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• DATELINE: OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN
  Steve & Kristen McCarty threw a 4th of July bash, complete with fireworks and booze. All had a good time.

• DATELINE: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
  Karen, Michael, Ryan & Missy McCarty flew out to Sin City for a week. They were met there by Jerry and Kathlene, who came in for a day and night. Mike reports that they had a great time. The six of them went to Emeril's restaurant in the MGM Grand, walked the Strip, and saw the sights. Jerry and Kathlene also took us to another TV chef's restaurant for lunch. Later in the week, Karen, Missy, Ryan and Mike went to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. Awesome. Amazingly, Mike did not trip. Good thing. It would have been a long way back up.

Mike's in the bathroom	Mike give his camera to a drunk gambler	Ryan & Missy

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	McCARTY METRO PROTECTING OUR READERS

• DATELINE: JURY DUTY SCAM
  Here's a new twist scammers are using to commit identity theft: the jury duty scam. Here's how it works: The scammer calls claiming to work for the local court and claims you've failed to report for jury duty. He tells you that a warrant has been issued for your arrest. The victim will often rightly claim they never received the jury duty notification. The scammer then asks the victim for confidential information for "verification" purposes. Specifically, the scammer asks for the victim's Social Security number, birth date, and sometimes even for credit card numbers and other private information — exactly what the scammer needs to commit identity theft. So far, this jury duty scam has been reported in Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington state. It's easy to see why this works. The victim is clearly caught off guard, and is understandably upset at the prospect of a warrant being issued for his or her arrest. So, the victim is much less likely to be vigilant about protecting their confidential information. In reality, court workers will never call you to ask for social security numbers and other private information. In fact, most courts follow up via snail mail and rarely, if ever, call prospective jurors. Action: Never give out your Social Security number, credit card numbers or other personal confidential information when you receive a telephone call. This jury duty scam is the latest in a series of identity theft scams where scammers use the phone to try to get people to reveal their Social Security number, credit card numbers or other personal confidential information. It doesn't matter *why* they are calling — all the reasons are just different variants of the same scam. Protecting yourself is simple: Never give this info out when you receive a phone call.
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• DATELINE: TELEMARKETERS
  Protect yourself from annoying telemarketing phone calls at home or on your cell. The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice not to receive those telemarketing calls. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint. You can register your home or mobile phone for free. Your registration will be effective for five years. Go to www.donotcall.gov to register all your phones. If you would like more information about the Do No Call Registry, you can check out the Q&A section on the Federal Trade Commission website. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/dncalrt.htm
  

• DATELINE: CANTON OF URI, SWITZERLAND
  Evidence has been found that William Tell and his family were avid bowlers. However, all the league records were unfortunately destroyed in a fire. Thus we'll never know for whom the Tells bowled.
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• DATELINE: NAIROBI, KENYA
  A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said. The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him. "It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP. "After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added. "The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added. "The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years," he explained. 
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• DATELINE: KARACHI, PAKISTAN
  The latest video was released from a cave somewhere in Pakistan. Taliban Minister of Migration, Mohammed Omar, warned the United States that if military action against Iraq continues, Taliban authorities will cut off America's supply of convenience store managers. He also warns that if this action does not yield sufficient results, cab drivers will be next, followed by Dell customer service reps and AT&T customer service reps.
  ED NOTE: It's getting ugly folks.