WASHINGTON – Republicans criticized a government report on the causes of the 2008 financial crisis as biased and political on Wednesday. Democrats fired back that Republicans want to roll back federal regulations of the financial industry.That exchange came as the House Financial Services Committee examined a study issued last month concluding that the near economic…

Jake Malooley, Time Out ChicagoQuestion: I've noticed that some of the trees in my neighborhood have been "tagged." It looks like a metal dog tag but seems to be some sort of official City of Chicago thing. Does this mean the tree has been treated or has some sort of significance?Meredith Konrad, Ukrainian VillageAnswer:Think of…

Amazon reported higher profits and a 36 percent increase in net sales for the fourth quarter of 2010, and noted that the company is selling more copies of Kindle e-books than paperback copies. Amazon reported net income of of $416 million for the fourth quarter, versus net sales of $12.95 billion. Net income climbed 8…

SEOUL, South Korea – Hyundai Motor's net profit jumped 48 percent in the fourth quarter to a record high as the automaker reaped gains from strong overseas sales.Hyundai said Thursday that it earned 1.4 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31 after recording 946 billion won in profit a year earlier.Hyundai…

BEIJING (Reuters Life!) – Monkey King, meet Avatar.Production has kicked off on a stereoscopic 3-D version of one of the biggest-ever Chinese language adventure tales as local filmmakers hope to match the gigantic success of "Avatar."The film, "Monkey King," is based on the classic Chinese novel "The Journey to the West," which tells the story…

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – During the past 12 months, the R&B and hip-hop charts have been rife with comebacks, buzz-drawing upstarts and hitmaking assists.Working his way up the comeback trail after the mediocre "Relapse," Eminem hit a peak with the refreshing sequel, "Recovery" (Web/Shady/Aftermath/ Interscope).Thanks to the popularity of his hit "Love the Way You…

DEAR ABBY: My 24-year-old daughter married her high school sweetheart whom she has been with for nine years. He was unfaithful to her while they were dating. They have been married a year now, and he has been unfaithful several more times during their married life.She has left him twice. The second time she filed…

Dipak Jain had just finished an eight-year stint as dean of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management (Kellogg Full-Time MBA Profile) when he got a phone call from a member of INSEAD's (INSEAD Full-Time MBA Profile) dean search committee informing him he was on their short list of candidates.At the time, Jain was on a…

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – MTV removed the words "music television" from its logo earlier this year, but with the not-so-sudden surge in the popularity of music videos (thanks in no small part to YouTube), it's getting back in the music game.When it comes to making sure its viewers can sing along while simultaneously cringing…

The Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim isformer President George W. Bush of “lifting” anecdotes and quotes in his recently released memoir, “.”It’s a strange charge. Nowhere does Grim say the former president plagiarized, per se, but that is exactly the thrust of Grim’s article. The book is “a mash-up of worn-out anecdotes from previously published memoirs…