Do you dread going to a convention and meeting new people? Do you sit mum in meetings, overpowered by others? Do you gape at the self-promoters in the office who seem to get ahead beyond their worth? If so, you’re probably an introvert, wired to be less “out there” than extroverts. That can pose a problem in workplaces where you have to be your own cheerleader.

a closer look The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating mass of plastic trash that might be twice the size of Texas, is a striking reminder of human effect on the ocean. Located about 1,000 miles off the California coast, the patch is kept in constant swirling motion by ocean currents. When laundry baskets, bottles and other assorted items wash up on shore, they clutter beaches and pose a toxic threat to species that mistake bottle caps and nozzles for food.

BALTIMORE—The Baltimore Police Department is on the verge of losing its storied horseback unit because of budget cuts and is hoping that a private foundation can raise $200,000 before hay and feed run out at the end of September. City leaders slashed funds this year for one of the nation’s oldest police mounted divisions. The six mounted officers who ride regularly have agreed that if the additional money doesn’t come through, they will pay the horses’ boarding fees until suitable homes can be found. That could cost up to $200 a month per horse.

When and where: 7 p.m. Aug. 17 at Midlothian Middle School, 13501 Midlothian Turnpike

WASHINGTON—The White House’s senior aide on cybersecurity has decided to resign after delays in the appointment of a coordinator to spearhead efforts to protect the nation’s computer networks. Melissa Hathaway had been up for the position of cybersecurity coordinator. She said she withdrew her application because “I wasn’t willing to continue to wait any longer.“

IRBIL, Iraq—A yearning for change at the ballot box has cracked the political lock that Kurdish Iraq’s two leading parties have held on the region’s government for the past 17 years, sweeping into parliament a new group that has pledged to expose graft and corruption. Unofficial results from Iraq’s Independent High Election Commission yesterday indicate the newly formed Change Party won 25 of the Kurdish Parliament’s 111 seats in Saturday’s election, giving it a solid minority to challenge the ruling blocs.

VATICAN CITY—Vatican Radio, the official voice of the Roman Catholic Church, has begun airing advertisements for the first time in its nearly 80-year history. Now, in addition to tracking every move that Pope Benedict XVI makes and every word he utters, listeners are being treated to 45-second ads, made in five languages, extolling Italy’s largest power company, Enel, and the virtues of clean energy.

OCOTAL, Nicaragua—Admitting that his plans to march across Honduras’ southern border and recapture the presidency have been frustrated, ousted leader Manuel Zelaya said yesterday that he will continue to drum up international support and pressed the United States to take a stronger stand in the monthlong political crisis. “The coup leaders are making a mockery of the presidents of the Americas, and I want to know how the presidents of the Americas will respond,“ he told a few dozen supporters as he sat on the hood of a car in this rural Nicaraguan border town.

OutAbout Rubber duckie, you’re the one! Tub toys flock to Brown’s Island for a festival and race to benefit Big Brothers and Big Sisters on Saturday.

DETROIT $1.4 million. 1,001 horsepower. Leather from cattle raised in special high-altitude pastures. The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport roadster is less a car than a visit to an alternative reality. The 16-cylinder engine produces more power than a small tugboat. It could push a barge of rice up the Mississippi, except the Veyron would exhaust its 26.4-gallon gas tank in about seven minutes at wide-open throttle.

HORSE RACING  FIRST RACE
$14,700, 2-year-olds, 5 Furlongs
Race time: :59.48
Also ran: Gracias Derenzo, Pontiac George, Thrill Run, Castle Victory
Late scratches: Cole T
Exacta (3-7) $138.20; Superfecta (3-7-5-4) $593.60; Trifecta (3-7-5) $467.40
$8,600, 3-year-olds & up, 1 Mile
Race time: 1:39.38

How are you planning to celebrate the Fourth of July? Are you planning a family reunion? Going to a community picnic? Watching a fireworks display? Share your plans with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Send an e-mail with your plans and contact information to . Please put “Fourth of July” in the subject field.

Eric Maynor went down in VCU lore when he knocked Duke out of the 2007 NCAA tournament with a last-second shot. They came to be known as “Maynor Moments” among fans and coaches in the Colonial Athletic Association, the ones who spent four years watching Eric Maynor take over one game after another for Virginia Commonwealth. Just consider the scouting report on the Jazz’s newest draft pick from George Mason coach Jim Larranaga, who had a spot in the NCAA tournament swiped by Maynor in the last two minutes of the 2007 CAA tournament championship game.

How are you planning to celebrate the Fourth of July? Are you planning a family reunion? Going to a community picnic? Watching a fireworks display? Share your plans with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Send an e-mail with your plans and contact information to . Please put “Fourth of July” in the subject field.