Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
0

Help cbs2 Find New York’s MVBs.


mvb most valuable blogger
Calling all foodie, sport and mommy blogs! CBS is looking for the best
and brightest bloggers in New York to compete for the title of
Most Valuable Blogger in each of six different categories:
  • Dining/Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Local Affairs
  • Health/Fitness/Medical
  • Everything Else

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Nominate the best bloggers in your community, as many blogs as you’d like. They can be your own, a friend’s, or just one you think deserves the title of New York’s Most Valuable Blogger.
  2. Vote for MVBs in each category from August 16 – September 9. You can vote once in each category per day.
  3. Come back and see who won. We’ll tally the votes and award a $50 Amazon Gift Card to each category’s winner. In addition, we’ll choose one editor’s choice winner per category for another Amazon Gift Card. Feel free to check out the rules for details.
0

The Westchester County Department of Health is notifying residents to avoid direct contact with the Hudson River along Westchester County now throughout the weekend.

A fire at a major wastewater treatment plant at W. 135th Street and 12th Avenue in New York City took the plant out of service and untreated wastewater has been discharging into the Hudson since about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

The New York City Department of Health is warning swimmers and kayakers to stay out of the Hudson River now through the weekend. Westchester County Department of Health was notified of the incident today and is advising people who use the Hudson River waters along Westchester County for recreational purposes, namely swimmers, windsurfers and kayakers, to avoid direct contact with the Hudson River now throughout the weekend.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection will be providing updates on the situation as needed at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/home/home.shtml.

0
"This story is available only in print" - the Albany Times Union

Without Anthony Weiner to poke (fun at)and with the Casey Anthony trial "resolved," the Sunday news is a little tamer this weekend: the sensational stories (except maybe for what's happening with Rupert Murdoch) take a back seat today.

It's great when a newspaper takes an original story and keeps readers "in the loop." There's nothing worse than wondering "what happened" - the Albany Times Union has done a marvelous job following the life and times of "Poppy" - and the timing here was just right for a page-one follow-up to the transient's seemingly never-ending story! Poppy has settled for now in Ravena. (For those wishing to read the storyonline, don't fret - the "print exclusives" eventually show up at the TU's website.)

Right below the Poppy article there's a story very timely for seafood lovers: a warning that imported fish containing banned chemicals are being sold in the U.S.

"Death Arrives in the Neighborhood" is a story out of Lake George with a very unhappy ending, like so many stories of "relationship violence" turn out. Just as I wonder about suicides, I wonder how bad life has to be, how low one must sink, how severe heartbreak must be, for things like these to happen. Your prayers for all of the people involved in this and the Massachusetts story that follows below are needed!

THE BOSTON GLOBE has the bigger story (a sensational one in the Greater Boston area)::: that of Nathaniel Fujita, the son of Berklee College of Music assistant prof. Tomohisa Fujita, charged with the July 3rd murder of Lauren Astley.
Back to "LOCAL" ::: Way deep in the "Capital Region" section on pp D10-11, there's a news article/obit for New York State Assembly director Sisa Moyo... the 47-year old found dead in her apartment the other day. I'm glad I don't live alone. If you live alone, you die alone. Across the page there's a story about the army amputee who fell to his death from a roller coaster just outside Buffalo. That's gotta be as sad as the poor chap who fell to his death trying to catch a baseball for his 6-year old son at a major league game.

Deep inside the Sunday Times Union there's an ad where Hannaford vs. Price Chopper over the cost of cereal. REALLY? Hannaford, why the kid gloves? Why not go after them on the cost of MEAT. I'll give you an example. Roughly a pound of hamburger at the Delmar Hannaford cost me $3 and change on Saturday. The same day, roughly a pound of hamburger at the Madison Avenue Price Chopper ran around $7. I picked up a steak at HFD for $2.14. A nice steak, big enough for three (four with samller portions). I couldn't find a steak at the Madison PC for less than $8.

