Men and women in more than two-thirds of the counties in the United States reported becoming more active over the last decade, according to data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Counties in Kentucky, Georgia, and Florida all saw significant increases in the number of people getting enough exercise. The percentage of men in Concho County, Texas, who got sufficient physical activity — defined as 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week — jumped from 41.4% in 2001 to 58.2% in 2009. In Morgan County, Ky., the percentage of active women increased from 25.7% to 44% over the same time period.

However, this has done little to shrink or stall the growing waistlines of many Americans. Between 2001 and 2009, the obesity rates for men and women fell in only nine counties out of the hundreds that were studied.

The obesity rate for men in Lewis County, Ky., leapt from 28.9% in 2001 to 44.7% in 2009. Meanwhile, the percentage of obese women in Berkeley County, S.C., jumped from 31.6% to 47.9%.

"Around the country, you can see huge increases in the percentage of people becoming physically active, which research tells us is certain to have health benefits," IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray said in a press release. "If communities in the U.S. can replicate this success and tackle the ongoing obesity impact, it will see more substantial health gains."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/exercise-obesity-u-s-report-article-1.1396623#ixzz2YnIAxMmL

School district officials are investigating allegations that a Lauderdale County High School teacher made slurs in the presence of students regarding first lady Michelle Obama and gays. Superintendent Jennifer Gray confirmed the investigation concerns the school’s head football coach, Bob Grisham, who also teaches driver’s education and psychology.

The investigation includes a 1-minute, 24-second audiotape of Grisham asking who knows who is behind the 600-calorie school lunch.

“Fat butt Michelle Obama,” he said. “Look at her. She looks like she weighs 185 or 190. She’s overweight.”

Male voices interject comments during the discussion, at one point referring to Michelle Obama as a “fat gorilla.”

Later in the tape, Grisham referred to the U.S. as going in the “wrong direction” and tells the students they can “get pissed off at me or not. You can go tell the principal, call the superintendent and tell her. I don’t believe in queers. I don’t like queers, I don’t hate them as a person, but what they do is wrong and an abomination against God.” The tape was reportedly recorded by a student Monday and took place on school campus during the school day.

Grisham told the TimesDaily on Wednesday afternoon he misspoke. “I misspoke in a debate-type situation,” he said. “I have no hatred toward anyone or any group. People that know my heart, they know that.”

For the full story:

http://timesdaily.com/stories/Teacher-linked-to-gay-slurs-at-school,201960

Be sure to read the comments at the bottom of that article as well. What a moron this guy is!

Sticker shock: Why are glasses so expensive?

Have you bought a pair of glasses lately? Bet your eyes popped when you saw the price tag. If you don't go to places like Walmart or Costco, you could easily be spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a pair that cost $30 10 years ago. Talk about sticker shock.

And it's not as though things have changed that much: they're still made of a couple of pieces of plastic or wire, some screws and glass. Why should a pair of glasses cost more than an iPad? Well one answer is because one company controls a big chunk of the business.

Never has there been so much choice: Ray-Bans, Oakleys, glasses for running, and skiing, and even reading. A staggering variety of colors and designers. You'd think the competition would force the prices down.

One reason it hasn't is a little known but very big Italian company called Luxottica. If you own a nice pair of specs or shades, they're probably theirs. Luxottica is the biggest eyewear company on earth. It shuns publicity, but CEO Andrea Guerra invited us in for a look. And it was eye-opening.

More here, but make sure you watch the video.

What could this possibly accomplish other than making the victim's life a living hell once more?

It would be like them trying to enforce my ex-wife's alimony payments on me when I haven't been in the United States in more than nine years!

Folks at the beautifulpeople.com will tell you that hanging with the beautiful crowd has its perks - until an angry ex-employee crashes the pretty-people party with 30,000 of his or her ugliest friends.

The exclusive dating site reports it was targeted by a virus aptly called "Shrek" last month, allowing thousands of so-called "ugly people" to set up profiles on the site without approval. Usually, the site's members vote on whether applicants are worthy of a beautifulpeople.com profile.

"We got suspicious when tens of thousands of new members were accepted over a six-week period, many of whom were no oil painting," site director Greg Hodge said in a prepared statement.

(If you think that's a little odd, read on.)

About 30,000 users reportedly got a not-so-polite rejection email informing them their profiles would be shuttered. "Sorry to inform you, you're not beautiful enough," the email stated, according to one report.

