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Restarting A Government After Shutdown Is More Than Flipping A Switch

Governor Mark Dayton

Minnesota may soon have an end to its shutdown of the government, but re-starting the departments of the state will probably take a few days.

Democratic Governor Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders aiming for a special session as early as Monday to finalize a deal struck late in last week. If rank-and-file lawmakers sign off on the deal, it will end a shutdown that’s been the longest in recent U.S. history.

But for residents whose lives have been disrupted, the relief won’t be immediate at all.

“It’s not like we can just flip a switch,” said Doug Neuville, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, which has halted renewal of driver’s licenses and vehicle tags during the shutdown. The computer systems used to issue renewals take time to bring back online, and the services won’t be immediately available, he added.

The same is true for closed rest stops and state parks. State budget office spokesman Jonathan Pollard said those must be cleaned and thoroughly checked before people can use them again. Road construction projects idled by the shutdown are likely to require much needed safety inspections before work can resume.

Licensing hang-ups for beer distributors could take several days to unsnarl as well, as returning state workers deal with backlogs which built up during the shutdown.

“It depends on the level to which the services were down,” Pollard added. “If you have an agency that’s mostly been up and functioning, it may be easier than if you have an agency that’s been completely shut down.”

The Dayton administration will likely consider the shutdown officially over once the governor signs new budget bills into law, Pollard added.

Republicans And President Obama Behind Closed Doors

Republicans & Obama Debt Reduction

Republican congressional leaders along with President Obama are back behind closed doors again today following a series of public statements which defended their debt reduction positions while attacking the views of others.

Before beginning the meeting at 2 PM, President Obama predicted that Republicans and Democrats can come to an agreement to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and at the same time reduce the federal debt in the future.  If they do not he believes the Republicans would be largely to blame.

“I do not see a path to a deal if they don’t budge, period,’ President Obama said at during his White House news conference this morning.”I mean, if the basic proposition is it’s my way or the highway, then we’re probably not going to get something done because we’ve got divided government.”

Before leaving Capitol Hill, John Boehner House Speaker and a Republican from Ohio told reporters that negotiators would find common ground but not if President Obama and Democrats persist on tax hikes which destroy jobs.

“The American people cannot accept — and the House will not pass — a bill that raises taxes on job creators,” Boehner added.

Democratic congressional leaders attended the White House negotiating session today.  It was the second in two days and will be in a daily series until an agreement can be reached.

The President said he is not suggesting tax hikes but rather eliminate loopholes and breaks that are for the wealthy Americans who don’t need help.

“I have bent over backwards to work with the Republicans to try to come up with a formulation that doesn’t require them to vote sometime in the next month to increase taxes,” President Obama said.

The President wants a debt reduction deal which is balanced between new government revenues and budget cuts, which places burden on wealthy as well as middle class.

Facebook Looks Socially Awkward Thanks To Google

Mark Zuckerberg Awkward

Mr. Mark Zuckerberg may be considering fast-tracking Facebook’s initial public offering.

It appears to be a hasty response to Google’s launch of a rival social networking site called Google+.  Zuckerberg unveiled Facebook’s new video-chatting feature on Wednesday.  He said it was “super awesome.”  Google had made the same feature in 2008.  Now Facebook appears vulnerable.  This could be rough news for many investors who recently paid top dollar for Facebook stock during private sales.

The first rule when launching a new social network is to make everyone wait in line.  Exclusivity is how Facebook built buzz in early days.  For two years you could only get in if you had an .edu email address.  Now Google+ is using a similar strategy.

Google has used this strategy before to conquer Yahoo in email which was a key driver of Yahoo traffic.  Then Google introduced Gmail but it was first only available by invitation.

Second rule is to deliver a superior service.  Many will try it out but to keep people using it they have to have a good reason.  Gmail offered more storage space, a reason most people would switch to using it.  Google+ seems to offer some upgrades on some shortcomings of Facebook.

Just for starters, Google+ allows people a handy way to organize their social contacts into circles of friends, relatives, etc. and they can use such circles to share information with groups.  Though Facebook offers Groups users have to broadcast their information to everyone by default.

