Narendra Modi's landslide victory shatters Congress's grip on India

The controversial Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi has pledged to work for all 1.25bn of his fellow Indians in his first speech after winning a historic landslide victory to take power in the world's largest democracy.

"Brothers, sisters, you have faith in me and I have faith in you," Modi, 63, told an ecstatic crowd in the town of Vadodara, from where he stood for election in the five-week poll. "The people of this country have given their verdict. This verdict says we have to make the dreams of 1.25bn people come true. I must work hard."

With most of the 550m votes counted, Modi's Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) appeared to have far exceeded all predictions and, with existing allies, were set to win as many as 350 of the 543 elected seats of India's lower house.

The Congress party, which has been in power since 2004 and for all but 18 of the last 67 years, appeared to be heading for its lowest ever tally, set for a mere 60 seats by mid afternoon.

Experts say the political landscape of India has been transformed. The vote is the most decisive mandate for any Indian leader since the 1984 assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi propelled her son Rajiv to office.

World leaders rushed to telephone the news premier. Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister of neighbouring Pakistan, with which India has fought four wars, invited the new leader to visit.

The US president,Obama, did likewise, even though Modi was barred from the country less than 10 years ago under a law preventing entry to foreigners who had committed "particularly severe violations of religious freedom", Associated Press reported.Modi, who has been dogged by accusations of sectarian prejudice, appeared to make an effort to reassure those within India and beyond its borders who fear he will prove a divisive leader. "To run the country we need to take everyone with us, all together and I seek your blessings to succeed in this endeavour," he said.

The former tea seller who started his political leader with a far right Hindu revivalist organisation promised "good times ahead". In a second speech hours later, Modi invoked Mahatma Gandhi and stressed that "the only solution to every problem is [economic] development – without which India's destiny will not change".

Though a BJP win was expected, few predicted such a crushing victory. For 25 years India has been governed by coalitions, but the size of Modi's mandate means he will not have to work with allies and can set his own agenda. The party's regional strength is likely to be reinforced at local elections in coming months.Such power held by such a polarising figure will prompt some concern internationally. Ravi Shankar Prasad, a senior leader of the BJP who has been tipped as a potential foriegn minister told the Guardian that India would be "power with dignity, with responsibility and of constitutional integrity."

Prasad said however that though the BJP "wishes well for Pakistan", the neighbouring state needed to understand that "terrorism promoted from its soil would not be tolerated".

Supporters, who thronged the BJP headquarters in Delhi on Friday to sing, explode firecrackers, bang drums and chant support for Modi said he would bring honest government, efficient administration and much-needed economic reforms in the troubled nation. "I am elated. It's time for change," said Gautam Sood, 28, a student.The elections saw around 100 million first-time voters cast a ballot. Support amongst the young appears to be one key reason for the BJPs success. Another is inroads made into rural areas and traditional "votebanks" of the Congress party, such as those at the bottom of the caste system, India's tenacious social hierarchy.

Modi's "Development For All" message appeared to have struck a chord with frustrated voters, particularly the young, across the nation. It also countered accusations of sectarian prejudice, allowing BJP campaigners to argue that they believed in genuine equality because the party wants no communities to receive special treatment.

At the Congress headquarters, only a mile from those of the BJP, there was a very different mood. "It is very disappointing for us all, but we accept the verdict of the people. Congress has bounced back before and we are confident that we will bounce back again," said Rajeev Shukla, a former minister and senior party official.

The outgoing government was hit by allegations of corruption, its failure to rein in runaway inflation and faltering growth. India needs to create 10m jobs each year for new jobseekers alone, an area where the Congress officials admit they had "difficulty".Others blamed the defeat on a failure to communicate the party's achievements in their 10 years in power.Rahul Gandhi, 43-year-old scion of south Asia's most famous political dynasty and vice-president of Congress, retained his own seat of Amethi, but by a hugely reduced margin. The Cambridge-educated former management consultant  has struggled to connect with voters and failed to develop any significant momentum throughout the campaign. Congress officials nonetheless rallied around the Gandhi family. "This is not about one particular leader or individual," said Salman Soz, a party official.

