But First…
Fashion designer Liz Claiborne, whose styles became a cornerstone of career women's wardrobes in the 1970s and 1980s, died on Tuesday at the age of 78, following a long battle with cancer.

Claiborne co-founded Liz Claiborne Inc. in 1976 with the goal of creating a collection of fashions aimed at the increasing number of women entering the workforce. The new approach to dressing revolutionized the department store industry, which had really only focused on stocking pants in one department and skirts in another.

The company was an immediate success with sales of $2 million in 1976 and $23 million in 1978. In 1986, Liz Claiborne Inc. became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500. Last year, the company generated sales of nearly $5 billion.

Serial Media Quote Machine at Head of iPhone Line
From what we can tell, the iPhone is either the greatest device in American history or the biggest, most over-hyped letdown in American history. Everyone from Sports Illustrated to Horse and Hound will likely be covering Apple's new product, which launches today.

To us, the most uninteresting thing about the hoopla is Greg Packer.

You've likely seen him being interviewed on television as the guy who is first on line at the NYC Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. Packer began camping in front of the store at 5 a.m. on Monday, four days before the scheduled release.

What you may not have heard, though, is that Packer isn't a hardcore Apple fan(boy) at all. Rather, the retired highway maintenance worker is the nation's unofficial "man on the street." He's been quoted more than 100 times in the news media as an ordinary citizen commenting on various notable matters. According to Gizmodo, he's an obsessive linesitter. He was apparently the first to sign the condolence book at the British consulate when Princess Diana died, the first on line to greet President George W. Bush after his inauguration, and the first person to see Ground Zero when the viewing platform opened. (Photo credit: Packer's First in Line for iPhone blog)

"I do not think members of the press are pansies, but there are times when I go home and laugh because I can't believe that I made the newspaper pages again," Packer said in an Editor & Publisher article in 2004.

Rubber Ducks to Storm English Beaches this Summer
A fleet of roughly 29,000 bath-toy ducks is set to wash up on Britain's shores after a 15-year, 17,000-mile epic journey, reports UK's The Sun.

The rubber ducks have been adrift in the ocean ever since 1992 when they were, ahem, "liberated" from a container that was washed off a cargo ship due to high seas. The sea corroded packaging, freeing the 28,800 Chinese yellow ducks (which have since faded to white), plus blue turtles, red beavers and green frogs.

Since then, experts have tracked them across the world to chart ocean currents — spotting them in Alaska, Siberia, Japan, Iceland and Canada — a process closely monitored by ocean scientist Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer.

The bath toys — those of interest have "The First Years" stamped on them — are expected on Cornwall beaches in late summer.

Furniture Designer Weighs In On Sustainable Design
Here's an interesting interview with renowned British industrial designer Tom Dixon (who gave away hundreds of chairs to the British public in 2005) on sustainable design by Inhabitat. As the David Report blog notes: "Well worth the five minutes spent watching it."

Richest of the Rich See Largest Wealth Gains in 7 Years
According to a report released this week, the combined wealth of the world's richest individuals rose more than 11 percent to a grand total of $37.2 trillion last year, says The Associated Press. The rise marks the first double-digit increase in seven years.

AP reports:

Thanks to a strong global economy, 9.5 million people held at least $1 million in financial assets — excluding the value of their primary homes — in 2006, up from 8.7 million in 2005, according to the 11th annual World Wealth Report compiled by Merrill Lynch & Co. and the consulting firm Capgemini Group.

Those accumulated trillions give these individuals control of about a quarter of the world's total wealth, or nearly three times the U.S.' gross domestic product.

In other news, this blogger will be eating macaroni and cheese tonight.

Warren Buffet Pays 18% Tax on Income; Secretary Pays 30%
Warren Buffet — the third-richest person in the world — recently called for an overhaul of the tax code, which he said unfairly favored rich men like him. He cited himself as an example.

At a recent Hillary Clinton fundraiser, the founder of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said he paid a 17.7 percent tax rate on his $46 million of taxable income in 2006, while his employees paid an average 32.9 percent tax rate.

His receptionist's tax rate was 30 percent.

Nation's Bird Off Endangered List
With births rising since the 1970s, the bald eagle has been removed from the endangered species list.

The bald eagle, the United States' national symbol since 1782, was taken off the federal list of the most threatened animals yesterday in what many are calling the greatest conservation success story in U.S. history. (Photo: StumbleUpon)

Since the 1970s, the government has worked to save the bald eagle, which was dying off because of habitat destruction, illegal shooting and contamination of its food source.

HOWEVER…
Twenty years after the northern spotted owl became the prime symbol for endangered species and habitat protection, it's back in the news and steeped in controversy.

"Despite the bird's official listing as threatened and efforts to protect its home range, its numbers continue to fall from British Columbia to northern California," The Christian Science Monitor reports.

Now estimated to number between 3,000 and 5,000 pairs — and dropping by 3.7 percent per year — "the spotted owl is at risk of declining to the point that the species would need to be 'uplisted' from threatened to endangered," some experts warn.

Added to Olympic Preparation Checklist: Clean-Shaven Taxi Drivers
In preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games, new rules will outlaw beards and shaved heads for the men, according to the city's The First newspaper (via AFP).

The regulations proposed by the Beijing city government's bureau on quality standards were aimed at "giving a good impression" to customers, the paper said.

Add that to enforcing proper line-standing etiquette, campaigns against spitting in public and other manners-focused initiatives to try to clean up China's image before next year's Olympics.

Trapped at a Toy Factory; Not as Fun as It Sounds
Like the first item in today's Light Friday, this is not a "light" item, but all this talk of China has us intrigued over an incident this week in which a New York Times reporter was held hostage for nine hours — in a toy factory in China.

On Monday, *business* reporter David Barboza (along with a translator and a photographer) was detained by suppliers of the popular Thomas & Friends toy rail sets. He and his small crew had gone to meet the maker of a toy that had recently been recalled in the U.S. because it contained lead paint, when a factory boss suggested Barboza was really a commercial spy intent on stealing the secrets to the factory's toy manufacturing process.

According to Barboza's account:

I shouldn't have been surprised by the reception. The last time I arrived at a factory under suspicion for selling contaminated goods (toothpaste), they quickly locked the gate and ran. A month earlier, I walked into the headquarters of a company that sold tainted pet food to the U.S., and the receptionist insisted the owner was not in. When my translator called the owner, we heard his cell phone ring in the adjoining room. I peeked in and saw the boss scamper out the back door.

His toy factory visit made him wonder: Who really holds the balance of the power in that relationship these days?

"Many experts have told me that one of the most serious problems in China is that the government lacks the power to control the nation's Wild West entrepreneurs, deal makers and connected factory owners," writes Barboza:

Bribery is rampant, and government corruption widespread. Just a few weeks ago, the top food and drug regulator was sentenced to death for taking huge bribes from pharmaceutical companies. But it's not clear that strong messages like that will stop the anarchy.

Factory bosses, he would discover, can overrule the police, and "Chinese government officials are not as powerful as you might suspect in a country addicted to foreign investment."

How to Give a Great Man-to-Man Hug
Tackling the hard-hitting issues that matter...

VideoJug: How To Give A Great Man To Man Hug

(via Pogue's Posts at NYT)

PSA
Finally, as July 4th approaches, the authorities and The Associated Press would like to remind all of us NOT to shove sparklers down pants.

That is all.


Cheers.