1. Custom Textbook Scam

What could be worse than a textbook company selling exorbitantly-priced textbooks to students? A school helping them do it, to their very own students. That is exactly the deal some schools have with textbook companies via the “custom textbook” ploy.

Here’s how it works: The textbook company takes a certain textbook, like the one pictured to the left, then “customize” it for a certain school. By “customize” we mean splashing the name of the school right across the top of the front cover, a few dozen pages inside describing that school’s program for that particular textbook’s subject, and a notice on the back that reads: “This book may not be bought or sold used.” Other than that, there’s not much difference between the customized version and the regular one sold outside the campus. Oh, there’s that little matter of the custom textbook having double the price tag of the regular version, but it’s all the same, right? Check out this WSJ report to see how the cover of Diana Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference looks like after the customization process.

2. Textbook Review Scam

Some textbook publishing companies go straight to the ones who actually require the students to use certain textbooks: the professors themselves. Textbook company North West Publishing did just that with Middle Tennessee State University history professor Jim Williams, when they offered him $2,500 to “review” one of its textbooks. As it turned out, they were asking Williams to do more than just say what he thinks about the book, which is priced at $70 at the campus bookstore. They were actually asking him to require his students to buy it, or he could forget about the money. And he’s not the only one who got this kind of an indecent proposal. More on this story here.

3. Los Angeles Unified School District Textbook Scam

In 2007, Matthias Vheru, a former Los Angeles Unified School District official, was arrested for allegedly issuing nearly $4 million in unauthorized textbook orders for a title he wrote.

Yes folks, he’s accused of using his position as a supervisor of the District’s Central Office Mathematics Department to buy $3.7 million worth of his own Algebra book for use in District classrooms. Can’t blame him, really. After all, the 20 percent cut stated in his deal with the publishing company netted him nearly $1 million in royalties and fees. Click here for more details on this case.

4. The Book Buyback Scam

Sure, many college bookstores would argue that buying a used book for half its original price tag is not a scam, but just a proper way of doing business, the operative word here being “used” and therefore has a depreciated value attached to it. Tell that to the millions of college students around the country who have sold barely-used textbooks to school bookstores and got paid as low as 10-15% of their books’ original cost for their efforts.

5. Purdue University Student’s Fraudulent Textbook Selling Scheme at Half.com

Nicholas Baptist, a former Purdue University student, allegedly opened 384 fake bank accounts for non-existent employees and used them to open 568 Half.com seller accounts, where buyers sent in over $5.3 million dollars as payment for textbooks they’ve “purchased”. He then allegedly wired the money to accounts he held in Singapore and Malaysia. A Malaysian national, Baptist has been charged with 12 counts of wire fraud. He has since been believed to have returned to his home country. DOJ details of this case here.

This article on textbook prices exposes some of the other reasons textbook costs are high and what you can do about it.

Here’s a list of 19 porn stars who have college or higher degrees tucked under their belt. If you know of any more similarly-educated porn stars, please don’t hesitate to send them in through your comments.

1. Tera Patrick – BS in Biology and an AAS degree in nursing from Boise State University.

2. Gen Padova – A UCLA graduate, with Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Biochemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts.

3. Calli Cox – Has a degree in middle level education from Eastern Illinois University, and was teaching 8th grade English before getting into porn.

4. TJ Hart – Graduated with a triple major in psychology, sociology and art, with a minor in early childhood education from the University of Colorado. She was also member of the 1988 US Olympic swim team.

5. Ron Jeremy – Used to be a teacher, making good use of his bachelor’s degree in education and theatre and a master’s degree in special education from Queens College in New York.

6. Nina Hartley – Graduated magna cum laude from San Francisco State University’s nursing school, and is a registered nurse.

7. Juli Ashton – A Colorado State University graduate, with a degree in Spanish and History. She subsequently taught Spanish at a junior high school before she caught the porn bug

8. Joanna Angel – has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature with a minor in Film Studies from Rutgers University.

9. Audrey Hollander – Graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a degree in Elementary Education.

10. Lexington Steele – Earned a double degree in History and African-American studies from Syracuse University.

11. Bobbi Starr – Holds a music degree from San Jose State University. She is currently a pre-med student, aiming to become a gynecologist.

12. Laurie Wallace – Not only did she graduate summa cum laude with a double major in German and political science from Loyola College in Maryland, she also attended law school at George Washington University.

13. Lisa Sparxxx – This pornstar who holds a world record for having sex with 919 men in the space of a day has a Master of Arts degree in Multimedia with a minor in Business from the University of Kentucky.

