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2007-04-21T03:58:00.000-07:00

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Mayoral swap proposed

2007-04-20T03:34:00.000-07:00

From the Queens Chronicle:

Dear Editor:

Flushing Meadows Park is once again the whipping boy for the city administration’s lack of foresight. Much banter in the press has swirled around the coming parking lot crunch anticipated by new stadium construction. In the end, the lawns and ball fields at Flushing Meadows Park are where the city’s brain trust plans to place the brunt of Shea’s parking spillover, and did just that on opening day.

The park — scantly protected in the past — was bustling with police in an absurd scene of all cops and no people. Police cruisers guarded row upon row of empty cars; black-clad mounted patrolmen zipped around the windy park on motorcycles as empty shuttle buses dutifully made their appointed rounds.

Even the flooded roadway that has for months impeded pedestrians attempting to circle Meadow Lake was on this day being pumped dry so as not to hamper car traffic exiting the park. A hundred yards north of the rapidly vanishing puddle stood two unmanned podiums that held the key to this bizarre ghost town scenario: “Parking $14.” The business-minded administration obviously wanted to give the paying customers their money’s worth.

And what of the many users of the park’s recreational facilities? Will they have to share their soccer fields with parked cars? Lay on greasy, pockmarked lawns? Navigate around moving cars while chasing fly balls? Lose more lawn space to encroaching blacktop? Who dreamed up this inane plan? The city had years to come up with an acceptable alternative, and the opening day result says a lot about the mayor’s attitude toward Flushing Meadows.

The non-English speaking immigrant groups that frequent this park throughout the long, hot summer are generally thought of as apolitical, and consequently easy to exploit. Broken and flooded roadways go unnoticed and unrepaired year after year while fresh blacktop is laid over green lawn space to make more parking spaces.

Last summer, the city ran a garden hose outside the boathouse parking field to sprinkle kids on 90 degree days; this, when Flushing Meadows has the finest fountain array on the planet, a display that should run throughout the summer months, but used now almost exclusively to impress visiting big shots, and during the U.S. Open; once again, to give paying customers (in this case the feds) their money’s worth. As to the average park-goer, let them eat cake.

It’s about time to open trade talks with Boston — no, not Pedro for Daisuke — let’s swap Menino for Bloomberg.

Joseph Tiraco
Forest Hills

The clown that Mayor Menino is hugging actually looks like Bloomberg! Amazing!

Richmond Hill Republican Club sold!

2007-04-20T03:11:00.000-07:00

"...less than 30 minutes before the auction began, club representative Joseph Kasper, standing in front of Hart’s bench with a cellular phone in hand, told the judge that a friend of the club was prepared to wire $100,000 into an established escrow account. The deposit, made by James Ortenzio, the former chairman of the New York Republican County Committee, displayed his legitimate interest in keeping the 99-year-old building off the auction block..."

Former Party Boss Vows To Purchase Landmark

"Councilman Dennis Gallagher (R-Middle Village) told Hart that he, along with Councilwoman Melinda Katz (D-Forest Hills), would petition the City Council to purchase the property and turn it into a community center...But according to Jake LaSala, Gallagher’s representative at the hearing last week, neither Gallagher nor Katz could garner the momentum necessary to have their proposal seriously debated by the council."

You mean the Queen of Queens Crap and her Court Jester have no clout amongst their colleagues at the City Council? Pity...

Photo from Queens Chronicle

Fakin' it may be makin' us sick

2007-04-20T00:52:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of controversy over the city's decision to use rubber pellets in its artificial turf, without first allowing the material to be thoroughly tested for negative health effects:

Last year, researchers from Rutgers University found the pellets — which give the borough’s newly refurbished athletic fields a buoyant, soil-like feel — are made of recycled tires that contain high concentrations of a cancer-causing chemical, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons...Studies also found levels of the highly toxic benzo(a)pyrene at more than eight times the state’s acceptable level for regular dirt samples, experts said.

Health Advocates Question Safety Of Synthetic Fields

Meanwhile, Councilman Dennis "Pinky" Gallagher wholeheartedly endorses the potentially hazardous artificial turf:

Kick Off New Victory Field

Gallagher seconded Benepe’s endorsement of synthetic playing surfaces by imparting, “It used to drive me crazy to watch government invest sometimes $1.2, $1.3 million to take a ball field, replace it with grass, and then [after] a couple of football games, a couple of rainstorms ... before you know it, there was a dustbowl again and it was a waste of public funds.”

There's something that's even more of a waste of public funds...

Avella and Gazette against water hike

2007-04-19T23:21:00.000-07:00

Councilman Tony Avella is against the hiking of rates by the NYC Water Board, and the Queens Gazette feels the same way:

Fight Hike In Water Rates--Attend DEP Hearings

The Fort Totten Historic District, part 4

2007-04-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Rally in Fresh Meadows this Saturday!

