Marc Anthony to Serve as Mentor on The X Factor

Despite a new promo implying otherwise, The X Factor Season 2 won't be ALL about Britney Spears.

There are three other judges, of course, Demi Lovato, Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid; along with Justin Bieber as a recently-announced mentor. And now TMZ confirms that Marc Anthony has signed on in the same capacity.

Look for J. Lo's ex to assist the hopefuls assigned to Cowell on the upcoming season of this Fox competition, which kicks off September 12.

Sources also say Nick Jonas will come on board as the mentor for Lovato's group, meaning we are one mentor and two hosts short of filling out the Season 2 roster.

With just over a week until The X Factor returns, some key decisions will need to be made in the very near future.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/09/marc-anthony-to-serve-as-mentor-on-the-x-factor/

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Eco Innovations Blog: Network Society - Estrada Saul 44's blog

Society needs many forms of outlets to maintain organized chaos. Before the advent of mass media through the internet, people received their news from the papers and the television, were able to socialize through dinner parties, groups and other social events. Society needs to be able to take in information and share that information with others. This need stems from the idea of interaction, (the idea that no man is an island) as through interaction society can share interests, needs, wants, desires etc. But now with the internet that same society structure has shifted, now receiving much of its news from online, and foregoing dinner parties for online chats, the social structure is still the same but the shift has taken place to what are called Network societies.

These types of Network societies (like blip.tv) have sprung up all over the internet. Each site offers their own form of interaction. Fulfilling different wants and needs of the people that visit the site. Network societies take different platforms of information, news, television, as well as other forms of digital media. A social network gives a voice to those that use it. Places like blip.tv and Hulu put people in the seat of producer, being able to watch whatever they wish when they want. They can share their interest, likes or dislikes with the rest of that through comments, voting etc. This gives the viewer a voice, which is an ongoing theme in a .

This sense of structure or organized chaos leads to the next part of a , the interaction of the masses. Being able to share opinions, voice view points and express their feelings on something in a completely anonymous way. This anonymity lets people take on any persona they want. From the aggressor to the wise digital hermit, it is this anonymity that takes the old form of society and changes it around. In a sense society is governed in part though the actions we can see, we can see the person standing in front of us that says he does not like something, we can hear the person that says we should do one thing over another all the while we are able to watch them as they speak. Yet online, in a all the people that partake in the network can change their stance on something as quickly as changing their user name for the site.

Blip offers the common person the chance to be a director as well as the producer. You can create your own show, host it etc. All the while you can watch whatever you wish when you wish. That voice many people need, to share a opinion, to get your ideas out there and to let others see what you have to say. A in all forms always comes back to the user's ability to make choices based on what they want. There is no need to change the channel, wait through a commercial or sit around bored. Those choices of on demand I want to do this now all encompass the organized chaos we call society. Digital media has just given the user a way to act out according to their own needs and wants.

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert

Source: http://myecoinnovationsblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/network-society.html

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Source: http://estradasaul.typepad.com/blog/2012/09/eco-innovations-blog-network-society.html

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Unification Church founder Moon dies at 92

Sun Myung Moon, the self-styled messiah from South Korea who founded the controversial Unification Church and a business empire with interests spanning cars to sushi, died Monday at the age of 92.

Moon, who was hospitalised with complications from pneumonia more than two weeks ago, died shortly before 2:00 am (1700 GMT Sunday) at a hospital in the church's headquarters in Gapyeong, east of Seoul.

Revered by his followers but denounced by critics as a cult-building charlatan, Moon was a deeply divisive figure whose shadowy business and financial dealings saw him jailed in the United States.

"He was our father and God's messiah. His body was custom-made by God so we believed he would live until 100," Moon's close aide Bo Hi Pak told reporters in Gapyeong.

"Now with him gone to heaven, all of us are tremendously saddened. We are in the deepest sorrow," a tearful Pak said.

Moon had been on life support since Friday after suffering multiple organ failure.

A church statement said Moon's body would "lie in state" for 13 days prior to his funeral on September 15, but a spokesman later said it had not been decided whether public viewing would be allowed.

Born to a farming family in 1920 in what is now North Korea, Moon said he was inspired by a vision of Jesus at age 15.

Rejected by Korean Protestant churches, he founded the Unification Church in 1954 -- a year after the Korean War -- and built it into a global religious movement that claims three million members worldwide.

