the buzz log

There are a lot of lessons we can take from the economic collapse. One would certainly be: Don't mess with the Madoff.

Bernard Madoff will take all your money, and when you try and fight him, he will win. Literally. That's the report coming from the New York Post, anyway.

The story goes that the jailed 71-year-old got into a heated discussion over, what else, the stock market, with another inmate in the prison yard. Words led to fisticuffs, and Mad-dawg pushed the other jailbird (also a senior citizen) down to the ground.

According to eyewitnesses who share air with the scammer, after push came to shove, Madoff stood over his victim, "red-faced and glaring." The other guy "went chicken" and ran away, although reportedly the two made up the next day. The UPI adds that the fight happened under the radar of prison guards, who punish such a violation with solitary confinement.

Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence at a North Carolina prison for running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme can add to his record: Street cred with his fellow inmates. Now that's priceless.

Filed under: Economics

Six Flags...bankrupt? What about Sasquatch? Bizarro? The Terminator Salvation ride?

Save your fear for that 221-foot 'coaster drop. Six Flags Theme Park filed for Chapter 11 on June 13, but all attractions remain open and no one's getting fired—not any staff, not the management team, not Mr. Six (A.K.A. the Dancing Old Guy who's now the Dancing Twittering Old Guy).

Even though a staycation economy translated into "record attendance" for the New York-based amusement chain last year, all those high-flyin', stomach-dropping roller coasters don't come cheap. Six Flags hasn't seen a profit since 1998 and its stocks have been junked.

Six Flags may be healthy in attendance, but its properties aren't the leading go-to places like they were on our June 2007 list. With summer less than a week away, we took another gander at the top amusement (and water) park destinations on the Web. Here are two top 10s: the most searched and the ones climbing the Search rollercoaster.

Filed under: Amusement Parks, Economics

Dialing back the clock back meant more sunny days—if you weren't buried under late-winter snows and rains. People were laying low anyhow, trying to survive a bitter economy. A spring approach made a few feel feisty enough to engage in spats. Here are the stories and the searches that set the March lions roaring.

Are We Depressed Enough?
Tough times are spurring people to compare their lot to the 1930s, when people saved string and families traveled to the Dust Bowl in search of work. As Americans look for salvation (and details) in a stimulus, especially after President Obama's press conference, economy-related queries percolated over the difference between "recession vs. depression." Money-minded individuals also researched the merits of bartering, frugality, and making fast money. Fast money—isn't that how we got into this mess?

How to Handle a Dispute
Tight finances aside, the peanut gallery had enough change in their pocket to throw in their two cents about ongoing disputes. Singer Chris Brown got charged for felony assault, reportedly days after he and Rihanna—also known as the victim—made up. The renewed attention unleashed celebrathon of advice, from Donald Trump calling forgiveness "crazy" to Oprah saying counseling was needed. Meanwhile, an apology by GOP chairman Michael Steele to talk show host Rush Limbaugh prompted gleeful Democrats to launch a site where anyone can do mea culpas on behalf of Republican offenders. Then, the manufactured media feud between Jim "Mad Money" Cramer sat with Jon "The Daily Show" Stewart had pundits declaring Stewart a winner but too serious, and Cramer apolgetic but "absurdly" so. No wonder it's tough to say you're sorry.

A Heartbreaking Farewell
Natasha Richardson hailed from an elite stage family—her grandfather Sir Michael Redgrave owned the English stage, her mother Vanessa Redgrave vanquished the mediums of stage and screen, and her husband Liam Neeson established himself as an actor of merit in two continents. The Tony award-winning Richardson was lesser known but no less talented, but her death—a head injury after falling on a beginner's ski slope—unnerved people about their own fragility. Her accident spurred lookups into her biography, filmography (including "Parent Trap" with Lindsay Lohan), and family connections, and also revived the issue of ski helmets.

And more...

Filed under: Politics, Finance, Celebrity Couples, Monthly Wrapup, Recaps, Death, Celebrity Arrests, Rush Limbaugh, Barack Obama, Wrap Up, Economics