XYDO.COM: top articles for Travel http://www.xydo.com CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's parliamentary speaker said the chamber would reconvene on Tuesday after the new, Islamist president defied the generals by quashing their decision to dissolve the assembly last month. Responding a day after Mohamed Mursi's decree, the army on Monday defended its action to dissolve parliament and, in an apparent swipe at the president, said it was confident "all state institutions" would respect the constitution and the law. The row, barely a week since Mursi took office, threatens new uncertainty for a nation whose economy is on the ropes and where many are anxious for an end to the political turmoil after 17 turbulent months since the fall of Hosni Mubarak. Parliament speaker Saad al-Katatni, in remarks carried by the state news agency, said the lower house would sit from noon (1000 GMT) on Tuesday, in defiance of the army's order to dismiss parliament a month ago, a move based on a court ruling. Katatni, like Mursi, hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, the long-time adversary of Mubarak and the other military men who ruled Egypt for six decades until June 30, when power was formally handed over to Mursi by the army council. "Early confrontation," wrote Al-Akhbar newspaper, summing up Mursi's decision which could end a brief honeymoon with the military council, led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. Yet earlier in the day, Mursi and Tantawi showed no hint of discord when the president attended a military parade. Seated side-by-side, Mursi and Tantawi turned to each other in a brief jovial exchange, television images showed. The military council which had run Egypt since Mubarak was toppled in February 2011 sought to trim the president's authority before the handover on June 30. It had dissolved parliament and taken legislative power for itself. Mursi's decision hands those powers back to a parliament packed with his Islamist allies. He also ordered new elections for parliament - once a constitution is passed by referendum. The dispute is part of a broader power struggle which could take years to play out, pitting long sidelined Islamists against the generals seeking to keep their privileges and status and a wider establishment still filled with Mubarak-era officials. Responding to Mursi's challenge, the military council said in a statement read out on state television it had dissolved parliament based on ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court, and had always acting to support "the will of the people." It also said it "was confident all institutions of state will respect constitutional decrees", an apparent jibe at the Brotherhood president, and affirmed "the importance of the sovereignty of law and the constitution" to protect the state. After a meeting over Mursi's decree, the supreme court said its decisions were final and binding, and said it would review cases challenging the decree's constitutionality on Tuesday. As well as riling the army and judiciary, the move raises tensions between the Brotherhood, the biggest winners so far in Egypt's political transformation, and liberal and other groups concerned by what they see as an Islamist power grab. The Egyptian Social Democratic Party, which has a handful of seats in parliament, condemned the president's recall of the assembly, saying it was a "violation of the judicial power" and resembled the high-handed approach long seen from the army. About 1,000 people gathered in Cairo's prosperous Nasser City suburb to protest against Mursi's decision and call for parliament not to convene. The Brotherhood called on its website for a show of support for Mursi on the streets on Tuesday. But the Brotherhood played down any dispute. "We affirm that there is no confrontation with the judiciary and the decision respects the verdict of the constitutional court," said presidential aide Yasser Ali. Katatni said parliament would discuss on Tuesday "how to implement the court ruling" that declared the assembly void and a legal committee would be asked to draw up proposals. Some analysts said Mursi's decision to order early elections could offer a compromise by acknowledging the court's assertion that the election to the chamber breached some legal rules. One European diplomatic source said recalling parliament gave Mursi leverage over the military, but could also placate Islamists who dominate the assembly so that Mursi would have a freer hand to pick a broader cabinet with non-Islamist members. "The test will come when we see how the soldiers guarding the parliament building behave when MPs try to convene," the source said. In a sign the generals may not challenge Mursi head on, the state news agency reported that guards at parliament had allowed some members into the building on Monday. It had been declared off limits when the army ordered the chamber dissolved. The military council has less formal room for maneuver now that it has transferred presidential powers to Mursi, even if it has removed some powers from that office. He, however, is in a position that would have seemed unimaginably strong to the Brotherhood a year and half ago, when it was still banned and its members were being hounded by Mubarak. In one of his most high-profile meetings since taking office, Mursi met U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns at the presidential palace on Sunday, signaling the new ties Washington is forging with resurgent Islamists in the region. Burns pledged that the United States, which grants the Egyptian armed forces $1.3 billion a year in military aid, would support Egypt's economy, which has been hemorrhaging cash and is heading for a balance of payments and budget crisis. Once a darling of emerging market fund managers, Egypt has watched foreign investors flee and its vital tourist trade has taken a big knock from the turmoil of the last year and a half. Foreign reserves have plunged to about $15.5 billion, less than half their level before anti-Mubarak protests erupted, and the government has been forced to pay double-digit interest rates, seen as unsustainable, to fund its spending. "Already domestic financing has reached a critical stage where you can't rely totally on the market anymore," said one Western diplomat. The government was running up payment arrears with energy suppliers and raising funds from the central bank, the diplomat noted - tactics sustainable only for a short time. Adding to the murky outlook that is unsettling investors, legal wrangling looks set to continue. Following the judges' dissolution of parliament and scrapping of a constitutional drafting panel appointed by parliament, further challenges in the courts could yet derail a second drafting panel. In addition to cases with the Supreme Constitutional Court, officials said about 20 suits against Mursi's decree had been presented to other courts. One of those was submitted by lawyer and leftist member of parliament Abul Ezz el-Hariry, who said it would be reviewed by an administrative court on Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Marwa Awad and Patrick Werr in Cairo and Paul Taylor in Paris; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alastair Macdonald) http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-parliament-set-meet-defying-army-044341899.html http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-parliament-set-meet-defying-army-044341899.html Economic discontent and substantial dissatisfaction with Barack Obama's performance in office are keeping Mitt Romney competitive in the presidential race - but not by enough of a margin to overcome Obama's stronger personal profile. The result: A dead heat in voter preferences at the midsummer stage, with the prospect of an epic battle ahead. While most Americans continue to disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy, that's not his only problem. More than half fault him on health care and immigration as well. Sixty-three percent say the country's headed in the wrong direction, an unhelpful view for an incumbent. And among groups, he's losing swing-voting independents by a record 14 percentage points. See PDF with full results, charts and tables here. Yet Romney faces significant challenges of his own in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll. His supporters are more apt to be against Obama than explicitly for Romney - a "negative" vote that can be less compelling than an affirmative one. His supporters are less strongly enthusiastic than Obama's. While Obama is vulnerable on the economy, Romney is weakly rated on having offered a clear economic plan. And Obama leads on a range of personal attributes - empathy, standing up for his beliefs and, especially, basic likeability. Obama also continues to prevail in expectations: Despite his troubles, this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, finds that Americans by 58-34 percent expect him ultimately to defeat Romney and win a second term. That's Obama's best on this gauge to date (previously measured against "the Republican nominee"), a sharp difference from last October, when, with economic discontent at a higher pitch, 55 percent thought Obama would lose. Today, even among Romney's supporters, a quarter think Obama will win. With a 47-47 percent Obama-Romney contest among registered voters, the overall results point to a sharply defined race: On one hand Obama, the more personally popular candidate, with a larger and more energized partisan base, yet weak performance scores; on the other Romney, his opportunities to capitalize on Obama's vulnerabilities complicated by his difficulties in capturing the public's imagination. Helpful to Obama, given the economy, is the fact that in deciding their vote, Americans by 51-33 percent are focused more on what he'd do in his second term as president than on what he's done in his first. Among registered voters who are more concerned about what Obama's done so far, Romney leads by 18 points, 55-37 percent. Among those more focused on what he'd do if elected to a second term, by contrast, Obama leads by 59-36 percent, a 23-point margin. It marks why he's trying to point ahead ("Forward" is the campaign slogan); Romney, back. ROOM - There's room to move: One in five of Romney's current supporters, and one in six of Obama's, say there's a chance they could change their mind and support the other candidate. Very few, though, say there's a "good chance" they could shift - a mere 4 percent of Obama's supporters, 8 percent of Romney's. That suggests that more than changing minds, the contest likely is to be about motivating turnout - and here Obama has an edge. Among registered voters, half of his supporters (51 percent) are "very" enthusiastic, vs. 38 percent of Romney's. It can matter: Strong enthusiasm is a measure on which Obama crushed John McCain in 2008, and on which George W. Bush beat John Kerry in 2004. Still, while lagging, Romney's strong enthusiasm has improved by a dozen points since spring. In another measure, moreover, 75 percent of Obama's supporters say they mainly are for him, rather than against his opponent. For Romney that shifts dramatically - just 37 percent of his supporters mainly are for him, while 59 percent say they're chiefly opposed to Obama. To some extent that's what happens in a re-election race - largely a referendum on the incumbent. But it can be harder to motivate voters who lack an affirmative reason to support a