"We have sincere regret for the unfortunate people who were wrongly admitted to the site and who believed, albeit for a short while, that they were beautiful," Hodge said. "It must be a bitter pill to swallow, but better to have had a slice of heaven then never to have tasted it at all."

The flippant tone of the statement - and beautifulpeople.com's history of publicity stunts - has some calling the site out for faking the virus. After all, this is the same site that once falsely reported it was making users reapply for membership after the holiday season because too many "let themselves go."

Graham Cluley, a blogger for Naked Security, wrote:

It's a fantastic piece of chicanery, of course, designed to boost awareness of the dating website, get them many thousands of pounds of free publicity with little risk of damage to their reputation.

But beautifulpeople.com managers maintain that's not the case. They're blaming a disgruntled ex-employee for the "Shrek" virus.

From the site's statement:

The origin of the 'Shrek Virus' is still being investigated internally. It was initially thought to be one of the 5.5 million BeautifulPeople.com rejects, but further investigations point to a former employee who placed the virus before leaving the team in May. Despite wreaking havoc with the application process, member privacy and security was never breached.

And that's just convenient enough to make the world skeptical.

Beautifulpeople.com proudly claims to have rejected about 5.5 million applicants. But now: "BeautifulPeople.com has set up a hotline on 1 (800) 791-0662 to help recently rejected applicants deal with the hard news and can give tips for those wishing to re-apply. "

I'm guessing tip No. 1 goes a little something like this: "Become prettier."

Posted By: Amy Rolph (Email) | June 20 2011 at 03:21 PM

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/hottopics/detail?entry_id=91399#ixzz1PrMJepMe

Scientists have now said that the gentle sway of the hammock kick starts our brain and induces us to better sleep. I am sure new swaying beds are coming soon. I just hope they are better than the vibrating bed I once got in a cheap hotel when I was 16 looking to hook up with another guy. That night I slept good as well, but for different reasons.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/06/20/137300311/why-hammocks-make-sleep-easier-deeper?ps=cprs

Hi Dad hope you and Noi are well

You'll be happy to hear that I have finally left Raz my black boyfriend.

I know you didn't approve of him because of his race, drugs conviction

and the fact that he was ten years older than me.

I found, as you suggested, a nice white English boy the same age as me.

Attached is a recent photo of the two of us at a beer festival . He's looking forward to meeting you and Noi on our

next trip to Thailand .

Your loving daughter,

Mary xxx

I'm Gutted

More American Expatriates Give Up Citizenship

By BRIAN KNOWLTON

WASHINGTON — Amid mounting frustration over taxation and banking problems, small but growing numbers of overseas Americans are taking the weighty step of renouncing their citizenship.

“What we have seen is a substantial change in mentality among the overseas community in the past two years,†said Jackie Bugnion, director of American Citizens Abroad, an advocacy group based in Geneva. “Before, no one would dare mention to other Americans that they were even thinking of renouncing their U.S. nationality. Now, it is an openly discussed issue.â€

The Federal Register, the government publication that records such decisions, shows that 502 expatriates gave up their U.S. citizenship or permanent residency status in the last quarter of 2009. That is a tiny portion of the 5.2 million Americans estimated by the State Department to be living abroad.

Still, 502 was the largest quarterly figure in years, more than twice the total for all of 2008, and it looms larger, given how agonizing the decision can be. There were 235 renunciations in 2008 and 743 last year. Waiting periods to meet with consular officers to formalize renunciations have grown.

Anecdotally, frustrations over tax and banking questions, not political considerations, appear to be the main drivers of the surge. Expat advocates say that as it becomes more difficult for Americans to live and work abroad, it will become harder for American companies to compete.

American expats have long complained that the United States is the only industrialized country to tax citizens on income earned abroad, even when they are taxed in their country of residence, though they are allowed to exclude their first $91,400 in foreign-earned income.

One Swiss-based business executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of sensitive family issues, said she weighed the decision for 10 years. She had lived abroad for years but had pleasant memories of service in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Yet the notion of double taxation — and of future tax obligations for her children, who will receive few U.S. services — finally pushed her to renounce, she said.

“I loved my time in the Marines, and the U.S. is still a great country,†she said. “But having lived here 20 years and having to pay and file while seeing other countries’ nationals not having to do that, I just think it’s grossly unfair.â€

“It’s taxation without representation,†she added.

