Right-to-work poised to become law in Michigan

Against a backdrop of raucous protests in the Michigan capitol, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is poised to sign controversial right-to-work legislation after it neared final passage in the GOP-led state legislature.

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Tens of thousands protest right-to-work in Mich.

The Michigan house passed two right-to-work laws today - one focused on public sector workers, and one focused on private-sector workers - as protesters supporting unions chanted "shame on you" and "union busting is disgusting." The bills passed the Republican-led Michigan Senate last week, and will be sent to Snyder following procedural actions.

Right-to-work legislation, which is currently in place in 23 states, prevents agreements in which employees are required to pay union dues. American workers can't be forced to join unions, but many unions and companies have agreements in which all employees must pay union dues.

Right-to-work laws make such agreements illegal. Proponents say they give workers more freedom and are good for business; opponents say they are designed to shrink unions so they have less leverage in fighting for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

President Obama on Monday called the Michigan legislation "right to work for less money" and said lawmakers shouldn't be trying "to take away your right to bargain for better wages."

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Right-to-work protest in Mich.

But Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who long maintained that right-to-work was not on his agenda, has been adamant in his support for the legislation, which he says will create jobs. "It's about being pro-worker, it's about giving freedom of choice to workers," Snyder told MSNBC. Snyder is expected to sign the legislation as early as Wednesday.

MLive reported Tuesday that an estimated 10,000 protesters descended on the Capitol Thursday morning, with state police limiting access to the Capitol building after it reached its 2,000 person capacity.

Though most protesters opposed right-to-work, there were some supporters present as well, many affiliated with the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity. The Michigan branch of that group said in a statement that the legislation reflected "a pro-growth policy that can and will help to turn Michigan's economy around." The tent erected by Americans for Prosperity at the protests was torn down by opponents of the legislation.

Michigan state Rep. Douglas Geiss said Tuesday that "there will be blood" if the bill goes into law.

"We are going to undo 100 years of labor relations," Geiss said.

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Obama takes on union fight in Michigan

The Michigan House Speaker, Republican Jase Bolger, said the legislation was about helping workers, not hurting them.

"This is not about Republicans versus Democrats," he said, according to MLive. "This is not about management versus labor. ... This is not about the past. This is about the future. ... Today is a game-changer - for Michigan, for its workers, and for our future."

The legislation is particularly significant in Michigan because it is considered the symbolic heart of the labor movement. "Sit down" strikes in Flint in the 1930s launched the United Auto Workers as a major power and led to the unionization of the U.S. auto industry.

Right-to-work opponents fear that passage in Michigan will spur moves to pass such laws in states like Wisconsin and Ohio that will further weaken an already sputtering labor movement. Over the past half-century, the percentage of American workers in a union has declined from 30 percent to less than 12 percent.

Rev. Jesse Jackson was among the protesters who sat on the floor of the Capitol during the votes. After the bill passed, protesters reportedly changed "veto" and "the people united will never be defeated" as state troopers guarded entrances to the House and Senate chambers. Outside, protesters held signs reading "union strength is a family value," while inside they sang "solidarity." The Detroit Free Press reported that a trooper used pepper spray on one protester outside the Capitol.

Unions are vowing to consider pursuing recall bids against lawmakers who voted for the bill as well as Snyder - similar to the push that took place after Wisconsin passed controversial anti-union measures last year - though the first-term governor already faces reelection in 2014.

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Serial Killer 'Broke Own Rule,' Lost Control

Serial killer Israel Keyes' capture was his own undoing. It was the meticulous murderer's loss of control and violation of his own careful rules of murder that ended years of traveling to kill for fun.

When Keyes, 34, approached an Anchorage coffee stand Feb. 1, he told himself that if the person working inside did not have her own car, he would only rob the place and leave.

But when he approached and found teenage barista Samantha Koenig by herself, he couldn't help himself, Keyes told police. He dragged her out, into his own car, raped her, strangled her and was eventually arrested for her murder.

"In prior cases, he had enough self-control to walk away from it, to not commit the kidnapping, to not commit the abduction and with Samantha he didn't," Anchorage homicide Det. Monique Doll said Monday. "He broke his own rule. He had drawn his line in the sand and he couldn't help himself, he said. He took her anyway."

