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LOS ANGELES -- There is a story Rep. Henry Waxman during hearings on steroid use in baseball that some say is apocryphal. But I believe it -- and we have been friends for more than 25 years. It is said that after the sensational hearing where Mark McGwire said he did not want to talk about the past, the congressman came into his office the next morning and said he was surprised there was so little coverage in the newspapers.

"It's all over the sports pages," a staffer told him.

"Oh," said Waxman. He has never read the sports pages.

You could say he is some kind of pushy grind. Or you could say he has been the most effective Democratic congressman of his generation.

Last week there were a couple of reasons to assert the latter.

After years of effort, he led the House to finally pass climate change legislation, the 1,400-page "cap and trade" bill. I won't explain it to you because I can't. Only Waxman of California, and maybe his co-sponsor, Edward Markey of Massachusetts, know everything that's in there. If it passes the Senate, it will change the way we live and what we burn to keep on living.

He also wrote a book, which comes out this week: "The Waxman Report: How Congress Really Works." His co-author, Joshua Green, a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine, must be a baseball fan, because they got the sports parts right.

The book is not for everyone, but if you wonder what those folks actually do, the book lives up to its subtitle. That is not to say the Congress is diligent, responsible or effective. Waxman is; most of his colleagues are not. By design or not, the congressman from Beverly Hills shows only that, generally, the Congress is responsive -- to the news of the day.

Waxman, who was first elected in 1974, divides his book into recollections of his long series of legislative triumphs. If timing is everything and determined patience is the secret of success, the book does indeed show how Congress and Waxman work.

Most of the examples he gives of the Congress really rousing itself to discover what he already knows are dependent on chance events that do make the front pages, television, blogs and all the rest. And when those events happen, Waxman is there with years of study and data -- and formidable deal-making skills -- to persuade his colleagues that the time is right.

Example: The Congress, with the approval of President Reagan, does nothing about AIDS legislation until Rock Hudson collapses in the lobby of the Ritz Hotel in Paris, where he had gone to seek medical help not available in the United States. Stating the obvious in the way he talks, Waxman writes: "The shifting nature of the public's interest is an underappreciated force in public policy."

And when that was not quite enough to get the Congress to pass AIDS legislation, the balance was tipped only when they discovered Ryan White, a 13-year-old AIDS victim from Kokomo, Ind. The name of the bill was changed to The Ryan White CARE Act, which became law in 1990.

Example: The Orphan Drug Act, providing research funding for the treatment or cure of diseases suffered by small numbers of Americans. On that one, Waxman enlisted a constituent, Jack Klugman, then the star of "Quincy, M.E.," to do two shows on such "little diseases" and the reluctance of politicians and pharmaceutical companies to pay attention to them.

Example: The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, and other legislation going nowhere until the deadly release of poisons by a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, the Alaskan oil spill by the Exxon Valdez, and medical waste and needles washing up on New Jersey beaches. Each time Waxman was waiting -- and more importantly, ready.

He is an extraordinary legislator is Henry Waxman, a man not only ready, but willing and able. He knows what he's doing, and his patience is a walking argument against term limits in legislative bodies.

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) –
African leaders will consider a resolution Friday to give African Union peacekeepers in Somalia a mandate to do more than just defend themselves from attacks by hardline rebels.

At the moment, the 4,300 troops from Uganda and Burundi in the AMISOM are largely confined to their bases and protect key sites such as the presidential palace, airport and seaport.

"It is suggested that the rules of engagement will have to be revisited so there that will be more flexibility for AMISOM to react to developments on the ground," African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra told reporters.

He said African heads of state would consider the draft resolution Friday afternoon.

The Somali government has been pushing for AMISOM to have a mandate which allows them to help government forces on the ground in their fight against insurgents with links to al Qaeda.

Western nations and Somalia's neighbors worry that if the rebels succeed in toppling the government, the Horn of Africa nation will become a safe haven for al Qaeda training camps and the militants will destabilize the region.

At least 16 people were killed and 30 wounded, according to hospital officials, in a third day of heavy fighting in the north of the capital Mogadishu, taking the death toll since Wednesday to more than 50.

Al Shabaab warned Friday the situation would only get worse if African leaders beefed up the AMISOM mandate.

"If the mandate of African peacekeepers in Somalia now changes into a peace-making mission it will only cause fighting to continue and we shall keep on attacking AMISOM and, God willing, we shall defeat them," spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Raage said in a statement.

The African Union plan has always been to send 8,000 soldiers but pledges of more troops for the AMISOM force have so far failed to result in more boots on the ground.

But with fears growing that the government might fall, African and Western nations are looking at several options to bolster the force with more troops and a tougher mandate.

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed met the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, on Friday at the summit in Libya.

"Carson again confirmed to President Sharif that full U.S. support is ready -- training security forces, logistical and financial assistance -- to stop these extremists taking over Somalia and having a base to destabilize the world," an official with the Somali president told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Ibrahim Mohamed in Mogadish and Abdiaziz Hassan in Nairobi; writing by David Clarke)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) –
Abandoned by Michael Jackson after a humiliating child molestation trial in 2005, the late singer's Neverland Ranch could now become one of the biggest draws in the world as a memorial to the King of Pop.

Jackson's family has said there are no plans for a funeral or burial of his body at the ranch in central California after his death last week.

But the rural playground inspired by Jackson's alter-ego, Peter Pan, would remain an attraction in a region already visited by tourists, and it could rival Elvis Presley's Graceland as a future venue for his millions of fans around the world.

"Michael Jackson has worldwide appeal and probably a stronger fan base than even Elvis. Neverland is a lot larger than Graceland and Los Angeles is a major tourist destination already," said Roger Brooks, CEO of tourism company Destination Development International.

"Neverland embodied who Michael Jackson was -- the good and the bad. I think it could draw about one million visitors a year," Brooks told Reuters.

Los Angeles-based private equity firm Colony Capital bought the ranch in 2008 in a joint venture with Jackson when he went $24 million in arrears on his mortgage. Colony said "any discussion on the future of the property is premature."

But there has been a burst of activity around the ranch in recent days as fans gathered to mourn and place flowers at its iron gates, and TV pictures have shown moving vans and landscape workers going in and out of the property northwest of Los Angeles.

"If Elvis Presley has Graceland, Michael Jackson can have a place for him here at Neverland. And that's how I feel, and I hope it becomes a museum in memory of Michael," Amey Avila of nearby Solvang, California, told Reuters outside the ranch.

Graceland, the Memphis estate where Presley died in 1977, was opened to the public in 1982 and gets more than 600,000 visitors a year, according to Elvis Presley Enterprises, a subsidiary of CKX Inc.

The Presley business, including worldwide licensing of music rights, as well as Graceland and the Heartbreak Hotel, reported $11.7 million in operating income in 2008.

NEVERLAND SPIRIT VIOLATED

Jackson bought the 2,800-acre (1,133-hectare) Neverland ranch in 1988 and filled it with theme-park rides, a zoo, and statues of Peter Pan -- the fictional boy who never grew up.

It was there that Jackson hosted parties for local children and controversial sleepovers for young boys that prompted charges of child sexual abuse in 1993 and 2005.

But after a grueling 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation charges, Jackson left Neverland, vowing never to return. He said its spirit had been violated by police raids looking for evidence.

Last year, auctioneers emptied the house of Jackson's furniture, toys, platinum records and its vast iron gates for an auction in April that was canceled at the 11th hour.

Many of those 1,400 items -- which included sequined costumes and Jackson's red gilded throne -- were thought to be among the belongings returned to Neverland this week.

"We removed everything -- the gates, the fireplaces, the chandeliers," said auctioneer Darren Julien, who spent three months at Neverland last year with the approval of the singer.

"It was still a magical place when we were given access to it. The outdoors was a little bit run down -- the rides needed maintaining. But on the inside, the rooms were exactly the way Michael left them in 2005," he said.

Brooks doubted the murkier associations of Neverland would deter potential tourists. "People are always curious. They want to see where things supposedly happened. Jackson had some of the most troubling times of his life at Neverland and he ran away from it, but that is part of the draw," he said.