Now, Price Chopper may be advertsing lower prices for meat, but everytime I've gone to the meat section I CANNOT FIND a single package steak or hamburger being sold for less than $4 or $5, where at Hannaford, I can ALWAYS find a $2.50 steak and a $2.89 package of hamburger - and if it expires that day they'll even have a markdown slip on it anywhere from 75c to $1.50 off!

THE SARATOGIAN is running stories about economic uncertainty and the decline of fine arts possibly threatening the New York City Ballet's future with SPAC and the preponderance of "invasive species" making Saratoga Lake a "travel destination."

THE NY POST homepage showcases Derek jeter's 3000th hit. And so it goes. Another newspaper Sunday is in the books.


Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
0
"I have not given birth to a bad woman..." ~ quote from the mother of NYC chambermaid Nafissatou Diallo ::: Ms. DIALLO is quoted in the New York Times ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’ (Diallo is seen in the accompanying photo)

UPDATE 5 July 2011 ::: Prosecutors are planning to drop the sexual assault charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn within the next two weeks. The New York Post quotes a "top investigator" who said a scheduled court date on July 18 would be the latest the case would be dropped. The New York Times has published Housekeeper Nafissatou Diallo's Graphic Account of "the Attack". If you are able, you may read them HERE.

Nafissatou Diallo: THE BACK STORY w/DSK case details

Blog Engage Blog Forum and Blogging Community, Free Blog Submissions and Blog Traffic, Blog Directory, Article Submissions, Blog Traffic

Tags: , ,



Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
0
On former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's inaugaration coronation day, I recall feeling embarassment when the media (particularly burned in my memory: a reporterette in a red dress, fawning over the new king) praised and generously covered the event as if it were the Second coming. I remember thinking to myself "something's not right about this." My suspicions were borne out in time, when the Governor resigned.

Fast Forward to July 3, 2011. Talk of Andrew Cuomo running as the Vice Presidential candidate along with Barack Obama. Really? At this moment in time, President Barack Obama seems to have a rough road ahead in 2012. (Or maybe not - a lot depends on the quality of his Republican opponent).
This is not the first instance of chatter about Andrew as VP material. Political observers were making predictions about this back in April.
Since Marriage Equality passed in New York, the name "Andrew Cuomo" is vocalized with much excitement. Democrats, let's not get carried away. Keep in mind, Cuomo is the guy who drove the bus on gay marriage in New York. The question is: how will this set with voters throughout the Southern states?

Before we go teaming Andrew up with Barack, we need to poll the South. While it may be true that national attitudes regarding gay marriage have changed significantly, and much of the opposition comes from people over age 60, there's a LARGE concentration of elderly folks down from the Carolinas through Florida. Georgia, especially Atlanta, would probably have no problem with Cuomo. Over in Miss. and Alabama may be a different story. Then there's Texas (and New Mexico). The land of "real men" or "he men" - a land where gay pride perhaps has a softer voice.

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
0
I had some serious doubts about this case right from day one...
Here's an update 2 July 2011 ::: NY POST: Maid cleaning up as 'hooker'!

UPDATE July 7 ::: Recent Photos of Diallo

::: JULY 5 UPDATE! CLICK HERE! :::

The woman who cried rape may be involved in a lot more than we have been led to believe. Is she really living in a building that exclusively houses HIV/AIDS carriers? The photo displayed here may or may not accurately depict her. Some say the picture is at least 10, maybe 15 years old. Others say it simply isn't her! What do YOU think? The way things have been going in the news, nothing really surprises me anymore. I have some added in some new information to an article I posted awhile ago. Consider this a "working update" vesrion, one where I will add new facts and allegations as they are reported.