The arrest of Keyes on March 12 ended more than a decade of traveling around the country to find victims to kill or to prepare for future crimes by burying murder kits of weapons, cash and tools to dispose of bodies. Since March he had been slowly telling police about his hidden life and how he operated. But the tale abruptly ended when Keyes committed suicide in his jail cell on Dec. 1.

Police are now left trying to fill in the details of his vicious life. Police believe he killed between 8 and 12 people, including Koenig, but only three victims have been definitively tied to Keyes so far.

Alaska Barista, Alleged Killer Come Face-to-Face: Caught on Tape Watch Video

Serial Killer Sexually Assaulted, Dismembered Alaska Barista Watch Video

Before his jail cell suicide, Keyes gave authorities some clues on how he managed to remain undetected for so long.

"He basically had this rule, this unwritten rule, that he would travel outside and go to great lengths to distance himself from any of his victims," Doll said. "He told us he was losing control. He was losing the massive amount of self-control that he had."

Koenig's abduction broke Keyes' rules on two levels. First, she was in Anchorage, which was also Keyes' home. Second, she did not have her own vehicle.

"Mr. Keyes told us that he was deciding as he walked up the coffee kiosk that if the person working inside did not have a vehicle he was only going to rob the [place] and walk away because he did not want to transport his victim in his vehicle," Doll said.

Keyes quickly discovered that Koenig did not have a car, but when he saw her, his desire to kill overpowered his discipline.

This admission was among many startling revelations Keyes made over about 40 hours of interviews with police in which he discussed topics ranging from torturing animals as a child to the way he fantasized his own death.

"He didn't plan on being taken alive," Anchorage Police Officer Jeff Bell said at the news conference.

Keyes envisioned himself being caught robbing a bank and dying in a police shootout, Bell said. For this reason, he would bring two guns with him to bank robberies--the gun used to rob the bank and a second gun hidden in his coat with 100 rounds for a shootout.

Keyes also talked about his interest in serial killers, though he was adamant about not being called a serial killer.

"He had researched and read other serial killers. He knew a lot about Ted Bundy," Doll said. "He was very careful to say that he had not patterned himself after any other serial killers, that his ideas were his own. He was very clear about that distinction. That mattered a lot to him."

"He never identified himself as a serial killer," she said. "That was one of the things that he wanted very much, as this investigation progressed, to keep from being identified as."

Doll said Keyes was interested in suspense and crime movies and books, which he said he enjoyed because he recognized himself in the characters in a way that he could never talk about.

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Egypt army seeks national unity as crisis mounts

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army chief called for talks on national unity to end the country's deepening political crisis after a vital loan from the IMF was delayed and thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators took to the streets.

The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, was called in response to a destabilizing series of protests since President Mohamed Mursi awarded himself sweeping powers on November 22 to push through a new constitution shaped by his Islamist allies in a referendum on Saturday.

"We will not speak about politics nor about the referendum. Tomorrow we will sit together as Egyptians," armed forces chief and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said at a joint gathering of army and police officials.

An aide said Mursi had supported the call for talks. The Muslim Brotherhood announced it would be there, while the main opposition coalition said it would decide on Wednesday morning whether to attend.

Earlier, the finance minister disclosed that a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan, a cornerstone of Egypt's economic recovery hopes, would be delayed until next month.

Mumtaz al-Said said the delay was intended to allow time to explain a widely criticized package of economic austerity measures to the Egyptian people.

On Monday Muris backed down on planned tax rises, seen as essential for the loan to go ahead, but which the opposition had fiercely criticized.

"Of course the delay will have some economic impact, but we are discussing necessary measures (to address that) during the coming period," Said told Reuters, adding: "I am optimistic ... everything will be well, God willing."

Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said the measures would not hurt the poor. Bread, sugar and rice would not be touched, but prices of cigarettes and cooking oil would go up and fines would be imposed for public littering. In a bid to rebuild consensus, he said there would be a public consultation about the program next week.

In Washington, the IMF said Egypt had asked for the loan to be postponed "in light of the unfolding developments on the ground". The Fund stood ready to consult with Egypt on resuming discussions on the stand-by loan, a spokeswoman said.

GUNMEN OPEN FIRE

On the streets of Cairo, tensions ran high after nine people were hurt when gunmen fired at protesters camping in Tahrir Square, according to witnesses and Egyptian media.

The opposition has called for major protests it hopes will force Mursi to postpone the referendum. Thousands gathered outside the presidential palace, whose walls are scrawled with anti-Mursi graffiti.

