No Gift for You

Emily Yoffe

Photograph by Teresa Castracane.

Emily Yoffe, aka Dear Prudence, is on Washingtonpost.com weekly to chat live with readers. An edited?transcript of the chat is below. (Sign up here?to get Dear Prudence delivered to your inbox each week. Read Prudie?s?Slate columns?here. Send questions to Prudence at prudence@slate.com.)

Q. Daughter Is Left Out of the Gift Exchange: I was an unmarried teenager when I gave birth to my now 8-year-old daughter Mandy. I am now engaged to Peter, a wonderful man who loves me and adores Mandy. The issue is Peter's parents. This don't care for Mandy, and they don't think much of me because I was in a position to give birth as an unwed teenager. They have lectured me a few times about premarital sex and the like. Christmas is coming up, and my future mother-in-law has informed me that she and her husband will not be buying presents for Mandy, and neither will Peter's siblings. Mandy's not entitled to presents, but since Peter's family does a big Christmas get-together, Mandy will see a bunch of kids get presents while she does not. It's hard to explain something like this to a kid. Peter's pretty upset with his family, but they're still his family, and ditching them would be incredibly painful for him, obviously. Do you have any advice?

A: Peter may be a wonderful man, but I hope one of his good qualities is that he is capable of standing up to his parents on behalf of his future wife and stepchild. There are still a few weeks left before Christmas, so I Peter needs to have a sit-down with his parents informing him that you and your daughter are going to be a part of the family and if his parents want all of you to be in their lives?and that includes the grandchildren to come?they need to stop making invidious comparisons among the grandchildren. Since Mandy is a new arrival it would be fine if they simply get her one thoughtful gift, but to deliberately leave her on the sidelines is unconscionable. If they back down, then you and Peter should each buy her a gift for under the tree so she doesn't feel left out. An 8-year-old is also old enough to be told that joining a new family can be a awkward and uncomfortable but that you and Peter will be looking out for her. If you go and Peter's family behaves dreadfully, you and he should have a signal that enough is enough and make an early exit from the nonfestivities.

Q. Bridezilla Buddy: My best friend from childhood is getting married in six months, and I am the matron of honor. I have been struggling with infertility, and was planning on trying in vitro in the spring. Well, to my surprise, I am unexpectedly pregnant. Obviously, my husband and I are thrilled. My family is thrilled. My friend is absolutely furious. She is angry that I will ?spoil? her wedding pictures by being about eight months pregnant, and she is worried that I won't fit into any dress that matches her plan. She is accusing me of intentionally ruining her big day. I want to simply tell her to get lost, but her family is close to mine, there is a lot of history there, and I worry about the repercussions between our families if I was to cut her out of my life. Frankly, I wish she would just ?fire? me as MoH, and make things easier. I have tried to explain to her, I didn't plan on this pregnancy, as I really thought I would never get pregnant on my own, and I had hoped she would be happy for me, as she knew everything we were going through. She just doesn't get it though, and continues to play the victim here. I could *almost* ignore her selfishness here, except she has started making comments along the lines of, ?Well, you may not even be pregnant when the wedding comes. With all your fertility issues, you may just miscarry, so no big deal.? I almost lost my mind at that point. I am beyond stressed about her and this wedding after all of this. Is it too late for me to just say no?

A: Your best friend hopes you miscarry so that you can properly devote your energies to her perfect day and not to your impending motherhood. What more do you need to know? It doesn't matter that the two families are close, someone has to clue this bride into the fact that she's become a gargoyle. You inform her right away that because of your pregnancy you will not be able to attend her wedding, period. No excuse making for your thoughtless reproduction plans, no snide comments that you're thinking the wedding might not come off because you hope the groom realizes he's about to hitch himself to a lunatic.

