-- Stuck on the Palmetto has a great breakdown on the breakdown of former BSO sheriff Nick Navarro's security company when $1.5 million worth of phones it was supposed to be guarding were stolen from a factory in the middle of the day. The guard instead was washing his car -- and the sudsing was caught on video, apparently, while the burglars got away.
-- Here's a Washington Post story a reader sent me this morning regarding a new trend in China where freelance journalists. They start up websites and then people pay them to investigate corruption that the Communist Party-strangled mainstream media won't touch. Sort of a mix between journalist and P.I. My favorite thing from the article is the name of one of the journo's websites: "China's Famous Reporter's Online Investigations."
-- Interesting story from the Sun-Sentinel's David Fleshler regarding the hidden hand of the taxman. Most intriguing graph:
"Even where a tax is indicated, there may be no acknowledgment of who is levying it. Take a look at your electric bill. You'll see an amount listed under the category of "utility tax." Who sets the rate? Who collects it? Where does it go? There's nothing to indicate that this amount is actually collected by your city -- or the county, if you live in an unincorporated area -- and that it pays for a growing share of local services."