1. BJ’s Warehouse CEO’s compensation included $762,000 in private jet flights
The Boston Globe
The nearly $11 million in total compensation that the top executive at BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. was awarded in 2007 included more than $762,000 for private jet flights, according to an analysis of a regulatory filing by the nation’s third-biggest discount warehouse club.
That’s $2,088 per day to commute from Boca Raton Florida to company headquarters in Mass. Hey he’s a busy guy, he needs his space.
2. Shell and BP Profits soar to $14 billion (for the 1st Quarter!)
Reuters
I have nothing further to say.
3. OPEC Says Oil Could Hit $200 a barrel (currently at $121)
Associated Press
They have no stake in this so it has to be an honest best guess estimate as they have nothing to do with supply and the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland strike right?
4. Debt May Be A Factor In suspicious House Fires
Los Angeles Times
Insurers and law enforcement agencies are seeing more cases with possible financial motives. Many involve properties that are near foreclosure. Some folks celebrate their last home mortgage payment by setting fire to their loan agreement. Lately, some people behind on their mortgages are simply setting fire to their homes.
Ah America, land of ingenuity, why just walk away from the house when you can collect an insurance payout and pay off the mortgage that has you drowning in debt?
5. Threat of an Actor’s Strike Boosts Film Production
Associated Press
Feature film production in the Los Angeles area jumped 11 percent in the first three months of the year as studios moved to get ahead of a possible actors strike.
Didn’t they just come back? Oh no that was the writers.
Stagehands Unite! We Got Next.
6. Gambling firms fail to Donate
BBC News
Two-thirds of gambling companies have contributed nothing to a fund for problem gamblers, the BBC learns.
Wouldn’t that mean folks would gamble less? OPEC marketing at it’s best!
7. UK Gets 1st Nappy (Diapers) Recycling Plant
The Guardian
Science & environment: Canadian firm to invest £20m converting waste into plastic, cladding and roof tiles
Woo-hoo!! Yippee! Yeah Baby! We’re goin’ Green!
Until one reads further…
“The facility, earmarked for Tyseley, Birmingham, will enable the recycling of around 30,000 tonnes of nappies, 4% of Britain’s nappy waste a year, and aims to eventually recycle up to 13%. About 750,000 tonnes of nappy waste is thought to be created in the UK each year, enough to fill eight Wembley stadiums.”
Oh Poop!
8. Billion Dollar Salary for Some Hedge Fund Bosses
MSNBC News
A handful of the world’s top hedge fund managers took home 10-figure paychecks last year that set records for the highest-ever payouts on Wall Street.
From the folks who packaged and sold those sub-prime loans making money while you foot the bill, 10 figure salaries for one year of hard work.
9. Mission to Prove Europe’s Sat-Nav
BBC News
Europe’s quest to build its own version of GPS is about to take an important step forward with the launch of a test spacecraft, Giove-B.
OK, we’re spending how much again to build a system that is identical to the one powering sat-nav devices now? Why?
and Number 10!
Row over TV Sex Scene in Welsh National Assembly Building
BBC News
Assembly officials say they were unaware that filming for a TV drama in the building involved a sex scene. The article goes on to say Caerdydd (Cardiff) a Welsh language drama series broadcast on S4C, featured the scene shot in a Senedd toilet in a recent episode.
But the Assembly Commission who approved the filming said they thought it would be a “conversation scene”.
S4C said it was satisfied producers had followed the correct procedures.
The drama, which is made by the Cardiff-based company Fiction Factory, is about the lives of characters living in the Welsh capital.
In the scene, a young employee of an unnamed political party - who had just been asked to stand as an assembly candidate - is seen enticing her older lover into a toilet and baby-changing room in the Senedd.
There then follows an explicit encounter between the two.
We will refrain from asking if art indeed imitates life, avoid all Bill Clinton cigar references and end this look at the headlines by sending our shocked (wink, wink) condemnation to the show’s producers.
