LA police capture escapee who stalked Madonna

This undated photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, shows Robert Dewey Hoskins who was convicted a year ago on charges of threatening to kill singer Madonna. Dewey walked away from a Los Angeles-area state mental hospital last week. Los Angeles police say Robert Dewey Hoskins left the state hospital Friday. He had been committed there last year. Hoskins served a 10-year prison sentence for stalking and threatening Madonna after being convicted by a jury in 1996. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department)

This undated photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, shows Robert Dewey Hoskins who was convicted a year ago on charges of threatening to kill singer Madonna. Dewey walked away from a Los Angeles-area state mental hospital last week. Los Angeles police say Robert Dewey Hoskins left the state hospital Friday. He had been committed there last year. Hoskins served a 10-year prison sentence for stalking and threatening Madonna after being convicted by a jury in 1996. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department)

(AP) ? Police say they have captured a man who was convicted of threatening to kill Madonna and walked away from a Los Angeles-area mental hospital last week.

Los Angeles police spokesman Richard French says Robert Dewey Hoskins was apprehended Friday near the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk where he escaped last Friday. He had been committed there last year and was returned to the facility after his arrest.

Hoskins served a 10-year prison sentence for stalking and threatening Madonna after being convicted by a jury in 1996. The singer reluctantly testified against the man, who was shot by her personal security after he jumped the fence of her Hollywood Hills home.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-02-10-Madonna-Stalker/id-a7c4d70e08ba46fab0b084f4d351ade9

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Business Productivity Software | Venture Capital 105 ...

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10 thoughts about travel insurance ? Chris Cruises

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The whole topic of travel insurance is one that most people try to avoid as much as possible.? For cruise travelers, about the only part of it all that is more boring is the passenger contract, something we found out recently, after the Concordia grounding is indeed worth reading.? (We won?t say ?I told you so? even though we have been for over a decade.? Oh wait. I just did. Sorry.) So now all of the sudden there is a new interest in travel insurance with travel agents reporting a ten-fold increase in those adding the valuable coverage offered by a good coverage policy.

Some travelers make it easy and just add it on right at the start, when the booking is first made.? They take the option offered by the cruise line and get excellent coverage.? Others are firm believers that a third-party source is a good idea, some sound company separate from the self-insuring cruise lines.? Those people might have had their argument taken down a notch post-Concordia as the Costa organization has handled refunds, reimbursements, medical expenses and repatriation of passengers without a penny out of their pockets, insurance or not.

So we add another element into the argument for or against buying travel insurance:? Travel insurance is really not for a major, tragic cruise event like Concordia, much like it is not for hurricanes when cruise lines step in and take care of booked guests.? Travel insurance is always a good idea.? Having? it during a major, unusual event may give confidence too.? But is it real or perceived confidence?? That?s what we need to know and that?s what we want to go into today in ten thoughts about travel insurance, ten things to think about before you don?t buy it.? If you bought it already, reaffirm your good choice with this information or double-check to see if your policy measures up.

Above all, seek the guidance of a qualified, licensed travel insurance agent.? That?s not us.? These thoughts are just some ideas help with the decision to buy and make sure we ask the right questions along the way.? Every travel insurance company has a toll-free 800-number that is commonly given out by travel agents to call with those ?What if?? questions about travel insurance, what it covers and any specific concerns you might have .? We need to call that number and make sure the travel insurance we bought covers our concerns for sure.? If we have a medical condition that could cause cancellation, we need to hear that it is covered.? There are plenty of unknowns coming up down the road.?? Let?s be sure that if Aunt Becky?s medical condition worsens and you don?t want to be away or your aging father has a sudden illness that you can cancel and be reimbursed or that if something happens on the way to the cruise, during it, or on the way back that you are covered for that too

