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More than 100 “tobacco rebellions” were reported in Moscow in August because of the unavailability of cigarettes (22 of the 24 cigarette factories in Russia were closed for the summer for repairs). Several work stoppages were reported in other cities, including some by farmers refusing to bring in harvests. A pack of Marlboros cost 30 rubles on the black market–$48 at the official exchange rate–and a small jar of butts was going for 1 ruble.
Michael Faircloth, unsuccessful candidate for the senate in Australia, promised as part of his campaign in March that he would introduce legislation giving a $7.50 grant to everyone who voted for him.
Brent Paladino, 3, just out of diapers and into nursery school as of September, plays golf six days a week in Hartford, Connecticut, hitting about 300 balls a day. His father calls Brent “obsessed”: “In the winter, I’ll sit in the car with the heater on, and he’ll be on the putting green.”
Sayed Abdel-Aal, 40, left a suicide note in June in Cairo explaining that he had hanged himself in despair at the Egyptian soccer team’s first-round elimination from the World Cup.
