Giffords meets with families of Newtown shooting victims

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? Nearly two years after being critically wounded in a mass shooting, former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Friday met with families of victims in last month's shooting that left 26 people dead inside a Connecticut elementary school.

Giffords was accompanied by her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, at the private meeting in Newtown that was also attended by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

"As always, I was deeply impressed by the strength and courage and resolve of the families and the extraordinary caring and generosity of Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly in visiting with them," Blumenthal said.

Giffords, a Democrat, met earlier in the day with officials including Connecticut's lieutenant governor and Newtown's first selectman.

Giffords was left partially blind, with a paralyzed right arm and brain injury, when a gunman opened fire at a constituent meet-and-greet outside a Tucson grocery store on Jan. 8, 2011. Arizona's chief federal judge and five others were killed and 13 people, including Giffords, were injured.

The gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, pleaded guilty to 19 federal charges and was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years.

Kelly has become a vocal advocate for gun control in recent months, most notably at Loughner's sentencing in November. He lashed out at politicians for avoiding a "meaningful debate" about gun laws and called out Arizona Republicans, including the governor, for taking a pro-gun stance in the months after the shooting.

"As a nation we have repeatedly passed up the opportunity to address the issue. After Columbine, after Virginia Tech, after Tucson and after Aurora, we have done nothing," he told the court.

He has issued strongly worded statements many times since the massacre in Connecticut, including a harsh response to the National Rifle Association's reaction to the shooting. He often begins statements with "Gabby and I" as he makes pointed comments about the direction of the gun debate in America.

Kelly said on the day of the Newtown shooting that it should lead to better gun control.

"This time our response must consist of more than regret, sorrow, and condolence," Kelly said on his Facebook page, calling for "a meaningful discussion about our gun laws and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America."

Blumenthal said he is eager to find allies as he pursues tougher gun control laws.

"I'm hopeful that everyone who cares about this issue or has a stake in it will be active in supporting our effort in gun violence prevention legislatively," he said.

Giffords' visit came one day after Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced the creation of an advisory commission that will review and recommend changes to state laws and policies on issues including gun control in the wake of the Dec. 14 rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The gunman, Adam Lanza, shot and killed his mother, then drove to the school and slaughtered 20 first-graders and six educators before committing suicide as police arrived.

Giffords has appeared in public a few times since the shooting. She came face-to-face with Loughner when he was sentenced and attended ceremonies for the anniversary of the shooting.

She received tributes and ovations when she returned to the House in January 2012 to say goodbye as she resigned her seat and she delivered the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention in September.

On Wednesday, two days before she visited the Newtown families, she and Kelly met for an hour with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a longtime and vociferous gun control advocate. Bloomberg's office tweeted a photo of the meeting but wouldn't elaborate Friday on the discussion.

President Barack Obama invoked the Tucson and Newtown elementary school shootings when he spoke at Newtown shortly after the attack. He said four shootings, including those two plus the attacks at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., marked his first term in office.

A recent Pew Research Center report says gun policy accounted for almost 30 percent of discussions examined on blogs and Twitter in the three days after the school massacre. It compares the response to the Newtown rampage with the Arizona shooting, saying that in the three days after that, just 3 percent of social media conversation was about gun laws.

___

Associated Press writer Susan Haigh contributed to this report from Hartford, Conn.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wounded-ex-rep-giffords-meets-conn-families-231306569.html

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An Interview With Frank Paul | Siteopia Blog

Welcome back and happy new year! Our second interview from our online business advice blog is an exciting one, with domain name investor and online entrepreneur, Frank Paul.

Frank was a relatively late entry into the domain name industry and only registered his first domain name in 2006. In the following six years he has built up a premium domain name portfolio, which is both admired and envied by respected veteran domain name investors who had been involved in the domain industry 10 years before Frank even started!

Since that day in 2006, Frank has never looked back and has been involved in literally thousands of domain name transactions on behalf of himself, his clients and even household brand names such as Mastercard. His most recent high profile sale of CheapCruises.co.uk which sold in July of this year for ?50,000 is the second highest value publically reported .co.uk domain name sale of 2012.

