Three Key Lessons from Obama’s China Tour

President Obama’s trip to China yielded precious little Chinese cooperation on the Administration’s key concerns, ranging from currency issues to Iran. That’s a sign of the shifting balance of power between two countries that have been locked in an uneasy embrace for more than three decades.

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Unemployment Rises to 10.2%, Stoking the Economic Debate

After Wall Street stabilized last spring, it didn’t take long for the economy to become a political afterthought to the major battle of the year in Washington: health-care reform. But last Tuesday’s off-year election broke D.C.’s political trance like a brick through plate glass

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Indie Film Shakeout: There Will Be Blood

The economic recession may be ending but the independent film industry’s shakeout continues to roll, as we were recently reminded by Disney’s October decision to gut its Miramax division, cutting staff by more than 70%. It won’t be the last to fall under the knife, industry insiders predict, pointing to Universal’s Focus Features as the next likely victim.

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Engineers: Bay Bridge woes show need for critical action

Joe Marshall was cruising across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge when a piece of steel and a giant cable crashed down. He’s worried about what he calls “fracture-critical” bridges: roughly 460 bridges across the country that are in dire need of repairs.

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