Pilloried by detractors as a cult that brainwashed its followers, known mockingly as "Moonies," the church was famed for its mass weddings that married thousands -- sometimes tens of thousands -- of followers in sports stadium ceremonies led by Moon.

The couples were largely unknown to each other having been personally paired up by Moon -- often from different nationalities with no common language.

As the church rose to prominence in the 1970s and 80s, it spawned a multi-billion dollar business empire encompassing construction, heavy machinery, food, education, the media and even a professional football club.

Its media holdings include the Washington Times newspaper and the United Press International news agency, and it also dominates the fishing and distribution industry, supplying sushi outlets in the United States.

A church-affiliated firm, Pyeonghwa (Peace) Motors, established a joint carmaking business in North Korea in 1999.

An editorial in the Washington Times noted Moon's staunch anti-communism and defence of family values down the decades.

"Faith. Family. Freedom. Service. The conservative values... serve as a poignant memorial to the wisdom of the man whose foresight and courage sounded the charge to fight the battles of the day," the daily said.

Throughout his life, Moon assiduously courted political leaders in what his critics said was a strategy to procure influence and legitimacy for his church which has been condemned as heretical by some Christian organisations.

In 1974 he met President Richard Nixon at the White House and urged Americans to forgive their leader for the Watergate scandal.

In 1991, he traveled to North Korea to meet then leader Kim Il-Sung for talks on inter-Korean economic cooperation projects and the reunion of separated families from the North and South.

The teachings of the Unification Church are based on the Bible but with new interpretations.

Moon saw his role as completing the unfulfilled mission of Jesus to restore humanity to a state of "sinless" purity.

In official church literature, he is referred to as the "True Father" and the "one and only messiah in human history".

Moon's emergence as a significant religious leader was tainted by legal problems.

Having moved to the United States in 1972, he was indicted on tax evasion charges in 1981, in what his followers insisted was a conspiracy to force him out of the country.

He was convicted and served 11 months in prison.

Moon, who returned to live in South Korea in 2006, was admitted to the intensive care of a Seoul hospital in mid-August and then shifted to the Gapyeong estate after doctors said his kidneys had ceased to function.

There was no mass mourning early Monday at the huge, mountain-ringed compound which comprises dozens of modern facilities including schools, a hospital and training centres.

But followers left numerous grief-stricken messages of loss on the church's official website.

"I feel like the sky is falling and the whole world has collapsed," wrote one.

"You are the eternal king of kings, the messiah of mankind. You will always live in my heart," said another.

From Thursday, mourners will be allowed to offer prayers at an altar bearing Moon's image in Gapyeong, and Pak said 30,000 followers had been invited from Japan.

Moon had 14 children with his second wife, Hak Ja Han. Hyung Jin Moon, the youngest of his seven sons, succeeded his father as the church's most senior leader in 2008 at the age of 28.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/unification-church-founder-moon-dies-92-reports-192214797.html

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5 Ways to Save on Plane Tickets | Hobbies On A Budget

One of the perks of being born in the era wherein air transportation has become easily accessible is the convenience of flying to any part of the world for your vacation. The only thing that?s stopping individuals from going on a backpacking trip through Europe or taking some time off in New Zealand is the cost of plane tickets. But thrifty individuals know that with careful planning, going to some exotic new place or historical city isn?t that costly at all.

1. Go on a Wednesday.

According to a study, the cheapest day to fly domestic is Wednesday. It could be attributed to the fact that it?s in the middle of the week and travelers won?t be able to take full advantage of the weekend. On the other hand, the most expensive days to travel are Friday and Sunday since most people would prefer to fly on the former, in order to enjoy the weekend. Then, they would fly back home on the latter in order to get back to work on Monday.

2. Purchase early and fly first class.

While the recession may have made it harder to travel by plane, it has also made first class much more affordable when bought way ahead of time. They even are actually the same, if not considerably, lower than those at coach that are sold at the last minute or in emergency circumstances.

3. Right timing is essential.

It always doesn?t follow that tickets prices are the lowest when you buy them six months or even a year prior to your travel date. Most airline companies actually only start releasing cheaper seats four to five months prior to the travel date for international travel, and three to four months for domestic flights.

4. Be flexible.

While this isn?t an option to some people, especially families wherein members are in tight schedules, being flexible with your vacation dates can help significantly with your penny-pinching. Especially during the summer, there are just certain days wherein there are more travelers and securing a seat would mean being slapped with high surcharges. If departure flexibility is out of the question, then consider being flexible with your destination.