So Frank, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us, let?s start off with an easy one?tell us about you in no more than 150 words:

I am Frank Paul and I am an online entrepreneur. I specialise in premium generic domain name investment, generic domain name leasing and creating profitable online businesses. I am a firm believer in the harder you work the more successful you become and it is better to try something and fail then forever wonder if it would have worked.

What was your first Internet venture?

My first internet venture was a community website for my local town. It was monetised by local businesses paying to advertise on the website to give them more exposure to the public and therefore generate more sales for them. It was a huge learning curve for me in numerous ways, and little did I know at the time, it was actually going to pave the way forward to where I am now.

What pitfalls did you encounter?

Overestimating the uptake of the service we were offering and not realising how much hard work it would be to convince people it was a good thing for their business. Businesses could not understand how we could possibly increase their number of customers by advertising with us. It was a hard slog to convert them and this lesson in business taught me there were easier ways to make money on the internet, and the actual idea was ?before it?s time? for the town where I was targeting.

What is the biggest change you have noticed in online marketing since you started?

In a word ? Google. Google has evolved ever since it was first created 14 years ago, but I would say it has changed more in 2012 than the previous 14 years combined. The future is all about the creating a brand and authority, as opposed to the early days (aka good old days) of marketing where you could make money online from having knowing a tiny bit of internet knowledge. Twitter has also been a huge change in online marketing and it is an excellent source of free traffic if used correctly.

How did 34.co.uk start?

34.co.uk started due to my interest and passion of domain names. I had been investing in domain names for a number of years, but never actually had an official outlet to showcase my domain investments to offer them for sale, lease or possible joint venture opportunities. It was always something I had intended to create, but never seemed to get around to doing it, as I was too busy creating businesses and acquiring domains names as opposed to actually showing what names I had to offer.

What challenges do you find within your industry, online, today?

There are three main challenges for me today ? The first is turning a domain name into a successful authoritative website which can make money in the easiest and least time consuming way possible, whilst being able to rank in the search engines and also be a useful resource that people want to actually use. By this I mean there is no point in trying to put together a very thin website on a domain such as underwear.co.uk (another great site of Frank?s) and expecting it to make money on its own. It is easy to manage a single quality resourceful website, but when you are trying to building a few of them, it becomes difficult without incurring additional costs (staff / content / marketing etc)

The second challenge is ensuring when I make an investment into a domain name, it has to have numerous ways to make money ? whether that is from development, selling or leasing. If a name has plenty of potential uses and has various ways to monetise, then it becomes attractive to me. It is too easy to fall into the trap of thinking a domain name is really good, when realistically it isn?t.

And the third and the one which is the most important, is diversifying away from Google as a free traffic source. It can be all too easy to become complacent on Google to send you free traffic to your websites, and I have been guilty of that myself on numerous occasions until one day in early 2011 when I woke up to find a big earning website of mine had vanished from the Google search results. I started a recovery plan for the website which I obtained satisfactory success with, but it wasn?t until this happened that I realised I was very vulnerable and Google ?owned? me and I then started to concentrate much harder on other marketing methods.

What successes are you having?

I have success in all three fields (developing, selling and leasing) but my most notable public sale of 2012 is CheapCruises.co.uk which went to a very switched on cruise company AdoreCruises.co.uk who fully realised the potential and value of owning the best domain name for their niche.

Favourite online acquisition method? (SEO, PPC, affiliate marketing etc.)

My favourite online acquisition method is SEO, however that is getting harder all the time with how much Google is changing. I also pursue a number of offline techniques which work quite well depending on the niche, and Twitter marketing will become huge in 2013 as more and more companies realise just how powerful it can be.

Next big thing for the web?

It may seem but quite obvious but in a word ? Mobile. Mobile internet/web is growing at a huge rate month after month and as the growth of smart phones is increasing, more and more people are using the internet than ever before. With the introduction of mobile internet, there are literally 1000?s of new opportunities that didn?t exist before and with the barrier to entry much lower than any most other businesses, there is nothing stopping Joe Bloggs becoming the next ?Angry Birds? creator.

Favourite online success story?

