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NO SPACE FOR COMPLETE EXPLANATION, CAN ONLY POST EXCERPTS. READ ENTIRE ARTICLE BY CLICKING ABOVE LINK : Potentially fatal flaws come in many forms. But three crop up the most when you talk to experts: excessive debt, superior competitors and the inability to keep up with technological change. 1. Palm With the Treo, Palm (PALM, news, msgs) was an early pioneer of the move to smart phones. So it doesn't seem right that stronger competitors such as Apple (AAPL, news, msgs) and Research In Motion (RIMM, news, msgs) are now going to crush it. But that seems to be Palm's...

The $116 billion business of selling cell phone calls in the U.S. faces a long, ugly decline. That petrifies just about everyone in the industry except Roger Linquist.With his gray hair and grandfatherly demeanor, Roger Linquist hardly seems like the kind of guy to kneecap a $116 billion industry. Yet the 71- year-old chief executive of MetroPCS cheerfully and brazenly promises to do just that. He aims to bring down the lucrative business of selling cellular phone calls, a business that for four decades has grown bigger and richer with every passing year. MetroPCS, which Linquist founded 15 years ago,...

The lies exposed.

Many Democrats in the House and Senate have shown concern over the public distaste for a “public option” in health care, with most eyeing their upcoming campaigns in 2010 and the questions that will come their way regarding their support for the government takeover. To the rescue has come the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who apparently believes that a change in the terminology will change public opinion. According to a Breitbart story published October 26, Pelosi met with a focus group of senior citizens and used the term “competitive option” instead of “public option.” It appears as though...

Study Backs Open Access to Broadband Networks Stephen Lawson, IDG News ServiceWednesday, October 14, 2009 5:50 PM PDT Almost all of the most successful countries in broadband deployment have opened up the networks of their main carriers to competing service providers, according to a draft report put out for comment on Wednesday by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.The report (PDF) by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society analyzes findings from a range of market-oriented democracies in an effort to understand what approaches have worked best in making sure citizens have adequate high-speed Internet access. The FCC is seeking...

“Bishop to d3. . . . Black bishop takes White knight . . . Ooh . . .” The commentator draws in his breath: “Black’s probably going to regret that move.” Black probably does for, moments later, White’s fist swings into his nose, covering Black in blood. Black, keen to avenge both knight and nose, starts pummelling White about the ears. A klaxon blares. The crowd roars: “Do it for the bishop!” Chess matches are not usually so lively. Or bloody. Yet this was the scene on Saturday at the Boston Dome, in Tufnell Park, northwest London, where players contested...

If the public option will create competition and lower medical costs, then why does the US Postal Service raise its rates every year? The USPS is the public option. Right? Why does it lose money and FedEx and UPS make money?

This summer's health care debate has centered around the creation of a government-run insurance program to compete with those offered by private insurers. President Barack Obama says "public option" isn't intended to end private health insurance, repeatedly telling us that if we like our private plans, we'll be able to keep them. A government plan, he and congressional Democrats insist, will simply provide needed competition for private insurers. And this will be a good thing, of course, because competition leads to better service, lower costs, and more consumer choice. Now a cynic might question the sincerity of the president's newfound...

There’s a debate about whether a government-mandated health care system would be cheaper for America.‭ ‬I thought this was obvious.‭ It’s understandably becoming hard to get to the bottom of this issue because of the words the administration uses‬.‭ ‬The administration calls it‭ “‬universal health care,‭” ‬veiling what it actually is,‭ ‬a government monopolized health care system.‭ ‬When you’re determining whether or not government ought to take over an industry,‭ ‬think of it this way:‭ ‬Which one is cheaper and provides more value‭? ‬A‭ ‬competitive free market or a monopoly‭? Everything the government has taken over has turned out wrecked,‭...

Send me a FR Mail and I will start the process to hook you up to be on the Free Republic Team to send goodies to the Troops fighting for our safety and freedom!Check out this thread: Free Republic Joins The Troopathon BLOGGER SHOOTOUT Competition! Friday, June 19, 2009 6:04:32 PM · by Syncro · 4 replies · 101+ views Troopathon BLOGGER SHOOTOUT ^ | June 19, 2009 | "Captain" Syncro And this one LIVE From Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:51:36 PM · by Syncro · 15 replies · 316+ views Move America Forward ^ |...