A bigger crowd of flag-waving Islamist Mursi backers, who want the vote to go ahead as planned on Saturday, assembled at a nearby mosque, setting the stage for further street confrontations in a crisis that has divided the nation of 83 million.

In Egypt's second city of Alexandria, thousands of rival demonstrators gathered at separate venues. Mursi's backers chanted: "The people want implementation of Islamic law", while his opponents shouted: "The people want to bring down the regime". Others cities also witnessed protests.

The upheaval following the fall of Hosni Mubarak last year is causing concern in the United States, which has given Cairo billions of dollars in military and other aid since Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, made peace with Israel in 1979.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland emphasized "deep concerns" over the situation in Egypt and repeated calls on protesters to demonstrate peacefully and on security forces to act with restraint.

"Key stakeholders in Egypt are raising real and legitimate questions, both about the substance and about the process for moving to a constitutional referendum this weekend," Nuland told a news briefing. She declined to be drawn on whether Washington believed the referendum itself should be postponed.

The turmoil has also put a big strain on the Egyptian economy, sending foreign currency reserves down to about $15 billion, less than half what they were before the revolt two years ago as the government has sought to defend the pound.

"Given the current policy environment, it's hardly a surprise that there's been a delay, but it is imperative that the delay is brief," said Simon Williams, HSBC economist in Dubai. "Egypt urgently needs that IMF accord, both for the funding it brings and the policy anchor it affords."

The IMF deal had been seen as giving a seal of approval to the government's economic plans, vital for drawing more cash into the economy to ease a crushing budget deficit and stave off a balance of payments crisis.

MASKED ATTACKERS

In central Cairo police cars surrounded Tahrir Square, the first time they had appeared in the area since shortly after Mursi awarded himself the sweeping temporary powers in a move that touched off widespread protests.

The attackers, some masked, also threw petrol bombs that started a small fire, witnesses said.

"The masked men came suddenly and attacked the protesters in Tahrir. The attack was meant to deter us and prevent us from protesting today," said John Gerges, a Christian Egyptian who described himself as a socialist.

The latest bout of unrest has so far claimed seven lives in clashes between the Muslim Brotherhood and opponents who gathered outside Mursi's presidential palace.

But the Republican Guard, which protects the palace, has yet to use force to keep protesters away from the building, now ringed with tanks, barbed wire and concrete barricades.

The army has told all sides to resolve their differences through dialogue. For the period of the referendum, the army has been granted powers by Mursi allowing it to arrest civilians.

In statement issued after rights groups criticized the army's new police powers, the presidency said anyone arrested by the military during the referendum would face civil rather than military courts. It said the army's new role would only last until results are declared after Saturday's referendum.

Leftists, liberals and other opposition groups say the hastily arranged constitutional referendum is polarizing the country and could put it in a religious straitjacket.

Islamists have urged their followers to show support for Mursi and for a referendum they feel sure of winning.

(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan and Edmund Blair in Cairo, and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Will Waterman and David Stamp)

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US blacklists Al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria

WASHINGTON: Washington blacklisted an Al-Qaeda-linked rebel group in Syria Tuesday, warning extremists could play no role in building the nation's future as the US readies to recognize the new Syrian alliance.

The move against the Al-Nusra Front came ahead of talks in Morocco on Wednesday, when the United States is expected to give full recognition to the Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Though a minority, Al-Nusra has been one of the most effective rebel groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, raising concerns that hardline extremists are hijacking the 21-month-old revolt.

"What is important is to understand that extremists fighting the Assad regime are still extremists and they have no place in the political transition that will come," a senior State Department official said.

"Extremists should not dictate that political transition," he insisted on a conference call with journalists, asking to remain anonymous.

The State Department designated the group linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) a foreign terrorist organization, while the Treasury also slapped sanctions on two of its leaders, Maysar Ali Musa Abdallah al-Juburi and Anas Hasan Khattab.

"Exposing the operation and the identities of Al-Nusra's leaders is a key objective here," another top US official said.

Topping the agenda at the Friends of Syria meeting in Marrakech will be two key issues -- the political transition after Assad's fall and mobilizing humanitarian aid as winter sets in amid a growing refugee crisis.

Declaring Al-Nusra a terrorist group freezes its assets and bans Americans from any transactions with it, but US officials said it would also help ensure that vital aid is falling into the right hands.