(Editing by Sandra Maler)

Other studies have suggested that people might be using odor cues associated with the immune system to select mates who are not closely related to themselves. Using a brain imaging technique, Swedish researchers have shown that homosexual and heterosexual males' brains respond differently to two odors that may be involved in sexual arousal, and that the homosexual men respond in the same way as heterosexual women, though it could not be determined whether this was cause or effect.[citation needed] The study was expanded to include homosexual women; the results were consistent with previous findings meaning that homosexual women were not as responsive to male identified odors, while their response to female cues was similar to heterosexual males. According to the researchers, this research suggests a possible role for human pheromones in the biological basis of sexual orientation. In 2008, it was found using functional magnetic resonance imaging that the right orbitofrontal cortex, right fusiform cortex, and right hypothalamus respond to airborne natural human sexual sweat.

In 2006, it was shown that a second mouse receptor sub-class is found in the olfactory epithelium. Called the trace amine-associated receptors (TAAR), some are activated by volatile amines found in mouse urine, including one putative mouse pheromone. Orthologous receptors exist in humans providing, the authors propose, evidence for a mechanism of human pheromone detection.

Pheromone Perfume

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
President Barack Obama is pushing ahead with plans to shore up dwindling federal reserves for highway construction and establish a government-run bank to pay for future transportation projects.

Documents obtained by Reuters late on Wednesday detailed Transportation Department proposals for injecting $20 billion of general tax revenue into a federal trust for highway and transit infrastructure projects, and outlined Obama's longer-term plan for ensuring financial backing for new initiatives.

The administration foresees the Highway Trust Fund, which relies on federal gasoline tax receipts, running dry in late August or early September. The administration proposes to replenish it over 18 months while Congress develops a six-year blueprint for transportation priorities and funding.

The current law authorizing federal spending on highway projects expires September 30.

Officials at the Transportation Department said in the documents sent to Congress that lawmakers should approve the stop-gap measure before their next recess in August to avoid further strain on state budgets.

The administration also released details of Obama's vision for a national infrastructure bank, a centerpiece transportation initiative he promised to pursue during his campaign for president that was broadly described in his proposed budget this spring.

The bank would be an independent entity within the Transportation Department and would at first only focus on rail, highway, bridge and waterway projects.

The administration said in the documents that the bank could later include energy, water and telecommunications infrastructure.

In his budget, Obama asked for $2 billion this year and $5 billion next year to establish a bank that would give grants and make loans for projects that cross state lines or combine different modes of transportation.

The documents explained that state and local governments could apply for financing for projects worth at least $25 million and an oversight board on non-governmental advisors would decide how to distribute money based on the projects' merits, instead of by formula.

In the documents, the administration said the bank would not have authority to borrow from capital markets, since only the U.S. Treasury Department can borrow on behalf of the government, and can do so more cheaply and efficiently.

Congress returns from its week-long July 4 break on Monday and members influential on transportation matters have pledged to quickly address the trust fund shortfall.

As the gap became clearer in recent weeks, some senior members said any emergency remedy should be shorter than 18 months. They believe Congress must expedite its consideration of permanent funding solutions in the six-year transportation bill.

Administration transportation planners proposed on Wednesday to draw $18 billion from general tax revenues for highway construction spending and $2 billion for transit projects initiated by states through the early part of 2011.

Officials plan that the money be repaid over 10 years. The administration said it would support a range of options for covering reimbursement.

They also want to revise some criteria used to select the projects that receive federal support, including adding requirements for more data on project needs and costs and more transparency in how money is spent.

(Reporting by John Crawley and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Bernard Orr)

In a 2004 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Staff Advisory letter to the Direct Selling Association it was stated that - "The amount of personal consumption in any multi-level compensation business does not determine whether or not the FTC will consider the plan a pyramid scheme. The critical question for the FTC is whether the revenues that primarily support the commissions paid to all participants are generated from the purchase of goods and services that are not simply incidental to the purchase of the right to participate in a money making venture." .

Stairstep Breakaway plans This type of plan is characterized as having representatives who are responsible for both personal and group sales volumes. Volume is created by recruiting and by retailing product. Various discounts or rebates may be paid to group leaders and a group leader can be any representative with one or more downline recruits.

Watkins

A home is a place of residence or refuge and comfort. It is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and be able to store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either living in the wild or in a domesticated environment.

The word "home" can be used for various types of residential institutions in which people can live, such as nursing homes, group homes (orphanages for children, retirement homes for seniors, prisons for criminals, treatment facilities, etc.), and foster homes.

Home Decor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – State Attorney General Jerry Brown and former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman have raised the most campaign money this year for the 2010 California governor's race.
Brown said he collected $7.3 million through Tuesday, the end of the reporting period for the first half of the year. The Democrat has not formally announced he is running for the office he held from 1975 to 1983.
Whitman, a Republican, said her campaign brought in $6.5 million on top of her own $4 million contribution. San Francisco's Democratic Mayor Gavin Newsom raised $1.6 million.
Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a Republican, did not release a figure for the reporting period but said he has raised more than $1.2 million to date.

WASHINGTON — After hearing a "drumbeat" for more troops, White House National Security Adviser James L. Jones has told U.S. commanders in Afghanistan that they won't get any more troops this year beyond what President Barack Obama already has promised.

Just back from a trip to Afghanistan , Pakistan and India , Jones told McClatchy in an exclusive interview Wednesday that he'd told commanders on the ground that the time for debate was over three months ago and that it's time to implement the new three-step plan with the troops already committed, plus a renewed emphasis on economic development and the rule of law.

"It was essentially to remind everybody that we all participated in the development of the strategy," Jones said during the interview in his White House office.

"Everybody had their day in court, so to speak, before the president made his decision. We signed off on the strategy, and now we're in the implementation phase."

Jones said it was still possible that Obama would agree to send another 10,000 troops, but not before next year. Those additional troops were seen as a 2010 contingency option when the strategy was drawn up months ago.

"Even then," Jones said of the internal debates, "we had an agreement that there would be a year from the time the decision was made before they would ever come back and ask for any more if they had to."

As Jones spoke, U.S. Marines were launching an assault on the lower Helmand River valley in southern Afghanistan . They're some of the 8,500 Marines sent there in recent months as part of the Obama-ordered buildup to help fight Taliban forces.

Obama's order to send 21,000 more troops to Afghanistan , mostly completed, will bring the U.S. total in the country to 68,000. Another 32,000 troops from other countries are also there.

Obama ordered the additional troops three months ago as part of a broader shift in strategy that includes greater emphasis on economic development and the rule of law, what Jones called the other two legs of the stool needed to defeat the influence of the Taliban .

He said that the nonmilitary parts of the strategy were crucial and "have always been lagging" during the six years he's worked on the problem.

Yet even as the strategy is being implemented, Jones said he'd started to hear rumblings that new commanders and officials being sent to Afghanistan would quickly urge another shift in strategy and more troops.

"I don't want to name names, but in discussions you can hear the drumbeat of what's going on around town," Jones said.

"All new commanders have good ideas, and they want to come in, they want to get things done, and every now and then in their enthusiasm people need to be reminded of how we got to where we are."

He said he felt the need to go to Afghanistan and keep people on course with the strategy.

"I'd like to think of it as just a reminder of everything we've done and just to say, 'Think this through. Have we really given the strategy a chance to unfold itself' — the answer to that is no — 'before you start coming in and saying, "Oh, by the way, we need X, Y and Z," when just two, three months ago you were sitting in front of the president and you said this is enough.' "

There's been a virtually complete turnover in the U.S. military and civilian leadership in Afghanistan in recent months.

U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal , a former special operations chief, took over the command of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan after an abrupt decision to replace his predecessor, Gen. David McKiernan , before his tour of duty was up.

The U.S. ambassador, retired Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry , is also new on the job, as is his No. 2, Frank Ricciardone , who was given the special title "deputy ambassador."

The United Nations named a new special envoy for Afghanistan in March. Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide coordinates the world body's numerous agencies and programs in the country.

"There was talk about . . . coming in with more requests. . . . There was enough of that kind of talk going around that it was useful to remind everybody where we were just three months ago, where we are now," Jones said.

"Let's complete what we said we were going to do, give it a reasonable time to see how it works, then assess from there."