But at a chaoti press conference late on Friday afternoon, Gandhi admitted Congress had done "pretty badly" and accepted responsibility for the party's worst ever defeat. Sonia gandhi, the president of Congress, called on the new government to avoid divisive policies and said her own party would focus on grassroots work. The 67-year-old won again from the constituency of Rae Bareli, an exception in a rout of dozens of senior Congress figures.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, the BJP leader, said the elections had revealed a "tectonic shift. The politics of dynasty, entitlement and inheritance has been rejected in favour of the politics of initiative and accomplishment based on hard work," he said.

Since being named as his party's candidate last September, Modi has flown more than 185,000 miles and addressed 457 rallies in a slick, presidential-style campaign that has broken the mould of Indian politics. A huge social media effort has reached out to voters across the nation. Modi received more than seven times the media coverage of his chief rival, one study showed.

Modi has promised that a BJP government would take decisive action to unblock stalled investments in power, road and rail projects to revive faltering growth. Indian stockmarkets soared early in the day as results began to be clear.

However, relations between India's 150 million Muslims and the Hindu majority, as much as development, was a key theme as candidates traded accusations of seeking to win votes through targeting particular communities or raising sectarian tensions.Modi has been accused of allowing, or even encouraging, riots in 2002 in the state of Gujarat, which he has run for 13 years, in which around 1,000 people, largely Muslims, died. The violence followed an arson attack on a train carrying Hindu pilgrims which killed 59. A supreme court investigation found insufficient evidence to support the charges against Modi, who has always denied any wrongdoing.

Party officials defended his record on Friday. "Let our work speak for us. Gujarat has the highest economic growth rate for Muslims in the country," said Prasad. "The myths have been broken. Mr Modi will govern for all India and all Indians."

In the key battleground state of Uttar Pradesh, which is particularly prone to sectarian violence, the BJP appeared set to win 70 or more of 80 seats, with around 40% of the vote share. The newly formed Aam Admi (common man) party, which has promised to revolutionise Indian politics and purge corruption from public life did not make the breakthrough some had hoped for, winning only four seats.

Ashutosh, who uses only one name, a former journalist who stood for the AAP in Delhi but lost, said the result was a "disappointment" but that an increase in the party's vote share in the capital from 29% to 33% was "a silver lining". He added: "We need to work on our organisation, we need to build a solid base, we need an effective communication system and to fine tune our ideological moorings."

The AAP's leader, Arvind Kejriwal, lost in a three-way fight with Narendra Modi, who stood from two constituencies, as permitted under India's electoral laws, and a Congress candidate. Kejriwal, a former tax inspector turned anti-graft activist, came second.Influential female regional leaders had mixed results. In Tamil Nadu, chief minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram's party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, was reported to be leading in 37 out of 39 seats, and Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, had done well but Mayawati Kumar, a key power broker in Uttar Pradesh had been wiped out.

One key question in coming months will be the influence on the new government of the vast conservative Hindu revivalist organisation where Modi started his career as an activist. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer Union) has been heavily involved in thecampaign and Modi and many other senior officials of the BJP, which is independent of the RSS though ideologically close, are still members of the organisation.

"The BJP is a cadre-based party and we are the cadre. Ideology and cadre is what makes BJP win," Rajeev Tuli, an RSS spokesman told the Guardian at the Delhi headquarters of the organisation, which has been banned by Indian authorities three times.

Analysts say the RSS and other hardline groups will now push hard for the fulfilment of core long-term demands such as the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of a demolished mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya.

Aides described how Modi had watched the results come in alone in the chief minister's residence in Gandhinagar in Gujarat. "He took no calls, just made a few around the country to key people. That's his way of doing things, very calm, very focused," one said.

Modi's visit to his 95-year-old mother had however been arranged in advance. He touched her feet in a traditional gesture of respect as she put a red stripe of vermilion on his forehead as a blessing, while crackers burst outside amid supporters' chants of "Modi, Modi."