Countries wanting to support the opposition need to ensure they are helping "those opposition groups who truly have the best interest of Syria and Syrians in mind," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

They should not back "groups coming from the outside who want to hijack what the Syrian people have started for their own means, and have a very different future in mind, a future that is based in Al-Qaeda-based values and principles, not democratic-based principles and values."

The group has claimed responsibility for recent suicide bombings that killed scores of people, and has said it hopes to replace the Assad family's four-decade hold on power with a strict Islamic state.

Wednesday's talks could mark a step forward for the Syrian opposition, which had struggled for months to unite until a new coalition arose from November meetings in Qatar.

"Now that there is a new opposition formed, we are going to be doing what we can to support that opposition," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Brussels last week.

Clinton had planned to attend the Marrakesh meeting but canceled her trip on Monday due to illness. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is traveling in her place.

She also met on her Europe trip with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to see if there were ways to increase the pressure on Assad to step down and end the bloodshed.

Since the last Friends of Syria meeting in Paris in July, the number of people killed has risen from 16,000 to more than 42,000, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq has carried out scores of massive bombings aimed at Shiite civilians and regularly targeted US forces before their withdrawal a year ago.

The Treasury Department also sanctioned two armed militia groups supporting the Assad regime -- Jaysh al-Sha'bi and Shabiha -- as well as two Shabiha commanders.

The United States "will target the pro-Assad militias just as we will the terrorists who falsely cloak themselves in the flag of the legitimate opposition," said David Cohen, under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

The Treasury Department said the militias have been "instrumental in the Asad regime's campaign of terror and violence against the citizens of Syria."

Nuland warned the US may target other groups. "There's a lot of morphing and changing within these militia groups," she said. "What we are saying is this is a false flag that we can identify and beware."

-AFP/ac

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It's official: Microsoft Surface headed to non-Microsoft stores

As rumored last week, Microsoft is expanding distribution of its Surface tablets beyond Microsoft's own brick-and-mortar and online stores, starting as of mid-December.

The company also is making some of its holiday popups permanent stores, according to a December 11 announcement.

The U.S. and Australia will be first to get more retail stores carrying the Surface RT. "Additional availability will be added in a number of countries in the coming months," according to a Microsoft press release.

Microsoft officials are claiming the expanded retail presence was planned after the first of 2013, but that retailer interest in the Surface RT is leading to the company offering it to retailers even sooner. There is, predictably, no mention in Microsoft's press release of the expansion of distribution being the result of rumored slow Surface RT uptake.

Windows SuperSite's Paul Thurrott said his sources told him a couple of weeks ago that Microsoft planned to make the Surfaces available via Best Buy and Staples in the U.S.

I've asked Microsoft for a list of retail chains that will offer the devices, as well a list of the other countries where distribution will be expanded. No word back so far on either query.

Update: Microsoft spokesperson said the company is not commenting on which countries or stores will get Surfaces, beyond Australia and the U.S. Microsoft also is not commenting on which Microsoft pop-up stores will become permanent. I have heard from my sources that the Times Square New York may be one of them.

Update No. 2: Staples is confirming it will be carrying Surface RTs starting December 12.

This item first appeared on ZDNet's All About Microsoft blog under the headline "Microsoft confirms Surfaces coming to non-Microsoft retail outlets."

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Report: Asian economies to be world's largest by 2030

WASHINGTONThe United States could see its standing as a superpower eroded and Asian economies will outstrip those of North America and Europe combined by 2030, according to the best guess of the U.S. intelligence community in its latest forecast.

"The spectacular rise of Asian economies is dramatically altering ... U.S. influence," said Christopher Kojm, chairman of the National Intelligence Council, as it released the report Global Trends 2030 on Monday.

The report is the intelligence community's analysis of where current trends will take the world in the next 15 to 20 years. Its release was timed for the start of a new presidential administration and it is aimed at helping U.S. policymakers plan for the future.

The report also predicted the U.S. will be energy independent.

The study said that in a best-case scenario, Americans, together with nearly two-thirds of the world's population, will be middle class, mostly living in cities, connected by advanced technology, protected by advanced health care and linked by countries that work together, perhaps with the United States and China cooperating to lead the way.

Violent acts of terrorism will also be less frequent as the U.S. drawdown in troops from Iraq and Afghanistan robs extremist ideologies of a rallying cry to spur attacks. But that will likely be replaced by acts like cyber-terrorism, wreaking havoc on an economy with a keystroke, the study's authors say.