2007-04-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

I am sending you this email to inform you about a RALLY planned for this Saturday, April 21st at 3pm in front of 69-57 185th Street, by NYC Councilman Tony Avella, the Fresh Meadows Homeowners Civic Association, Inc., and residents of 185th Street in Fresh Meadows, Queens, NY.

The reasons for the RALLY are the numerous issues regarding continuing problems with the rules and regulations of the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), DOB interpretation and enforcement of those rules and regulations, and the construction of buildings like the one at 69-57 185 Street which has been cited for irregularities yet continues to be built.

A copy of a FLYER announcing the Rally is attached as well as a List of Concerns submitted to Councilman Avella by residents of 185th Street and 2 recent pictures of the building under construction taken in April.

A STOP WORK ORDER had been issued and rescinded but a recent DOB inspection noted that construction was not proceeding according to plans yet no new STOP WORK ORDER was issued.

Thank you for your good work in bringing attention to all this QUEENS CRAP !!!

And speaking of "Queens"...

2007-04-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

This is just too funny!

McGreevey Gets Job Teaching Ethics

We bet our readers can suggest some good names for his classes, like "Pay to Play 101." I know George and Verdi are sure to come up with some real doozies!

Photo from WCBS880.com

Congestion pricing considered by city

2007-04-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

The NY Sun offers a sneak peek into the city's 2030 plan, which will be announced this upcoming Sunday, Earth Day:

Congestion Pricing Could Be Used To Help Sustain City

In other environmental news:

City Introduces Public Space Recycling Program

Finally, Sludgie the whale passed away in the polluted Gowanus Canal yesterday:

Frolicking Visitor Delights Hearts, Then Dies

Rest in peace.

Photo from NY1

Stringer says...

2007-04-19T07:06:00.000-07:00

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer wrote an Op-Ed in the NY Post explaining that instead of just rezoning a few blocks to allow for Columbia University to expand, the city should REZONE ALL OF WEST HARLEM.

Meanwhile, the Bronx's CB 12 wins 'major victory' for rezone.

The last photo of Spring!

2007-04-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

Azaleas in Maspeth

Sorry guys, I was hoping that we'd be well into Spring by now, but it seems as though the groundhog lied this year. The weather forecast predicts warm weather by tomorrow, however, so hang on for one more day!

A Taste Of His Own Medicine

2007-04-19T03:39:00.000-07:00

Wanna hear something funny? When I first looked at this picture, I totally thought it was Usher and his finance Tameka Foster. Anyway, Usher's 50 year old mama is now engaged to a 36 year old man. I guess she figures if Tameka can get some young tail, she can too. Congratulations, Jonetta!

(NY Daily)

50 Cent Baby Mama Cleans Up

2007-04-19T03:34:00.000-07:00

Remember a few months ago when 50 went to the courts asking them to regulate is child support payments? Well, he got his wish.

On Monday, the rapper was ordered by Suffolk County Support Magistrate Aletha V. Fields-Ferraro to immediately pay $10,000 for the support of his son, Marquise Diamond Jackson, 10. The boy's mom, Shaniqua Tompkins, was also granted $15,000 in monthly expenses.

(Page Six)

Star Wars Personality Test

2007-04-19T03:29:00.000-07:00

Take this multiple choice quiz to find out which Star Wars character you are.

Me? I am Boba Fett.

The Ultimate Star Wars Personality Test

He May Be Buried But His Funeral Still Isn't Paid For

2007-04-19T03:25:00.000-07:00

The trust handling James Brown's estate owes more than $70,000 for his elaborate funeral and care of his body for nearly three months before it was laid to rest in March, according to the funeral director who handled the soul singer's arrangements.
"I'm just waiting on them to get some of this mess straightened out," said Charles Reid, manager of the C.A. Reid Funeral Home in Augusta, Ga., which handled Brown's funeral. "I really haven't pushed the issue, even though I'd like to have my money."
Some of the funeral costs have already been paid and trustees have mailed a cheque to Reid this week covering the outstanding balance, Brown's longtime adviser and trustee Buddy Dallas said Wednesday.
"It was the children that ran up a funeral bill of over $150,000, not the trustees," Dallas said. "We've done our very best to do what we could to accommodate the creditors. There's no great big pile of money or surplus of money just lying around."