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  1. Decide if you need it. You may or may not.? We recommend it so if you fall of the ship you can?t come back here and say ?Oh well you said I didn?t need it now give me your house?.? Seriously though, it?s a good thing to have and you would be surprised at how many people actually do use it for one reason or another.? More on that can be found on our website.
  2. If you graduated from a University, check out AlumniAbroad.com. They offer alumni access to their comprehensive Travel Insurance Select policy which may be less expensive than some other policies depending upon your age and total cost of your trip. Along these same lines, check out STATravel.com. They offer insurance to student travelers. Rates are based entirely on the length (number of days) of your trip.
  3. Always pay for all of your travel arrangements (cruise, hotel, airfare, insurance) with a credit card. There are numerous benefits which include: (a) the potential ability to get back money if any of the travel arrangements failed to deliver, (b) some credit cards offer travel benefits when you use their card, and (c) a good paper trail when you need to make a claim. Check with your credit card company to get specific details on what they cover.
  4. Many companies offer two different policies. A premium policy with all the ?bells and whistles? and a less expensive alternative with a little less coverage. Buy the policy that fits your needs.
  5. Make sure your policy includes the following coverages: Trip Interruption, Trip Cancellation, Supplier Default (also known as ?Financial Default?), a Trip Delay Benefit, and at least $25,000 worth of Air Evacuation in the event of a medical emergency.
  6. Make sure your insurance coverage is considered ?Primary?. This way if your problem is covered by the policy, the insurance company pays you. Period. You do not want ?secondary? coverage wherein you have to submit your claim elsewhere first (like to your Homeowners, Health, or other insurance.
  7. Make sure ?FREE TRAVEL INSURANCE? is actually insurance.? It may not be or if it is, it may have less coverage than you need.? Again, nobody gives away what they do for free and stays in business very long.
  8. Do not buy travel protection or insurance issued by your travel agency, airline, or cruise line. There is bound to be some contention here from fellow travels, but think about why you are buying the insurance. What good is insurance if the airline, travel agency, or cruise line you are traveling with goes under? You never know. (The one possible exception to this rule is if you pay with a credit card that covers financial default). Now, this is not to say you shouldn?t buy your travel insurance from any provider, like your Travel Agent. Just make sure the insurance is independent of the provider. This is one to really watch out for when buying online.? Often, the online cruise brokers are ?self-insured?.
  9. Make sure the insurer is rated ?A? or higher by AM Best. The highest rating is ?A++?. Note that A.M. Best only rates the company?s financial wherewithal to pay your claims. They do not rate the company?s level of service. Ratings and coverages can also differ from state to state.
  10. Buy the policy within the first 14 days (or so) from when you make your first trip payment, so that all Pre-Existing Conditions are covered. Check your company?s policy on this time window. This way you never have to prove that a pre-existing condition didn?t exist. I used to think ?Why buy it before final payment if we?re healthy??

Source: http://www.chriscruises.net/2012/02/10-thoughts-about-travel-insurance/

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Debt Management Services | 84 Thousand

Recently, more and more people get into debt, and they have difficulties to find solutions to their problem. If you search the Internet, Internet shows you many options to relief debt such as debt consolidation program, debt management services, own self debt consolidation, debt settlement, and bankruptcy. Among these five options, debt management services are the best way to solve your debt problem. However, without professional help, you don?t know how to control your finance.

Both profit and non-profit institutions, debt consolidation or debt management, is a financial service that helps people who are in debt to get debt free. In debt management company, you can learn more than one method to manage your finance and keep debt free after relieving from debt. Although debt management services have many services for debtors to choose, some debtors still wrongly choose those services. Your decision should be make appropriately with the right information from debt management company. A debt management plan is also known as the most appreciate method for debtor to choose when they go to get the advice from the professional. Actually, you do not need to pay any fee when you decide to choose debt management plan, but you have to pay the service charge when you enroll in the program of debt management services. It seems hard for you to spend more on service charge, but it helps you to get debt free easilyand faster than you use own self consolidation. It is hard for you to use your own debt management plan bec
ause you can?t control your budget plan well. Without encouragement, you are sometimes unable to pay only the minimum payments; as a result, it affects your credit score.

