In the news- April 5th, 2008

In the news this April 5th, Palo Alto police are looking for a bank robber who favors a decidedly slow-speed getaway vehicle — an electric wheelchair. Police said a man in his 60s with gray hair and a beard held up the Wachovia Bank branch at the Stanford Shopping Center with a black handgun. No word yet on whether he has been caught.


52 girls have been removed from a secretive West Texas religious retreat built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs after a 16-year-old living there complained of physical abuse. Officials from Texas Child Protective Services, escorted by state troopers, took 52 girls, ages 6 months to 17 years, from the remote retreat on Friday afternoon. 18 were put legally into state custody, and CPS spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said interviews would continue Saturday. A warrant has been issued for at least one individual.

It pays to be a Clinton. According to reports, the Clintons have made $109 million since 2000. The Clintons reported $20.4 million in income for 2007 as they gave the public the most detailed look at their finances in eight years. Almost half the former first couple's money came from Bill Clinton's speeches. In the tax returns, the former president describes his occupation as "Speaking & Writing."

Beside speeches and books, his biggest single business income is from his partnership with Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, giving him an income of $12.5 million. According to a summary of the seven years provided by the Clinton campaign, the former president's speech income since he left the White House totals $51.85 million and his income from his two books — "My Life " and "Giving" — totals $29.6 million, including a $15 million advance for "My Life." Bill Clinton has traveled the world, giving paid speeches to multinational corporations, investment banks and motivational groups. Hillary Clinton had $10.5 million in book income over the period from her book "Living History." She donated earnings from her other book, "It Takes a Village," to charity.

Does this look painful to you?
A model is carried on the shoulders of two other models as she displays a diamond-studded thong during Viva La Eve by Triumph at the Singapore Fashion Festival April 3, 2008. The thong, valued at S$168,000 ($121,106), is decorated with 518 diamonds totalling 30 carats.
(Vivek Prakash/Reuters)

photo courtesy of reuters and yahoo













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