Dane Cook's Bro Busted for Embezzling

James Clementi writes a series of letters to him

(NEWSER) - When Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide in 2010, he became the "issue du jour for the masses," writes his older brother, James, in Out magazine. But what could the masses possibly know about his brother, the little kid he used to spin around in the air and who showed so much promise as a violinist? "It is surreal and meaningless to see you as a mere story on the New York Times, a brief glimpse at a life with none of the detail," writes James, who is also gay. More»

Anita Collins siphoned money from Archdiocese of New York: cops

(NEWSER) - New York police arrested a Bronx woman today for embezzling more than $1 million from the Archdiocese of New York, the New York Daily News reports. Prosecutors say the plain-looking Anita Collins, 67, spent lavishly at Bloomingdale's, Barney's, and Brooks Brothers during her nine-year stint at the archdiocese. She finally confessed when confronted at work last month about a missing $10,000. But she "continued to lie" about the other $1,063,000 she had taken, said Assistant DA Amy Justiniano. More»

Comedians assess Santorum, Romney, Gingrich's techniques

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum have all had their share of hecklers this election season (Ron Paul has largely emerged unscathed)—but who's the best at shutting them down? At Slate , David Weigel asked two stand-up comedians to evaluate each candidate's strategy:

• Santorum tends to launch into lengthy debates with hecklers (his are typically gay-rights supporters) when he believes he can beat them. But he "blows it by staying out there long enough to get booed," says comic Paul F. Tompkins. In the video at left, "he should have thrown the mic down and walked off."

And comedian is giving more than half of that to charities, employees

(NEWSER) - The wild success story of Louis CK and his self-produced comedy album gets even wilder : The album, available via his website for just $5, sold 200,000 copies as of Tuesday, grossing the comedian a cool million ... in just 12 days. A quarter of that money will go to the video's production costs, and $220,000 will go to CK himself (he says he will spend it on rent, his kids, and "terrible, horrible things" that are "none of your business"). But more than half will go to his employees and charity. Specifically, his employees will get bonuses totaling $250,000, and another $280,000 will go to five charities (click to see which ones ). More»

Comic bypasses studio and sells concert from his website

(NEWSER) - Comedian Louis CK has scored nice profits by taping, producing, and distributing his stand-up special by himself and without the help of a network or studio. In what he calls an "experiment" to cut out the middlemen and keep prices low, CK hired a camera team to tape two of his stand-up performances at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan. He then began selling the video for $5 a pop on a newly built website , and after merely four days had racked up 110,000 downloads and $200,000 in profits, reports Mashable . More»