Basically, there are four steps to be a debt free by using debt management plan. First, you have to meet credit counselor who will ask you about your financial situation. He or she will review the amount you owe, where you owe, and who you owe, and then he or she will calculate your total debt and interest rate. Be noticed that car and home payments are kinds of secured debt that can?t be list into debt management plan. Next, counselor will find a clear image of your income and expenses in order to know whether you can easily pay each payment to your creditors or not. After that, counselor is going to negotiate with your creditors to find one agreement which fit with your financial situation. Usually, every creditor always agrees to take the counselors request because they don?t want to lose any payment from the debtors. Finally, the credit counselor will give you a list of payment you have to pay and other information related to your finance, payment, and service charges. At the end of these processes, you will get debt free and experience to avoid debt next time.

Related Post

Source: http://84thousand.org/debt-management-services.html

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Fasting Plus Chemo May Help in Cancer Fight: Study (HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Fasting, especially when combined with chemotherapy, appears to slow the growth of cancerous tumors in mice, new research suggests.

Experts note that the results of animal studies often don't hold up when tried in humans.

However, researchers have started testing whether fasting can help human patients with breast, ovarian and urinary tract cancer.

In the mouse study, published in the current issue of Science Translational Medicine, researchers found that fasting slowed the growth of growth of breast cancer, melanoma, glioma and human neuroblastoma in mice.

In some cases, fasting was as effective as chemotherapy, according to the study.

"The combination of fasting cycles plus chemotherapy was either more or much more effective than chemo alone," senior study author Valter Longo, a professor of gerontology and biological sciences at the University of Southern California, said in a university news release.

Researchers said that normal cells deprived of nutrients during fasting enter a dormant state, whereas when studied in the lab, a type of cancer cell attempted to keep growing and dividing.

That, in turn, led to a "cascade of events" that damaged the cancer cells' DNA and led to cell death.

"A way to beat cancer cells may not be to try to find drugs that kill them specifically but to confuse them by generating extreme environments, such as fasting, that only normal cells can quickly respond to," Longo concluded.

The study authors noted that results from the initial phase of a clinical trial, which involved patients with breast, urinary tract and ovarian cancer conducted at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, have been submitted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cancer Oncologists. This trial tested the safety of short-term fasts two days before and one day after chemotherapy.

"We don't know whether in humans it's effective," Longo said. "It should be off limits to patients, but a patient should be able to go to their oncologist and say, 'What about fasting with chemotherapy or without' if chemotherapy was not recommended or considered?"

The researchers warned that fasting may not be safe for all cancer patients, particularly those who have already lost a significant amount of weight or have other conditions, such as diabetes. They added that fasting can cause headaches and a drop in blood pressure. The study also pointed out that cancer-free survival resulting from fasting may not extend to large tumors.

According to the American Cancer Society, "available scientific evidence does not support claims that fasting is effective for preventing or treating cancer. Even a short-term fast can have negative health effects, while fasting for a longer time could cause serious health problems."

More information

The American Cancer Society provides more information on fasting and cancer.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120208/hl_hsn/fastingpluschemomayhelpincancerfightstudy

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Bill Bush: Pasadena to Santa Barbara: This Artweek.LA (February 6, 2012)

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Pasadena to Santa Barbara: A Selected History of Art in Southern California, 1951 - 1969 | Pasadena to Santa Barbara focuses on the legacy of two of Southern California's leading venues for contemporary art since the 1940s: the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) and the Pasadena Art Museum (PAM). Known from 1941 to 1953 as the Pasadena Art Institute, and since 1975 as the Norton Simon Museum, these two institutions pioneered what is now perceived as a common strategy -- exhibiting the work of contemporary artists in Southern California -- alongside the work of influential modern and contemporary artists from other parts of the United States and Europe.

At a time when very few museums were exhibiting works by living artists, this bold approach not only provided a solid foundation for the growth of contemporary art in the region, but also became an inspiration and model for a number of institutions that followed. The exhibition presents works by artists who were featured at one or both venues during these years, and who were instrumental in establishing a Southern California dialogue as well as dialect regarding contemporary art.

