Electronic filing means smaller crowds on tax day in New York

By Anna Hiatt

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Taxpayers lined up at New York City's main post office to mail their returns on Monday, but the crowds were a far cry from the days when masseurs once offered back rubs and stilt walkers entertained last-minute filers.

The growing popularity of electronic filing means calmer tax days at the James A. Farley Post Office in Midtown Manhattan, which used to offer 24-hour service, postal authorities said.

"Things have changed a lot. It was a circus-like atmosphere," said Jose Ortiz, Sergeant for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

He attributed the smaller crowd on Monday to electronic filing, which the Internal Revenue Service introduced in 1990.

Stilt walkers, masseurs and companies giving away free samples of pain killers used to gather outside the main post office on April 15.

People would sit on the post office floor filling out their forms, and postal employee Erik Knapp recalled an accountant who used to walk through the crowd, offering his help.

"I haven't seen him in awhile," Knapp said.

Last year, 148.3 million individual tax returns were filed electronically, according to the IRS.

Nonetheless, some people still lined up to mail their taxes the old-fashioned way.

"It's too complicated," said Nicole Russo, a singer. "I don't have the time to figure it out."

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Eric Walsh)

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Chavez shrine draws crowds of pilgrims a month after his death

By Andrew Cawthorne

CARACAS (Reuters) - Visitors tip-toe round a marble sarcophagus holding Hugo Chavez's remains. Supporters sob as his voice booms from speakers. Foreign tourists photograph displays of his life from precocious rural schoolboy to radical president.

An army barracks on a Caracas hilltop has been transformed into a shrine and museum for the late president whose death a month ago shook Venezuela.

Even after death, Chavez continues to dominate politics, with presidential elections to be held on April 14 cast as a battle to continue or break with "Chavismo" socialism.

In the days leading up to the polls, hundreds of people still come to pay their respects to Chavez every day.

"They come from many places, many countries," said 75-year-old Alba Antunes, who works as a guide at the imposing century-old building chosen to house Chavez's coffin.

"His memory and his spirit will live forever here."

Chavez died of cancer on March 5 after ruling for 14 years, releasing an outpouring of mourning from millions of supporters of a type not seen for a leader in Latin America since the death of Argentina's Eva Peron six decades ago.

Chavez's body lay in state for 10 days of official mourning, then was paraded to the ornate building that already served as a museum for a failed military coup in 1992 that launched the then lieutenant-colonel's political career.

Plans to embalm Chavez were left too late and it has yet to be decided whether he will be buried permanently in his rural hometown of Sabaneta, or in the grandiose National Pantheon building in Caracas.

Appropriately, his current resting place perches on the edge of the "23rd of January" slum, which is home to Chavez's most militant supporters, and overlooks the presidential palace where he ruled after winning power in a 1998 election.

In scenes that would have delighted the sports- and party-loving Chavez, salsa music throbs from the hillsides while children play baseball on dusty grounds.

"What better place for him than here? He emerged from the people, and now he remains with them," said one soldier, Jose Herrera, helping shepherd visitors into the compound.

Chavez's legacy is a controversial one: was he a daring champion of the poor, a bullying autocrat, or a mix of both?

For detractors, the emotion over Chavez's death has obscured darker sides of his rule: jail or exile for political opponents, shambolic economic management, and an obsessive, authoritarian, one-man style of government.

Acting President Nicolas Maduro presents himself as Chavez's political "son" and his election campaign is based largely on promises that he will continue popular social welfare policies.

Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles says Maduro is a pale imitation of Chavez, and that it is time to move on.

REVERENCE AND REFLECTION

In the museum, freshly painted and remodeled around the marble coffin at its center, visitors are quiet and reflective as they ponder both Chavez's life and this month's election.

"The feelings are very deep. It's almost as if there's no hope. We believed commander Chavez would take the country forward. Now we see him lying there and we don't know what is going to happen," said lawyer Jean-Carlos Mendoza, 32.