14. Mika Tan – She studied at the San Diego State University en route to a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and an Associate’s degree in Psychology.

15. Dave Cummings – Currently laying claim to the title “oldest active male pornstar”, Cummings has both a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and a Masters Degree in Public Administration. To top it of, he also used to be a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army.

16. Shy Love – A certified public accountant, having earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in accounting.

17. Careena Collins – Graduated with a law degree

18. Selena Silver – finished university with a degree in Marine Science

19. Mandingo – has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications.

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By the way, no Britney here. It goes without saying that she’s in a league all by herself as far as celebrity upskirts go. If there’s a Celebrity Upskirt Hall of Fame, Britney would no doubt be the first-ever inductee. And if these women who have given us the top ten celebrity upskirt pictures of 2008 carry on like this in the coming years, they’re guaranteed a place in it too.

Warning: possibly NSFW

1.  Leelee Sobieski

Any memories you might have of sweet Leelee in “Jungle 2 Jungle” surely will have dissipated by now at the sight of that pink thong.

2. Audrina Patridge

Audrina may be constantly labeled as that “boring” one from “The Hills”. We dare you say the same thing about this upskirt of hers, or the countless bikini pictures or those “leaked” naked pics that are all over the Internet.

3. Emma Watson

Now we know that when J.K Rowling described Hermione Granger as having “bushy brown hair’, she wasn’t just talking about the ones up north. Endless “Hairy Potter” jokes have been made about this Emma Watson upskirt, and rightfully so.

4. Pamela Anderson

We understand that the better part of the world’s 6.7 billion people have seen Pamela much more naked than this, so what’s the big deal with a Pamela upskirt? Honestly, we don’t know, the same way we don’t know why she keeps getting treated like she’s hot when she’s nothing but scary these days.

5. Sharon Stone

This is one clear-cut case of life imitating art, Sharon reenacting her “Basic Instinct” character Catherine Tramell’s infamous beaver scene. No beaver here though, and we’re thankful for that.

6. Nicole Scherzinger

Pussycat Doll shows off her own pussycat doll for the whole world to see. Somene’s getting desperate to sell “solo” albums.

7. Blake Lively

This upskirt from the Gossip Girl star is not much of an upskirt, really, but those legs revealed by her skirt kinda riding up are just so luscious they deserve a place here, with or without anything nastier to gossip about.

8. Victoria Silvstedt

Just like Pamela, Victoria Silvstedt is no stranger to spreading her legs for the camera to get a little more attention than usual.  So thinking that this upskirt was accidental is out of the question.

9. Kate Walsh

Someone blew some wind up Kate Walsh’s ass, and it’s not a pretty sight.

10. Jennifer Aniston

We can tell by this picture that Jennifer was trying to prevent a nipple slip with her left arm. Thankfully, her right hand is holding her purse, and wasn’t able to do anything to deny us an upskirt shot.

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Warning: possibly NSFW

1. Karina Smirnoff

Thanks a lot, Mario Lopez for practicing dance lifts with your girlfriend and Dancing With The Stars partner in the water and giving us this nipple slip in the process.

2. Whitney Port

If this is Whitney Port’s way of drawing attention away from way more famous The Hills co-star Lauren Conrad, then she’s succeeded. She’s cuter than Conrad anyway.

3. Bai Ling

A serial nipple flasher, this is only one of the number of Bai Ling nipple slips we’ve had this year. But if you look closely\, it looks more like a Bai Ling pencil eraser slip than anything else.

4. Monica Bellucci

Sure, we’ve seen Monica Bellucci without a stitch on many times in the past. But she’s just so gorgeous that even something as trivial as a Monica Bellucci nipple slip is more than enough to make us happy.

5. Amy Smart

Amy Smart is another serial nipple exhibitionist. This time, her nipple said hello while she was kicking some guy’s ass on the set of the movie Crank 2.

6. Shauna Sand

Shauna Sand probably has the most disgusting nipples on the planet, but that didn’t stop this former Playboy Playmate from foisting it upon us.  And just like when we find ourselves near the scene of an accident, we just can’t look away at the train wreck this formerly hot woman has become.

7. Blake Lively

In this picture, Blake Lively seems to be hiding from the paparazzi and does her best to cover her face. Fortunately, the Gossip Girl star’s surprisingly big nipple isn’t as pap-camera-shy as she is.