NEW YORK – Twitter, the Web site that asks what everybody's doing, says it wants to be doing a TV series. The social-networking site has teamed with Reveille productions and Brillstein Entertainment Partners to develop an unscripted series based on the popular site, which invites 140-character postings from members around the world. The show would harness Twitter to put players on the trail of celebrities in an interactive, competitive format, the show's producers announced Monday.

Companies See Unlikely Competitors in Changing Market MAY 20, 2009 03:05 Song Min-cheol, brand manager of Jinro’s Chamiseul soju, a Korean traditional liquor, feels nervous whenever he hears about the introduction of a new TV. He says he closely checks the price of the new model as well as picture quality. “As the picture quality of a TV set, including LCD, improves every day, office workers who used to go drinking together after work return home right away to watch dramas or movies,” he said. “As more LCD TVs are put in households, soju consumption will continue to decline.” Korea’s...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE BERNSTEIN, TUZ — Everyone was shooting, but no one was hurt when the Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police, the Sons of Iraq and Coalition forces fired AK-47s, M4 carbines, and Glock 9mm pistols together in a friendly shooting tournament here, April 19. The event, hosted by Company A, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, helped the four groups strengthen relationships. “This is a lot of fun,” said Pfc. Devin Nehring, a Co. A. “Shooting the AK-47 was really exciting, and they (the IA) have one guy out there who’s cash money – he’s...

A good indicator of how Palin's buck-the-establishment bent informs her approach to family-oriented policy issues can be found in her recent push to open up Alaska's health care market to greater transparency and competition.

"Countries are ranked across 30 distinct categories providing a rich perspective on strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. The rankings speak to qualities that compel consideration and assets that shape country reputations, perceptions and experiences. New categories to this year's rankings include best country brand for "Standard of Living," "Political Freedom" and "Advanced Technology." World's strongest brands: 1. AUS 2. CAN 3. USA 4. ITA 5. SWI/CHE 6. FRA 7. NZL 8. GBR 9. JPN 10. SWE

Short Streaming Video of VP Sarah Palin recently supporting an independent Third Party (conservative) in Alaska, welcoming the Party and sharing their ideas, also supporting independent parties' to challenge the two established parties.The Party welcomed here on this video did in fact go on to have a successful convention, as Mrs. Palin urged them, and ultimately officially endorsed and affiliated with conservative CHUCK BALDWIN (on the national ticket for Constitution Party) for President of the United States in 2008.

New York - White House hopeful Senator John McCain expressed concern on Thursday over DHL's proposal to hire United Parcel Service Inc to fly its packages nationwide, as it violates laws intended to encourage market competition.

'India's GDP to grow at 9.5% in FY 09' Mumbai, June 16: India's real GDP is expected to grow at an impressive 9.5 per cent in FY 09, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in its monthly review in Mumbai. The Indian Economy is heading towards the fourth consecutive year of an over-9 per cent growth and like in the last five years, growth this year too was expected to be driven by capital investments happening in India, CMIE said. As per CMIE CapEx Service, projects worth Rs 3.4 lakh-crore are scheduled for commissioning in FY 09. This...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: That is one hot dancer, and I ain’t talkin’ about the 50+ year old Olivia Newton John wanna be in this video, but I don’t see what all the excitement is about. C’mon I dance with my mother too. Admittedly she only knows how to do the Chicken Dance but we nail the routine every time.......http://boknowsonline.com/2008/01/11/this-is-not-what-i-want/

Cheeseheads don't need to be bleu: Experts say predictions that California will soon overtake Wisconsin as the nation's top cheese producer are unlikely to come true. The Golden State and its happy cows gained quickly on Wisconsin in the past decade, but plants in California are maxing out, while efforts to boost production in Wisconsin are paying off, said Dick Groves, longtime owner of the Madison-based trade publication, Cheese Reporter. Groves helped spark the friendly competition between the states 10 years ago with an editorial predicting California would overtake Wisconsin in cheese production by 2005. He later amended it to...

SAN FRANCISCO - Marine biologists studying wild octopuses have found a kinky and violent society of jealous murders, gender subterfuge and once-in-a-lifetime sex. The new study by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, who journeyed off the coast of Indonesia found that wild octopuses are far from the shy, unromantic loners their captive brethren appear to be. The scientists watched the Abdopus aculeatus octopus, which are the size of an orange, for several weeks and published their findings recently in the journal Marine Biology. They witnessed picky, macho males carefully select a mate, then guard their newly domesticated digs...

