MSN Concert Contest

NAWA, Afghanistan — U.S. Marines pushed deeper into Taliban areas of southern Afghanistan on Friday, seeking to cut insurgent supply lines and win over local elders on the second day of the biggest U.S. military operation here since the American-led invasion of 2001.
On the other side of the border, U.S. missiles struck a Pakistani Taliban militant training center and communications center, killing 17 people and wounding nearly 30, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
Both U.S. operations were aimed at what President Barack Obama considers as the biggest dangers in the region: a resurgent Taliban-led insurgency allied with al-Qaida that threatens both nuclear-armed Pakistan and the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan.
The 4,000-strong U.S. force met little resistance Friday as troops fanned out into villages in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, although one Marine was killed and several others were wounded the day before, U.S. officials said.
Despite minimal contact, the Marines could see militants using flashlights late Thursday to signal one another about American troop movements.
Military spokesman Capt. Bill Pelletier said the goal of the Helmand operation was not simply to kill Taliban fighters but to win over the local population — a difficult task in a region where foreigners are viewed with suspicion.
Marines also hope to cut the routes used by militants to funnel weapons, ammunition and fighters from Pakistan to the Taliban, which mounted an increasingly violent insurgency since its hard-line Islamist government was toppled in 2001 by an international coalition.
The new U.S. operation will test the Obama administration's new strategy of holding territory to let the Afghan government establish a presence in rural areas where Taliban influence is strong.
As Operation Khanjar, or "Strike of the Sword," entered its second day, Marines took control of the district centers of Nawa and Garmser, and negotiated entry into Khan Neshin, the capital of Rig district, Pelletier said.
In Nawa, Marines met with about 20 Afghan men and boys, seeking to reassure them that the Americans wanted to protect them from the Taliban.
"Are you going to enter our houses?" asked Mohammad Nabi, 25, who was there with five of his younger brothers. "We are afraid that you will leave, and the Taliban will come back."
They also complained that local police were thieves not to be trusted.
Marine officers promised not to enter homes and said they would remain in the area to keep out the Taliban.
One elder with a gray beard asked the Marines whether they would prevent residents from saying Muslim prayers. The troops assured him they would not.
In one village near Nawa, however, the atmosphere was tense.
"When we asked if they had a village elder or mullah for the American commander to talk to, the answer was no," said Capt. Drew Schoenmaker, a Marine company commander. "It's fear of reprisal. Fear and intimidation is one thing the enemy does very well."
Taking territory from the Taliban has always proved easier than holding it. The challenge is especially great in Helmand because it is a center of Afghanistan's thriving opium production, and drug profits feed both the insurgency and corrupt government officials.
On Wednesday, a British lieutenant colonel was killed in an explosion in Helmand. Lt. Col. Rupert Thorneloe, commander of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was the highest-ranking British officer killed in Afghanistan.

A Canadian soldier, 30-year-old Cpl. Nicholas Bulger, was killed Friday in Kandahar province after his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device, the Canadian military said. Five other soldiers were hurt.

The missile attacks in Pakistan on Friday occurred about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) east of Helmand in the rugged South Waziristan region, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

The area is a Taliban stronghold close to the Afghan border where Pakistani troops are gearing up for a major offensive.

Two missiles struck an abandoned seminary in the village of Mantoi used as a training base by militants from Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud's group, the officials said. In the other strike, one missile hit an insurgent communications center in the nearby village of Kokat Khel, they said.

In total, 17 people were killed and 27 others were wounded, they said.

However, Maulvi Noor Syed, an aide to Mehsud, told The Associated Press that only three Taliban fighters died in the strikes.

Also Friday, U.S. troops continued looking for an American soldier believed captured by insurgents, Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo said. The soldier and three Afghans with him went missing on Tuesday in the eastern Paktika province

There was no immediate public claim of responsibility from any insurgent group. Much of the area is controlled by the Taliban faction led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, whom the U.S. has accused of masterminding beheadings and suicide bombings including the July 2008 attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul that killed some 60 people.

Also Friday, Russia announced that it will allow the U.S. to ship weapons across its territory to Afghanistan, providing Washington an alternative route to supply its forces in the landlocked country.

Up until now, Russia has allowed the U.S. to ship non-lethal supplies across its territory for operations in Afghanistan, and Kremlin officials had suggested further cooperation was likely.

__

Straziuso reported from Nawa, Brummitt from Islamabad, Pakistan. Associated Press reporters Fisnik Abrashi, Amir Shah and Noor Khan also contributed to this report from Kabul.

LOS ANGELES – Madonna is paying tribute to Michael Jackson in the same arena where he was to stage his great comeback.
The superstar is preparing a special part of her concert Saturday at O2 arena. Madonna publicist Liz Rosenberg says she is going to unveil a special choreographed dance in honor of Jackson.
Michael Jackson was to perform his comeback concerts at O2 starting July 13. He died last week at 50. He had been rehearsing for those shows in his final days.

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as Aesthetics.