Google+ also offers video chatting for groups.  This may be the reason why Facebook’s announcing one-on-one video chatting on Wednesday fell short.  Facebook has yet to offer group video chatting.

Apple Is Refused Court Order That Would Stop Amazon.com ‘Appstore’ Use

Apple Is Refused

A federal judge refused Apple Inc.’s attempt to stop Amazon.com Inc. from using the phrase “Appstore” when selling software applications for mobile devices.

Judge Phyllis Hamilton denied Apple’s motion for an opening injunction in the trademark-infringement case, this according to a filing on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Oakland, California.  Apple has been using the term “App Store” for three years and Amazon wants to use “Appstore” and it would confuse consumers.

“The court finds that Apple has not established likelihood of success as to the infringement claims,” Hamilton wrote. “Apple has not established a likelihood of confusion.” The case will be continued in federal court.

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Apple, filed a lawsuit in March, saying Amazon began looking for software developers last September for its future mobile software download service, which was to be called the Amazon Appstore Developer Program. According to court papers, the service now offers almost 4,000 applications. Apple said it has been selling applications for mobile devices since 2008 and filed to register “App Store” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

“We’ve asked Amazon not to copy the App Store name because it will confuse and mislead customers,” a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, Kristin Huguet, said in a statement over the telephone.

Amazon disputed that App Store is general and can’t be protected by trademark law.

A telephone call to Seattle-based Amazon’s media line was not immediately returned.

Amazon rose $2.66, or 1.2 percent, to $216.85 at 10:28 a.m. on the New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Apple climbed $4.22, or 1.2 percent, to $355.98.

Google+ launched – Insane Demand For New Social Networking Service

Google+ launched

Google+ is quickly becoming an Internet stir as evidenced earlier last week as Google was required to postpone Google+ invites after an “insane demand” for the new social networking service. But does Google+ have what it takes to contest Facebook and other popular social networking sites?

Google representatives say that this new social networking site which they recently launched is here to stay, unlike previous attempts at social networking by Google.  Although it is in beta version it has been met with overwhelming positive response.  Rumor even has it that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has opened an account on Google+.

Part of Google+ success is due to several amazing features which will change the way people socialize, interact and connect with other people over the Internet.

They include:

A circle concept which closely follows the way a person organizes their contacts in real life.  For example: You might meet different kinds of people each day yet interact with them in several different ways.  Circles allow a simple means of organizing your social network through grouping contacts into any category you can possibly imagine, like: family, co-workers, friends, and there are countless more circles you can imagine.  The circles are formed easily be dragging the new contact’s picture over the circle which represents the best group for that person.  You can even drag groups of people over a circle to move them there.

Streams help you to receive instant updates from people in your Circles.  You get to pick which circles and people you choose to share your information with.

Sparks allow you to have videos and stories or any other cool content you are interested in pulled right into your Google+.  Sparks stream is not the same results you would get if you put that term into a search engine.  Sparks allow you to instantly get relevant information to share with friends.  You can choose from a list of possible interests or you can enter your own specific interest.  Google+ will search out the topic content from all over the Internet.

With other tools called Hangouts, Huddles and Instant Uploads one can only imagine the possibilities that a Google+ account might bring.

The million dollar question is — Can Google+ shakeup the order which exists in other social networking websites and claim the top throne as one of the top 10 social networking sites?

When Talks Fail, Minnesota Government Begins Shutdown

Failed Deal On Budget

The state government of Minnesota begins a wide shut down Friday the start of the long July 4 holiday.  The Republication legislative leaders and Democratic Governor Dayton fail to reach a deal on the budget.

Several parts of the government on Thursday previously had began to shutdown just ahead of the midnight deadline for the budget.  These shutdowns included several websites as well as several dozen highway rest areas right in time for one of the largest travel season for the year.

Included with the shutdown is the furlough of roughly 23,000 employees out of the 36,000 Minnesota state employees.  Parks and campgrounds will be closed during one of their busiest weekends of the year – July 4^th.

Democratic leaders Senator Tom Bakk and Paul Thissen Representative met with Dayton for more than one week.  Republican leaders which include Kurt Sellers the House Speaker and Amy Koch the Senate Majority Leader.  The group of leaders met several different times in the governor’s office on Thursday.