MORE FROM MCCLATCHY

Anatomy of a coup: Honduran's ouster months in the making

Sanctions on North Korean firms indirectly target Iran

Social Security audit finds dead people getting checks

For McClatchy politics coverage visit Planet Washington

LOS OLIVOS, Calif. – Adoring fans and dozens of news crews poured into this bucolic town near Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch on Wednesday expecting to witness the finale to the story of the King of Pop — only to learn their hasty trips were unnecessary.
A large crowd of mourners set up camp outside Neverland's gates with lawn chairs and coolers of bottled water, while hotel rooms surrounding Jackson's estate sold out within minutes of the first — and eventually, erroneous — reports Tuesday that the pop icon might be buried there.
Residents of Los Olivos, who were plagued by reporters following Jackson's 2003 arrest on child molestation charges, once more had their lives upended by streams of TV vans and fans eager to mark the passing of a pop culture giant.
The excitement, however, appeared to be for nothing.
A Jackson family spokesman said in a statement Wednesday that a public memorial was being planned, but it would not be held at Neverland. No further details were provided.
Also Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Jackson would likely be buried in Los Angeles, although the family could have a private memorial at Neverland after Jackson is buried. The source, who was not authorized to speak for the family and requested anonymity, told the AP that nothing is planned at least through Friday.
That news didn't dampen the enthusiasm of Jackson's die-hard fans, many of whom refused to believe that the family would bury their most famous son without acknowledging the fans who helped propel him to superstardom.
More than three dozen TV news trucks and several hundred cars parked outside the gates of Neverland and yellow police tape kept gawkers off the property of two private schools across the street.
The narrow, two-lane road lined with cattle ranches and oak-studded hills was nearly impassable to traffic and fans, forcing visitors to park more than a mile away and make the final pilgrimage to Neverland on foot.
In a scene reminiscent of a latter-day Graceland, many mourning fans placed notes and flowers and then departed, but about 100 settled in to wait. By noon, county officials had set up portable toilets and a large trash can, and California Highway Patrol officers were directing traffic. Officers also began placing no parking signs along the road.
Rosie Padron had roped off a spot just outside the gates of the sprawling ranch in hopes of being the first in line if the public was admitted. Padron and two friends were ready to wait overnight or longer and had set up lawn chairs and a photo montage of Jackson's career.
"I can't believe they wouldn't do something for his fans," said Padron, who also videotaped the events. "Michael loved his fans."
Without a Jackson-sanctioned memorial, at least one industrious promotions company hoped to appease fans with a weekend-long event hosted by a nearby, 1,000-acre private ranch. Promoter Releve Unlimited circulated fliers advertising three days of music and video tributes to Jackson, with a $40 parking fee and food and drink available from local vendors and wineries.
"We're going to have a safe environment so people aren't just standing by the side of the road," said Christine Souza, a spokeswoman for the company.
Inside the gates of the theme-park-style Neverland estate, at least two dozen workers could be seen placing fresh sod along the drive to the main house, mowing the lawn and doing maintenance on an ornate, iron-and-gold gate within the ranch.
The fountains were on and sprinklers had been set out to water the grass. Fresh flowers surrounded its train station.
A receptionist at KW Custom Iron, which had a crew at Neverland, said the company was not authorized to comment on what kind of work they were doing there. She declined to give her name.
Meanwhile, at Fess Parker's Wine Country Inn, rooms sold out within 20 minutes of the first media reports that Jackson would be buried — or at least memorialized — on the grounds of Neverland, said Jessica Larsen, the hotel's general manager.

"It was first media, and then after about an hour, the fans were calling in," she said. "There's been quite a few people calling, even internationally, and it's been hard for them" to learn the inn is fully booked.

Residents in Los Olivos, a laid-back town used to wine tourists, took the crush of fans and reporters in stride — especially after weathering a similar onslaught during Jackson's arrest, trial and eventual acquittal. More than 2,200 reporters camped out at the Santa Barbara County courthouse for the proceedings and dozens roamed the winding roads around Los Olivos during that time.

Rebecca Gomez, a local artist, was busy early Wednesday setting up an exhibition of her work that was scheduled to open later that day. She said she'd already noticed that the people arriving for this chapter in the Michael Jackson story seemed different than the ones who jammed the city when he was on trial four years ago.

"Whatever happens now is respectful instead of that other crowd we had the last time," she said.

____

Associated Press Writer Michael R. Blood reported from Los Angeles. AP Writers Gillian Flaccus, Anthony McCartney and Nekesa Mumbi Moody in Los Angeles and AP Photographer Chris Carlson in Los Olivos also contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON – For years, the brick facade of a three-story house near the Capitol has functioned as a shield for the lawmakers who live and pray there, offering sanctuary from the temptations of political life — and discretion for those who succumbed.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford blew away much of the privacy of the place over the past week, revealing he had confided in his "C Street" friends, a collection of current and former lawmakers, about the cross-continental affair he had hidden from his wife.
Their universal response: Break up with the mistress, according to several knowledgeable people who spoke on condition of anonymity.
That these details and more have been connected with the red brick house at 133 C Street SE defies the secrecy that those associated with the Christian facility have long sought to maintain.
The building, registered in District of Columbia tax records as a religious and commercial building, is affiliated with a Christian group of many names, including the "Fellowship Foundation." The group sponsors the annual National Prayer Breakfast attended by the president, members of Congress and dignitaries around the world.
It also hosts luncheons and prayer groups on the first two floors. The top floor of bedrooms is occupied by both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, all Christians, who pay rent that, in the past has been partially subsidized by the fellowship.
Those who have lived and prayed there have described the building as a home away from home for lawmakers, a space for them to socialize, live a Christian lifestyle and confide in each other while they're away from their families.
Some of those private subjects have become embarrassingly public. Two lawmakers connected to the so-called "C Street community" have revealed they had had extramarital affairs.
Sanford, who apparently has never lived there, nonetheless said he turned to "C Street" for counsel and solace while in the throes of extramarital romance with a woman named Maria from Argentina. His spiritual adviser, Warren "Cubby" Culbertson, in an interview with The Associated Press, described the C Street crowd as "the guys Mark hung out with in Washington."
One of group on Wednesday confirmed counseling Sanford about the governor's affair.
"Former Rep. Steve Largent, a member of the C Street community, said he had discussions with both Mark and Jenny Sanford this year, regarding their marriage," Largent said in a statement to the AP.
Sanford wasn't a unique case. Sen. John Ensign, who has lived at the C Street address, is reported to have been confronted about his recently disclosed affair with a female campaign staffer who was married to one of his top Senate aides. The woman's husband, Douglas Hampton, wrote in a letter to Fox News that another resident of the house, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., did the confronting.
All the recent talk has made for a convulsion of publicity, tinged with scandal, for a house and a community of the devout who have labored for years to avoid it.
At least six lawmakers lived at the house as of January, including Coburn and Ensign, according to information provided by knowledgeable Republican, Democratic and nonpartisan officials who demanded anonymity because the information was not public.
Representatives for the Fellowship are hard to find. No spokesman could be reached directly or had responded by Wednesday to requests for comment submitted through members of the C Street community. The building itself is owned by a group called Youth With A Mission Washington DC Inc. C St. Center, according to city records. An e-mail to the founders of Youth With A Mission seeking comment went unanswered.
In a 2003 AP story, Richard Carver, then a member of the group's board of directors, said that the group's goal with members of Congress was "to hope that we can assist them in better understandings of the teachings of Christ, and applying it to their jobs."
Jim Winkler, then a lobbyist for the church, said of lawmakers, "We don't approach them and ask for their support for anything."
It is not the only Capitol Hill home away from home run by a religious group for lawmakers.

The United Methodist Building, at 100 Maryland Avenue across from the Capitol, has for 75 years been the church's office in Washington. It also has been home to members of Congress and even the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s ecumenical offices, from which the march on Washington was planned, according to its Web site.

There's a difference, according to one who has worked in the Methodist Building. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, says the secrecy surrounding the C Street house makes it possible for the Fellowship to influence lawmakers who live and pray there beyond the public eye.

They have said community members "sit down every week at a specific time and talk about religion in our lives. Well, these are members of Congress," Lynn said. "Part of their life is what they're voting on in Congress."

"When you have this kind of cozy secretive arrangement it does raise red flags," he added. "And the continuing secrecy makes the red brighter."