candidate; Romney's numbers on this measure resemble Kerry's in 2004. PERFORMANCE and ISSUES - While Romney's difficulties include atmospherics such as expectations, Obama's are more performance-based. His overall job rating is 47-49 percent, approve-disapprove (the same as in May). It's majority negative on his handling of the economy, 44-54 percent; health care, 41-52 percent (a numerical low in approval, with no bump from last month's Supreme Court ruling); and immigration, 38-52 percent (also bumpless despite his initiative halting enforcement against many illegal immigrants who arrived as minors). The "wrong track" number, at 63 percent, is hazardous to Obama, but not dispositive. It was worse on the way to George H.W. Bush's losing re-election bid in 1992 (83 percent that June). But it also was worse than it is now (70 percent negative) in June 1996, the year Bill Clinton went on to win a second term; the sentiment subsided as the campaign progressed. And it was negative, as well, (55 percent "wrong track") days before the 2004 election, when the second President Bush won regardless. The question is whether Romney can do better, and on a range of issues the call is a close one. The economy's the big kahuna - 89 percent say it's important in their vote choice, 53 percent "extremely" important - and Romney and Obama are close in trust to handle it, 49-44 percent (48-45 percent among registered voters). They're also close in another question, being seen as having presented the clearer plan for dealing with the economy, 43-38 percent, Obama-Romney. Still, the public, by a 7-point margin, 43-36 percent, calls Obama's handling of the economy a major reason to oppose rather than to support him. And among registered voters who call the economy "extremely" important in their vote choice, Romney leads in vote preference by 54-41 percent. Those results underscore the extent to which Obama needs the economy to improve or - an equally difficult task - the subject to change. Health care, the deficit and taxes trial the economy as top issues among those tested in this survey, followed by Supreme Court appointments and immigration. Romney has a 10-point advantage in trust to deal with the deficit; Obama, 11 points on appointments to the high court. On each of the rest, they're essentially even. TAXES, JOBS and BAIN - One notable result is the fact that Obama and Romney are rated evenly in trust to handle taxes, usually a strong issue for Republican candidates (although Obama's seen better, leading on taxes in February, as well as vs. McCain in 2008.) It's a competitiveness Obama may have had in mind in pressing Monday to extend Bush-era tax cuts for those with incomes less than $250,000. Obama's biggest issue shortfall is on a related matter, the deficit; among registered voters who call it extremely important in their choice he trails Romney by a vast 25-70 percent. That said, with unemployment stubbornly at 8.2 percent, deficit concerns are countered by economic woe: The public divides, 48-45 percent, on whether it's more important for the government to spend money to try to create jobs, or to hold down the deficit. These views, naturally, cut sharply to vote. Spending on jobs has risks, given Obama's vulnerability to the "big government" tag: The public by an 11-point margin, 37-26 percent, sees his views on the size and role of government as a major reason to oppose rather than support him. (The rest say it's not a major factor.) There's no such net negative in views of Romney's background buying and restructuring businesses - an even split on whether his Bain Capital background is a major reason to support or oppose him (23-24 percent), with 50 percent saying it makes no difference. There's a close division, as well, on whether Romney at Bain Capital did more to create or cut U.S. jobs, 36-40 percent - a complication in his efforts to take the jobs issue to Obama. HEALTH CARE - On another issue, health care, the candidates' best path is unclear. While Obama shows no advantage on the issue, his law itself has gotten something of a boost - Americans now divide evenly on it, 47-47 percent, support-oppose. It was 39-53 percent in April, before the Supreme Court upheld the law's individual mandate. With support for the law divided and Obama's approval rating on handling health care weak, there's opportunity for Romney; he gets 9 points more support than opposition, 38-29 percent, from his call to repeal the law (with the rest saying it's not a major factor). But there's little support for complete repeal in and of itself - just 18 percent overall. Other critics of the law divide evenly between a preference to repeal only parts of it, or to wait and see its impact first. In any case, positioning on the law may not change many votes: Americans divide exactly evenly, 28-28 percent, on whether they'd be more likely to support or oppose a candidate for Congress who supports the health care reform law. Four in 10 say it won't make much difference. PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES - Beyond the issue wars, as noted, Obama retains advantages over Romney in personal qualities, including a vast 36-point advantage in being seen as more friendly and likeable, and a more important albeit narrower 10-point lead as better understanding the economic problems Americans are experiencing. Obama also holds a slight 9-point edge as being more apt to stand up for what he believes; the two are closer on who's the stronger leader. All these have held essentially steady since spring. GROUPS - Vote preferences among groups, as noted, include Romney's best showing to date among registered voters who identify themselves as independents, 53-39 percent. Obama comes back to parity overall because Democrats account for a larger share of the pie than Republicans, 36 percent of registered voters vs. 27 percent. Among other groups, preferences among married women who are registered to vote continue to be unsettled; they now divide very closely, 44-47 percent, Obama-Romney, after a better result for Obama in April and for Romney in May. Obama's support meanwhile is a bit softer than usual among unmarried women, but his best to date among unmarried men. The gender gap more generally is back - Obama up by 8 points among women, Romney by 7 among men. Romney, for his part, ties his best result so far among senior citizens, 57-37 percent, and runs evenly with Obama among college graduates, a group in which Obama did better earlier this year. Combined with the closeness of the contest, the sharp differences among groups make the 2012 election look like one in which broad themes are likely to matter less than either a breakout event - or, more likely, each campaign's eventual proficiency at persuading its supporters to vote. METHODOLOGY - This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone July 5-8, 2012, among a random national sample of 1,003 adults, including landline and cell-phone-only respondents. Results have a margin of sampling error of 4 points for the full sample and registered voters. The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of New York, N.Y., with sampling, data collection and tabulation by Abt-SRBI of New York, N.Y. http://news.yahoo.com/dead-heat-vote-preferences-presages-epic-battle-ahead-040123968--abc-news-politics.html http://news.yahoo.com/dead-heat-vote-preferences-presages-epic-battle-ahead-040123968--abc-news-politics.html Hope Solo during a friendly against China in May. (Getty) The day before the U.S. women's soccer team departs for its Olympic training camp in England, goalkeeper Hope Solo has accepted a public warning from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for a prohibited substance. Solo won't face any punishment beyond the warning since the agency accepted her reasoning that the presence of the prohibited substance was from a doctor-prescribed medication for premenstrual purposes. [ Photos: Hope Solo will be vying for her third straight gold medal ] From the USADA's official website: Solo, 30, tested positive for Canrenone as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample collected on June 15, 2012. Canrenone is prohibited under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) anti-doping rules, both of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code ("Code") and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List. Canrenone is classified as a Specified Substance, and therefore the presence of Canrenone in an athlete's sample can result in a reduced sanction. Solo was taking a prescribed medication, in a therapeutic dose under the care of a physician. The medication when metabolized resulted in the adverse analytical finding. "I took a medication prescribed by my personal doctor for pre-menstrual purposes that I did not know contained a diuretic. Once informed of this fact, I immediately cooperated with USADA and shared with them everything they needed to properly conclude that I made an honest mistake, and that the medication did not enhance my performance in any way," said Hope Solo. "As someone who believes in clean sport, I am glad to have worked with USADA to resolve this matter and I look forward to representing my country at the 2012 Olympic Games in London." According to the USADA's guide, Specified Substances are "particularly susceptible to unintentional anti-doping rule violations because of their general availability in medicinal products or which are less likely to be successfully abused as doping agents." And since Solo's excuse checked out in the agency's investigation of circumstances, she's just been given the warning and will still play in the Olympics. More London Olympics content on the Yahoo! network: • What would U.S. Olympic basketball team look like without NBA players? • Video: Olympic flame drenched on whitewater rafting course • Raising an Olympian: Kerri Walsh-Jennings http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/hope-solo-tests-positive-prohibited-substance-gets-public-210445686--oly.html http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/hope-solo-tests-positive-prohibited-substance-gets-public-210445686--oly.html President Barack Obama said Monday that Mitt Romney should disclose more of his personal financial information. Obama's appeal, delivered in an interview with New Hampshire's WMUR, came after weeks of Democratic attacks on the Republican standard-bearer for parking money overseas, including in a Swiss bank account. "What's important, if you are running for president, is that the American people know who you are what you've done and that you're an open book," Obama said. "And that's been true of every presidential candidate dating back to Mr. Romney's father." George Romney, a top executive at American Motors and former governor of Michigan, set the modern standard for presidential candidates when he released 12 years of tax returns during his bid for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination. Mitt Romney has released information from one year — and Democrats have been hammering the former Massachusetts governor, darkly suggesting that he has something to hide. Critics have seized on Romney's Swiss bank account — now closed — and on funds in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. Republicans have countered that the focus on Romney's personal finances is an attempt to distract voters from the fitful economic recovery three years after Obama took office vowing to fix it."With the failures of his presidency becoming more evident by the day, Barack Obama has resorted to the tactics of a typical politician," Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said by email. "Rather than talk about the issues important to Americans in their everyday lives, he has chosen instead to run a campaign based on character attacks and dishonesty," Williams said. "That is all he has left to run on." The Democratic attacks serve to remind voters of Romney's vast wealth — and Obama supporters have used the GOP candidate's money to suggest that he is out of touch with the average American. But there is no evidence that Romney did anything illegal. "He offshores most of his own personal investments, presumably to shield them from taxes," top Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs told CNN on Sunday. "I don't know about you, I pick a bank because there is an ATM near my home, right? Mitt Romney has a bank account in Switzerland." http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-says-romney-open-book-personal-finances-011644571.html http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-says-romney-open-book-personal-finances-011644571.html OSLO, July 10 (Reuters) - Norway's government ordered on Monday a last-minute settlement in a dispute between striking oil workers and employers in a move to alleviate market fears over a full closure of its oil industry and a steep cut in Europe's supplies. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/09/norway-strike-idUSL6E8I96DE20120709?type=companyNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=companyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FcompanyNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Company+News%29 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/09/norway-strike-idUSL6E8I96DE20120709?type=companyNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=companyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FcompanyNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Company+News%29 Cruise returns to 'Oblivion' set in California; Katie Holmes remains in New York with pair's 6-year-old daughter, Suri.By Kara Warner Tom Cruise Photo: James Devaney/ Wire Image Despite the media frenzy generated by the announcement of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' divorce, the two parties seem to have parted very amicably. Their joint statement released early Monday (July 9) indicates a desire for privacy while they focus on their daughter's wellbeing, which was followed a few hours later with the news that Cruise and Holmes had already reached a settlement. And now, according to E! Online, Cruise is already getting back to work on the set of his sci-fi thriller "Oblivion." A rep for the production told the website Cruise flew into Mammoth, Calif., on Monday afternoon, where he is expected to join the cast and crew for a few days of filming in the mountain resort town. Holmes remains in New York with the pair's 6-year-old daughter, Suri. "Oblivion" has also filmed in Louisiana and Iceland, and is set in the future after radiation has destroyed the Earth and most of the population lives in the clouds to escape the radiation and a dangerous Scavenger alien race. Not everyone lives in the clouds, however: Cruise's character, Jak, works on the surface as a drone repairman. Jak's life is turned upside down when he finds a mysterious woman (Andrea Riseborough) in a crash-landed pod who tells him she's working on a science experiment that was started 60 years earlier, setting off "an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows." "Oblivion" is due in theaters April 26, 2013. Check out everything we've got on "Oblivion." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com. Related Photos Tom Cruise And Katie Holmes: In Happier Times http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689283/tom-cruise-returns-work.jhtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MTVNewsLatest+%28MTV+News+Latest+Headlines%29 http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689283/tom-cruise-returns-work.jhtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MTVNewsLatest+%28MTV+News+Latest+Headlines%29 Four-man Shady Records supergroup plus Mobb Deep's Prodigy will make it a full house, Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com.By Rob Markman Slaughterhouse Photo: E1 Music Please wipe your feet at the door, because on Wednesday, "RapFix Live" will be welcoming Royce Da 5'9", Joell Ortiz, Joe Budden and Crooked I to our house. Slaughterhouse will be joining host Sway Calloway on the new "RapFix" set this week to talk about their upcoming major-label debut, Welcome to: Our House, their impeccable chemistry and what it was like working with Eminem in the studio. "There are records where those core Slaughterhouse fans will get their 'Oohs and ahs' like, 'OK, the pen is pushing,' " Ortiz told MTV News about Our House back in May. "It's themed, but we take you on a ride through this album. Y'all gonna enjoy it." That's not all: Mobb Deep's Prodigy will also be stopping by for some time on the red couch. It was 2000 when P released his critically acclaimed solo debut, H.N.I.C., and now, 12 years later, he has completed the trilogy with his recently released H.N.I.C. 3. The album, which was released on Mobb Deep's own Infamous Records, features Wiz Khalifa and Prodigy's M-O-B-B partner Havoc as well as production from the Alchemist. During his May "RapFix" appearance, Prodigy said most of the material for H.N.I.C. 3 was written during his three-year incarceration stemming from a 2006 gun arrest. "The third one, I spent a lot of time working on it. I did my little bid, three years or whatever, and that's basically when I was writing most of this album," Prodigy explained. "So, I got to really take my time with the concepts, the lyrics, how I want it to be, be really precise with it and really come up with something that can last a long time." Catch Slaughterhouse and Prodigy on "RapFix Live," Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com, and be sure to join the Twitter conversation using the hashtag #RapFixLive. Send your questions for the artists @MTVRapFix! Related Artists Slaughterhouse Prodigy of Mobb Deep http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689279/slaughterhouse-prodigy-rapfix.jhtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MTVNewsLatest+%28MTV+News+Latest+Headlines%29 http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689279/slaughterhouse-prodigy-rapfix.jhtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MTVNewsLatest+%28MTV+News+Latest+Headlines%29 Meet the softer, gentler side of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Just weeks after New Jersey lawmakers passed a bill that would establish a program offering medical treatmentinstead of jail time for nonviolent drug offenders, Christie, a possible vice presidential contender, praised the measure during a speech in Washington, D.C. "If you're pro-life, as I am, you can't be pro-life just in the womb. Every life is precious and every one of God's creatures can be redeemed," Christie said during a wide-ranging Monday morning address at the Brookings Institution, a public policy research organization. "But they won't be if we ignore them. ... I believe that the results will show, after this is fully implemented, will be startling because people can be treated and miracles happen every day at these facilities. Lives are restored." In a move that sets Christie apart from the many Republicans who take a hard line on drug enforcement, Christie predicted that the recently passed measure, which mandates drug rehabilitation treatment for first-time nonviolent offenders, would be a success. He added that drug abuse should be considered an issue of "disease" in the eyes of the law, and not a criminal one. "The real reason to do it is to understand that addiction is a disease and that we need to give people a chance to overcome that disease and restore dignity and meaning to their lives," he said. "That's not a Republican or Democratic issue. It's a bipartisan issue that we accomplished this year." During his speech, Christie also spoke about his efforts to balance New Jersey's budget and overhaul the state's public employee benefits system, but it is relatively rare for a Republican governor to discuss drug reform efforts during a trip to Washington. While the move does not put him squarely at odds with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor does not speak often about the issue. (A spokeswoman from Romney's presidential campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Christie's initiative to offer treatment to drug users.) Christie and Romney have both opposed decriminalizing marijuana, an action 17 states and the District of Columbia have already taken despite federal laws restricting possession and distribution. Christie has vowed to veto legislation that moves to decriminalize or legalize the drug, and Romney has also said repeatedly he does not support loosening federal marijuana laws. "I think marijuana should not be legal in this country. I believe it's gateway drug to other drug violations," Romney saidduring a May interview with a CBS affiliate in Denver, Colo. "The use of illegal drugs in this country is leading to terrible consequences in places like Mexico and actually in this country. I oppose legalization of marijuana, I oppose legalization of other kinds of drugs." "Those are state issues," Romney, who appeared uncomfortable discussing the topic, said after the interview. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/drug-reform-chris-christie-shows-gentler-side-174222543.html http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/drug-reform-chris-christie-shows-gentler-side-174222543.html Despite the often high levels of stress that come with small business ownership, surprisingly few business owners actually take vacations - fewer than 50%. My theory on why is: they don’t know how to set up their businesses to run smoothly in their absence. It’s not a hard feat, though; it just takes a little planning and forethought. Here is a checklist of items you need to complete to get out of the office and onto the beach, a far-off destination, or wherever you’d like to relax this summer. Tip 1: Leave Someone in Charge If you have employees, decide who’s the best candidate to carry on business as usual in your absence. Give that person the ability to make decisions, and encourage them to do so confidently, so they don’t call you for approval on every little decision. Recognize that mistakes may be made, but they’re a small price to pay for a little down time with your family. Tip 2: Plan Early and Get Ahead of Schedule If you don’t have an employee you can leave your business decisions to while on vacation (and even if you do), the best thing you can do to keep customers happy is finish as much work in advance as possible. This works best if you have a preset task list that you complete each month for clients, the way I do with blog posts. Finishing early keeps them happy, and usually keeps them from needing you or bugging you when you take time off. Tip 3: Let (Almost) Everyone Know You’re Leaving Notify your employees, clients and vendors that you’ll be taking a vacation about a month before you go. Send a short email reminder a week before you take off, and include contact information for people who can be reached in your absence. Here’s an example: Just a short note to remind you that