contest you are offering.
Before you focus on building your web business, you first need to focus on the particular niche you?ll be catering to. For example, you aren?t going to successfully sell sports cards to a person who is interested in vintage Star Wars memorabilia. The main thing to keep in mind is that you cannot sell your product to someone who is looking for something else. Market accordingly, since you do not want to attract the wrong audience.
Website marketing is, in the end, something that can help you, no matter what sort of business you?re in. It is possible to use Online marketing to promote services and products, rather than relying on print and television advertising. Keep the tips you just read in mind when you develop your Internet marketing strategy.
Source: http://noble-research.com/reach-your-target-customers-with-these-web-marketing-tips.html
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About this Image
The perfectly picturesque spiral galaxy known as Messier 81, or M81, looks sharp in this new composite from NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes and NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. M81 is a "grand design" spiral galaxy, which means its elegant arms curl all the way down into its center. It is located about 12 million light-years away in the Ursa Major constellation and is one of the brightest galaxies that can be seen from Earth through telescopes.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/spaceheadlines/~3/dXL7qTxxTFE/19075-m81-galaxy-is-pretty-in-pink.html
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Design and Features
The X79's chassis measures 19.6 by 8.3 by 24.2 inches (HWD). Its huge dimensions is meant to accommodate a massive amount of components, but finding a place for the gaming rig will be a challenge for gamers living in tight quarters.
With the SilverStone chassis, AVADirect delivers an elegantly refined gaming desktop. Instead of the flashing LED lights and garish grilles typically seen in this category, the X79 comes in a subdued metallic silver chassis. Moreover, the SilverStone chassis has the motherboard vertically mounted, allowing the heat generated by the X79 to dissipate upwards.
The top of the X79 chassis has a removable perforated grill,that must be pulled off for gamers to access the majority of its ports and, moreover, to unscrew either one of the side panels and pop open the chassis. All the removable grill allows users to hide all of their cables, this can become cumbersome after a while since the top needs to be removed each time you want to access the ports beneath.
The X79 features an abundance of ports. The top of the chassis has four USB 3.0 ports, seven USB 2.0 ports, two eSATA ports, a Bluetooth module, a PS/2 input, audio inputs, and an S/PDIF digital audio output. The top also has some hardcore gamer-friendly elements. There's a Clear CMOS switch (for letting gamers replace the motherboard's jumper cap in the event that an overclock fails) and an ROG connect switch, and corresponding ROG input (which allows you monitor the system's processing speed in real-time through a laptop). There's also an integrated OC Key dongle, which can be plugged into the DVI port of any graphics card to give gamers on-screen performance information and overclocking options without having to boot the OS. The top also houses three fan control switches that allow users to toggle between high- and low-speed for each of the X79's three cooling fans. During testing, I didn't notice a difference in noise levels between the settings.
Toward the front of the system, the top of the chassis sports a power button, reset button, and activity LEDs. A sliding door to the side of these elements opens to reveal headphone and mic inputs, as well as a pair of USB 3.0 ports.
The front panel of the X79 features a total of five bays. The top bay houses a Blu-ray reader that also reads and burns DVDs and CDs. The second bay beneath it has a 65-in-1 card reader and a USB 2.0 port. Further down still, there are three empty 5.25-inch drive bays. The X79's rear is a more low-key affair that has a removable plastic grille that allows users to easily clean a dust filter that captures all the debris kicked up in the maelstrom of the system's cooling fans.
Popping open either of the chassis side panels reveals an impressive array of hardware as well as padding on the inside of each panel, ostensibly for muffling any sound. The sound, of course, stems from the X79's three fans at the bottom of the system. In addition to integrated Bluetooth, the X79's motherboard also sports a total of eight DIMM sockets that can accommodate a maximum of 64GB of RAM; our test unit had two occupied by 8GB modules, leaving six available, though two of these are slightly difficult to access because the X79's massive six-core 3.2GHz Intel Core i7-3960X processor sits directly in the middle of the modules.
A good portion of the X79's interior real estate is also occupied by its trio of EVGA 2GB GeForce GTX 680 graphics cards in a three-way SLI configuration. Each graphics card features one HDMI port, two DVI ports, and one DisplayPort input, making it possible to use multiple displays at once. Additional expansion cards would be difficult to accommodate since the graphics cards block access to the motherboard's remaining PCIe x8 slot.
Although the X79 is already brimming with components, its 1,000-watt power supply (PSU) means that it can easily accommodate even more upgrades. Of course, most users don't shell out nearly five grand on a system with the expectation of having to upgrade it in the foreseeable future, but the possibility is still there.
The X79 packs two solid-state-drives (SSDs) and two hard disk drives (HDDs); the two 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs are for the operating system and are in RAID 0 array in order to provide a quick platform for running your OS and programs. The two 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7,200rpm HDDs are in RAID 1 (mirror) array, leaving you with plenty of storage space.
Like most custom-built gaming rigs, pre-installed software is kept to a minimum, and, includes stuff worth keeping, like full versions of Assassin's Creed and Deus Ex Human Revolution ? The Missing Link. Like the V3 Gaming PC Avenger, the X79 is covered by a three-year limited parts and labor warranty and free life-time tech support.
Performance
With a six-core 3.2GHz Intel Core i7-3960X CPU overclocked to 4.5GHz and 16GB of DDR3 RAM, the X79 tore through our benchmark tests. Still, the X79 belongs to a class of gaming desktops where ripping through benchmark tests is the norm. Thus, while the actual difference between the systems in terms of performance is nearly impossible to perceive, a nearly $5,000 price tag means that you'd want to buy the best of the best?not merely "one of the best."