Menopause Is An Adaptation To Minimize Reproductive Competition Between Females In A Family, Research Suggests Three generations of women. New research suggests that menopause is an adaptation to minimize reproductive competition between generations of females in the same family unit. (Credit: iStockphoto/John Prescott)ScienceDaily (Apr. 1, 2008) — Insight into why females of some species undergo menopause while others do not has proven elusive despite an understanding of the biological mechanisms behind the change. However, new research by scientists at the Universities of Cambridge and Exeter suggests that menopause is an adaptation to minimize reproductive competition between generations of females in...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Chris Collier has been a patient of Dr. Dave Rummel for 30 years. When it comes to teeth, Collier is more concerned about his health than his smile. "The reason I come here is because I know I can trust the dentist I have," Collier said. "I know I can get good workmanship." SLIDESHOW: Images From Report Rummel is one of the few dentists in central Ohio who makes his own crowns, bridges and dentures, but most other dentists rely on outside dental labs, 10 Investigates' Lindsey Seavert reported. The labs can be down the street or...

Rueban Navarrette shows mendacious dexterity in appropriating the language of competitive economics to support an agenda that has nothing to do with improving the economy of the United States. He understands well that competition fosters excellence, but seems to deliberately elide the fact that it also reveals hard truths about the people who lose. Anyone who lays into the Democrats with a quarterstaff for being anti-competitive will usually get my seal of approval. In Navarrette’s case, I withhold my utterly unimportant benediction. He got one or two points correct, but failed to tell the whole story. I’ll do my best...

Sounds like the United Football League is going to happen in 2009. Prospective UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue told agents the other day it will be an eight-team league (he said six owners, including Mark Cuban, are already in place), beginning in August 2009. The details were sketchy from there, but some agents reported that the minimum salary would be $75,000, the league would go after existing NFL personnel people and assistant coaches to be the league's GMs and head coaches, and the league would try to sign some of the 30th through 43rd players on NFL rosters for slightly more...

China copies Su-27 fighter, may compete with Russia - paper 21/02/2008 12:35 MOSCOW, February 21 (RIA Novosti) - China has built a domestic copy of the famed Su-27 Flanker fighter and may compete with Russia on third-party markets if it sets up the full-scale production of the plane, a Russian daily said on Thursday. China has acquired 76 Su-27SK fighters from Russia since 1992, and bought a license for production of another 200 planes in 1995, in a deal worth $2.5 billion. "Since 1996, the domestic version of the Su-27 aircraft, dubbed J-11, has been produced at the Shenyang Aircraft...

Countering the rancour in the West against outsourcing of jobs, the chairman of IT major Wipro [Get Quote] has said India was not stealing their jobs and its businesses were moving into developed countries, which did not have enough skilled graduates to compete in the global economy. "What is of concern is how serious a shortage of technical talent is building up in the western world. Global companies are going to where not enough young boys and girls are getting into math, science and engineering. That trend is not being reversed," Azim Premji said. Premji said that as Wipro expands...

Much of the money we are spending on oil is being used to fund [jihad]..We are financing a war against ourselves, and the way things are going, we will soon be paying the enemy more than we are paying our own military. In light of this, a top priority of U.S. national security policy should be to break the oil cartel... What is needed is for the Congress to pass a law requiring that all new cars sold in the United States be flex-fueled - able to run on any combination of alcohol or gasoline fuel. Such cars are existing...

New York Post BATTLING FOR BOYS By MARTY NEMKO January 24, 2008 -- IN the early 1980s, men and women earned an equal proportion of college degrees. Today, however, women attain 135 degrees for every 100 that men do, the National Center for Education Statistics recently reported. By 2016, it'll be 162 to 100. Since good jobs increasingly require a degree, that disparity portends disaster for men. And a disaster for half our population is a disaster for everyone. Why the lack of male college graduates? One main reason is that K-12 education has been made girl-friendly at the expense...

When scientists found out that chimps had better memories than students, there were unkind comments about the calibre of the human competition they faced. But now an ape has gone one better, trouncing British memory champion Ben Pridmore. Ayumu, a seven-year-old male brought up in captivity in Japan, did three times as well as Mr Pridmore at a computer game which involved remembering the position of numbers on a screen. And that's no mean feat - the 30-year-old accountant from Derby is capable of memorising the order of a shuffled pack of cards in under 30 seconds.

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Jan. 18, 2008 – More than 190 Afghan National Army commandos from 203rd Corps vied for the right to be crowned the "best of the best" during a competition Jan. 10-11 at a combined military outpost in Khowst province. Afghan National Army commandos apply makeshift tourniquets using cravats and a weapons magazine to demonstrate medical self aid during a Best Commando Competition on Jan. 10, 2008, at a combined military outpost in Khowst province, Afghanistan. The friendly competition pitted more than 190 commandos from the Afghan National Army’s 203rd Corps against each other. U.S. Army...