Persona grata again

Narendra Modi's trajectory from a shunned regional politician accused of complicity in sectarian slaughter to a respected victor of the biggest-ever democratic vote has been followed in the UK, with David Cameron issuing an invitation to the new Indian prime minister-elect.

Britain froze links with Modi in 2002 following serious inter-community violence in Gujarat, the western Indian state where he was chief minister, in which more than 1,000 people died, many of them Muslims. Modi was accused of condoning the violence and even encouraging it – allegations he has vehemently denied. The UK cut ties with his administration, and he was later denied a US visa.

But on Friday a spokesman for Cameron said: "The prime minister called Narendra Modi this morning to congratulate him on his victory in the Indian elections and the record turnout, making this the biggest democratic election in history.

"Mr Modi said he would be delighted to accept the prime minister's invitation to visit the UK. Both leaders agreed on the importance of the UK-India relationship and agreed to work together to strengthen it in the months ahead."

Cameron also tweeted his personal congratulations

, adding a desire to "work together to get the most from UK-India relationship".

The situation is unlikely to change if Labour, the party in government in 2002, re-takes office next year. Labour has previously expressed willingness to engage with the BJP leader. The Labour MP Barry Gardiner invited Modi to speak at the Commons last year – an offer the Indian politician declined.

US president Barack Obama told Modi by phone that he looked forward to working closely with him to "fulfill the extraordinary promise of the US-India strategic partnership," the White House said.

"The president invited Narendra Modi to visit Washington at a mutually agreeable time to further strengthen our bilateral relationship."

A US visit could come as soon as September, at the UN general assembly in New York.

East Conference Finals Heat-Pacers Preview: Of course it's down to this

Game 1 Sunday, May 18 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Game 2 Tuesday, May 20 8:30 p.m. ET ESPN

Game 3 Saturday, May 24 8:30 p.m. ET ESPN

Game 4 Monday, May 26 8:30 p.m. ET ESPN

Game 5 Wednesday, May 28 8:30 p.m. ET ESPN (if necessary)

Game 6 Friday, May 30 8:30 p.m. ET ESPN (if necessary)

Game 7 Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET ESPN (if necessary)

Season searies: The Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat split the season series 2-2 and it went exactly how you would expect. Both teams won their two home gamesand lost on the road. The Pacers won the ugly, grind-it-out games while Miami lost both games they failed to score 90 points. The Heat won both boatraces, as Indiana couldn't keep up offensively when the game opened up.

The Pacers rode their dominant early-season winning streak to a win in the first matchup in Indianapolis, 90-84. It was a statement by the Pacers that they were ready to compete with Miami for the title. LeBron James and Dwayne Wade were held to 17 each as Roy Hibbertwent off for 24.

Their second matchup just eight days later in Miami turned things around, as the champs struck back, edging Indiana 97-94 by erasing a 14-point Pacers lead with less than five minutes left. The Heat just hit a flurry of shots and plays late in the game and left the Pacers stunned.

Review - 'Million Dollar Arm' Delivers Pleasant, If Predictable, Entertainment

Disney’s live action movie Million Dollar Arm opens this weekend against some pretty sizable competition in the form of Godzilla, and if you’d asked me a week ago which film I’d be recommending and which I’d enjoy more, I’d probably have guessed the latter. But it’s the sports comedy-drama that won me over, despite its flaws.

Disney’s had past success with these sort of feel-good true-story sports films, including Remember the Titans, The Rookie, and Miracle, all of which benefited from smaller budgets that enhanced the significance of their box office returns. With a focus on the business end of things, Million Dollar Arm plays more like 2012′s Moneyball, but with half the budget and so better chance for a higher profit margin. The concept behind the film is an allegory about the film itself, since Disney is taking a common film genre and style, and adding Indian characters and locales in the sly assumption this will help increase the film’s marketability in India and overseas markets in general. It’s a smart play, and the fact it’s a good movie will probably help the plan work out as intended.Families looking for something new to see with the kids, sports fans, and anyone who just wants an entertaining time without superheroes or monsters will likely find Million Dollar Arm the best for their weekend viewing. It doesn’t need to attract all that much attention to have a successful opening, since it’s $25 million production budget plus perhaps $50 million in markiting cost sets the bar pretty low.

