1.  And Microsoft has already altered some if its aggressive business practices, he said.

2.  But independent counsel Donald C. Smaltz last week said the practice was a crime.

3.  Cutler said the practice, if continued, would cause health care costs to rise even faster.

4.  Did we say practice?

5.  Immigration lawyers said practices such as infanticide, genital mutilation and forced marriages often are dismissed as a cultural phenomenon.

6.  Professor Shipps said this practice, whether acknowledged today or not, reflected the belief that temples must be kept pure, untainted by outsiders.

7.  Some political analysts doubt the impact of vote buying in a presidential election, saying the practice works best in local races, where people know the candidates personally.

8.  The judges said the practice, though common, violated bribery statutes.

9.  Argentine President Carlos Menem criticized European Union subsidies for farmers, saying such practices run contrary to the spirit of the free market.

10.  He also said the practice of demanding bribes and shady deals scare off potential foreign investors.