While social media has rapidly integrated itself into our everyday personal and professional lives, with a quarter of us belonging to at least two social networks, it appears that, for the moment at least, we still prefer engaging with friends, family and colleagues face-to-face than we do online.

Seven out of ten respondents to a recent study said that conversations with both individuals (72 percent) and small groups (70 percent) are richer when they occur in person than online, and two-thirds (67 percent) said that they do not use social media for any business or professional purposes.

Just a little over one-third (37 percent) said that social media has improved the way that they communicate with people in their personal life, and less than one-quarter (23 percent) said that these channels have improved their business or professional relationships.

The theme of the president’s 2012 reelection campaign is that George W. Bush left such a terrible mess that Barack Obama could hardly be expected to clean it up in four years. In other words, 44 months of unemployment rates above 8 percent, $5 trillion in new borrowing, $16 trillion in aggregate debt, gas prices of nearly $4 per gallon, a dive in average family income, and involvement in two wars were all due to George Bush and simply too difficult for anyone to overcome. So Obama cannot be judged on his record between 2009 and 2012.

At first glance, this is a most unusual claim. Gerald Ford followed the mess of Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal and the Arab oil embargo. After serving for less than three years, he failed to win reelection. His successor, Jimmy Carter, seemed to make a bad situation even worse. He exited four years later, tagged with a high “misery index” fueled by rampant unemployment and roaring inflation. Ronald Reagan took office under Carter’s baleful legacy but ran for reelection successfully in 1984 based not on “Carter did it,” but on the recovery he engineered.

Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 on “It’s the economy, stupid,” and he was reelected four years later after claiming credit for boom times. George W. Bush inherited the aftershocks of the dot-com meltdown and a country ill-equipped to respond to terrorist assaults after the nonchalance of the 1990s. Despite the 9/11 attacks, Bush was reelected on the themes of a good economy and a safer country. Blaming or praising presidents for their four years of governance is an American tradition. That is why Obama asserted at the outset that if he could not turn around the economy, his presidency would be a “one-term proposition.”

Vatican City, Sep 8, 2012 / 05:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican has teamed up with Apple to develop new hi-tech methods for communicating the works of Pope Benedict XVI to the world. “It represents an enormous step on the international stage because, as you know, internet goes beyond space and time,” said Father Giuseppe […]

Social media has revolutionized the business world and has quickly established itself as the primary source of recruitment for companies worldwide, and with good reason – it’s cost-effective, fast and scalable, allowing organizations of all shapes and sizes to source potential hires and easily profile their characters.

Indeed, 92 percent of U.S. companies have used social networks to find new talent, and almost three-quarters (73 percent) of those surveyed have made successful hires through these channels.

As you might expect, LinkedIn leads the way, with 93 percent of socially-savvy employers using this platform for talent acquisition, ahead of Facebook (66 percent) and Twitter (54 percent). Companies listed professional organization membership and charity work as their preferred employee characteristics, with posts and tweets about illegal drugs, sexual activity and profanity being the top three no-nos.

This infographic from Intricate takes a closer look at social media’s effect on employee recruitment.

  The Cigarette law in Lebanon is an excellent step towards a clean environment, and improved health;   I propose  a slight modifiction of the law:   1- The Cigarette banning law in Lebanon should be slighltly modified to allow bars\Coffee shops that can prove their profit is mainly based on smoking Nargile, Cigarettes or […]

Did you know that there are more devices connected to the internet than there are people on Earth?

Yes, some of these belong to drug dealers. But beyond this unfortunate truism, the massive rise in affordable, portable technology has meant that we – all of us – are now empowered to react to the events around us in a real time basis. We are now the journalists. We are now part of the story. For the first time in history, the power is with us.

The examples go on and on. The ground operation that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden broke first on Twitter. Tweets about earthquakes reach people 30 seconds before they feel the tremors. Ten million online signatures and three million emails shut down SOPA. In January of this year, Facebook saw six times more traffic than Google.

This infographic takes a closer look at how social media and the internet bring power to the people.

6 hours ago  •  Malek Khazen Dear Editor: I came to support Tommy Thompson when I learned about his dedication to the protection of the dignity of every human life, his passion and love for the Badger State and his experience that will help him get things done from Day One. As governor, Tommy was […]

Endorsement of the Catholic-Maronite Foundation, Malek Khazen – Support to Tommy Thompson!

Tommy has a clear plan from first day in Congress to implement. He will be the leader that Wisconsin and US need  by implementing clear policies some example: 1) support to Paul Ryan‘s Path to Prosperity plan. 2)  Tommy is the only candidate in this race who will cap both federal spending, and as importantly revenues, keeping government in-check on both sides of the equation. As a governor he succeeded to create many jobs, cutting spending, simplifying tax reform and   3) Tommy’s proposed budget process reform would hold senators accountable for passing a budget — failure to do so would result in a forfeiture of the senators pay.  Every person and office holder need to take responsibility of their actions! 4) Finally each vote is key for Wisconsin and the nation: implement "real" solutions without having other people or government decide your future and Health insurance.

Khazen,org  and Wisconsin Catholic-Maronite Foundation is proud to offer its endorsement to the Romney Ryan ticket of 2012! And Governor Tommy Thompson as of the senate race.

