Murder for Fame?

Alone in his Vermont prison cell in 2008 and accused of kidnapping, drugging, raping, and murdering his 12-year old niece, child-sexual abuse victim and serial sexual predator Michael Jacques wrote letters to his friend plotting a scheme to pin the blame on a concocted international child abduction ring.

But Jacques’ letters, released by prosecutors to the media last week, also show Jacques intoxicated about the prospect of his becoming rich and famous.

“Being a celebrity of sorts appears to have some [serious] financial potential,” wrote Jacques. “So far I have gotten requests from Larry King

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A Baby Step at Reversing Our Debt Binge

Check this chart showing the U.S. debt to GDP ratio. As of June 30, 2010, the most recent data available, total household, business, and government debt stood at $52.1 trillion, a slight drop from the $52.3 trillion at the end of last year. Debt stands at a near-record 357 percent of gross domestic product, and more than double the 1980 debt ratio, and – ominously – well above the previous record 264 percent set early in the Great Depression.

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Time Magazine Review

OverSuccess: Healing The American Obsession With Wealth, Fame, Power, and Perfection

By Jim Rubens, Greenleaf; 451 pages

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1840574,00.html

 

Sept 11, 2008

 

The author’s own brush with American urgency has soured him on the 24/7 work life: “The intention of this book is to free me and tens of millions like me from the hamster’s treadmill,” he says. Rubens ties mindless ambition in the U.S. to major depression,

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My Midwest Mag Feature

My Midwest published a Q & A interview with Jim Rubens on OverSuccess in its

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American Men, Falling Behind Women … Fast

As reported in today’s New York Times, since the start of this recession, men have suffered 82 percent of the nations job losses. Net: for the first time in US history women are poised to hold more jobs than men.

 

The collapsing number of male jobs in the increasingly female-centric economy just adds to the already harsher impact of OverSuccess on males:

·     Women now earn 58

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Is This The Worst Recession in 30 Years, Or Something More Fundamental?

Jim Rubens

 

Not since gas lines and Jimmy Carter’s sweaters has America’s self-confidence been so shaken. Consumer economic expectations are trawling their lowest level recorded in the 40 year history of this index. Rasmussen Reports polling pegs Congress’ job-approval rating at 9 percent, deep in record low territory. Last year, for the first time since the Great Depression, household saving had plunged to about zero.

Read More: Is This The Worst Recession in 30 Years, Or Something More Fundamental?