Category: Society

Bizarre, Congress, Politics, Society

The Edible Weiner: Too Much To Swallow?

By Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor

Disgraced Ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner is giving back  in a big way — or so he claims.  Fresh off a recent loss in New York City’s municipal elections, Weiner held the lead among Democratic mayoral  hopefuls until  disturbing texts with a decidedly lewd overtone were released by a 22-year-old woman he met online. Other women came forward to sink the Weiner warship but Weiner vowed to remain in politics and be active in the community despite another public humiliation for him and his wife, Huma Abedin, a former Hillary Clinton aide.

And alas, now he’s got an idea to rehabilitate his reputation and Rockaway, Queens, a neighborhood that was devastated by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Beset by rebuilding delays and high unemployment, Weiner proposes a new restaurant with a social conscience in the still reeling community. The Rockaway Restoration Kitchen is months away from it’s first fryer drop but Weiner plans to open the business and employ persons with substance abuse and criminal issues. He also wants to help the diet of the neighborhood, he claims. Rockaway, says Weiner,  is a “food desert” dominated by fast food chains and pizzerias.  “We want to do something sustainable for the community, while also providing healthy, local food options for the Rockaway population.”

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Animals, Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

We’re Stealing Your Beer. We? You Got A Mouse In Your Pocket? Yep.

By Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor

Mouseketeer John Jacobson
Mouseketeer John Jacobson

A Portland, Oregon, man had a clever accomplice along for the ride on his latest alleged beer heist.  20-year-old John Jacobson was cruising the local Plaid Pantry Store when an on-duty manager asked him what he as doing with a  freshly unloaded case of brewskies under  his arm. John threw the beer striking the manager in the face and fled the vicinity. He then headed into the nearby Nike campus where he was sure to blend in with the other heels stacked therein.

Police with K-9 units gave chase and cornered the thirsty bandits in some bushes but not before noticing his diminutive henchman. Harkening those cartoon characters Pinky and The Brain, Jacobson  was sporting his pet mouse in his pocket. Police transported the pair to the Washington County Jail where his dad picked up the pet who apparently made bond.

No word on whether  John’s dad made his son’s bond. Jacobson was charged with  robbery of the beer.

Source:  KTVB.com

~ Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor

Justice, Politics, Science, Society, Uncategorized

The FAA and NTSB vs. Common Sense and (a few members) of Congress — Updated.

By Charlton Stanley, weekend writer

FAA logoThe Federal Aviation Administration issues medical certificates for pilots. There are three levels of medical certificates. Class I, Class II and Class III. The most stringent is the Class I. That is an extremely rigorous medical standard, and must be renewed every six months. This level of certification is for Air Transport Pilots who haul airliners full of passengers. The Class II is for all other commercial pilots. Not as stringent as Class I, but still quite high standards. The Class III medical is for private pilots, and is good for two years. The Class III medical examination is still a strict examination. One of the requirements is to fill out a list of EVERY doctor’s visit not already reported.  That means every visit to your family doctor for anything from a runny nose or worse. Do as I did a couple of weeks ago. Gashed my thumb on a piece of glass, and went to the emergency room for some stitches. Required to report that? Oh, yes indeed!

That application form is submitted to the FAA “Under Penalty of Perjury,” so errors of both commission and omission can and do result in draconian penalties.  One thing that sets off alarms at the FAA is a visit to a psychiatrist or psychologist. Many veterans have not sought treatment for combat related stress problems for fear of losing their license. I know a number of former Vietnam and Desert Storm combat pilots whom I suspect suffer from untreated PTSD in silence because they know if they see a VA psychologist or psychiatrist, a PTSD diagnosis is a license killer.  Yet, some of these pilots have been flying safely since the 1960s.

The requirements for passing a Third Class medical are the least strict, but are nevertheless stringent, especially if the pilot reports having sought mental health counseling.