I will be on vacation August 1-15, enjoying the blue beaches of Hawaii. If you have questions about sales, contact Stan at [phone number.] For any product-related issues, Ivan can assist you at [phone]. I’ll touch base when I return. I find that including a short mention of your plans for your vacation helps you connect to people better. They like hearing about your plans, and it makes you human, not just the owner of a business. I’ve often gotten travel advice from clients about destinations I mentioned in these emails. Tip 4: Update Your Email Auto-response and Voicemail Message You can also use the note in tip 3 as an autoresponder for your email. Google Mail lets you set up vacation responses for whatever period you want to set it up for. And don’t forget your voicemail! Leave a recorded message directing callers to the appropriate people, and let them know when you will return. Tip 5: DON’T Tell Your Social Network! Tip 3 mentioned letting “everyone” know you are leaving — but there’s a big exception: social media sites! It’s tempting to tell everyone on Facebook that you’ll be gone for several weeks, but resist that urge. There have been cases of people’s homes being robbed while on vacation just because someone saw their post about leaving town, on a social media site. This includes social media check-in sites like Foursquare. The site, Please Rob Me, demonstrates how easy it is to figure out where you’ve been, simply by looking at your check-in history. Tip 6: Plan Ahead for the Problems Don’t automatically assume everything will go wrong in your absence, but do sit down with your employees to review potential scenarios that might blow up or become complicated while you’re out. Explain what you would do in each situation and make sure they’re comfortable taking action while you’re out of the office. Tip 7: Clear Your CalendarBefore you leave for your vacation, make sure your calendar doesn’t have any forgotten-about appointments lingering. Also make sure you cancel any recurring meetings or teleconferences while you’re out. Let other participants know you won’t be there so they can plan accordingly. Tip 8: Wrap Up Projects You know how those lingering projects or tasks stay on your mind? All the more reason to take care of them before you go on vacation so you don’t waste energy worrying about them while you’re trying to relax. Finishing up everything before your vacation will also reduce the temptation to take work with you (and your family will be glad for that). Make a plan the week before your vacation so that you have plenty of time to wrap up projects, from the most urgent to the less important ones. Tip 9: Put Together an Emergency Contact List Make a list of your emergency numbers to give to key employees who might need to reach you in case of an issue that can’t be resolved without you. Also include important contacts that might be able to answer questions in your absence, like your business insurance agent, attorney, and key suppliers. Tip 10: Review Critical Procedures and Processes Make sure to go over important business procedures that you will be delegating in your absence, such as opening your shop in the morning or closing your office at night, setting the security alarm or turning it off in case it was accidentally tripped, running credit card transactions, running payroll, or any other processes the person is not used to handling. Make sure the key employee you’ve assigned is well versed in completing the tasks without your assistance. Ask him or her to perform the procedure for you before you leave (memory is a tricky thing). Leave detailed instructions on the procedures as a backup. Tip 11: Pay Your Bills Leave for your vacation with a clean slate on accounts payable. Pay all invoices, credit card statements and bills that will come due while you’re gone. Make sure payroll is set up to be processed while you’re gone as well. Tip 12: Don’t Be Available It’s tempting to answer your phone on vacation, or peek at your email, but resist! Do respond to the channels you’ve set up for emergency contacts, however. I always give my personal email to key employees so I resist getting immersed in work email while on vacation, but I can still stay in touch should anything come up. Tip 13: Have a Great Vacation! Let us not leave the most important tip off the list: having a relaxing and enjoyable vacation! Sometimes small business owners forget how rejuvenating it is to step away from their companies for a short while. You’ll likely find that you come back to work with fresh ideas and a new, positive attitude as a result of getting a little R and R. Family time, too, is key. So many of us put in long hours each week, and sacrifice our family relationships. Use this vacation as the opportunity to reconnect with your spouse and your kids, and to create great memories for years to come. Vacation Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business TrendsThe Small Business Guide to Getting Ready for Vacation http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/07/small-business-guide-vacation.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SmallBusinessTrends+%28Small+Business+Trends%29 http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/07/small-business-guide-vacation.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SmallBusinessTrends+%28Small+Business+Trends%29 The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will file a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission Monday against politically active conservative groups operating under tax-exempt status, Yahoo News has confirmed. The organizations under fire from the DSCC include Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, Americans for Prosperity and the 60 Plus Association, which have already spent millions on advertisements targeting President Barack Obama this election cycle. They operate as "social welfare" groups under section 501(c)4 of the tax code, which prohibits them from making political activism their primary function, although legally, the term is vaguely defined. Liberals and conservatives both use groups like these to fund political causes and can accept unlimited amounts of corporate and union donations, but unlike super PACs, they are not required to disclose the names of their benefactors and cannot directly support or oppose a candidate for office. The news was first reported Monday morning by Jonathan Weisman of the The New York Times, which also ran a feature Sunday on how corporations use such groups to mask their political donations. The DSCC argues that these three groups have engaged in political activism that should disqualify them from receiving tax-exempt status. "Respondents are raising and spending millions of dollars to accomplish their major purpose of influencing federal elections, while hiding their funding sources," reads the complaint, which was obtained by Yahoo News. "By operating in secret, they have violated and continue to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act. Accordingly, Complainant Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee respectfully requests that they be enjoined from further violations and fined the maximum amount permitted by law." According to the Times, Crossroads GPS spokesman Jonathan Collegio dismissed the complaint as part of a series of "publicity stunts to promote partisan causes." James L. Martin, chairman of the 60 Plus Association, told the newspaper that the move was "naked politics, pure and simple." A series of recent court cases have opened more opportunities for legal spending on political speech. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission that corporations and unions could legally donate unlimited amounts to political causes, and in March of the same year, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Speech Now v. the Federal Election Commission that independent political expenditure groups (super PACs) could accept unlimited amounts to spend on political activities. The result has contributed to a flood of new spending, and a majority of it has benefited Republicans. Most recently, after last month's Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Affordable Care Act, Americans for Prosperity announced a new, $9 million campaign opposing the law. Crossroads GPS, the sister group to America Crossroads super PAC, is spending $25 million on anti-Obama ads this week. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/democrats-conservative-political-groups-exploiting-tax-exempt-status-142549677.html http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/democrats-conservative-political-groups-exploiting-tax-exempt-status-142549677.html It’s been a long time in coming, but today Kayak, the hotel and flight search provider, announced that it has priced its shares and will begin trading at a range of $22 to $25 on NASDAQ Exchange under the ticker symbol KYAK. In updated filings with the SEC, Kayak said it will offer 4 million million shares and seek to raise a maximum of $100.6 million or about twice as much as in its initial filings when it sought to raise $50 million. The deal will be led by Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank Securities, with Piper Jaffray, Stifel Nicolaus, and Pacific Crest participating as additional underwriters. In the filing, Kayak also disclosed new financials for its most recent quarter. In the quarter ending March 31 it made a $4.15 million profit on sales of $73.3 million. That would translate into per-share earnings of 17 cents or 11 cents on a diluted basis. That compares to a $6.9 million loss on $52.6 million in sales in the same quarter in 2011. For the quarter ahead, Kayak said it expects to report sales of $74.5 million to $76 million which would amount to growth of 31 to 34 percent. It said it expects to earn between $13 million and $14 million on an operating basis which would amount to growth of between 133 percent and 151 percent. The company posted a video and new prospectus on the site Retail Roadshow. Today’s offering caps a process that first began nearly 21 months ago when Kayak, based in Norwalk, CT. filed its first S1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in November of 2010. Last September it put its plans on hold at a time when the market seemed too volatile. It also found itself in an increasingly competitive market, particularly following Google’s $700 million acquisition of travel software giant ITA. Then came Facebook’s bungled IPO, and another delay. http://allthingsd.com/20120709/kayak-prices-long-delayed-100-million-ipo-at-25-a-share/ http://allthingsd.com/20120709/kayak-prices-long-delayed-100-million-ipo-at-25-a-share/ Egypt's new president on Sunday ordered a parliament dominated by his Islamist party to reconvene, challenging the authority of the generals who had dissolved the assembly in line with a court order. http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/09/12636920-game-of-chicken-egypts-new-president-defies-the-military-orders-parliament-to-reconvene?lite http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/09/12636920-game-of-chicken-egypts-new-president-defies-the-military-orders-parliament-to-reconvene?lite Twitter is preparing a major new version of its iPhone app, which will include an interactive tweet view, enhanced notifications and more, 9to5Mac reports. The info comes through leaked release notes which bring a detailed list of all the new features in the next Twitter for iPhone version, 4.3. These include a more interactive tweet view experience, letting you see content previews, videos and images within tweets containing links to "partner websites," as well as the ability to choose whether you want to receive push notifications when certain people tweet. Other improvements include highlighted tweets about selected events, autocomplete in the Connect tab, and the ability to t… Continue reading... More About: iphone, Twitter http://mashable.com/2012/07/09/twitter-iphone-update/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29 http://mashable.com/2012/07/09/twitter-iphone-update/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will call on Monday for a one-year extension of Bush-era tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year, according to a White House official, seeking to spare the economy the impact of taxes going up on January 1. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/09/us-usa-obama-taxes-idUSBRE86805220120709?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/09/us-usa-obama-taxes-idUSBRE86805220120709?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29 The 11-year-old son of Tameka Foster has not experienced any brain activity since admitted to hospital following an accident at Lake Lanie. http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00052054.html http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00052054.html Kyle Glover, son of singer's ex wife, Tameka Foster, was with family on Georgia's Lake Lanier.By Rob Markman Usher and Tameka Foster Photo: Johnny Nunez/ WireImage Things went from bad to worse for Kyle Glover, Usher's 11-year old stepson. After a tragic jet ski accident left the youngster in critical condition on Friday (July 6), doctors have now declared him brain dead. TMZ is reporting that Glover, who is the son of Usher's ex-wife Tameka Foster, has not experienced any brain activity since he was admitted into the hospital two days ago. According to reports the pre-teen and a friend were floating in inner tubes on Lake Lanier in Atlanta Georgia when they were struck by a man on a jet ski. Glover was unresponsive when he was taken out of the water and airlifted to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, his friend, an unidentified 15-year old girl was treated for a cut on the head and a broken arm. According to the Atlanta Constitution Journal the Georgia Department of Natural Resources says that alcohol doesn't appear to be a factor in the accident and they are also reporting that man on the jet ski and Glover were a part of the same group on an outing at the lake. Foster and Usher Raymond were married in 2007, but divorced in 2009. They two are reportedly both present at the hospital. Many of Usher and Foster's celebrity friends have begun expressing their deepest sympathies and support on Twitter. "My deepest prayers go out to Tameka, Usher and both of their families right now," wrote Diggy Simmons. "wishing @TamekaRaymond's son godspeed recovery. horrible news to hear," Roots drummer Questlove added, while television personality Lala Anthony wrote: "Praying for @TamekaRaymond and her family. Asking to give her and her family strength during this difficult time. Praying for u Kyle." This tragedy comes a month after Usher released his latest album #1 album Looking 4 Myself. MTV News would like to send our thoughts and prayers out to the Foster, Raymond and Glover family. Please share your well wishes in the comments section. Related Artists Usher http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689206/ushers-stepson-declared-brain-dead-after-jet-ski-accident.jhtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MTVNewsLatest+%28MTV+News+Latest+Headlines%29 http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689206/ushers-stepson-declared-brain-dead-after-jet-ski-accident.jhtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MTVNewsLatest+%28MTV+News+Latest+Headlines%29 Egypt's Islamist president fired the first volley Sunday in his battle with the nation's powerful generals, calling on the Islamist-dominated parliament to reconvene despite a military-backed court ruling that dissolved it. http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2012/07/08/12627559-egypts-president-reconvenes-dissolved-parliament http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2012/07/08/12627559-egypts-president-reconvenes-dissolved-parliament Alliance has not identified nationalities of forces killed by IED; Total 29 people dead from roadside bombs and insurgent attacks http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57468269/nato-6-service-members-killed-in-afghanistan/ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57468269/nato-6-service-members-killed-in-afghanistan/ KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday killed six NATO service members, on a day where a total of 29 people died from roadside bombs and insurgent attacks. NATO said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device but provided no further details about the attack and did not identify the dead service members. The statement said NATO's policy is to allow "national authorities" to give details about the soldiers. A surge in Afghan and coalition forces during the past two years routed Taliban fighters from many of their strongholds in the south, but the insurgents have stepped up their attacks this summer to take back key areas. The service members' deaths were the latest on Sunday caused by bombs planted by insurgents along roadsides, paths or mountain tracks. In addition to the six NATO deaths, bombs and attacks killed 16 Afghan civilians, five policemen and two members of the U.S.-led coalition in southern Afghanistan, Afghan and NATO authorities said. The civilians, including women and children, were killed in three blasts in Arghistan district, along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. Kandahar province spokesman Ahmad Jawed Faisal said one bomb exploded when a minivan ran over it Sunday morning. A second went off when other civilians riding a tractor arrived to help the wounded. A third explosion occurred about two hours later when a civilian vehicle hit a roadside bomb in another area of the district, killing two women. At least 10 civilians were injured in the three blasts. According to the United Nations, last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed. The number of Afghan civilians killed dropped 36 percent in the first four months of this year compared with last year, but the U.N. says that too many are still being caught up in violence. The policemen were killed while responding to a gun battle against insurgents early Sunday at a checkpoint in the Musa Qala district of neighboring Helmand province. Daoud Ahmadi, the spokesman in Helmand, said a group of Taliban fighters attacked the police checkpoint at about 3 a.m. Afghan police called for reinforcements, but on the way, one of the police vehicles hit a roadside bomb, killing the five policemen. Ahmadi says three other policemen were wounded in the four-hour gun battle against the insurgents. He says the bodies of 20 insurgents were recovered from the battlefield. Separately, two NATO service members were killed in southern Afghanistan — one in a roadside bomb explosion on Saturday and the other during an insurgent attack on Sunday. NATO did not disclose where the incidents occurred or provide the nationalities of the soldiers killed. So far this year, more than 225 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan. http://news.yahoo.com/nato-6-members-killed-afghanistan-193137832.html http://news.yahoo.com/nato-6-members-killed-afghanistan-193137832.html Sen. Susan Collins has gone to great lengths to preserve her unbroken voting streak in Washington. http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2012/07/08/12626190-maine-sen-collins-voting-streak-approaches-5000 http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2012/07/08/12626190-maine-sen-collins-voting-streak-approaches-5000 Thousands of computer users may lose Internet access on Monday, when the deadline for a temporary fix to a malicious software scam shut down by the FBI last year expires. What is it? Millions of computers were infected with the so-called "Internet Doomsday" virus used in the hacking scam, which redirected Internet searches through DNS servers used by the scammers, who allegedly netted $14 million in bogus advertising revenue. After U.S. and Estonian authorities busted the malware ring last November, a federal judge ordered that the FBI use temporary servers while the malware victims' PCs were repaired. The temporary servers will shut down at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Monday, meaning anyone using a computer still infected with the virus will likely lose Internet access. "Connectivity will be lost to the Internet PERIOD," Symantec, the online security firm, said in a blog post. "If your computer is still using DNS entries that are pointing to the FBI servers on July 9, you will lose TOTAL access to the Internet. No connecting to the office from home, no updating Facebook, nothing until the DNS settings are fixed." How many computers have it? It's unclear how widespread the "blackout" will be. According to a working group set up by security experts, more than 300,000 computers remained infected as of June 11, including 69,000 in the United States. Last week, 245,000 computers were said to be still infected with the so-called Alureon virus, according online security firm Deteque, including 45,355 machines in the United States. Wired estimates 64,000 users in the United States and an additional 200,000 users outside the United States are still infected with the malware, "despite repeated warnings in the news, e-mail messages sent by ISPs and alerts posted by Google and Facebook." According to Internet Identity, another IT security firm, "12 percent of all Fortune 500 companies and four percent of "major" U.S. federal agencies are still infected with DNSChanger malware." But it's unclear how many of those machines are still in use. What you can do According to Reuters, U.S. Internet providers including AT&T and Time Warner Cable "have made temporary arrangements so that their customers will be able to access the Internet using the address of the rogue DNS servers." And the problem, security experts say, is relatively easy to fix. "It's a very easy one to fix," Gunter Ollmann, vice president of research for security company Damballa, told the news service. "There are plenty of tools available." Online security firms, Facebook and the FBI are offering free diagnostic checks for users whose computers may be infected. Here are links to several: Of course, that hasn't stopped local media outlets from breathless reporting on the looming "blackout." "Monday morning," Alabama's WAAY-TV reported, "hundreds of thousands of Internet enthusiasts could wake up to find nothing but a dark, empty computer screen." The hype over a potential "blackout" threatens "to obscure what has been a highly successful effort--one of few to date--to stamp out a global online scam and malware infestation," Paul Roberts wrote on Threatpost.com. Six people were arrested in Estonia and charged with Internet fraud in the sting. A seventh, who was living in Russia, remains at large. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/blackout-monday-dns-changer-know-155840354.html http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/blackout-monday-dns-changer-know-155840354.html PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The heat that blanketed much of the U.S. is expected to go from unbearable to merely very hot Sunday as temperatures from the Midwest to the East Coast drop from highs above 100 degrees down to the 90s. http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_21031737/temperatures-across-u-s-cool-slightly-but-still?source=rss http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_21031737/temperatures-across-u-s-cool-slightly-but-still?source=rss Republicans and Democrats in Congress who congratulated themselves for passing relatively routine legislation before July 4 are returning to the Capitol for a summer stocked with political show votes and no serious role for bipartisanship. http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2012/07/08/12624720-analysis-little-hope-for-compromise-in-congress http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2012/07/08/12624720-analysis-little-hope-for-compromise-in-congress From my volunteering experiences in Guatemala, the most valuable lesson I took away is that learning by helping others is truly a priceless reward.Read More...More on Travel Blogs http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kay-rodriguez/volunteering-san-lucas-toliman_b_1636130.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kay-rodriguez/volunteering-san-lucas-toliman_b_1636130.html TOKYO (Reuters) - Major donors pledged on Sunday to give Afghanistan $16 billion in development aid over the next four years as they seek to prevent it from sliding back into chaos when foreign troops leave, but demanded reforms to fight corruption. Donor fatigue and war weariness have taken their toll on how long the global community is willing to support Afghanistan and there are concerns that without financial backing about security following the withdrawal of most NATO combat troops in 2014. "Afghanistan's security cannot only be measured by the absence of war," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an international donors conference in Tokyo. "It has to be measured by whether people have jobs and economic opportunity, whether they believe their government is serving their needs, whether political reconciliation proceeds and succeeds." The Afghan central bank has estimated that at least $6 billion a year in new investment from foreign donors will be needed to foster economic growth over the next decade. Clinton also stressed the importance of Afghanistan - among the poorest and most corrupt nations in the world - of taking aggressive action to fight graft and promote reforms. "That must include fighting corruption, improving governance, strengthening the rule of law, increasing access to economic opportunity for all Afghans, especially for women," she said. U.S. officials provided no monetary figure for their expected aid, but said the administration would ask Congress to keep assistance levels stable through 2017 compared with the assistance Washington has offered over the past decade. Continued... http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCABRE86601120120708 http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCABRE86601120120708 In Case You Missed It http://www.northjersey.com/ http://www.northjersey.com/ Love Focus - Weekly Update: You might think that people who can't get what they want, would learn to want what they can get. That would be the logical strategy in all ... Read more http://www.news.com.au/ http://www.news.com.au/ * Investigators ordered to check emergency warning efforts http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/08/russia-floods-idUSL6E8I737020120708?feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssEnergyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FUSenergyNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Energy%29 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/08/russia-floods-idUSL6E8I737020120708?feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssEnergyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FUSenergyNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Energy%29 Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) married his partner Saturday in his hometown of Newton, Massachusetts, making him the first sitting congressman to be in a same-sex marriage. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick officiated the ceremony between the 72 year-old Frank and his partner, James Ready, according to a statement from the congressman’s office. Frank met Ready in 2005, and the two have been seeing each other since 2007. Many of Frank’s congressional colleagues turned out for the wedding, including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, according to local media reports. In planning the event, Frank said he wanted to invite President Obama—who in May came out in support of same-sex marriage—but was worried the security detail would infringe on the ceremony. “I would be flattered to have the president do that, but it would ruin the party to have the Secret Service,” Frank said when asked in May if the Obamas were invited. “I’m not critical of them, but they can go take their layered protection of the president somewhere else. Not to my party.” In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to recognize same-sex marriages following a state Supreme Judicial Court ruling that it was unconstitutional to limit marriages to only heterosexual couples. Frank has represented Massachusetts’ Fourth Congressional District since 1981, and has been openly gay since 1987. He is retiring at the end of this term. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/07/rep-barney-frank-weds-longtime-partner-in-same-sex-marriage/ http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/07/rep-barney-frank-weds-longtime-partner-in-same-sex-marriage/ Jubilant Libyans chose a new parliament Saturday in their first nationwide vote in decades, but violence and protests in the restive east underscored the challenges ahead as the oil-rich North African nation struggles to restore stability after the ouster of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120707/news/707079841/ http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120707/news/707079841/ For cities and states buried under mountains of debt, it has become a tantalizing proposition: invite private financial institutions to put up the money to fix aging schools, dilapidated rail lines and beat-up roads. Offer investors steady returns on the projects. And give the public the modern services its governments can no longer afford. http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2012/07/07/12616525-more-mega-projects-turning-to-private-investors http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2012/07/07/12616525-more-mega-projects-turning-to-private-investors It used to be safe to say that most of us don't go looking for crime on our vacations, but that's not true anymore. Crime fiction travel, a juicier version of the well-worn literary pilgrimage, is a popular way for people to see the world. http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/07/travel/trips-crime-fiction-lovers/index.html?eref=rss_topstories http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/07/travel/trips-crime-fiction-lovers/index.html?eref=rss_topstories The heat gripping much of the country is set to peak Saturday in many places, including some Northeast cities, where temperatures close to or surpassing 100 degrees are expected in Philadelphia and New York. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/07/07/temperatures_over_100_degrees_spread_to_northeast/?rss_id=Top+Stories http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/07/07/temperatures_over_100_degrees_spread_to_northeast/?rss_id=Top+Stories 'Brown Sugar' singer continues his comeback with a spirited performance at New Orleans' Superdome.By Rebecca Thomas D'Angelo performs at the 2012 Essence Music Festival Photo: Getty Images NEW ORLEANS -- At the Essence Music Festival presented by Coca-Cola on Friday night, I couldn't help but think there was something poignant about D'Angelo taking the stage for the latest in a season of comeback concerts in the same week that Frank Ocean had seized the news cycle for his game-changing personal revelation. Kindred musical spirits: one ahead of his time, the other firmly a product of his time. More than 15 years before Ocean was hailed as a radical voice poised to remake the oft-beleaguered genre known as rhythm and blues, Michael Eugene Archer became a messianic figure, sent down to save our (neo) souls from the hackneyed bump-and-grind of R&B with his 1995 debut, Brown Sugar. So maybe it's just me, but the moment feels right for the now-38-year-old to be reemerging. If fans were expecting the Richmond, Virginia-born singer to bask in the nostalgia of his classic first LP, though, they were disappointed. Taking the stage without any fanfare, he dove into his cover of Roberta Flack's "Feel Like Makin' Love," off his sophomore disc, Voodoo. And it was instantly clear that D'Angelo and his raucous band were less concerned with faithful renditions of the well-aged tracks than with turning the songs on their heads. Still, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, where swag included tote bags emblazoned with the 59-year-old mug of the night's headliner Charlie Wilson, D's highly instrumental approach to his set didn't always gibe with the room. But for die-hards, who largely skewed younger, the singer was mesmerizing. (One row in front of us, Destiny's Child alums Michelle Williams and LaToya Luckett, along with rising star Luke James, were as enthralled as we were, dancing during much of the show.) While D'Angelo rightfully dug into material that will probably appear on James River, his first album in a dozen years, he also dusted off his hits. There was the bewitching "Devil's Pie" and the blissfully profane "Sh--, Damn, Mother------," which he drew out to Church Revival lengths, even leaving the stage for a few moments before returning to cap off the coda. The chiseled, cornrow-rocking D'Angelo of the late '90s is now a thing of a bygone era, tossed into the archives of the "neo-soul" movement that birthed him. For Friday's show, D tied a black bandanna around his unruly mass of locks for a look that seemed inspired by pirates and Hendrix. So we shouldn't have been surprised that for "Untitled" (How Does It Feel), the massive single now synonymous with his break with the music industry, there were no panties thrown and no abs shown. Instead, the all-black clad D'Angelo sat at the keys and ran through a subdued verse as the ecstatic crowd sang along. He seemed eager to get it over with, the song perhaps too much of a reminder of a time when he buckled under the weight of sex symboldom, disappearing for nearly a decade into a haze of addiction and personal demons. It was on the anthemic "Lady," though, that D came alive. With the concertgoers on their feet, he let himself smile, soaring on his falsetto on that infectious hook. In the mid-'90s, lyrics like this had put D'Angelo squarely ahead of his time: "Babe, I know they've seen us before/ Maybe at the liquor store / Or maybe at the health food stand / They don't know that I'm your man." Then only 21 years old, his songwriting was both conversational and reflective, a rare combo in R&B. Now, as he shakes off the weight of his past, D'Angelo seems poised to grab his place again. Related Photos Essence Music Festival 2012 Related Artists D'Angelo http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689199/dangelo-essence-music-festival.jhtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MTVNewsLatest+%28MTV+News+Latest+Headlines%29 http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689199/dangelo-essence-music-festival.jhtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MTVNewsLatest+%28MTV+News+Latest+Headlines%29 “Syria’s conflict spilled further into Lebanon on Saturday when mortar fire from government forces crashed into villages in the north, killing two women and a man after rebels crossed the border for refuge, residents said.” Source: Syria fighting widespread, spills into Lebanon | Reuters http://www.riskintel.com/2012/07/syria-fighting-widespread-spills-into-lebanon/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Threatfusion+%28RiskIntel+-+tracking+real-time+global+risk...