Stringent new banking regulations — aimed both at curbing tax evasion and, under the Patriot Act, preventing money from flowing to terrorist groups — have inadvertently made it harder for some expats to keep bank accounts in the United States and in some cases abroad.

Some U.S.-based banks have closed expats’ accounts because of difficulty in certifying that the holders still maintain U.S. addresses, as required by a Patriot Act provision.

“It seems the new anti-terrorist rules are having unintended effects,†Daniel Flynn, who lives in Belgium, wrote in a letter quoted by the Americans Abroad Caucus in the U.S. Congress in correspondence with the Treasury Department.

“I was born in San Francisco in 1939, served my country as an army officer from 1961 to 1963, have been paying U.S. income taxes for 57 years, since 1952, have continually maintained federal voting residence, and hold a valid American passport.â€

Mr. Flynn had held an account with a U.S. bank for 44 years. Still, he wrote, “they said that the new anti-terrorism rules required them to close our account because of our address outside the U.S.â€

Kathleen Rittenhouse, who lives in Canada, wrote that until she encountered a similar problem, “I did not know that the Patriot Act placed me in the same category as terrorists, arms dealers and money launderers.â€

Andy Sundberg, another director of American Citizens Abroad, said, “These banks are closing our accounts as acts of prudent self-defense.†But the result, he said, is that expats have become “toxic citizens.â€

The Americans Abroad Caucus, headed by Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, and Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, has made repeated entreaties to the Treasury Department.

In response, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner wrote Ms. Maloney on Feb. 24 that “nothing in U.S. financial law and regulation should make it impossible for Americans living abroad to access financial services here in the United States.â€

But banks, Treasury officials note, are free to ignore that advice.

“That Americans living overseas are being denied banking services in U.S. banks, and increasingly in foreign banks, is unacceptable,†Ms. Maloney said in a letter Friday to leaders of the House Financial Services Committee, requesting a hearing on the question.

Mr. Wilson, joining her request, said that pleas from expats for relief “continue to come in at a startling rate.â€

Relinquishing citizenship is relatively simple. The person must appear before a U.S. consular or diplomatic official in a foreign country and sign a renunciation oath. This does not allow a person to escape old tax bills or military obligations.

Now, expats’ representatives fear renunciations will become more common.

“It is a sad outcome,†Ms. Bugnion said, “but I personally feel that we are now seeing only the tip of the iceberg.â€

More American Expatriates Give Up Citizenship - NYTimes.com

After 15 days of investigation, India’s Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences concluded its study of 82-year-old yogi Prahlad Jani on Thursday, May 6.

Jani, who claims to have lived without food or water since his childhood, was under the close watch of three video cameras 24 hours a day. Researchers conducted various medical tests on him. The research team, consisting of 35 scientists, could not find any evidence that Jani ate or drank anything during the 15 days.

Doctors have not found any adverse effects in his body from hunger or dehydration. They think that yoga exercises may have caused Jani’s body to undergo a biological transformation. The researchers said tests found that his brain is equivalent to that of a 25-year-old.

In fact, according to the Daily Mail, the doctors said that after fasting for two weeks, Jani was healthier than the average 40-year-old.

When a person fasts, there are usually changes in metabolism, but that was not observed in Jani.

“Clinical, biochemical, radiological, and other relevant examinations were done on Prahlad Jani and all reports were within the safe range throughout the study. He is healthy; his mind is sharp,†said researcher Dr. G. Ilavazhagn according to the Daily Mail. “What is truly astonishing, and something we have no explanation for, is that he has not passed stools or urine. To my knowledge, that is medically unprecedented.â€

Scientists will continue to analyze the results from this study, and it may take two months for them to draw conclusions.

Epoch Times - Study on Yogi Prahlad Jani’s Fasting Miracles Concludes

You are richer than you think. At least according to Poke, a London-based creative company that specializes in interactive media. Their Web site, The Global Rich List generates a wealth ranking for its users based on their annual income.

For example, if you make $52,000 a year (the median American household income for 2009), you are the 58,252,719 richest person in the world (or in the top 0.97 percentile of all moneymakers).

Someone who makes half of that ($26,000 a year) is still in the top 10%, ranked 569,942,529 on the Global Rich List.

Researchers from the University of Essex found that as little as five minutes of a "green activity" such as walking, gardening, cycling or farming can boost mood and self esteem.