Without any hesitation, it has to be MyVoucherCodes.co.uk which was started by Mark Pearson back in 2006. Mark identified a key element of what makes online shoppers tick (saving money) and exploited it in such a way that everyone was a winner. The initial website cost him just ?300 to build and he ran it from his bedroom. In his first year of the website being live, he had already turned over ?1m and in 2012 he is on course to turnover ?12m. He is living proof that if you have a good idea and pursue it, you don?t need millions to make a success of it, you just need dedication and perseverance coupled with knowledge and a little bit of luck.

What advice would you give someone starting an online business today?

First and foremost, get a good domain name, as it will form part of your brand and help your customers to remember you and your company which is vital for any businesses success. Do your research, assess your competitors and identify what you could do better. Get involved with Twitter and Facebook as you can build your online business and a good following without costing you a penny if you put the effort in.

Do you have any big plans in 2013 for any of your premium domain names?

2013 is going to be a very busy year for me in numerous ways. I am already involved in a new business with a well known celebrity and this is going to be finally launched, I am also currently developing a new ecommerce website which will evolve into a subscription based model business, and as well as both of those mammoth projects, my book will be finished, published and available in shops in 2013. The one thing all three of those projects have in common is they were businesses / ideas which were born out of the domain names themselves as opposed to the other way around, which makes them even more exciting for me.

You can follow Frank on Twitter and view his domain investments at 34.co.uk.

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An Interview With Frank Paul, 4.0 out of 5 based on 11 ratings

Tags: business advice, domain name investing, entrepreneur, frank paul, interviews

Jason's experience in the domain name industry dates back to 1997 when he co-founded what was to become Namesco Ltd - the 4th largest domain registration and hosting provider in the UK. After selling Namesco in 2007, Jason set about creating Siteopia based on the same, exacting fundamentals of outstanding customer services and simple, easy to use solutions. Following a series of domain company acquisitions in 2012, Siteopia is expanding and gaining a loyal following of consumers, businesses and domainers. Jason enjoys travelling, eating out and property development. You can follow him on Twitter and Linked In

This entry was posted on Friday, January 4th, 2013 at 4:59 pm and is filed under Online Business Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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Source: http://www.siteopia.com/blog/an-interview-with-frank-paul/6777/

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FCC: Prison phone rates far too high

10 hrs.

Suzanne Choney , NBC News

Families of those in prison often pay a hefty emotional toll dealing with the shame of their loved ones being incarcerated; for the past decade, civil liberties advocates have argued that those families shouldn't be further burdened by having to pay steep costs?for?calls from?inmates, costs that can be up to 15 times higher, and more, than regular rates. Now the Federal Communications Commission wants to change that.

The agency?is seeking public comment about inmate calling services, which unlike regular phone service, is a near "monopoly," the FCC said in its recently issued Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

The issue first came to the FCC's attention in 2003. A Washington, D.C.-area woman, Martha Wright, said she?was paying about $200 a month for one 15-minute phone call a week with her grandson, who was in prison. Civil rights groups filed a class-action suit on her behalf; the case was dismissed by the judge, who referred Wright to the FCC.

In the nine years since, "tens of thousands of consumers" have "written, emailed, and yes, phoned the commission, pleading for relief on interstate long distance rates from correctional facilities," said FCC commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn, in a recent?statement.

The phone companies involved with prison calls aren't the major carriers most of us know, but mainly two?companies,?Global Tel*Link Corp.?and?Securus Technologies Inc. (NBC News has contacted both companies and will update this post if we hear back.)

The companies?"like?to say that the higher rates are due to the security features their technology has," such as monitoring phone calls and?blocking numbers,?Steven Renderos, national organizer for the?Center for Media Justice,?told NBC News. "But this technology is readily available and not something that should translate to $15 for a 15-minute phone call."

The center has been among the civil rights groups pushing for change, saying the commission rates families are forced to pay vary wildly from state to state.

"For?example, in Alabama the commission rate is 61.5 percent, and this translates to families having to pay 89 cents a minute?minute on top of a $3.95 connection fee every time a family member receives a call," Renderos said.

"Eight states have banned these commissions???California, South Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Michigan?and Missouri???and in those states you see some of the lowest rates for phone calls. For example Missouri charges 10 cents a?minute for a long-distance phone call with a $1 connection fee. The average commission rate in states that haven't banned these commissions is 43 percent."