8. AnnaLynne McCord

For someone who rightfully belongs in our list of celebrities with small boobs and flat chests that we love, AnnaLynne McCord seems to have boobs that play peekabo with paparazzi a little too often, like the time she was shooting this running scene for 90210.

9. Hayden Panettiere

We’re not really sure if this qualifies as a Hayden Panettiere nipple slip, but because we all want to see this barely legal Heroes star give us some nip action, we’re willing to use a little imagination and see some Hayden boobage through the water. Lucky dog.

10. Lily Allen

We’ve seen Lily Allen out of her clothes a little too many times this year, but we’re not complaining. Not when she goes beyond a mere nipple slip to a full boob slip.

11. Kate Moss

Was there ever a year that we didn’t see Kate Moss’ nipple? Didn’t think so.

12. Mischa Barton

Will there ever be a time we wouldn’t see Mischa Barton flashing her nipple all over the place while drunk?

13. Salma Hayek

Thank heavens for traditional costumes that make women’s breasts pop out, like this Bavarian dirndl Salma Hayek wore as a guest in a popular German talk and variety show.

14. Katy Perry

This is just a half a nipple slip from Katy Perry, but at least we now have an idea how awesome this singer’s cans are. And we got an upskirt shot to boot!

15. Emma De Caunes

No idea who Emma De Caunes is, but because of this wonderful nip slip, we’re willing to know more about this cute French actress, and give her a thumbs-up as well.

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Now some of the sexist laws listed below may no longer be in place, and we’re not really sure which ones are still being strictly enforced today, but the fact that they did were put on the books not too long ago should make an American think twice about ranting against some countries, particularly in the Middle East, that don’t treat their women all that well. The US, after all, also has its share of unfair laws against women.

1. A woman caught adjusting her stockings in public in either Dennison,Texas or Bristol, Tennessee could get up to 12 months in the state penitentiary.

2. Michigan state law says women have to get their spouses’ permission to get their hair done because legally, their wives’ hair belong to them.

3. In New Mexico, women are strictly forbidden to appear unshaven in public. The waxing business must be pretty good there.

4. In Owensboro, Kentucky, buying a new hat without her husband trying it on first is illegal.

5. In Tremonton, Utah, it is illegal to have sex while riding in an ambulance. Fair enough, except for the part where, if caught, only the woman can be charged with a sexual misdemeanor and “her name is to be published in the local newspaper”, while her partner won’t be charged and will remain anonymous.

6. In Vermont, It is illegal for women to wear false teeth without the written permission of their husbands.

7. It is illegal for women to wear pants in the city of Tucson, Arizona.

8. A special cleaning ordinance was issued in Pennsylvania that bans housewives from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling. No word on whether this applies to househusbands as well.

9. In Florida, a woman caught catching z’s while under a hair dryer in a salon will be subjected to a fine. The same goes for the salon owner as well.

10. Patent-leather shoes are a no-no for women in Cleveland, Ohio, for the reason that the shiny finish of the shoes could help a man catch a reflection of their more private parts, especially when they’re wearing skirts.

11. In Memphis, Tennessee, women can’t drive a car unless “a man must walk or run in front of the vehicle, waving a red flag in order to warn approaching pedestrians and motorists.”

12. In Maryland, a woman may not go through her husband’s pockets while he is sleeping.

13. Unless she is married, a woman is prohibited from parachuting on Sunday afternoons. Whatever being married or just being a woman has anything to do with parachuting is beyond anyone.

14. In Missouri, four women may not rent an apartment together.

15. A state law in Illinois dictates that all bachelors should be called master, not mister, when addressed by their female counterparts.

16. It is illegal for a lady to lift her skirt more than six inches while walking through a mud puddle in Michigan.

17. It is against the law in Oklahoma for females to do their own hair without getting a license from the state.

18. In Dyersburg, Tennessee, it is illegal for a woman to call a man on a date.

19.  A woman in Oxford, Ohio is forbidden from taking her clothes off while standing in front of a man’s picture.

20.  An old (and hopefully repealed by now) law in Little Rock, Arkansas states that a man is legally allowed to beat his wife, but only when he uses a stick that is no more than three inches wide, and only once a month.

5. Most Raw Kidneys Eaten

Alice Caldwell of Butte, Montana, ate more than 14 pounds of raw veal and lamb kidneys on Oct 22, 1991.

4. Most Cow Brains Eaten in 15 Minutes

On February 12, 2002, Takeru Kobayashi wolfed down a total of 57 cow brains with a total weight of 17.7 pounds within 15 minutes. That’s enough mad cow disease to last him two lifetimes.

