American members of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HIHZ'-buht-ah-tuh-REER') planned to hold the event Sunday at a Marriott hotel in Oak Brook. Conference organizer Ayman Hamed says about 1,000 people were expected.

But he says the hotel sent a cancellation notice and refund without explanation about two weeks ago. The daylong event has drawn protesters in the past.

The group advocates establishing a worldwide Islamic state. Its members don't openly advocate violence, and it isn't considered a terrorist group by the U.S. government.

The hotel didn't respond to calls and e-mails for comment.

According to FanHouse, "King County Sheriff's Department halted race activities for more than an hour to investigate the crash but NHRA officials say the event was expected to finish in its entirety."

Just one month ago, another NHRA driver died while racing. In February, a fan was killed by a flying tire at an NHRA race.

A new cap being placed atop the gusher is intended to provide a tight seal and might eventually allow the oil giant to capture all the crude leaking from the well for the first time since an April 20 oil rig explosion set off the environmental crisis. But several prior failed attempts to stop the leak have made BP PLC careful to keep expectations grounded.

"We're pleased with our progress," said BP senior vice president Kent Wells, who then hastened to add the operation was still expected to last up to six more days.

Asked during a conference call if the new cap and collection efforts would end the spilling of oil into the Gulf, Wells said only that BP will capture all the oil "at some point."

Wells said BP may have to bring another vessel back online and add additional collection capacity in order to stop the oil flow altogether.

Officials won't be satisfied the cap is working until they've run tests on whether it can withstand the tremendous pressure of oil pushing up from below the seafloor, Wells said.

"We've tried to work out as many of the bugs as we can. The challenge will come with something unexpected," he said.

The well has been gushing largely unchecked since an old, leaky cap was removed from the wellhead Saturday to make way for the new one. Between 88 million and 174 million gallons have already spilled into the Gulf, according to federal estimates.

Wary Gulf residents reserved judgment about BP's latest effort and said the damage already done to the environment, fishing and tourism will haunt the region for a long time either way.

"At this point, there have been so many ups and downs, disappointments, that everybody down here is like, 'We'll believe it when we see it,'" said Keith Kennedy, a charter boat captain in Venice, La.

Robotic submarines finished removing a busted piece of pipe that was bolted around the leak around 3 a.m. Sunday. That paved the way for the installation of a pipe-like connector called a flange spool that will sit on top of the spewing well bore. The new cap would be mounted on top of that connector and have flexible pipes leading up to surface ships.

The work was being closely monitored at the White House, where President Barack Obama is being briefed multiple times a day, adviser David Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week."

"We have every reason to believe that this will work," he said.

The new cap will be aided in containing the leak by the arrival of the Helix Producer, a vessel that will be able to take in about 1 million gallons of crude per day by Tuesday after gradually ramping up. The Helix connected to flexible pipes from the well Friday, and crews have been running tests since then.

Like another vessel already operating, the Q4000, the Helix will take in oil through connections beneath the new seal. Once the new cap is affixed, two other vessels are to connect to it for their oil collection.

Ultimately, the four vessels collecting oil from the leak would have a rough capacity of about 2.5 million to 3.4 million gallons a day -- enough to capture all the oil leaking, if federal estimates are right. Getting all the vessels on the task will take about two to three weeks.

The hurricane season that lasts through November could interfere. There are no storms forecast now, but if one blows through, the ships collecting the oil may have to leave and crude would spew again for days into the water.

If the new cap is a complete success in stopping the leak, that will be a first.

In May, BP tried to drop a four-story, 100-ton steel-and-concrete box on the leak, but abandoned it when it was encased by ice-like crystals. That was followed by a mile-long siphon tube designed to suck up oil escaping the leak. That, in turn, was scrapped after it managed to suck up only about 900,000 gallons after roughly a week of operation.

The most anticipated effort was the so-called "top kill," in which mud and cement were pumped down from above the leak. After about three days of the strategy, BP announced on May 29 it had failed.

Then came the cap that was removed Saturday. That device didn't form a perfect seal on the jagged pipe that was cut to make room for it, and the inexact fit meant that it was able to collect only 1 million gallons or so of oil a day.

The new, tighter cap is not intended to be the permanent fix to the problem.

Relief wells are being dug for the permanent fix, a "bottom kill" in which heavy drilling mud and cement are pumped in from below the broken wellhead.

The effort to drill relief wells was moving ahead of schedule, Wells said Sunday. BP and government officials have said the wells are expected to be completed sometime around mid-August.

The new cap, or "Top Hat 10," weighs some 150,000 pounds. It is designed to fully seal the leak and provide connections for new vessels on the surface to collect oil. The cap has valves that can restrict the flow of oil and shut it in, if it can withstand the enormous pressure.

Former Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, co-chair of the national oil spill commission, said capping the spill would be a relief.