___

Associated Press Writer Allen G. Breed contributed to this report from Columbia, S.C.

LOS OLIVOS, Calif. – Adoring fans and dozens of news crews poured into this bucolic town near Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch on Wednesday expecting to witness the finale to the story of the King of Pop — only to learn their hasty trips were unnecessary.
A large crowd of mourners set up camp outside Neverland's gates with lawn chairs and coolers of bottled water, while hotel rooms surrounding Jackson's estate sold out within minutes of the first — and eventually, erroneous — reports Tuesday that the pop icon might be buried there.
Residents of Los Olivos, who were plagued by reporters following Jackson's 2003 arrest on child molestation charges, once more had their lives upended by streams of TV vans and fans eager to mark the passing of a pop culture giant.
The excitement, however, appeared to be for nothing.
A Jackson family spokesman said in a statement Wednesday that a public memorial was being planned, but it would not be held at Neverland. No further details were provided.
Also Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Jackson would likely be buried in Los Angeles, although the family could have a private memorial at Neverland after Jackson is buried. The source, who was not authorized to speak for the family and requested anonymity, told the AP that nothing is planned at least through Friday.
That news didn't dampen the enthusiasm of Jackson's die-hard fans, many of whom refused to believe that the family would bury their most famous son without acknowledging the fans who helped propel him to superstardom.
More than three dozen TV news trucks and several hundred cars parked outside the gates of Neverland and yellow police tape kept gawkers off the property of two private schools across the street.
The narrow, two-lane road lined with cattle ranches and oak-studded hills was nearly impassable to traffic and fans, forcing visitors to park more than a mile away and make the final pilgrimage to Neverland on foot.
In a scene reminiscent of a latter-day Graceland, many mourning fans placed notes and flowers and then departed, but about 100 settled in to wait. By noon, county officials had set up portable toilets and a large trash can, and California Highway Patrol officers were directing traffic. Officers also began placing no parking signs along the road.
Rosie Padron had roped off a spot just outside the gates of the sprawling ranch in hopes of being the first in line if the public was admitted. Padron and two friends were ready to wait overnight or longer and had set up lawn chairs and a photo montage of Jackson's career.
"I can't believe they wouldn't do something for his fans," said Padron, who also videotaped the events. "Michael loved his fans."
Without a Jackson-sanctioned memorial, at least one industrious promotions company hoped to appease fans with a weekend-long event hosted by a nearby, 1,000-acre private ranch. Promoter Releve Unlimited circulated fliers advertising three days of music and video tributes to Jackson, with a $40 parking fee and food and drink available from local vendors and wineries.
"We're going to have a safe environment so people aren't just standing by the side of the road," said Christine Souza, a spokeswoman for the company.
Inside the gates of the theme-park-style Neverland estate, at least two dozen workers could be seen placing fresh sod along the drive to the main house, mowing the lawn and doing maintenance on an ornate, iron-and-gold gate within the ranch.
The fountains were on and sprinklers had been set out to water the grass. Fresh flowers surrounded its train station.
A receptionist at KW Custom Iron, which had a crew at Neverland, said the company was not authorized to comment on what kind of work they were doing there. She declined to give her name.
Meanwhile, at Fess Parker's Wine Country Inn, rooms sold out within 20 minutes of the first media reports that Jackson would be buried — or at least memorialized — on the grounds of Neverland, said Jessica Larsen, the hotel's general manager.

"It was first media, and then after about an hour, the fans were calling in," she said. "There's been quite a few people calling, even internationally, and it's been hard for them" to learn the inn is fully booked.

Residents in Los Olivos, a laid-back town used to wine tourists, took the crush of fans and reporters in stride — especially after weathering a similar onslaught during Jackson's arrest, trial and eventual acquittal. More than 2,200 reporters camped out at the Santa Barbara County courthouse for the proceedings and dozens roamed the winding roads around Los Olivos during that time.

Rebecca Gomez, a local artist, was busy early Wednesday setting up an exhibition of her work that was scheduled to open later that day. She said she'd already noticed that the people arriving for this chapter in the Michael Jackson story seemed different than the ones who jammed the city when he was on trial four years ago.

"Whatever happens now is respectful instead of that other crowd we had the last time," she said.

____

Associated Press Writer Michael R. Blood reported from Los Angeles. AP Writers Gillian Flaccus, Anthony McCartney and Nekesa Mumbi Moody in Los Angeles and AP Photographer Chris Carlson in Los Olivos also contributed to this report.

Independent, unsalaried salespeople of multi-level marketing referred to as distributors (associates, independent business owners, franchise owners, sales consultants, consultants, independent agents, etc.), represent the parent company and are rewarded a commission relative to the volume of product sold through each of their independent businesses (organizations).

The 70% rule requires participants to sell 70% of previously purchased inventory before placing new orders with the company. There are however variations in interpretations of this rule. Some attorneys insist that 70% of purchased inventory should be sold to people who are not participants in the business, while many MLM companies allow for self-consumption to be a significant part of the sales of a participant .

Watkins Products

SAN CARLOS, Calif. – Price-management software company DemandTec Inc. posted a wider net loss Wednesday for its fiscal first quarter, hurt by charges and higher costs even as revenue inched higher.
For the three months ended May 31, the company posted a net loss of $3.7 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with a loss of $1 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company's per-share results for the latest quarter were break-even.
Revenue rose 8 percent to $19.5 million from $18.1 million.
Analysts, on average, were expecting a loss of 2 cents per share on sales of $19.4 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates usually exclude items.
"We are pleased that our revenue and (adjusted) operating results met or exceeded our guidance for the quarter, despite the continued level of uncertainty in the economy," said Dan Fishback, president and CEO, in a statement.
The quarter's operating costs climbed 21 percent to $16.8 million.
The company's shares slid 6 cents to $8.85 in after-hours trading after the quarterly results were released. The stock had closed up 11 cents at $8.91 in the regular session.

MORONI (AFP) –
The only known survivor of the crash of the Yemeni airliner clung to wreckage in the Indian Ocean for more than 10 hours before she was rescued, officials said Wednesday, hailing the girl's courage.

Bahia Bakari, a timid 12-year-old, spent the day recovering in hospital in the Comoros capital Moroni, not far from where the Yemenia airlines jet plunged into the sea in the early hours of Tuesday, killing the other 152 on board.

"She showed admirable courage," France's Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet told reporters after meeting the girl in hospital, and before she boarded his aircraft to return home to Paris.

"She spent close to 10 hours waiting to be rescued after the crash."

Bahia's father, Kassim Bakari, told AFP that his daughter was ejected from the Airbus A310 into the ocean -- suffering a fractured collarbone and burns to her knee, but no life-threatening injuries.

"She didn't feel a thing. She found herself in water," Bakari told the RTL station after speaking to her by phone, adding that -- as she told to him -- some others survived the impact with the rough seas, at least for a while.

"She could hear people talking, but in the middle of the night she couldn't see a thing. She managed to hold on to a piece of something."

"She said that, at a point in time, instructions were given to passengers to strap themselves in," added Joyandet, also on RTL radio. "She said that afterwards, she felt something like electricity -- that was the term she used."

"And then, very quickly, she found herself in the water hanging on to a piece of the aircraft with which she struggled to stay alive for more than 10 or so hours."

When rescuers emerged in the clear light of day, she was too weak to react.

"We tried to throw a life buoy. She could not grab it. I had to jump in the water to get her," one rescuer told France's Europe 1 radio, saying that she was spotted bobbing in the middle of bodies and debris.

"She was shaking, shaking. We put four covers on her. We gave her hot, sugary water. We simply asked her name, village."

The head of the government crisis cell in the Comoros said the youngster survived astonishing odds. "It is truly, truly, miraculous," said Ibrahim Abdoulazeb. "The young girl can barely swim."

Bakari said his daughter had been told her mother survived the crash.

"When I spoke to her she was asking for her mother. They told her she was in a room next door, so as not to traumatise her. But it's not true. I don't know who is going to tell her."

Joyandet gave the girl's age as 12. Officials have variously said she was 14 or 13, but the minister's spokesman said she would turn 13 on August 15.

He scotched rumours that a second child had been found alive, reported by doctors who said their hospital had been put on alert.