5. Avoid rebooking your ticket.

While it?s always better that you avoid changing your flight, if you see this as a possibility in the future, consider booking with the airline directly instead of other online ticketing companies like Orbitz and Travelocity. This is in order to avoid being charged $30 on top of the change fee that your airline charges you.

About the author:

Anthony Robert loves to share his insights about travel and leisure. Learn about his site, http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/.

Source: http://hobbiesonabudget.com/2012/09/03/save-on-plane-tickets/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=save-on-plane-tickets

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Spanish PM pushes ECB bond buying program

BERLIN (AP) ? Spain's prime minister is urging the European Central Bank to go ahead with a bond-buying program aimed at lowering the borrowing costs of debt-ridden governments like his own, saying in comments published Sunday that eurozone state financing rates need to be similar for the currency union to function.

The ECB holds a meeting Sept. 6 where plans to intervene in bond markets will be discussed, and bank head Mario Draghi has suggested that he was prepared to take "exceptional measures" to restore stability to the 17-nation eurozone.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told Bild newspaper in an interview published Sunday that Draghi's suggestion that the ECB could help indebted governments lower their borrowing costs by buying their bonds shows "a determination to solve the problem."

"A monetary union cannot function when some of its countries finance themselves with negative-interest, while others must raise money with unsustainably high interest rates," Rajoy was quoted as saying.

Troubled eurozone countries like Spain, Italy and Greece have been paying high rates ? with 10-year Spanish bond yields currently at about 6.5 percent ? because bond investors fear they may default. Yet the governments must constantly sell new bonds to pay off old ones that are coming due. High borrowing costs were what pushed indebted countries Greece, Ireland and Portugal to need bailout loans from the other eurozone countries.

On the other hand Germany has been borrowing money at below the inflation rate as investors accept taking a loss to hold the super-safe securities.

"Draghi has pointed out that above all, doubts about the irreversibility of the euro, and not any objective differences in the economic fundamentals of the euro countries, are responsible for this dangerous interest rate differential," Rajoy said. "If we want to preserve the euro, which has brought us greater prosperity, then we must send an unmistakable signal that there will be no going back."

The ECB's plans have sparked a fierce debate in Germany, which is the biggest backer of Europe's financial rescue efforts. The country's national central bank is against the bond-buying idea, along with many academic economists, conservative politicians and voters. They argue that it puts taxpayer money at risk and breaks the European Union treaty provision barring the ECB from directly backing governments.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has indicated she's open to the ECB's plans and has publicly admonished members of her governing coalition to tone down angry remarks about debt-stricken countries such as Greece.

Merkel is scheduled to meet with Rajoy in Madrid on Thursday, the same day the ECB holds its meeting to talk about the bond issue.

Key questions remain about how the ECB purchases would work and how big they might be, but Draghi has said the bank's help would only come if the countries first ask for help from the region's bailout fund and agree to take steps to reduce their deficits and debt levels.

Rajoy said Spain has already demonstrated a willingness to take such measures, and had no problem with Draghi's need for conditions.

"We are also aware of our public finance problems, and that we need to undertake further reforms," he said.

He also said the eurozone should do anything possible to prevent a Greek exit, saying that if the country left it would be a "gigantic blow not only for Greece but for the whole European Union."

"The Greeks and the rest of us must show that Europe is able to solve this problem..." he said. "A withdrawal of Greece would be an indictment of the entire EU."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-09-02-Europe-Financial%20Crisis/id-ac6a8e46cc5d4d768fbecfc4955d7227

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Import tax deadline has Cuba entrepreneurs on edge

A shopper looks at a copy of a FC Barcelona soccer team shirt with the name of player Lionel Messi at an outdoor market where the government allows licensed vendors to sell their goods in downtown Havana, Cuba, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. A jump in import taxes on Monday, Sept. 3 threatens to make life tougher for some of Cuba's new entrepreneurs who the government has been trying to encourage as it cuts a bloated workforce in the socialist economy. In Cuba, the average monthly wage is about $20. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

A shopper looks at a copy of a FC Barcelona soccer team shirt with the name of player Lionel Messi at an outdoor market where the government allows licensed vendors to sell their goods in downtown Havana, Cuba, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. A jump in import taxes on Monday, Sept. 3 threatens to make life tougher for some of Cuba's new entrepreneurs who the government has been trying to encourage as it cuts a bloated workforce in the socialist economy. In Cuba, the average monthly wage is about $20. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

