Picture of the Day: Curves Ahead

 

Picture of the Day: Eye Test

Our Richest Law Makers

Richest lawmakers grew wealthier as economy faltered



1. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.): $188.6 million. Kerry's worth, which grew by $20 million in 2009, stems from his wife's assets. Teresa Heinz Kerry, of the Heinz ketchup family, inherited hundreds of millions upon the death of her previous husband, Sen. John Heinz.
2. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.): $160.1 million. Issa actually saw his minimum net worth drop by $4 million, partly due to the poor performance of a single investment fund. Issa's fortune stems from investments he and his wife made in the electronics market. Their company eventually became the largest producer of car anti-theft devices in the country. They sold the business in 2000.
3. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.): $152.3 million. Harman is married to audio-equipment mogul Sidney Harman; stock holdings from his company, Harman International Industries, helped Harman's net worth grow by $40 million last year. Sidney Harman is in the process of purchasing Newsweek; the magazine's massive debts will presumably drag down Harman's 2010 disclosure numbers a bit.
4. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa.): $83.7 million. No surprise here: The Rockefeller family name has for generations been a byword for fabulous riches. (Rockefeller's great-grandfather John Rockefeller was an oil magnate; inflation-adjusted figures still peg the founder of the Rockefeller fortune as the wealthiest man in history.) But the senator's uptick in personal wealth last year came mainly from his wife's investments.
5. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas): $73.8 million. McCaul saw his net worth double last year, mostly owing to stocks held by his wife. McCaul's father-in-law founded the radio empire Clear Channel Communications.
6. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.): $70.2 million. Warner made millions through investments in the cell phone industry, including the Nextel company.

7. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.): $56.5 million. Before his 2008 election to Congress, Polis made a fortune in online enterprises, transforming his family's greeting card company into BlueMountain.com and founding ProFlowers.com.

8. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.): $53.5 million. Buchanan grew wealthy as the owner of multiple auto dealerships in Florida.

9. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.): $49.7 million. Lautenberg co-founded a payroll services company in the 1950s that became one of the industry's global leaders.

10. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.): $46.1 million. Most of the California lawmaker's wealth comes from real-estate holdings and investments made by her husband.

Lost Hiker found in Ice

Protecting Samson's Hair

Football star Troy Polamalu's hair insured for $1 million

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu (R) flips a ball to a teammate during practice at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida in this January 30, 2009 file photo in preparation for the NFL's Super Bowl XLIII football game.

Credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder

LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - American football star Troy Polamalu has a price on his head -- with an anti-dandruff shampoo brand taking out a $1 million insurance policy on his trademark mane of black ringlets.
Head & Shoulders said on Monday it had taken a $1 million Lloyd's of London policy on the locks of Pittsburgh Steelers' Polamalu, the Super Bowl-winning safety.

Polamalu, 29, who was born in the United States but is of Samoan descent, says he has not cut his hair since 2000. He has been a spokesman for the Procter & Gamble Co brand for two years.(read more)

Beat Up Someone Your Own Age

A 21-year-old poses as middle school football player

We're just into a new high school sports season and there has already been a troubling impostor found among the scholastic ranks. According to the Associated Press, Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times, a 21-year-old man named Julious Threatts registered to play for the 13-14-year-old Town N' Country Packers of the Tampa Bay Youth Football League on Aug. 21, and played in a game with the team the same day.

Threatts, who had a past burglary conviction on his record, reportedly signed up for a spot on the team under the name "Chad Jordan" with a forged birth certificate. After further investigation, it now appears that Threatts -- an avowed Danielle Steele fan who recorded poetry readings on a personal YouTube channel -- also played in the TBYFL two years ago and another youth league in the Tampa area last year.


Make no mistake: This is not a Danny Almonte case of a forged birth certificate or a high school lineman holding a signing ceremony when he wasn't recruited, this is a 21-year-old criminal taking athletic advantage of competing against 14-year-olds.

"Chad Jordan" might have gotten away with just playing football, but last week he tried to take his middle school imitation act to an actual middle school. Threatts attempted to enroll in Webb Middle School in Hillsborough (Fla.) last Tuesday, but his application was delayed because he lacked the proper paperwork proving his identity.(read more)

Picture of the Day: No Resemblance