In countries where there are declining birth rates and an aging population like the U.S., economic growth may slow.

"Aging countries will face an uphill battle in maintaining living standards," Kojm said. "So too will China, because its median age will be higher than the U.S. by 2030."

The rising populations of disenfranchised youth in places like Nigeria and Pakistan may lead to conflict over water and food, with "nearly half of the world's population ... experiencing severe water stress," the report said. Africa and the Middle East will be most at risk, but China and India are also vulnerable.

That instability could lead to conflict and contribute to global economic collapse, especially if combined with rapid climate change that could make it harder for governments to feed global populations, the authors warn.

That's the grimmest among the "Potential Worlds" the report sketches for 2030. Under the heading "Stalled Engines," in the "most plausible worst-case scenario, the risks of interstate conflict increase," the report said. "The U.S. draws inward and globalization stalls."

"This is not inevitable," said lead study author Mathew Burrows. "In most cases, it's manageable if you take measures ... now."

Such steps could include decreasing wasting resources like water and increasing the efficiency of food production, he said.

Technology is seen as a potential savior to head off some of this conflict, boosting economic productivity to keep pockets filled despite rising populations, rapid growth of cities and climate change.

Hand in hand with technology is cooperation between the competing states, the authors say. In the most plausible best-case outcome, the report said, "China and the U.S. collaborate," heading off global competition for resources that can lead to all-out conflict.

The report warns of the mostly catastrophic effects of possible "Black Swans," extraordinary events that can change the course of history. These include a severe pandemic that could kill millions in a matter of months and more rapid climate change that could make it hard to feed the world's population.

Two positive events are also listed, including "a democratic China or a reformed Iran," which could bring more global stability.

One bright spot for the U.S. is energy independence.

"With shale gas, the U.S. will have sufficient natural gas to meet domestic needs and generate potential global exports for decades to come," the report said.

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New Evidence Suggests Biblical Flood Happened

The story of Noah's Ark and the Great Flood is one of the most famous from the Bible, and now an acclaimed underwater archaeologist thinks he has found proof that the biblical flood was actually based on real events.

In an interview with Christiane Amanpour for ABC News, Robert Ballard, one of the world's best-known underwater archaeologists, talked about his findings. His team is probing the depths of the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey in search of traces of an ancient civilization hidden underwater since the time of Noah.

Tune in to Christiane Amanpour's two-part ABC News special, "Back to the Beginning," which explores the history of the Bible from Genesis to Jesus. Part one airs on Friday, Dec. 21 and part two on Friday, Dec. 28, both starting at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. See photos from her journey HERE

Ballard's track record for finding the impossible is well known. In 1985, using a robotic submersible equipped with remote-controlled cameras, Ballard and his crew hunted down the world's most famous shipwreck, the Titanic.

Now Ballard is using even more advanced robotic technology to travel farther back in time. He is on a marine archeological mission that might support the story of Noah. He said some 12,000 years ago, much of the world was covered in ice.

"Where I live in Connecticut was ice a mile above my house, all the way back to the North Pole, about 15 million kilometers, that's a big ice cube," he said. "But then it started to melt. We're talking about the floods of our living history."

The water from the melting glaciers began to rush toward the world's oceans, Ballard said, causing floods all around the world.

"The questions is, was there a mother of all floods," Ballard said.

According to a controversial theory proposed by two Columbia University scientists, there really was one in the Black Sea region. They believe that the now-salty Black Sea was once an isolated freshwater lake surrounded by farmland, until it was flooded by an enormous wall of water from the rising Mediterranean Sea. The force of the water was two hundred times that of Niagara Falls, sweeping away everything in its path.

Fascinated by the idea, Ballard and his team decided to investigate.

"We went in there to look for the flood," he said. "Not just a slow moving, advancing rise of sea level, but a really big flood that then stayed... The land that went under stayed under."

Four hundred feet below the surface, they unearthed an ancient shoreline, proof to Ballard that a catastrophic event did happen in the Black Sea. By carbon dating shells found along the shoreline, Ballard said he believes they have established a timeline for that catastrophic event, which he estimates happened around 5,000 BC. Some experts believe this was around the time when Noah's flood could have occurred.

