World markets rise on hopes US out of recession

World stock markets power ahead on optimism that US is emerging from recession World stock markets rallied Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. recession was likely over, a view largely supported by recent economic figures. Germany’s DAX rose 0.9 percent to 5,677.32 and Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.1 percent to 5,099.10. […]


‘Dora’ actress claims she was cheated

‘Dora The Explorer’ Lawsuit Alleges Star was Cheated out of ‘Millions’ Children’s bilingual, animated, interactive, adventure series featuring Dora, a 7-year-old Latina girl who lives inside a computer. In each episode, Dora and her best friend, a monkey named Boots, invite preschoolers on an adventure. Each step on the journey presents some kind of problem […]


The Billion Dollar Movie Club

A few weeks after breaking the record for the highest-grossing animated flick of all time, Pixar’s “Toy Story 3” has just become only the seventh movie ever to rake in $1 billion in worldwide box office receipts. The Wrap reports that Disney announced the movie crossed the ten-digit threshold on Friday, making the studio the […]


President Paying Dead People

Here’s an idea, Uncle Sam: Stop writing checks to dead people. The government sent benefit checks to 20,000 departed Americans over three years, totaling more than $180 million — a remarkable number that provoked the Obama administration to create a government-wide “do not pay” list as part of its brainstorming for ways to save taxpayer […]


`Idol Gives Back’ promises Bill Gates surprise

Simon Fuller, the entertainment magnate behind “American Idol” and its charity event airing Wednesday, is trumpeting a starry lineup that includes Elton John, Alicia Keys and Carrie Underwood. But he played it coy when asked about the “Idol Gives Back” role of two other prominent people. Bill and Melinda Gates, supporters of the fundraiser since […]


NYC To Stop Paying Teachers

The city will end the practice of paying teachers to play Scrabble, read or surf the Internet in reassignment centers nicknamed “rubber rooms” as they await disciplinary hearings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the teachers union announced Thursday. The deal will close the centers, where hundreds of educators spend months or years in bureauratic limbo, costing […]


10 Big Commercial Real Estate Busts

As acute as the pain has been in the U.S. housing market, commercial real estate has been no stranger to trouble. Here is a glimpse of some high-profile victims that have been claimed so far. 1. Stuyvesant Town & Peter Cooper Village Loan balance: $3 billion Size: N/A Location: New York, N.Y. It was the […]


Billionaires Who Live Below Their Means

At least once in your life – maybe even once a week or once a day for that matter – you have fantasized about coming into a lot of money. What would you do if you were worth millions or even billions? Believe it or not there are millionaires and billionaires among us who masquerade as relatively […]