The Republican leaders nor Dayton gave indication of when they might meet again to discuss budgets.

“I deeply regret that the last week of intense negotiations between the Republican legislative leaders and Senator Bakk, Representative Thissen and myself have failed to bridge the divide between us,” said Dayton.

Repubicans had previously asked Dayton to hold a special session where they wanted to approve an extension temporarily to fund for 10 days until the budget negotiations could be completed because they thought they were close on a budget deal.

Dayton said previous tries led to a 1.4 billion difference between the parties.  He dismissed their attempts for a temporary approval as a publicity stunt.

While Home Prices Rose, Sales of Homes Fell in May

Sales of Homes Fell

Throughout Northern Kentucky and Southwest Ohio home sales slide sharply in May, while home prices continued showing strong gains.

In Southwest Ohio, home sales have fallen 22.4 percent with over 1,600 homes sold in May.  This compares to over 2,000 home sales in May 2010.

In Northern Kentucky home sales slid as well, 34 percent in fact.  They saw home sales at 356 which compares to May 2010 where 539 homes were sold.

Some industry experts consider sales in April 2010 through June 2010 as inflated when buyers were racing to get in before the deadline for the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers.  There was also a $6,500 credit last year for move up buyers.  That deadline got extended to the end of June 2010 for those buyers who had purchase contracts in their hands by April 30, 2010.

In spite of the sales slide, median home sales prices continue to climb throughout 2011.  The median home sales price is at the mid-point for all home sale prices.

In Southwest Ohio, the median price for homes went up 7.7 percent from $122,000 in May 2010 to $131,500 in May 2011.  In Northern Kentucky, the sales price was $127,000 during May 2010 and is now up 4.5 percent to $132,750 in May 2011.

On another note, year to date sales through May are down 13.18 percent throughout Southwest Ohio as compared to May 2010 year to date sales.  In Northern Kentucky there was an 18.9 percent decline in home sales during the year to date period through May 2011, with more than 1,500 home sales.

During the first few months of 2011 the median home sale price rose 13.1 percent to $125,000.  This same figure in Northern Kentucky for the period of January through May 2011 was up 2.9 percent to a home sale price of $127,700.

Across the nation home sales in May 2011 fell 15.3 percent as compared to May 2010.

Even as the economy softens this performance is disappointing at best for home sales.  One reason for such a disappointing performance is the overly restrictive underwriting standards for home loans.  When the housing boom was going on there were very loose standards and now we are seeing unnecessary practice restrictions in reaction to the housing correction.  According to Lawrence Yun, who is the national trade group’s chief economist, “This overreaction is clearly holding back the recovery.”

The famous ‘Seven Year Itch’ Dress Worn by Marilyn Sells for $4.5 Million

Marilyn Sells Dress

The famous white dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in the “Seven Year Itch” was auctioned Saturday night and sold for seven figures.

Many of you will remember the dress from the scene where Marilyn Monroe is standing on a subway grate and it’s the scene that turned the bombshell blonde into a legend.  The dress was expected to go for just $2 million dollars but actually sold for the mind-boggling figure of $4,520,000 million.

Collector Keya Morgan told CNN, the bidding was “totally crazy, especially in this recession.”

Another Marilyn Monroe famous red-sequin gown that she wore in “Gentlemen Prefer Blonde” went for more than $1 million.  Another outfit sold for $510,000 and it was worn in “River of No Return.”

The auction on Saturday included almost 700 items from Debbie Reynolds massive collection, per Profiles in History who oversaw the auction.

Another famous dress of Audrey Hepburn that she wore in “My Fair Lady” sold for almost $4 million.  Other items that got snatched up by collectors of famous items included Harp Marx’ famous top hats for almost $50,000; the 1952 red MG TD where Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant rode in “Monkey Business” which sold for more than $200,000 and Gary Cooper’s uniform from the days of “Sergeant York” sold for $55,000.

Debbie Reynolds began purchasing these rare and valuable collections in the 1970’s.  Reynolds is a film legend in her own right.