Competition is as American as apple pie. It announces American individualism and marks the American market economy with its characteristic rivalries. Not just for neoliberals such as Milton Friedman and ­quasi-­anarchists such as philosopher Robert Nozick, but for Americans of all political stripes, it reflects a distrust of the “government and co-operation” dear to cultural critic John Ruskin. We are a nation of winners (and, yes, losers) where, in the wonderfully perverse turn of phrase often attributed to one of America’s “winningest” coaches, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” Yet we need not be readers of Ruskin to know...

Starting at 7:00 p.m. tonight CNN is re-playing both of last night's debates that were produced and broadcast by ABC. Meanwhile, Fox's Republican Presidential Forum is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m.

Push for higher gas tax could follow chief's death The death of Ric Williamson, the fiery, whip-smart chairman of the state transportation commission, could upend the still-roiling debate over toll roads in Texas in the new year. Mr. Williamson died Saturday of a heart attack at age 55, sending shock waves through the nearly 15,000-employee department he led as well as the political and policy circles where his combative style and pro-toll-road agenda had engendered enormous change – and criticism. Always careful to credit Gov. Rick Perry, a close friend and former roommate, Mr. Williamson emerged as a lightning rod...

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS OF AMERICA by: Heyecan Veziroglu, December 20, 2007 At the Independent Women’s Forum at the Marriot on December 5, 2007, panelists from business and academic circles identified the most significant challenges facing America and suggested rational, free-market policies to enhance U.S. competitiveness in the global economy. “Government shouldn’t keep its old-fashioned forms,” said Dr. Elaine Kamarck from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. “In our era, governments talk about citizens as customers.” “Today, we’ve reinvented government. Social security system is an example of reinvented efficient bureaucracy,” she argued. “Productivity is brought to government services.” “The old-fashioned bureaucracy...

CAMP RAMADI — Practice makes perfect, and the Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers are moving along the right path towards perfecting their Soldiering skills. The Soldiers of the 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, competed in a “Best Squads Competition”, Nov. 28, at Camp Ramadi. The competition, held quarterly, pitted five teams of Soldiers against one another in common Soldiers tasks and skills. Staff Sgt. Johnathan Lloyd, 1-7 IA Bde., military transition team (MiTT), said that Iraqi Soldiers used to be taught by the MiTT troops, but now the Iraqi troops are training themselves. “When we got here ten months ago,...

...We are a country obsessed with consumption, which would be fine if we seemed to be fulfilled getting bigger TVs but having less time to watch them. But, in the aggregate, that's not the case. "The things that we get used to most easily and then take for granted are our material possessions -- our car, our house," writes Layard. "But there is lots of evidence that people underestimate the process of habituation." The amount of happiness we think we'll get from a new house, and the amount of happiness we actually get from a new house, are not the...

Tuesday, 30 October 2007, 11:55 GMT Blood findings bring malaria hope Researchers could be a step closer to a cure for malaria after discovering people with blood group O are naturally protected from its most severe forms. Edinburgh University has found blood type O people are significantly less likely to experience the most life-threatening effects of malaria. It is hoped the discovery will help develop drugs which mimic the properties of red cells. Red cells in O group blood prevent malaria worsening. "We may be able to reduce the number of children dying from severe malaria in sub-Saharan Africa"Dr...

Nasty effects of China syndromeMick Hume: Notebook Did somebody declare war on the Chinese without telling us? To judge by the news it would appear they are now to blame for everything, as revived fears of the “yellow peril” spread faster than Made in China labels. If we believe what we are told, the Chinese are sending over lead-painted toys to poison our children, hacking into top-level military computers on both sides of the Atlantic and burning coal to destroy the planet. It is enough to make you wonder why that Terracotta Army is really coming to London. Obviously, we...

Judges grade food prepared for the Iron Chef competition Aug. 16 at Forward Operating Base Hammer. Photo by Sgt. Natalie Rostek, 3rd HBCT Public Affairs. FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Food service personnel of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team took part in the Sledgehammer version of the Iron Chef competition Aug. 16 at FOB Hammer. The idea came from the 3rd HBCT Food Service officer-in-charge, Chief Warrant Officer Ellen Magras, a Virgin Islands native, to honor the food service personnel with an Appreciation Day. “I wanted to honor all the food service professionals, past, present, and future,� she said....

