Drug Companies Deceive, Madge Sells Out, Elton Sells Shirt Off Back, and Hef Turns 80

1. To coincide with the Inaugural Conference on Disease-Mongering in Australia this week, the Public Library of Science is publishing 11 articles on how drug companies promote and sell their products. In short, most articles focus on how firms are aggressively redefining or reimagining mild problems, such as sexual dysfunction and restless legs, as sicknesses and diseases. Welcome to the wonderful world of responsible pharmaceutical marketing, where the defense is merely that the doctors dispense the drugs, not them. (BBC)

2. Ten minutes after Madonna's "Confession" tickets went public, the first two shows at Madison Square Garden sold out, followed quickly by the third and fourth show. A fifth show has been added to her lineup for July 18th, going on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. Looks like a sick day is coming up at the end of the week...*cough*... (Daily News)

3. Roger Toussaint left the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn yesterday with a 10-day jail sentence and a $1,000 fine for the 3-day force of cruel exercise on and subsequent endless griping from New Yorkers. (NYT)

4. From today to Saturday, Elton John will be offering 10,000 items of his and David Furnish's clothing and accessories at Rockefeller Center's observation deck. All of the proceeds will go towards the Elton John Aids Foundation. Saks Fifth Avenue will be displaying select Elton John clothing in their windows. (Press Release)

5. Right-wing billionaire and famed funder of Clinton's sex investigation Richard Mellon Scaife, 73, is undergoing one of the nastiest divorces in American history, where $1.2 billion is at stake. Scaife and his wife, 58, of fourteen years did not sign a prenuptial agreement. Somewhere you might hear Clinton saying, "Zing." (NY Daily News)

6. For Hugh Hefner's 80th birthday/classic lingerie party, the usually half-naked Paris Hilton does, uh, a loose rendition of Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday." Celebrity attendees also included Donald Trump and Oliver Stone, and most expectedly...Three 6 Mafia. I unfortunately just imagined what the attendees might be wearing... (Playboy)