We hear that Entertainment Weekly flew their entire Los Angeles staff into New York for the Time Inc. holiday party, in advance of a magazine-wide staff retreat. Staff retreats? What is this, 1995? Who can afford those anymore, other than white-shoe law firms and ClearChannel? Apparently EW can—staffers were put up at Le Parker Meridien (home to Norma's and its infamous $1,000 caviar omelet). Well, the negotiated corporate rate at Le Parker Meridien for Time Warner is $300 a night—so can we assume that the once-renowned perks at Time Inc. properties (Beverage carts! Company car rides home to Greenwich! And in-house medical and childcare—Oh wait, never mind, they still have those), all but eliminated in 2002, are back? What's more, if the job boards are any indication, EW is on a bit of a hiring binge. So did all that cost-cutting and laying-off work?

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