A group from Mexico has won the Stockholm Junior Water Prize at World Water Week, which is being held here for the 17th year. Adriana Alcántara Ruiz, Dalia Graciela Díaz Gómez and Carlos Hernández Mejía received the prize from Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria. The Mexican team has found a way to absorb lead in industrial waste water with the help of eggshells.

FORT HUACHUCA — On television one can watch ultimate fighting, a competition of mixed martial arts. The Army has its combative training, also a combination of mixed martial arts. While the TV fights are designed to entertain, the Army’s goal is different. The Army system involves training for a life-or-death situation between two people, said Oscar Moore, the combative instructor for the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion. “I can detain someone, or I can kill that person,” Moore said Monday. As he spoke, some soldiers were practicing the various fighting techniques — a collage of boxing, Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, judo,...

DETROIT --- DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group on Thursday launched a lifetime warranty on major "powertrain" vehicle components, such as engines and transmissions, as it seeks to give consumers another reason to visit its showrooms. Chrysler Sales Chief Steven Landry said during a conference call that the warranty is an "unprecedented" offer in the industry and it promises to "raise the consideration" of Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles in the marketplace. Mr. Landry said the offer could eventually allow Chrysler to lessen its reliance on high-dollar discounts and rebates as a way to lure new buyers. "We don't want to match...

Social Networking Class War: MySpace Vs. Facebook Claire Cain Miller 07.23.07, 6:00 AM ET A flurry of recent articles have observed that young people are leaving MySpace for Facebook in droves, setting off speculation that MySpace is becoming the latest victim of fickle teens following the hot new thing. Not so, says University of California, Berkeley, researcher Danah Boyd. Not all teens are leaving MySpace, she wrote in a recent essay--instead, they're splitting up along class lines. Boyd confirms what teens in any high school across the country already know: Affluent kids from educated, well-to-do families have been fleeing MySpace...

Competition: After Boeing unveiled its new 787 Dreamliner, rival Airbus did the noble thing: It congratulated the U.S. jet maker. If Airbus really wants to be noble, however, it should give up its government subsidies.

Are consumers better off with a competitive or monopolistic provision of goods and services? Let's apply that question to a few areas of our lives. Prior to deregulation, when there was a monopoly and restricted entry in the provision of telephone services, were consumers better off or worse off than they are with today's ruthless competition to get our business? Anyone over 40 will recognize the differences. Competition has provided consumers with a vast array of choices, lower and lower prices and more courteous customer care than when government had its heavy hand on the provision of telephone services.

Why teens have a tough time finding summer work Many are enrolling in summer classes or doing community service while others are squeezed out by adults competing for the same entry-level jobs. By Mark Trumbull | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Boston - This summer is shaping up as a tough one for many of America's youngest job seekers. Camps still need counselors. Ice cream shops still need young arms with a knack for alternating between a scoop and a cash register. And the nation's job market is strong. Yet teen employment rates haven't rebounded from the recession...

The results of the 2007 edition of IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook highlight a big shake-up in economic and business power. Emerging nations are quickly catching up in competitiveness. New companies and new brands are appearing all over the world. They now contest the long-standing competitive supremacy of industrialized nations. “This could lead to an increase in protectionist measures in Europe and the US”, says Professor Stéphane Garelli, Director of IMD’s World Competitiveness Center. Of the 55 economies ranked by IMD, the US still ranks No. 1 in 2007, closely followed by Singapore and Hong Kong. However, 40 economies are now...

Panelists on the program Fox News Sunday recently discussed Al Gore's March 21 global warming "planetary emergency" address to Congress, in which Gore urged a freeze on carbon dioxide emissions. At the end of the news summary, a discussion ensued in which Fortune Magazine's Nina Easton explained that several firms in the business community are getting greener and perceive these proposals to be cost saving. She emphasized that Fortune was coming out with material elaborating that theme. Ms. Easton, and most viewers, likely fail to perceive that businesses are illustrating Nobel Prize winning economist George Stigler's 1971 theory of government...

Certificate of need bill to start journey By Travis Fain TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER ATLANTA - Gov. Sonny Perdue waded deep into one of the most contentious issues of this General Assembly session Thursday - what to do about the state's certificate of need program, which governs hospital expansions. Perdue is backing a bill that would reform the process and ease requirements for surgery centers looking to offer one or a few specific types of surgery as opposed to a full range of procedures available from a hospital. Most legislators said Thursday that they haven't yet read House Bill 568, some...