Yemenia airlines, which has come under attack from victims' families angry over its safety record, said it will make an initial payment of 20,000 euros (28,000 dollars) to the families of each victim.

Chairman Abdul Khaleq al-Qadi told reporters in Sanaa the payments would be "a first instalment," without saying when they would begin.

The announcement came amid mounting anger over the condition of the 19-year-old Yemenia jet, which had been banned from France's airspace because of doubts about its safety. Airbus has stopped manufacturing the long-haul plane since 2007.

Comoros Vice President Idi Nadhoim criticised France over the crash, saying Paris should have alerted them that the twin-engine aircraft was unsafe.

"It could have been easier for us if France had communicated to us the list of Airbus planes not good to fly, which is not the case," Nadhoim told France 24 television.

The flight left Paris on Monday for Marseille and Sanaa aboard a modern Airbus A330 before passengers switched to the older Airbus jet to continue to Djibouti and Moroni.

Comorans in Marseille, home to more Comorans than the Indian Ocean state's capital, said the tragedy was waiting to happen.

"We had been sounding the alarm bells, both here and in the Comoros," said Moegni Toahiry, 39, as he stood outside his Comoran consulate hoping for news of his cousin and three children who were on the flight.

Some Comorans staged a protest at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on Wednesday delaying a Yemenia flight for 40 minutes to highlight what they called poor safety conditions on the planes.

Around 100 protestors forced two Marseille travel agents selling Yemenia tickets to shut down on Wednesday.

A desperate hunt for other survivors continued, with French military headquarters in Paris saying the sound of a rescue beacon had been picked up by a Transall search plane -- but no sign of bodies or major debris.

Airbus, still reeling from the crash of an Air France A330 into the Atlantic on June 1 with 228 people on board, has sent investigators to the Comoros, while a judicial investigation was announced by French prosecutors.

Parks and Recreation Software

Computer software is often regarded as anything but hardware, meaning that the "hard" are the parts that are tangible while the "soft" part is the intangible objects inside the computer. Software encompasses an extremely wide array of products and technologies developed using different techniques like programming languages, scripting languages or even microcode or a FPGA state. The types of software include web pages developed by technologies like HTML, PHP, Perl, JSP, ASP.NET, XML, and desktop applications like OpenOffice, Microsoft Word developed by technologies like C, C++, Java, C#, etc. Software usually runs on an underlying software operating systems such as the Linux or Microsoft Windows. Software also includes video games and the logic systems of modern consumer devices such as automobiles, televisions, toasters, etc.

Computer software is so called to distinguish it from computer hardware, which encompasses the physical interconnections and devices required to store and execute (or run) the software. At the lowest level, software consists of a machine language specific to an individual processor. A machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions that change the state of the computer from its preceding state. Software is an ordered sequence of instructions for changing the state of the computer hardware in a particular sequence. It is usually written in high-level programming languages that are easier and more efficient for humans to use (closer to natural language) than machine language. High-level languages are compiled or interpreted into machine language object code. Software may also be written in an assembly language, essentially, a mnemonic representation of a machine language using a natural language alphabet. Assembly language must be assembled into object code via an assembler.

LOS ANGELES – Karl Malden, the Academy Award-winning actor whose intelligent characterizations on stage and screen made him a star despite his plain looks, died Wednesday, his family said. He was 97.
Malden died of natural causes surrounded by his family at his Brentwood home, they told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He served as the academy's president from 1989-92.
"Karl lived a rich, full life," Academy president Sid Ganis said. "He has the greatest and most loving family; a career that has spanned the spectrum of the arts from theater to film and television, to some very famous commercial work."
While he tackled a variety of characters over the years, he was often seen in working-class garb or military uniform. His authenticity in grittier roles came naturally: He was the son of a Czech mother and a Serbian father, and worked for a time in the steel mills of Gary, Indiana, after dropping out of college.
Malden said he got his celebrated bulbous nose when he broke it a couple of times playing basketball or football, joking that he was "the only actor in Hollywood whose nose qualifies him for handicapped parking." He liked to say he had "an open-hearth face."
Malden won a supporting actor Oscar in 1951 for his role as Blanche DuBois' naive suitor Mitch in "A Streetcar Named Desire" — a role he also played on Broadway.
He was nominated again as best supporting actor in 1954 for his performance as Father Corrigan, a fearless, friend-of-the-workingman priest in "On the Waterfront." In both movies, he costarred with Marlon Brando.
"When you worked with him, he was the character," said Eva Marie Saint, who garnered a supporting actress Oscar for her role in "Waterfront." "He was the consummate actor and he loved acting. He was dear and smart. Whatever he did he enjoyed life."
Among Malden's more than 50 film credits were: "Patton," in which he played Gen. Omar Bradley, "Pollyanna," "Fear Strikes Out," "The Sting II," "Bombers B-52," "Cheyenne Autumn," and "All Fall Down."
One of his most controversial films was "Baby Doll" in 1956, in which he played a dullard husband whose child bride is exploited by a businessman. It was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency for what was termed its "carnal suggestiveness." The story was by "Streetcar" author Tennessee Williams.
Malden gained perhaps his greatest fame as Lt. Mike Stone in the 1970s television show "The Streets of San Francisco," in which Michael Douglas played the veteran detective's junior partner.
"Karl `The Mentor' Malden was a great actor, father and husband. I admired and loved him deeply," Douglas, who was in Europe, said through his publicist.
Douglas saluted Malden last month when he received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award.
"It was Karl who, more than anyone, got me to understand that an actor is just one part of a whole team that makes a TV series or movie work," Douglas said in the upcoming July 19 airing of the event on TV Land.
In the '70s, Malden gained a lucrative 21-year sideline and a place in pop culture with his "Don't leave home without them" ads for American Express.
"The Streets of San Francisco" earned him five Emmy nominations. He won one for his role as a murder victim's father out to bring his former son-in-law to justice in the 1985 miniseries "Fatal Vision." He and Saint played husband and wife.
Malden played Barbra Streisand's stepfather in the 1987 film "Nuts;" Adm. Elmo Zumwalt Jr. in the 1988 TV film "My Father, My Son;" and Leon Klinghoffer, the cruise ship passenger murdered by terrorists in 1985, in the 1989 TV film "The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro."
He acted sparingly in recent years, appearing in 2000 in a small role on TV's "The West Wing."

In 2004, Malden received the Screen Actors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award, telling the group in his acceptance speech that "this is the peak for me."

Malden first gained prominence on Broadway in the late 1930s, making his debut in "Golden Boy" by Clifford Odets. It was during this time that he met Elia Kazan, who later was to direct him in "Streetcar" and "Waterfront."

He steadily gained more prominent roles, with time out for service in the Army in World War II (and a role in an Army show, "Winged Victory.")

"A Streetcar Named Desire" opened on Broadway in 1947 and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle awards. Brando's breakthrough performance might have gotten most of the attention, but Malden did not want for praise. Once critic called him "one of the ablest young actors extant."

Among his other stage appearances were "Key Largo," "Winged Victory," Arthur Miller's "All My Sons," "The Desperate Hours," and "The Egghead."

Malden was known for his meticulous preparation, studying a script carefully long before he stepped into his role.

"I not only figure out my own interpretation of the role, but try to guess other approaches that the director might like. I prepare them, too," he said in a 1962 Associated Press interview. "That way, I can switch in the middle of a scene with no sweat."

"There's no such thing as an easy job, not if you do it right," he added.

He was born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago on March 22, 1912. Malden regretted that in order to become an actor he had to change his name. He insisted that Fred Gwynne's character in "On the Waterfront" be named Sekulovich to honor his heritage.

The family moved to Gary, Indiana, when he was small. He quit his steel job 1934 to study acting at Chicago's Goodman Theatre "because I wasn't getting anywhere in the mills," he recalled.

"When I told my father, he said, `Are you crazy? You want to give up a good job in the middle of the Depression?' Thank god for my mother. She said to give it a try."

In 2005, the U.S. Postal Service honored Malden by naming the post office in Brentwood to honor his achievement in film and his contributions to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, which meets to discuss ideas for stamp designs.

Malden helped create the "Legends of Hollywood" stamp series that has featured Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Gary Cooper, and another celebrating Hollywood's behind-the-scenes workers.