"Chavez was very intelligent and had his reasons for choosing Maduro as his successor. We wonder why he chose Maduro, perhaps it was because of his good foreign relations," he added, referring to Maduro's six years as foreign minister.

Around the sarcophagus, two huge paintings of Chavez's face hang opposite two portraits of Venezuela's most revered son, independence hero Simon Bolivar. In a chapel to one side, photos of Chavez praying and holding a crucifix flank an altar.

Most visitors make the sign of the cross and briefly touch the raised black coffin as they walk round it. While the vast majority are followers of the dead leader, even some critics have come to see his coffin and pay their respects.

"I was never a Chavez supporter. He did a lot of damage to our country, and everyone seems to be forgetting that now. But I will never show disrespect for the dead," said business student Antonio Rodriguez, 24, after laying a hand on the marble.

In other rooms, pictures and texts pay homage to Chavez's extraordinary and turbulent life, from his early days selling sweets on the streets of Sabaneta to help his grandmother make ends meet, to last year's re-election triumph.

Black-and-white photos show him honing his speaking skills as he compered a local beauty pageant, playing baseball for the army, leaving jail in 1994 after a two-year imprisonment for his coup attempt, surviving a brief coup himself in 2002, then flying to Cuba from 2011 for long periods of cancer treatment.

A timeline has sections explaining some of Chavez's most popular polices: the 'Barrio Adentro' ('Inside the Slum') medical clinics and the Mercal chain of subsidized food stores.

One enormous photo in the last exhibition room shows Chavez's back turned, standing on a stage in the pouring rain, as he addressed ecstatic supporters in Caracas for his last 2012 presidential campaign rally. It was to be his last public rally.

"It's hard to look at it without crying," said Antunes, the guide. Her husband was a soldier and mixed with Chavez during his time in the military.

"You know, in those days, they always used to say among themselves, the other soldiers, that one day he'd be president. Now he'll always be our president - the only one who cared for us, the poor, the only real president Venezuela ever had."

(Editing by Daniel Wallis, Kieran Murray and David Brunnstrom)

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Pope wades into crowds, surprising onlookers

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Walking up to crowds, shaking hands with surprised bystanders in the street, mixing his formal speeches with off-the-cuff remarks, Pope Francis stamped his own style on the papacy Sunday.

His humor and down-to-earth manner captivated those filling St. Peter's Square in Rome to overflowing, and he worked the crowd in a way that had to give his security staff palpitations. Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, in the square himself, estimated the crowd's size at 300,000.

"Brothers and sisters, 'Buon giorno,'" Francis said in Italian in his first welcome from the window of the papal residence, setting an informal tone that has become the defining spirit of his young papacy.

Earlier Sunday, he made an impromptu appearance before the public from a side gate of the Vatican that startled passers-by and prompted cheers as he shook hands and kissed babies. He then went back inside to deliver a six minute homily — brief by church standards — at the Vatican's tiny parish church, St. Anna.

Francis started speaking at the window even before the stroke of noon — the appointed time for the weekly papal address. The windows of the papal study in the Apostolic Palace were opened for the first time since Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, gave his last Sunday blessing on Feb. 24. Four days later, Benedict went into retirement, the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years.

Francis, the first pope from Latin America, was elected Wednesday and has been staying in a hotel on the Vatican's premises until the papal apartment is ready.

"The pope is down-to-earth. He is a people person and it is amazing," said Emanuel Anatsui from Britain. "He is going to do wonderfully for the church."

After Mass, Francis again put his security detail to the test as he waded into an intersection just outside St. Anna's Gate. Francis stepped up to the crowd, grasping outstretched hands. The atmosphere was so casual that several people even gripped Francis on the shoulder.

"Francesco! Francesco!" children shouted his name in Italian. As he patted one little boy on the head, he asked "Are you a good boy?" and the child nodded.

"Are you sure?" the pope quipped.

At one point he glanced at his watch and turned to an aide — as if to ask "How much time do I have?"

The pope then ducked back inside the Vatican's boundaries to dash upstairs for the address to St. Peter's Square.