"We believe that there would be a large potential benefit to individuals, society and to the costs of the health service if all groups of people were to self-medicate more with green exercise," Barton said in a statement about the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Many studies have shown that outdoor exercise can reduce the risk of mental illness and improve a sense of well-being, but Jules Pretty and Jo Barton, who led this study, said that until now no one knew how much time needed to be spent on green exercise for the benefits to show.

Barton and Pretty looked at data from 1,252 people of different ages, genders and mental health status taken from 10 existing studies in Britain.

They analyzed activities such as walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse-riding and farming.

They found that the greatest health changes occurred in the young and the mentally ill, although people of all ages and social groups benefited. The largest positive effect on self-esteem came from a five-minute dose of "green exercise."

All natural environments were beneficial, including parks in towns or cities, they said, but green areas with water appeared to have a more positive effect.

Five minutes in the green can boost self esteem - Yahoo! News

it certainly bears repeating in the current situation.

On her radio show, Dr. Laura Schlesinger said that, as an

observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination

according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under

any circumstance. The following response is an open letter

to Dr. Laura, penned by a US resident, which was posted on

the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding

God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your

show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as

I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual

lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus

18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination ... End of

debate. Its in the Bible - end of argument!

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some

other elements of God's Laws and how best to follow

them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both

male and female, provided they are purchased from

neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this

applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why

can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as

sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you

think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while

she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:

19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking,

but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know

it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev. 1:9. The

problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not

pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath.

Exodus 35:2. Clearly states he should be put to death. Am I

morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the

police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish

is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination

than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of

God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit

that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be

20/20, or is there some wriggle room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed,

including the hair around their temples, even though this is

expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead

pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I

wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting

two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by

wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread

(cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and

blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to

all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone

them? Lev. 24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to

death at a private family affair, like we do with people who

sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus

enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am

confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is

eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan.

James M. Kauffman, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus,

Dept. Of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

University of Virginia

• This morning the world discovered what we told you last week: Levi Johnston is working on a book to talk trash about the Palins. Little Miss Sarah found out too, and she's so steamed she's up to her old shenanigans.

In the first part of an interview on CBS' The Early Show, Johnston says he has knowledge about Sarah Palin that would be very damning to her (the full interview is below). Last week, we told you what his svengali, Tank Jones, told us—that Levi has plenty more dirt on the Palins and he's writing a book. It wasn't news to us.

Still, Palin's response was pretty great:

CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies - those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention.

Oh, that is rich. This is coming from the woman who said David Letterman thought it was "OK, accepted and funny to talk about statutory rape," when he made a joke about her daughter, one he thought was aimed at her of-age daughter, not the younger one. Always blowing it out of proportion. Anyway, Levi isn't selling his body, he's just posing for some naked pictures. There is a huge difference. Well, we don't know how big the difference is yet, but we'll let you know once we see the test shots.

And of course the "naked Levi" controversy and her statement has nothing to do with the release of her book, Going Rogue, on November 17. No, she doesn't need to have her name in the press at all. And Levi doesn't need continued interest in his almost-but-not-quite mother-in-law to sell a bunch of nudie magazines to gay men. No way! These two continue to feed off each other like a snake eating its own tail or some kind of weird animal that survives by eating its own vomit.

Speaking of which, Johnston also said his upcoming nudie shoot will be very tasteful. "I'm not gonna just go out there and get naked," he said, putting to rest those rumors that there will be a roaring fire, a bear skin rug, and a snifter of brandy involved. Oh, Levi, you make us so sad. For more on the shoot, you'll have to tune in tomorrow. Of course, we won't be watching because we're not following this naked Levi Johnston thing one bit.

http://gawker.com/5392154/sarah-palin-and-levi-johnstons-dance-of-death-continues

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian couple having sex in a car parked in a tiny garage have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.

"A man and a woman retreated to their Volkswagen to have sex... Most likely the lovers turned on the engine to get warm," Interfax reported, citing a source in the Moscow police force. During a moment of "intimate closeness," the pair, in southern Moscow, inhaled the gas and died, the source added.

Many Russians keep their cars in box-like iron garages near their homes, which snugly encase their cars.

(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman, editing by Paul Casciato)

PAGE ONE DECEMBER 11, 2009 Bernie Madoff, the $19 Billion Con, Makes New Friends Behind Bars

By DIONNE SEARCEY

BUTNER, N.C. -- Bernard L. Madoff's life of country clubs and luxury homes ended when federal agents arrested him at his Manhattan penthouse apartment exactly one year ago. But he is adjusting to his new life behind rows of gleaming silver razor wire in this small Southern town.