"As a kid, all the letters that would come from the old country, he would see the stamps and they always intrigued him," said David Failor, executive director of stamp services for the Postal Service. "He was such a regular guy."

Malden and his wife, Mona, a fellow acting student at the Goodman, had one of Hollywood's longest marriages, having celebrated their 70th anniversary in December.

"That was sort of the last goodbye," said Saint, who attended a party in the couple's honor. "His wish was, `After I die, I don't want you to do anything but have a party.' So another party is coming up."

Besides his wife, Malden is survived by daughters Mila and Cara, his sons-in-law, three granddaughters, and four great grandchildren.

___

Associated Press writer Polly Anderson in New York contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES – Karl Malden, the Academy Award-winning actor whose intelligent characterizations on stage and screen made him a star despite his plain looks, died Wednesday, his family said. He was 97.
Malden died of natural causes surrounded by his family at his Brentwood home, they told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He served as the academy's president from 1989-92.
"Karl lived a rich, full life," Academy president Sid Ganis said. "He has the greatest and most loving family; a career that has spanned the spectrum of the arts from theater to film and television, to some very famous commercial work."
While he tackled a variety of characters over the years, he was often seen in working-class garb or military uniform. His authenticity in grittier roles came naturally: He was the son of a Czech mother and a Serbian father, and worked for a time in the steel mills of Gary, Indiana, after dropping out of college.
Malden said he got his celebrated bulbous nose when he broke it a couple of times playing basketball or football, joking that he was "the only actor in Hollywood whose nose qualifies him for handicapped parking." He liked to say he had "an open-hearth face."
Malden won a supporting actor Oscar in 1951 for his role as Blanche DuBois' naive suitor Mitch in "A Streetcar Named Desire" — a role he also played on Broadway.
He was nominated again as best supporting actor in 1954 for his performance as Father Corrigan, a fearless, friend-of-the-workingman priest in "On the Waterfront." In both movies, he costarred with Marlon Brando.
"When you worked with him, he was the character," said Eva Marie Saint, who garnered a supporting actress Oscar for her role in "Waterfront." "He was the consummate actor and he loved acting. He was dear and smart. Whatever he did he enjoyed life."
Among Malden's more than 50 film credits were: "Patton," in which he played Gen. Omar Bradley, "Pollyanna," "Fear Strikes Out," "The Sting II," "Bombers B-52," "Cheyenne Autumn," and "All Fall Down."
One of his most controversial films was "Baby Doll" in 1956, in which he played a dullard husband whose child bride is exploited by a businessman. It was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency for what was termed its "carnal suggestiveness." The story was by "Streetcar" author Tennessee Williams.
Malden gained perhaps his greatest fame as Lt. Mike Stone in the 1970s television show "The Streets of San Francisco," in which Michael Douglas played the veteran detective's junior partner.
"Karl `The Mentor' Malden was a great actor, father and husband. I admired and loved him deeply," Douglas, who was in Europe, said through his publicist.
Douglas saluted Malden last month when he received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award.
"It was Karl who, more than anyone, got me to understand that an actor is just one part of a whole team that makes a TV series or movie work," Douglas said in the upcoming July 19 airing of the event on TV Land.
In the '70s, Malden gained a lucrative 21-year sideline and a place in pop culture with his "Don't leave home without them" ads for American Express.
"The Streets of San Francisco" earned him five Emmy nominations. He won one for his role as a murder victim's father out to bring his former son-in-law to justice in the 1985 miniseries "Fatal Vision." He and Saint played husband and wife.
Malden played Barbra Streisand's stepfather in the 1987 film "Nuts;" Adm. Elmo Zumwalt Jr. in the 1988 TV film "My Father, My Son;" and Leon Klinghoffer, the cruise ship passenger murdered by terrorists in 1985, in the 1989 TV film "The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro."
He acted sparingly in recent years, appearing in 2000 in a small role on TV's "The West Wing."

In 2004, Malden received the Screen Actors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award, telling the group in his acceptance speech that "this is the peak for me."

Malden first gained prominence on Broadway in the late 1930s, making his debut in "Golden Boy" by Clifford Odets. It was during this time that he met Elia Kazan, who later was to direct him in "Streetcar" and "Waterfront."

He steadily gained more prominent roles, with time out for service in the Army in World War II (and a role in an Army show, "Winged Victory.")

"A Streetcar Named Desire" opened on Broadway in 1947 and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle awards. Brando's breakthrough performance might have gotten most of the attention, but Malden did not want for praise. Once critic called him "one of the ablest young actors extant."

Among his other stage appearances were "Key Largo," "Winged Victory," Arthur Miller's "All My Sons," "The Desperate Hours," and "The Egghead."

Malden was known for his meticulous preparation, studying a script carefully long before he stepped into his role.

"I not only figure out my own interpretation of the role, but try to guess other approaches that the director might like. I prepare them, too," he said in a 1962 Associated Press interview. "That way, I can switch in the middle of a scene with no sweat."

"There's no such thing as an easy job, not if you do it right," he added.

He was born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago on March 22, 1912. Malden regretted that in order to become an actor he had to change his name. He insisted that Fred Gwynne's character in "On the Waterfront" be named Sekulovich to honor his heritage.

The family moved to Gary, Indiana, when he was small. He quit his steel job 1934 to study acting at Chicago's Goodman Theatre "because I wasn't getting anywhere in the mills," he recalled.

"When I told my father, he said, `Are you crazy? You want to give up a good job in the middle of the Depression?' Thank god for my mother. She said to give it a try."

In 2005, the U.S. Postal Service honored Malden by naming the post office in Brentwood to honor his achievement in film and his contributions to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, which meets to discuss ideas for stamp designs.

Malden helped create the "Legends of Hollywood" stamp series that has featured Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Gary Cooper, and another celebrating Hollywood's behind-the-scenes workers.

"As a kid, all the letters that would come from the old country, he would see the stamps and they always intrigued him," said David Failor, executive director of stamp services for the Postal Service. "He was such a regular guy."

Malden and his wife, Mona, a fellow acting student at the Goodman, had one of Hollywood's longest marriages, having celebrated their 70th anniversary in December.

"That was sort of the last goodbye," said Saint, who attended a party in the couple's honor. "His wish was, `After I die, I don't want you to do anything but have a party.' So another party is coming up."

Besides his wife, Malden is survived by daughters Mila and Cara, his sons-in-law, three granddaughters, and four great grandchildren.

___

Associated Press writer Polly Anderson in New York contributed to this report.

Campaign finance mavens John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis., are joining forces once again - this time to block President Obama's nomination of labor lawyer John J. Sullivan to the Federal Election Commission.

If confirmed by the Senate, Sullivan would fill one of three Democratic seats on the evenly divided FEC, taking over from Democrat Ellen Weintraub, who continues to sit on the commission even though her term expired on April 30, 2007.

But the two senators, who succeeded in getting landmark campaign finance legislation enacted in 2002, have indicated that they will lift the hold only if Obama picks two more nominees to replace FEC Chairman Steven T. Walther, a Democrat, and commissioner Donald F. McGahn II, a Republican, whose terms ran out on May 1.

"Until the White House nominates replacements for the two other commissioners whose terms have expired, we cannot consent to Mr. Sullivan's confirmation," McCain and Feingold said in a joint statement. "The FEC is currently mired in anti-enforcement gridlock; the president must nominate new commissioners with a demonstrated commitment to the existence and enforcement of the campaign finance laws."

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Reid supports Sullivan's nomination and "there is no reason to hold up a pending nomination for additional names."

A White House official did not respond to questions about the hold, but reiterated Obama's support for Sullivan.

"After 20 years of practice, John Sullivan has a deep understanding and respect for federal election law," the official said. "He will approach any issue that comes before him on the FEC with seriousness and integrity, and we hope the Senate will confirm him quickly."

During his presidential run, Obama's decision to not accept public financing for both the nomination and general election campaigns worried many of those pushing to reduce the influence of money on elections. But Obama sought to reassure them by promising that as president he would try to fix the system.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Obama has done nothing to live up to those promises, and praised the move by McCain and Feingold. Sloan said their hold likely has little to do with Sullivan. Rather, she said, the senators are "trying to force the president's hand" on overhauling the agency and replacing McGahn, whom she called a force for campaign finance deregulation.