"I have not given birth to a bad woman..." ~ quote from the mother of NYC chambermaid Nafissatou Diallo ::: Ms. DIALLO is quoted in the New York Times ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’ (Diallo is seen in the accompanying photo)

Attention has now shifted from perp to the alleged victim of an alleged sexual assault of a 32-year old hotel chambermaid in New York City on May 14th by the former International Monetary Fund managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

The sexual assault case against Strauss-Kahn is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the "devout Muslim Ghanian" housekeeper.

The maid, Nafissatou Diallo from the West African nation of Guinea, told police that the 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn came out of the bathroom naked, chased her down, forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear before she broke free and fled the room.
The New York Times reports ::: According to the two law enforcement officials, the woman had a phone conversation with an incarcerated man within a day of her encounter with Mr. Strauss Kahn in which she discussed the possible benefits of pursing the charges against him. The conversation was recorded.

That man, the investigators learned, had been arrested on charges of possessing 400 pounds of marijuana. He was among a number of individuals who made multiple cash deposits, totaling around $100,000, into the woman’s bank account over the last two years. The deposits were made in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia and New York.

They also learned that she was paying hundreds of dollars every month in phone charges to five different companies. The woman insisted she only had a single phone and said she knew nothing about the deposits except that they were made by a man she described as her fiancé and his friends.

In addition, the official said, she told investigators that part of her application for asylum included a previous rape, but there was no such account in the application. She also told them that she had been subjected to genital mutilation, but her account to the investigators differed from what was contained in the asylum application.
Inquiring minds want to know more about Diallo, who received political asylum in the US, and has been employed at the hotel for three years: La famille de celle qui accuse Dominique Strauss-Khan de tentative de viol s'est confiée à SlateAfrique. Elle décrit une jolie jeune femme de nationalité guinéenne sans histoire, sérieuse et qui n'a pu être manipulée.
via SlateAfrique ::: The one who is called Ophelia is not from Senegal, Ghana or Puerto Rico, as some journalists have reported, but from Guinea.

The daughter of a merchant form the Peule tribe (40% of the population in a country of 10.3 million), she is from the Labé region in Guinea, and followed her husband, a Guinea merchant, to the USA in 1998. There, she divorced him and has been raising her 15 year old daughter alone in the Bronx. She has some family in Harlem, including her sister, who is married to a Guinean business man working in the import-export trade.

Nafissatou Diallo holds a green card, and has been working as a maid in the Sofitel Hotel for three years. She has a reputation as a serious girl.

“She is as hard a worker as her sister,” said a cousin of hers on the phone. Diallo’s family has not been able to see her yet. Like everyone else, they read the papers, but they hope the sexual assault is “less severe” that what is reported.

Mamadou Chérif Diallo, from the victim’s family, and a 35 year old Guinean who is working for a New York City agency, who is tasked with representing the family, said this:

She’s a good Muslim. She is really pretty, as are a lot of Peule women, but in our culture, we do not accept this kind of behavior. Seriously, Dominique Strauss-Kahn attacked the wrong person. It’s a scandal! It’s really sad, this accident!

Under police protection

The family explained that Nafissatou Diallo is in hiding with NYPD protection to protect her from the media. She presenting has a lawyer. The attorney general’s office in Manhattan, contacted by SlateAfrique, refused to confirm the identity of Nafissatou Diallo, a common measure to protect sexual assault victims in the US.
French-Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala wrote an open letter that has been posted on several websites, entitled: “On épouse une Blanche et on viole la femme noire -or- Rape the Black Woman, and Marry the White One” - here are two snippets:

“...he knows perfectly the Sofitel Hotel in New York led by French. In this hotel, work for many black women! Many of them were raped by the former head of the IMF and the scandalous affairs have always been suppressed by the hotel management...”

“It is traumatising to realise that some Black people still have chains in their minds, and do not question the appetite of powerful men for Black women, a morbid attraction, in which relations haven't changed since slavery.”

Global Voices' Julie Owono explores the possibility that Nafissatou Diallo is a "conspirator".

Does machismo cause rape? Tracy Clark-Flory investigates for salon.com.