The FCC, in its notice, said that inmate calling services differs "from traditional payphone services in a number of respects. First, although barriers to entry are low for payphone providers in most locations,?a correctional facility typically grants an exclusive contract to a single ICS provider for a particular facility, essentially creating a monopoly at that facility.?As such, competition exists for ICS contracts but once an ICS provider wins a contract it becomes the sole ICS provider in that facility."

In addition, "Unlike non-incarcerated customers who have access to alternative calling platforms on public payphones, inmates only have access to payphones operated by a single provider for all available services at that payphone. These contracts additionally often include a site commission or location fee paid to the correctional facility."

The telephone, said FCC commissioner?Clyburn, in her statement, "is a crucial instrument for the incarcerated, and those who care about them, because voice calling is often the only communications option available. Most inmates along with their families and friends are low-income, so in-person visits due to distance and expense are infrequent."

As to why the public should care, Clyburn said:

Maintaining contact with family and friends during incarceration not only helps the inmate, but it is beneficial to our society as a whole. There are well over 2 million children with at least one parent behind bars and regardless of their circumstances, both children and parents gain from regular contact with one another. Studies also show that those released are less likely to reoffend if they are able to maintain relationships with their loved ones while they are in prison.

Another FCC commissioner, Ajit Pai, said in a statement that he is "open to exploring whether there is action we can and should take," although "we must recognize?that choice and competition are not hallmarks of life behind bars."?

Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement that the organization applauds the FCC for "taking the?first step toward eliminating predatory long-distance telephone rates for incarcerated people and their families. We look forward to the commission?s prompt consideration of the record and rapid adoption of a fair rule."

The FCC will receive public comments for the next two months on its proposal.?

And perhaps fittingly, it was both Martha Wright and her grandson???now out of prison???who both testified before the FCC in September to urge action, Renderos said.

Check out Technology, GadgetBox, Digital?Life and InGame on?Facebook,?and on?Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/fcc-prison-phone-rates-far-too-high-1B7812867

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Asus and Leap Motion Bring Minority Report-Style Gestures to Life

Creating a powerful new input device for computers might not be easy, but it's easier than convincing people to switch from the mouse to something entirely new. You can either hand them out on street corner (bad idea), or bundle ...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/uRP_CmzRmdw/

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Eat,drink+be Kerry: Colle Rosso, Red Hill, Brisbane

Ahh, the joy of finding a great new restaurant within walking distance of home.

Colle Rosso, which is Italian for Red Hill, ticks all my boxes.? Well priced, flavoursome, authentic Italian food, made and served with love.

This traditional family trattoria which opened late last year, is owned and operated by two couples - David and Laura (both from Rome) and Marco (from Sardinia) and Lisa (a Brisbane local of Italian heritage), who together have more than 30 years of experience in hospitality.

Busy even mid week, the restaurant was filled with plenty of locals dining as couples but also larger groups sporting distinct Italian accents.

David and Marco head up the kitchen drawing on their previous experience as head chefs at Portside?s Gusto Da Gianni and five-star hotels in Switzerland, London and Europe where they regularly cooked for royalty.

The menu is filled with traditional Italian classics including 12 varieties of Roman-style wood-fired pizza such as Calzone Colle Rosso, a wide range of pastas with a popular favourite of Gnocchi con Gamberi e Zucchini and Tiramisu straight from Nonna?s personal cook book.

?We are proud of our traditional menu, all of the food is prepared and served just as we did when we lived and worked in Italy,? David Ruggiero said.

?Many of the recipes are our mothers and grandmothers; we have chosen our favourite traditional foods to share with our customers.

?Even our wine list has our favourite Italian wines and spirits as well as Australian favourites,? he said.

The restaurant sits in the site of a previous fine-dining Italian restaurant, Biagio and while the style of cuisine is the same, the similarities end there.

?We wanted a clean slate with Colle Rosso, we have changed everything from the colour of the walls which we painted a rustic red and adorned with family relics and photos from Italy to the lighting and of course the family-friendly menu,? said head chef David Ruggiero.

I sampled their Christmas lunch menu which included some top picks from the menu starting with a classic bruscetta with a simple combo of fresh diced tomato and basil bursting with flavour.