The definition and evaluation of art has become especially problematic since the early 20th century. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist, whereby aesthetic quality is an absolute value independent of any human view; the Objectivist, whereby it is also an absolute value, but is dependent on general human experience; and the Relativist position, whereby it is not an absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience of different humans. An object may be characterized by the intentions, or lack thereof, of its creator, regardless of its apparent purpose. A cup, which ostensibly can be used as a container, may be considered art if intended solely as an ornament, while a painting may be deemed craft if mass-produced.

http://www.mywhitewalls.com/v/canvas-art.html

RALEIGH, N.C. – A longtime loyalist and aide to two-time Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards spent the day in a federal courthouse Wednesday amid an investigation into how his former boss spent campaign funds. With his lawyer at his side, Andrew Young walked into the building in Raleigh shortly before 8:30 a.m., simply smiling at a reporter and declining to talk. He did not leave through a public entrance, and his attorney, David Geneson, didn't return repeated calls from AP.
A few months before the crucial 2008 caucuses in Iowa, where Edwards placed second to eventual President Barack Obama, Young publicly declared that he was the father of Rielle Hunter's baby. Edwards has admitted to an affair with Hunter that he says ended in 2006. That year, Edwards' political action committee paid Hunter's video production firm $100,000 for work. Then the committee paid another $14,086 on April 1, 2007.
Edwards, a North Carolina senator from 1998 until his vice presidential bid in 2004, acknowledged earlier this year that federal investigators are looking into how he used campaign funds. Grand jury proceedings are secret, and the U.S. attorney's office in Raleigh has declined to confirm or deny an investigation.
Young hasn't spoken publicly since saying he was the father in 2007 and has repeatedly ignored reporter requests for interviews.
John Murphy, a spokesman with St. Martin's Press, said Young signed a book deal with the publisher last week. He declined to discuss the details of the agreement or the book.
"We don't even have a writer yet. The book is way off in the future," Murphy said. "We've signed a very strict confidentiality (agreement)."
Edwards adamantly denied during his confessional interview with ABC News last summer that he had fathered Hunter's child, and he welcomed a paternity test. But his wife, Elizabeth, has said while promoting her book that she doesn't know if her husband is the father.
Young got his last campaign paycheck in the middle of November, a month before he and Hunter publicly declared through attorneys that he was the father. Fred Baron, who was Edwards' national finance chairman and a wealthy Dallas-based trial attorney, said last year he quietly sent money to Hunter and to Young's family to resettle in California.
Baron, who died following complications from cancer just a few months after Edwards acknowledged the affair, said he provided the money on his own, to "help two friends and former colleagues rebuild their lives when harassment by supermarket tabloids made it impossible for them to move forward on their own."
At the time of the April 2007 payment, the PAC only had $7,932 cash on hand, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission. What made the distribution possible was that on the same day, according to the records, Edwards' presidential campaign paid the PAC $14,034 for a "furniture purchase."
That money was one of just five contributions to the political action committee for the entire three months from April 1 to June 30, 2007. The other four were on June 30, the last day of the reporting period, including a $3,000 contribution from Baron's wife, Lisa.

WASHINGTON – Hardly a bank bailout hearing goes by in Congress without a lawmaker raising a question on behalf of constituent banks that have applied for federal assistance from the government's financial bailout fund.
Now, the case of Sen. Daniel Inouye and his office's inquiry to a federal regulator regarding a Hawaii bank is drawing new attention to the role lawmakers are playing in the government's decisions on how to divvy up the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Constituent service or undue influence?
In Inouye's case, the Hawaii Democrat was also one of the founders of the bank, Central Pacific Financial. And while he holds no official position with it, he is a shareholder who has watched the value of his stock in the bank drop precipitously.
According to Inouye's office, a legislative assistant placed a call last fall to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the bank's regulator, to ask whether the agency had received the bank's application for TARP money.
The inquiry by Inouye's office was first reported Tuesday by The Washington Post.
In a statement, Inouye said his aide simply left a voicemail message with the FDIC and did not speak to anyone at the agency.
"This single phone call was the entire extent of my staff's contact with regard to Central Pacific Bank, to any outside agency," Inouye's statement said.
Inouye's office said an FDIC official called back days later and left a voicemail message saying the application was still under review.
The bank announced in December that its application for $135 million in TARP funds had been approved.
"We did not ask for any preferential treatment in this process," bank spokesman Andrew Rosen said Wednesday. He said the bank briefed Hawaii's congressional delegation about its application "as a normal course of business."
Rosen said that thanks to the additional capital the bank this year is on track to exceed the amount of home loans it originated last year.
Numerous lawmakers have pressed regulators and the Treasury Department to act on the applications of banks that serve their districts or communities. The Ohio congressional delegation complained loudly last year when Treasury declined to give TARP funds to National City Bank, a longtime Cleveland institution.
OneUnited of Massachusetts received $12 million in federal funds in December after Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, contacted regulators and included in legislation a provision that assisted the bank. Before that, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., had organized a meeting with regulators and executives of minority-owned banks, including OneUnited, a bank in which Waters' husband has invested.
Earlier this year, Neel Kashkari, then the Treasury official in charge of the TARP program, faced questions during a congressional hearing about news reports suggesting that Treasury was getting political pressure.
"We do get calls from members (of Congress). We do get calls from governors who are concerned about their districts or their businesses, et cetera," he said. But he said those calls usually are referred to agencies that regulate the institutions.
"I feel very confident in saying there is no undue influence at Treasury," Kashkari said then.
Neil Barofsky, the inspector general overseeing the TARP money, is preparing a report on Treasury's guidelines and procedures for distributing the funds. The review includes an examination of whether there has been any undue outside influence on Treasury, including from lobbyists or politicians. The report could be ready by the end of the month, a spokeswoman said.