Q. Battling Cancer, Who Should Watch the Kids?: I will soon begin chemotherapy to battle cancer. My husband and I have three children under 6, so we'll need child care help over the coming months. My parents, who live 30 minutes away, would love to watch our kids when I am too sick to or when my husband needs to work. I would prefer this arrangement. My husband thinks his ex-wife Madeline should watch our kids, since she lives 10 minutes away. He and Madeline have two teenagers together, so spending time with Madeline would mean receiving additional support from their older brothers. I enjoy a fabulous relationship with Madeline, and she is a fantastic mom. But I still want my parents to be our children's primary baby sitters while I'm undergoing chemo. Part of me selfishly worries that my kids will begin to prefer Madeline when my hair falls out and I'm kind of scary because of the drugs I will be taking. I also feel more comfortable with my parents for reasons I can't explain; I feel like I won't be as worried about being sick or having rough days in front of them. I could use some outside perspective on this.

A: I'm so sorry you are going through this and I wish you a swift and complete recovery. You are blessed with several people who can step in to help with the kids, run errands, cook meals, and otherwise keep life as normal as possible. However, not one of these people will replace you in your children's hearts, no matter how upsetting it is to see you ill. Please do your best to prepare your children in an age-appropriate way for what's ahead. (Readers, any book suggestions or advice on this?) You do not have to choose between caregivers, and your husband should be sensitive to your desires. But if your treatment is a long haul it sounds as if it would be good to organize shifts of your parents and Madeline. Keeping your kids active and happy and surrounded by the many loving people in their lives will be the best medicine for all of you.

Q. Haunted By My Mistake: Last year my friend's girlfriend disappeared with their two young children. He was desperate to find them, but he did not trust the police so he did not involve them. I saw his girlfriend a few weeks later when I went to visit my sister a few hours away from where my friend and I lived. She seemed to be working at a hair salon. I called my friend and told him I'd seen her and where. My friend tracked his girlfriend down, followed her home, and killed her and one of their kids before taking his own life. I had no idea his girlfriend fled because he'd been abusing her; nothing ever indicated to me that he was controlling or violent. Even so, I am haunted by my mistake. I have fallen apart over the past year. I cannot hold down a job or maintain relationships. Two innocent people are dead because of me, and a child will grow up an orphan because of me. No one knows my involvement in the case. I fear a counselor would push me to confess to the victim's families. Maybe that is what I deserve: to be hated by them. I do not know what to do with myself.

A: I can understand your agony. While it is too late for this tragedy, it's good for anyone concerned about a friend or family member's domestic crisis that if someone does not want to police involved when that is the obvious place to turn, alarm bells should ring. You need to start taking steps to get on with your life. Naturally, you are awash with guilt, but your own ruination will do no one any good. You know you acted in all innocence?there are plenty of cases in which one parent absconds with the children leaving a decent parent bereft. You obviously would never have tipped off your friend had you known he was a maniac. First, I think you should have a consultation with a criminal defense lawyer. I'm not saying you are criminally liable, but you need to get these potential issues resolved. Then you do need to talk to a counselor. You must figure out a way to deal with your guilt and rebuild a productive life. This event will always be a scar across your psyche, but being destroyed yourself only makes one more person a victim of that monster.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=4a8dc93ed31cd03baa1e79cfa6d05114

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DAVID ROSMAN: Fiscal cliff debate should include military and social spending

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 | 6:00 a.m. CST

I have a question to help enhance my own political understanding.

As we approach the ?fiscal cliff,? I understand most of the discussions as well as the pros and cons of the arguments. One position I do not understand is the seeming lack of the ?less-government? movement to trim the military budget to control our national spending. Why is this issue off everyone?s radar?

Our military budget is larger ($711 billion) than the following nine highest military budgets combined ($579 billion). The U.S. military budget represents 4.1?percent of our GDP. The only country in the top 15 that exceeds that is Saudi Arabia at 10 percent of GDP. Israel only made it to number 17.

I am also fully aware that U.S. military spending represents about 15 percent of the federal budget.

Entitlements have also grown. The Congressional Budget Office reported in June, ?major health care programs and Social Security (will) grow from more than 10 percent of GDP (in 2012) to almost 16 percent of GDP 25 years from now.? I concede that most of that increase is due to the Affordable Healthcare Act.

The budget office also states another major factor, that the ?baby-boom generation portends a significant and sustained increase in the share of the population receiving benefits from Social Security, Medicare, and as well as long-term care services financed by Medicaid.?