(Brietbart)

Joe Frazier Suing His Daughter

2007-04-19T03:13:00.000-07:00

Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier has sued his daughter for the return of his contracts, product endorsements and other business papers.
Frazier is financially strapped at 63 and may be missing out on film royalties, product endorsement fees or other income promised in the contracts, his lawyers said.
Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde _ a lawyer, judicial candidate and sometime boxer _ controls the documents because she served as her father's lawyer and business adviser from 1989-2004, according to the lawsuit.
"I wouldn't want to harass her, my daughter," Frazier said Tuesday by phone from Toronto, where he was appearing at a festival. "I brought her here in this world and gave her the best of everything. I love her."
He said he doesn't know why she might be keeping the records.
"I don't talk to her," Frazier said. "All I'm asking is for the papers, that's all."
The suit charges that Frazier-Lyde has failed to explain where the records are now and refused to accept a certified March 2 letter demanding their return.
A call to her law office in North Philadelphia rang unanswered Tuesday, and there was no immediate reply to phone and e-mail messages left with her judicial campaign. Frazier-Lyde is campaigning for a seat on Philadelphia's Municipal Court.
The suit was filed April 4 in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.
Frazier-Lyde's campaign Web site plays up her lineage, noting she is the "daughter of former World Heavyweight Champion 'Smokin' Joe Frazier and Florence Frazier."
The divorced Joe Frazier lives alone and makes "under six figures" while managing expenses that include child support for at least one of his 11 children, according to lawyer Michael P. Kelly and manager Les Wolff.
Wolff vowed that more suits will follow against others who may have defrauded Frazier.
"He has been swindled and mismanaged," said Wolff, Frazier's agent for the past three years. The ex-champion now largely derives his income from appearance fees, Wolff said.
Kelly, who filed the suit, said he wants to know where Frazier's earnings have gone.
"This guy made a lot of money, was the heavyweight champion of the world, and he doesn't have much. So what happened to it?" Kelly asked.

(Comcast)

Sounds Like A Set Up

2007-04-19T03:05:00.000-07:00

Police investigate shooting at Piston Flip Murray's home

Mike Martindale / The Detroit NewsTROY -- Police are investigating an incident in which two masked men approached Detroit Piston Flip Murray outside his home early Monday and fired three gunshots into his residence. Murray, 27, told police he was returning to his home, in the 1000 block of Lorenzo, about 1:30 a.m. Monday after being at a Detroit nightclub. Murray left the front door to his home open for a 25-year-old woman friend who was following him home in her own vehicle.The woman was approached from behind by two masked men as she walked to the front door."She was told to be quiet but screamed and ran inside and hid," said Scherlinck. "That brought him (Murray) down to the door where he was instructed to move towards the door by one of the gunmen and instead, he slammed it shut on them."Murray retreated to another part of the house and called 911 as three gunshots were heard outside, Scherlinck said. Two gunshots went into the front door and one pierced a window near the door. No one was injured, police said.Police arrived a few minutes later and the gunmen were gone. The woman, who initially ran from the house, returned and was also interviewed by police. Scherlinck said she corroborated Murray's recollection of events.Murray told police that shortly after he came home he noticed a light-colored, possibly tan sedan pull into the parking lot of a nearby landscaping business. A police tracking dog followed a scent from Murray's home to that location where it is believed someone stepped into a vehicle and drove off.Troy police declined to name the Detroit club that Murray visited before the shooting.Anyone with information about the incident, or who may have seen anything unusual in the Lorenzo-Rochester Road area early Monday morning is asked to call police at (248) 524-3477.Murray signed a two-year, $3.6 million contract with the Pistons last July.

(Detroit News)

Negima! Vol 18 (Ch 167) SPOILERS

2007-04-19T02:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks to AQS for the scans.

Chapter 167

Nekane listens to the latest letter from Negi. Anya comes up and sees the enclosed photos, which are all of girls. Informing them that he plans to return home during the summer break, Anya begins combing her hair, which leads to some teasing from Nekane.

Back in Japan, Konoka has prepared breakfast and informs Asuna that Negi has left for school early. Asuna had wanted to apologize for an event that had happened. Meanwhile, Negi is at school working hard on his class report. After a chat with Shizuna-sensei, Negi is in class where he gives the class a pop quiz. The class's grades have dropped, but they are excited about their 2nd place prize for the school festival attraction. After Negi gives a talk about studies, girls in the class remark on how far Negi has come as a teacher. After Negi asks the Baka Rangers to stay after class, the girls decide to study hard.

At Eva's resort, Negi is again in training as he battles Chachamaru, Chachazero, and Eva. While he loses, Eva compliments him on lasting a full 60-seconds. Negi is stunned by the rare praise and Eva states they'll add some practical applications to the training. However, she warns him not to get excited because things are about to get tougher. Kotaro, Kaede, and Ku Fei arrive on scene and Eva suggests Kotaro and Negi battle as practice, which they do.

A few days later, all of the Baka Rangers, sans Asuna, are doing well. Negi assures Asuna she is getting better though. As the two walk home after the extra session, Asuna apologizes for what she said to him days earlier. Negi states she didn't have to apologize, who thinks that she may have spoken the truth about him seeing only his father Nagi. Despite everything, he can't stop chasing his father and has decided that he will go to Wales during the summer break and may never return. As such, he asks Asuna to come with him as his partner.

