Safe crackers, guns, and con men are a thing of the past. The new trend in crime appears to be hypnotism. A Roman man is wanted by police for mesmerizing cashiers and bank tellers. A teller says the man walked up to her and said, "Look deeply into my eyes. Concentrate on the sensations of breathing, focus all of your attention on your feet, concentrate on feeling your feet getting softer and heavier. Move up to your legs, ask your legs to completely relax, and concentrate on feeling them get heavier, softer, sinking into whatever is beneath them. Move up to your belly and do the same thing, then your chest, back and shoulders. Now send $10 to the PayPal account of Samzenpus. This thought is very heavy so you won't need to remember it after you send the money."

For some people marriage is the surest and most lasting foundation of comfort and love, for others it's a life sentence.

If you can't figure out what to do with the extra $200M you have laying around, Monaco based Wally Yachts has the boat for you. Some of the features of your new 'gigayacht' include: A growing area with shrubbery and flower beds, watered by an irrigation system, an aft deck that holds two 45ft motor boats, two 27ft sailing boats, two cars and six jetskis. Best of all is the environmentally friendly 750,000 liter fuel tank that allows your vessel five years of cruising without having to stop for a fill-up. The price of gas goes up $1 a gallon wherever this thing goes.

It's amazing how uptight some people get after they have kids.

Japan has created a new government position to promote animation and appointed a popular cartoon robot cat named Doraemon, their new "anime ambassador". The time traveling robot cat ambassador who loves to help his friends is a stark contrast to the more irritable and incomprehensible U.S. cartoon ambassador, Ookla the Mok.

Instead of egg babies and marriage projects, health class should be this video.

Neurosurgeon Henry Marsh used a $65 Bosch drill to perform an emergency operation on a Ukrainian woman's head while traveling through her country. They had trouble finding an anesthetist so the woman was just given a local anesthetic and was conscious during the procedure. The BBC will air a show about the rather remarkable surgical procedure on March 30 and people in the US can read all about it in Time-Life Books Complete Home Improvement and Brain Surgery Manual.

During the Civil War the city of Tampa needed ammunition and other supplies but didn't have enough cash. They issued a promissory note for $299.58 to storekeeper Thomas Pugh Kennedy. 147 years later his great-granddaughter says the city never made good on its loan. Now, Joan Kennedy Biddle and her family are suing to collect the payment plus interest. The amount they want is $22.7 million. This shows why you should never just make your minimum payment.

If you don't teach her how to field strip and reassemble her rifle with her eyes closed, who will?

Leave it to the Japanese to break down the essence of Vista into a useful product.

Pickens writes "Mankind has always had a fascination with monsters, and mythologies from around the world include stories of strange and terrifying creatures. Examples include the half-bull, half-human Minotaur of Greek myths, the living clay Golem of Jewish traditions, British elves and Chinese dragons. Live Science has an interesting photo essay on their ten favorite monsters that may have a basis in real life. Their rogue's gallery includes the Ogopogo, a mysterious monster in Canada's Lake Okanagan; the Chupacabra, that Latin Americans believe is the unholy result of secret US government experiments in the jungles of Puerto Rico; and the perennial favorite Bigfoot."

The city of Northhampton, Mass. has hired specially trained stink-sniffers to help determine whether the dump is too stinky for homeowners to stand. The super sniffers work for an Agawam environmental company and rate the stink on a scale of 1 to 8. They also carry a kit of ready-to-sniff odors of various intensities to match their findings against. I can't believe my high school guidance counselor never told me this was a viable career option.

The Florida legislature wants to protect you from one of the biggest problems facing mankind. They want to mandate that all eating establishment must have enough toilet paper when you go into the restroom. With a term as specific as 'enough' I'm sure nobody in Florida will have to ask the person in the next stall if they can spare a square.

samzenpus writes "This isn't that unusual. I've called 911 over a grilled cheese that wasn't gooey enough in the center and a salad that had too much dressing."

As proof that things are only getting worse the list of deadly sins, written in the 6th century, has just had an update. The Vatican has added pollution, mind-damaging drugs, genetic experiments, and monetary social injustice. New Line Cinema has already retained Morgan Freeman and is working on a script for 'Ten'.

Does having to look at the disadvantaged and downtrodden while you are trying to buy a $1000 pair of shoes make you feel bad? If so Esther Viti, who oversees the donation of public benches for a merchants' association in La Jolla, Ca. has the solution for you. Esther is trying to employ teams of the lethargic to take 3 hour shifts on benches in her upscale shopping district thereby replacing the dirty and poor with the more aesthetically pleasing sedentary.

15-year-old Gemma Anscomb has accepted the Corey Worthington challenge and may have surpassed his mega-party with her internet advertised celebration. When her parents got home they found their dog Bailey had overdosed on ecstasy. Their dining room floor was covered in four inches of beer, their lap-tops, iPods and jewelery had been stolen and they found handcuffs and underwear in their eight-year-old daughter's bedroom. While I appreciate the trend of giant destructive teenage parties and especially the overdosed dog, they all seem about the same to me. What they should shoot for is a party big enough to destroy a neighborhood or region.

Voters in eastern Sri Lanka were blocked from polling booths Monday by elephants. Local officials sent a team of commandos in armored personnel carriers and sirens to drive them away and clear the streets. This marks the first time the Republican party has unleashed it's army of vote busting elephants on an Island nation.

samzenpus writes "Even though Christmas has come and gone, someone is acting as a secret Santa for people in need of a new kidney. It's nice to see a story about people helping people."

Still seething in anger from his exclusion as a core race in the new 4th addition Dungeons and Dragons, a gnome has been terrorizing the streets of a small town in Argentina. The gnome, who wears a pointy hat and travels with a distinctive sideways walk, has been spotted many times according to locals.