This idea came from common law, and the earliest conception of a criminal act involved events of such major significance that the "State" had to usurp the usual functions of the civil tribunals, and direct a special law or privilegium against the perpetrator. All the earliest English criminal trials involved wholly extraordinary and arbitrary courts without any settled law to apply, whereas the civil (delictual) law operated in a highly developed and consistent manner (except where a King wanted to raise money by selling a new form of writ). The development of the idea that the "State" dispenses justice in a court only emerges in parallel with or after the emergence of the concept of sovereignty.

Indeed, despite everything, the majority of natural-law theorists have accepted the idea of enforcing the prevailing morality as a primary function of the law. This view entails the problem that it makes any moral criticism of the law impossible in that, if conformity with natural law forms a necessary condition for legal validity, all valid law must, by definition, be morally just. Thus, on this line of reasoning, the legal validity of a norm necessarily entails its moral justice.

Criminal Records

Plus Size Lingerie

An envelope is a packaging product, usually made of flat material such as paper or cardboard, and designed to contain a flat object, which in a postal-service context is usually a letter, card or bills. The traditional type is made from a sheet of paper cut to one of three shapes: the rhombus (also referred to as a lozenge or diamond), the short-arm cross, and the kite. These designs ensure that in the course of envelope manufacture when the sides of the sheet are folded about a delineated central rectangular area, a rectangular-faced, usually oblong, enclosure is formed with an arrangement of four flaps on the reverse side, which, by virtue of the shapes of sheet traditionally used, is inevitably symmetrical.

In 1876 William Irwin Martin published the Stationer's Handbook. He worked for the Samuel Raynor & Company in New York. He created the first commercial sizes of envelopes and simply numbered them from 0 through 12.

Custom Envelope Printing

ANNANDALE, Va. – President Barack Obama wanted to put a human face on his plans to overhaul health care, and a Virginia woman did just that Wednesday.
Fighting back tears, Debby Smith, 53, told Obama of her kidney cancer and her inability to obtain health insurance or hold a job. The president hugged her — she's a volunteer for his political operation — and called her "exhibit A" in an unsustainable system that is too expensive and complex for millions of Americans.
"We are going to try to find ways to help you immediately," he told Smith as hundreds looked on at a community college forum — and countless others watched on television. But the nation's long-term needs require a greater emphasis on preventive care and "cost-effective care," he said.
Smith, of Appalachia, Va., is a volunteer for Organizing for America, Obama's political operation within the Democratic National Committee. She obtained her ticket through the White House.
The health care changes that Obama called for Wednesday would reshape the nation's medical landscape. He says he wants to cover nearly 50 million uninsured Americans, to persuade doctors to stress quality over quantity of care, to squeeze billions of dollars from spending.
But details on exactly how to do those things were generally lacking in his hour-long town hall forum before a supportive audience in a Washington suburb. The lingering questions underscore the tough negotiations awaiting Congress, the administration and dozens of special interest groups in the coming months. Lawmakers will return to debating the issue when they return from a one-week recess on Monday.
Some of Obama's questioners Wednesday were from friendly sources, including a member of the Service Employees International Union and a member of Health Care for America Now, which organized a Capitol Hill rally last week calling for an overhaul.
Obama made no new proposals at the sometimes emotional event. But he vigorously defended his plans while fielding seven questions from the live audience at the forum and on the Internet.
The president would bar insurance companies from turning down applicants because of their "pre-existing conditions." He would establish health care exchanges that would spread the costs of treating patients such as Smith over a large number of people.
Obama called for shifting huge sums of money from current health care spending to new goals. About two-thirds of the overall new costs "will come from reallocating money that is already being spent in the health care system but isn't being spent wisely," he said.
He restated his pledge to cut $177 billion over the next decade from Medicare Advantage insurance plans. And he noted that doctors, hospitals, corporations and others have pledged to decrease the annual rate of spending growth by 1.5 percent, or $2 trillion over 10 years.
Such savings are not guaranteed, however, and many Republican lawmakers say Obama's plans will prove too costly.
"The biggest thing we can do to hold down costs is to change the incentives of a health care system that automatically equates expensive care with better care," the president said. He said the formula system drives up costs "but doesn't make you better."
Obama did not make specific recommendations for changing the incentive formulas.
One questioner said limits on awards from medical malpractice lawsuits would bring down health care costs.
Obama replied, "I don't like the idea of an artificial cap" on such awards for a patient's injuries. He also said there was little evidence that various states' efforts to limit such awards have uniformly brought down costs.
Obama said, however, that he is working with the American Medical Association to explore ways to reduce liability for doctors and hospitals "when they've done nothing wrong." He offered no specifics for a problem that has vexed the medical and legal industries for decades.
The president repeatedly said the current health care system is not acceptable and must be overhauled this year. He urged the audience, which included people following on Facebook and YouTube, to reject critics who say his plans are too costly or a step toward socialized medicine.

Obama said a government-run "single-payer" health care system works well in some countries. But it is not appropriate in the United States, he said, because so many people get insurance through their employers working with private companies.

Still, he again called for a government-run "public option" to compete with private insurers, a plan that many Republicans oppose.

Some of the first Internet-only commercial radio stations emerged in 1995. NetRadio "was one of the Internet's original Webcasters," eventually "streaming more than 100 channels including both music and spoken material." Nonetheless, NetRadio Corporation ceased operations in 2001.