Several years ago, in 2004, the FAA created a new class of pilot called Sport Pilot. Sport Pilots and are not required to have a Third Class medical certificate. A current and valid driver’s license will suffice. A Sport Pilot’s license is required to fly a light sport aircraft (LSA), but doesn’t need a medical certificate. A state issued driver’s license is sufficient. A Sport Pilot may not fly aircraft exceedomg the limits set by the LSA rule.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics, Society

The Hill: Democrats Have Raised Impeachment Some 20 Times More Often Than Republicans

260px-capitol_building_full_viewI recently wrote on the issue of impeachment that has been reportedly so widely in the media. As I noted in the column and in prior interviews, there is no serious move toward impeachment by the Republicans and most of the impeachment talk has come from the White House and Democrats, including in fund-raising campaigns. Indeed, I was critical of the Washington Post column after one of the hearings in which I testified on executive over-reach. While the issue of impeachment was mentioned only a handful of times and usually to dismiss it as an option, the column was entitled “Republicans see One Remedy for Obama — Impeachment.” It seems that even denying impeachment as an option still constitutes discussing impeachment. Now The Hill newspaper has looked at the congressional record to see who is raising impeachment more often. The result was that Democrats raised the issue 20 times more often than Republicans, who barely uttered the “I” word.

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Constitutional Law, Politics, Religion, Society

Hasidic Ladies Night: New York Club Agrees To Bar Men For Orthodox Jewish Band

300px-Up_loz_arleneBulletproof StockingsA curious scene will unfold this week at the popular Arlene’s Grocery, the popular Lower East side music venue. Julia Darling, the manager of Arlene’s Grocery, has agreed to stop any man from attending the performance because the band, Bulletproof Stockings, is an all-female Hasidic rock band and leads Dalia Shusterman and Perl Wolfe refuse to perform in front of men for religious reasons.

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Animals, Environment, Society

Mexican Cartel Linked To Smuggling Of Fish Bladders To Feed Chinese Market For Endangered Species

totoabaUSGSThe insatiable appetite of Chinese consumers for endangered and threatened species has now found suppliers in organized crime. The combination of the Chinese black market and organized crime is magnifying the impact on the environment. A new such alliance has been uncovered this week in Mexico where cartels are now turning to smuggling not cocaine but animal parts. The latest example can from the Sonoran town of El Golfo de Santa Clara where Mexican mobsters were found smuggling $1 million of fish bladders from the totoaba fish.

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Animals, Society

“Monkeys Don’t Own Copyrights”: Wikimedia Denies Claim of British Photographer To Monkey Selfie

monkey_selfieIt may be the best picture British nature photographer David Slater never took. Slater was on a three-day trip to the Indonesian forest in 2011 when a macaque monkey grabbed his camera and took this selfie. Indeed, the monkey took hundreds of pictures. Some of those pictures were distributed on the Wikimedia Commons website. Slater demanded that it be taken down as copyrighted material. However, Wikimedia refused on the grounds that a monkey took the picture, not Slater.

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Constitutional Law, Media, Society

Reporters Threatened With Arrest After Filming President Grant’s Cottage Near A New York Prison

53d2c9932a01b.preview-620We have yet another case of law enforcement holding people for filming in public and threatening them with arrest. This one however is particularly curious. NewsChannel 13 reporter Mark Mulholland and a videographer were filming a story on Grant Cottage where President Ulysses S. Grant had come to the cottage to finish writing his memoirs. This year is the 129th anniversary of his death and the crew was filming costumed re-enactors were commemorating the anniversary. Due to breaking news, the crew had to return the next day to finish with the shots. They were then approached by a Lt. Dorn from the nearby Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility and told that they could not film without permission. What unfolded was a rule that seemed to be without any coherence as to who may take pictures at a historic site.

