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The prevailing thought among political experts contends: as goes Egypt so goes the Middle East.nike running shoes  One has to go no further than the headlines in Libya and Algeria to see the theory substantiated.

Consequently, when the pivotal Arabic nation of 80 million people became a crucible for democratic revolution in late January, the world, and especially Egypt's regional neighbors, became riveted spectators.

The Egyptian citizenry had grown tired of a regime which denied basic freedoms while controlling its people through brutality and oppression. On Feb. 11, less than three weeks after demonstrations began, President Hosni Mubarak resigned, terminating his 29-year rule.

Presumed to be the endgame by many mainstream media outlets, the conclusion of the combustible protests seemingly pushed Egypt onto the back burner as Libya became the hot topic of conversation.

"I am personally extremely disappointed in the Obama administration's lack of leadership on this," Clifton resident and political activist Sherine El-Abd said. "The relationship of the United States with the entire region is either stable or rocky because of its relationship with Egypt. Their lame excuse is that they don't want to be meddling. Then why are you in Libya?"

El-Abd, 64, of Beverly Hill Road, immigrated to America from Egypt in 1965 because she was unhappy with the direction then-president Gamal Abdel Nasser was steering the country politically and economically.nike mens acg sandals 2011  She graduated from Texas A&M University before ultimately settling in the New York metropolitan area and has spent the last 35 years in New Jersey.

With several immediate family members still living in Egypt, El-Abd has remained well-informed as to the current climate in Cairo and the country's other major cities by staying in daily contact with several of her cousins.

She delightedly recalled the cold nights this February. Her eyes glued to the television or computer screen as she reveled with friends stateside and family overseas. El-Abd said she fought back tears as well as sleep - days at a time - captivated by what would happen next.

"It was a very exciting, energizing time because young and old, rich and poor, everybody was united," she said. "I was delighted that Egypt, the cradle of civilization which had experienced democracy and then been deprived of it, was on its way back toward becoming the free and great nation it deserves."

Her cousin, Noha Abdou, who lives in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, said she and her children were "screaming and singing with joy" upon hearing of the president's resignation.

"We celebrated in the streets," Abdou said. "My generation had grown helpless and hopeless this moment would ever come."

Back in the states other Egyptian-Americans, including Rutherford resident and American-Arab activist Hesham Mahmoud, called it an "indescribable" event.

"In my wildest dreams I hadn't thought I would see this day in my lifetime," Mahmoud said.

Although overjoyed by the successful demonstrations, Mahmoud, who was born in Alexandria and is now a representative of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of New Jersey, immediately conveyed uncertainty in terms of what tomorrow will bring.

"The revolution is not over yet," he said.

Abdou agreed, saying the country's future remains "very vague and confusing."

Compounded by the absence of a defined leadership or powerful police presence, the confusion created a 200 percent increase in crime marked by a rapid rise in theft and kidnapping.Reebok EasyTone online

On Saturday, 5,000 Egyptian soccer fans forced their way into the Cairo International Stadium and stormed the field while a game was still ongoing, assaulting opposing players and causing millions of dollars in damages.

"The lack of security worries me," Mahmoud said. "I have a lot of family still there. Just the other day my own brother was a victim of one of these crimes. He was coming out of a bank and they just drove by and stole his money."

Egypt's finance minister has revisednike running shoes online down the country's economic growth to between 2.5 and 3 percent in the current fiscal year as a result of fallout from the unrest that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.

Samir Radwan says Egypt would reach out to the oil rich Gulf Arab states for help while officials will also work to broaden the country's fiscal landscape by trying to secure as many grants as possible.nike mens acg sandalsThe minister's statement was issued by his office on Tuesday.

Radwan had earlier projected GDP to slow to slightly under 4 percent as the mass protests that toppled Mubarak battered economic activity, buy Reebok ZigTech onlinedriving away tourists and raising major questions about other key sources of foreign revenue such as foreign direct investment.

President Obama countered that the tanning salon costs the American people some 3.8 
Buy nike running shoes online per year, and while that might be a paltry sum in a multi-trillion dollar budget, it would set a good example for the American people.

"That was when he lost it," Staffer Jerry Long said, "he mentioned something about Obama not needing to tan, so he wouldn't understand and then went on a tirade."

Insiders describe Mr. Boehner as irate and irreconcilable on the issue. Staffer Evelyn Banks said, "It was really weird, I felt like there was a lot of progress being made before hand. Serious issues were being discussed and solutions were being hammered out. Then Mr. Reid brought up the subject of the congressional tanning salon nike mens acg sandals 2011 and the whole talk broke down."

"It was kind of scary," Staffer Jerry Long added, "suddenly he stood up, waving his hands in the air, and even pounding his fists on the table. There was a lot of "We earned it!" "we aren't slaves" and "this is perfectly fair and understandable!"

Staffer Michelle Rea concluded, "I don't know, the weirdest thing for me, towards the end of his rant, he started going on about the need to remain tanned so we can connect with our "dark brethren" around the world. He seemed to seriously think that tanned skin was necessary for connected with what he called the "others" and is aReebok ZigTech online vital part of our foreign policy."

Both Obama and Reid backed off of demands to close down the tanning salon. Insiders have informed this reporter that while both would like to see the salon shut down there would be no way, quote "NO WAY," to get Mr. Boehner back to the bargaining table so long as that issue remained on the chopping block.

But all signs are that SpeakerBuy nike running shoes online John Boehner is making the Planned Parenthood funding cutoff a higher priority in the negotiations than the nine House-passed riders that defund all or part of the health care law. It’s not that he has given up on the defunding riders — it’s just that Planned Parenthood seems to be higher on his list.

If he’s looking for guidance from rank-and-file Republicans on which one is more important, he’s not likely to find it.