"It probably was a bad day," Ballard said. "At some magic moment, it broke through and flooded this place violently, and a lot of real estate, 150,000 square kilometers of land, went under."

The theory goes on to suggest that the story of this traumatic event, seared into the collective memory of the survivors, was passed down from generation to generation and eventually inspired the biblical account of Noah.

Noah is described in the Bible as a family man, a father of three, who is about to celebrate his 600th birthday.

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Egypt army given temporary power to arrest civilians

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Islamist president has given the army temporary power to arrest civilians during a constitutional referendum he is determined to push through despite the risk of bloodshed between his supporters and opponents accusing him of a power grab.

Seven people were killed and hundreds wounded last week in clashes between the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and their critics besieging Mohamed Mursi's graffiti-daubed presidential palace. Both sides plan mass rallies on Tuesday.

The elite Republican Guard has yet to use force to keep protesters away from the palace, which it ringed with tanks, barbed wire and concrete barricades after last week's violence.

Mursi, bruised by calls for his downfall, has rescinded a November 22 decree giving him wide powers but is going ahead with a referendum on Saturday on a constitution seen by his supporters as a triumph for democracy and by many liberals as a betrayal.

A decree issued by Mursi late on Sunday gives the armed forces the power to arrest civilians and refer them to prosecutors until the announcement of the results of the referendum, which the protesters want cancelled.

Despite its limited nature, the edict will revive memories of Hosni Mubarak's emergency law, also introduced as a temporary expedient, under which military or state security courts tried thousands of political dissidents and Islamist militants.

But a military source stressed that the measure introduced by a civilian government would have a short shelf-life.

"The latest law giving the armed forces the right to arrest anyone involved in illegal actions such as burning buildings or damaging public sites is to ensure security during the referendum only," the military source said.

Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said the committee overseeing the vote had requested the army's assistance.

"The armed forces will work within a legal framework to secure the referendum and will return (to barracks) as soon as the referendum is over," Ali said.

Protests and violence have racked Egypt since Mursi decreed himself extraordinary powers he said were needed to speed up a troubled transition since Mubarak's fall 22 months ago.

The Muslim Brotherhood has voiced anger at the Interior Ministry's failure to prevent protesters setting fire to its headquarters in Cairo and 28 of its offices elsewhere.

Critics say the draft law puts Egypt in a religious straitjacket. Whatever the outcome of the referendum, the crisis has polarized the country and presages more instability at a time when Mursi is trying to steady a fragile economy.

On Monday, he suspended planned tax increases only hours after the measures had been formally decreed, casting doubts on the government's ability to push through tough economic reforms that form part of a proposed $4.8 billion IMF loan agreement.

"VIOLENT CONFRONTATION"

Rejecting the referendum plan, opposition groups have called for mass protests on Tuesday, saying Mursi's eagerness to push the constitution through could lead to "violent confrontation".

Islamists have urged their followers to turn out "in millions" the same day in a show of support for the president and for a referendum they feel sure of winning with their loyal base and perhaps with the votes of Egyptians weary of turmoil.

The opposition National Salvation Front, led by liberals such as Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa, as well as leftist firebrand Hamdeen Sabahy, has yet to call directly for a boycott of the referendum or to urge their supporters to vote "no".

Instead it is contesting the legitimacy of the vote and of the whole process by which the constitution was drafted in an Islamist-led assembly from which their representatives withdrew.

The opposition says the document fails to embrace the diversity of 83 million Egyptians, a tenth of whom are Christians, and invites Muslim clerics to influence lawmaking.

But debate over the details has largely given way to noisy street protests and megaphone politics, keeping Egypt off balance and ill-equipped to deal with a looming economic crisis.

"Inevitability of referendum deepens divisions," was the headline in Al-Gomhuriya newspaper on Monday. Al Ahram daily wrote: "Political forces split over referendum and new decree."

Mursi issued another decree on Saturday to supersede his November 22 measure putting his own decisions beyond legal challenge until a new constitution and parliament are in place.

While he gave up extra powers as a sop to his opponents, the decisions already taken under them, such as the dismissal of a prosecutor-general appointed by Mubarak, remain intact.

"UNWELCOME" CHOICE

Lamia Kamel, a spokeswoman for former Arab League chief Moussa, said the opposition factions were still discussing whether to boycott the referendum or call for a "no" vote.

"Both paths are unwelcome because they really don't want the referendum at all," she said, but predicted a clearer opposition line if the plebiscite went ahead as planned.

