Made Off

http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSTRE52B78420090312

Here's something I don't understand about Bernard Madoff... He began this fraud on the early '90s (or perhaps the very late '80s) because he felt "compelled to satisfy" expectations. But through most of the '90s, any chimp was making money hand over fist in the stock market. It wasn't enough? He felt pressured for higher gains?

Amazing and strange...

Mates

Image by yewenyi via Flickr

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/03/20/two-men-get-death-sentence-for-internet-crime-mates-killing/

"According to Japanese media reports, the site was specifically set up to connect “crime mates” online (it’s now inaccessible for obvious reasons). According to the ruling, the three men met via the site and decided to commit a murder together. The 31-year old victim was beaten multiple times, strangled with a rope and later abandoned in a forest.

"The men didn’t know each other before meeting online and didn’t reveal their real names to each other."

Then It Gets Wierd

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http://open.salon.com/blog/amytuteurmd/2009/03/20/she_tried_to_flush_baby_down_the_toilet_the_it_gets_weird

"No one paid her much attention until she went to the Ladies Room and blood was seen to flow from beneath the door. When Security broke down the door, the doctors found that the girl had given birth to a premature baby. She had stuffed the baby in a Wonderbread bag, and, at the moment Security had broken in, she was attempting to flush the baby down the toilet."

It Figures

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http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/08/big-music-will-surrender-but-not-until-at-least-2011/

"I had a surprisingly candid lunch conversation last week with a big music label executive, and a good part of our talk focused on the future of music. I asked the usual question: Why are you guys so damned clueless?

...

"By 2013 (maybe as early as 2011) it'll make sense for the labels to finally reorganize their business models around the reality created by the Internet and person to person file sharing services. No longer will the labels be tied to revenue limited to sales of master recordings

...

"But until then, he says, the spreadsheets and financial models dictate that suing customers and partners just makes too much sense."

This is Why We're Doomed

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http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/03/05/illinois-plutocrats/

The state of Illinois resolves that Pluto is a planet.

The Other McCain

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http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/12/ingraham-meghan-mccain/

Another non-person of interest that's all over talk shows and the internet these days; Meghan McCain.

Wow, who decided she was interesting? She doesn't even pretend to know anything about politics.. Are there another relatives of Republican Senators we should put on TV? I think this is actually yet another sign that just how goofed up the Republican party and the right in general is at the moment. And it appears to be getting worse. Any minute now you can bet their going to be dumping that Steele guy (too black for them I guess).

It's like watching a car crash. I wonder if this is how it was when the Whig party came to an end.

Dang Kids...

Image by 444-l)! 4y4+ via Flickr

http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/03/the-sizzling-sound-of-music.html

"Berger then said that he tests his incoming students each year in a similar way. He has them listen to a variety of recordings which use different formats from MP3 to ones of much higher quality. He described the results with some disappointment and frustration, as a music lover might, that each year the preference for music in MP3 format rises. In other words, students prefer the quality of that kind of sound over the sound of music of much higher quality. He said that they seemed to prefer "sizzle sounds" that MP3s bring to music. It is a sound they are familiar with."

Sex and Death

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http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090227/NEWS0107/902270346/1055/NEWS

"Deters said he was stunned by so many aspects of the case: sex with a corpse, sex with violently mutilated or damaged bodies, sex with dozens of bodies."

Will it Backfire?

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This guy is digging himself into a hole.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/12/sanford-stimulus-education/

Last month, eighth grader Ty'Sheoma Bethea was an honored guest of President Obama when he made his address to a joint session of Congress. Bethea had written a letter to Gov. Mark Sanford (R) asking him to repair her school, JV Martin Jr High School in Dillon, SC, which was falling apart. "I felt that our school was in bad condition," she said. "After the stimulus bill was passed I hoped we could get some of the money to rebuild the school."

However, Sanford continues to stand in the way of Bethea's hopes. Yesterday, in what Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) deemed "100 percent political posturing," Sanford announced he would seek to pay down the state's debt by redirecting $700 million of the state.s stimulus money meant for school funding and public safety

Basement

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090302.WBmarkets20090302141509/WBStory/WBmarkets

"On the other hand, the S&P 500 could just keep falling until it reaches these historical troughs. At a P/E ratio of 8, the S&P 500 would have to fall to 460. At a P/E ratio of 5, you're looking at a mere 300."

Car Wash Sex

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2009/02/judge_to_sentence_thomas_towns.html

"Jason L. Savage pleaded no contest to indecent exposure in a sex act involving a Thomas Township car wash vacuum.

...

"Prosecutors agreed to dismiss a charge of aggravated indecent exposure"

Wal-Mart

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Another story that sounds like the start of an X-Files episode...

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/wal-mart-worker-immolates-self-in-parking-lot.html

"A 58-year-old Wal-Mart employee who said he "couldn't take it anymore" lit himself on fire outside the Bloomingdale store where he worked late Thursday night and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said this morning.

"In an interview, his son said his father went to work last night with nothing seeming out of the ordinary. "This had nothing to do with the economy. I want to make that clear," he said, adding that the family may never know the reason for the public suicide.

...

"A store manager, who identified himself only as Erwin, had no explanation for the suicide. he said the man had not been laid off.

Wal-Mart corporate spokesman Dan Fogleman said the man had worked for Wal-Mart for a little over 7 years, most recently as an overnight stocker. He said he had spoken with a member of the store's management who described him as "a good guy and fun to be around."

Rape, Urine and Faeces In The News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/7906639.stm

"A man sprayed a mixture of urine and faeces in two supermarkets, a pub and a bookshop in Gloucestershire, a jury at Bristol Crown Court has heard.

...

"The court heard he visited the Air Balloon pub near the village of Birdlip on 14 May 2008 where police were called after he asked a barmaid how much it would cost to rape her. "

Well this is something you don't read about everyday. I guess everyone needs a hobby...

This is Religion, Again

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29531755/

"A Roman Catholic archbishop says the abortion of twins carried by a 9-year-old girl who allegedly was raped by her stepfather means excommunication for the girl's mother and her doctors.

...

"Doctors said the girl was 15 weeks pregnant when the abortion was performed Wednesday in the northeastern city of Recife, where Sobrinho is archbishop. Health officials said the life of the girl — who weighs 80 pounds — was in danger."

Canadian Bus Beheading

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29530465/

"Police said McLean's body parts were found throughout the bus in plastic bags, and the victim's ear, nose and tongue were found in Li's pocket.

"A psychiatrist called by the prosecution Wednesday testified that Li cut up McLean's body because he believed that he would come back to life and take revenge."