With these elevated expectations in mind, it was disappointing that the X79 failed to top the charts in our tests against other similarly-priced gaming desktops. Its PCMark 7 score of 6,197 came within striking distance of the Falcon Northwest Mach IV Icon2 (6,245 points) as well as the V3 Gaming PC Avenger (6,348 points) but lagged behind the class-leading Maingear Shift Super Stock (Core i7-3930K) (6,501 points).
The same goes for the X79's multimedia performance. It completed our Handbrake video-encoding test in 54 seconds, putting it on equal footing with the Maingear Shift Super Stock (54 seconds) and the V3 Gaming PC Avenger (54 seconds) and a few seconds behind both the Northwest Icon2 (53 seconds) and the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K) (51 seconds). Meanwhile, the X79's Cinebench R11.5 score (13.15) handily surpassed the Falcon Icon2 (9.66) but lagged slightly behind the Shift Super Stock (Core i7-3930K) (13.98 points) and, to a greater extent, the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K) (14.23 points).
The X79 finished our Photoshop CS5 test in 2 minutes 22 seconds, which was several seconds longer than both the V3 Gaming Avenger (2:17) and Maingear Shift Super Stock (Core i7-3930K) (2:15) while finishing ten seconds behind the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K) (2:12).
Although the X79s' trio of Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 GPUs easily delivered insane frame rates in even the most demanding settings of our gaming benchmark tests, it ultimately couldn't keep pace with its peers. In our Crysis benchmark test, the X79 dished out strong frame rates (120fps in medium quality at 1,280-by-720 resolution; 77fps in very high quality at 1,920-by-1,080 resolution) but couldn't keep pace with either the Northwest Icon2 or the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K).
The X79 fared better in our Lost Planet 2 benchmark test, managing to outmuscle the V3 Gaming PC Avenger, but once again failing to pump out frame rates with as much dexterity as the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K) or the Maingear Shift Super Stock (Core i7-3930K). That said, the X79's frame rates are impressive in their own right, and it's worth repeating that it's nearly impossible to tell the difference between these systems since they all effortlessly deliver silky smooth graphics.
As far as 3D rendering is concerned, the X79's performance in our 3DMark 11 benchmark tests (23,397 points in Entry-level mode, 8,916 points in Extreme-level mode) were objectively impressive but nonetheless not as high as the Falcon Northwest Icon2 (23,627 points and 10,523 points, respectively) or the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K) (24,330 points and 9,710 points, respectively). While these are certainly smoothly playable scores, they still fall short of the competition, all of which fall in the same price range, save for the more expensive Origin Genesis (i7-3930K).
All said, the AVADirect X79 Gaming PC is undoubtedly an attractive system with the capability to handle enormously complex visual tasks as well as unfettered multimedia creation and consumption. However, high-end gaming enthusiasts who can afford to drop nearly five grand on a gaming rig would be better off spending the few hundred dollars extra for our current Editors' Choice, the Maingear Shift Super Stock (Core i7 3930K), which outscores the X79 across the board (though it should be said that the scores were very close).
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:
COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the AVADirect X79 Gaming PC with several other desktops side by side.
More desktop reviews:
??? AVADirect X79 Gaming PC
??? Acer Aspire AME600-UR378
??? HP Spectre One 23-e010se
??? HP Envy 23-d060qd TouchSmart
??? Apple iMac 21.5-Inch (Late 2012)
?? more
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/ZKIrdPEjvio/0,2817,2413611,00.asp
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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? Some of the police officers who responded to the elementary school shooting in Newtown are so traumatized they haven't been working, but they have to use sick time and could soon be at risk of going without a paycheck, a union official said Wednesday.
The union, Council 15 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is seeking more generous assistance in talks with the town's insurer. It is also reaching out to lawmakers and the governor's office with proposals to modify state law and expand workers' compensation benefits for officers who witness horrific crime scenes.
"The insurer for the town has taken a position that these officers are entitled to only what the statute allows. Unfortunately for these officers, the statute doesn't allow any benefits," said Eric Brown, an attorney for the union, which represents nearly 4,000 officers around Connecticut.
A gunman shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 and slaughtered 20 first-graders and six educators. The gunman, who had also killed his mother that morning, committed suicide as police arrived.
Brown said that the number of officers "critically affected" by the tragedy is below 15 and that a small number of them are not currently working.
A spokesman for Newtown police, Lt. George Sinko, said the officers are generally holding up well.
"A couple of them are taking it harder than some of the other ones," he said. "The things that the officers had to experience underscores the need to support them in every way possible."
Authorities say the victims were shot with a high-powered, military-style rifle loaded with ammunition designed to inflict maximum damage. All the victims had been shot at least twice, the medical examiner said, and as many as 11 times. Two victims were pronounced dead at a hospital, while all others died in the school.
In the past, advocates have pushed to change the statutes on workers' compensation, which currently include provisions for officers who suffer mental impairment as the result of using or being subjected to deadly force ? but not for those who witness crime scenes with mass casualties.
Concerns about the potential cost to cities and towns have been an obstacle, but the issue is likely to resurface in the next legislation session, said state Rep. Stephen Dargan, a West Haven Democrat who is co-chairman of the legislature's public safety committee.
"We don't want it to be used in an abusive way, but the circumstances are so horrific in Newtown. We need to protect those first responders and give them all the help we can give them," he said.
Officials with the town's insurer, the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Firefighters who responded to the scene at Sandy Hook also have described struggling with feelings of frustration and anguish, but said they were grateful they were spared from witnessing the scene that greeted police inside the school.
Brown said outside agencies have been meeting demands for counseling services, but it will be important to ensure support is in place over the long term. The officers who are not working also could use up available sick time by early January, he said.
"The emotional loads they're carrying far exceed anything they could imagine," Brown said.
Police have yet to offer a possible motive for gunman Adam Lanza's rampage.