"I'm really glad they did it. The FEC is a disaster, it couldn't be worse," Sloan said. "[Obama] is letting Don McGahn run the place into the ground."

But some advocates of stronger campaign finance enforcement have criticized Obama's choice of Sullivan, who has been a campaign lawyer at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) since 1997.

As associate general counsel of SEIU, Sullivan questioned the need for disclosure rules on advertisements aimed at influencing voters. And in 2006, he filed comments with the FEC questioning limits on coordinated communications between candidates and outside groups, such as labor unions.

After Sullivan's selection, J. Gerald Hebert, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, said in a statement, "The gusto with which Mr. Sullivan has bashed important elements" of the 2002 campaign finance law (PL 107-155) "and repeatedly taken radical deregulatory positions does not inspire confidence."

In his testimony before the Senate Rules and Administration Committee last month, Sullivan addressed Hebert's comments and made it clear that he would respect Supreme Court precedent when enforcing federal election law.

Meredith McGehee, the policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, said that she was "very pleased" about the hold, but that it has nothing to do with Sullivan personally.

"I think there's a pretty clear notion here that Mr. Sullivan's nomination will proceed," McGehee said. "This is about McGahn, and that is a battle worth having. ... He is using his position to render most of the campaign finance laws meaningless."

But Center for Competitive Politics Chairman Bradley A. Smith, a former FEC commissioner and an ardent critic of the 2002 law, vehemently disagrees. He called on McCain and Feingold to lift the hold, saying it is "congressional meddling with the independence of the FEC at its worst."

"This vindictive move by McCain and Feingold is akin to announcing they won't vote to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court unless Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas are replaced, too," Smith said in a statement. "FEC Republicans, including apparent hold target Don McGahn, are faithfully exercising their duties in light of legitimate concerns about their constitutional and statutory authority, not simply bulldozing ahead with burdensome campaign finance regulation despite Supreme Court rulings rolling back portions of McCain-Feingold and the reach of campaign finance restrictions as a whole."

President Obama wants to rebuild relations with Russia when he visits Moscow next week, but the very thing that sent them tumbling – Russia's invasion of Georgia last summer – is far from resolution.
Tensions between Russia and that former Soviet republic are worsening. "Extensive fighting could erupt again," warns the International Crisis Group, a think tank.
It's been almost a year since Russia and Georgia were embroiled in fighting, with Russian tanks penetrating deep into Georgia's territory.
The August war focused on two Georgian separatist provinces that lie on Russia's southern border – South Ossetia and Abkhazia. But much bigger forces were at work, including democratic Georgia's aspiration to join NATO, its role as a transit country for Caspian Sea oil and gas, and Russia's intent to retain influence in its "near abroad."
A cease-fire brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy got the Russians to pull back from this small democratic nation. But Moscow has not lived up to the agreement. Troops have not returned to their pre-war levels or locations, as promised. In April, Moscow sent more forces into both provinces – which, after the invasion, it recognized as independent states.
Now Russia is drawing a curtain over its doings in the provinces, effectively kicking out international monitors so the world can't see what's happening.
Last month, Moscow vetoed the extension of a 130-strong United Nations monitoring force for Abkhazia. It has also prevented the extension of a 200-person observer team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that was meant to monitor South Ossetia. Both missions were established in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They were to help enforce a cease-fire after South Ossetia and Abkhazia tried to break away from Georgia. The two observer missions are packing up this week.
All that's left is an unarmed group of 200 monitors in Georgia sent by the European Union as part of last summer's cease-fire. Their mission ends Oct. 1. Clearly, the EU must expand and extend its job.
But this is not all. This week, Russia undertook its biggest military exercise since the fall of the Soviet Union – 8,500 troops involving the Army, Air Force, and Navy, all moving in the volatile Caucasus area and just a stone's throw from Georgia. Moscow says it's responding to May's NATO exercises in Georgia – which itself is facing internal protests over the government's handling of the recent war.
The West is trying to sweep this time bomb under the rug as if it were a dust bunny. Indeed, NATO last week relaunched its "partnership" with Russia after putting it on ice after the war. And then there's President Obama's coming bear hug with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The harsh geopolitical calculus is this: Russia is worth more to the West as a potential partner on such issues as terrorism, Afghanistan, nuclear nonproliferation, Iran, North Korea, climate change, and the global economy, than is the tiny state of Georgia and its democratic yearnings.
That may indeed be the correct – if callous – calculus. Certainly neither the US nor its NATO allies were willing to intervene militarily last summer. And they would be unlikely to do so should Russia move to actually take Georgia or somehow install a puppet regime, as some suspect it is preparing to do.
But Russia's brutish stance toward Georgia should serve as a clear warning that a warmer relationship may not pay off, as the West, or Mr. Obama, hopes. It also shows that Moscow does not share the same values as the West. It prefers secrecy to transparency, threat to persuasion. It views democracy as a danger, not a stabilizer.
At the same time, can Washington even be sure that Moscow shares its interests? A nuclear arms reduction deal is likely to come out of this visit, and that's a good thing. Progress is also being made on counter-terrorism cooperation in Afghanistan. But it looks like Russia doesn't perceive Iran – with which it has strong economic ties – as such an alarming threat.
Moscow, for instance, wants to sell S-300 missiles to Iran. The S-300 can shoot down cruise missiles and aircraft that are 120 miles distant, and it makes Israel very, very nervous. Might Israel take preemptive action before Iran gets the S-300? Russia argues that these missiles are defensive in nature.
Two military heavyweights like Russia and the US should be talking to each other, not throwing eggs. The outreach by Washington is to be encouraged. But eyes should be wide open about the possibility of rebuilding a relationship when one party is keen on change while the other is sticking to its bellicose, arm-twisting ways. Georgia serves as the reminder of the limitations of a "reset" strategy.

In the thousands of years that humans have spent constructing clothing, they have created an astonishing array of styles, many of which we can reconstruct from surviving garments, photos, paintings, mosaics, etc., as well as from written descriptions. Costume history serves as a source of inspiration to current fashion designers, as well as a topic of professional interest to costumers constructing for plays, films, television, and historical reenactment.

Traditionally Hindu women, once married, would wear sindoor, a red powder, in the parting of their hair. If widowed, they would abandon sindoor and jewelry and wear simple white clothing. Men and women of the Western world may wear wedding rings to indicate their marital status. Also women in the United States, depending on their heritage and/or religion, will usually wear a simple or extravagant white gown, although some movie stars have been known to wear a black party dress for their wedding. Observant Jewish women cover their hair if they are married. There is a sect of Judaism in which girls who are old enough to be looking for a husband wear their hair in two braids as opposed to the one braid they wore before they were of a marriagable age.

Womens Wholesale Clothing

Legally, a loan is a contractual promise between two parties where one party, the creditor, agrees to provide a sum of money to a debtor, who promises to return the money to the creditor either in one lump sum or in parts over a fixed period in time. This agreement may include providing additional payments of rental charges on the funds advanced to the debtor for the time the funds are in the hands of the debtor (interest).

A loan is a type of debt. This article focuses exclusively on monetary loans, although, in practice, any material object might be lent. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower. The borrower initially does receive an amount of money from the lender, which he has to pay back, usually but not always in regular installments, to the lender. This service is generally provided at a cost, referred to as interest on the debt. A loan is of the annuity type if the amount paid periodically (for paying off and interest together) is fixed. A borrower may be subject to certain restrictions known as loan covenants under the terms of the loan. Acting as a provider of loans is one of the principal tasks for financial institutions. For other institutions, issuing of debt contracts such as bonds is a typical source of funding.

Cash Advance

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 – The distinctions between broadcast and cable TV are crumbling, and that's never been clearer than in the past week.
Sunday's BET Awards were seen by 10.7 million viewers. That's more than any other program on a cable this year, narrowly beating last Monday's divorce edition of TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8."
Nielsen Media Research says that's also more than all but two programs that were on broadcast television last week. Only NBC's premiere of "America's Got Talent" and a rerun of "NCIS" on CBS did better.
Another big winner on cable was the Disney Channel movie "Princess Protection Program." That debuted Friday to 8.5 million viewers.

