Picasso's notebook stolen

The Independent reports that a notebook containing 32 sketches by Picasso has been stolen from the Picasso Museum in Paris. The notebook has been valued at 7 million Euros.

The Ministry of Culture said the cabinet holding the notebook could only be opened with a "special tool" but last night a museum employee said that the cabinet was open because the lock was broken.

Airplane repo man

Slate has an article about Nick Popovich whose company repossesses airliners and other large aircraft.

There are some adventures involved:

All commercial and private planes were grounded, but Nick Popovich wasn't one to turn down a job. So he waited for the storm to clear long enough to charter a Hawker jet from Chicago into South Carolina. There was just one detail: No one had told Popovich about the heavily armed white supremacist militia that would be guarding the aircraft when he arrived.