This does not include other federally funded safety net programs such as the food stamp program, housing, Temporary Assistance of Needy Families(TANIF), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and as some conservatives wish to include, student loan programs. Yes, there are a lot more and that number is growing. Why?

I am not pointing fingers here, but our economy did take a major hit in 2008 and the momentum continued on the downward slide for almost two?years. Yet the reality is that these safety-net programs also prevented the fiscal crisis from getting worse, saving many jobs and home ownerships.

The argument that the maintaining of military spending protects the jobs, direct and indirect, of millions of Americans is proper. However, the same argument can be said about Supplemental Security Income (SSI), federal health care and other ?welfare? programs that are in the budgetary gun sights of the ?pull yourself up by your boot strap? movements.

These same political movements reject the calamity that could have befallen our nation. The extensions of unemployment benefits alone kept a lot of people from filing for bankruptcy to pay basic bills.

Yet if one looks at the entire welfare system budget, it was just under $431 billion for 2012. Of the military spending, the Department of Defense?s budget alone is $708 billion ? both increasing by one-third since 2008. I admit the military budget is reduced in 2013, but we will have one less war to pay for and it is immediately offset by the welfare increases.

I believe both can be cut to meet today?s budgetary and citizenry needs without digging new holes and without leaving people in the gutter. I think we can spend under 4 percent of GDP for military and less than 6 percent of GDP for public programs.

The scenarios of both budgets are out of date, relying on war instead of peace and growth instead of the natural pendulum swing of the economy.

We have to re-evaluate, revamp and revise the safety net programs to see if the money could be better spent, such as creating jobs through government spending on rebuilding and repairing our infrastructure. We must also re-evaluate our military budget to better protect our citizens through new technologies, not new bombs. (OK, the last sounded a bit too liberal, but would you expect different from me?)

Paraphrasing Rene Descartes, Congress has made ?a habit of making ill-considered judgments? and has learned little from its errors. As a consequence, Congress does meet Einstein?s definition of insanity, ?doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.?

The military and welfare budgets are equal friends and foes in Congress? avoidance of a ?fiscal cliff.? Let?s treat them both as such. Put everything on the table.

Then, members of Congress really talk with each other and take down their fortresses of ideology.

David Rosman is an editor, writer, professional speaker and college instructor in communications, ethics, business and politics. Questions? Contact Opinion editor Elizabeth Conner.

Source: http://columbiamissourian.com/a/156290/david-rosman-fiscal-cliff-debate-should-include-military-and-social-spending/

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Record Powerball result of changes to boost sales

A customer fills in his numbers on a Powerball ticket for a chance to win the $450,000 jackpot Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Houston for a chance to win the $450,000 jackpot. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

A customer fills in his numbers on a Powerball ticket for a chance to win the $450,000 jackpot Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Houston for a chance to win the $450,000 jackpot. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

A customer purchases lottery tickets for the Powerball lottery at Foster Stationery in Bergenfield, N.J. on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. The jackpot for Powerball's weekend drawing has climbed to $325 million, the fourth-largest in the game's history. Powerball organizers say this is the first run-up to a large jackpot that's fallen over a major holiday. (AP Photo/The Record (Bergen County), Don Smith)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? The historic Powerball jackpot boosted to $500 million on Tuesday was all part of a plan lottery officials put in place early this year to build jackpots faster, drive sales and generate more money for states that run the game.

Their plan appears to be working.

Powerball tickets doubled in price in January to $2, and while the number of tickets sold initially dropped, sales revenue has increased by about 35 percent over 2011.

Sales for Powerball reached a record $3.96 billion in fiscal 2012 and are expected to reach $5 billion this year, said Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Des Moines, Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association, the group that runs the Powerball game.

There has been no Powerball winner since Oct. 6, and the jackpot already has reached a record level for the game. It was first posted at $425 million but revised upward to $500 million when brisk sales increased the payout. It's the second highest jackpot in lottery history, behind only the $656 million Mega Millions prize in March.

It took nine weeks for the Mega Millions jackpot to get that high, before three winners ? from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland ? hit the right numbers, each collecting $218.6 million for their share of the split.

