Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word people. 19 news.

Farrah Gray, author of "Get Real, Get Rch: Conquer the 7 Lies Blocking You From Success" says that consumers and investors making New Year's resolutions should start the process by exchanging hopes and dreams for a plan. In a radio interview, Gray said that most people let themselves get sidetracked from their goals because they don't have a plan to reach them, so they keep hoping to reach their targets without actually plotting the course to take to make good things happen.

J ack Kellogg has a big jump on his New Year's resolutions. After about 30 years of selling hats, Kellogg noticed a troubling trend at his Hatman Jack's Wichita Hat Works in Delano. Most of his customers -- 65 percent of whom live in Wichita -- were skewing older. "It had me a little nervous," Kellogg says. So he started thinking that he'd like to expand to custom-designing hats for a couple of new groups of people: musicians doing the "soul, funk, hip-hop thing" and classic-music industry types. The first took care of itself recently when he got a call from a Wisconsin woman who helps outfit Prince and his entourage for concerts and music videos. The woman's sister lives in Wichita and recommended Kellogg's hats for a video being shot in Miami.

People who claim no unemployment benefit during their working lives should be rewarded with bigger pensions, a think tank has proposed.

One in four people is struggling with their debts as Britons collectively face a ?93bn annual bill for interest.

Kenyan police and witnesses say 94 people have died in post-election violence. Some police say they received shoot to kill orders to stem riots.

The Halifax bar where 38 people were arrested after a brawl last week may become the first in Canada to allow police and liquor inspectors to monitor its security cameras over the internet, a plan that worries privacy experts.

[Retail] "Since January and the New Year is a time when people are focused on making changes in their lifestyle, finances, professional life or love life, we thought it's a great time to help our customers by offering the resources and tools to help them reach their goals," says a company spokesperson.

Some people think big. Others, like the popular "pink boot lady," just think bigger.

Foreclosures reshaped the U.S. economic landscape in 2007. A year ago, losing a house to bank repossession still seemed like a rare event, confined to people enduring unfortunate personal circumstances - job loss, divorce, illness, death of a wage earner. But...

Not all hotels keep track of which rooms pets have stayed in People who don't like pets like them even less at $400 a night.

ORLANDO -- People who paid deposits for units at the Lexington condo hotel in downtown Orlando now have until March 21 to claim some of that money back.

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb remembers a time when "the only things most people in the United Kingdom knew about Denver were the Denver Broncos and the TV show 'Dynasty.'"

I guess the simple answer is...you did not hire people as smart as Goldman Sachs did. Seriously, the CDO disaster and general mortgage malaise caught almost everyone by surprise, with Goldman Sachs really only saved by a handful of traders who bet the right way.

A New Year's resolution: Remember that in the world of communications etiquette, the "Golden Rule" still applies. Good companies, and good people, don't forget.

China's roads are paved with CDs that turned from gold to dust in EMI's hands, according to people familiar with Terra Firma's discoveries since taking control,...

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Benazir Bhutto's 19-year-old son who was yesterday named chairman of the Pakistan People's party, has lived in Dubai for the past eight years...

SAN FRANICISCO (MarketWatch) -- Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner Sunday of a national election marred by violence and allegations of vote fraud and sworn into office, according to media reports. Kibaki's margin of 231,728 votes over Raila Odinga was the closest in Kenyan history. At least 15 people were reported killed in the violence. According to media reports, the government has suspended live television coverage as riots rage through Kenyan slums where many of Odinga's supporters live. The election had been closely watched as a test of democracy in Kenya, one of Africa's most-developed countries.

Jessica Gorst-Williams, the Telegraph's consumer champion, explains how to deal effectively with financial institutions.

Metacafe, a website that pays people who upload popular videos thousands of pounds by sharing advertising revenue, is to focus on expanding its presence in the UK in 2008.