The crisp pizza base with rosemary and garlic topping was so moreish I could hardly stop at one but make sure you keep some aside to mop up the delicious cherry tomato Napoli sauce that comes with the giant sized ravioli filled with fresh ricotta and spinach.

Our mains were a crispy skin pork belly with potato gratin and a barramundi fillet with olive crust and fennel cream. The barra crust was crisp and light with not a hint of the muddiness that plagues some barra. The pork belly was so deliciously crisp and tender with the potato gratin worth ordering on its own for its cheese flirt and affair with thyme.


Wafer thin slices of tender veal with intense sauce made for a perfect Saltimbocca.

The oh-so-light pannetone was studded with orange peel and raisins and filled with a lux strawberry mouse and ice cream.

We finished the night with a digestive that appeared ice cold from the freezer.

Bottom line: Up there amongst the best Italian for price, taste and value in Brisbane.

Best tip: Try the take-away pizza and pasta options and it's open seven days.

Colle Rosso?

Kerry Heaney

More great Italian in Brisbane -

Popolo South Bank
Tartufo Fortitude Valley
Vio's Paddington
Gallery One, Carindale

Disclaimer: Ed+bK and partner were guests of Colle Rosso.

Source: http://eatdrinkandbekerry.blogspot.com/2013/01/colle-rosso-red-hill-brisbane.html

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Egypt panel implicates Mubarak, military in deaths

FILE - In this June 2, 2012 file photo, Egypt's ex-President Hosni Mubarak lays on a gurney inside a barred cage in the police academy courthouse in Cairo, Egypt. Ousted President Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed, despite his earlier denial that he knew the extent of the protests and violence, according to a fact-finding mission member said Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, which could lead to the retrial of the 84-old ousted leader already serving a life sentence.(AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this June 2, 2012 file photo, Egypt's ex-President Hosni Mubarak lays on a gurney inside a barred cage in the police academy courthouse in Cairo, Egypt. Ousted President Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed, despite his earlier denial that he knew the extent of the protests and violence, according to a fact-finding mission member said Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, which could lead to the retrial of the 84-old ousted leader already serving a life sentence.(AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 file photo, supporters of President Hosni Mubarak, riding camels and horses, fight with anti-Mubarak protesters in Cairo, Egypt. Ousted President Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed, despite his earlier denial that he knew the extent of the protests and violence, according to a fact-finding mission member said Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, which could lead to the retrial of the 84-old ousted leader already serving a life sentence.(AP Photo/Mohammed Abu Zaid, File)

CAIRO (AP) ? An Egyptian fact-finding mission determined that Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed at his palace, despite his later denial that he knew the extent of the protests and crackdown against them, a member of the mission said Wednesday.

The mission's findings increase pressure for a retrial of the 84-year old ousted president, who is already serving a life sentence for the deaths of 900 protesters. But its report could hold both political gains and dangers for his successor, Mohammed Morsi. A new prosecution of Mubarak would be popular, since many Egyptians were angered that he was convicted only for failing to stop the killing of protesters, rather than for ordering the crackdown.

But the report also implicates the military and security officials in protester deaths. Any move to prosecute them could spark a backlash from powerful generals and others who still hold positions under Morsi's government.

Rights activists said they would watch carefully how aggressively Morsi pursues the evidence, detailed by a fact-finding mission he commissioned.

"This report should be part of the democratic transformation of Egypt and restructuring of security agencies," Ahmed Ragheb, a member of the commission and a rights lawyer, told The Associated Press. "At the end of the day, there will be no national reconciliation without revealing the truth, and ensuring accountability."

Morsi, an Islamist from the Muslim Brotherhood, asked the commission to send the report to the chief prosecutor Talaat Abdullah to investigate new evidence, his office said Wednesday.

Morsi recently appointed Abdullah to replace a Mubarak holdover who many considered an obstacle to strongly prosecuting former regime officials. Some judges criticized the appointment as a political move to continue to wield leverage over the prosecutor post.

The case will be a test whether Abdullah will conduct a thorough process of holding officials responsible. Some rights activists were already disappointed that Morsi didn't empower the fact-finding commission itself to turn the investigations into prosecutions and avoid political influence.

The 700-page report on protester deaths the past two years was submitted Wednesday to Morsi by the commission, made up of judges, rights lawyers, and representatives from the Interior Ministry and the intelligence, as well as families of victims.

