Last year, the police reported a 12 percent increase in crime. In this most recent quarter, officials say there were five murders, nine sexual assaults, 88 robberies, 344 burglaries and hundreds of other unspecified crimes.

(photo licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy davidsonscott15)

From the News Blog

5) Unless you’ve been living under a rock (a rock furnished with a computer for accessing the WBRU News Blog?), you know St. Patrick’s Day was this week.  Here in the Ocean State, we’ve got a lot of Irish pride – probably because of all the Irish descendants here.

4) Is Rhode Island’s name racist? Some state legislators think so.  Technically, though, the full state name is “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,” and its the “plantations” part of the name Rep. Joseph Almeida and Sen. Harold Metts have a beef with.

3) Very nice! “Borat” star Sacha Baron Cohen is making progress on his new film, “Bruno.” Fans of Da Ali G Show will know Bruno is a flamboyant Austrian fashion correspondent with a flair for making people really, really uncomfortable.  I, for one, can’t wait.

2) And now for a look at non-fictional immigrants: should undocumented immigrants in Rhode Island receive in-state tuition? Alessandra Suuberg chronicles the debate in this week’s Pulse.

1) Bono is overpaid and offended. The U2 frontman is pretty PO’d about people illegally downloading “No Line on the Horizon.” What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Five Awesome Things

5) OK, this story technically appeared in a printed magazine (y’see, there used to be these things called newsstands…), but it’s a must-read. From Wired, the untold story of the world’s biggest diamond heist. Thrilling investigative journalism at its best.

4) On the opposite end of the writing-skill spectrum, you’ve probably heard of the website F*** My Life, where people complain about how much their life is f***ed.  Now FML is getting a book deal, to the dismay of starving artists who actually put thought into their craft everywhere.

3) I had the great misfortune a few months ago of encountering Chocolate Skittles, an abomination deserving of a profanity-laden attack. Cracked’s Michael Swaim fills the void with this vitriolic assault on “the Attack of The Clones of candy.” Warning: article contains lots of language and imagery your mother would not want you to read.

2) The Internets are full of photoshopped wizardry, but some digital artists soar above and beyond the rest. Look at this astounding set from Erik Johansson and be amazed.

1) And finally, a fun quiz for your Friday afternoon enjoyment: can you name all the things that Right Said Fred is too sexy for?  I dread the day when “I’m Too Sexy” gets entered into the national archives as a historical artifact of the nineties.

That’s all for this week. Leave us a note below in the comments, or e-mail us at newsblog@wbru.com. See you next Friday!

(diamond photo licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy jurvetson).

He tells USA Today that his secure finances don’t make it OK to pirate U2’s new album. “No Line on the Horizon” was downloaded 445,000 times before it was officially released, after which 484,000 copies were sold.

The frontman adds that the public is starting to see music as a utility, like “tap water,” whereas he sees it as “a sacred thing, so I’m a little offended.”

He definitely has a legitimate point, but I just hope no one tells Bono that you can listen to music for free on the radio. If anyone out there is buddy-buddy with Bono, don’t tell him we’re playing U2’s new songs on BRU. Keep our little private party on the DL.

(photo licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy World Economic Forum).