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WASHINGTON – James Madison (search), often called the “Father of the Constitution,” did not think it needed a bill of rights. Public pressure was so great that he decided it would be politically necessary, so he made a speech in the First Federal Congress proposing 19 changes, 10 of which …

LONDON – Liberty Media Corp. (L) is spinning off its stakes in Discovery Communications and Ascent Media Group as John Malone (search) continues to reshape his vast holdings in a bid to prove they should be valued higher. The transaction, announced on Tuesday, will create a new publicly traded company …

NEW YORK – Neiman Marcus Group Inc. (NMGA) said Wednesday it is weighing a sale of the company, sending shares of the luxury department store operator up as much as 16 percent to a record high. The Dallas-based company, which hired Goldman Sachs & Co. (GS) as its financial adviser, …

NEW YORK – Dan Rather (search) echoed a word he once briefly used to sign off the “CBS Evening News” — courage — in anchoring the program for the final time after 24 years on Wednesday. In a brief statement at the end of the broadcast, Rather paid tribute to …

SAN FRANCISCO – Nike Inc. (NKE) Thursday posted a higher quarterly profit that topped Wall Street estimates, citing strong sales of high-priced athletic and basketball shoes in the United States and growth in emerging markets. Net income for the fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28 rose to $273.4 million, or …

WASHINGTON – President Bush elevated Stephen Johnson (search), the acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency (search), nominating him to the top job on a full-time basis on Friday. Bush called Johnson “the first professional scientist to lead the EPA.” Johnson, a career government employee who has been with the …

NEW YORK – A 24-year-old former America Online (search) software engineer pleaded guilty Friday to stealing 92 million screen names and e-mail addresses and selling them to spammers, setting off an avalanche of up to seven billion unsolicited e-mails. The soft-spoken Jason Smathers of Harpers Ferry, W. Va., entered the …

Migraines (search), which are most common in young women, have long been considered a possible indicator of stroke risk. The latest research indicates that those who experience grayed or blacked-out vision are at almost double the risk of stroke. Those who see spots, lines or flashing lights for several minutes …

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – The Social Security (search) trust fund really does exist — nestled in the bottom drawer of an unremarkable government file cabinet. It’s in a pair of white loose-leaf notebooks holding plastic page covers. Each caresses a piece of paper representing a bond worth a staggering amount of …

PORTLAND, Maine – A new study out of Norway concludes it’s unlikely lobsters (search) feel pain, stirring up a long-simmering debate over whether Maine’s most valuable seafood suffers when it’s being cooked. Animal activists (search) for years have claimed that lobsters are in agony when being cooked, and that dropping …