Often abandoning the prepared text in his hand, Francis told the crowd that he wanted to talk about mercy, saying he was inspired by a book about forgiveness that he was reading. Citing the author, an elderly German cardinal, and praising him as a "top-notch" theologian, Francis quipped: "Don't think I'm making publicity for my cardinals' books!" drawing a roar of laughter from the crowd.

Francis said mercy can "change the world" and make it "less cold and more just."

He spoke only in Italian — ending with "buon pranzo" (Have a good lunch) — a wish that triggered nods of approval from the crowd in Rome, where a leisurely Sunday family lunch is a cherished tradition.

But Francis did tweet in English and other languages, saying: "Dear friends, I thank you from my heart and I ask you to continue to pray for me.'"

Past pontiffs have used the Sunday window greetings to offer brief reflections and wishes in several languages.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Francis would likely stick with Italian, a language he's comfortable with for spontaneous remarks. Lombardi left open the possibility the 76-year-old pope would use other languages in future public appearances.

During his window speech, Francis also talked about of his family's roots in Italy's northwestern Piedmont region. He told the crowd that by naming himself as pope after St. Francis of Assisi, an Italian patron saint, he was "strengthening my spiritual tie with this land, where, as you know, my family has its origins."

The crowd was cheering wildly when Francis appeared at the window, but fell into rapt silence when he began to speak. Some people's eyes welled up. Many people waved the blue-and-white flag of Argentina, the pope's homeland. Some people held their children aloft or on their shoulders to get a better look.

"We are so proud. He is Argentine, but also belongs to the rest of the world," said Ivana Cabello, 23, of Argentina.

Angela Carreon, a 41-year-old Rome resident originally from the Philippines, ventured that Francis "looks like John Paul II. "

"I hope he is like him," she said. "He has a heart."

The globe-trotting Polish-born John Paul II, who died in 2005, loved to charm the crowds.

Several hundred extra traffic police were deployed Sunday to control crowds and vehicles for Francis' first window speech as well as the annual Rome marathon. Bus routes were rerouted and many streets were closed off to channel the curious and the faithful up the main boulevard from the Tiber river to St. Peter's Square.

Giant video screens were set up so the huge crowd could get a close look at Francis, and dozens of medical teams were on hand for any emergencies. In the last hour before noon, a large backup formed of people trying to squeeze through three openings in the fence ringing the front of the square. But by the time Francis appeared, all had calmly found a viewing spot.

Among Francis' first formal meetings is an appointment Monday with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez. That will provide an opportunity to see if the new pope's easygoing manner still holds — the two have been on opposite sides for many years. As Buenos Aires archbishop, Francis had lobbied hard against the government's move to legalize gay marriage and make contraceptives available for free.

On Tuesday, Fernandez will join other world leaders and senior international envoys, including U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and the president of Jesuit-run Georgetown University, for Francis' formal installation as pope.

__

Associated Press writers Daniela Petroff and Karl Ritter contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Pope wades into crowds, shocks bystanders in Rome

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Walking up to crowds, shaking hands with surprised bystanders in the street, mixing his formal speeches with off-the-cuff remarks, Pope Francis stamped his own style on the papacy Sunday.

His humor and down-to-earth manner captivated many of 150,000 people who filled St. Peter's Square in Rome to overflowing, and he embraced the crowd in a way that had to give his security staff palpitations.

"Brothers and sisters, 'Buon giorno,'" Francis said in Italian in his first welcome from the window of the papal residence, setting an informal tone that has become the defining spirit of his young papacy.

Earlier Sunday, he made an impromptu appearance before the public from a side gate of the Vatican that startled passers-by and prompted cheers as he shook hands and kissed babies. He then went back inside to deliver a six minute homily — brief by church standards — at the Vatican's tiny parish church, St. Anna.

Francis started speaking at the window even before the stroke of noon — the appointed time for the weekly papal address — when the window of the papal study in the Apostolic Palace is usually flung open. The shutters were opened for the first time since Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, gave his last Sunday blessing on Feb. 24. Four days later, Benedict went into retirement, the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years.