Pasadena to Santa Barbara opens February 11 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art

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John Reiff Williams: The Edge of Collapse | Williams' work presents us with photographic observations of humanity that covey a visceral emotional resonance to the viewer. Each photograph challenges our understanding of what the photographic medium is and what it is not. Focusing on social settings such as La Jolla Beach, Hollywood Boulevard, and Mexico City, Williams' work explores the shifting perspectives occurring in-between the frozen moments photography was created to capture. Through his unique use of digital exploration, mutations and interpretations, Williams reveals the motion, activity and chaos that we all experience in our ever-accelerating world.

John Reiff Williams: The Edge of Collapse runs through March 17 at Thomas Paul Fine Art

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M?ximo Gonz?lez: Playful | This is the first major solo exhibition in Los Angeles for this Mexico City-based Argentinean artist. Though Gonz?lez is best known for creating art objects out of devalued currency from Mexico, this exhibition is a journey through a decade of Gonz?lez's playful investigations into contemporary politics, popular culture, and the reutilization of material. Witty, poetic and slightly subversive, Gonz?lez puts a fresh face on craft.

Consisting of installations, murals and weavings made from global currencies, videos, symbolic objects, and performance, Gonz?lez's work demonstrates a range of materials and messages. Infusing ordinary, everyday items with a handmade delicacy, Gonz?lez's work generates new and unexpected reflections on the relevance of utility and value. He turns the mundane into precious and beautiful objects that become symbols of the moment we are living in. By marrying traditional processes such as loom weaving and paper cutting with the politics of contemporary social history, Gonz?lez uses craft to generate new narratives out of historic events and collective memory.

M?ximo Gonz?lez: Playful runs through May 6 at the Craft And Folk Art Museum

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Ellsworth Kelly: Prints and Paintings | This exhibition is the first retrospective of the artist's prolific print practice since the late 1980s and coincides with the forthcoming revised and updated catalogue raisonn? of Kelly's prints. Ellsworth Kelly: Prints and Paintings features more than 100 works on paper, in addition to a selection of paintings from local collections.

The exhibition is organized thematically by key motifs, demonstrating the artist's long-standing engagement with elemental form and pure color. "This exhibition allows us to see the consistency of Kelly's print practice, and how the formal hallmarks of his paintings and drawings have an important place in his graphic work," notes Stephanie Barron, senior curator of modern art and exhibition co-curator. Britt Salvesen, curator of prints and drawings and exhibition co-curator adds, "Whether created in series or individually, these prints offer an opportunity to explore Kelly's ongoing interest in pure form and color."

Ellsworth Kelly: Prints and Paintings runs through April 22 at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

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Jim McMillan | This is the first in-depth examination of the artwork of Jerry McMillan, an artist who, it has been said, "helped define the early contemporary art scene in southern California." This show provides a unique opportunity to see the different phases of McMillan's oeuvre, from the early 1960s to the present, including his groundbreaking photographic work, as well as his painting and drawing. McMillan's use of a variety of media throughout his career underscores his commitment to the view that "in making art, there is no allegiance to purity of medium, just to the purity of the idea."

Known primarily as a photographer, McMillan has consistently produced elegant and conceptually complex art that challenges the dominant ideologies of photography and reaches beyond the debates that have engaged its practitioners for over 170 years.

As he put it, "I don't think that photography is an art form in itself at all. It's just another tool that has unique characteristics which are no different from a paintbrush or a pencil." McMillan's work raises questions about the semantic and philosophical divide between the photography world and the art world: between artists who make art and photographers who take pictures. The profound conceptual difference between making and taking has informed McMillan's art for over 50 years.

Jim McMillan opens February 11 at CSUN Galleries (California State University, Northridge)

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Follow Bill Bush on Twitter: www.twitter.com/artweekla

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-bush/artweekla-february-6_b_1263557.html

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Kidnapped Chinese workers in Sudan freed (Reuters)

KHARTOUM/BEIJING (Reuters) ? Sudanese rebel forces released 29 Chinese workers kidnapped ten days ago in the main oil-producing state of South Kordofan, where the army has been fighting insurgents for seven months, Sudan's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The incident had been an embarrassment for the Sudanese government, which is trying to boost investment from China, its main political and trade ally, as it seeks to overcome a severe economic crisis.

