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Well, that didn't take long. In a decade, Apple (AAPL) has gone from niche-market roadkill to a company whose growing dominance and competitive tactics in a booming market are thrilling investors, angering competitors, and drawing regulatory scrutiny.  Unless Apple shows a quick change of attitude, the benefit of its market position--power, scrutiny, and tens of billions in profit--are only going to grow.Apple is no longer the beloved underdog that Microsoft kept alive in the late 1990s to improve its own standing in the eyes of regulators (remember the investment and agreement to keep building Office for the Mac?).  Apple is now...

One of the most effective ways a President influences public policy and law in a lasting manner is through regulatory actions taken by the federal government. It's not an area that typically garners substantial media attention because regulatory work is generally a highly technical matter performed by policy wonks largely unknown to the public. Yet, despite their general obscurity, federal regulations have a substantial impact on virtually every facet of society. And the personnel who oversee the regulatory process have far greater influence than most would imagine. Chief among the personnel who oversee the regulatory process is the administrator of...

An armed man on a bicycle was shot by a police officer in North Miami Beach early this morning, police said. The unidentified man was shot after he pulled the weapon on the officer just after midnight near Northeast 182nd Street and 19th Avenue, according to police. The suspect was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. His condition is unknown. Police said they recovered a firearm at the scene. The officer was not hurt in the shooting.

Rachel Maddow, gun lover? Well, sort of - and with some strings attached, of course. The MSNBC host of the "The Rachel Maddow Show" appeared on Jimmy Fallon's Aug. 31 NBC show and told the host about her first date - at a shooting range. "My first date with my girlfriend Susan was at a shooting range," Maddow said. "That was awesome. It was ladies' day on the range. Her sister is a lifetime NRA member and she was organizing ladies' day on the range at her gun club. So we did it. We shot AR-15s and we threw tomahawks...

LANCASTER, Pa. -- A central Pennsylvania man says he robbed a bank in 2007 to go to jail and get away from his overbearing wife. Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09244/994693-100.stm#ixzz0PsOuwxBg

State lawmakers in Democrat-dominated Connecticut raised income taxes on the wealthy and borrowed more than $1 billion to balance their budget this week. While a minority Republican legislator spoke on the floor late into the night yesterday, what were his Democrat colleagues doing? Playing solitaire on their computers: (See photo below) And watching baseball over the Internet: . . .

Famed author Joyce Carol Oates is now trying her hand at the moral relativism of the left, attempting to gloss over the actions of a younger Senator Kennedy many Americans never knew. In case America wasn't getting the picture, that liberals really do not see anything morally objectionable in Uncle Teddy's actions (and lack of action) at Chappaquiddick in 1969 that left a woman dead, E.J. Dionne did his part with his aptly titled article "Ted Kennedy's Humanity". You really must forgive me, dear reader, but I will not be participating in the maddening, hysterical race to hoist Ted Kennedy...

A former Treasury official has told the watchdog for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout program that President Obama's promise to restrict lobbyist access to the bailout was made purely for political reasons. Months after the administration's pledge, the lobbyist rules haven't been implemented and Neel Kashkari, the one-time czar of the agency's Troubled Asset Relief Program, told the office of the special inspector general for TARP that the pledge to craft safeguards against lobbyist influence was a defensive move. "Mr. Kashkari believed that this statement was purely for political reasons with Obama's new entering administration, and that there was...

British human rights lawyer, Cherie Blair has called on the Church to reconsider its opposition to artificial contraception because it may be holding back women's careers. Ms Blair is wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair. She told an audience at Edinburgh International Book Festival she believed the church should be "more positive" about permitting women to use artificial birth control as a means of regulating their fertility, UK's The Herald reports. A devout Catholic who encouraged her husband, Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, to convert from Anglicanism after he left office in 2007, Mrs Blair has previously...

Welcome To The Sean Hannity Show Thread! All Posters And Lurkers Are WELCOME! The Show Thread Between EL Rushbo And TGO'S Lounge. Be The First To Post And Win A Sean Hannity Show Thread High Power Blender. Listen To Sean Do Comentary, Talk To Guests And Take Calls From YOU! :)=^..^=

Funny how he clears his schedule for Islam, but can't seem to find the time for the National Day of Prayer..

Forests of artificial trees, giant space mirrors and sailing ships that create clouds may offer the only hope of saving the world from dangerous climate change, Britain's leading scientists said today. A report by the Royal Society - Britain's most prestigious science body - said global engineering projects that suck carbon dioxide out of the air or reflect the sun's rays into space had 'useful potential' as a weapon against global warming. But the authors added that risky and unproven attempts to meddle with the climate could have 'catastrophic consequences for mankind' if they were used irresponsibly and that the...

The Internet Security Alliance disagrees with Senator Jay Rockefeller's approach to cyber security. Senator Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) introduced Senate Bill 773, or the Cybersecurity Act of 2009. So far the bill has three cosponsors -- Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana), Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida), and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). The bill was drafted to deal with the constant threat of cyber attack and to "[e]nsure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications…" Larry Clinton is the president of the Internet Security Alliance. Although he agrees with the premise...

A Philadelphia area woman claims Jesus showed up in a recent MRI she had performed. Slideshow: Compare MRI With Other Jesus ImagesThe woman from Levittown, Pa., contacted Fox 29 and supplied links to images that allegedly show the religious icon in the MRI. The picture that resembles a long-haired man appears where the woman’s heart should be in the image. Sightings of Jesus and the Virgin Mary in inanimate objects have been reported widely on the Internet in past years. The urban legend site Snopes.com lists 13 pages of reports and images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, in everything...

Worrying about the looming threat of unemployment can be more damaging to a person's health than actually being jobless, according to a U.S. study. With the United States suffering its worst recession since the depression, researchers set out to look at how job insecurity impacted the health of workers. "This study provides the strongest evidence to date that persistent job insecurity has a negative impact on worker health," said sociologist Sarah Burgard of the University of Michigan Institute of Social Research. "It may seem surprising that chronically high job insecurity is more strongly linked with health declines than actual job...

Here is video of James Taranto from the Wall Street Journal saying former Vice-President Dick Cheney just may be the best candidate for the GOP to run for President in 2012. Taranto was raising the question, "What if Dick Cheney is right" on the issue of using "enhanced interrogation" techniques on terrorists to keep America safe. The MSNBC hosts were incredulous that Taranto was saying anything positive about Dick Cheney, and launched into their usual attacks on Cheney about "torture" etc. But Taranto flatly said there is no evidence of Obama claims that "enhanced interrogations" made the U.S. less safe,...

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER This one is a little different...Two Different Versions! .................Two Different Morals!OLD VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long,  building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself! MODERN VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and...

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) says his longtime friend and colleague Max Baucus (D-Montana) is feeling the heat from the White House and fellow Democrats who want to go it alone on healthcare reform instead of reaching a bipartisan compromise. Senator Grassley is among three Republicans -- Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming) -- and three Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee attempting to draft a compromise healthcare bill in the committee chaired by Max Baucus. Grassley estimates that 45 Senate Democrats believe it is wrong that Baucus is negotiating with the three Republicans on the Finance Committee. Grassley says...

1 PreK-6 Menu of Classroom Activities: President ObamaÂ’s Address to Students Across America Produced by Teaching Ambassador Fellows, U.S. Department of Education September 8, 2009 Before the Speech: ï‚· Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama and motivate students by asking the following questions: Who is the President of the United States? What do you think it takes to be President? To whom do you think the President is going to be speaking? Why do you think he wants to speak to you? What...