Javier E. Matos repairs a a cell phone at The Cell Phone Clinic, a private business in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. A jump in import taxes on Monday, Sept. 3 threatens to make life tougher for some of Cuba's new entrepreneurs who the government has been trying to encourage as it cuts a bloated workforce in the socialist economy. In Cuba, the average monthly wage is about $20. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

In this Aug 29, 2012 photo, venders Yeisker Castillo and his wife Lisbet Tejeda, right, dress a mannequin at their stall as clients walk through the open-air market where the government allows licensed vendors to sell their goods in downtown Havana, Cuba. A jump in import taxes on Monday, Sept. 3 threatens to make life tougher for some of Cuba's new entrepreneurs who the government has been trying to encourage as it cuts a bloated workforce in the socialist economy. In Cuba, the average monthly wage is about $20. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

In this Aug 29, 2012 photo, Luis Manuel Dlas works to unload bags of imported clothing and accessories from a storage container, where self-employed vendors store their merchandise within an open market where the government allows licensed vendors to sell their goods in downtown Havana, Cuba. A jump in import taxes on Monday, Sept. 3 threatens to make life tougher for some of Cuba's new entrepreneurs who the government has been trying to encourage as it cuts a bloated workforce in the socialist economy. In Cuba, the average monthly wage is about $20. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

In this Aug. 30, 2012 photo, Javier E. Matos repairs a cell phone at The Cell Phone Clinic, a private business in Havana, Cuba. A jump in import taxes on Monday, Sept. 3 threatens to make life tougher for some of Cuba's new entrepreneurs who the government has been trying to encourage as it cuts a bloated workforce in the socialist economy. In Cuba, the average monthly wage is about $20. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

HAVANA (AP) ? A sudden jump in import taxes on Monday threatens to make life tougher for some of Cuba's new entrepreneurs and will mean higher prices for many of their customers by raising the cost of goods ranging from jungle-print blouses to jewelry.

The new measures steeply hike duties on cargo shipments, as well as on many bulk goods brought in by airline passengers, a crucial supply line for many of the small businesses the government has been trying to encourage as it cuts a bloated workforce in the socialist economy.

Officials insist the taxes are similar to those in other countries, but many small-business owners view the change as an ominous sign.

While the published official description seems aimed at items such as clothing, soap, food and other personal-use goods, it is so complex it leaves importers of other products unsure if they will be affected, now or in the future.

Some of the entrepreneurs, such as Javier Ernesto Matos, say they have prepared for the blow by stocking up on parts before the tax takes effect.

He also has prepared for a worst-case scenario if supply dries up entirely: "It's pretty shocking, but the strategy we have in mind is to consolidate in a single shop and leave prices the same to recoup what we can from our investment," said Matos, who together with two business partners operates three mobile phone repair shops called the Cellphone Clinic.

Others say they'll have no choice but to raise prices. That, along with the higher taxes on goods brought in by friends, has worried consumers in a country where the average monthly wage is about $20.

"For our family these are important items, from a little soap to a backpack for school," a woman identified as Loraine wrote on the state-run Cubadebate website. "We all make sacrifices to help them. Nothing falls from the sky. Why are they turning their backs on reality? Knowing how many shortages there are in the country, why be so strict?"

While President Raul Castro has tried to expand the private sector, the government has done little to provide wholesale outlets where businesses can buy parts and materials for the goods they sell, so many supplies are either unavailable or prohibitively expensive due to high government retail markups.

Arturo Lopez-Levy, a Cuban-born economist at the University of Denver, said it's not unusual for countries to levy high customs duties, but Cuba has exceptional circumstances that make it inadvisable right now.

"The right timing was to create the wholesale market first and then try to crack down on this type of activity," Lopez-Levy said. "If you don't have a wholesale market, then you are implementing the measures without the proper sequence, especially if you really want to promote the small- and medium-size nonstate sector."

"In the long term, this resolution was necessary," he said. "Right now, it's a mistake."

The new duties seem primarily targeted at so-called "mules," who make frequent shopping trips to places such as Ecuador, Panama and Miami and bring back duffel bags bulging with food, underwear, shoes and electronics.

