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Overdosed on Starbucks? Burned out on the bar scene? Check out the chocolate lounge, a kind of petite pleasure palace first popularized in 17th century Europe, where chocolate was the exotic new import from South America. (A Frenchman reportedly opened the first chocolate-drinking house in London in 1657.) As reimagined for 21st century America, the lounges--there are now dozens in the U.S.--range from elegant Continental-style establishments like Manhattan's La Maison du Chocolat, where a cup of Guayaquil or Caracas hot cocoa sets you back $7, to the more mass-market Ethel's Chocolate Lounges, created...
...civil-service pay hike, a tax cut for businesses, $500 million in loans for rural villages, and a promise to increase the minimum wage. Critics contend that these policies will make little difference. "When you have drought, bird flu, stagnating tourism, decelerating growth in exports and a ballooning oil-import bill," says Chris Baker, co-author of Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand, "I can't see how a small income stimulus is going to do anything." Thaksin's political rivals saw defensiveness in his actions. "He certainly seems to have lost the impression that he is invincible," says...
This colorfully animated British import appeals to preschoolers' love of animals and hatred of going to bed. Every night, Lucy, who lives down the street from a zoo, climbs out of her bedroom window to hear one more bedtime story from the animals. Young viewers will be so transported by the exotic creatures, they'll hardly notice the gentle lessons. Just be sure you lock their windows. --By James Poniewozik
...Oprah," saying the store was setting up a "private public relations event." Winfrey told Hermès' U.S. president she would never shop at Hermès again. She will, though, discuss the event on her show. That means the media will finally address that age-old issue of social import: the right to browse $6,000 handbags after hours...
...questioning reflects concern about the purity of Government decisions. Some legislators suspect that their efforts to protect American companies from import competition are being foiled by the back-room machinations of lobbyists representing foreign clients...