US Internet broadcasters organized a nationwide coalition to oppose the rate hike and in support of the Internet Radio Equality Act. On June 26, many of them participated in a "Day of Silence" — either shutting off their audio streams entirely, or replacing their streams with static, ocean sounds or other ambience, interspersed with brief public service announcements — to focus attention on the consequences of the impending rate hike.

http://www.gracedigitalaudio.com/duploads/mini-sites/IR1000B/grace-wireless-internet-radio.html

During the 20th century, the popularity of cosmetics increased rapidly.[citation needed] Especially in the United States, cosmetics are used by girls at an increasingly young age.[citation needed] Many companies[who?] have catered to this expanding market by introducing more flavored lipsticks and glosses, cosmetics packaged in glittery, sparkly packaging and marketing and advertising using young models.[citation needed] The social consequences of younger and younger beautification has had much attention in the media over the last few years.

While there is assurance from the largest cosmetic companies that their various ingredients are safe to use, there is a growing preference for cosmetics that are without any "synthetic" ingredients, especially those derived from petroleum. Once a niche market, certified organic products are becoming more mainstream. New cosmetics using organogels that are water free, perservative free and surfactant free have recently been developed that contain natural products. Cosmetics that use an organogel base are suitable for use by persons with sensitive skin.

visit

LOS ANGELES – A judge ruled Wednesday that Katherine Jackson will retain limited control of 2,000 items from Neverland until another hearing is held Monday.
Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff called for a speedy compromise between attorneys for Katherine Jackson and the two co-executors of Michael Jackson's will — lawyer John Branca and John McClain, a music executive and a family friend.
"I would like the family to sit down and try to make this work so that we don't have a difficult time in court," the judge said.
On Monday, Beckloff granted Katherine Jackson "slim" authority to take control of the items that had been slated for auction earlier this year. The sale was stopped after Jackson sued.
Katherine Jackson, 79, does not have the court's authority to manage her son's financial interests.
Her attorneys wrote in a court filing on Monday that the Neverland memorabilia is being held by a former Jackson representative. Beckloff said Wednesday he thought it was a valid concern that some of those items might go missing.
Still, Branca and McClain moved quickly to try to overturn Katherine Jackson's authority, saying it was granted on the mistaken assumption that Jackson died without a valid will.
Earlier, the men presented a five-page, typed will that named Katherine Jackson as the guardian of her son's three children and their estates.
But control of a trust that will control Michael Jackson's estate — estimated at more than $500 million — goes to Branca and McClain in the will.
Jackson's children, ranging in ages from 7 to 12, are named as beneficiaries of a trust.
Paul Gordon Hoffman, an attorney for Branca and McClain, told Beckloff his clients are the proper people to take over Jackson's financial affairs.
He said Katherine Jackson's attorneys had already overstepped their authority.
Another attorney for the executors, Jeryll S. Cohen, told Beckloff that Branca and McClain could negotiate a deal this week to minimize a hit to Jackson's estate from the refund of an estimated $85 million in tickets sold for a series of London concerts.
Michael Jackson had been in the late stages of preparing for those concerts when he abruptly died in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Beckloff urged attorneys for Branca and McClain to meet with Katherine Jackson's attorneys over the weekend. A hearing on Monday will deal with the estate.
The judge said he saw no urgency to give the executors authority over the Neverland items this week.
___
Associated Press writer Jacob Adelman in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Live Food

Mealworms are the larva form of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle. Like all holometabolic insects, they go through four life-stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Larvae typically measure about 2.5 cm or more, whereas adults are generally between 1.25 and 1.8 cm in length.

Mealworm beetles (darkling beetles) are prolific breeders. Mating is a three step process: 1) The male gives chase until the female relents. 2) The male then mounts the female and curls his genitals (aedagus) underneath himself and inserts it into her genital tract. 3) The male then injects a packet of semen into the female. Dependent on incubation temperature, just days after mating the female will burrow into soft ground and lays about 500 eggs.

Los Angeles (E! Online) –
Debbie Rowe and Dr. Arnold Klein are officially mum.

Rowe, Michael Jackson's ex-wife and mother to at least two of his children, has kept rather quiet given all the rumors and theories regarding both the paternity and maternity of the kids. She didn't even comment yesterday when Jackson matriach Katherine received temporary custody over Prince Michael, Paris and Prince Michael II (aka Blanket) and sought to make it permanent.

Apparently, she won't be speaking up anytime soon.

"It would be inappropriate at the present time for Debbie or her counsel to make any comment or to grant any interview requests," Rowe's team of lawyers from Browne Woods George LLP tells E! News. "Debbie remains grief stricken. Her thoughts are with the children and all of the Jackson family. To the extent she must respond to court proceedings that were started by others, she will of course do so at the appropriate time."

By saying Rowe will respond to "proceedings that were started by others," the lawyers may be suggesting that she herself will not be filing a custodial motion.

Klein, the King of Pop's longtime dermatologist, also has remained reclusive since Us Weekly reported he may be the true father of the Jackson children.
"Dr. Klein is aware of media reports connecting him to Michael Jackson," his lawyer, Richard L. Charnley, tells E! News.

"Because of patient confidentiality Dr. Klein will make no statement on any reports or allegations. Out of respect for his patients and adherence to federal HIPAA regulations, Dr. Klein asks that the media not contact his patients nor interfere with their medical treatments. Like millions of Michael's fans around the world, Dr. Klein is saddened by Michael's death and extends his condolences to Michael's family."

Additionally, Charnley claims his client has not spoken with the LAPD regarding Jackson's death.