Rebels of the SPLM-North said they had taken the construction workers for their own security after a battle with the Sudanese army in South Kordofan, which borders newly independent South Sudan.

But the workers had apparently become caught up in a dispute between Khartoum and rebels who are trying to attract attention to the plight of 417,000 civilians who have fled fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, another Sudanese border state.

Khartoum has restricted access for aid workers and the United Nations in both states, triggering warnings by the United States that a large-scale famine could break out.

The Sudanese foreign ministry said the 29 Chinese workers were flown out from Kauda in South Kordofan by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to neighboring Kenya.

"The Sudanese foreign ministry affirms to the government and people of China that Sudan's government seeks to protect Chinese investments and workers involved in it," a ministry statement said.

SPLM-North rebel spokesman Arnu Ngutulu Lodi and an ICRC official in Khartoum declined to comment.

Top officials of the SPLM-North last week met Chinese officials in Ethiopia.

Both Sudanese border states are home to large communities who used to side with the south during decades of civil war with Khartoum and now complain of marginalization after Juba became independent in July under a peace deal.

The SPLM is now the ruling party in the independent south and denies supporting SPLM-North rebels across the border, as Khartoum says.

China is an ally of both north and south and the main buyer of South Sudanese oil as well the biggest investor in Sudan.

Western diplomats say China has the best chance of defusing tensions between Khartoum and Juba, which are locked in a row over sharing oil wealth, dividing up debt and ending violence on both sides of their joint.

CHINESE PRESSURE

The kidnap was the third abduction of Chinese people in Sudan since 2004 and highlighted the risks to China's expansion in Africa in search of minerals and energy.

Beijing had faced immense pressure to secure the safe return of the abducted workers. State-owned newspapers called for more protection for China's overseas workers as the world's second-largest economy expands its investments around the globe.

The workers belonged to state-owned Sinohydro Corporation, a hydropower engineering and construction company.

A total of 47 Chinese workers were present when the SPLM-North rebels originally attacked. Eighteen fled and one was killed after a rescue attempt, according to Chinese media.

Khartoum counts on China to boost investment as it seeks to overcome the loss of three-quarters of its oil production to South Sudan when it became independent under a 2005 peace agreement ending the civil war with Khartoum.

Most Western firms shun Sudan due to a U.S. trade embargo imposed first in 1997 when Khartoum was hosting prominent militants such as Osama bin Laden.

SPLM-North is one of a number of rebel movements in underdeveloped border areas who say they are fighting to overthrow Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and end what they see as the dominance of the Khartoum political elite.

(Writing by Ulf Laessing and Sui-Lee Wee, Editing by Ron Popeski)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120207/wl_nm/us_china_sudan_workers

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ABC Horses Revival System | My Second Life (With Pets)

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This came with a notecard in the official ABC group today ? it will only last for 5 days, so if you need to use, it, now is the time! A very kind gesture from the developers, this allows you to revive any dead horses since the release.?

From the note card:

ABC Community is the best. We wanted to show our appreciation for your patience and continued support through the first few months of ABC?s Release through all the trials and tribulations along with all the fun and laughter!

ABC is giving you the opportunity to revive all of your Dead Horses from release date. You will have 5 days to take advantage of this program. This program is optional and you do not have to revive your horses or you can choose to revive them and cloud ranch ones you do not want.

Instruction for Revival :

- Rez the enclosed box
- Click the box and you will get options (based on your preference for websites) to go to a web page.
- Go to Website
- You will see a list of dead horses for your avi
- Select a horse that you want to revive
- Put the horse ID in the field at the bottom of the page
-Then click the submit button
- The horse will be sent to your inventory
- Rez the horse BEFORE putting in another horse ID (Happy/Full will be 100% ? Passion will be 0%)

**NOTE: if you have a dead horse that is not showing on the list and you have the dead horse in your inventory re-rez it. Refresh the website and it should show up on the list.