Francis, the first pope from Latin America, was elected Wednesday and has been staying in a hotel on the Vatican's premises until the papal apartment is ready.

"The pope is down-to-earth. He is a people person and it is amazing," said Emanuel Anatsui from Britain. "He is going to do wonderfully for the church."

After Mass, Francis again put his security detail to the test as he waded into an intersection just outside St. Anna's Gate. Francis stepped up to the crowd, grasping outstretched hands. The atmosphere was so casual that several people even gripped Francis on the shoulder.

"Francesco! Francesco!" children shouted his name in Italian. As he patted one little boy on the head, he asked "Are you a good boy?" and the child nodded.

"Are you sure?" the pope quipped.

At one point he glanced at his watch and turned to an aide — as if to ask "How much time do I have?"

The pope then ducked back inside the Vatican's boundaries to dash upstairs for the address to St. Peter's Square.

Only occasionally looking at the text clutched in his hand, Francis told the crowd that he wanted to talk about mercy, saying he was inspired by a book about forgiveness that he was reading. Citing the author, an elderly German cardinal, and praising him as a "top-notch" theologian, Francis quipped: "Don't think I'm making publicity for my cardinals' books!" drawing a roar of laughter from the crowd.

Francis said mercy can "change the world" and make it "less cold and more just."

He spoke only in Italian — ending with "buon pranzo" (Have a good lunch) — a wish that triggered nods of approval from the crowd in Rome, where a leisurely Sunday family lunch is a cherished tradition.

But Francis did tweet in English and other languages, saying: "Dear friends, I thank you from my heart and I ask you to continue to pray for me.'"

Past pontiffs have used the Sunday window greetings to offer brief reflections and wishes in several languages.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Francis would likely stick with Italian, a language he's comfortable with for spontaneous remarks. Lombardi left open the possibility the 76-year-old pope would use other languages in future public appearances.

During his window speech, Francis also talked about of his family's roots in the northwestern Piedmont region of Italy. He told the crowd that by naming himself as pope after St. Francis of Assisi, an Italian patron saint, he was "strengthening my spiritual time with this land, where, as you know, my family has its origins."

The crowd was cheering wildly when Francis appeared, but fell into rapt silence when he began to speak. Some people's eyes welled up. Many people waved the blue-and-white flag of Argentina, the pope's homeland. Some people held their children aloft or on their shoulders to get a better look.

"We are so proud. He is Argentine, but also belongs to the rest of the world," said Ivana Cabello, 23, of Argentina.

Angela Carreon, a 41-year-old Rome resident originally from the Philippines, ventured that Francis "looks like John Paul II. "

"I hope he is like him," she said. "He has a heart."

The globe-trotting Polish-born John Paul, who died in 2005, loved to charm the crowds.

Several hundred extra traffic police were deployed Sunday to control crowds and vehicles for Francis' first window speech as well as the annual Rome marathon. Bus routes were rerouted and many streets were closed off to channel the curious and the faithful up the main boulevard from the Tiber river to St. Peter's Square.

Giant video screens were set up so the huge crowd could get a close-up look at Francis, and dozens of medical teams were on hand for any emergencies. In the last hour before noon, a large backup had formed of people trying to squeeze through three openings in the fence ringing the front of the square. But by the time Francis appeared, all had calmly found a viewing spot.

Among Francis' first formal meetings is an appointment Monday with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez. That will provide an opportunity to see if the new pope's easygoing manner still holds — the two have been on opposite sides for many years. As Buenos Aires archbishop, Francis had lobbied hard against the government's move to legalize gay marriage and make contraceptives available for free.

On Tuesday, Fernandez will join other world leaders and senior international envoys, including U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and the president of Jesuit-run Georgetown University, for Francis' formal installation as pope.

__

Associated Press writers Daniela Petroff and Karl Ritter contributed to this report.

View the original article here