Expansive memorials throughout the small New England town have become gathering points for residents and visitors alike. A steady stream of well-wishers have taken pictures, dropped off toys and fought back tears at a huge sidewalk memorial in the center of Newtown's Sandy Hook section that is filled with stuffed animals, poems, flowers, posters and cards.
Newtown officials plan to convert into a memorial the countless mementos paying tribute to the schoolhouse victims. Thousands of flowers, letters, signs, photos, candles, teddy bears and other items at sites around town will be turned into soil and blocks to be used in a memorial, The News Times in nearby Danbury reported.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-union-seeks-more-help-newtown-officers-184614407.html
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Tens of thousands of unemployed Oregonians need Congress to act now to extend Emergency Unemployment Insurance (see this story and this story).
Emergency unemployment compensation is helping 29,240 Oregonians who, despite looking for over 26 weeks, have not been hired. That is about the number (29,600) of Oregonians OCPP estimates will abruptly lose benefits December 29 if Congress does not act to extend the program, reducing the number receiving unemployment compensation support of any kind by a third.
The disappearance of this safety net, however, will have an even wider impact. Also affected will be those who will exhaust their 26 weeks of state benefits after December 29. OCPP estimates that about 12,100 Oregon workers will be in this situation during just the first three months of 2013.
The end of federal unemployment insurance will also diminish economic activity in our state. Federal unemployment insurance is pumping millions of dollars into the Oregon economy each month, helping struggling families and communities hard-hit by long-term unemployment. Over the course of this year emergency unemployment insurance brought over $600 million into Oregon, helping the economy in every county in the state.
Congress must act without delay to extend the emergency unemployment compensation either in the ?fiscal cliff? legislation or in a separate bill.
Oregon currently has 166,000 unemployed workers, and so far this year, the state economy has added on average about 1,700 jobs per month. At that rate, it will take eight years for all those who want to work to have the opportunity.
I am sure I am not alone in longing for the day when the economy is robust enough that Oregon doesn?t need the extended emergency federal support.
I am also sure that the families, friends and neighbors of the thousands of unemployed workers facing the end of their modest unemployment insurance would agree with me that right now our economy needs a robust extension of the federal uninsurance program. Oregonians, and Oregon?s economy, need federal action right now.
Chuck Sheketoff is the executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy. You can sign up to receive email notification of OCPP materials at www.ocpp.org.
Source: http://www.blueoregon.com/2012/12/congress-needs-extend-emergency-unemployment-insurance/
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Our five heroes was sent to the alternative Earth they never knew, and now, the hope and dreams of the world rests upon their shoulder. Will they succeed and save the world? Or will they fail and die along with the world?
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The IRS has announced final regulations governing new fees?payable by health insurers and employer sponsors of self-insured health plans?that will help fund a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Created by the Afford??able Care Act health care reform law, the institute was established to advance medical best practices based on how healthy patients remain after they have received care.
It is funded in part by the new fees charged to insurance plans?currently $1 per insured (including spouses, dependents, retirees and COBRA participants). The first payment is due July 31.
If you are a traditional group health plan, the fees are cooked into premiums, and your carrier will handle payment.
However, if your plan is self-insured, you?re on the hook. Consult with your organization?s plan administrator and tax advisor to determine how you should proceed.
The fees are pursuant to 26 CFR Parts 40, 46, and 602. For more information on obligations of self-insured plans, contact the IRS at (202) 622?6080.
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Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano speaks during a news conference Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Indianapolis. Pagano returns to the team after undergoing successful leukemia treatment. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano speaks during a news conference Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Indianapolis. Pagano returns to the team after undergoing successful leukemia treatment. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Tina Pagano, right, and her daughter Taylor Pagano, listen as Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano speaks during a news conference Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Indianapolis. Pagano returns to the team after undergoing successful leukemia treatment. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano hugs his daughter Taylor Pagano following a news conference Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Indianapolis. Pagano returns to the team after undergoing successful leukemia treatment. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Indianapolis Colts former interim head coach and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians listens as head coach Chuck Pagano speaks during a news conference Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Indianapolis. Pagano returns to the team after undergoing successful leukemia treatment. Arians coached the team while Pagano was on leave. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano speaks during a news conference Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Indianapolis. Pagano returns to the team after undergoing successful leukemia treatment. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Chuck Pagano stepped to the podium Monday, hugged his team owner, thanked his family for its support and wiped a tear from his eye.
He might, finally, turn out the lights in his office, too.
Nearly three months to the day after being diagnosed with leukemia, the Colts' first-year coach returned to a team eager to reunite with a boss healthy enough to go back to work.
"I told you my best day of my life was July 1, 1989," Pagano said, referring to his wedding date. "Today was No. 2. Getting to pull up, drive in, get out of my car, the key fob still worked. I was beginning to question whether it would or not. When I asked for Bruce to take over, I asked for him to kick some you-know-what and to do great. Damn Bruce, you had to go and win nine games? Tough act to follow. Tough act to follow. Best in the history of the NFL. That's what I have to come back to."
The comment turned tears into the laughter everyone expected on such a festive occasion.
For Pagano and the Colts, Monday morning was as precious as anyone could have imagined when Pagano took an indefinite leave to face the biggest opponent of his life, cancer.
In his absence, all the Colts was win nine of 12 games, make a historic turnaround and clinch a playoff spot all before Sunday's regular-season finale against Houston, which they pegged as the day they hoped to have Pagano back. If all goes well at practice this week, Pagano will be on the sideline for the first time since a Week 3 loss to Jacksonville.
Pagano endured three rounds of chemotherapy to put his cancer in remission.
That Pagano's return came less than 24 hours after Indy (10-5) locked up the No. 5 seed in the AFC and the day before Christmas seemed fitting, too.
