etc...

HEY, DON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT

The phone call sent police in Buenos Aires into crisis mode. In a downtown office building, perhaps a dozen people had been taken hostage. Words sounding like "Now you'll begin to die" were heard coming from the floor above. Within minutes, cops in flak jackets sealed off streets around the site. SWAT team snipers took up positions on nearby rooftops. Helicopters circled overhead ... until it was discovered that the "hostages" were merely a group that gathers for meditation exercises.

COME CHILL OUT FOR A WHILE

The folks advertising the job are disappointed. Only five college students have applied, whereas they expected there would be many more. After all, the duties are light: managing a small gift shop/canteen for the summer. What's more, transportation, room, and board will be provided free and the setting is spectacular. Maybe the cool response had something to do with the fact that there's no pay for the work ... and it's at the New Zealand research station at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.

Nevada is the "friendliest" state for entrepreneurs and small companies, according to the sixth annual evaluation by the Washington-based Small Business Survival Committee's sixth annual index. To determine its rankings, the group assessed government-related or -imposed costs of doing business (such as corporate, property, and sales taxes, and utility costs) and other factors that can foster economic growth. The top 10 entrepreneur-friendly states, according to the Small Business Survival Committee:

1. Nevada

2. South Dakota

3. Washington

4. Wyoming

5. Florida

6. Texas

7. New Hampshire

8. Alabama

9. Mississippi

10. Tennessee

- PR Newswire