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Animals, Criminal law, Environment, Society

Park Officials Look For Man Shown Kicking Squirrel Off Grand Canyon As Joke

1407377064000-1407269546001-Squirrel-kicking-2-1-Authorities are looking into a viral Internet video that shows a man kicking a squirrel off what appears to be the edge of the Grand Canyon. The 15-second video posted on YouTube purports to show a man putting food in a line to the edge of the Grand Canyon for a waiting squirrel. Once the squirrel reached the edge, he then kicks it off the edge as what he thinks is a hilarious joke.

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Bizarre, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

eTyranny: Islamic State Has The Perfect Match For You

Islam-Yaken_2999102cIslamic State jihadists have worked hard to establish the image of murderous extremists who slaughter innocent people and destroy ancient religious temples and shrines. However, various newspapers are reporting, the group appears to be eager to show on social media that they are also domesticated as well as hip in recruiting new followers. Appearing across social media are images of Islam Yaken, a young Egyptian law student who left his affluent family in Cairo to become a soldier for Islamic State with signature sword and slaughterous slogans. At the same time, the ladies of Islamic State are recruiting Western and European women to come and hook up with jihadi in a bizarre version of eHarmony or JDate. JihadDate is a bit different. It promises that, if lucky, you can watch your loved one martyr himself — I kid you not.

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Politics, Society

Did Pay-As-You-Go Just Become Spent-As-They-Went? House Republicans Add Nearly $1 Trillion In Debt Without Corresponding Cuts Or Revenue

220px-US_Capitol_Building_at_night_Jan_2006One of the touchstones for GOP members has been the pledge to “pay as you go” — covering any increases in spending with corresponding cuts in spending or new revenue. The campaign season appears to have taken its toll on that pledge with tax cuts that can add nearly $1 trillion to the federal debt.

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Politics, Society

Katastropheneinsatz: Democratic Representative Ridiculed Over Sending Out Picture of Faux U.S. Sailor Wearing German Luftwaffe Insignia

Bundeswehr_LuftwaffeBrownley-CA26-picAs someone who writes on military history, I could not resist a story this week out of California. Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley has a novel campaign challenge on her hands this week after it was discovered that her mass political mailer showed a picture of female sailor in what was supposed to be a U.S. military uniform — showing Browley’s support from veterans and current military personnel. Unfortunately, the woman was actually wearing not only a fake military uniform but one displaying German Luftwaffe insignia. Of course, at least Brownley can use the connection to the Bundeswehr to call out the Katastropheneinsatz to handle disaster control relief.

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Courts, Media, Politics, Society

Ginsburg: Male Justices Do Not Understand Issues Affecting Women In Hobby Lobby

225px-ruth_bader_ginsburg_scotus_photo_portraitSupreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is again making news in public comments made about the Court and its cases. In two different public events, Ginsburg suggested that the Supreme Court majority has a bias due to the gender of the majority of the Court and engaged people in the political debate over whether she should retire and who should replace her. Putting aside the merits of these debates, I remain deeply disturbed by the active public speaking tours of justices who appear to relish the attention and feed public controversies, including many with political aspects.

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International, Politics, Society

Report: Obama Administration Used USAID and HIV Prevention Workshop As Cover For Spying In Cuba

1369987959_USAIDWe previously discussed how the CIA used a doctor in an international vaccination program to help locate Osama Bin Laden. The use of such a cover violated international agreement and led to other doctors being attacked or barred from areas as suspected CIA operatives. Under huge international pressure, the Obama Administration finally agreed not to use such programs as covers for the CIA this year. However, a new story alleges that the CIA used young, undertrained Latin Americans for spying in Cuba while working as part of a program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in dealing with HIV prevention and other subjects.

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Criminal law, Society

Arizona Was Compelled To Give Prisoner 15 Times The Standard Dosage of Drugs In Botched Wood Execution

sub-execute-master180New details are emerging on the botched execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood in Arizona that we discussed earlier. If you recall the horrific scene, Wood took roughly two hours to die. Now it appears that the dosage for the new drugs were way off — requiring the prison to increase the dosage to 25 times what was thought to be necessary.

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