With soaring jackpots come soaring sales, and for the states playing the game, that means higher revenue.

"The purpose for the lottery is to generate revenue for the respective states and their beneficiary programs," said Norm Lingle, chairman of the Powerball Game Group. "High jackpots certainly help the lottery achieve those goals."

Of the $2 cost of a Powerball ticket, $1 goes to the prizes and the other dollar is kept by the state lottery organization, said Lingle, who also is executive director of the South Dakota Lottery. After administrative overhead is paid, the remaining amount goes to that state's beneficiary programs.

Some states designate specific expenditures such as education, while others deposit the money in their general fund to help supplement tax revenue.

The federal government keeps 25 percent of the jackpot for federal taxes.

Most states withhold between 5 percent and 7 percent. There's no withholding in states without a state income tax such as Delaware, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Texas. A New York City winner would pay more than 12 percent since the state takes 8.97 percent and the city keeps 3.6 percent.

Powerball and Mega Millions games are seeing jackpots grow faster and higher in part because the states that play both games agreed in 2010 to sell to one another.

Both games are now played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands. The larger pool of players means jackpots roll over to higher numbers faster, which tends to increase the buzz about the jackpots which increases sales. It all can result in higher jackpots sooner.

"It really happened with both of these games became national games," said Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa Lottery.

Still, just seven of the top 25 jackpots occurred after January 2010 when the cross-selling began. That just points to the unpredictability of games of chance like lotteries. It still comes down to the luck of the numbers, Rich said.

It has been proven that once the jackpot reaches a certain threshold more players buy.

The Quick Shop in Ottumwa, Iowa, is one of the state's highest-volume lottery ticket sellers due to its location across the street from a John Deere farm implement factory.

"It's picking up by the minute," said store owner Mark Ebelsheiser. "We're selling probably 60 to 70 percent more than normal. When it gets up this high they really come out and get them."

Bob Allison, a retired Indian Hills Community College instructor and administrator, buys tickets weekly for a group of people at the college in Ottumwa. On Tuesday he and two golfing and fishing buddies went in together to buy additional tickets. Allison said he usually buys a few additional tickets when the jackpot gets so high.

He said he'd make a lot of people very happy if he won.

"My kids would probably retire quick," said the father of three daughters.

Between $20 and $30 million in tickets were sold between Wednesday and Saturday drawings for most of October. Once the jackpot hit $100 million on Oct. 27, nearly $38 million worth of tickets were sold by Oct. 31. As the jackpot grew to more than $200 million on Nov. 17, sales surged by nearly $70 million by the next Wednesday. Then the jackpot reached over $300 million on Nov. 24 and ticket sales over the next four days surpassed $140 million.

"Somewhere around $100 million those occasional players seem to come back into the stores in droves," said Rich, the Iowa Lottery CEO. The lottery also notices a significant increase in workers and other groups joining together in pools to combine resources to buy numbers, he said.

Trina Small, manager at the convenience store in Bondurant, Iowa, where a couple bought a $202 million ticket on Sept. 26, said sales have been heavy. She said Monday night Powerball sales were at about $800, at least $200 more than normal. She expects Tuesday and Wednesday sales to be even more.

"It's kind of like Black Friday all over again," she said.

Small doesn't usually play the lottery herself but said she may buy a chance at the record jackpot. She's just trying to decide if her chances are better buying it elsewhere since a jackpot ticket was sold at her store just two months ago ? the old adage about lightning striking twice.

"The odds are against you anyway but I'm pretty sure they're more against you getting one from this store," she joked.

Powerball has posted sales exceeding $714 million in the current jackpot run since early October and it's possible more than $1 billion in tickets will have been sold by the end of Wednesday when the next drawing is held.

A single winner choosing the cash option would take home more than $327 million before taxes.

