Lack of security when discarding old machines or drives - contain confidential information

In today's time, we store a huge amount of data on our computers and on the disk drives that they contain. A small fraction of such information is pretty confidential, whether it be customer information, credit card information, social security information, police records, and even more importantly, national security related information (such as military and intelligence agencies). Accessing such information when it is in the computers during operation is pretty highly controlled, with all manners of security controls, penalties for unauthorized access, and so on. However, when these computers are discarded, precautions are not taken and such information can be extracted (link to article):

A third (34 per cent) of discarded hard disk drives still contain confidential data, according to a new study which unearthed copies of hospital records and sensitive military information on eBayed kit.
A disk bought on eBay contained details of test launch routines for the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence) ground to air missile defence system. The same disk also held information belonging to the system’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, including blueprints of facilities and personal data on workers, including social security numbers.

Weird stuff - New Zealand Auction house puts up bottles for sale - containing ghosts

Issues concerning the paranormal always lead to debate, but this one takes the cake. There are a huge number of people who believe in ghosts, and there are an equally large number of people who do not believe in ghosts. However, no matter what you believe, you will be astounded by this.
Auction houses auction all kind of strange stuff, but this online auction house is going to a new level, and claims to auction 2 vials that contain spirits captured by an exorcist in a house in New Zealand (link to article):

The auction description claims the spirits were captured by an exorcist from a spiritual church at a property in Christchurch, the largest city on New Zealand’s South Island.
And the seller has claimed that one spirit belongs to a man who died in the house in the 1920s.
“We have had no (paranormal) activity since they were bottled on July 15, 2009,” the Herald Sun quoted the seller as saying.
“So I believe they are in the bottles,” he added.

Girl auctions her virginity for getting money for tuition

This has happened time and again. A few years ago, a girl put up a trend by getting money by auctioning her virginity; she needed money to fund her higher studies, and was willing to sleep with anyone who paid the most amount of money. This was innovative, and she got enough money to fund her studies. At that time, there was condemnation for this sort of moral grey issue, but now seems to be something that other girls have also adopted, since we keep on hearing this time and again.
Now, there is another case of this happening, where a girl earned $32,000 dollars by auctioning her virginity online, and in the country of New Zealand, this is not illegal. If the girl does indeed go through with this arrangement, she would have got money to pay for her college fees (link to article):

A New Zealand teenager who says she auctioned her virginity online for $32,000 to raise tuition money did not break any laws but it might be risky for her to follow through on the deal, police warned Wednesday. She said in a post that more than 30,000 people had viewed her ad and more than 1,200 had made bids before she accepted an offer of more than New Zealand dollars 45,000 ($32,000).
Prostitution is legal in New Zealand under laws considered more liberal than many countries. Prostitution among consenting adults is allowed in brothels and on the streets, and offering sexual services in print ads and online is also legal. National police spokesman Jon Neilson said no law appeared to have been breached.

Couple puts 7 day old baby girl for sale on the internet

This is the second time this year that such a thing has been reported. The internet, especially classified sales lists such as Craiglist have been used by people to sell all sorts of things, essentially as a online flea market. But no one can expect such lists to be used to sell human babies; in this case, a couple battling drug problems put in a young baby girl for sale on the internet. They were only caught when another woman saw the listing and reported it to authorities:

A couple put their seven-day-old baby girl up for sale for USD 10,000 over the Internet, Canadian police has said. The baby was seized by social workers in an apartment in this Pacific coast city while the parents, who have a history of drug problems, are under investigation for human trafficking, said police Constable Tim Fanning, just days after a similar incident in Germany.
The ad read "Must have!!!!!!" and offered a baby girl for 10,000 dollars. It described the child as seven days old, "very healthy and very cute. Can't afford and unexpected, looking for a good home, please call ASAP."

For no fault of hers, this baby has parents who are looking to sell their baby. Even considering that this is a hoax and a prank, it is very difficult to convince people that parents of a 7 day old baby could go so far as to think about putting their baby for sale on the internet (this is certainly not humour).

Parents try to sell baby on eBay

Parents treasure their new babies, and it is said that there is an instinct that is there in parents that will get them to do all sorts of things if their babies / children are in danger. So it gets all the more surprising when you see people doing weird things with their babies. This couple actually placed their seven month old baby on eBay (a major auction site), and police intervened once they found out about this:

Police in southern Germany say they have removed a seven-month-old boy from his parents after they tried to sell him for one euro (US$1.57) over eBay.
Krumbach police spokesman Peter Hieber said baby Merlin has been put in care of youth services in the southwestern Allgaeu region and was doing well on Saturday.
Authorities have launched an investigation into possible child trafficking against the parents.

It could very well have been a joke, but typically child officials do not take such things as a joke.