The fishes had barely begun nibbling at the corpse of Osama bin Laden when politicos already began assessing the impact that his demise, indirectly at the hands of President Obama, would have on Obama’s current popularity and political prospects.

The bipartisan come-together in a celebration of bin Laden’s extermination has been remarkable for this modern era of hyper-partisan politics. Obama even invited George W. Bush to participate in a kumbaya moment scheduled for the president’s visit to Ground Zero on Thursday, although Bush demurred.

But to some extent at least, where you stand even on this issue depends on where you sit.

Some polls released on Wednesday, by the New York Times and Washington Post among others, showed a definitive bump in Obama’s current standing among Americans after Navy Seals dispatched the terrorist mastermind.

Yet other surveys, most notably by the right-leaning Rasmussen Reports, showed that the president wasn’t getting much immediate political credit for taking care of bin Laden.Continue reading...

In the wake of Osama bin Laden takedown by US, tock markets rally, Facebook page "Osama bin Laden is Dead" takes off as Obama congratulated by GOP including Dick Cheney, who said "the war goes on" — a cautionary note reinforced by security alerts and travel precautions.

Air France black box found from Rio-to-Paris flight in 2009.

Amazon apologizes for outage.

Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffett distances himself from Sokol affair.

Boston Globe reportedly will be subject of a purchase bid.

Chrysler reports its first net profit since bankruptcy.

Dish Network agrees to pay $500M to settle TiVo dispute.

DuPont raises offer for Danisco in food-ingredients bid.Continue reading...

Apple hit with inevitable class action lawsuit over location tracking.

Donald Trump's birther fixation impacts personal brand, supposed presidential ambitions.

Enfamil settles mom's lawsuit over nutrient claims.

Facebook updates Groups, adds Send button.

GM minivan thrives in China post-US demise.

Kimberly-Clark and P&G to both raise prices.

Lenovo Honeycomb tablet coming later this year.Continue reading...

The pleasure of the annual TIME 100 special issue isn't which celebrities made the list (Justin Bieber and Oprah again?) and which ones didn't (no Lady Gaga?). It's discovering "influentials" you may not have heard of before, people quietly excelling in their fields such as Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh of the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa. Check out the TIME 100 class of 2011 here and TIME's promotional clip below.Continue reading...

Banks probed over possible rate manipulation, while NYT looks at dearth of prosecutions in financial crisis.

Bing and Google gain search engine market share as Yahoo fades.

BlackBerry's Playbook tablet critiqued by WSJ, NYT and USAT.

BP and Rosneft extend deadline for a deal.

BRICS demand global monetary shake-up, greater influence. 

GE, Coca-Cola and IBM see promise in water business.Continue reading...

You may not be familiar with 4chan, one of the largest online communities — one that's rife with porn and other NSFW content.

But you may recall how its founder, the 23-year-old Christopher Poole who's better known online as "Moot," managed to get 16.8 million votes on Time's 2009 Person of the Year online poll to land its "most influential person" title. (He was profiled by Time a year earlier, at the ripe old age of 20). 

Poole is now looking to go legit, or at least make some money, by launching another web venture that he officially unveiled yesterday at South by Southwest in Austin.Continue reading...

When it comes to nation branding, America's brand needs a hero. Captain America the movie won’t be released until July. But will that be soon enough for us to spot the superhero on the horizon? America needs rescuing right now. 

At least that’s what a Carteresque essayist in TIME magazine is saying this week. Fareed Zakaria asks, “Are America’s Best Days Behind Us?” His answer seems to be “yes.” His thesis also will be the subject of a special airing Sunday on CNN, Restoring the American Dream: Getting Back to No. 1.

What is Zakaria all depressed about?

Basically, he bemoans America's lack of government-directed investments for the future in the “right” science and technology, the low test scores of American schoolkids relative to their rivals around the world, partisan gridlock in Washington, and other worries many Americans have for the future.

He makes several good points about our crumbling infrastructure and our clear lead in obesity, and so on. He also says we should be more like the Scandinavians.Continue reading...

Apple, hot on the heels of iPad 2 launch, tops Fortune's Most Admired Companies list for fourth year in a row.

Best Buy and other big box retailers rethink as they shrink.

Budweiser posts first global increase in two decades thanks to World Cup.

Charlie Sheen hits 1 million Twitter followers in less than a day.

Facebook growth slows in the US.

Ford issues recall, plans to harness its design gurus to relaunch the Mustang.

GM leads incentive spending as "Old GM" expected to be liquidated today.Continue reading...