Inmate No. 61727-054 shares an unlocked cell at the medium-security prison at Butner Federal Correctional Complex with a younger man named Frank. He wears khaki prison garb and has been spotted walking on an outdoor track. He plays bocce, chess and checkers. He scrubs pots and pans in the prison kitchen.

The architect of the biggest Ponzi scheme in history has served about five months of his 150-year prison sentence. WSJ's Dionne Searcey discusses Bernie Madoff's life in lockup.

The 71-year-old Mr. Madoff also is salvaging something that disappeared in the outside world the moment his fraud was exposed: respect. "To every con artist, he is the godfather, the don," says an inmate interviewed earlier this week.

Mr. Madoff has served about five months of a 150-year prison sentence for pulling off the largest Ponzi scheme ever. Losses suffered by Madoff customers are estimated at $19.4 billion.

"All things considered, he's OK," says Ira Sorkin, Mr. Madoff's lawyer. "He still suffers deeply for what he did."

A description of Mr. Madoff's prison life has emerged from interviews with current and former inmates at Butner and various lawyers, including some who have met with him in prison.

Officially, Mr. Madoff is just another inmate in a federal prison that houses men convicted of crimes including embezzlement, bank robbery, espionage and drug dealing. Nancy Fineman, who represented investors in a suit against his wife, Ruth Madoff, interviewed him this summer. She says he mentioned chatting with fellow inmates such as reputed Colombo crime-family boss Carmine Persico and Jonathan Pollard, an American imprisoned after admitting to spying for Israel more than two decades ago. Other high-profile inmates at Butner include former Rite Aid Corp. vice chairman Franklin C. Brown, who was convicted of crimes tied to accounting irregularities at the drugstore chain.

Prison spokeswoman Denise Simmons declined to comment on Mr. Madoff's life behind bars other than to say that all inmates are treated fairly. Several people in Butner (pop. 6,169) who run businesses frequented by correctional officers say guards have been told they'll lose their jobs if they talk to the media about Mr. Madoff. Mr. Sorkin declined a request to interview Mr. Madoff.

View Full Image

Philly.com

Ex-convict K.C. White says he sketched Bernie Madoff in Butner prison.

Butner Federal Correctional Complex has typical features of prison life, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Inmates rise at 6 a.m. and report for mandatory work duty by 7:30 a.m. An August prison log reviewed by The Wall Street Journal shows that he worked in a maintenance job at Butner at that time. Inmates are paid between 12 cents and $1.15 an hour, depending on the job, which could include groundskeeper, plumber or kitchen crew.

Lights are turned off at 11 p.m. There are gangs and a thriving black market for smuggled luxuries, a current inmate says, such as liquor, shrimp, chicken and cigarettes, which can fetch $10 apiece. Inmates can manufacture military clothing, take Spanish classes and learn heating and air-conditioning repair. Internet access is strictly forbidden, so inmates rely on the word-of-mouth prison rumor mill called "inmate.com."

The informal code of prisoner conduct is strict: Mind your own business. Don't try to find out anyone's inmate number because it could be used to determine a prisoner's criminal record, which is considered private. Don't walk uninvited into another inmate's "cube," or cell. Don't wake anyone who is sleeping. Don't change the TV channel when someone else is watching.

Shortly after arriving at Butner in July, Mr. Madoff told Ms. Fineman and her law partner that he was fending off inmates who wanted to make a buck off his notoriety. "People wanted his signature because they wanted to sell it on eBay, so he wouldn't sign anything," she says.

Back then, Mr. Madoff was sleeping in the bottom bunk and exercising every night by walking around the track. He didn't express interest in attending religious services, but told the two lawyers that he liked the food and people he had met in prison.

"To me, it was all like he was on stage," Ms. Fineman says, comparing the interview to a performance. "He was well-spoken and you could tell he thought about what he was going to say. He's just used to being in command and telling his story."

Some of Mr. Madoff's fellow inmates suspect he has money hidden somewhere and try to cozy up to him in hopes of learning its location. But correctional officers keep a close watch on Mr. Madoff and don't allow groups to crowd around him.

"He looks like the rest of us doing time," says the inmate who asked not to be identified. "He just acts like a normal guy."