WASHINGTON, Jun 30 (OneWorld.net) - Survivors of torture joined human rights activists in the streets of Washington, DC last week to demand prosecution of those involved in planning and implementing U.S. torture policies.

OneWorld.net's Martha Dodge compiled this video report

WIMBLEDON, England – Her 19th consecutive victory at the All England Club already wrapped up, Venus Williams grabbed a seat and watched younger sister Serena win easily to reach the semifinals, too.
Afterward, Venus and Mom, Oracene Price, strolled out of Centre Court arm-in-arm, chatting and laughing.
Sure is fun to be a Williams at Wimbledon.
Five-time champion Venus beat No. 11-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-2, before two-time champion Serena defeated No. 8 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-3, a pair of overwhelming performances Tuesday that moved the siblings closer to another all-in-the-family final at Wimbledon.
"They are both playing super-well. They're playing 'The Williams Way,'" their father, Richard Williams, said. "And when you're playing 'The Williams Way,' it's very difficult for anyone to touch you."
Particularly at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament, where a Williams has won seven of the past nine championships.
If No. 3 Venus gets by No. 1 Dinara Safina of Russia in Thursday's semifinals, and No. 2 Serena eliminates No. 4 Elena Dementieva of Russia, the siblings would meet Saturday in their second consecutive final at the All England Club and fourth overall.
It also would be the eighth all-Williams Grand Slam championship match; Serena leads 5-2.
"I would love it to be a Williams final," Venus said, "and so would she."
They are competitors, of course, but also form a team in many ways: The sisters are sharing a house during this tournament, practice with each other and have reached the women's doubles quarterfinals together.
"We've got it all figured out at this point," Venus said.
She is trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles; Serena wants to add to the trophies she earned in 2002-03 by beating her sister in the finals.
At least one person has no doubt there will be a rematch Saturday.
"It will be. I'll go home because I can't watch," their dad said. "I think they both definitely make it to the final."
First things first. If the 19-year-old Azarenka and 20-year-old Radwanska represented up-and-coming opponents with little experience on the sport's grandest stages — neither has reached a Grand Slam semifinal — Safina and Dementieva are far more accustomed to playing significant matches.
On the other hand, they're not nearly as accustomed to winning them as the Williams sisters are, of course: Serena owns 10 major titles, Venus seven; Safina and Dementieva have zero.
Safina, who lost in the final at three of the previous five Grand Slam events, overcame 15 double-faults and wore down 41st-ranked Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1. Dementieva, twice a runner-up at major championships and a singles gold medalist at last year's Beijing Olympics, was never challenged by 43rd-ranked Francesca Schiavone of Italy and won their quarterfinal 6-2, 6-2.
Asked about her double-fault total, Safina replied with a smile: "15? I thought it was much more. Sometimes even I don't know what I'm doing with my serve."

As the younger sister of former No. 1 Marat Safin, who lost in the first round at what he vows was his last Wimbledon, Safina knows about sibling success. But after losing the French Open final a few weeks ago, she acknowledged cracking under the pressure of trying to win her first major.

Looking ahead to facing Venus, against whom she is 1-2, Safina said, "I cannot go on court thinking I lost already. No, definitely, I think I have a chance there."

Dementieva also sounded a brave tone, despite accumulating more unforced errors (18) than winners (13).

"I just want to see how tough I can be out there against her," said Dementieva, who lost to Venus in last year's Wimbledon semifinals and now takes on Serena. "Just looking for some good fight."

Radwanska and Azarenka failed to make things difficult for the Williams sisters, who were at their dominant best.

"Not perfect," Price said, "but pretty close." Radwanska was playing in her third Grand Slam quarterfinal, 27 fewer than Venus, and while she upset Maria Sharapova at the 2007 U.S. Open, a stunner of that magnitude never seemed a possibility Tuesday. Venus won the first five games and the last six, compiling a 29-6 edge in winners.

Pounding aces at up to 122 mph, Venus won 16 of 18 points on her serve in the first set on a steamy day, the temperature about 90 degrees and not a cloud overhead at Court 1.

"Her tennis is so powerful," Radwanska said. "Very hard to do anything."

It took all of 68 minutes, leaving Venus ample time to shower, change, do postmatch interviews and still make it into the guest box for Serena's match.

Azarenka hits the ball quite hard herself, letting out a grunt that sounds something like "Whoop!", but she couldn't keep up. She even felt compelled to clap after a couple of Serena's best strokes.

"She really showed the unbeatable Serena," Azarenka acknowledged.

Azarenka did break for a 3-2 lead in the second set, but Serena didn't let her win another game. When Serena smacked one last forehand winner, she jogged to the net, pumping her fists. Up in the stands, Venus stood and applauded.

"We definitely upped our level of game today," said Serena, who hit nine aces. "We had really tough opponents, so we had to."

On Thursday, two more opponents will try to slow a pair of sisters who began playing tennis twenty-something years ago in Compton, Calif., and have made the most famous grass courts in the world their personal playground.

One particular family will be hoping for an all-Williams final. One nation will be pulling for an all-Russian final.

Dementieva proposed a unique alternative, asking: "Can we play just two finals instead?"

___

AP freelance writer Sandra Harwitt contributed to this report.

As a result of this definition, many people who use natural skin care products, generally make their own products at home from naturally occurring ingredients. While there are many wives' tales surrounding the beneifts of certain ingredients, scientific studies have proven that such ingredients as Chamomile have demonstrated healing and anti-inflammatory properties when applied topically. Many people use natural skin care recipes to make remedies to care for their skin at home. Many spas and skin care salons now focus on using more naturally derived skin care products. Over the past ten years, several companies have been started to make available completely natural products to the general public.

Kapha skin tends to have all the qualities of water and earth -- it can be oily, thick, pale, soft, cool and more tolerant of the sun. Kapha skin tends to age slower and form less wrinkles than the other two types. Kapha skin types may struggle with dull complexion, enlarged pores, excessive oil, blackheads, pimples, moist types of eczema and water retention.

Eye Wrinkles

WASHINGTON – The Senate plans to hold a hearing next week looking into antitrust issues surrounding college football's Bowl Championship Series.
It will be the second hearing on the BCS held on Capitol Hill this year, following a contentious one in the House in May.
The Senate Judiciary Committee Web site says the hearing will be next Tuesday in the committee's subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights.
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the subcommittee's top Republican, had sought the hearing. His office did not immediately return telephone and e-mail messages.
Football fans in Hatch's state were furious that Utah was bypassed for the national championship despite going undefeated in the regular season.

HOUSTON (Reuters) –
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Texas financier Allen Stanford, accused of a $7 billion fraud, held without bail until trial.

U.S. prosecutors had argued that Stanford, who faces life in prison if convicted on all charges contained in a 21-count indictment, had the means and motive to flee.

"In total, the evidence proffered by the government is sufficient to weigh in favor of detention," U.S. District Judge David Hittner said in an order that revokes a $500,000 bond that a magistrate had granted Stanford on Thursday.

"We are very disappointed and we are going to appeal to the 5th Circuit," Dick DeGuerin, Stanford's lawyer said in a statement.

Stanford, who is more accustomed to jetting around the globe in his private planes, has been in custody since his arrest on June 18 in Virginia. He is currently being held in a federal detention center in a facility 40 miles north of Houston.

The government accuses the billionaire of leading a massive Ponzi scheme using the investor funds from certificates of deposit issued by his bank in Antigua.

Stanford sought to avoid detection by creating false accounting records, lying to investors and bribing a regulatory official in Antigua, according to prosecutors.

The case, filed in federal court in Houston, is United States of America v. Robert Allen Stanford H-09-342.

(Additional reporting by Bruce Nichols and Erwin Seba in Houston; editing by Carol Bishopric)

The lumbar is the region of the spine between the diaphragm and the pelvis; it supports the most weight and is the most flexible. The adjustable lumbar mechanisms in seats allow the user to change the seat back shape in this region, to make it more comfortable. Some seats are long enough to support full thigh.

A Child Restraint system, also commonly referred to as a child safety seat or a car seat, is a restraint which is secured to the seat of an automobile equipped with safety harnesses or seat belts, to hold a child in the event of a crash.

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