"Dr. Klein has not been contacted by any governmental agency with request for an interview," he tells E! News.

Klein's staff told reporters camped outside his Los Angeles mansion that he was not home and did not wish to talk to anyone.

"You're wasting your time," one said, despite one news crew claiming that they saw the doctor arrive at the house and believing him to be holed up inside.

"He's very elusive," a neighbor tells E! News. "He's nice but he likes his privacy."

The neighbor also claims Jackson and the children have visited several times, but not in the past year. Ditto for Rowe, who was once the doctor's nurse.

That surrounding resident did make one very curious point, claiming that the skin man was also Jackson's plastic surgeon.

"Yeah, he did his nose," she tells E! News.

According to another adjacent home owner, the doctor, who has never been married and does not have any children, has an entire suite of his house dedicated to the icon.

"It's where Jackson stays when he visits him," the neighbor tells E! News. "It's a huge suite with a bunch of Jackson's clothes, a white glove and an Andy Warhol painting of Jackson."

This neighbor also claims the doc has a large staff of at least nine people and that multiple black Rolls-Royces use the driveway daily.

"He's a very powerful man," the nabe blabs. "He has a ton of celebrity clients."

—Reporting by Whitney English and Jessica Gysin

··· THEY SAID WHAT? Get today's most commented stories now at www.eonline.com

MADRID (AFP) –
Real Madrid's new 'Galactico' signing Kaka received a triumphant welcome from tens of thousands of fans as he was presented at the club's stadium on Tuesday.

"I want to write my name into the history of this club," the Brazilian midfielder told the crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the Spanish capital.

Kaka showed off his new "number eight" shirt, which he took over from Argentinian Fernando Gago, who now takes the "number five."

The Brazilian, whose full name is Ricardo Izecson Dos Santos Leite, was signed for 65 million euros from AC Milan in early June.

Real president Florentino Perez praised Kaka as "one of the best players in the world", for his "impeccable behaviour" and as "one of the icons of our time."

The 80,000-capacity stadium appeared mostly full for the presentation, with many of the fans waving Brazilians flags.

The 27-year-old Kaka signed a six-year contract worth nine million euros a year.

He arrived in Madrid earlier on Tuesday with his father from South Africa, where he won the Confederations Cup with Brazil. He later passed a medical exam at the club.

Another of the so-called "new Galacticos" at the club, Cristiano Ronaldo, was signed from Manchester United for a world record 93 million euros, and will be presented to the supporters on July 6.

"It will be a privilege to play with Ronaldo, there will be no rivalry," Kaka told a news conference.

Perez, who returned as president of Real last month, said he wants Real "to one day be elected the best in history."

He first led Real from 2000 to 2006, when it earned the nickname "Los Galacticos", winning the Primera Liga twice and European Champions League with such stars as Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, David Beckham and Michael Owen.

NEW YORK (Reuters) –
General Motors Corp's chief executive told a U.S. bankruptcy court on Tuesday that the sale of GM's main assets to government-backed "New GM" must win court approval in order for the iconic automaker to survive.

Fritz Henderson told the court that if the sale is not approved by July 10 and GM loses access to government funding, the company would be forced to liquidate. He testified on the first day of a hearing at which the automaker is seeking court approval for the sale just 30 days after filing for Chapter 11.

"Business is doing better" at GM, Henderson said, as customers, suppliers, workers and others anticipate the completion of a successful deal. He added that the automaker had originally hoped to repay its loans to the government and restructure outside of bankruptcy.

Henderson also discussed the ouster of former GM CEO Rick Wagoner, saying that Wagoner told him that he had been asked to step down by Steve Rattner, head of the Obama administration's autos task force.

The GM sale hearing, before Judge Robert Gerber, is expected to continue for at least two days, as the company faces objections and questions from its creditors committee, a group of dissenting bondholders, those with liability and asbestos claims against the company, as well as unions and dealerships.

A lawyer for GM, Harvey Miller of Weil Gotshal & Manges, opened the proceeding by noting the company had made progress on some of the objections about tort claims and state tax claims, but that others were still unresolved.

If the deal is approved, GM will be able to sell its best assets, including Chevrolet and Cadillac, under Section 363 of the bankruptcy code to a "New GM" while the U.S. Treasury would provide billions of dollars in financing.

GM's old assets would remain behind in bankruptcy court to be liquidated.

BIG WIN FOR U.S. AUTOS TASK FORCE

A successful sale would mark the second big victory for the Obama administration's autos task force, which earlier this month also helped broker the sale of Chrysler LLC to a group led by Italy's Fiat SpA. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for that deal to go through on June 9.

Outside the Manhattan courthouse, about 75 union-affiliated protesters carried placards and chanted "Save our benefits."

No competing bidders have emerged as an alternative to the U.S. government's $60 billion financing for GM, including a proposed equity investment of $50 billion that would give the U.S. Treasury a 60 percent ownership stake.

Under the plan, the United Auto Workers union would gain a 17.5 percent stake in New GM, the Canadian government would own about 12 percent, and GM bondholders are expected to get about 10 percent.

GM has said more than 50 percent of its bondholders support the deal, but a group of small bondholders mounted a challenge to the sale in court on Tuesday.

Several other individual bondholders have filed objections to the sale, along with the state of Texas which contends the sale illegally challenges state laws on dealerships, and a group representing about 300 Americans with lawsuits against GM for alleged product defects.