Blog Engage Blog Forum and Blogging Community, Free Blog Submissions and Blog Traffic, Blog Directory, Article Submissions, Blog Traffic

Tags: , ,



Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
0
Passing by "Page One" of the weekend Times union (I know it's Tuesday... I'm playing 'catch-up'!) for some truly remarkable headlines that feature stories that REALLY impact our culture!

HACKERS FIND NEW TARGET IN ANDROID no doubt will concern those using the 'droid smartphone. It boils down to the subheadline "Open design of Google's operating system makes smartphones vulnerable." MAJOR WARNING BELLS HERE! Last thing anybody wants these days is to have their personal telephone compromised or screwed up by a virus. This could become for Google what viruses have meant to Windows users. My advice: get a smartphone with any other OS until you can be 100% damn sure your phone can't get infected!

THIS ELECTRICITY HOG LIVES IN A LITTLE BOX Makes me happy because I abhor cable TV, with the crappy picture and sporadic service that can simultaneously disable your TV, internet and home phone in one single line failure! Turns out that your cable box drains more power tha your refrigerator - 446 kilowatt hours a year - that's 12% more than the ref here at the apartment in NYC!

Particularly of interest to Capital Region peeps:

This isn't really a "headline" - just a half-page ad in the Sunday paper: "Hey Capital District Chopper Shoppers, Celebrate a NEW way to save! We now DOUBLE manufacturer's coupons with a face value of up to 99 cents... EVERY DAY"

My advice: gather up your coupons and shop at PC on a "coupon only" basis. (Make sure you wouldn't save more by using the coupon UNdoubled someplace else!) Most of their stuff is priced way over Hannaford and Walmart. Hannaford totally wins when it comes to meat. A steak at PC runs you around $7 - the same cut at Hfd I just paid $2.41!

Here's a genuine headline:

JENNINGS: FIRST IN LINE TO WED GAYS If you really want hold politcial office, you have to be "one with the people." Check out Jerry Jenning's career as Mayor of the city of Albany. Time after time, facts prove he has "the pulse of the people" beating through his brain!

Last but not least, the following tale actually made Page One of the "Capital Region" section of Sunday's times Union: "Visa denials keep son from dad in U.S." ::: As much as the newspaper might like to make this a human interest story, perhaps Carlos Galvan would have been much better off taking the Jose Antonio Vargas route!


Blog Engage Blog Forum and Blogging Community, Free Blog Submissions and Blog Traffic, Blog Directory, Article Submissions, Blog Traffic

Tags: , , , , ,



Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
0
Here's what people have been asking me about over the weekend in person, by telephone and via e-mail!

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE?
If passed into law here in New York, it will open the door for the legalization of polygamy, I guesstimate within 40 years.

DEAN SKELOS?
The buzz around Albany is that the NYS Senate Majority Leader is falling out of favour due to failure to act on Rent Control and Same-sex marriage. Could just be rumours, but as I see it, whether you stand FOR or AGAINST something, people respect you for having "the courage of your convictions." . People do not respect wishy-washy or indecisive people. I'm not really sure how the general public or GOP insiders view Skelos, but any doubt could be fueled by another faction trying to get their guy in as ML. We'll just have to wait and see on this one!

THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS?
If the election were held today, I don't think any of the declared candidates could beat President Barack Obama. But the election will NOT be held today, so all bets are off. (Aside: A Mitt Romney victory may slice a few years off legalized polygamy, an issue which is attractive to Mormons and some Muslims. There are a few loosely-knit fringe women's rights groups that believe polygamy would solve those "mistress" issues we hear so much about.)

ANTHONY WEINER?
Contrary to what you're hearing, he's not done yet! His "farewell address" was more like an acceptance speech. The man has a plan even if we (and possibly he) haven't got a clue as to what it may be.

THE DECLINE OF THE BLOG?
People have been saying blogs are "going out of favour" since 2005! Poppycock!
0

Sponsored by

Followers