JP Morgan lost almost $2 billion in a trading scheme gone bad. The Wall Street Journal actually had a hand in uncovering the blunder, reporting last month about a trader nicknamed “the London whale.” Apparently this trader made several complex bets based on the premise that the economy would continue to rebound. The plan went south when the corporate bond market, which many of the bets were tied to, was hit hard last month.

College isn’t the only place that packs on the pounds. Apparently, gaining the “Facebook 15” is a common occurrence in Silicon Valley offices. We’ve all heard about the perks at tech companies, including the envy-inducing meal options. But the LA Times says those overstocked kitchens, combined with sitting in front of a computer all day, are adding to tech workers’ “personal bandwith” and showing up around their midsections.

A tiny detail may keep the Willis Tower in place as America’s tallest building says the Chicago Tribune.  The spire planned for the new One World Trade Center tower would put its finished height at 1776 feet, and give it an edge over Willis’ 1451-foot span. But the spire is actually a broadcast antenna—and spires count in a building’s height, but antennas don’t.

“Over to you, Your Royal Highness.”  That was the intro a Scottish news anchor gave before Prince Charles took over weatherman duties on a local Scottish newscast. Charles and Camilla were in the BBC Scotland studios to celebrate the station’s 60th anniversary. The Daily Mail says Camilla also took a turn in front of the green screen but that “it was her husband who clearly stole the show.” Check out the VIDEO and decide for yourself.

Michelle Bachman announced yesterday that she would renounce her Swiss citizenship says the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The former GOP presidential candidate disclosed that she has held dual citizenship for the past 30 years during an interview with a Swiss paper earlier this week. Bachmann became a Swiss national when she married her husband—until 1992 all non-Swiss women who married Swiss men were automatically granted citizenship.

The Washington Post has a big front-page story about Mitt Romney’s prep school pranks and their “troubling” anti-gay tone. The article begins with an anecdote about how a teenage Romney forcefully cut the hair of a fellow student who he deemed to look too effeminate. 

An ex-Houston Chronicle reporter has filed suit against her former employer, charging she was let go for not disclosing her previous job as an exotic dancer. Sarah Tressler appeared at a news conference in LA with her new lawyer—guess who!—Gloria Allred to announce the charges. The Chronicle, which has declined to comment on the charges, covers the story…on the bottom left hand corner of the fifth business page.

An interesting move in the book business is covered in the New York Times this morning.  Amazon has licensed the Harry Potter books for library lending. For Amazon customers who subscribe to the company’s prime shipping service the opportunity to borrow the Harry Potter books in electronic form will be at no additional charge.

It’s murder, simplified. The New York Daily News reprints a Philadelphia Daily News editorial cartoon showing how the public reacts to various murders. “White on White=Yawn.” “White on Black=Outrage on the Left.” “Black on White=Outrage on the Right.”  “Black on Black=Yawn.”

The New York Daily News says the president “hopped off the fence” yesterday with his announcement in support of gay marriage, making Obama the first sitting president to do so. Though you should not be under any illusion that this places us in a country where gay marriage is fully embraced. The red states on the map are those where gay marriage is still banned. The green states allow it. And the grey states either take no position or allow civil unions.

When Obama sits down at George Clooney’s house to dine with 150 members of Hollywood’s 1 percent, there will be two or three 99 percenters there as well. The LA Times says Clooney’s fundraiser, which is expected to garner $15 million in donations for the president, took a novel approach and opened up two seats at the $40,000-a-plate tables for winners in an online contest that “astutely leveraged Clooney and Obama’s joint star power.”

The New York Post undertakes a public service project in today’s paper. Operation: Dude up the Zuck. Yes, Mark Zuckerberg, they’re gunning for you. Columnist John Crudele says the “oddly adolescent-looking Harvard dropout is the 21st century’s idea of a catch”...so why not make him look like one? Crudele suggests The Hipster Make-over, the Buffet Look or perhaps the James Bond.

The Russian company Superjet was trying to demonstrate the new plane it wants to sell around the world to compete with Boeing and Airbus and Bombardier. But tragically, the Superjet crashed shortly after takeoff yesterday.  The flight was filled with industry executives and journalists and officials say there are no signs of survivors.

Vidal Sassoon died yesterday at the age of 84. The LA Times says he launched his long-reaching career as a hair stylist after giving Mia Farrow her trademark pixie cut for “Rosemary’s Baby.”  In addition to introducing American women to sleek haircuts, he was also a promoter of the hand-held blow dryer and helped launch the “age of the signature hair salon.”

Just smile and give me a Vegemite sandwich! For generations of Australians, Vegemite—that dark brown food paste—is a tradition. But apparently it’s a hard sell to today’s sugar-fueled kids. The Wall Street Journal says sales are down all over the country, and several attempts to rebrand the product for younger taste buds have flopped.

Memphis received a dubious honor this week when Newsweek crowned it America’s fattest city. More than one-third of its inhabitants are considered obese, or, as the Commercial Appeal says, “it’s the city that turned barbecue into an art form and bought a special ambulance in March to transport super-sized patients.” That ambulance, by the way? Already broken.