Strutt said the chance of getting a winner this Wednesday is approaching 60 percent.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-11-27-Powerball-Big%20Jackpots/id-41a037a5594d493d8c3260ac5e4685ec

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Birdman Wants To Drop 100 Cash Money Albums A Year

'The goal is to keep developing and keep putting out,' Birdman tells MTV News of his ambitious goal to drop 100 albums in one year.
By Rob Markman

Birdman
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1698024/birdman-cash-money-100-records.jhtml

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Syria says 34 killed in Damascus bombings

'Tis the season of giving, and a grocery-store owner is doing just that. Joe Lueken, who owns and manages two grocery stores in Bemidji, Minnesota, and one in Wahpeton, North Dakota, is retiring at age 70. Instead of selling his stores to the highest bidder, though, he will transfer ownership to the stores' 400 or [...]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-launches-air-strikes-combat-rages-damascus-065905245.html

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Flu Fascism - The Healthy Home Economist

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Mamas, don?t let your babies grow up to be cowboys healthcare workers!

TriHealth, one of the largest employers in the Cincinnati, Ohio metro area, has confirmed the firing of 150 of its nearly 11,000 employees in recent days for refusing this year?s flu shot.

The deadline for employees to receive the flu vaccine was November 16, 2012. ?Employees who did not comply with the company?s directive were terminated Wednesday, November 21, 2012 according to a TriHealth spokesperson.

TriHealth?s excuse for its flu fascist policies?

The shots were offered for free!

What a deal!

Ladies and gentlemen, listen up: ? TriHealth cares so much for the wellness of its employees that it is paying for their flu shots out of its own pocket this year! ? This selfless, corporate act made out of true compassion and concern for its employees? health comes complete with the following ingredients (from Mercola.com) :

• Aluminum ? a neurotoxin that has been linked to Alzheimer?s disease
• Mercury ? a neurotoxin that has no allowable safety limit according to the EPA
• Triton X-100 ? a detergent
• Phenol (carbolic acid)
• Ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
• Betapropiolactone ? a disinfectant
• Nonoxynol ? used to kill or stop growth of STDs
• Octoxinol 9 ? a vaginal spermicide
• Sodium phosphate

In addition, this year?s flu shot also contains the Swine Flu vax which has been shown to increase the risk of fetal death by miscarriage or stillbirth by over 10 times if the person receiving the flu vaccination is pregnant!

Could it be that the company?s real motive for requiring the flu shot replete with these toxic ingredients is to help ensure that TriHealth?s employees will never be healthy or work long enough to collect that TriHealth pension or promised retirement benefits? ? Come to think of it, most employees probably won?t even be around long enough to fully vest those 401(k) matching funds!

Now there?s a company commitment to its employees that is worth its weight in, uh aluminum,?don?t you think?

The Rise of Flu Fascism

Since when did conditions of employment include the right of the employer to control the employee?s physical person and demand injection of known EPA toxins directly into an employee?s bodily tissues?

Sounds a lot like slavery to me. ?Will TriHealth be requiring their employees to be branded with the company logo next?

I certainly hope these employees have retained a high powered law firm to take this matter to court. There is absolutely no legal basis for forcing an employee to be vaccinated contrary to his/her religious or philosophical objections.

For those employees who are teetering on the brink of getting vaccinated in order to appeal for reinstatement of their TriHealth jobs, please consider another option: ?a written letter clearly stating your religious objections to the flu shot.

To read how to successfully refuse mandatory vaccinations and not get fired, click here for the details along with a sample letter for you to use.

?

Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist

Source: ?TriHealth Fires 150 Employees for Not Getting Flu Shot

Picture Credit

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Source: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/flu-fascism-150-healthcare-workers-fired-for-refusing-flu-shot/

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Egypt mass protests challenge Islamist president

Egyptians carry a protester wounded in clashes with security forces near Tahrir square, where an opposition rally has been called for to voice rejection of President Morsi's seizure of near absolute powers, in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. The Health Ministry said about 444 people have been wounded nationwide, including 49 who remain hospitalized, since the clashes erupted on Friday, according to a statement carried by the official news agency MENA. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell)

Egyptians carry a protester wounded in clashes with security forces near Tahrir square, where an opposition rally has been called for to voice rejection of President Morsi's seizure of near absolute powers, in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. The Health Ministry said about 444 people have been wounded nationwide, including 49 who remain hospitalized, since the clashes erupted on Friday, according to a statement carried by the official news agency MENA. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell)