%29 http://www.riskintel.com/2012/07/syria-fighting-widespread-spills-into-lebanon/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Threatfusion+%28RiskIntel+-+tracking+real-time+global+risk...%29 It's one of the remotest national parks in the nation. But once you get to Great Basin National Park, you'll find an oasis in the desert. http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2012-07-07/National-Park-Guide-Nevadas-Great-Basin/56073642/1?csp=34travel&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomTravel-TopStories+%28Travel+-+Top+Stories%29 http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2012-07-07/National-Park-Guide-Nevadas-Great-Basin/56073642/1?csp=34travel&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomTravel-TopStories+%28Travel+-+Top+Stories%29 Clinton announced that the Obama administration designated Afghanistan a “major non-NATO ally” shortly after arriving in the country for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-declares-afghanistan-major-non-nato-ally/article4397341/?cmpid=rss1 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-declares-afghanistan-major-non-nato-ally/article4397341/?cmpid=rss1 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Contract talks between Consolidated Edison Inc and locked-out union workers concluded late Friday while replacement crews struggled to end brownouts in Brooklyn and the Bronx as New York City sweltered in a prolonged heat wave. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/07/us-utilities-conedison-brownout-idUSBRE86602620120707?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/07/us-utilities-conedison-brownout-idUSBRE86602620120707?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a previously unannounced visit to Kabul on Saturday to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the eve of a donors' conference in Tokyo to pledge aid for Afghanistan. http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/06/12606430-clinton-makes-unannounced-visit-to-kabul?lite http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/06/12606430-clinton-makes-unannounced-visit-to-kabul?lite Electronics retailer Best Buy is laying off 600 of its Geek Squad employees and 1,800 other store workers.The heart of Best Buy's customer service model took a blow Friday when the company said it was laying off 600 of its Geek Squad employees and 1,800 other store workers. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-best-buy-geeks-20120707,0,5432554.story?track=rss http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-best-buy-geeks-20120707,0,5432554.story?track=rss McMahon (Stephan Savoia/AP)Republicans have excoriated down-ballot Democratic candidates who are planning to skip this summer's nominating convention. But the decision to steer clear of the party convention is not limited to Democrats. Former presidential candidate Jon Huntsman announced Friday that he plans to stay home in protest. "I will not be attending this year's convention, nor any Republican convention in the future, until the party focuses on a bigger, bolder, more confident future for the United States—a future based on problem solving, inclusiveness, and a willingness to address the trust deficit, which is every bit as corrosive as our fiscal and economic deficits," Huntsman said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Huntsman had released his delegates to Mitt Romney and is no longer actively seeking office. But active candidates are making the same decision. The campaign for Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon confirmed Thursday that if the former World Wrestling Entertainment executive wins the Republican Senate nomination Aug. 14, she won't be helping to formally nominate Mitt Romney. "Our focus is going to be on campaigning in Connecticut," McMahon campaign spokeswoman Kate Duffy first told The Connecticut Mirror. McMahon, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2010, is likely to face criticism similar to that being lobbed at Democrats—that she is skipping the convention to distance herself from her party. McMahon's campaign didn't immediately respond to Yahoo News' request for comment Friday. McMahon is one of several Republican candidates who have recently announced plans to skip the convention. Former Virginia Sen. George Allen confirmed this week that he plans to campaign instead of travel to Tampa, Fla.; Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg—who is running for Senate—will also not be in attendance; and Nevada Sen. Dean Heller said this week he is considering begging off if he doesn't get a major speaking role. "If they want us to speak, we'll probably be there," Heller, who skipped the 2008 convention, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "If they don't choose for us to get a good speaking position, we'll probably stay here and campaign." http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/linda-mcmahon-other-republicans-plan-skip-gop-convention-150147281.html http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/linda-mcmahon-other-republicans-plan-skip-gop-convention-150147281.html 'I wanted to give back in a lot of ways in terms of the music,' English tells Mixtape Daily.By Rob Markman Honors English Photo: MTV News Fire Starter: Honors EnglishEssential info: Honors English isn't just rapping for the sake of rapping. So know that the Trenton, New Jersey, rap rookie has the attention of his growing audience, and he fully intends to use his rhymes wisely. "I got an opportunity to go to school and do my thing in that way, and I wanted to give back in a lot of ways in terms of the music. Take what I learned and add it to hip-hop," Honors told Mixtape Daily. English is the MC's given last name, but he adopted the Honors moniker from the time he spent in school. The skill that he would use to write term papers is the same skill that he uses to write densely packed rap verses. "A lot of times I'll rewrite a song a couple of times, like I'm writing a paper," he said. "I'll rewrite it, rewrite it, rewrite it till it's right." To say Honors' lyrics are right may be a bit of an understatement. On his Needlz-produced State of the Art mixtape, the nimble-tongued rapper who now resides in Tallahassee, Florida, spits intricately laid bars alongside rap notables like Freeway and Lupe Fiasco. On "Crazay," English employs clever wordplay, spitting rhymes like, "I swiss beats and turn 'em to vegan cheese/ I'm rap's answer to Alicia, now give me the keys." While "Crazay" is all about wordplay, "Second Chances" is a storytelling joint in which a different narrative is told in each verse. In the song's second verse, English breaks down his producer Needlz's battle with cancer. It's all pretty heavy. "We wanted to do a project about what we love about hip-hop," he said. "Modern, something that had content but at the same time was not just trying to beat you over the head with a particular message. Making sure that it's still entertainment, it's still accessible." What do you think of Honors English's State of the Art mixtape? Let us know in the comments! For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689191/honors-english-state-of-the-art-mixtape.jhtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MTVNewsLatest+%28MTV+News+Latest+Headlines%29 http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689191/honors-english-state-of-the-art-mixtape.jhtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MTVNewsLatest+%28MTV+News+Latest+Headlines%29 The flight is boarding and you are in a rush. You get on the plane. At 10,000 feet, you reach into your bag. Your laptop is not there. It happens all the time. In fact, according to a new survey, more than 8,000 devices at seven of the largest airports in the United States, including: Chicago O’Hare, Denver International, San Francisco International, Charlotte Douglas, Miami International, Orlando International and Minneapolis/St. Paul. The survey by Credant Technologies reveals some of the downsides of mobile and the security issues raided when the devices get lost. Here’s the breakdown: Smartphones and tablets: 3,444 (43.0%) Laptops: 3,576 (44.6%) USB drives: 996 (12.4%) People mostly leave devices at TSA checkpoints and restrooms. All but one of the airports donates the devices to charities. One airport sends the left behind devices to the authorities. It’s evident then why the enterprise market now has its own category for “mobile device management. (MDM)” CIOs and IT managers are finding an increasing need for technology that protects these devices that are left in TSA bins, bathroom stalls and any other place you can imagine. Gartner Research published a report on the topic last year. The report lists some recommendations: Choose MDM offerings that support a lightweight management approach, with mobile agents and server-side platforms, when your security and management requirements are limited and deep control is not accepted by employees using personal devices. Examples include Zenprise, MobileIron, BoxTone, Fiberlink and AirWatch. Choose MDM offerings that support a heavyweight approach to deliver secure and manageable corporate email to consumer and personal devices when strict security and compliance requirements apply. Containers can enforce stronger separation among personal and corporate content. Examples include Good Technology, Excitor and Sybase. The iPhone 3GS and later hardware platforms ship with always-on hardware encryption. When iOS 4.2 was introduced, it added a new data protection class that allows third-party applications to manage their own encryption keys, reducing the risk of data leakage on a jailbroken device. The new data protection classes are activated upon the full installation of iOS 4 or later. MDM has steep demand. And it always will as long as we keep forgetting our tablets after we put our shoes back on at TSA security. http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/06/dont-put-down-that-ipad-8000-mobile-devices-left-at-top-u-s-airports/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/06/dont-put-down-that-ipad-8000-mobile-devices-left-at-top-u-s-airports/ Violent thunderstorms swept through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, toppling massive trees throughout the popular tourist spot and killing at least two people. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/jul/06/2-dead-violent-storm-lashes-great-smokies/?partner=RSS http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/jul/06/2-dead-violent-storm-lashes-great-smokies/?partner=RSS TOWNSEND, Tenn. (AP) — Violent thunderstorms swept through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, toppling massive trees throughout the popular tourist spot and killing at least two people. Park spokeswoman Melissa Cobern said Friday that a man on a motorcycle was killed, as was a 41-year-old woman who was struck by a falling tree. The names of the victims were withheld while their family members were notified. The storms hit Thursday evening at the west end of the 500,000-acre park on the Tennessee-North Carolina line. Most of the damage appeared to be in the popular Cades Cove area of the park and in communities just outside the park boundaries. "There was a lot of rain, a lot of wind. A lot of people lost power," said Sandy Headrick, a resident of the small town of Townsend on the edge of the park near Cades Cove. "We had some friends who had a tree hit their home," she said. "They're all right, but the house is gone. It came through the roof and took out the kitchen, the bedroom, the living room." Headrick, who has owned the Highland Manor Inn in Townsend for 30 years, said the storm was very unusual in that it blew out of the north and east. The wind usually comes out of the west, she said. Power didn't go out at the inn, and Headrick was able to put up people who had planned to go to the national park. Although multiple injuries were reported in the park, Headrick said she believes everyone in the town is OK. "Everyone's out picking up branches and pulling tree limbs out of their pools. ... We got a lot of clean-up to do." http://news.yahoo.com/2-dead-violent-storm-lashes-great-smokies-104907386.html http://news.yahoo.com/2-dead-violent-storm-lashes-great-smokies-104907386.html British Airways wants to give its customers a more personalized travel experience by creating dossiers on them, and many have raised questions about the privacy implications in doing this. The information will include not only data the airline already possesses — like previous complaints or delays — but also information from Google Image searches. Theoretically, the flight crew can apologize for mistakes and be able to identify passengers in order to do so. “We’re essentially trying to recreate the feeling of recognition you get in a favourite restaurant when you’re welcomed there, but in our case it will be delivered by thousands of staff to millions of customers. This is just the start — the system has a myriad of possibilities for the future,” Jo Boswell, head of customer analysis at BA, told the London Evening Standard. SEE ALSO: Airline Introduces Electronic Tags to Locate Baggage Check out the video above to learn more about the program. Do you think this is a smart business initiative, or should the airline ask for your personal information instead? Tell us in the comments what you think. http://mashable.com/2012/07/06/british-airways-google/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29 http://mashable.com/2012/07/06/british-airways-google/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City's efforts to make a good impression for the rest of the world are bittersweet for residents of some inner-city neighborhoods who are asking why it took a baseball game to get city officials to do something about blight they say has been ignored for decades. For months, city workers and volunteers have been cleaning up areas before Major League Baseball's All-Star Game activities were scheduled to begin Friday. Code enforcement officers have been hounding residents since early spring to tidy up their properties, and dozens of dilapidated homes were hastily being torn down ahead of the Midsummer Classic on Tuesday night. Hosting its first All-Star game in nearly 40 years, the city has been scrambling to present a positive image not just to TV viewers but thousands of out-of-town fans expected to be in Kansas City over the next several days. The event will provide a much-needed financial boost and city officials acknowledge there's a lot at stake for a community struggling to establish itself as a Midwestern entertainment and business hub. The spotlight brings a special challenge for Kansas City. Super Bowls and All-Star Games are often held in arenas or stadiums that are either near downtown or next to tightly controlled developments of hotels and restaurants, usually within walking distance. That's not the case in Kansas City, where Kauffman Stadium is miles from downtown and many of the city's entertainment districts and events associated with Tuesday's game. Some events are being held in the city's toughest ZIP codes, prompting the city-sponsored demolitions and pleas from city officials. "Clean up your property," City Manager Troy Schulte said of the message to residents. "They've had no qualms about it. Kansas City residents are putting their best foot forward." While many are glad the work is being done, some take it as an insult that the improvements are more for the benefit of out-of-towners. "The conversation is, 'Why did it take this?'" said Pat Clarke, executive director of a local activist group PAC 20. "This is something that needed to be done a long time ago." On Monday, as a demolition crew was tearing down an abandoned house near Cleveland Park — one of four community ballparks where the RBI Classic youth baseball and softball tournaments will be held over four days — Clarke noted the home's history. "For years, drugs were run out of that house," he said. "Also in that one across the street, and in a vacant lot a few blocks over, with the Boys Club right behind it." Schulte said 32 homes in neighborhoods near the ball complexes and along the route to Kauffman Stadium are being torn down ahead of the game. They are among the roughly 125 abandoned homes the city plans to tear down this year, he said. Overall, there are about 800 structures on the city's list of dangerous properties that need to be fixed or torn down. Partially as a result of preparing for the All-Star activities, Schulte said, the city is moving from a scattershot approach in dealing with blighted homes to one that is more neighborhood-based. "We typically choose them randomly, just kind of hit the worst ones around town," Schulte said. "Now we're trying to move toward a more consolidated effort. The All-Star game was a perfect catalyst." Clarke, who grew up in the area and played baseball at Cleveland Park more than 30 years ago, said he thinks people who attend the youth tournaments will be safe during the daylight hours, when games will be played. At night? Not so much. "Is it safe? This is the 64130," he said, referring to a ZIP code dubbed three years ago by The Kansas City Star as "the Murder Factory" because of the number of homicides that historically take place there. "It's the east side. I don't think there's anything to worry about as far as the ballgames, but I'm not going to say some cars won't be broken into." Kansas City police have spent nearly a year getting a security plan in place, receiving assistance from local, state and federal agencies, Maj. Rich Lockhart said. Security around all of the activities, including the RBI tournaments, will be tight. "There is going to be a lot of police presence, which we see as a deterrent to try to disrupt anything bad," he said. "A lot of things that are in place people can see, but others they can't." Brandon Ellington, a state House member whose district includes much of the east side, said it's an insult that the city is providing so much police presence and worrying so much about the appearance of urban neighborhoods for the sake of strangers. "I think it's a travesty," he said. "The only time these poor neighborhoods get any treatment at all is when out-of-towners come to the city. It's a lot like China before the Olympics. The infrastructure repair they're doing now is only so the east side we know won't be seen by out-of-towners." http://news.yahoo.com/kcs-star-game-cleanup-efforts-rankle-122323470--finance.html http://news.yahoo.com/kcs-star-game-cleanup-efforts-rankle-122323470--finance.html Pioneers journeying westward in the 19th century looked to the 800-foot tall Scotts Bluff as a landmark. http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2012-07-06/National-Park-Guide-Nebraskas-Scotts-Bluff/56044914/1?csp=34travel&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomTravel-TopStories+%28Travel+-+Top+Stories%29 http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2012-07-06/National-Park-Guide-Nebraskas-Scotts-Bluff/56044914/1?csp=34travel&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomTravel-TopStories+%28Travel+-+Top+Stories%29 Violent thunderstorms have slammed into parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and nearby communities in East Tennessee. http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/story/2012-07-06/severe-storms-tennessee/56054628/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29 http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/story/2012-07-06/severe-storms-tennessee/56054628/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29 British Airways is using Google Images to develop passenger dossiers for checking people out as they come through the gate. Now that’s what you call customer service. At least that’s British Airways spin. Privacy advocates have a different take. According to The Evening Standard, the airline is facing considerable backlash today after it announced a plan to launch a program called “Know Me.” The new intelligence tool uses Google Images to find pictures of passengers for staff to use so they can approach them as they arrive at the terminal or plane. In many respects, British Airways is doing what they have been told to do. Go to any vendor conference these days and you will hear executives talk about the power of social. A favorite theme: how to draw analysis from customer data, social streams and the Web. That’s exactly what British Airways is doing. The plan is to collect data from its own systems and that from Google and other sources. Here’s what Jo Boswell, head of customer analysis at BA had to say: “We’re essentially trying to recreate the feeling of recognition you get in a favourite restaurant when you’re welcomed there, but in our case it will be delivered by thousands of staff to millions of customers. This is just the start — the system has a myriad of possibilities for the future.” Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research said in an interview today that it’s pretty basic.This would all be okay if passengers had some clue about what personal data British Airways planned to use. “Before you put a program together like KnowMe it’s only right to ask passengers for permission first,” Wang said in an interview today. “Otherwise it’s borderline creepy.” British Airways maintains it is developing a service that will allow it to offer a new level of personal service. But without trust, there is nothing. “When companies and brands seek to put new customer experiences together, they have to figure out how their customers wish to be engaged,” Wang said. ”They should also give customers control over what data they want to share and what data the company has on them. That’s how you build trust. and trust is the new social currency.” http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/05/british-airways-borders-on-creepy-with-know-me-google-identity-check/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/05/british-airways-borders-on-creepy-with-know-me-google-identity-check/