There’s no doubt Godzilla will own the weekend, and Neighbors will have a decent enough follow-up weekend to grab second place. The only question, then, is whether The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will have a larger drop than expected. If Godzilla and Neighbors nab enough of Spidey’s main target audiance(particularly if Godzilla overperforms north of $70 million), and then if Million Dollar Arm pulls away enough of Spidey’s family attendance to both boost itself and sink the wall-crawler further, it’s at least technically possible the sports flick could score a surprise third-place finish, although that’s highly unlikely. Anything north of $12 million will be plenty fine for Million Dollar Arm, and it’s tracking to hit that number or slightly better. If it managed to actually top $15 million (again, unlikely but worth talking about as a “what if”), that would be a pleasant surprise for the studio.

It’s being called clichéd, schmaltzy, and predictable, and at times it is certainly any or all of those things. But it’s also good-hearted, funny, and usually pretty entertaining. Critics seem to be giving it mostly (by a small margin) positive reviews, and I expect audiences will be slightly kinder to it, so I’d guess it’ll enjoy modestly positive word of mouth and could even strike a chord with some folks who wanted a new approach to this standard genre. It probably won’t be a breakout hit like The Blind Side, and nobody’s getting any Oscar nods for this one, but there’s plenty of room for it to make a nice little profit and then enjoy additional success on home entertainment.

Jon Hamm — he of Mad Men fame — plays a sports agent who, with his partner played by Aasif Mandvi (best know to most of you for his work on The Daily Show, and to some of you with particularly good viewing habits as the cynical doctor on Jericho), left lucrative jobs at a larger company to go solo, but who are now facing imminent failure of their venture. Then, in a moment of amusing inspiration, Hamm has an idea: they’ll combine the “anyone can try out and win” concept of the talent show Britain’s Got Talent with the foreign popularity of the sport cricket, and the talent compitionto discover new professional baseball pitchers… in India. The hope is, this contest will help make baseball popular in India and create a market for massive sales of team merchandising, which will turn Hamm’s and Mandvi’s agency into a rousing success. The high profile of the competition alone is enough to garner lots of media attention, and gets some other sports players interested in the little agency as well.

Hamm gives an excellent performance as a man used to comfort and only interested in the success of his business. He hasn’t the time for relationships, nor for sympathy for these youths pulled out of poverty and suddenly thrust into a world they’re unprepared to deal with. Hamm’s conversion from selfish, greedy jerk to a more compassionate man rediscovering his love of sports isn’t rushed, and he even has early changes of heart that give way to backsliding and regret that he tried to care.Madhur Mittal, known best for his role as the older brother in Slumdog Millionaire, and Suraj Sharma, who starred in 2012′s Life of Pi, play the two main Indian characters. These young men try out for the contest and rise through the ranks, attracting the attention and admiration of their communities and ultimately of their entire nation. Meanwhile, they experience culture shock when they travel to the U.S. and see how Hamm’s self-involved, formerly well-off, all-business character really lives. The youths come from different backgrounds and have different approaches to the contest, but their gradual bonding and how they rely on one another to navigate the cultural difficulties they experience in the U.S. is a nice example that both compares and contrasts with the themes of “culture clash” in the rest of the story.

Lake Bell is Hamm’s love interest, a woman in medical school who rents a guest house in Hamm’s back yard. She comes across as an actual real person with personality instead of just a generic prop as most love interests tend to be in these sorts of films. Her relationship with the young Indian kids is a nice touch and provides more authenticity when she confronts Hamm about his treatment of the athletes. This relationship isn’t just a shoehorned angle, either, she’s a real person who was part of the events, it seems. I’ve seen her described as “quirky” and “perpetually happy,” but I don’t think either of those descriptions apply to her at all, and I was particularly glad she wasn’t the cliched “quirky” girlfriend persona so common in films about men who need to overcome rigidity in their personal lives.