"But the problem is still going to be there to deal with the enormous amount of petroleum put in the Gulf of Mexico," he said during a stop at a local emergency operations center in the Florida Panhandle town of Southport.

Crews are working to skim oil from the Gulf's surface and remove it from the coast, but the job is enormous. People on shore who depend on the Gulf for their livelihood are paying attention to the latest effort but wonder if the damage already done by the spill is too much.

Trey Riviere, 42, who owns a fishing lodge in Myrtle Grove, La., said that even if BP is successful, he fears the aftermath could last for years. He said crude was already in his waters in the marshes west of the Mississippi River.

"How are they going to get all that out of there?" he asked.

A Democratic National Committee panel is recommending a reduction in the number of superdelegates, from 20 percent of the total number of delegates to 15 percent.

The full DNC must approve the change at a meeting later this summer.

Superdelegates are the members of Congress, governors and party elders who can back candidates regardless of how their states vote.

Barack Obama won over scores of superdelegates in 2008, helping him build an advantage over rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in the final count.

HOORAY, you say to yourself. You're going to be rich.

Unfortunately you don't have the money to market or promote your new device. But, no problem, you are willing to share the spoils. So, you present yourself to the largest mousetrap company in the world... MICE, INCORPORATED.

They agree to a meeting and before you know it you are in the room with the product design guy, their legal guy and their VP of R D. You get excited, you can feel the money in your pocket already.

The product design guy is working on his own product, however. He sees your device as a threat to his job.

The legal guy feels that more study needs to be done. What happens to the mice vapors? Do we know the mice don't suffer? Is there a potential class action in the offing?

The VP of R D is two years from retirement and a pension. Your device does look interesting (no, in fact, amazing) BUT he does not want to move too fast. It could backfire somehow - even though he can't think how - and put him at risk when he only has to keep his head down for 24 more months.

"Sorry," the three MICE, INC. men say. "Come back when it is a little more developed."

What they are really saying is that they are putting their own agendas ahead of the company they work for. They are playing the corporate equivalent of "kick the can down the road" while they cash another paycheck.

I am exaggerating of course. Not every corporate guy or gal is like the people in our example. But, far too many are. As every entrepreneur knows who has ever tried to present an idea or product to a corporation, there are a lot of people whose main focus is just keeping their head down.

Ultimately, the entrepreneur has to find the money or contacts or persistence to make the product himself. That is the story of Microsoft, Apple and Google.

Jim Randel is the Founder of The Skinny On™ book series. See www.theskinnyon.com.

In the last decade the Knickerbockers have only made the playoffs twice, with the last time being seven years ago. Each time the Knicks were knocked out in the first round. Moreover, the Knicks have managed to mull through six reputable coaches all the while losing great players to injury or over disputes. Let's not forget repeated falters at picking up legitimate draft picks. Though the Knicks were once regarded as one of the more incompetent teams in basketball they are now charting a new course for the coming decade.

With a clear leader and superstar in Amare Stoudemire good players can more or less dance to "the well of promise." Let's not bemoan over the Lebron James snub. The stigma of playing in New York has been lifted. These are not mere bloviations but rather telling consequences of recent decisions concerning the Knicks. This week after two years of not producing well, the Knicks allowed point guard Chris Duhon to head to Florida and back up Jameer Nelson. Now the Knicks can pursue better players in the point guard position such as all-stars Tony Parker or Chris Paul. The snow ball effect has certainly begun in earnest. In the words of future Knicks starter Amare Stoudemire perhaps, "the Knicks are back."

WATCH:

Winter Bone features a 17 year old girl, the sole supporter of her catatonic mom, and two younger siblings. Put up as collateral on their disappeared father's bail, the family's about to lose their house. 17 year old Ree looks longingly at the ROTC drills in the high school she had to leave. The best possible scenario for her is military recruitment. Actually, it's the only out on offer, and the $40,000 signing bonus could save her family's house.

Winter Bone made me think of Michael Massing's essay in the New York Review of Books. Who fights and why? quot;With its guarantees of housing, employment, health insurance, and educational assistance,quot; he wrote, quot;the US military today seems the last outpost of the welfare state in America.quot; Massing's piece appeared in April 2008, before the economic crisis really hit, before unemployment reached 10% officially (and around 16% by more precise calculations -- or 44 percent if you're in Detroit).

The US is currently shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month. It's not just in the Ozarks that the recruiters are the only ones with jobs around. The economy shed 125,000 jobs in June. That's about the number of troops we have left in Iraq.

Winter Bone just amped up the volume on a creepy question in my head. As Massing noted, quot;In todayrsquo;s America, the hunger for a college degree is so great that many young men and women are willing to killmdash;and risk being killedmdash;to get one.quot; And what happens to the vets when they have their degree, or when they don't want one or already have one?