A spokeswoman for ElBaradei, former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said: "We do not acknowledge the referendum. The aim is to change the decision and postpone it."

Mahmoud Ghozlan, the Muslim Brotherhood's spokesman, said the opposition could stage protests, but should keep the peace.

"They are free to boycott, participate or say no, they can do what they want. The important thing is that it remains in a peaceful context to preserve the country's safety and security."

The army stepped into the conflict on Saturday, telling all sides to resolve their disputes via dialogue and warning that it would not allow Egypt to enter a "dark tunnel".

A military source said the declaration read on state media did not herald a move by the army to retake control of Egypt, which it relinquished in June after managing the transition from Mubarak's 30 years of military-backed one-man rule.

The draft constitution sets up a national defense council, in which generals will form a majority, and gives civilians some scrutiny over the army - although not enough for critics.

In August Mursi stripped the generals of sweeping powers they had grabbed when he was elected two months earlier, but has since repeatedly paid tribute to the military in public.

So far the army and police have taken a relatively passive role in the protests roiling the most populous Arab nation.

(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair and Yasmine Saleh; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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Facebook vote ends experiment with democracy

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook closed the polls Monday on letting democracy rule when it comes to policy changes.

A referendum to strip Facebook users of the power to endorse or reject policy changes through popular vote was opposed by a majority of voters, but not enough people cast ballots to make the results binding.

The referendum was opposed by 87 percent of the 668,125 members who cast ballots, according to a posting on the Facebook governance site.

But Facebook had indicated that if fewer than 30 percent of Facebook's one billion users voted, the California-based firm would be free to go forward with a plan to eliminate the voting structure and integrate Instagram data for ad purposes.

Facebook bought smartphone-picture sharing service Instagram early this year in a cash and stock deal valued at a billion dollars at the time.

A week ago, Facebook asked its members to vote on an overhaul of privacy and other policies in what on Monday became the last binding referendum of its kind at the huge social network.

The social media giant, which has drawn fresh fire from privacy activists for the proposed changes on how it manages users' data, said the poll would be binding only if it gets responses from 30 percent of members -- or 300 million people.

The changes end the voting process, and also would permit sharing of information with its newly acquired photo-sharing service, Instagram.

Additionally, the changes would make it easier for advertisers and others to send messages on Facebook, limiting users' control, according to privacy rights groups.

Activists have raised a ruckus, saying the new policies, if implemented, could violate some laws or Facebook's agreement with US regulators earlier this year after complaints from privacy groups.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center urged Facebook users to vote no, saying the changes "would end user voting, remove spam blocking, and combine personal information from Facebook with data from photo-blogging site Instagram."

Facebook said in a message to users last month that the vote system -- implemented in 2009 -- "resulted in a system that incentivized the quantity of comments over their quality."

Facebook's stock price tumbled after its hotly anticipated market debut in May at $38 a share, in part due to concerns over ad and revenue growth.

However, Facebook shares have rallied in recent weeks and were up slightly to $27.92 on Monday.

-AFP/ac

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What renewing the Undetectable Firearms Act means for 3D-printed guns. FAQ

Defense Distributed's test gun, with a 3D printed lower receiver.

(Credit:
Defense Distributed)

Citing the threat of plastic, 3D printed firearms, U.S. Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) held a press conference this weekend calling for the renewal of the Undetectable Firearms Act. The act was originally conceived in 1988 in response to the Glock 17, a handgun with some components made from plastic composites.

The law has been renewed several times since its inception, most recently in 2003. It is currently due to expire in December 2013.

For gun rights advocates, the Undetectable Firearms Act comes across as legislative hand-wringing. Others find the law an example of security theatrics, and a threat to the growing 3D printing market. We present this FAQ in the interest of sorting out the facts.

Q: What are the specifics of the Undetectable Firearms Act?

The meat of the law makes it a federal offense to "manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive" a firearm capable of defeating airport metal detection. It requires that any firearm, minus the stock, grips, and magazine, have a x-ray detection signature no less than that of a calibration sample containing 3.7-ounces of stainless steel.

The law also prohibits you from making or selling a firearm that "does not generate an [[x-ray]] image that accurately depicts the shape of the component." In other words, it's a federal crime to make and sell a gun that looks like something else to an airport x-ray scanner.

Q: Do plastic guns exist?

