Fraudsters altering credit cards in latest scam to hit the Island (Victoria Times Colonist)

Police say the latest holiday scam has fraudsters altering pre-paid credit cards to link to stolen credit cards to cash in on unsuspecting merchants.

Several incidents have taken place in Nanaimo and across Vancouver Island since the scam first surfaced in recent weeks, say police, whose multi-jurisdictional investigation continues despite two arrests in connection with such crimes. Police said the monetary tally of fraud so far is in the thousands of dollars.

It is just one of many scams that crop up ..read more

Happiest states in America, Texas in top half (KETK 56 Tyler)

UNDATED – Ever wondered if you’d be happier in sunny Florida or snow-covered Minnesota? New research on state-level happiness could answer that question.

Florida and two other sunshine states made it to the Top 5, while Minnesota doesn’t show up until number 26 on the list of happiest states. In addition to rating the smile factor of U.S. states, the research also proved for the first time that a person’s self-reported happiness matches up with objective measures of well-being.

Essentially, ..read more

Russell Brand Nips Out

We spotted Russell Brand in Malibu with yet another mystery lady.  But the real mystery is, how does he get all these women? For a guy who looks like he rolled out of bed and dug through a dumpster for an old woman’s moth eaten sweater, he’s not doing too badly.  C’mon Russell…you’re in Malibu. Have a swim in the ocean…it’s made up of this thing called ‘water’. Very refreshing, you should try it. MTV loves Russell’s Brand of humor!

Scrap-paper prayer

[CHALLENGE: FRUGAL ARTIST]

“Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.” —Mahatma Gandhi

You know what else is not an old woman’s idle amusement? Doodling on scrap paper. OK, so maybe it is, but in either case, let’s get our craftiness and our instruments of action (read: prayers) on—at the exact same time.

Step 1. Find a scrap of paper. Step 2. Write a prayer on it.Step 3. Take ..read more