Egyptians chant slogans during a demonstration in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. More than 200,000 people flocked to Cairo's central Tahrir square on Tuesday, chanting against Egypt's Islamist president in a powerful show of strength by the opposition demanding Mohammed Morsi revoke edicts granting himself near autocratic powers.(AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Egyptian protesters attend an opposition rally in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. Thousands flocked to Cairo's central Tahrir square on Tuesday for a protest against Egypt's president in a significant test of whether the opposition can rally the street behind it in a confrontation aimed at forcing the Islamist leader to rescind decrees that granted him near absolute powers.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Egyptian protesters chant slogans against President Mohammed Morsi in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. Egyptians flocked to Cairo's central Tahrir square on Tuesday for a protest against Egypt's president in a significant test of whether the opposition can rally the street behind it in a confrontation aimed at forcing the Islamist leader to rescind decrees that granted him near absolute powers. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

Egyptian protesters carry large national flags in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. Thousands flocked to Cairo's central Tahrir square on Tuesday for a protest against Egypt's president in a significant test of whether the opposition can rally the street behind it in a confrontation aimed at forcing the Islamist leader to rescind decrees that granted him near absolute powers. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

CAIRO (AP) ? More than 200,000 people thronged Cairo's central Tahrir Square, protesting against Egypt's Islamist president Tuesday in an opposition show of strength, as the standoff over Mohammed Morsi's assertion of near-absolute powers escalated into the biggest challenge yet to his and the Muslim Brotherhood's rule.

The massive, flag-waving, chanting crowd in the iconic plaza rivaled the size of some of the large protests of last year's uprising that drove autocrat Hosni Mubarak from office. The same chants used against Mubarak were now turned against Egypt's first freely elected leader.

"The people want to bring down the regime," and "erhal, erhal" ? Arabic for "leave, leave," rang across the square.

Protests in Tahrir and several other cities Tuesday were sparked by edicts issued by Morsi last week that effectively neutralized the judiciary, the last branch of government he does not control. But it turned into a broader outpouring of anger against Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, which opponents say have used election victories to monopolize power, squeeze out rivals, and dictate a new, Islamist constitution, while doing little to solve Egypt's mounting economic and security woes.

Clashes broke out in several cities as Morsi opponents tried to attack offices of the Brotherhood, setting fire to at least one. At least 100 people were injured when protesters and Brotherhood members protecting their office pelted each other with stones and firebombs in the Nile Delta city of Mahalla el-Kobra.

"Power has exposed the Brotherhood. We discovered their true face," said Laila Salah, a housewife in the Tahrir protest who said she voted for Morsi in this summer's presidential election. After Mubarak, she said, Egyptians would no longer consent to an autocrat.

"It's like a wife whose husband was beating her and then she divorces him and becomes free," she said. "If she remarries she'll never accept another day of abuse."

Gehad el-Haddad, a senior adviser to the Brotherhood and its political party, said Morsi would not back down on his edicts. "We are not rescinding the declaration," he told The Associated Press.

That sets the stage for a drawn-out battle between the two sides that could throw the nation into greater turmoil. Protest organizers on a stage in the square called for another mass rally on Friday. If the Brotherhood responds with mass rallies of its own, as some of its leaders have hinted, it would raise the prospect of greater violence after a series of clashes between the two camps in recent days.

A Tweet by the Brotherhood warned that if the opposition was able to bring out 200,000-300,000 "they should brace for millions in support" or Morsi.

Another flashpoint could come Sunday, when the constitutional court is due to rule on whether to dissolve the assembly writing the new constitution, which is dominated by the Brotherhood and Islamist allies. Morsi's edicts explicitly banned the courts from disbanding the panel. If the court defies him and rules anyway, it would be a direct challenge that could spill over into the streets.

"Then we are in the face of the challenge between the supreme court and the presidency," said Nasser Amin, head of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession. "We are about to enter a serious conflict" on both the legal and street level, he said.

Morsi and his supporters say the decrees were necessary to prevent the judiciary from blocking the "revolution's goals" of a transition to democracy. The courts ? where many Mubarak-era judges still hold powerful posts ? already disbanded the first post-Mubarak elected parliament, which was led by the Brotherhood. The judiciary has also been considering whether to dissolve both the constitutional assembly and the Islamist-led upper house of parliament.

