The! Biggest! News! of! the! Day! - Not Yum Brands, Sprint Nextel, Google, or Solar Energy

Here are some of the contenders for today's biggest...news...of...the...day...

• Better-than-expected earnings from Yum Brands Inc. (YUM)...
• The departure of Sprint Nextel Corp's (S) CEO Gary Forsee...
• A look into solar energy...
• A look into the failed attempt by retailers to "jumpstart holiday sales"...
• A look into what Eddie Lampert may be planning for Sears Holdings (SHLD)...
• Continued rumors of a "gphone" as a report from Lehman Brothers Holdings that says Google (GOOG) shares may rally to $714 on the potential new mobile phone...
• A distribution plan from Google (GOOG) for YouTube videos...

While those are all stories worth watching, I think it is obviously clear that the biggest new is the combination below which highlights what some might deem to be bad judgment -

• Shock burns cable thief beyond recognition - "A thief in Germany was charred beyond recognition by a 10,000 volt electric shock when he tried to steal a live copper cable"...
• Man jailed for trying to pass $1M bill - "Change for a million? That's what a man was seeking Saturday when he handed a $1 million bill to a cashier at a Pittsburgh supermarket"...

For lack of a better phrase, I am shocked to see the story about supposed copper thief. My disbelief stems from the fact that I have seen other stories along these lines! I even heard a story recently of the need to hire security for a house under construction to keep the copper pipes from being stolen. Has copper become the new gold?

And the second story offers a unique look into what some people believe "is possible". My favorite part of the story is that after the manager took away the fake bill away, the enraged man "slammed an electronic funds-transfer machine into the counter and reached for a scanner gun". Uhm...what exactly was he planning on doing with the scanner gun? I would think that any normal person wouldn't view "a scanner gun" as a weapon but, then again, most people wouldn't try to cash a one million dollar bill...