I just returned from the Romney/Ryan campaign event in Norfolk, Virginia. The crowd was massive, enthusiastic and hopeful. I don’t know what I expected – but what I experienced far exceeded those expectations. Mitt Romney’s bold choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate ensures that an exchange of correspondence between the Cardinal of New York and the Republican Vice Presidential nominee will now become a part of framing the issues in what promises to be one of the most important Presidential contests in U.S. history. The principles of Catholic Social Teaching and their application have now entered the 2012 campaign.

When Presidential candidate Mitt Romney approached the podium and began to speak, he was warm, sincere, comfortable and confident. In fact, he was, "presidential" in his demeanor.  He was introduced by the Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, whose gifts continue to mature in office. I could not help but think that I was listening to Governor McDonnell that I was listening to the next Attorney General of the United States – if Mitt Romney is elected to the presidency in November.

However, it was Romney’s introduction of his Vice Presidential selection which wowed the crowd. Here is an excerpt from his remarks:  "Today we take another step forward in helping restore the promise of America. As we move forward in this campaign and on to help lead the nation to better days, it is an honor to announce my running mate and the next Vice President of the United States: Paul Ryan."

"Paul Ryan is a leader. His leadership begins with character and values. And Paul is a man of tremendous character, shaped in large part by his early life. Paul’s father died when he was in high school. That forced him to grow up earlier than any young man should. But Paul did, with the help of his devoted mother, his brothers and sister, and a supportive community. And as he did, he internalized the virtues and hard-working ethic of the Midwest…" "He does not demonize his opponents. He understands that honorable people can have honest differences. And he appeals to the better angels of our nature. There are a lot of people in the other party who might disagree with Paul Ryan; I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t respect his character and judgment."

 are renowned for innovation, phenomenal growth, and, in the case of public corporations, their soaring share prices. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) usually makes the list, as does Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). At the other end of the scale are well-known firms that are so crippled they go bankrupt or disappear entirely. Recently, these have included AMR, the parent of American Airlines, Borders, and Eastman Kodak.

1. J.C. Penney Company Inc. (NYSE: JCP)

J.C. Penney, founded in 1913, counted itself among the primary retailers and catalog companies in the US for decades. But under CEO Myron Ullman III, who took over in 2004, its revenue began to slide, dropping from $19.9 billion in 2007 to $17.3 billion in 2011. Earnings fell from $1.1 billion to a loss of $152 million in the same period. J.C. Penney’s share price has fallen 70% in five years. By way of contrast, the shares of Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) — two direct competitors — have been essentially flat over the same period. J.C. Penney was challenged by these two companies and several others, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST). Problems became so severe that J.C. Penney closed its formerly successful catalog business and reached outside for a new CEO. The board’s choice was Apple Retail Chief Ron Johnson, who was picked in June 2011. Johnson changed the company’s pricing structure, but the reaction was so poor that revenue dropped an extraordinary 20.1% to $3.2 billion in the first fiscal quarter. J.C. Penney posted a loss of $163 million. Internet sales, so essential in a world in which Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has become a significant presence, fell 27.9% to $271 million. By contrast, Macy’s total sales, combining online and those made in stores, rose 4.3% to $6.1 billion in the last reported quarter. And Macy’s is hardly J.C. Penney’s largest competitor by revenue or workforce. Walmart’s sales were $450 billion last year, while Costco’s were $89 billion.

2. The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT)

The New York Times is, and has been for decades, the premier daily newspaper company in the US. But the company has been shrinking rapidly. Ten years ago, The New York Times Company made $300 million on revenue of $3.1 billion. Last year it lost $40 million on revenue of $2.3 billion. The New York Times did not move online fast enough to offset the rapid erosion of print advertising. Its tardiness allowed it to be challenged on the Internet by properties like The Huffington Post, Google News, and the news, sports, and financial properties of portals such as MSN, AOL, and Yahoo!. As an indication of how the stock market measures the value of The New York Times Company, its market cap is $1.2 billion against its revenue of $2.3 billion in 2011. Low-brow content aggregator Demand Media has a market capitalization of $865 million against 2011 revenue of $325 million. Demand lost $13 million last year. The reason the market values of the two companies are so close? The Times still relies on the dying print business for the lion’s share of its revenue. Its market cap and cash balance are too low to allow it to more aggressively move to the internet or buy large online properties. In the last quarter, The Times’ revenue was roughly flat at $515 million. The company lost 57 cents a share compared with a profit of 5 cents a share in the same period last year. The worst news from the quarter was that “Digital advertising revenues at the News Media Group decreased 1.6 percent to $52.6 million from $53.5 million mainly due to declines in national display and real estate classified advertising revenues.” The Times did make advances in online paid subscriptions, but circulation revenue barely offset the drop in advertising sales. At the heart of The New York Times’ uniqueness among American newspapers is the quality of its editorial content. The company has held the line on retaining its large editorial staff. It did lay off 100 people in 2009, which was about 8% of the news staff. The industry is in the midst of another wave of job cuts. The Times has not been able to show significant top-line growth, even with its digital subscription efforts. Print is in too much of a shambles for the company to shore itself up in the digital world.