Amazon Kindle Users Are Older Than You Think

Someone at technology news site, Cnet, came up with the clever idea of running a poll to learn the age of people who use Amazon’s miracle book reader, the Kindle. Seven hundred people responded, which puts the survey somewhat below what researchers would expect from Gallup, but it is a reasonable straw poll, nonetheless

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Pink-Slip Trips: Get Laid Off, Go on Vacation

When Megan Maciejowski was laid off from her job at an investment bank at the end of 2008, she cleaned out her desk, retreated to her Venice Beach, Calif., apartment and started sprucing up her resume. Then the 33-year-old set aside some of her severance package and arranged to spend February in artsy San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Her goals for the trip were simple: to take an immersive Spanish class, do some painting, experience a new culture and generally relax

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Can Congress Make Health-Care Reform Pay for Itself?

The budget that just passed both houses of Congress has given the prospects for health-care reform this year a big boost. With the inclusion of procedural language that would make it impossible for opponents to filibuster, it will now take a simple majority to pass the Senate, rather than 60 votes, simplifying the political arithmetic considerably. But that is only the beginning

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Swine Flu: Mexico’s Lost Weekend

Without traffic, the drive to Mexico City from Cuernavaca usually can take just 50 minutes. Weekends are the exception, when the horrendous jams of vehicles returning from a quick trip outside the capital can snarl the highways for up to three hours. The close of this past weekend, however, was ghostly

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Travel shares down as markets react to swine flu

Trading in travel shares tumbled in markets around the world Monday, amid fears that the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico could turn into a global pandemic. But shares in pharmaceutical businesses and medical companies have shown strong play. At 1100 GMT the FTSE in London was down by 0.6 percent, with the CAC in Paris down by 1.3 percent and the Dax in Frankfurt lower by 1.3 percent.

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Wall Street Stock Research: Soon, Less Independent

The last time we realized the financial system had sold us out—this was way back in 2001/2002—one of the results was a half-a-billion-dollar settlement with Wall Street’s stock analysts. As you might recall, investment banks had a bad habit of issuing overly rosy opinions of companies, particularly the ones the banks were courting for other sorts of business. Twelve companies, including Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, J.P

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