Buying and Selling

They did warn us that the advent of consumer culture was well upon us but organ swaps for apps and a Own - a - Town schemes?? 2012 .. end of the world??

ABCD

Chinese Teen Sells Kidney for iPad, iPhone

Experiencing renal failure? We're not sure if there's an app for that yet.

Remember those "What would you do?" ads for Klondike Bars? Well, it looks as though Apple could have an ad campaign in the works after five Chinese people were charged for taking out a teenager's kidney and selling it so the 17-year-old could buy both an iPhone and an iPad. The teen, identified only by his surname, Wang, came from Anhui province, one of China's poorest. The teenager pocketed about 22,000 yuan, or about $3,500, from the operation, which was more than enough needed to buy both the phone and tablet last year. Reports say that the man who arranged the transfer received at least 220,000 yuan for the operation, which he split with his medical team and the patient. After some investigating, police charged five people last week with causing an intentional injury to the youth. Wang has since developed serious kidney problems, but for some, we suppose that's worth the fleeting glory that comes with owning expensive pieces of gadgetry that are obsolete within six months.

Source:http://www.themarknews.com/news/?open=8386

Wyoming town—population 1—sells for $900,000 to Vietnamese buyer

The town of Buford, Wyoming—population 1—was sold for $900,000 to an unidentified buyer from Vietnam on Thursday after an 11-minute Internet auction that attracted worldwide interest.

The tiny Western town garnered online viewers and bidders from 46 countries for the sale of 10-plus acres with a convenience store, gas station and modular home located in southeastern Wyoming between Cheyenne and Laramie.

The buyer, who wished to remain anonymous, flew to Wyoming from Vietnam for a purchase he likened to "the American dream," according to a statement released by Williams & Williams, the Oklahoma auction house handling the sale.

"Owning a piece of property in the US has been my dream," the buyer said in the statement.

Don Sammons, long the town's sole resident, moved with his wife, Terry, from Los Angeles to the Buford area in 1980. In 1992, six years after his wife died, Sammons purchased the town.

Sammons decided to auction off the Interstate 80 hamlet, billed as "the nation's smallest town" and named after Civil War Union Army General John Buford, to move to Colorado to be near his adult son.

"My family is gone. Our purpose for moving here has kind of been completed, and now I want to find out what other adventures I have in store," Sammons, 61, told Reuters in an interview.

Speaking before the sale, which was broadcast online, an executive with Williams & Williams said the firm had never seen the level of buzz that attended the Buford auction.

"Auctions always bring a lot of attention, but even we were amazed at the amount of attention to Buford worldwide," said Amy Bates, chief marketing officer for Williams & Williams. "It's the Wild West in the US. It's owning your town and getting away from it all

Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/254113/news/weirdandwacky/wyoming-town-mdash-population-1-mdash-sells-for-900-000-to-vietnamese-buyer