#15

A 14-year-old girl was sold into marriage by her father to an 18-year-old guy named Margarito Galindo. The reason for the marriage? Galindo was instructed to pay Marcelino Martinez (the girl's father) $16,000 in cash, 160 cases of beer, 100 cases of soda, 50 cases of Gatorade, 2 cases of wine and six cases of meat. Apparently all those involved were from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where such a deal would be honorable and legal. Unfortunatley for them, in California, its not. The marriage was arranged through a third party, and the daughter moved in with Galindo, but her father called the police when the payment was not delivered. According to authorities, the girl went willingly but a marriage never took place. Galindo and Martinez did involve in sexual relations though. The Greenfield, California police are now trying to spread awareness to the large Oaxacan community that arranged marriages between young girls and older men are NOT okay in the United States.



http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/13/daughter.for.sale/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

#14

iTunes has recently announced that it will be removing the DRM restrictions from its online music store. Each downloaded itunes file contained extra software that stopped it from being duplicated multiple times or put on other music players. It seems like kind of a moneymaking ploy though, because songs WITH DRM are $0.69, and songs without are $1.29. DRM was never popular with the music industry, and now iTunes is charging customers extra to have music without it. I'm sure eventually things will work themselves out, but for now it just seems like kind of a scam. I was happy with the consistent dollar-a-song. Another thing I noticed before I read the article, was an option on my iTunes that offered to strip the DRM from all of my music for $107. I wonder if anyone actually would spend the money to do that. We'll see if iTunes makes more or less money off of this change.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7813527.stm

#13

Carl Pohlad, the longtime owner of the Minnesota Twins baseball team died today in his home in Edina. He has been a big part of Minnesota, as well as our smaller community of Edina. Pohlad owned the Twins as well as banking, bottling, and real estate companies. Forbes Magazine estimates that he is the 102nd richest man in the world, and he lives in our very own town!
Pohlad never retired, but was also very modest with his wealth. He returned a Rolls Royce he received as a birthday gift because he thought it was too ostentatious. It seems to me like the most successful people these days are the ones who had to start from scratch. They are respected for going from nothing to everything, just like Pohlad did. His mother did laundry for others and his father was a railroad brakesman. The wealthy people who inherit their money are often times just made fun of. Paris Hilton for example...




http://www.startribune.com/business/37106499.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU1E::Dy_oacyKU

#12

Recently in the Twin Cities questions have been raised about the salary of Joe Dowling, director of the Guthrie Theater in downtown Minneapolis. This information has become public during the recession where other nonprofit theater and arts groups are struggling. Dowling recieves $682,229 in salary and benefits each year, and Kate Barr (Executive Director of the NonProfit Assistance Fund) is wondering, "What basis of comparison are they using for setting this compensation?"
Although Minneapolis is a great city for the arts, many of its organizations are struggling to bring in enough funds, and the extremity of one man's pay seems a little over the top. In fact, he is earning more than some of his peers in New York.
Another argument is that he works for a top tier organization, so to keep top tier employees, they must pay top tier salaries.
I don't know how legitamate that is; Joe Dowling is overpaid.



http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/36945579.html?elr=KArksUUUU

# 11

Today ( Sunday, January 3) At 4:35 AM, an earthquake struck Indonesia. It had a magnitude of 7.6 and stretched about 95 miles.
It occurred near the north coast of West Papua and killed at least 2 people. 35 are injured, and a sweep of the rubble revealed nobody else trapped inside. Four large buildings and many, many houses collapsed, leaving destruction and homelessness. Initially a tsunami warning was issued, but lifted soon afterwards. I can't imagine what it would be like to live in one day where everything turns to nothing so quickly. I'm not sure that Indonesia has as many resources for disasters like we do in the US, and I hope they get some foreign aid for the victims of this tragedy.

A poem from a child in the middle of it would sound something like this:

Earth shaking legs quaking
get in the doorway.
broken glass
from pictures I won't see again
mom holding dad's hand
crumbling plaster
mumbling prayers
neighbors screaming
thunder from the ground
squinting my eyes
clenching my fists
and sudden silence
and eerie calm.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/03/indonesia.earthquake/index.html