3. Most Semen Swallowed

Almost 2 pints of semen were pumped out of Michelle Monaghan’s stomach in July 1991. A hell of a gang bang it must have been.

2. Most Earthworms Eaten in 30 Seconds

Imagine a plateful of spaghetti with each single noodle squirming. That’s what two-hundred live earthworms, each measuring at least four inches long, probably looked like when they were swallowed by India’s C. Manoharan within 30 seconds. Manoharan, nicknamed “Snake Manu” for the “snake flossing” trick shown in the above photo, set this record on November 15, 2003 at Chennai City, Tamil Nadu, India.

1. Most Cockroaches Eaten In One Minute

“It’s like having an anesthetic at the back of the throat”. That’s how Ken Edwards of Glossop, Derbyshire, England describes what he feels every time he munches on cockroaches. He must have awfully numb then when he ate 36 cockroaches in one minute on the set of The Big Breakfast, London, England on March 5, 2001.

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There have been, however, actual cases of sex and death that are decidedly more bizarre and gruesome than your usual cardiac arrest. And probably more painful too. But then again, the fact that they died in the throes of ecstasy already guarantees that they’ve already gone to heaven, whether their souls are actually headed there or not.

1.  For Jose Agustin Noh, working at a funeral home had its benefits, namely, access to facilities that normal people wouldn’t dare imagine to have sex in, like hearses, for instance. But unfortunately for him and his girlfriend, Ana Maria Camara Suarez, their tryst inside a hearse ended in tragedy when carbon monoxide snuffed out their lives while they were sleeping their sex session off. As it turned out, the couple from Campeche, Mexico left the motor running in order to have air conditioning.

2. Kirsten Taylor, a 29-year-old woman from Pennsylvania, died when her husband Toby clipped an electrical cord to her and plugged it into a power strip which he then turned on and off during a night of bizarre sex, which apparently was a usual thing for the couple. No word on whether or not Mr. Taylor was plugged into his wife as he shocked her to death.

3. A couple in Namibia were killed when an all-terrain vehicle and a truck ran them over as they were lying on the road. The driver of the truck claims the two were having sex right there in the middle of the road, “a typical example of people indulging in alcohol”, he says. See, sex and alcohol really don’t mix.

4. Here’s a real-life case of a man screwing a woman to death-literally. Robert Ashitey, a 30-year-old man from Aflao, Ghana, is one really horny dude. He didn’t realize his partner, a 75-year-old woman named Suametor Denou, had already died in the middle of their grueling sex bout, and continued pounding her hard. A woman who apparently takes care of the poor old lady had walked in on the scene and screamed at Ashitey to stop, but he continued going at it anyway. She had to whack him on the forehead with a stick to make him stop.

5. We’ve heard of thrill-seeking couples having sex in the most dangerous of places, but no one were as daring as Mduduzi Michael Bandezi and Sibongile Radebe, a couple who decided to go at it on a supposedly unused railway in South Africa and were promptly crushed by a freight train. The train driver repeatedly hooted but to no avail, as the two “continued with their business”.

It is interesting to note that Mr. Bandezi’s half-naked body was found with a condom still on. Good to know he practiced safe sex.

6. Brent Tyler and Chelsea Tumbleston, both 21, fell 50 feet to their deaths from the rooftop of a building in Columbia, South Carolina. A cabbie found their naked bodies on the street, and subsequent police investigation revealed clothing was discovered on the roof, strongly suggesting the two were engaged in some mile-high, in this case 50-foot-high, club activity.

7. A man was killed after getting sodomized by a horse at a ranch in Enumclaw, Washington in July 2005. The man, whose colon and other lower organs were ruptured as a result of the fatal sex act, was actually a client of a bestiality ring that catered to men who wanted sex with animals.

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Still, while some Hollywood actors who can sing may sound better than any of the artists listed below, they could only dream of the multiplatinum sales these singers have achieved.

10. Ashlee Simpson

Who could ever forget her 2004 lip-syncing performance on Saturday Night Live and at the 2005 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, where a crowd of 70,000 booed her off the stage? But while universally derided as having very little talent as a singer, Ashlee Simpson has sold more than 5 million albums worldwide, with her debut album “Autobigraphy” alone selling more than 3.5 million copies.