Morsi formed the commission soon after coming to office in June as Egypt's first freely elected president after campaign promises to order retrials of former regime figures if new evidence was revealed.

The trial of Mubarak and other figures from his regime left the public deeply unconvinced justice was done. The prosecution was limited in scope, focusing only on the first few days of the 18-day uprising and on two narrow corruption cases. Lawyers have since criticized the case as shoddy, based mainly on evidence collected by battered and widely hated police in the days following the uprising.

In the verdicts last summer, Mubarak and his two sons were acquitted on corruption charges. His former interior minister was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for complicity in the crackdown, while six top security aides were acquitted for lack of evidence.

Mubarak was convicted to a life sentence of failing to prevent the deaths of protesters during the uprising, which ended with his fall on Feb. 11, 2011. Many Egyptians believed he should have been held responsible for ordering the killings, in addition to widespread corruption, police abuse and political wrongdoing under his regime.

One key new finding by the commission was that Mubarak closely monitored the crackdown.

Ragheb said state TV had designated an encrypted satellite TV station that fed live material from cameras installed in and around Tahrir Square directly to Mubarak's palace throughout clashes between protesters and security forces.

"Mubarak knew of all the crimes that took place directly. The images were carried to him live, and he didn't even need security reports," said Ragheb. "This entails a legal responsibility" in the violence against the protesters, including the infamous Camel Battle, where men on horses and camel and other Mubarak supporters stormed Tahrir.

At least 11 people are said to have been killed in that attack, and some 25 former ruling party members tried in the case were acquitted.

In questioning for his trial, Mubarak said he was kept in the dark by top aides as to the gravity of the situation, and fended off charges that he ordered or knew of the deadly force.

Khaled Abu Bakr, another lawyer who represented some of the victims in the uprising, said a retrial could "add more jail time if new charges appeared, and it could also change the penalty from life sentence to the death penalty."

More politically explosive is the commission's look at the 17 months of military rule after Mubarak's fall, when activists protesting the generals' conduct of the transition clashed repeated with security forces in violence that killed at least 100 protesters.

The report clearly established that security officials and the military used live ammunition against protesters during the transition and the anti-Mubarak uprising, Ragheb said.

The military repeatedly denied firing live ammunition, despite several protesters killed by bullets and pellets and despite reports by rights groups holding the army responsible.

The report established that at least one of nearly 70 missing since the uprising was tortured and died in a military prison, said Ragheb. It also details abuse by military and security officers in the days following Mubarak's ouster, including the beating and abusing of women protesters and the conducting of "virginity tests" to intimidate and humiliate them.

Ragheb refused to give further specifics. The report was not made public. But he told Al-Masry Al-Youm daily thatit recommends summoning hundreds for questioning in protester killings.

Several rights activists raised concerns that findings implicating any military officials or security figures in the current Interior Ministry will be ignored.

"There is every reason for Morsi and the prosecutor general he appointed to act on the findings and make sure they are translated into prompt prosecution," said Hossam Bahgat, a human rights lawyer from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

"It will be a major embarrassment not to do anything," he said, adding that it would also be "clear evidence" of what many believe to be an agreement by Morsi to grant immunity to military leaders for any alleged crimes during their rule.

Morsi appointed the latest commission at a time when his relations with the generals were rough. Just before officially transferring rule to Morsi, the military had issued a decree stripping the presidency of most of its powers.

After barely a month in office, Morsi pushed out the top generals who ruled during the transition and reclaimed his powers. His move brought no protest from the military, which many took as a sign of a backroom deal.

Gamal Eid, a lawyer who has represented protester families, pointed out that prosecutors and the court ignored a previous fact-finding mission that established evidence that could have been more incriminating.

Heba Morayef, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in Egypt, said a "protect the revolution" law recently issued by Morsi providing for new investigations into protester killings made no mention of the commission, meaning its findings were not binding and could be ignored.

"It is a wasted opportunity," she said. "Without a clear implementing mechanism, you leave room for political compromise at the expense of accountability."

___

Mariam Rizk contributed to this report

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-02-Egypt/id-3d193c6a12294c7eafe5b99c8216f160

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