“You’re going to find some people who gravitate toward one and some who gravitate toward the other. I think they’re both important,” said Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), who sponsored an amendment to the House-passed continuing resolution that would defund the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.

Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), a freshman who sponsored a rider that would cut off payments to HHS employees to implement health insurance exchanges, may be willing to give Boehner a bit more room to drop both sets of riders. He said his top priority isn’t either abortion or health care defunding. It’s spending cuts. nike mens acg sandals 2011

“We’ll continue to work on reining in 'Obamacare' … Those efforts are ongoing, and we’ll continue to do more,” Gardner said. “But right now, we’ve got to cut spending.”

Publicly, other members of the leadership aren’t about to make a choice. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, when asked which issue is more important, said about the only thing he could say: “We’re not going to negotiate with ourselves.”

In the meantime, the House Republican leadership is trying to do everything it can to give its members other chances to vote on both issues.

The short-term C.R. the House passed Thursday — which Obama says he’d veto — includes a ban on fundingbuy Reebok ZigTech  for abortions in the District of Columbia. “It wasn’t everything they wanted on Planned Parenthood, but it’s something,” Burgess said. The House was also preparing to take up a separate bill to put more restrictions on federal funding of abortions, although that was postponed because House GOP leaders are putting all of their focus into avoiding a government shutdown, according to a leadership aide.

And next week, the House might begin to take up some of the bills to cut off mandatory funding for the health care law. Two of the measures approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this week — one targeting exchanges, the other shutting down the law’s Prevention and Public Health Fund — now appear on the Rules Committee schedule and are likely candidates.

Dish, the second-largest U.S. satellite TV company after DirecTV, trumped at least three other bidders,Buy nike running shoes  including activist investor Carl Icahn, for the one-time leader in video rentals.

Dish said the deal, which includes more than 1,700 Blockbuster stores, gives it new ways to market its services.

The deal covers "substantially all" of the rental chain's business, and likely gives Dish the rights Blockbuster had to stream movies over the Internet, the Blockbuster brand name and customer lists.

Blockbuster said in a statement that it believes the sale "represents the best means of maximizing value for the company's stakeholders."

Dish declined to comment beyond its news release. A court hearing to approve the sale is scheduled for Thursday.

"This is very clever," said Todd Mitchell, an analyst with Kaufman Brothers. "Dish can transition Blockbuster from a retail to a streaming model so you have basically a Netflix-like offering."

Shares of Dish ended one cent higher, while Netflix Inc's stock slid nearly 2 percent.cheap nike mens acg sandals

The deal follows two others this year led by Dish Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charlie Ergen that could transform the company into a major provider of on-demand video through its satellite system and eventually over a wireless network for handheld devices, according to analysts.

Dish is expanding its broadband spectrum by acquiring DBSD North America for about $1.4 billion.

Digital set-top box maker EchoStar Corp, where Ergen is also chairman, has announced it is buying Hughes Communications, which Mitchell said could one day provide technology to create a wireless network.

Together, the deals could give Dish the tools it needs to deliver movies to phones and iPads and compete with Netflix, which streams most of its videos over the Internet.

"Young people are downloading increasing amounts of content direct to handheld devices. The iPhone is at the forefront of a new generation of devices that are revolutionary because you don't have to plug them into the computer to receive content," said David Pauker, a turnaround specialist with Goldin Associates.

Dish expects to pay about $228 million in cash to acquire Blockbuster's assets, which as of February 27 included more than $100 million of receivables and cash and a rental library estimated to be worth $175 million.

The money will go toward paying off the company's creditors, which include Icahn and other bondholders as well as movie studios. The creditors are owed more than a $1 billion. Reebok ZigTech

The outlook from the operator of the Bed Bath & Beyond stores -- which sell everything from toasters to shower curtains -- nike running shoes is a sign of recovering consumer spending, said Wall Street Strategies analyst Brian Sozzi.

During the downturn, "the consumer really refrained from replenishing or upgrading their kitchen utensils and their blankets," Sozzi said. "So with the environment improved, they're back in there, because that stuff only lasts for so long."

He said it also looked like Bed Bath might be gaining market share from rivals like Target Corp (TGT.N), which reported weaker home goods sales.

Bed Bath said it expects earnings for the fiscal year ending next February to be 10 to 15 percent higher than the $3.07 per share it reported for the just-ended year. That comes out to a range of $3.38 to $3.53 per share. Analysts on average were expecting $3.33 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company said net income rose to $283.5 million, or $1.12 per share, in the fourth quarter, ended on February 26, from $226.0 million, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier.

Sales rose to $2.50 billion, from $2.24 billion a year earlier.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 97 cents per share on sales of $2.39 billion.vshoes Buy nike cheap mens acg sandals black

Same-store sales, a key gauge of retail health, rose 8.5 percent in the quarter, which included the year-end holiday shopping season.

Sales at home goods chains suffered during the housing downturn and recession, as consumers tightened their belts and spent only on basics. They are now showing more interest in spending on their homes as they spent more time at home.

Bed Bath's rival Williams Sonoma Inc (WSM.N) reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit last month, while smaller rival Pier 1 Imports (PIR.N) is due to report results on Thursday.

Bed Bath forecast earnings of 58 cents to 61 cents per share for the current first quarter. Analysts on average were expecting 60 cents per share.

The company also said it expects net sales to rise at a mid-single-digit rate during the current firstFind brand shoes  quarter and the full year, and is modeling same-store sales increases of 2 percent to 4 percent for the same periods.

The company also said it expects to open 45 new stores this year across all its store chains, which also include Christmas Tree Shops and buybuy Baby, and expects to continue renovating and relocating existing stores.

Bed Bath shares rose 9 percent to $53.85 in after-hours trading from their close at $49.39 on the Nasdaq.