Apple Doubles First Quarter Sales, Sets $46 Billion Technology Record

revious year's numbers for the same period, blowing away Wall Street's expectations.

Apple sold approximately 37 million iPhones and 15.4 million iPads in its first quarter, which ended Dec. 31. The company's first-quarter profit more than doubled to $13.1 billion, up from $6 billion a year ago. Sales rose 73 percent to $46.3 billion from $26.7 billion for the same period in 2010.

"We would attribute it to just a breath-taking customer reception of the iPhone 4S," CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday.

The iPhone 4S, with its new personal assistant application Siri, has proven to be a hit with consumers, who again flocked to Apple stores in droves when the phone was rolled out in October.

Apple didn't do too shabby on the personal computer end if its business either, with 5.2 million Macintosh computers sold in the quarter compared with 4.1 mill

Depression Could Be Linked to Your Mother, Says Study

Audrey Gruss knows the devastation of depression -- her mother suffered from the enigmatic mood disorder most of her adult life, misdiagnosed, over-medicated and even treated with electroconvulsive "shock" therapy during the 1960 and 70s.

"None of the doctors ever told us what was happening," said Gruss. "We were embarrassed, ashamed and frightened."

When her mother died in 2005, Gruss vowed to find out why doctor's couldn't "do more to make her whole."

State of the Union: Fact Checking the President

ABC News' Huma Khan, Elizabeth Hartfield, Matt Negrin, Chris Good, Amy Bingham, Jeunee Simon, Greg Krieg, Meg Fowler and Sarah Parnass report:

Fact or Fiction Number 1 - The Booming Economy: Obama's Jobs Story

Did the economy crater before President Obama's inauguration, then rebound once his policies took effect?

It seems unlikely that the president would utter inaccurate jobs numbers during his State of the Union address, but while we wait for official White House citation, the president made at least one claim that for now looks iffy. The transcript:

" In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly four million jobs. And we lost another four million before our policies were in full effect. Those are the facts. But so are these. In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than three million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005."

4 million jobs lost in 6 months before Obama took office: Looks like this total falls short of 4 million. Subtracting the total employment listed in the January 2009 Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report from the same total in August 2008, one arrives at 3.378 million jobs lost. **

Another 4 million jobs lost before Obama's policies took full effect. Using this Bureau of Labor Statistics table, starting at February 2009, the sum of monthly job losses surpass 4 million in October 2009. President Obama's stimulus was passed in February 2009-though it took notoriously long for that money to make its way out the door.
[Related: Voters react to Obama's speech: Nothing different vs. promises kept]
3 million jobs created over 22 months, more jobs created in 2011 than in any year since 2005. Using total employment, Obama's numbers don't hold up. According to the same BLS table, the economy added 2.056 million jobs over 21 months (counting backward, the next month saw job losses). And 2011 saw more job growth than any year since 2006, not 2005. But Politifact notes that Obama's statement was accurate-he was talking about private-sector jobs.
**UPDATE: President Obama was referencing private-sector jobs exclusively when talking about jobs lost before his time in office, according to the White House official. Based on this private-sector jobs chart, the economy lost 3.506 jobs in the six months before his inauguration, not four million.
Fact or Fiction Number 2 - Obama's Plan for Foreclosures
"That's why I'm sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low interest rates. No more red tape. No more runaround from the banks. A small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won't add to the deficit, and will give banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust."

The Obama administration has announced a number of programs to salvage the housing market, which continues to be a drag on the U.S. economy. Today, the president was referring to a plan he announced in October from the front porch of a home in Las Vegas, which has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. The president's plan would allow struggling homeowners who have mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to refinance without getting a new appraisal or a full credit check. The program would also eliminate some risk-based fees for borrowers.

The proposal would alter the $75 billion Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, which was launched in 2009 to help distressed homeowners.
If a homeowner has a mortgage of $250,000 at a 6 percent interest rate, they would be able to take advantage of record low interest rates and refinance their home. If they got a rate that's 4.5 percent or lower, the homeowner would save $250 a month, or $3,000 a year. Given that there are 4 million homeowners who are backed by government-sponsored entities, the administration says the program can help millions of

New York City Mayor Bloomberg pledges to match donations to Planned Parenthood cut by Komen

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  AP
  Feb. 2, 2012: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg presents the Fiscal Year 2013 preliminary budget.

NEW YORK –  Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pledging up to $250,000 to Planned Parenthood to offset funds that were cut by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer foundation.
The billionaire mayor has promised to match future donations to Planned Parenthood up to $250,000, mayoral spokeswoman Samantha Levine said Thursday. The health services organization uses the money for breast cancer screenings.
Bloomberg, a Democrat turned Republican turned independent, said politics "have no place" in health care.
"Breast cancer screening saves lives, and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care," he said in a written statement. "We should be helping women access that care, not placing barriers in their way."
Many donors and cancer research advocates were outraged after the Komen foundation said it was cutting off funding to Planned Parenthood because of new criteria for giving grants. Critics accused it of bowing to pressure from anti-abortion activists.
"People all across the country have stepped forward in the last 48 hours to offer help and support, and the mayor's donation will help ensure that no woman is denied breast cancer services because of right-wing political pressure campaigns," Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a written statement.
The mayor sent out a Twitter message Thursday afternoon urging other donors to come forward.
"Join me in standing with Planned Parenthood to protect and promote women's health," he tweeted.
Bloomberg, who founded the financial services news company Bloomberg LP, was a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party in 2001, the year he was first elected mayor. In 2007, he left the party while flirting with a possible presidential run as an independent. He was re-elected mayor as an independent in 2009.