***STILLBORNS / MULES / CLOUD RANCHED HORSES will NOT be REVIVED

Please contact a VSR or file a ticket if you have any questions or notice any issues with the use of this revival system.

Again, if you want to use the Revival System, see the item attached in the group notecard dated 2/5/12.

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Source: http://www.sygnus.org/secondlifepets/2012/02/06/abc-horses-revival-system/

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Egypt's ruling generals play risky game with US

An Egyptian man wearing empty tear gas canisters looks on at the site of recent clashes between protestors and security forces near the Interior Ministry, in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

An Egyptian man wearing empty tear gas canisters looks on at the site of recent clashes between protestors and security forces near the Interior Ministry, in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

An Egyptian municipal worker cleans a sidewalk at the site of recent clashes between protestors and security forces near the Interior Ministry, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

An Egyptian couple walks by a wall painted with graffiti next to the site of recent clashes between protestors and security forces near the Interior Ministry, in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. Arabic writing on wall, "no to the military rule, freedom". (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim talks at the Egyptian Parliament in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. Ibrahim denied that police had fired birdshots at protesters during deadly clashes between security and demonstrators. At top the speaker of Parliament Saad Al Katatni. Arabic read " Arab republic of Egypt " . (AP Photo/Mohammed Assad )

FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2009 handout file photo proved by the Transportation Department, Sam Lahood, left, watches as his father Ray is sworn in as Transportation Secretary, at the Transportation Department in Washington. Egypt released names of the 19 Americans employees of nonprofit organizations referred to trial over accusations of illegally receiving foreign funds in a case that deepened crisis between Egypt and the United States. The Americans listed in the prosecutor's records work for four U.S.-funded groups promoting democracy and human rights including Freedom House and the International Republican Institute whose director is Sam LaHood, the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. (AP Photo/Transportation Department, File)

(AP) ? Egypt's ruling generals are playing a risky game of brinksmanship by cracking down on American nonprofit groups that promote democracy, threatening a relationship with Washington that has brought the military billions of dollars in aid over the past three decades.

The generals may be betting the U.S. cannot afford to cut relations with Egypt ? a cornerstone of American Mideast policy. But the ruling military council may also fear it has much more than foreign aid to lose if it fully embraces a democratic transition that could bring civilian oversight of its substantial financial assets and curb its long-standing domination of politics.

Egypt on Sunday referred 19 Americans, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and 24 other employees of pro-democracy nonprofit groups to trial before a criminal court on accusations they illegally used foreign funds to foment unrest in the country.

Speaking with reporters in downtown Los Angeles, LaHood said his son is safe.

"I talk to him a couple of times a day," said LaHood. "I talked to him this morning ? I'll talk to him again this evening. Thank God he is safe. That's about all I'm going to say about that."

The referral came one day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Egypt that failure to resolve the dispute may lead to the loss of American aid.

"I think we have to have every aspect of our relationship with Egypt examined until these people are removed from any indictment and allowed to leave or do whatever they need to do," Republican Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in Washington.

The depth of the tensions was evident when an Egyptian government delegation abruptly canceled meetings in Washington with U.S. lawmakers set for Monday and Tuesday.

"We understand that we have a real strategic interest in keeping good relations with the Egyptians. It's the biggest country in the Arab world," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, an Independent from Connecticut. "But on the other hand, we can't just sit back when Americans get charged and potentially incarcerated for what are trumped up charges, ridiculous," said Lieberman, who together with McCain spoke to reporters after a meeting with the Israeli foreign minister.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, admonished the Egyptians, calling their referral to trial a "slap in the face to Americans who have supported Egypt for decades and to Egyptian individuals and NGOs who have put their futures on the line for a more democratic Egypt."

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said that Cairo ignores at its own peril a provision he authored about U.S. aid to Egypt. The provision requires the Secretary of State to certify to Congress that Egypt is supporting the transition to civilian government by holding fair elections and establishing policies "to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law" before Cairo gets $1.3 billion in military aid this year.

