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DUBAI (Reuters) – Hip-hop producer Dallas Austin was granted a pardon on Tuesday hours after a Dubai court sentenced him to four years in jail for possession of narcotics, a local newspaper said.
LINK: Jailed US music producer pardoned in Dubai: paper

A computer user is suing Microsoft Corp. over the company’s Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy tool, alleging that it violates laws against spyware.
LINK: Microsoft’s Antipiracy Software Called Spyware – Worldwide Tech -

NEW YORK, July 4 (Reuters) – New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said on Tuesday he was willing to compromise in a budget crisis and urged state lawmakers to reach a deal that would avoid the closure of Atlantic City’s casinos on Wednesday.
LINK: NJ budget squabble drags on, casino closure looms | Reuters.com

Teenagers have been drinking alcohol for centuries. In pre-Revolutionary America, young apprentices were handed buckets of ale. In the 1890′s, at the age of 15, the writer Jack London regularly drank grown sailors under the table.
LINK: The Grim Neurology of Teenage Drinking – New York Times

Joey Coney Island is making a stand at the corner of Stillwell and Surf Avenues, amid the fortune tellers, the freak shows, the bumper cars and the Boardwalk.
LINK: Down by the Boardwalk, a $1 Billion Revival Plan – New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Discovery lifted off Tuesday on NASA’s first Independence Day space shuttle launch — producing a swell of patriotism as well as some positive news about shuttle safety.

Erik Mongrain playing a composition I made 6 years ago in the streets of Spain when I was travelling around.That was on “Belle et Bum” (popular music show in Quebec ).

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., July 3 — NASA will try to launch the space shuttle Discovery on Tuesday despite having learned on Monday that a small piece of foam had fallen off the external tank, officials said.
LINK: Shuttle Launching Set for 2:37 p.m. ET Despite Broken Foam – New York Times

LINK: CNN.com – N.J. lawmakers meet amid shutdown – Jul 4, 2006