Starting Monday, Cubans who travel abroad more than once a year not only will pay higher tariffs, they'll pay in hard currency rather than the more-easily obtainable national peso, which trades at 24 to the U.S. dollar and is used for most salaries.

Cubans will also begin paying dollar-based sums of $4.55 a pound ($10 per kilogram) above a certain weight to receive packages shipped by air and sea. That rate doubles if they bring in large shipments.

The impact is already being felt by people like Rafael, a 50-something who imports clothes to Havana. Before, he paid the equivalent of $65 in the local currency to import 550 pounds (120 kilograms) of clothing. Under the new, progressive duty schedule, that would apparently cost between $1,300 and $1,800.

"This idea of raising taxes is crazy. ... I don't know where this decision came from, because it hurts everyone," Rafael said. "But it hurts the people the most, because we have to raise our prices."

Already costly for Cubans ? a pair of jeans costs an average month's wage ? Rafael's prices stand to rise an initial $2-3 per garment and could go up even more, he said.

He declined to be identified by his full name because his business license only authorizes him to make clothing, but he essentially resells imported garments.

The new rules will mostly affect clothing stands and boutiques, but could also hurt the supply of things such as artificial nails to beauty salons, or fabric, buttons and zippers to dressmakers.

It could also make it harder for some Cubans to visit family abroad. Trips are often funded by agreeing to bring back large bags on behalf of someone who pays the airfare.

The Cellphone Clinic's Matos said he began doubling his normal purchases this summer and has stockpiled enough parts like fragile electronic ribbons to stay in business for two more years, no matter what.

"If buying pieces becomes more expensive, if people are bringing in less, you have to reevaluate and prices will have to rise," he said. "It's a bad thing, because if you raise the price not everyone will come like before. It's not worth it, you know?"

It's not clear that any state-run operation would offer some of the Clinic's services, such as unblocking an iPhone 4.

Separate tax rates cover food and electronics, including 400 pesos (or $17) for a Cuban to import a 32-inch or larger flat-screen TV on a first trip, and $400 on subsequent travels.

Authorities insist they're just trying to improve service at Cuban airports, where excess baggage clogs conveyor belts in passenger terminals. In mid-August, state-run website Cubadebate published Customs officials' explanation of the tariffs along with several examples.

But it did little to ease concerns, judging by the dozens of exasperated reader complaints posted in the comments section.

"Why should a Cuban citizen have to pay the taxes in a currency in which they themselves are not paid?" said a poster identified as Roberto Suarez. "That's not fair. I don't travel, but I don't see the logic in that."

Some said the regulations could force entrepreneurs to turn to black-market goods pilfered from state-run concerns.

Others, however, predicted that Cubans, famous for their knack for finding a make-do solution to any problem, will figure a way to sidestep the duties.

"Something will be found to get around this," said Maria, another clothing vendor who also would not give her last name because her business activities exceed the scope of her license. "It always happens in this country. It's like they say: 'He who creates the law, also creates the cheat.'"

___

Associated Press writer Anne-Marie Garcia in Havana contributed to this report.

___

Follow Peter Orsi on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-09-01-Cuba-Pricey%20Goods/id-c0129bc9288f47c7aa49d6f62225638b

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Obama to try to make case for sticking with him

President Barack Obama arrives at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012. President Obama is in the state for a campaign event in Boulder, Colorado. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

President Barack Obama arrives at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012. President Obama is in the state for a campaign event in Boulder, Colorado. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

President Barack Obama greets supporters after arriving at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012. President Obama is in the state for a campaign event in Boulder, Colorado. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

President Barack Obama greets supporters following a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ? Don't expect President Barack Obama to try to reinvent himself next week at the Democratic Party's national convention. Instead, he and a slew of his defenders will seek to convince voters to stick with the president they know rather than gamble on someone new, a challenging task given that most Americans say the country is heading in the wrong direction.

"This Thursday, I will offer you what I believe is a better path forward, a path that grows this economy, creates more jobs and strengthens the middle class," Obama said Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, previewing his pitch. "And the good news is, you get to choose which path we take."

While Democratic loyalists will fill the stadium where Obama accepts the nomination Thursday night, the president's target audience is the small sliver of undecided voters in battleground states who will be critical to the outcome of what polls show is a tight race with two months to go. His campaign also will try to revive some of its insurgent, grassroots appeal from 2008 by using technology to let people participate in the convention. That effort also will help Obama's team collect more data on voters.