Morsi's decrees Thursday banned the judiciary from doing so and gave any decisions issued by Morsi immunity from judicial review. Morsi also gave himself sweeping powers to take action to prevent threats to the revolution, stability or state institutions, which critics say are tantamount to emergency laws. The powers would last until the constitution is approved and parliamentary elections are held, not likely before spring 2013.

Opponents say the decrees turn Morsi ? who narrowly won last summer's election with just over 50 percent of the vote ? into a new dictator, given that he holds not only executive power but also legislative, after the lower house of parliament was dissolved.

Tuesday's turnout was an unprecedented show of strength by the mainly liberal and secular opposition, which has been divided and uncertain amid the rise to power of the Brotherhood over the past year. The crowds were of all stripes, including many first-time protesters.

"Suddenly Morsi is issuing laws and becoming the absolute ruler, holding all powers in his hands," said protester Mona Sadek, a 31-year-old engineering graduate who wears the Islamic veil, a hallmark of piety. "Our revolt against the decrees became a protest against the Brotherhood as well."

Raafat Magdi, an engineer, said, "We want to change this whole setting. The Brotherhood hijacked the revolution."

"People woke up to his (Morsi's) mistakes, and in any new elections they will get no votes," said Magdi, who was among a crowd of around 10, 000 marching from the Cairo district of Shubra to Tahrir to the beat of drums and chants against the Brotherhood. Reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei led the march.

Many said they were determined to push ahead with the protests until Morsi retreats. A major concern among the protesters was that Islamists would use the decree's protection of the constitutional assembly to drive through their vision for the next charter, with a heavy emphasis on implementing Shariah, or Islamic law. The assembly has been plagued with controversy, and more than two dozen of its 100 members have quit in recent days to protest Islamist control.

"Next Friday will be decisive," protester Islam Bayoumi said of the upcoming planned rally. "If people maintain the same pressure and come in large numbers, they could manage to press the president and rescue the constitution."

A fellow protester, Saad Salem Nada, said of Morsi, "I am a Muslim and he made me hate Muslims because of the dictatorship in the name of religion. In the past, we had one Mubarak, now we have hundreds."

Even as the crowds swelled in Tahrir, clashes erupted nearby between several hundred young protesters throwing stones and police firing tear gas on a street off Tahrir leading to the U.S. Embassy. Clouds of tear gas hung close to the ground at the area. Clashes have been taking place at the site for several days, fueled by anger over police abuses, separately from the crisis over Morsi.

A photographer working for the AP, Ahmed Gomaa, was heavily beaten by police using sticks while covering the clashes Tuesday. Police took his equipment, and Gomaa was taken to hospital for treatment.

Rival rallies by Morsi opponents and supporters turned into brief clashes in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, then anti-Morsi protesters broke into the local office of the Muslim Brotherhood, throwing furniture out the windows and trying unsuccessfully to set fire to it. Protesters also set fire to Brotherhood offices in the city of Mansoura.

Morsi's supporters canceled a massive rally they had planned for Tuesday in Cairo, citing the need to "defuse tension." Morsi's supporters say more than a dozen of their offices have been ransacked or set ablaze since Friday. Some 5,000 demonstrated in the southern city of Assiut in support of Morsi's decrees, according to witnesses there.

So far, there was little sign of a compromise in the crisis. On Monday, Morsi met with the nation's top judges and tried to win their acceptance of his decrees. But the move was dismissed by many in the opposition and the judiciary as providing no real concessions.

Saad Emara, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member, said Morsi will not make any concessions, especially after the surge of violence and assaults on Muslim Brotherhood offices.

Emara ccused the opposition "of resorting to violence and with a political cover," claiming that former ruling party and Mubarak-era businessmen are hiring thugs to attack Brotherhood offices with the opposition's blessing.

"The story now is that the civilian forces are playing with fire. This is dangerous scene."

___

AP correspondents Hamza Hendawi contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-27-ML-Egypt/id-619fce935b0e4b428acc19cbf7c878ea

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