Ex-Simpson Agent To Write How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder Tell-All
Mike Gilbert, who served as O.J. Simpson’s sports agent for a reported 18 years, is writing a book for Regnery Publishing called How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder. According to a brief announcement published this afternoon on industry Web site Publisher’s Lunch, the book will “detail O.J.’s late-night confession” and offer new evidence showing that Simpson did kill his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her boyfriend Ron Goldman. The book also promises “information on Gilbert’s crucial role in obtaining the not guilty verdict and why he stayed silent for so long.” Some of the proceeds from the book have been pledged to the Make-a-Wish foundation, according to the posting on Publisher’s Lunch — a commitment most likely motivated by the public outcry sparked back in November 2006 when HarperCollins announced plans to publish O.J. Simpson’s kinda-sorta confession, If I Did It. [via NEW YORK OBSERVER]
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DUBIOUS ACHIEVEMENT: Forbes Names Philly Fifth Most Miserable City In The U.S.
Misery is defined as a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress. The economic indicator most often used to measure misery is the Misery Index. The index, created by economist Arthur Okun, adds the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It has been in the narrow 7-to-9 range for most of the past decade, but was over 20 during the late 1970s. There also exists a Misery Score, which is the sum of corporate, personal, employer and sales taxes in different countries. But aren’t there other things that cause Americans misery? Of course. So we decided to expand on the Misery Index and the Misery Score to create our very own Forbes Misery Measure. We’re sticking with unemployment and personal tax rates, but we are adding four more factors that can make people miserable: commute times, weather, crime and that toxic waste dump in your backyard. We looked at only the 150 largest metropolitan areas, which meant a minimum population of 371,000. We ranked the cities on the six criteria above and added their ranks together to establish what we call the Misery Measure. [via FORBES]
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MILTONGATE: Feds Say Street Sold Non-Existent Airport Contract For $80,000
A Vietnamese business owner this morning implicated T. Milton Street and codefendant John H. Velardi in what prosecutors allege was a scheme to defraud the businessman of $80,000 through the sale of contract rights that Street and Velardi knew did not exist. Thanh Nguyen, owner of V-Tech Services Inc., told the federal jury how, in 2003, he was informed by Street and Velardi that he was about to get his long-pursued city contract at Philadelphia International Airport. Instead, Nguyen testified, he was led on by the two men for about a year after paying Street $80,000 in cash, only to learn that the $3.2 million subcontract he was buying the rights to – between Street’s Notlim Inc. and Philadelphia Airport Services, or PAS – had been canceled by the city in June 2003. [via INQUIRER]