"I know Chuck is ready for this challenge. In speaking to his doctor multiple times, I know that the time is right for him to grab the reins, get the head coaching cap on and begin the journey," owner Jim Irsay said. "It's been a miraculous story. It really is a book. It's a fairytale. It's a Hollywood script. It's all those things but it's real."
The reality is that he's returning to a vastly different team than the one he turned over to Arians, his long-time friend and first assistant coaching hire.
Back then, the Colts were 1-2 and most of the so-called experts had written them off as one of the league's worst teams. Now, they're ready to show the football world that they can be just as successful under Pagano as they were under Arians, who tied the NFL record for wins after a midseason coaching change.
Pagano also has changed.
The neatly-trimmed salt-and-pepper hair and trademark goatee that were missing in November have slowly returned, and the thinner man who appeared to be catching his breath during a postgame speech in early November, looked and sounded as good as ever Monday.
He repeatedly thanked fans for their prayers and letters, the organization and his family for their unwavering help and promised to provide comfort and support to other people who are facing similar fights. During one poignant moment that nearly brought out tears again, Pagano even recounted a letter sent to him by a 9-year-old child who suggested he suck on ice chips and strawberry Popsicles in the hospital and advised him to be nice to the nurses regardless of how he felt ? and he never even paused.
"I feel great, my weight is back, my energy is back and again, it's just a blessing to be back here," Pagano said.
In the minds of Colts players and coaches, Pagano never really left.
He continually watched practice tape and game film on his computer, used phone calls and text messages to regularly communicate with players and occasionally delivered a pregame or postgame speech to his team.
"He texted me and called me so much, it was like he was standing there in my face every day," said receiver Reggie Wayne, who has been friends with Pagano since the two were working together at the University of Miami.
But the Colts found plenty of other ways to keep Pagano's battle in the forefront.
They began a fundraising campaign for leukemia research, calling it Chuckstrong. Players had stickers with the initials CP on their locker room nameplates, and Arians wore an orange ribbon on his baseball cap during games. Orange is the symbolic color for leukemia. At one point, nearly three dozen players shaved their heads to show their ailing coach they were with him.
That's not all.
Arians and first-year general manager Ryan Grigson decided to leave the lights on in Pagano's office until he returned. Pagano noted the team even installed plastic clips to make sure those lights were not mistakenly turned off while he was gone. Those clips were removed when Pagano arrived Monday morning.
And Arians said nobody sat in the front seat of the team bus.
"He's always been our head coach," Arians said.
So after getting medical clearance from his oncologist, Dr. Larry Cripe, to return with no restrictions, Pagano couldn't wait to get to the office Monday morning.
Arians arrived at 7 a.m., three hours early for the scheduled team meeting. By then, Pagano had already driven past the inflatable Colts player with the words "Welcome Back Chuck" printed on its chest and was back in his office preparing for the Texans.
Players showed up a couple of hours later, and when the torch was passed from Arians back to Pagano, players gave their returning coach a standing ovation that Wayne said was well-deserved.
All Pagano wants to do now is emulate the success Arians and his players have had this season.
"I asked him (Arians) if he would lead this team and this ballclub and this organization and take over the reins," Pagano said. "What a masterful, masterful job you did Bruce. You carried the torch and all you went out and did was win nine ballgames. You got us our 10th win yesterday and you got us into the playoffs. You did it with dignity and you did it with class. You're everything that I always knew you were and more."
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (AP) ? Violence erupted between Egypt's divided camps on Friday, the eve of the final round of a referendum on a constitution that has polarized the nation, as Islamists and their opponents pelted each other with stones while police fired tear gas in the streets of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
The contentious referendum, which would bring a greater implementation of Islamic law to Egypt, is expected to be approved in Saturday's voting.
The new clashes ? in which opponents of Islamists set fire to cars and dozens of people were hurt ? illustrated how the new charter is unlikely to ease the violent conflict over the country's future. For a month, Egypt has been torn between Islamists and their opponents, who accuse President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood of trying to unilaterally impose their will on the country.
Meanwhile, Morsi was already gearing up for the next steps after the constitution's passage, making a last-minute appointment of 90 new members to the parliament's upper house, a third of its total membership. Current rules allow him to do so, but if he waited until the charter was passed he could only appoint 10.
The body is normally so toothless and ignored that few Egyptians bothered to vote in elections for it earlier this year, allowing an almost total sweep by the Brotherhood and other Islamists. But once the charter is passed, it will hold lawmaking powers until elections for a new lower house are held ? not expected for several months.
Friday's appointments added to the tiny ranks of non-Islamists in the upper house, known as the Shura Council, but preserved the Islamists' overwhelming hold.
A spokesman for the main opposition umbrella National Salvation Front dismissed the appointments, accusing Morsi of setting up a token opposition much like ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak did.
"This council and this constitution will also fail as long as there is no real opposition and no real dialogue, and as long as Morsi is only serving his clan and taking orders from the head office of the Muslim Brotherhood," Hussein Abdel-Razek told The Associated Press.
For the past month, both sides have been bringing their supporters into the street for mass rallies sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands ? and repeatedly erupting into clashes.
In part, Egypt's split has been over who will shape the country's path two years after Mubarak's ouster. An opposition made up of liberals, leftists, secular Egyptians and a swath of the public angered over Morsi's 6-month-old rule fear Islamists are creating a new Mubarak-style autocracy. They accuse the Brotherhood of monopolizing the levers of power and point to the draft charter, which Islamists on the Constituent Assembly rammed through despite a boycott by liberal and secular members.
Morsi's allies say the opposition is trying to use the streets to overturn their victories at the ballot box over the past two years. They also accuse the opposition of carrying out a conspiracy by former members of Mubarak's regime to regain power.
