Sharon: More Popular Than the Beatles?
There is an urban legend that crime dropped precipitously in New York City for one hour on Feb 9, 1964—when the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show.
It appears, however, that Ariel Sharon has achieved what the Beatles couldn’t. From the UK’s Times:
Burglaries, car thefts and other crimes have more than halved since Israelis began gluing themselves to television sets for news on the health of Ariel Sharon, their ailing Prime Minister.
In the first three days after Mr Sharon’s stroke only 865 burglaries were reported, compared to 1,739 in the corresponding period last year. Police attributed the fall to the fact that householders and would-be burglars have been preoccupied with their Prime Minister’s fight for life.
Maybe Ariel Sharon himself was responsible for all those car thefts.
(That's a joke, by the way)