GM, however, resolved a key objection from nine state attorneys general over the weekend, saying New GM would accept liability for future product defects. The company also said it would address objections raised by more than 20 of its parts suppliers.

The case is In re: General Motors Corp, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 09-50026.

(Reporting by Emily Chasan and Caroline Humer, editing by Matthew Lewis)

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Democrat Al Franken should be certified the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, paving the way for the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian to be seated after an almost eight-month fight.
The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining his Senate seat are dwindling, saying Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to assume office.
"We affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under (Minnesota law) to receive the certificate of election as United States senator from the state of Minnesota," the court wrote in its 5-0 ruling.
Franken's presence in the Senate would give the Democrats control of 60 seats, enough to overcome any Republican filibuster if they stay united.
Coleman, whose appeal hinged largely on whether thousands of absentee votes had been unfairly rejected by local election officials around the state, hasn't ruled out seeking federal court intervention. He has 10 days before the ruling takes effect in which to point out any errors related to the court's interpretation of law, facts or material questions in the case.
The court wrote that "because the legislature established absentee voting as an optional method of voting, voters choosing to use that method are required to comply with the statutory provisions."
They went on to say that "because strict compliance with the statutory requirements for absentee voting is, and always has been required, there is no basis on which voters could have reasonably believed that anything less than strict compliance would suffice."
The earliest Franken would be seated is next week because the Senate is out of session for the July 4 holiday, said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose signature is needed on the election certificate, has said repeatedly he would sign it if ordered to do so by the court, most recently in an interview Sunday with CNN. But the governor has been less clear on what he would do if the order was vague, and the court's ruling Tuesday said only that Franken was "entitled" to the certificate.
Reid said Pawlenty should respect the votes of his constituents and the court and seat Franken.
The election certificate also requires the signature of Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. Ritchie, a Democrat, said he views Tuesday's ruling as a direction to sign the certificate, and that he would do so "as soon as the governor issues it." He said he hasn't spoken with Pawlenty and wasn't aware that the governor was out of the state at a conference in Washington.
Coleman could bring a new lawsuit in federal court or petition the U.S. Supreme Court to examine the case. And he also could ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling.
But it's highly doubtful Coleman would be able to convince a federal court to overturn the Minnesota court's ruling, said Ohio State University election law expert Ned Foley.
"This is essentially, as a practical matter, the end of the road," Foley said.
Both Coleman and Franken, a former Saturday Night Live star making the leap from life as a liberal author and radio talker to the Senate, planned news conferences in Minnesota later Tuesday to address the ruling.
A spokesman for Pawlenty said he would issue a statement after Coleman's news conference.
Franken declared his candidacy more than two years ago, and he and Coleman have combined to spend $50 million in pursuit of the seat. That's more than double what it cost candidates in 2002, when Coleman won the seat that had been held by the late Paul Wellstone.
In the months since Election Day, both men have kept comparatively low profiles. After Coleman's term expired in January, he took a job as a consultant and strategic adviser to the Republican Jewish Coalition, a group that advocates in Washington on Jewish issues.

But Coleman also frequently appeared at the lower-court proceeding that handled his legal challenge, in contrast to Franken, who stayed away. Aside from some trips to Washington to meet with Reid and other Senate leaders, Franken has spent his time in private, saying he was studying issues to be prepared if seated.

LONDON – The promoter who booked Michael Jackson for a sold-out comeback tour says a tribute show based on his canceled concerts is likely.
Randy Phillips, chief executive of promoter AEG Live, told Britain's Sky News television on Tuesday that the "world needs to see" the production Jackson had been working on.
He says members of the Jackson family, and other world music stars, could take part in a tribute show using routines and sets already created for the scrapped tour.
Phillips says he believes Jackson's comeback would have been one of the best arena shows ever produced. He says a video of Jackson's rehearsals for the tour does exist.
He says Jackson said he believed he was ready for the 50 sold-out performances at London's O2 arena.

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ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. – A boy was arrested over the weekend on charges of stealing from an ambulance while paramedics were treating his mother. The Johnson City Press reported the boy, who was not named because he is a juvenile, was charged with stealing $5,000 in medical supplies. That includes an oxygen tank and an oxygen sensor machine.
He is also accused of stealing a purse belonging to one of the rescue workers and of breaking into a car several hours earlier and stealing credit cards, a cellular phone and a PlayStation portable video game.
The boy was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center in Johnson City.
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Information from: Johnson City Press, http://www.johnsoncitypress.com

ARLINGTON, Wash. – A woman accused of dipping into her ex-husband's bank account without permission blames her dog. Arlington, Wash., police spokeswoman Kristin Banfield said detectives filed court orders to follow the money trail. They learned the money disappearing from the 42-year-old Arlington man's account was being used to pay for utility bills and other items at his ex-wife's home.
Banfield told The Herald that the woman's first response was, "Her dog got into her purse and ate all her personal checks." The 50-year-old woman reportedly told police she had no choice but to take money from her former husband's account.
The women is under investigation for identity theft and forgery.
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Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com

Artificial lighting is most commonly provided today by electric lights, but gas lighting, candles, or oil lamps were used in the past, and still are used in certain situations. Proper lighting can enhance task performance or aesthetics, while there can be energy wastage and adverse health effects of lighting. Indoor lighting is a form of fixture or furnishing, and a key part of interior design. Lighting can also be an intrinsic component of landscaping.