Intertwined with that is a fight over Islam's role in the state. Many Islamists vow to defend God's law, and clerics have depicted opponents as infidels. The constitution would give broad leeway for hard-liners to implement Islamic Shariah law, making civil liberties and rights of women subordinate to a more literal version of Islamic law. It also gives clerics a say in legislation for the first time to ensure parliament adheres to Shariah.
Passage of the charter will do little to resolve the confrontation ? particularly if it is approved by a low margin with little turnout. The first round of voting took place Dec. 15 in 10 of Egypt's 27 provinces, and preliminary results showed a meager 32 percent turnout, leading to a 56 percent "yes" vote.
Voting Saturday will take place in the remaining 17 provinces. Preliminary results are likely to be known late Saturday or early Sunday.
Top opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei urged the public to vote "no," saying, "We know if this constitution is passed, there will be no stability."
"This is not the road for stability or democracy," he said in a speech aired Thursday night. "When 45 percent of people say 'no,' it is a strong indication. Some don't read or write, but they are conscious that they should not be tricked."
The violence in Alexandria was a sign of how the conflict has moved beyond the issue of the constitution, to the deep resentments between the two camps.
Riot police swung batons and fired volleys of tear gas to separate stone-throwing Brotherhood members and ultraconservative Salafis on one side, and youthful secular protesters on the other.
The clashes started when the two groups met just after Friday prayers at the city's main Qaed Ibrahim mosque, by the coastal promenade. Throngs of Salafi Islamists, most wearing the long beards favored by the movement, had gathered there for what they called "a rally to defend clerics and mosques." Waving black Islamic banners, some chanted "God is Great!" and warned opponents: "With blood and soul, we redeem Islam."
It was unclear who started the fight. During the battles, secular youths set fire to two buses and two cars belonging to Islamists, sending thick black smoke through the upscale city center. Under a heavy cloud of tear gas, the two sides pulled back, but then continued fighting for hours past dusk along the corniche, near the famed Alexandria Library.
At least 42 people were treated for injuries, with some rushed to the hospital, a city health official said.
The Islamists' rally was called in response to violence last week, when a well-known Salafi cleric in Alexandria, Sheik Ahmed el-Mahalawi, was trapped inside a mosque for 12 hours while his supporters battled stone-throwing opponents outside with swords and firebombs.
El-Mahalawi, 87, had stirred anger with a sermon in which he denounced opponents of the draft charter as "followers of heretics."
In a further sign of the tensions opened up by the crisis, the Brotherhood in Alexandria accused the security forces of conspiring with "thugs" loyal to ElBaradei's Dustour Party and other liberal groups that it claimed attacked the Islamists in Alexandria.
"There was clear collusion by the security forces, which did nothing (to stop the attackers)," said Anas al-Qadi, a Brotherhood spokesman in Alexandria, according to the website of the Brotherhood's political party.
"In whose interest are the Interior Ministry and the governorate's security director working?"
Egypt's security forces have been divided by the country's turmoil, with some police in the streets showing support for anti-Morsi protesters, while others are believed to be backing the president. The crisis' worst violence came on Dec. 5, when Brotherhood supporters attacked an opposition sit-in outside the presidential palace in Cairo, and the ensuing violence left at least 10 dead and hundreds injured on both sides.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egyptian-islamists-opponents-clash-ahead-vote-152128493.html
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LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The Los Angeles Clippers weren't ready to celebrate after they set a record for the longest winning streak in the annals of a franchise that has a long and agonizing history of futility.
Chris Paul and company have bigger things in mind after breaking a 38-year-old club mark with their 12th consecutive victory, 97-85 over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
"I think the guys are learning and understanding what it takes to play at a high level consistently," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "It's a good thing to have a target on your back, but that also brings a responsibility to play at a high level as often as possible."
The previous franchise record was set by the Buffalo Braves during the 1974-75 season, when Del Negro was 8. The head coach back then was Jack Ramsay, whose formidable roster included Bob McAdoo, Garfield Heard, Randy Smith, Jim McMillian, Jack Marin and Bob Weiss.
That team won 49 games ? still a record for a beleaguered organization that has called three cities home, wasted first-round draft picks on Benoit Benjamin, Terry Dehere, Michael Olowokandi and Darius Miles, and was labeled "the worst franchise in sports history" by Sports Illustrated in an April 17, 2000, cover story.
Paul had 24 points and 13 assists, and Blake Griffin added 21 points and 13 rebounds in the record-setting victory for the Clippers, who have had 20 double-digit losing streaks since their 11-game winning streak in Buffalo ? including a dozen of 12 or more. They lost their first 16 in 1994-95, their first 17 of the lockout-shortened 1988-89 season, and the final 14 in 1986-87. The club record for consecutive defeats is 19, set in 1981-82 and equaled in 1988-89.
After the win Paul was thinking about Ron Harper, Corey Maggette and other former players who endured all that losing.
"Most of those guys have been here through tougher times," Paul said. "I know Ron Harper really well. He's a good friend of mine, and he's excited for us. We just played against Corey Maggette, and he was excited to see how it is now. So it's been exciting for me in the short amount of time I've been here, especially knowing some of the people who have been with the team for 25 or 30 years and the season-ticket holders. But we can't be satisfied. We've got to keep it going."
The Clippers' turnaround got started thanks to the arrival of Griffin, the blockbuster trade that brought Paul from the New Orleans Hornets last December, and a bench that is among the deepest in the NBA. The Clippers, who have the league's longest active winning streak, own the NBA's second-best record at 20-6 and trail Oklahoma City by just one game.
"You have to have players. You have to have talent. You have to have guys believing in what you're doing, and finding ways to win and being consistent," Del Negro said.
