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In a deal that presages its departure from a market it once dominated, Yahoo will essentially scrap its own efforts to best Google in search and instead rely on Microsoft’s recently debuted Bing search engine, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal and the BoomTown blog. Ads placed next to those search results would be served up not by Yahoo’s ad platform, dubbed Panama, but by a Microsoft technology called AdCenter, says another report from Advertising Age. Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz “is essentially giving up on search,” says Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Land.

Yahoo salespeople likely will continue to sell the search ads that appear both on Yahoo sites and on Bing. And the company that sells an ad—in this case, Yahoo—may get as much as 80% of the resulting revenue. But Microsoft would nevertheless reap a reward that’s more valuable in the long run. The data on computer users’ online search and buying habits would ultimately reside on Microsoft’s computers, thereby improving its ability to automatically serve up the most relevant ads. “If Microsoft is running the underlying ad technology, it doesn’t matter who is selling the ads,” Sullivan says. “In the end, Microsoft will hold all the cards.”

Blogger Hal Turner pleaded not guilty earlier in the day to charges that he threatened to kill three Chicago-based federal appeals judges.

At his bond hearing, defense attorney Michael Orozco said the 47-year-old Turner of North Bergen was not a danger to the community as federal prosecutors claim. Turner deserved to be released on bond, Orozco said, adding that he had served as an FBI confidential informant.

“He provided information about the potential assassination of President Obama,” Orozco told U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin C. Ashman.

Orozco acknowledged that he had no independent confirmation concerning a potential assassination and had only the word of his client — a political extremist whose views the lawyer himself repeatedly described as “outlandish.”

The attorney also acknowledged that at some time in the past Turner had taken medicine for an emotional condition but said he no longer does because “he doesn’t need it.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan told Ashman he “never heard anything about that” potential assassination. He said Turner’s contacts with the FBI ended “quite some time ago.”

The proposal is awaiting final approval from Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The officials would not be identified because the proposal from U.S. Northern Command’s Gen. Victor Renuart has not been approved by the secretary.

The plan calls for military task forces to work in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There is no final decision on how the military effort would be manned, but one source said it would likely include personnel from all branches of the military.

It has yet to be determined how many troops would be needed and whether they would come from the active duty or the National Guard and Reserve forces.

Civilian authorities would lead any relief efforts in the event of a major outbreak, the official said. The military, as they would for a natural disaster or other significant emergency situation, could provide support and fulfill any tasks that civilian authorities could not, such as air transport or testing of large numbers of viral samples from infected patients.

As a first step, Gates is being asked to sign a so-called “execution order” that would authorize the military to begin to conduct the detailed planning to execute the proposed plan.

The guided-missile subs, called “SSGNs” by the Navy, had their nuclear missiles removed starting in 2002. The boats’ nuke missile tubes now contain clusters of conventional Tomahawk cruise missiles or serve as “payload tubes” for equipment, including robots. The SSGNs have accommodations for up to 66 SEALs or other commandos.

The Navy’s submarine force is notoriously publicity-shy — it’s not for no reason submariners call themselves the “silent service.” U.S. Special Operations Command is equally hush-hush. Now combine the two — and you’ll understand why the Kenny interview is so surprising. He detailed three robots now found aboard the Ohio boats:

* Sea Stalker, a torpedo-size underwater robot that specializes in snooping on radio signals and other communications. “The [concept] is to launch these from submarines at night,” Kenny said. “They will transit to offshore, anchor, put their antennas out and begin collection. Ideally you would have a series of these … to cover different ports or hotbeds of terrorist activity. And then you would collate that information on board the ship.”

* Scan Eagle, the 45-pound aerial bot that has seen heavy use by the Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kenny says Special Operations Command is looking at boosting Scan Eagle with extra fuel and sensors — and maybe even weapons, like the Air Force’s armed Predators and Reapers. It seems Scan Eagle is launched from a sub’s deck while she is surfaced, but that could change. “We’re looking at launch and recovery from an SSGN payload tube to allow clandestine close-in operations,” Kenny said.

* BUSTER, a 15-pound UAV that Kenny says is particularly useful when working with foreign armies. “We’ve … done some very successful operations with allies, doing foreign internal defense, training them to operate this vehicle.” The allied armies launch BUSTER from land, while the submarine “pull[s] in the full motion video and the infrared, correlate[s] it and fuse[s] it in our battle management centers on board.”