Prison officials won't say who has visited Mr. Madoff, though one inmate says Ruth has made the 500-mile trip from New York.

View Full Image

Associated Press

Bernie Madoff arrives at Manhattan federal court in March. A year after he was arrested at his Manhattan penthouse, he is adjusting to prison life at Butner Federal Correctional Institution in North Carolina

Kenneth Calvin "K.C." White, whose prison sentence in Butner for bank robbery overlapped with Mr. Madoff's for several weeks this summer, says he met him in the line where inmates await medication.

Mr. White is an artist who painted several murals throughout the prison. Mr. Madoff struck up a conversation, saying: "You're the guy who does all the pictures around here," Mr. White recalls.

According to Mr. White, Mr. Madoff chatted about the fraud's aftermath, claiming he "carried" employees at Bernard L. Madoff Securities LLC for more than two decades, yet wound up with an astronomical prison sentence. "I guess he felt they turned their back on him," Mr. White says.

Still, Mr. Madoff seemed proud, walking around the prison with his head held high. "He carried on like he'd been doing time for years," Mr. White says.

Mr. Madoff asked Mr. White to paint his portrait, so the bank robber drew a fast sketch in the prison paint shop where Mr. Madoff worked at the time, according to Mr. White.

Mr. Madoff told Mr. White he didn't want to be depicted in his prison khakis, Mr. White says, so he drew him in a suit and tie.

Harlene Horowitz, who lost her Brentwood, Calif., home and other assets in Mr. Madoff's Ponzi scheme, says she thinks he should be in a tiny cell and barred from human contact.

"For someone who lived so high, he can't be happy in his surroundings," she says.

Write to Dionne Searcey at dionne.searcey@wsj.com

Questions Arise About Pedophile Priest From Pope's Old Diocese

Dana Kennedy

Dana Kennedy Contributor

AOL News

(March 12) -- The fallout from the growing Catholic sex abuse scandals finally reached as far as the pope Friday when it was revealed that Benedict XVI knew a priest was a pedophile in 1980 but approved a stint in therapy that allowed him to continue in the ministry, where he remains today.

Benedict was an archbishop in Germany when the case began in 1980. The priest was accused of forcing an 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex on him, the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Friday night.

Benedict approved a decision moving the priest, identified only as "H," to a rectory in Munich where he was to undergo therapy. After about a month, according to a statement issued Friday by the Munich-Freising archdiocese, Monsignor Gerhard Gruber decided to return the priest to a Munich parish.

But by 1985, new allegations surfaced. In 1986, the priest was convicted of sexually abusing other minors after he had been moved to the town of Grafing to do pastoral work. He received a fine, a suspended prison sentence and more therapy before again returning to pastoral work.

Gregorio Borgia, AP

As an archbishop, Benedict XVI approved a stint in therapy for a pedophile priest in his archdiocese. The priest was allowed to return to the ministry and was later convicted of abusing other minors.

In May 2008, "H" was once again removed from his parish work, this time in the town of Garching, according to the diocesan statement. He works in the archdiocese's tourism operations but is not allowed to conduct any work involving children, the statement said.

The pope, then known as Joseph Ratzinger, became archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977 and was made a cardinal that same year. He remained head of the archdiocese until 1982. He then moved to Rome where he became the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith until he was elected pope in 2005 after the death of John Paul II.

The German archdiocese issued a statement Friday saying Gruber, now 81, takes "full responsibility" for the decision to return "H" to pastoral work. Gruber said in a statement released by the archdiocese that he had not made the future pope aware of his decision because it was the kind of call that was often left to his underlings.

"The cardinal could not deal with everything," Gruber said. "The repeated employment of 'H' in pastoral duties was a serious mistake. I deeply regret that this decision led to offenses against youths. I apologize to all who were harmed."

Neither the Vatican nor Gruber commented on whether or not "H" would continue working in the church at his current post in Garching in Upper Bavaria.

Friday's revelations are just the latest bad news for the Vatican, which has been mired in intensifying sexual abuse scandals in Germany, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands as well allegations that the Mexican founder of one of the church's most favored orders sexually molested his illegitimate sons.

The new information about the pope came less than a month after Irish bishops were summoned to the Vatican to discuss decades of clerical sexual abuse in Ireland and on the very same day that a delegation of German bishops met with the pontiff.