"Unless they're following what we put in the amendment, there's no way they should be getting any money. Right now they're not following what we put in there," Leahy, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee's foreign operations subcommittee, told reporters.

Egypt and the United States have been close allies for more than three decades. But Cairo's campaign against the pro-democracy groups could seriously damage relations with far-reaching ramifications in a region already shaken by the political realignments arising from Arab Spring revolts.

Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, demanded that Egypt return all assets and funds seized in the raids of the NGOs, allow them to reopen their offices and end the investigations and prosecutions.

"The Egyptian government's actions cannot be taken lightly and warrant punitive actions against certain Egyptian officials, and consideration of a cutoff of U.S. assistance to Egypt," she said.

The substantial U.S. military aid to Egypt is linked to its adherence to an American-mediated 1979 peace treaty with Israel, Washington's closest Middle East ally. The preservation of that cold peace has long been a foundation of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Besides the $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid, Egypt also receives about $250 million in economic aid every year.

In return, Egypt transformed itself since the 1970s from a one-time Soviet ally hostile to the West into an anchor of U.S. policy in the region, fighting Islamic militancy, mediating in the tortuous Arab-Israeli peace process and assuming a key role in the U.S.-led war against terror.

"The ruling military council is playing a game of high-stakes poker, believing that the U.S. cannot afford to cut its relations with Egypt," said Ziad A. Fahmy, a Middle East expert at Cornell University. "However, even more important than the annual $1.3 billion in U.S. aid is the potential threat of democratic civilian oversight over the Egyptian military budget."

The U.S.-Egypt dispute began last month with raids by Egyptian security forces on 17 offices of 10 advocacy groups, denounced by the U.S. and other countries. It also reinforced charges by Egyptian protesters and activists that the military rulers who took over a year ago from President Hosni Mubarak are perpetuating his regime's oppressive tactics.

"It is clear to all that this campaign ... aims to take revenge on groups that revealed violations by the military council since it took power," said a statement by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, a prominent Egyptian rights group.

The investigation into the work of the nonprofit groups is closely linked to the political turmoil that has engulfed the nation since Mubarak's ouster. The generals charge that the groups fund and support anti-government protests. They claim that "foreign hands" are behind the opposition to their rule and frequently charge that the protesters are receiving funds from abroad in a plot to destabilize the country.

The dispute between the military and the pro-reform groups has sharply polarized Egypt. And it has raised baffling questions about why the military rulers would risk so much just a few months before they plan to hold presidential elections and hand over power to an elected government at the end of a turbulent transition.

Much like their mentor Mubarak, the ruling generals have been deeply distrustful of the pro-democracy and human rights groups, which have energetically campaigned over much of the past year against the military's torture of detainees, the hauling of at least 12,000 civilians, many of whom protesters, before military tribunals and their perceived reluctance to dismantle the legacy of Mubarak's 29-year rule.

Some activists say they are preparing legal cases against the generals for the death of at least a 100 protesters since they took power and their human rights abuses. If such cases go to court, the generals could face charges similar to those for which Mubarak is on trial. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Authorities in Egypt have never been comfortable with nonprofit groups promoting rights and democracy operating in the country. That they are bound by law to register with authorities before they can operate and can only receive foreign funds through official channels have been the two main points of contention between the two sides.

London-based Amnesty International called on Egyptian authorities to drop the charges, saying they are based on "repressive" Mubarak-era laws that have been criticized by U.N. bodies for years.

"These international associations have become the latest scapegoats as the authorities desperately spin their story of foreign conspiracies," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North African Program.

Amnesty urged the newly elected parliament, dominated by Islamists, to shoot down a newly proposed civil society draft law proposed by the military-appointed government which seeks to tighten the noose around the work of pro-democracy groups, and maintains restrictions on foreign funding and political activities of such organizations

____

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata in Washington and Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-02-07-ML-Egypt/id-ee3bbfda37914a0cbc3dd80d2eba0971

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