Some groups of workers are already facing official unemployment rates in the double digits. As of May, unemployment rates for black, Hispanic, and teenage workers were already 14.9%, 12.7% and 22.7%, respectively. Workers without a high-school diploma confronted a 15.5% unemployment rate, while the unemployment rate for workers with just a high-school degree was 10.0%. Nearly one in five (19.2%) construction workers were unemployed. In Michigan, the hardest hit state, unemployment was at 12.9% in April. Unemployment rates in seven other states were at double-digit levels as well.

As bad as they are, these figures dramatically understate the true extent of unemployment. First, they exclude anyone without a job who is ready to work but has not actively looked for a job in the previous four weeks. The Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies such workers as “marginally attached to the labor force” so long as they have looked for work within the last year. Marginally attached workers include so-called discouraged workers who have given up looking for job-related reasons, plus others who have given up for reasons such as school and family responsibilities, ill health, or transportation problems.

Second, the official unemployment rate leaves out part-time workers looking for full-time work: part-time workers are “employed” even if they work as little as one hour a week. The vast majority of people working part time involuntarily have had their hours cut due to slack or unfavorable business conditions. The rest are working part time because they could only find part-time work.

To its credit, the BLS has developed alternative unemployment measures that go a long way toward correcting the shortcomings of the official rate. The broadest alternative measure, called “U-6,” counts as unemployed “marginally attached workers” as well as those employed “part time for economic reasons.”

Mr Obama and the First Family are planning to spend their summer break on a $20 million retreat on the wealthy playground island off Cape Cod and even seem undeterred that the property is owned by a Republican.

The choice of such an exclusive location will inevitably be fodder for the President’s Republican critics who decried his recent “date night” to New York with his wife, Michelle — an excursion that cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars at a time of deep recession and soaring unemployment.

According to the Vineyard Gazette, the resort island’s journal of record since 1864, the Obamas have chosen Blue Heron Farm, in Chilmark, recorded as America’s most expensive small town in 2007.

The farm features a swimming pool, golf practice facilities — Mr Obama plays regularly — a basketball court, access to a private beach and a rental price tag of up to $50,000 (£30,000) a week.

No deal has yet been struck on the property, but the rental agreement being negotiated has reportedly been split into three separate leases: one to be held by the Obamas — and paid for out of their own pockets — one by the Secret Service, and a third by the White House, which will be sending a large entourage to Martha’s Vineyard to accompany the President.

The farm holds a five-bedroom white Victorian-style farmhouse and three other dwellings, including a reconstructed Pennsylvania hay barn and Vermont shed. It has ocean views, private access to a stretch of Squibnocket Beach, and a private dock with kayaks and a yacht.

Mr Obama is due to take his holiday on Martha’s Vineyard during the last week in August. Mrs Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, could arrive earlier and stay with friends elsewhere on the island. Bo, the new dog, is also reportedly going.

Blue Heron Farm belongs to William and Mollie Van Devender, Republicans who bought the property for $20.35 million in 2005.

W: Nah, we really didn’t want an investor there. It just wasn’t … What we … The reason I really been working with Lockheed so long over the years. First of all, I know … I come from that world. At TRW I invented the chip that went into Deep Space … I worked for the CIA for Scientific Initiative. They needed a ultra high frequency channel. They came and recruited me. I invented that channel for them.

21:29

But I learned when I was there just how difficult it is to do military contracts. I know there was a about a 6 story building over there full of people working very diligently in just getting military contracts.

I: Right.

W: I can’t do that.

I: OK

W: So I said let’s do something better than that. Let’s get in bed with Lockheed Martin and when I went and gave presentation to CIA and they suggested that. And so I did. And that ‘s worked out exceptionally well. We now have a contract with them where they handle all of our contracts with … government contracts … with Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security. And writes other worldwide contracts. So now I don’t have to be a military contractor. I went and got the world’s best.

I: Umhh

W: And they can be between me and the Federal Government to handle all this stuff. Then they write a commercial contract with me to supply parts to Lockheed and or for military contracts for other groups. So that they can build these mission critical systems.

I: OK. Since you’re no longer a VC … Does that mean you guys are seeing revenue come in from Lockheed, at this point? … Significant?

W: We had a con … government contract and we received money off from it, but not revenue. But just, uhh … they wanted to do some technical studies. We did that for ’em. And they paid us some good money for it.

22:47

I: All right.

W: It was a DARPA contract.

I: K