Etc...

OK, this is gonna cost you

This hasn't yet been turned into an episode on a TV cop show, but in a state in India an internal investigation has been ordered into a fairly blatant act of malfeasance . It seems the Kolkata Police Gazette recently published what could be called a rate card enumerating the bribes payable to administrators and guards for favors and services they'd do for prisoners in area jails. Such as? Well, slipping in bottles of - ahem - adult beverages: $4.50 each. Using a cellphone: $2.25 per call. The incident clearly has embarrassed the government of West Bengal, which censured the editor in writing and now wants to find out how many members of his staff can be held responsible, too. This, growled Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray, was not a mistake but, rather, "a deliberate act to malign the image of the force."

Wealthy foreigners already own many prime US landmarks, such as mansions, hotels, and office towers. But turnpikes? Well, yes - sort of. Macquarie Infrastructure Group, based in Sydney, Australia, recently struck a $533 million deal to buy control of the Dulles Greenway, a heavily traveled 14-mile road outside Washington. Last year, Macquarie, the world's largest toll-road manager, and a Spanish partner also bought a 99-year concession to operate two Chicago-area highways. Macquarie has a stake in tollways in 13 countries and may have ambitions to take over more in the US. The states with the most toll-road mileage, with the length of each:
1. New York 548.7
2. Pennsylvania 469.3
3. Ohio 392.2
4. Kansas 236.1
5. Illinois 192.0
6. Indiana 156.8
7. Massachusetts 135.6
8. Maine 105.8
9. New Jersey 86.6
10. Florida 77.2
- Bloomberg.com/Federal Highway Administration