The crisis has been growing in Germany, where more than 170 students have alleged they were sexually abused at several Catholic high schools.

On Friday, the head of Germany's Catholic bishops apologized to victims after the meeting with the pope. He said Benedict had said he felt "great dismay" over the scandal.

On Wednesday, the pope's older brother, Georg Ratzinger, was also drawn into the furor. Some of most explosive clerical sex abuse claims in Germany center on a prestigious choir, the Regensburger Domspatzen, that Georg Ratzinger led for 30 years.

Several former singers in the choir have come forward with claims that at least two priests attached to the elementary boarding school allied to the choir sexually abused and brutally mistreated their charges.

Ratzinger denied any knowledge of sexual abuse but admitted he slapped some of the boys in the choir and knew of violence on the part of a headmaster associated with a school where choir members attended.

Filed under: World

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian chimpanzee has been sent to rehab by zookeepers to cure the smoking and beer-drinking habits he has picked up, a popular daily reported on Friday. An ex-performer, Zhora became aggressive at his circus and was transferred to a zoo in the southern Russian city of Rostov, where he fathered several baby chimps, learned to draw with markers and picked up his two vices.

"The beer and cigarettes were ruining him. He would pester passers-by for booze," the Komsomolskaya Pravda paper said.

It added he has now been transferred to the city of Kazan, about 500 miles east of Moscow, for rehabilitation treatment

Boozy chimp sent to rehab - Yahoo! News

China, the 5^th of February 2010 [PDN]: Allegedly the young girl gave birth to a healthy baby boy weighing 2.75 kilograms on the 27^th of January 2010. According to various sources the baby was delivered by caesarean section at the Changchun Hospital in Jilin, a province in North Eastern China.

The parents of the young girl are allegedly seeking legal advice regarding the pregnancy, however the situation surrounding the conception is not clear. Sexual relations with a child under the age of 14 is an automatic rape conviction in China.

It has been reported that the young mother and her child were recovering well and both had remained healthy despite the inherent complications involved with such a young pregnancy. Staff from the Changchun Hospital in Jilin were refusing to comment on the situation when contacted.

Underage pregnancies are on the rise in China, with a leading Chinese hospital reporting that over 30% of their abortion cases were from girls under the age of 17. This is excluding those of school-age that follow through with the pregnancies.

Nine-Year-Old Girl Gives Birth to Healthy Baby Boy � Pattaya Daily News – Pattaya news Powerful news at your fingertips

NEW YORK (AFP) – Police in New Jersey ordered a snow sculpture modeled on the famous nude Venus de Milo to be covered up after a neighbor complained, the artist said Thursday.

Elisa Gonzalez, 44, carved the ancient Greek-style torso from snow on her front lawn in Rahway and says her work was initially a hit.

"It looked very beautiful," she said. "We got a lot of attention from people in the neighborhood. Some of them got out and took pictures and spoke to us."

One neighbor clearly felt the snow nude -- headless, armless, and cut off above the knees -- was too hot.

"We had a visit from the local police who told us that a neighbor had complained about the statue and we needed to cover it up or knock it down," Gonzalez said. "We didn't want to have any problem with the police so we covered it up."

The original Venus de Milo, which is housed in Paris' Louvre museum, depicts a nude woman. She also is without arms, although her head is intact.

US police order nude snow sculpture covered - Yahoo! News

Well, Lena is hired at The Tickle Me Elmo factory and she reports for her first day promptly at 8:00 am.

The next day at 8:45 am there is a knock at the Personnel Manager's door. The Foreman throws open the door and begins to rant about the new

Employee.

He complains that she is incredibly slow and the whole line is backing up, putting the entire production line behind schedule.

The Personnel Manager decides he should see this for himself, so the 2 men march down to the factory floor. When they get there the line is so backed up that there are Tickle Me Elmo's all over the factory floor and they're really beginning to pile up.

At the end of the line stands Lena surrounded by mountains of Tickle Me Elmo's. She has a roll of plush Red fabric and a huge bag of small marbles.

The 2 men watch in amazement as she cuts a little piece of fabric, wraps it around two marbles and begins to carefully sew the little package between Elmo's legs.

The Personnel Manager bursts into laughter. After several minutes of hysterics he pulls himself together and approaches Lena .

'I'm sorry,' he says to her, barely able to keep a straight face, 'but I think you misunderstood the instructions I gave you yesterday...'

'Your job is to give Elmo two test tickles.