This is the earliest the Clippers' franchise has ever reached the 20-win mark, and only the sixth time they did it with a winning record ? including a 20-11 start last season. The previous club record in that department also was set in 1974-75, when the Braves started out 20-8. Just four seasons ago the Clips finished 19-63 under Mike Dunleavy.
"I remember the year I got drafted. The season before that they had only 19 wins. So what we've accomplished so far is great," Griffin said. "But the best thing about it for me is being a part of something that's much bigger than Chris or I. It takes everybody from top to bottom ? the GM, the coaching staff, the players, everybody. And from Day 1 since I've been here, everybody's been serious about changing."
Los Angeles beat Sacramento for the fifth straight time ? including all three meetings last season. The Clippers haven't lost to anyone since Nov. 26 at Staples Center, when New Orleans beat them 105-98 and held Griffin to four points and one field goal ? both career lows.
Reserve guard Jimmer Fredette had 16 points for Sacramento, which is 1-11 on the road. DeMarcus Cousins was benched for the entire second half by coach Keith Smart, who ordered him to remain in the locker room after he scored nine points in 20 minutes.
Neither went into detail.
"I won't share that right now, but it's just a conduct issue," Smart said. "We're trying to set a standard here, and when guys move below that standard, things are going to take place. We'll just move on to the next game and I'll make some decisions from there."
Cousins was contrite after the game.
"What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. But I was wrong. I was wrong," Cousins said. "I'm a player that definitely wants to win every night, and I'm an emotional player. That's never going to change. But I shouldn't have responded back. Something was said, and I just should have stayed quiet. Is it a humbling thing? Yeah, I will say that. I mean, I messed up and I apologize to my teammates for responding the way I did and I'll move on from it."
The Kings, who had their highest-scoring game of the season Wednesday night in a 131-127 home win against Golden State, have dropped six of seven. Tyreke Evans missed his third straight game and eighth in the last 12 because of a sore left knee. He also was sidelined for the Kings' 116-81 loss at Los Angeles on Dec. 1, when the Clippers posted their largest margin of victory since the franchise left Buffalo.
Caron Butler's 3-pointer gave Los Angeles its biggest lead, 58-41, with 10:05 left in the third quarter. The Kings narrowed the gap to 63-57 with a 16-5 run capped by Fredette's 3-pointer with 4:25 left in the quarter, but that was as close as they got.
Paul helped put the game away with a pair of 3-pointers in the final 4 minutes.
NOTES: The teams the Clippers have beaten during this streak have a combined winning percentage of .401 (116-173). The Kings (8-18) are the only team they have faced twice in that stretch. ... The Clippers are at Phoenix on Saturday night, trying to break a franchise-record road winning streak of five ? by those same '74-75 Buffalo Braves. ... The Los Angeles Lakers, who share Staples Center with the Clippers, haven't won 12 or more games in a row during one season since 1999-00, when they had streaks of 16 and 19. ... Fredette missed a free throw with 3:48 remaining, ending his streak at 33 in a row.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clippers-win-12th-straight-set-franchise-record-062301522--spt.html
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The new line of TYLT device charging accessories will be officially released at CES in January. However, these makers of so many bright and colorful smartphone battery extending concepts still released some details about their upcoming vendibles a bit early...and they look pretty great. I will be interested to check these out in person in a couple of weeks at the massive tradeshow.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/2TYBdLyTypo/
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The Boards of Directors of both institutions [2] determined that the Union of the Comoros has fulfilled the requirements to reach the completion point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, the stage at which the HIPC debt relief becomes irrevocable and the country will benefit from the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI).
The requirements met by Comoros included, among others, the satisfactory implementation of a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the maintenance of macroeconomic stability, progress in public financial management and governance, reforms on telecommunications and energy, a national measles vaccination campaign for children to achieve 90 percent coverage nation-wide, and improvements in debt management. Comoros was granted a waiver on the requirement related to the provision of textbooks and school kits for vulnerable children, as the government has adopted a new policy focusing on improving learning quality.
Mbuyamu Matungulu, IMF mission chief for Comoros, said: ?Comoros has made substantial gains in macroeconomic stability in the last years; economic activity is trending up, and the fiscal position has considerably strengthened. Debt reduction under the HIPC and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiatives reinforces these achievements and uplifts the country's growth and poverty reduction prospects. With continued close adherence to reforms and steady donor support, the improved outlook can translate into tangible gains in living standards for the poor.?
?Debt relief is a development opportunity for the Comoros,? saidHaleh Bridi, World Bank Country Director for Comoros. ?Debt relief will free up resources in the country to fight poverty and improve the health and education of the population,?
Of the resulting reduction of about US$176 million, about 86 percent will come from multilateral creditors, and the remaining from bilateral and commercial creditors. MDRI relief provided by the World Bank's IDA and the African Development Bank Group would save Comoros US$83 million in debt service over 29 years. There remain no loans eligible for MDRI relief from the IMF.
Full delivery of debt relief (HIPC Initiative, MDRI, and additional bilateral assistance at the completion point) will considerably reduce the debt burden of the Comoros. The annual external debt service will fall by 69 percent, from an average of 14 million for the period 2013-2021 to 4 million. Nevertheless, both the IMF and the World Bank consider that despite the improvement in the Comoros's debt indicators the country remains vulnerable to shocks to exports and GDP.
Comoros becomes the 35th country to reach the completion point under the HIPC Initiative. The completion point marks the end of the HIPC process, which started in 2010 when the Executive Boards of the IMF and the World Bank's IDA agreed that the Comoros had met the requirements for reaching the decision point, the stage at which countries start receiving debt relief on an interim basis.