It's easy to fall down the rabbit hole on this one. Search "non-metal gun" and the results turn up a mix of alleged designs over the years, from reported CIA research to Anarchist Cookbook-style zip gun plans. Confirming the existence of an entirely plastic firearm is even more elusive.

Without diverting too far down this path (the Straight Dope has a fun read on the topic), let's assume that making an undetectable firearm of some variety is not wholly impossible, be it the product of a well-funded research lab or some desperate tinkerer with no care for accuracy, reliability, or his own well being.

Even if we do allow that undetectable firearms exist, there is no evidence to suggest that they are a common problem for U.S. law enforcement.

Q: So there's no such thing as a 3D printable gun?

To public knowledge, no. Michael "Haveblue" Guslick has had the most success with this idea, designing and printing a component for the AR15 sport rifle known as the lower receiver. He says he fired almost 100 rounds from his design in a test.

During his press conference, Rep. Israel cited a recent firing test of the Wiki Weapon. That project is the would-be product of a group called Defense Distributed, whose stated aim is to disrupt the concept and mechanisms of firearms regulation. They hope to achieve their goals by designing and distributing the plans for a functioning plastic gun that anyone can make with a $500 3D printer.

You can read all about Defense Distributed on Web site. Their project only received the necessary funding in the past few months, and they have hit a few snags along the way, from a revocation of a leased 3D printer to a friendly chat with their local ATF field office.

The Defense Distributed firing test that Rep. Israel referred to was in fact only a review of Guslick's existing design. Defense Distributed might have captured some worthwhile data from that test, but it has not yet shown evidence of a 3D printable gun design beyond what Guslick's came up with back in August.

Q: If Defense Distributed does develop an all-plastic, 3D-printable gun, wouldn't it be illegal under this act?

The law makes certain exceptions for the military and the CIA, and also provides some room for manufacturers that want to test whether a certain design falls within the requirements of the law.

Perhaps Defense Distributed can find some niche in those exemptions, but otherwise it's hard to imagine how they would not be in violation. That said, Defense Distributed spokesman Cody Wilson was the first person to make me aware of the law's existence, so the group certainly knows it's a hurdle they will have to deal with.

Q: If you can't print a plastic gun yet, isn't renewing this law just an example security theater or legislative grandstanding?

The Undetectable Firearms Act has had its critics since it was enacted in 1988, largely because of the general belief that no one has ever made a functional gun that can sneak by an airport x-ray scanner.

Those in support of the law would argue, among other things, that even if no undetectable guns exist, it can act as a deterrent to the development of such a design. They would also say that it gives the federal government a forward-looking enforcement tool in the event that someone does come up with an undetectable firearm, 3D-printed or otherwise.

In calling to renew the law, Rep. Israel also riled 3D printing enthusiasts by using Defense Distributed as an example. Comments from Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, who was present at the press conference, also caused some controversy. Burke was quoted by Meetthe112th.com, saying "With the prices of these printers under $1,000, I think anyone can imagine the rise of an amateur gun maker in our community."

Q: Is renewing the Act really just a stealth attempt to regulate 3D printing?

Among other 3D printing enthusiats who found the press conference troubling, Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow voiced his concerns with Burke's and Israel's comments in a blog post:

However, what Rep Israel doesn't say is how he hopes to accomplish his goal. Firmware locks for 3D printers? A DMCA-like takedown regime for 3D shapefiles that can be used to generate plastic firearms (or parts of plastic firearms?). A mandate on 3D printer manufacturers to somehow magically make it impossible for their products to print out gun-parts?

Doctorow seems to be reacting to the idea that renewing the Undetectable Firearms Act also means regulating 3D printing technology. Inasmuch as the law restricts the manufacture of undetectable firearms, it does establish legal consequences if you're found to have used any tools or mechanism to make one. While Israel and Burke do hold Defense Distributed and 3D printing out as scary examples, the language of the Undetectable Firearms Act contains nothing specific to the pro-active regulation of 3D printing, or any other manufacturing process.

Rep. Israel's spokesperson also confirmed to me that "there are no technical aspects of the law that we're trying to change."

This is not to say that a politician might not one day take up the cause of regulating 3D printers or the distribution of printable design files. In that event, Rep. Israel and Chief Burke using it as a bugaboo here might make such regulations easier for voters to stomach. The Undetectable Firearms Act itself, in its current language, does not pro-actively restrict 3D printing.

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