Starting Tuesday, a parade of high-profile speakers will stand on a blue-carpeted stage in Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena to vouch for Obama's economic agenda, which his team says is focused on the middle class: ending tax cuts for the rich and reducing the debt, while spending more on education, energy and infrastructure. Several voters ? called "American Heroes" by Obama's team ? also will speak at and appear in videos at the convention, putting a human face on Obama's program.

The Democratic convention starts less than a week after Republicans gathered in Tampa, Fla., to nominate Mitt Romney as the party's presidential candidate. Democrats hope that by holding their convention second, Obama can emerge with momentum on his side as the race for the White House bounds into its final stretch.

Obama will largely be responsible for generating that momentum. He will close the convention Thursday night with a speech in an outdoor football stadium, just as he did in 2008. Mindful of the comparisons to four years ago, Obama's campaign is scrambling to ensure that the 74,000-seat stadium is filled to capacity. The largest crowd Obama has drawn during the 2012 campaign is about 14,000 people, far less than the jaw-dropping crowds he attracted in the 2008 campaign.

As in 2008, the campaign will use the large gathering to register voters and recruit new volunteers through text messaging and Twitter.

Aides say Obama won't ignore the economic woes that have defined his four years in the White House. But they say he plans to focus largely on the future, and why he believes his policies will succeed in a second term. Obama isn't expected to outline any new policy proposals. Instead, he plans to make the case for continuing what he has started. And he is expected to double down on agenda items, like immigration and tax reforms, that gained little traction during his four years in office.

"When the convention is over, folks with be left with a clear road map of where he thinks America needs to go," said Stephanie Cutter, Obama's deputy campaign manager. "And it will be clear what his focus will be in an Obama second term."

Working against Obama: the nation's 8.3 percent unemployment rate, sluggish economic growth and fears the economy could slip back into a recession.

There's also a general malaise. An Associated Press-GfK poll conducted earlier this month showed 60 percent of registered voters say the country is heading in the wrong direction, while just 35 percent say it is heading in the right direction.

The convention opens Tuesday with first lady Michelle Obama, whose popularity far surpasses her husband's, as a featured speaker. San Antonio, Texas, Mayor Julian Castro also is slated for that night. He will be the first Hispanic to deliver the Democratic convention's keynote address. Their roles on the convention's opening night are part of Democrats' efforts to shore up support among women and Hispanics, two crucial voting blocs where Obama holds an advantage over Romney.

Mrs. Obama is expected to make the case that Obama is the best candidate to advocate on behalf of the middle class because he has experienced their struggles himself.

Many voters already have heard Mrs. Obama's stories about her husband being raised by a single mother and his grandparents or having struggled to pay off student loans.

But she is emphasizing them again in this campaign in hopes of drawing a contrast with Romney's privileged upbringing.

Polls show voters think Obama understands the economic issues that are important to them better than Romney, even though the Republican has an edge on who voters believe is better suited to manage the economy.

Former President Bill Clinton, who is emerging as one of the campaign's most effective surrogates, will headline the convention Wednesday and formally nominate Obama. He hopes to remind voters of the flush economy he presided over and make the case that Obama's policies will lead to similar results.

Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry will address the large stadium crowd Thursday night before Obama speaks.

Kerry, seen as a potential second-term secretary of state under Obama, will try to capitalize on the Democratic Party's rare advantage on national security issues. He is expected to trumpet Obama's decision to order the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and the president's plan to end the Afghanistan war, a sharp contrast to Republicans who rarely mentioned the war during their convention or the tens of thousands of troops still engaged in combat.

Obama's young daughters start school in Washington next week and are not expected to have a formal role at the convention. But they could come to Charlotte Thursday night for the president's acceptance speech.

Obama picked Charlotte as his convention site in part to help boost his chances of holding onto North Carolina, a state he moved into the Democratic column in 2008 for the first time in decades. Democrats acknowledge that the political landscape in North Carolina has shifted back toward the Republicans, though they hope the convention will help them reverse that course.

"We know that Republicans want to win it back," Cutter said. "But that's one of the reasons we chose Charlotte to host the convention. It's a pretty big investment in that state, and it gives us an advantage."

Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan, will seek to steal some of the spotlight from Democrats when he campaigns in Greenville, N.C., on Monday. Romney will spend next week preparing for debates. He has no public events scheduled.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-09-02-Obama's%20Convention/id-04603b91f6bf40ba8f3279c7b3868c51

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