“I heard the news that MGM was going to sell their inventory of costumes and props,” the 79-year-old actress said in a statement earlier this year. “I went everyday for weeks and focused on purchasing the costumes and props of Academy Award winning films. It soon turned into an obsession.”

The Debbie Reynolds Collection included 20,000 original photographs, 3,500 costumes and thousands of movie posters, movie props and other memorabilia.

Bachmann and Paul Rock Day Two of Leadership Conference for Republicans

Bachmann and Paul Rock

During the second day of the 2011 Leadership Conference for Republicans there was some new young and older supporters for Ron Paul, Representative from Texas.  They came to show their support for Paul by casting their vote in the conference’s straw poll.

The supporters’ presence was known during a speech given by former Godfather’s Pizza CEO and now presidential candidate Herman Cain who came on just before Paul.  Cain’s opening included prickling some bigwigs such as Bill O’Reilly. Karl Rove added, “I didn’t get the memo that I’m not supposed to run! I’m running!”

Cain was well received for the most part.  When he transferred to foreign policy and said that, “When you mess with Israel you are messing with the United States of America!,” Paul’s dovish followers made it known that they were there by breaking up the cheering with an equal amount of boos.

Cain still brought out unanimous cheers by the crowd with touching on consistent topics such as cutting taxes across the board. When Cain turned to energy, he asked the listeners if America could meet its own energy needs and heard a chorus cheering with the answer of, “Yes we Cain!”

Next up was the Texas congressman.  Although extra chairs had been brought in, the Paul supporters still packed the room to standing room only.

Paul was proud that he had steered the debate on important concerns since his 2008 campaign. First he cited the mounting criticism against the Transportation Security Administration’s intrusive warrantless searches performed at most airports.  FYI – Paul’s home state Texas is thinking about prosecuting TSA representatives who feel people without warrants.)

Next Paul pointed out the mounting opposition of Republicans to the state of wars abroad and certainly to the frontrunner Mitt Romney who had made his own waves earlier during the week when he suggested it might be time to pull out of Afghanistan.

Paul referred to the late President Ronald Reagan’s removal of troops in Lebanon as the precursor for his foreign policy

“When he found out how irrational politics was in that region, he decided it was necessary to get out,” Paul said.

Actress Rita Wilson The New Editor of ‘Huffington Post 40′

New Editor 'Huffington Post 40'

The Huffington Post is creating a new site which they say is aimed at baby boomers and actress Rita Wilson, well known as wife to Tom Hanks will be the director of its content and vision.

Arianna Huffington, AOL Huffington Post Media Group President and Editor-in-Chief announced Thursday that Wilson who is also a producer will be the editor-at-large for “Huff/Post 40.”  The site is set to launch in August.  Wilson is even credited for coming up with the new sites’ name.

Huffington revealed in an interview that the site will appeal to both men and women over the age of 40 and it will be “both about news and about people sharing their own experiences about that stage in life.”

Huffington credits Wilson and her own Greek heritage which set them up to value the aging process to bringing wisdom as well as new possibilities.

The 54-year old Rita Wilson is married to Tom Hanks and has acted on television and Broadway as well as been in movies.  She has also written articles on health and style for O, The Oprah Winfrey Magazine as well as Harper’s Bazaar.  She is a contributing editor at Harper’s Bazaar and has been since 2006.

Wilson had a lifelong dream to do a Broadway performance and made good on that dream at the age of 49, according to Huffington.  She has drive and a sense of humor and that is what makes her the perfect leader for the new site.

“She’s always following her own passions and making things happen, so I think she’s a great role model,” Huffington added.

Huffington, the HuffPo founder said she isn’t concerned about Wilson’s experience in journalism.  She calls the new editor-at-large “a wonderful writer herself and she has a clear sense of what the theme of the site will be.” Huffington said they are working now to fill other top editorial spots for the new site.

“Huff/Post 40 will be interactive and uplifting”, Huffington said.

“It’s important to cover this with a sense of joy about this age … that’s another thing that’s often missing from the writing about this stage of life,” Huffington said. “You worry about approval less; you’re more clear about who you are—all those things are so liberating. It’s a very liberating time of life, I say as I turn 60…”

“It’s an age where you can look less at the past and more into the future.”