a giant WTF?

i have trying to work diligently, exclusively on my thesis. i have curbed my chronic e-mail checking, my incessant updating of the weather.com page and even my need for endless bottles bourgeois iced tea. i hadn't looked at crappy news in a while either. then i went to check my yahoo account there was this listing of news events:

Police: Austrian kids locked in basement, never saw sunlight (AP)
31 of 53 teen girls at FLDS ranch are pregnant or had baby (AP)
Pa. man charged with pushing friend into coal mine (AP)


seriously? i didn't read the news for like 2 days and i missed this kind of insane development? who locks their children and incestuously produced grandchildren in a basement for their entire lives? also, in what other country besides austria would they interview a baker for this news story? (racist!) who pushes a friend into a coal mine? (some friend!)
did the world go crazy while i was on the fourth floor of the reg this week? what gives?

three days and counting!