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ALL BUSINESS: Economics 101, by way of toy hamster - 11/20/2009
In a world full of economic indicators, the best one during the holiday season may prove to be a furry toy hamster. Zhu Zhu Pets are the must-have hit for the holidays. They're out of stock in lots of places, and retailers are flying in the robotic hamsters from China in a desperate attempt to replenish their store shelves.

HBO filmmakers get inside Obama campaign - 11/02/2009
Pivotal presidential campaigns are frequently defined in retrospect by documentaries. "The War Room" chronicled Bill Clinton's political operation in 1992, adding a phrase to the political lexicon in the process. Alexandra Pelosi's "Journeys With George" captured the oddities of a national campaign on board George

After stock market slide data take on new urgency - 11/01/2009
After a forceful reminder that the third quarter is history, stock investors are now uneasy about the final months of the year. Stocks posted their biggest losses in four months Friday as traders worried that consumers won't be able to help lift the economy. Only a day earlier, investors celebrated news that the economy grew at the fa

Another meeting? How to avoid wasting company time - 10/27/2009
TIME FOR ANOTHER MEETING: Do your weekly meetings feel like a waste of time? More importantly, does your company have that kind of time to waste? "In these tough economic times, every second of the work day is valuable," says Kimberly Douglas, author of the recently published book "The Firefly Effect: Build Teams That C

Season of false starts for news organizations - 10/26/2009
A balloon racing across the Colorado sky without a 6-year-old boy inside. A major lobbyist not changing its position on climate change. A shootout with terrorists on the Potomac River that never happened It's been a rough season for non-news. The recent spate of hoaxes and premature stories exposes a dangerous fault line fo