Lighting is the deliberate application of light to achieve some aesthetic or practical effect. Lighting includes use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and natural illumination of interiors from daylight. Daylighting (through windows, skylights, etc.) is often used as the main source of light during daytime in buildings given its low cost. Artificial lighting represents a major component of energy consumption, accounting for a significant part of all energy consumed worldwide.

Exit Lighting

A few animals are sufficiently capable of adapting to human interaction to be considered domesticable. Dogs ("man's best friend") are considered to be a classic example of domesticated animals normally suited to being pets. Domestic dogs are quite similar to wolves, but their physical form and behavior are characteristically different, more than mere differences in size, coat, or coloring. Behaviorally speaking, characteristic changes in dogs due to domestication include a prolonged infancy, increased playfulness, and increased barking. Wolves are far less playful and vocal.

A pet can be acquired from an animal shelter, a breeder, and from private transactions, typically due to the giving away of extra newborns after the birth of a litter. See also pet adoption. Because of environmental and public safety concerns, some pets are illegal in many jurisdictions.

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BARCELONA (Reuters) –
Irish rock group U2 kick off their first tour in three years on Tuesday, playing to 90,000 fans in Barcelona on one of the biggest concert stages ever built.

Over the next four months U2 will perform to an estimated three million fans in 31 cities across Europe and North America, with more dates expected to be announced next year.

The " U2 360 Tour" lives up to its name with a round stage which fans will surround inside FC Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium.

Around 500 ticket holders slept outside the venue on Monday night hoping to grab a spot right by the stage when the doors open, local media reported.

That will be easier this time around, organizers say, with the new stage concept giving more fans a clearer view as well as allowing for more people, meaning lower ticket prices during the recession.

The U2 360 Tour is reported to be the group's most expensive to date, costing an estimated $100 million, but industry experts suggest it could be money well spent.

Live performance is becoming an increasingly important source of revenue for major acts like U2 as sales of physical CDs declines sharply and online piracy remains rampant.

Billboard, an authoritative music industry publication, believes the U2 360 Tour could become one of the highest grossing ever, possibly eclipsing its 2005-6 Vertigo tour which earned the band $389 million.

GRAND STATEMENT

The stage, which takes 120 trucks to transport, is another grand statement from the four rockers who have won more Grammy awards than any other band.

On the Zoo TV tour, huge video screens overloaded fans with flashing images of pop culture. On the PopMart tour lead singer Bono appeared from inside a 12 meter glitterball shaped like a lemon.

The abiding visual memory on this tour is sure to be the "Claw," a four-legged "monster" that towers 50 meters over the band's heads and on which the sound system is mounted.

Bono, plus guitarists The Edge and Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr on drums will be showcasing their 12th studio album, "No Line on the Horizon."

Reviews of the record, which mixes trademark atmospheric guitars with more eclectic sounds from Morocco where it was partly recorded, were generally good, and it went straight to No. 1 in 30 countries including the United States and Britain.

Early sales in the United States, however, were sharply down on those for U2's previous album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," released in 2004.

(Editing by Mike Collett-White and Paul Casciato)

Cap Cana is a tourism development with an investment of upwards of two billion dollars in the eastern lands of the Dominican Republic. This area renown for its great hotels and beaches, lacks exclusivity to the high upper class which Cap Cana hopes, in part, to offer. The area was conceived with the backing both financially and publicly of "elites" such as Donald Trump, Jack Nicklaus, and other holders.

Cap Cana's area includes more than one-hundred and twenty millon square meters of land, of which twenty-five million will be developed in its first phase. It also includes 8 kilometers of beach and coasts, 5 of which are considered to be among the most spectacular in the Caribbean, locally considered to be neck-in-neck to the beaches of Bahia de Las Aguilas (literally, Bay of the Eagles) located in the southwestern municipality of Perdernales- often referred by past visitors as some of the most beautiful in the world.

Cap Cana

NEWPORT, R.I. – Scott Greenberg reached the breaking point of frustration when he was slapped with a $25 ticket for unwittingly leaving his Honda Accord in a spot reserved for Newport residents.
He fired off an angry letter to city officials, calling Newport the "wild west of parking" and expressing a sarcastic gratitude for the warm welcome. He vowed never to return.
"I tried to do it exactly right. I don't want to go on vacation and get aggravated. I go on vacation so I don't get aggravated," Greenberg, 51, who runs a wholesale fishing tackle distributor in Shandaken, N.Y., said in an interview.
Drivers navigating the warren of narrow, one-way streets of downtown Newport have long endured a frustrating, pound-the-dashboard fight for parking, particularly during the peak summer season when the city swells with tourists and the daily demand for spaces — roughly 20,000 — far outpaces the supply of 6,000 downtown public and private spots.
Business leaders, environmentalists and city officials have been brainstorming solutions, discussing in particular a streetcar or trolley system that could link visitors from downtown to beaches, hotels and major attractions like the historic Gilded Age mansions and the Cliff Walk hiking path.
The goal is to not only ease congestion but also appease the more than 3 million annual visitors who are vital to the city's economy.
"To me, parking is the No. 1 issue that impacts quality of business and quality of life in this city," said Keith Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, which is leading the push for a trolley system. "And the future of Newport is tied to a comprehensive management and public transportation plan."
Details like permits and funding haven't been worked out, and the conversations are still preliminary. But the proposal reflects a broader effort to solve a problem that's long bedeviled this colonial city, whose 8-square-miles are already largely built out or protected lands.
The one major parking garage in the downtown isn't well marked. There's no subway system that connects major sites and public buses can get ensnared in traffic.
The chamber has taken steps recently to crystallize a streetcar proposal that has been floated for several years, tallying for the first time the number of available private and public parking spaces in the downtown. It's also been studying alternatives including valet parking, improved signage and expanding existing parking lots.
Stokes said he envisions a trolley system as privately operated and at least partially federally funded.
The chamber and city officials have discussed running it along America's Cup Avenue and Memorial Boulevard, two congested state highways that cut through Newport. Stokes said the system should be environmentally friendly — with rubber tires and natural gas or electricity.
The trolleys would also need a designated lane to avoid getting stuck in traffic, an inconvenience affecting buses operated by Rhode Island's public transit authority.
"Getting them from point A to point B quicker than if they took their vehicle or walked is a necessity for them to ride this people mover," said Paige Bronk, Newport's director of planning, zoning, development and inspection.
Though a modern streetcar system may seem out-of-place with the city's colonial appeal, officials say it could actually be a throwback to the early 20th century, when trolleys operated in the city. Plus, Bronk said, there's nothing quaint about the city's traffic.
"Does four lanes of automobile congestion, is that in keeping with the colonial period? It's not," he said. "Is a highway downtown in keeping with the colonial era? It's not."
The issue is personal to Stokes, a lifelong Newport resident who collects letters from disgruntled visitors. Frustrated drivers overstay at meters or park in spots reserved for residents. Private lots hike up their rates at night, and motorists can get stuck behind a driver inching like a tortoise in a vain pursuit of an open spot.
The city takes in roughly $900,000 a year from parking tickets, said city Finance Director Laura Sitrin.