ANNEX (Note to Editors)
The HIPC Initiative. In 1996, the World Bank and IMF launched the HIPC Initiative to create a framework in which all creditors, including multilateral creditors, can provide debt relief to the world's poorest and most heavily indebted countries to ensure debt sustainability, and thereby reduce the constraints on economic growth and poverty reduction imposed by the unsustainable debt-service burdens in these countries.
To date, 36 HIPC countries have reached their decision points, of which 35 (including Comoros) have reached the completion point.
The MDRI. Created in 2005, the aim of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative is to reduce further the debt of eligible low-income countries and provide additional resources to help them reach the Millennium Development Goals. Under the MDRI, three multilateral institutions ? the World Bank's International Development Association, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Fund-- provide 100 percent debt relief on eligible debts to qualifying countries normally at the time they reach the HIPC Initiative completion point.
* The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world's poorest countries by providing loans (called ?credits?) and grants for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people's lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world's 81 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change for 2.5 billion people living on less than US$2 a day. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 108 countries. Annual commitments have increased steadily and averaged about US$15 billion over the last three years, with about 50 percent of commitments going to Africa.
[1] The figures represent staff estimates of effective debt relief. The nominal value of debt is the amount that the debtor owes to creditors at a moment in time; the present value is the discounted sum of all future debt service (principal and interest) at a specific market rate of interest (called the discount rate). In debt-reorganization discussions, the present value concept is used to measure, in a consistent manner, the burden sharing of debt reduction among creditors. For further explanation click here to see entries for Nominal Value and Present Value in Appendix III--Glossary of External Debt Terms IMF, External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users, (2003) IMF, Washington DC. The amount of debt relief committed to Comoros at the decision point was US$145 million in end-2009 PV terms. This committed amount along with MDRI and beyond HIPC assistance from the Paris Club implies an estimated savings in debt service of US$176 million over 40 years beginning 2013.
[2] The IMF Executive Board met on December 17, 2012, and the IDA Executive Board met on December 20, 2012.
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ATLANTA (AP) -- As President Barack Obama urges tighter federal gun laws, state legislators around the country have responded to the Connecticut school shooting with a flurry of their own ideas that are likely to produce fights over gun control in their upcoming sessions.
There is momentum in two strongly Democratic states to tighten already-strict gun laws, while some Republicans in four other states want to make it easier for teachers to have weapons in schools. One Republican governor, however, used his power this week to block the loosening of restrictions.
The question is whether public outrage after the slayings of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., will produce a meaningful difference in the rules for how Americans buy and use guns. Or will emotions and grassroots energy subside without action?
"I've been doing this for 17 years, and I've never seen something like this in terms of response," said Brian Malte, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, based in Washington, D.C. "The whole dynamic depends on whether the American public and people in certain states have had enough. No matter if it's Congress or in the states, their voices will be heard. That's what will make the difference."
The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism released a report Thursday showing that the school shooting in Connecticut has led to more discussion about gun policy on social media than previous rampages. The report says users advocating for gun control were more numerous than those defending current gun laws.
The National Rifle Association, a powerful organization that has successfully lobbied for expanded gun rights, has remained largely silent since the shootings, aside from a brief statement mourning the victims and promising that the group "is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again." A spokesman did not respond to a request for comment this week. NRA leaders planned to hold a news conference Friday.
Some of the legislative proposals reflect renewed conviction in the long-held beliefs of lawmakers. Legislators, mostly Democrats, in California and New York plan a push to tighten what are already some of the most stringent state gun-control laws. Many Democrats in presidential swing states are pushing for tighter restrictions, while others take a wait-and-see approach. Meanwhile, rank-and-file Republicans in Oklahoma, Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida have called for making it easier for teachers and other adults to have weapons in schools.
Other proposals predate the Newtown massacre. Lawmakers in the GOP-led states of Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and Pennsylvania had been considering before the shootings loosening restrictions on employees having guns in their vehicles on work property.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a Republican, offered Thursday what appears to be a growing theme among GOP leaders: that the shooting should prompt discussions about mental health treatment, not anti-gun laws.
"Anybody can get a gun, and when bad people get guns, they're going to do what they want to do. No amount of gun control can stop someone from getting a gun when they want to get it," she said. "What we can do is control mental health in a way we treat people who don't know how to treat themselves."
Yet Republican Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan this week vetoed a law that would have allowed certain gun owners to carry concealed weapons in public places, including schools, though he attributed his action to the details of the law, not Newtown. Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin this week declined to rule out proposed gun restrictions Democratic lawmakers are pushing in Madison, though he echoed Haley's emphasis on mental health.
The Democrats assuming control of the Minnesota Legislature plan to evaluate the state's gun laws, though no concrete proposals have emerged yet.
"I don't have an answer today," said the state's Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton. "There's a limit to what society can do to protect people from their own folly."
In San Francisco, Ben Van Houten of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said, "Keeping public pressure on legislators is critical here. Legislators have been able to duck their responsibility to keep us safe."
A Pew Research Center survey taken Dec. 17-19, after the shooting, registered an increase in the percentage of Americans who prioritize gun control (49 percent) over gun owner rights (42 percent).
Those figures were statistically even in July. But 58 percent opted for control over individual rights in 2008, before Obama took office. The December telephone survey included 1,219 adults in all 50 states. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
Van Houten, whose organization provides model legislation to lawmakers, noted Snyder's veto in Michigan. Less important than the details of the proposed conceal-and-carry law, he said, is that a Republican nixed a relaxation of existing law.
Also noteworthy is a California Republican who previously opposed more gun restrictions. State Sen. Ted Gaines, who represents Sacramento suburbs, said this week that he'll introduce a bill to permanently disallow gun ownership for anyone deemed by the courts to be a danger to others because of a mental diagnosis. Current California law allows those individuals to recover gun rights after treatment.