We've long heard about fighting people over there so we don't have to do it here. Is the colder truth becoming that we're sending people over there because we sure can't employ 'em over here? And we're scared to death of what unrest might come with a massive return of men and women who've served and endured -- and who expect something better for their families than starvation wages, and no social services when they get back?

Lawyers didn't outline their arguments in a notice of appeal filed Wednesday in federal court in Denver. But during a re-sentencing hearing in June, Nacchio's attorney objected to a fine larger than $12 million and made other objections.

Nacchio was sentenced in 2007 to six years in prison and was ordered to forfeit $52 million and pay a $19 million fine, but the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the trial judge miscalculated Nacchio's gains from insider trading.

In June, a different judge shaved two months and $7.4 million from that sentence. Nacchio has served 14 months in prison so far.

Now, as you all know, the river is barricaded by concrete, stifled by pollution, and surrounded by skyscrapers, highways, and traffic. It doesn't have to be this way.

Today marks a historic step in our efforts to return the LA River to its former glory. It was my honor to be with Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to announce that the EPA now views the river as a national resource.

At Compton Creek, a major tributary of the LA River, Administrator Jackson said the EPA now considers the LA River a traditionally-navigable waterway. This means the river now qualifies for the same federal protection and federal funding as other significant American rivers.

This sea change will allow us to reclaim LA's natural beauty, and create verdant, open spaces throughout our urban landscape. Working with community partners and the federal government, we can make the LA river a place where Angelenos hike, picnic, swim, and fish together.

The river can once again connect us to our natural surroundings. And just as importantly, it can connect us to our history and our future.

The releases announced that the senators had died of liver cancer.

It's an unusual position to take in these hard economic times, but it's a belief shared by a large number of lobster hunters who are bracing for serious challenges to their way of life.

More surprising is that many Democrats do not dare point out the ill effects of this GOP maneuver. Privately they acknowledge that more stimulus is now needed and that deficits will become a problem only later, but they claim this sounds like "political double speak." For that reason they, too, tend to at least make Hooverite noises.

However, when I asked a bunch of primary school kids if they understood that the need for heating in the winter does not deny the need for air conditioning in the summer, sure to follow, they had no difficulties in coping with such a 'complex' thought.

Neither did Bernanke, who testified before a House committee early in June this year that, in the succinct words of the Wall Street Journal, "if Congress pursued more fiscal stimulus to sustain the recovery, it should be accompanied by a concrete plan to bring the deficit back into line in the long run. But he [Bernanke] indicated the economy is too fragile to begin reducing the gap now."

Moreover, only a very untutored reading of public opinion polls will lead one to conclude that the public favors deficit reduction now. Thus, asked if they are concerned about the federal debt, a large majority expressed concern -- but only because this is a so-called "no costs" question. It is like asking if you like to have a free dinner. Much more revealing is that when Americans were asked what they would rather spend money on -- cutting the deficit or creating jobs -- more people favored jobs over deficit reduction (by 50 percent to 42%). Another poll shows only 30 percent willing to make cuts in government spending on health care or education to reduce the deficit, versus 62 percent who are opposed! More are willing to cut the military budget, but not as many as those who would rather not reduce the deficit.

President Truman once remarked that if you run a Republican (meaning a Democrat who acts like a Republican) against a Republican, a Republican will win every time. The same holds here. If Democrats try to compete as to who is the holier deficit cutter, expect the Republicans to win. This is not merely bad news for the Democrats, but for the country. The economy now needs more lift, not more drag.

The homeless population is intensely affected by the heat wave. Water may not be much of a problem, but shelter from the sun is. A 56-year-old homeless woman in Waterford Township, Mich., was discovered dead from hyperthermia on Sunday afternoon.

The Valley Mission in Staunton, Va., is offering shelter to those who have nowhere else to go, as are many other public recreation facilities and places of worship.

From WHSV in Va.:

Valley Mission director David Reed says, this time of year, the mission is very concerned about heat-related injuries and those who don't have someplace to go.

"I would encourage anyone, if you see someone who appears to be homeless, please ask them to come to the shelter. They'll be cared for, housed, kept cool at night at least, well fed and safe," says Reed.

Individuals across the area are encouraged to look after those who may not have shelter. Help them find shade or buy them a bottle of cold water to cool down. It may just give someone some comfort, or it could save their life.

WATCH:

DarynKagan.com reports.

WATCH:

The Dutch struck first with a goal in the 17th minute, but Uruguay's Diego Forlan tied the game up just before halftime. The Netherlands added two goals in quick succession in the second half, however, to bury Uruguay. Scroll down for video highlights.

More to come...

"Whoever is in command will determine the agency's path," said Kathleen Engel, a Suffolk University law professor who sits on the Federal Reserve's Consumer Advisory Council. "When you have a lot of power vested in an agency, everything depends on how effectively they carry out their rulemaking authority."