BSkyB to Launch Internet TV - Wall Street Journal

BSkyB to Launch Internet TV
Wall Street Journal
By PAUL SONNE The new Internet streaming service-scheduled to go live in the next six months-will offer Sky Movies over the Web at launch and eventually sell sports content and other programs. Bruce Orwall has Details on Digits.
BSkyB to Launch Movie Streaming ServiceHome Media Magazine
BSkyB's on-demand service broadcasts its fear of online rival NetflixTelegraph.co.uk
Sky Targets Netflix in UK With New Streaming ServicePC Magazine
Reuters -Engadget

Pakistani officials say alleged NATO attack kills at least 12

By Karin Brulliard and Haq Nawaz Khan, Saturday, November 26, 3:13 PM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The Pakistani army said Saturday ugg boots minnesota ugg boots in minnesota ugg boots in houston
that NATO helicopters fired on a Pakistani border checkpost overnight, and local officials said as many as 12 soldiers stationed there had been killed.

The alleged attack, said to have taken place early Saturday in the Mohmand region of Pakistan’s tribal belt along the Afghan border, could become a new flash point in the ever-rocky U.S.-Pakistan alliance. NATO troops battling militants in Afghanistan coordinate border operations with the Pakistani military, but Pakistan does not permit the international forces to enter or fire inside its territory.

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Following the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, tensions ugg boots houston ugg arizona uggs outlet los angeles
have increased between the United States and one of its top Middle Eastern allies, Pakistan. (Oct. 27)

Following the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, tensions have increased between the United States and one of its top Middle Eastern allies, Pakistan. (Oct. 27)

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In a statement, the Pakistani military called the strike “unprovoked and indiscriminate.” Pakistani media, citing anonymous sources, reported that the firing appeared to be a result of miscommunication and that civilians might also have been killed. NATO officials in Kabul said they were aware of the incident and investigating, the Associated Press reported.

Casualty figures were unclear Saturday morning. Pakistani media reported that more than eight troops were killed. In interviews, a tribal administration official and one resident said at least 12 soldiers had died. The governor of Pakistan’s nearby Khyber-Pakhtunwha province, Masood Kausar, condemned the strike, saying it was a violation of Pakistani sovereignty.

“We will go to the highest level to investigate this incident,” Masood said.

Pakistan, which has a powerful army deployed to fight Islamist militants and deter next-door enemy India, is extremely sensitive about violations of its territory.

In May, the U.S. raid to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan roiled the nation and humiliated the army, which was not informed about the operation and did not stop it.uggs outlet in los angeles uggs outlet in illinois uggs outlet illinois
A NATO airstrike that killed three Pakistani soldiers in September 2010 strained bilateral relations and prompted Pakistan’s army chief to temporarily shut a key border crossing used by convoys carrying supplies to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The alleged strike on Saturday came one day after Gen. John Allen, the commander of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, visited Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. According to a Pakistani military statement, the two discussed border coordination and other measures “aimed at enhancing border control on both sides.”

Obama let the supercommittee fail uggoutlet-aus.com

The attention of markets is also diverted. A European economic meltdown is more threatening than another, half-expected political failure in Washington — at least for the moment. America’s debt crisis is just as severe as Europe’s but deferred a few years. Europe quickly approaches its fiscal endgame.

Some economists estimate that a European recession, coupled with ugg kansas city ugg fort lauderdale ugg boots winnipeg
a decline in the value of the euro, would depress U.S. economic growth by about 0.5 percent. And the problems of the European banking system could be contagious. Currently, 21 financial institutions act as agents for the U.S. Federal Reserve in the buying and selling of bonds (the number dropped by one recently with the collapse of Jon Corzine’s MF Global). Eight of the total are European banks — generally undercapitalized and backed by insolvent governments. All of these institutions are exposed, through complex transactions, to the weaknesses of one another.

So the White House and markets have bigger things to worry about than the humiliation of members of the supercommittee — none of whom are likely to put the experience on a résumé. And Republicans, though not primarily responsible for the failure, felt little urgency in avoiding it. They are reasonably confident, in Sen. Jon Kyl’s words, that they can “work around the sequester”ugg boots in maine ugg boots brooklyn ugg new orleans
to avoid large, automatic cuts in defense spending. Republican leaders now seem content to wait on the election of a Republican president and likely gains in the Senate before pursuing a serious budget deal. Why risk internal GOP divisions on the issue of tax revenues in order to seek agreement with a president apparently uninterested in agreement?

On the budget deficit, there are always a thousand reasons for inertia. Obama seems to be calculating that he benefits from running against congressional dysfunction — and Congress seems happy to reinforce his point. Congress, after all, is much less popular than Richard Nixon on the day of his resignation. Since adopting a harsher tone with congressional leaders, Obama’s public approval has stabilized. The political advice the president is receiving is probably sound. His reelection depends on shifting blame for an economy that can’t be defended.

Yet Obama’s strategy depends on a difficult communications task. He is attempting to run against the failures of a political process he is supposed to lead. He wantsugg boots seattle ugg boots ottawa ugg boots maryland
to campaign against the brokenness of a system he was hired to repair. His critique is a confession of ineffectiveness. Obama’s main self-justification could be turned into an argument against extending his tenure — that he is simply in over his head.

And even if Obama’s reelection strategy succeeds, it only succeeds for a time. Until our fiscal endgame comes.