Of course, those examples don't involve new restrictions for the general population, which the NRA has successfully blocked in most states in the past.
In recent years, NRA's statehouse efforts have centered on expanding the right to carry guns in public places and adopting "stand your ground" laws that expand self-defense rights beyond a person's home. Just four states ? Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming ? allow concealed weapons without a permit. But the NRA has over many years chipped away at the burdens to get a license in the remaining states and, more recently, shifted to eliminating exceptions that allow churches, schools, universities and businesses to ban weapons on their property.
The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association have jointly rejected the ideas of increasing gun presence on campus. The proposals generally take two forms: eliminating the exceptions so gun owners can choose to carry on campus or specifically requiring that school personnel be trained and armed.
"We don't believe the solution is to put more guns in the building, but keep them from getting in," said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. But he argued that prevention goes beyond gun control. He said NEA wants more money to finance school counselors and psychologists, better public mental health access generally, and state laws that crack down on bullying.
"It's time to emphasize how all of those services and that comprehensive approach play a role in keeping kids safe," he said.
As advocates talk to lawmakers, Van Roekel added, they should demand more than just a yes or no. "Don't just tell me what you won't do. Tell me what you are willing to do to try to fix this problem. If you vote no, come with an alternative."
___
Associated Press writers Seanna Adcox in Columbia, S.C.; Brian Bakst in St. Paul, Minn.; and Juliette Williams in Sacramento, Calif., contributed to this story.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gun-control-debate-heating-statehouses-130506461.html
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ANTAKYA, Turkey (AP) ? The new Syrian rebel military commander said he is "very afraid" a cornered Syrian President Bashar Assad will unleash chemical weapons on his own people but the opposition does not have the means to seize and secure them.
Gen. Salim Idris, who defected from the Syrian army in July, told The Associated Press in an interview the rebels could defeat the regime within a month if supplied with anti-aircraft weapons. Without foreign military help, he estimated it could take up to three months.
Assad's troops are stretched thin and have lost ground in recent months, particularly in northwestern Syria, but have kept rebel fighters pinned down with massive air bombardments. Idris claimed that more than 120,000 armed men are fighting Assad's military, a figure difficult to confirm independently in the chaos of the civil war.
Idris said the rebels are trying to monitor the regime's chemical weapons sites.
Syria is said to have one of the world's largest chemical arsenals. Earlier this week, Syria's U.N. ambassador said the regime would not use such weapons under any circumstances. However, recent U.S. intelligence reports indicated the regime may be readying chemical weapons and could be desperate enough to use them.
The regime "can and will" use chemical weapons unless the international community forces Assad to leave, Idris said. "We know exactly where they are and we are watching everything," Idris said. "But we don't have the capability to put them under our control."
The West has shown little desire to intervene militarily in Syria's conflict, but President Barack Obama has said the regime's use of chemical weapons against the rebels would be a "red line."
Earlier this week, the Syrian U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, claimed extremist groups could use chemical weapons against Syrians and then blame the government.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday that the Obama administration holds the regime in Damascus responsible for securing the chemical weapons. She said that "any effort to abrogate that responsibility, any effort to shift that on to others is just (adding) further to the kind of garbage that we've seen from the regime."
Idris, a 55-year-old German-trained electronics professor, was chosen earlier this month as chief of staff by several hundred commanders of rebel units meeting in Turkey.
With the election of Idris and a 30-member military command center, Syria's opposition hopes to transform largely autonomous groups of fighters into a unified force. The reorganization came after Syria's political opposition won international recognition this month as the sole representative of the Syrian people.
The West has refused to supply Syria's opposition with weapons for fear they could fall into the hands of Islamic militants among the rebels, such as the al-Qaida-inspired Jabhat al-Nusra, which the U.S. designated a terrorist group last week.
Idris said al-Nusra chose not to be part of the rebel command.
He estimated that about a fifth of al-Nusra's fighters are foreigners, but said he believes they will leave Syria once the regime has been toppled. He said the Syrians in the group, which is believed to number several hundred fighters in all, could be brought back to a more mainstream Islam after the war.
"They are not terrorists," he said of al-Nusra.
Speaking in a hotel lobby in the southern Turkish town of Antakya near the Syrian border, Idris said the new military command represents the vast majority of these fighters, and that he has begun taking command inside Syria in recent days. The ex-general said he has set up five regional operations centers, staffing each with about 15 defected army officers.
He said he is frustrated at times with the lack of discipline among the rebels, the vast majority of them civilians without proper military training.
"We need a lot of patience," he said. "If we have a battle, some show up without invitation. They want to take part and shoot."
Idris said that on Tuesday, he spent much the day near the central city of Hama, observing a successful rebel attempt to capture five regime checkpoints.
Syria's conflict began with a popular uprising in March 2011, but quickly turned violent, with protesters taking up arms in response to a brutal regime crackdown. Activists say more than 40,000 Syrians have been killed and aid officials estimate some 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting.
Idris portrayed Assad as a powerless figurehead, saying decisions are made by his inner circle of fellow Alawites, followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam and a minority in Syria. The opposition is dominated by majority Sunni Muslims.
The ruling elite won't surrender and is willing "to set everything on fire," warned Idris, who served in the military for 35 years, including as dean at the military's technical college in the city of Aleppo, now a major battleground.
U.S. officials have said the Syrian regime launched more than a half-dozen Scud missiles in recent days, the first time it has used such weapons in this conflict. Idris said he was aware of three launches, including two missiles that fell in Syria's eastern desert and a third on the outskirts of a town close to Aleppo.
Idris, citing information from rebel sympathizers within the regime, said Scud missiles are being trained at northwestern Syria, the area close to the Turkish border, and could be fired at any moment.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-syria-rebels-fear-chemical-weapons-050612819.html
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