Locals deal with the problem, too.

"I have a business in town, and people sneak into my parking," said Donna Karlovich, 52, who runs the Historic Hill Inn. "It's tough. I feel for them because there's only so many spots."

Greenberg said Newport shouldn't be a hassle to the same out-of-towners whose business it's trying to court.

"I like that area, I'm just trying to make a point," Greenberg said. "You don't feel welcome when you have to worry about stuff like that."

NEW DELHI (AFP) –
India's cramped, diesel-fired warships are cleaning up their act, or at least their air, by installing purifiers developed by the NASA space agency to clear the fetid, below-decks environment.

Privately-owned Greatwhite Technologies said Tuesday it had already installed AiroCide purifiers in India's ageing aircraft carrier INS Viraat and a frigate, and was equipping three other warships.

The company "is in talks with the Indian navy to have its entire fleet fitted with this technology," the firm said and added the system developed by the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) had other benefits.

"The technology will help protect passengers and crew from airborne diseases like swine flu," said the Mumbai-based company.

The indoor air management system was originally engineered by NASA scientists to expand the shelf life of food in space rockets.

A number of India's warships are of Soviet vintage with poor air-conditioning and their cramped quarters offer little in the way of human comfort.

(Reuters) –
Stock futures pointed to a higher start on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P up 0.4 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.1 percent at 5 a.m. EDT.

In Europe, shares rose for a second straight session on Tuesday and were on track to post the biggest quarterly rise since late 1999, with banks advancing and commodity shares tracking higher crude oil and metals prices.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 860.96 points after rising up to 864.27 points and falling to a low of 858.01. The index closed 1.8 percent higher in the previous session.

American International Group Inc (AIG.N), the insurer rescued by a series of federal bailouts, is set to pad out its shrinking board on Tuesday when a new slate of directors stands for election at its annual meeting.

At 8:55 a.m. EDT is the release of the Redbook weekly U.S. Retail Sales figures for June versus May. In the prior period, sales fell 4.4 percent.

New York NAPM releases June index of regional business activity at 9 a.m. EDT. In the previous month, the index read 361.6.

Standard & Poor's releases its S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index for April at 9 a.m. EDT. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a fall of 1.8 percent versus a 2.2 percent decrease in the previous month.

The Institute of Supply Management Chicago releases June index of manufacturing activity at 9:45 a.m. EDT. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a reading of 39.0 in the month compared with 34.9 in May.

At 10 a.m. EDT the Conference Board releases June consumer confidence. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 55.0 compared with 54.9 in May.

Shares of H&R Block Inc (HRB.N) rose 5 percent after the market close on Monday after the tax preparation company beat expectations for its fourth-quarter results.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday as higher oil prices lifted shares of energy companies and fund managers snapped up this quarter's winners to burnish their portfolios.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) gained 1.08 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 0.91 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 0.32 percent.

(Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the use of wigs fell into abeyance in the West for a thousand years until revived in the 16th century as a means of compensating for hair loss or improving one's personal appearance. They also served a practical purpose: the unhygienic conditions of the time meant that hair attracted head lice, a problem that could be much reduced if natural hair were shaved and replaced with a more easily de-loused artificial hairpiece. Fur hoods were also used in a similar preventative fashion.

3rd September 1665: Up, and put on my coloured silk suit, very fine, and my new periwig, bought a good while since, but darst not wear it because the plague was in Westminster when I bought it. And it is a wonder what will be the fashion after the plague is done as to periwigs, for nobody will dare to buy any haire for fear of the infection? that it had been cut off the heads of people dead of the plague.

Long Wigs

Many sites are broad-based, with members from a variety of backgrounds looking for different types of relationships. Other sites are more specific, based on the type of members, interests, location, or relationship desired.

Termination - The final stage marks the end of the relationship, either by death in the case of a healthy relationship, or by separation.

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