9. Miley Cyrus

The first time I bothered to listen to Miley Cyrus sing was during the 2008 installment of Idol Gives Back, and those two performances of hers made me wonder why the hell this 15-year-old has become so huge that mothers actually fake essays for their kids so they can score tickets to her show. Honestly, she’s way better at taking slutty pictures of herself than she is at singing.

Then again, my opinion doesn’t matter a whit: Cyrus has already sold more than 8.5 million albums worldwide as of January 2008.

8. Jessica Simpson

Although Jessica is considered the better singer in the Simpson family, that still isn’t saying much. Her screaming singing voice can give one migraines, especially when she’s trying to hit those high notes. Still, millions of people seem to love experiencing severe headaches because as of October 2008, 17.2 million of Jessica’s records have already been sold.

7. Avril Lavigne

Sometimes, we actually wish that Avril Lavigne is a real punk rocker as she claims to be, because in punk music, brilliant singing voices aren’t really a requirement. Sadly, she’s a pop singer, and as a pop singer, she royally sucks, 30 million albums sold worldwide notwithstanding. Her album tracks are oh-so-obviously peppered with layer upon layer of digital magic, and when she sings live, she makes the audience want to pop their own eardrums.

6. Jennifer Lopez

There’s no doubt that J.Lo can dance. But can she really sing? She can’t, of course, but that didn’t stop her from selling more than 48 million albums worldwide.

5. Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul is a lot of things, but a singer isn’t one of them. She’s one of those singers whose recordings need tons of digital manipulation to pass herself off as one. And she’s actually succeeded in making people think she can actually carry a tune, as she has sold more than 53 million records to date. Then there’s that little TV show called American Idol where she routinely judges other peoples’ singing talents.

4. Britney Spears

Britney Spears sounds like a cat on the verge of death when she’s singing, but people apparently find her style “sexy”, and continue to buy her records. Her debut album, “…Baby One More Time“, has already gone past the 25 million sales mark as of October 2008. All in all, she is estimated to have sold an estimated 83 million records worldwide.

3. Janet Jackson

After selling over 100 million albums worldwide, Janet Jackson, who is like, 50, still sounds like a girl who has just discovered she has pubes whenever she sings. Her voice has remained teeny-weeny all these years she even manages to sound more girly-ish than her brother Michael Jackson. And that in itself is already quite a feat.

2. Cher

Cher is a good singer—that is, if she were a guy. Not only does she sing like a dude, she also has this way of producing that very masculine sound through the nose which makes her singing even scarier.  However, her voice didn’t scare buyers away, but instead drew them in, selling more than 180 million records in her over 40 years in the music business.

1. Madonna

The fact that Andrew Lloyd Webber had to transpose down many of the songs in his musical Evita to ensure that Madonna hits them right in the 1996 film version is a testament to the singing talent, or lack thereof, of the woman who has been labeled by Guinness World Records as the world’s most successful female recording artist of all time. Currently the richest woman in music, Madonna has sold more than 250 million records worldwide, and is still counting.

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Spicy wings, anyone?

Perfect for those who go to work without having breakfast.

This one’s so realistic you would actually think about eating it.

Real crispy.

Cholesterol-free barbecue.

Fast food USB drives for a fast food nation.

Can this sushi USB drive get any more realistic?

The LED light on top is a bit off-putting, but this mince pie still looks good enough to eat.

All we need now is the creamy fondue dip and we’re good to go.

Cops are gonna be all over this one.

For those who can’t indulge their sweet tooth, here are USB drives to make you more miserable than ever.

Check out the sticky appearance.

Keep this one away from your kids, cause it looks just like a real biscuit.

Nothing like a brewski to wash down the meaty ones above.

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Throw in an Uzi and the costume will be complete.

On the surface, this costume is cute, until you realize it pushes the tastelessness envelope because parents are actually making fun of the baby’s normal bodily functions, and basically labels their kids as fart machines. And, whoopie cushions are supposed to be sat on.

A kid dressed as Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, or any of the usual fantastical horror movie creatures is cute. Some child looking like an all-too-real evil doctor who experiments on or butchers people in the name of “science” is just plain sick.

What kind of parents would want to see their children with killer aliens bursting out of their chests?

There is something wrong with you if you think dressing an unsuspecting toddler up as Adolf Hitler is cute.

This costume is wrong on so many levels, but let’s focus on the most obvious one: this is the sluttiest of the myriad slutty Halloween costumes that retailers are now peddling for kids. When was the last time you’ve seen anyone wear a French maid’s costume on tv or in movies or in magazines with no sexual overtones attached?

Words fail me.

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