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A scissor-wielding man slashed two people in apparently random attacks in the West Village Thursday morning — and then bolted to Midtown, where he was arrested, cops and law enforcement sources said. The 48-year-old assailant described as an emotionally disturbed person, targeted the victims on Hudson Street, at Christopher and Bleecker Streets around 9:30 a.m., police and sources said. He first approached a man and slashed him once in the neck with the scissors, authorities said.

The 32-year-old Californian elementary school teacher and mother-of-two who admitted performing sex acts on a 12-year-old student was sentenced on Friday to six-years in prison with no option for parole. Malia Brooks, from Southern California, pleaded guilty in June to three counts of committing lewd acts with a child under 14 and faced up to 12-years in prison, but Judge Kevin McGee imposed a sentence half that because of the fact she was experiencing manic episodes at the time.

I really do!

Wheee, we're recovering already! This is not sour grapes, we played for a recovery today (see Stock World Weekly's wrap-up of last week) but it's already getting silly with a half-point gain in pre-markets based on --- nothing. As you can see from the chart on the left, 40 months into the downturn that has given us the worst number of job losses since the Great Depression, we are nowhere near a recovery. This is terrible, this is unprecedented, this is - great for business! Bill McBride of Calculated Risk, reminds us that Wall Street's "dirty little secret" is that...

WARNING: PSYCHOLOGICAL NUDITY! ADULT LANGUAGE! The naked TRUTH delivered to independent minded, mature listeners by the most exciting talkshow host in the country. Come and join us for live as it happens radio!

Genetic roots of manic depression revealed By Roger Highfield, Science Editor Last Updated: 2:24am BST 08/05/2007 The genetic roots of bipolar disorder - manic depression - have been revealed by the first scan of the entire human genetic code, revealing a new target for treatments. Bipolar disorder affects one person in every 100 inducing mood changes from extremes of depression to irritation, elation and mania. However, the likelihood of developing the disorder, which usually occurs in young adults, depends in part on the combined, small effects of variations in many different genes in the brain, none of which is powerful...

I know it isn't popular, particularly in conservative circles, to excuse behavior by citing mental illness. Bipolar disorder, in particular, has been the excuse celeb cited by child-raping school teachers, so I understand why people may have little patience for the argument I am about to make. That said, after observing Mel Gibson's behavior of late, I can't help but think he must have bipolar disorder and we should try to understand his behavior -- even if it can't be excused. Someone close to me has bipolar disorder and, before it was diagnosed and treated, I saw some of the...

Michael Berg has come to terms with his son's murderer. But to most Americans that man is still enemy No.1, writes Martin Daly in New York. In the darkness, when the pain becomes too great, Michael Berg pulls out a chair for the man who decapitated his son and talks to him about compassion and forgiveness. Michael Berg has cried publicly many times for his dead son but he has forgiven Zarqawi, considered by the Americans to be the premier threat to peace in Iraq, but who remains free despite a $US25 million ($33 million) bounty on his head, and...

What's the deal with all the dead scientists?

The shocking adventures of ElectroboyDrugs, felony charges, even jail couldn't stop him... Electroconvulsive therapy did. A manic memoir by Andy Behrman Andy Behrman Sunday March 10, 2002The ObserverAndy Behrman is a manic-depressive. For most of his adult life, he had periods of tremendous highs and terrible lows. He enjoyed drug binges and cross-continental shopping trips and sex with strangers. Then, in what would become a notorious art scandal in the 90s, Behrman masterminded a scheme to defraud his employer and friend, the artist Mark Kostabi. Behrman was convicted of fraud and sentenced to five months jail and five months house...