Alan Arkin has a relatively small but important role as the lazy but sharp-eared talent scout who helps pick the winning athletes, and there’s a wonderful little moment in a diner between Arkin and Hamm. Bill Paxton is a pitching coach with the improbable but not impossible task of turning the naive Indian kids into baseball players worthy of tryouts for professional teams. These are two actors who could’ve been put to even more effective use, particularly Paxton in light of the task put in front of him. But they’re good with what they have, and there’s already a feeling that the film is 15 to 20 minutes too long, so I doubt much more needed to be done with them anyway.

The story is at its best when it puts the Indian athletes front and center, and focuses on their feelings of responsibility to their families and communities, and their (initially) misplaced sense of loyalty and trust in Hamm. And the India settings likewise add much to the story, with the life-changing potential of the contest brought into sharp focus as the event moves around the country igniting the imagination and often desperation of so many young people and their families.With a very strong first half, the film settles into a more predictable but still overall entertaining second half, and it’s fun to watch as the two narratives — Hamm’s redemption, and the redemption of the young Indian men — converge. Meanwhile, there’s lots of humor, as much about Hamm’s behavior and befuddlement with his new experiences and responsibilities as about the fish-out-of-water aspect of the boys’ story. Mandvi has great banter, and a late scene where he has to just sit and listen as Hamm seemingly puts their necks way out on the chopping block is classic — Mandvi says nothing, but the expression on his face speak volumes. The tryouts themselves are lots of fun, even if we know who will obviously end up winning. I’m glad the film took time to show us into the homes of the families and give us glimpses of how the parents simultaneously held out so much hope for their children’s success yet also feared so much for their safety and spirits.

On the other hand, it’s hard to ignore the obvious fact the story shares one important similarity with Godzilla — both stories would’ve been better if they’d chosen different protagonists. For Million Dollar Arm, just ask yourself who has the more interesting character arc: The white well-off businessman who visits another culture and learns valuable lessons about how to stop being so selfish and appreciate all the great things in his already-very-comfortable life? Or the two impoverished kids from India who suddenly experience the arrival of Major League Baseball in their country and have a rare shot at becoming millionaire athletes, eventually leaving their small communities for the first time in their lives to travel to the U.S.?

I’d have rather seen the entire story from the perspective of the boys. And I feel Hamm’s character would’ve worked far better as a supporting role, without some of the story having to center on less relevant aspects of his daily life, instead of on these kids’ lives and experiences. Indeed, while it’s easy for us to invest emotionally in the two youths’ goals and root for them, we don’t have much to invest in when it comes to Hamm’s arc — he’s a guy used to having a lot of money, who wants his business to be successful so he can continue having a lot of money. His arc just can’t compete with the athletes’, and it’s weird that the film eventually literally acknowledges that fact in the third act.

I’m surprised Disney didn’t see the potential benefits of changing the film’s point of view to that of the Indian youths, since it would certainly be a more unique approach to the feel-good true-story sports genre. Besides comparisons to Remember the Titans and Moneyball, we’d be talking about Slumdog Millionaire, and that’s a comparison offering even more lucrative prospects for the film, not to mention playing even better into the story’s symbolism of its own nature. However, as much as we can — and should — complain about failure to tell these sorts of stories from the more interesting point of view and provide space for voices and personal journeys of people besides white western males, Million Dollar Arm doesn’t lack an Indian perspective. Four of the six primary characters are of Indian descent, and we also get lots of other Indian characters with significant moments in the film. And half of the story is set in communities and cities all across India.It was also frustrating that after so much time and good effort put into setting up Hamm’s emotional limitations and his tendency to mistreat other people when under stress, the story then resorts to a simplistic montage to demonstrate his changes of heart. Letting us actually experience just a few of those moments more thoroughly would’ve made them more meaningful and served the character and story much better. The most important part of how these characters got a second chance and redeemed themselves lies in those crucial interactions that bonded them together and made them decide to rise or fall together, and a montage just doesn’t convey it properly.That said, there’s no shortage of moments of clarity for the characters, and even in this less dramatically impactful form, it still tells a good story and has fun doing so (which most films containing similar mistakes usually end up failing to do). You don’t have to be a sports fan to like this movie, and even when it’s getting predictable you’ll probably find yourself enjoying it anyway. It’s not brilliant or daring, but it’s got genuine heart and offers some new approaches to a pretty cliched genre. It’s a good film if you’re looking for something new and different to see this weekend. And the end credit sequence using actual footage of the real-life people portrayed in the film, including footage of the very first tryouts in India, will drag a smile out of you no matter how cynical you might pretend to be, trust me.

Interstellar: Matthew McConaughey stars in trailer as actor emotionally promises he's 'coming back'

True Detective star Matthew McConaughey plays the lead role in Interstellar - a brand new adventure from Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy director Christopher Nolan - and the trailer is quite impressive.Interstellar chronicles the adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.Starring McConaughey, who plays Cooper, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway and legendary Michael Caine, the above full length trailer looks really strong.Before being fired into space McConaughy promises he's "coming back", then again so did Bruce Willis in 1993 classic Armageddon.The movie - which was written by Nolan's brother Jonathan for Steven Spielberg to direct - will mark the first time Christopher Nolan has directed a feature since 2012's The Dark Knight Rises.

Thunder lose Serge Ibaka to injury

The Oklahoma City Thunder will not begin their Western Conference finals showdown with the San Antonio Spurs at anywhere close to full strength.

Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka is expected to miss the rest of the postseason after suffering a left calf injury in Oklahoma City's series-clinching win Thursday night against theLos Angeles Clippers, the team announced FridayThunder general manager Sam Presti called it a Grade 2 strain of the plantaris, which takes time to heal and strengthen because of a high reinjury rate.

"I just want to express our disappointment for Serge, who, as we all know, is an elite competitor and someone that has proven to be a tremendous teammate," Presti said. "He was playing great basketball throughout the season. He's had a huge impact on our season to date."

Presti said in a conference call with reporters that Ibaka is unlikely to return even if the Thunder make it past the Spurs.

The 6-foot-10 power forward underwent an MRI on Friday after suffering the injury in the third quarter of Thursday night's win.

Last year, Thunder All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook was knocked out of the playoffs with a torn ACL in the first round against Houston. The Thunder rallied to win that series before losing to Memphis in the next round.

Presti believes the Thunder can rally and be ready for the Spurs"We have had this group together for a while, and they've been through some ups and downs, and this is just another one that hopefully is only going to make us better," Presti said.

Ibaka averaged 12.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 13 playoff games. During the regular season, he notched career highs with 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game while leading the league in total blocks for the fourth consecutive season with 219.

During his emotional MVP acceptance speech,Kevin Durant singled out Ibaka for stepping up and erasing many of the team's mistakes while Westbrook recovered from his most recent knee surgery While Westbrook was out, the Thunder went 20-7, and Ibaka's numbers jumped to 15.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game with 57 percent shooting from the field.

"For us, we as an organization have been in some situations in the past, and how we respond to those has always been the measure of the teams that we've had in oklahoma city," Presti said. "Our expectation going forward is that we'll respond admirably."

The Spurs will open the series at home Monday in Game 1 with health concerns of their own, as star guard Tony Parker continues to recover from a hamstring strain. But coach Gregg Popovich said Friday that Parker is hopeful of being ready for the opener, whereas Oklahoma City will greatly miss Ibaka, its interior defensive anchor.

Oklahoma City swept its four regular-season meetings with the Spurs, who went 62-16 against the rest of the league for the NBA's best record this season.

Information from ESPN.com's Marc Stein and The Associated Press was used in this report

‘Operation American Spring’ Comes to Washington, Was Only Millions Short of Projected Turnout

An event slated for Friday that promised to bring millions of Americans to Washington, D.C. to oust President Barack Obama and other key leaders from office failed incredibly. Instead, “Operation American Spring” welcomed only a few dozen protesters — not the millions projected by event organizers — who braved the morning’s stormy weather to hit the streets of the nation’s capital and call for a change of leadership in key roles. “It’s a very dismal turnout,” one participant from Texas, Jackie Milton, told the Washington Times.“We were getting over two inches of rain in hour in parts of Virginia this morning,” he added. “Now it’s a nice sunny day. But this is a very poor turnout. It ain’t no millions. And it ain’t looking like there’s going to be millions. Hundreds is more like it."
According to the event’s Facebook page, Operation American Spring aimed to “restore the balance of our Bill of Rights and the Constitution,” in part by replacing “a handful of the worst Republican and Democrat” holders of office. Among the politicians specifically targeted were Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. It was not clear how participants were planning to force them out of office
.On Facebook, event organizers said the operation could last for some time and gave participants a glimpse at what they said they could expect. “Will this be a cake-walk? No, it will be painful, and some people may die because the government will not be non-violent; some of us will end up in a cell, and some may be injured,” organizers warned. “If that’s what it will take to save our nation, do we have any choice?” The group has not posted to Facebook, following the dismal turnout. However, some

How the Web's Fast Lanes Would Work Without Net Neutrality

If U.S. regulators end up allowing telecom companies to set up fast lanes on the public Internet, companies that make the needed gear say the remaining service would inevitably get a little slower. The idea of a fast lane, or "paid prioritization," means preferred traffic moving inside broadband providers' networks would be ushered through congested spots first.The process works a bit like cars moving through a tollgate. When packets of data show up, the equipment that routes them along their way checks to see which ones have paid for priority access and slots those packets into faster moving queues. The rest would have to wait a little longer than they would have otherwise."You can reallocate what's in the pipe, but it can't get wider," said Don Bowman, chief technology officer for network-gear maker Sandvine Corp. SVC.T -2.19% 

As an alternative, broadband providers could instead route traffic down separate channels for "managed services" that telecom and cable companies currently use to carry their own services, like video. Content companies like Apple Inc.AAPL +1.48% have showed interest in that option, which would avoid hurting the broadband provider's remaining Internet traffic. But expanding those private lines comes at a cost. The Federal Communications Commission's rules for an open Internet, proposed Thursday, left the door open for broadband companies to prioritize traffic within their public Internet routes. The rules would only bar preferential treatment "that deprives the consumer of what the consumer has paid for." The chairman of the FCC,VZ +2.31%or Comcast Corp. CMCSA -0.24%

 A number of companies sell gear that would let Internet providers segregate traffic and bill for different speeds. They include Sandvine, Allot Communications Ltd ALLT +3.62%, Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO +0.79% .The question is how noticeable the slowdown would be. Some network engineers say not at all, because prioritized traffic only makes much difference when service is especially congested. Non-prioritized traffic is more likely to "drop" away at overworked links before it reaches its customer, but that same traffic would probably be dropping away anyway. "When there is congestion, everything suffers," said Andrei Elefant,chief executive of Allot. "We just make sure that some types of traffic will suffer less." Verizon has pushed for the ability to offer such deals. Comcast isn't considering pay-for-priority deals with Internet content owners, in part because they would be too complex to implement, Chief Network Officer John Schanz told the Journal. Comcast has, however, pushed for BT.A.LN +0.99% PLC said the company "is committed to an open Internet providing full consumer choice while also allowing for the commercial innovation that is vital for ensuring the ongoing success of the Internet." Competition among broadband providers in the U.K. also safeguards the Internet from becoming an uneven playing field, he said. Another issue could make the priority traffic debate a moot point. Just because Internet providers can charge for fast lanes doesn't mean consumers will accept them, or that content companies will pay to use them. Priority transit may not be all that useful for most companies. "The only time that prioritization will have any effect at all is when the link is full," says Cam Cullen, vice president of global marketing for Procera. "The content providers really have no desire to pay for that if they don't have to."