Thoughts:

There's some texture stuff here (the class grades) and stuff, but Akamatsu-sensei is setting up the next big arc -- I'll call it the Wales Arc for now. Negi's training at Eva's resort shows his continued progress there. I wonder if Eva will somehow get to come to Wales, but there is the curse to consider. Negi certainly learned his lesson by coming to Asuna and asking her to come with him to Wales though.

A History of Lego

2007-04-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

YouTube - ONE: A Space Odyssey. 1 minute long Lego video.

PistolWimp - Mario Bros Lego Video

Banning Lego at School

Gallery: 10 Coolest Lego Weapons

A History of Lego

10 Coolest Lego Creations

More Lego? Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Canada and the First World War

2007-04-18T23:23:00.000-07:00

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

13th Bomb Squadron Association. A unique site, constructed from the pictures, oral histories, poetry, and letters of the Korean War veterans from the US Air Force's 13th Bomb Squadron. Far from glorifying war, this site reveals the heartbreaking human side of conflict: friendships made, losses endured.

Private Art: WWII Letters To and From Home

Canada and the First World War - Library and Archives Canada

Medal of Honor Citations

Berlin Wall section goes missing

Hiroshima, The Unseen Pictures

More War? Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Medical Slang

2007-04-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

Take Our Word For It, the weekly word-origin webzine

Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Medical Slang

pseudodictionary - the dictionary for words that wouldn't make it into dictionaries

Ancient Scripts. Take a look at some beautiful ancient scripts, and explore the phenomenon of human language.

The Evolution of Alphabets

The 10 Dumbest George W. Bush Quotes

VideoJug - How To Insult Someone Using British Sign Language

BBC - Languages. Free language lessons.

More Languages and Words? Page 1 Page 2

Now why did that fall down?

2007-04-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

The NY Observer writes this week that many engineers aren't surprised at the recent wave of building collapses:

Engineers Crow ‘I Told You So’ at Building Collapses

“You don’t have to be licensed for demolition in New York City, so you have guys that do not know what they are doing,” Mr. Tortorella said. “When the city is this busy with construction, you wind up with a lot of unsupervised demolition and construction work going on.”

Hiring illegals who have no construction training promotes collapses as well. But let's not allow a few dead bodies to get in the way of "progress."

Photo from NY Observer

Completely unbiased coverage

2007-04-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

Demolition is underway along a dismal strip of former auto repair properties on 31st Street near 37th Avenue in the Dutch Kills area of Long Island City.

New Developments Sprout In Queens

A recent series of zoning changes has paved the way for new residential development in the Dutch Kills community, where unrelenting zoning restrictions once threatened to force homeowners out of the area.

12-Story Hotel Rises In Dutch Kills

From Times Ledger:

Developers planning two hotels for LIC

Photo from Queens Gazette

Everybody Wang Chan tonight

2007-04-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

This was a one-family house once located at 73-26 Queens Midtown Expressway South in Maspeth. In 2001, it was converted into a two-family house. A large fence went up soon after, and online records indicate that multiple commercial vehicles were parked on the property in violation of the zoning code.
In 2005, an application was entered to subdivide the property into 3 lots.
Three-family houses will now be built on each lot, and nine families will now be living where there was once one family with a nice green yard.
Wow, they salvaged a tree!
Those bricks piled up in the windows sure look like a safe condition.
This piece of Queens Crap brought to you from Flushing with love.

It Sure Looks Like Her

2007-04-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

This supposed to be Fantasia. What perfect timing. Now that she's a big hit on Broadway, that long lost sex tape should be surfacing any day now.

City sewer scandal

2007-04-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

Trouble with the Queens Borough President's office has dated back to the creation of the position.

Since our readers have been discussing the Connolly sewer scandal back in the 1920s lately, here's a couple of links to the story from Time magazine:

City sewers

Sewer sequel

Of the three Queens presidents preceding this, one (Cassidy) went to Sing Sing; one (Bermel) fled to Europe; one (Gresser) was removed for incompetence on the matter that Connolly was elected to reform, Sewers.

Photos of Connolly's house in Corona from Forgotten-NY

Luxury hotel will replace hot sheets motel

2007-04-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Queens Gazette reports that things will soon be changing along Vernon Blvd:

New Hotels Planned For Long Island City

And there are others on the horizon. $400 a night to stay on this side of the river? Who would have thought...

29th photo of Spring

2007-04-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

Mockingbird in Corona

Get Yo Money Right

2007-04-18T05:43:00.000-07:00

Seems like Damon Dash just can't catch a break. Dame just filed a lawsuit against his accountant for 3.5 million dollars. Dame accuses his money man of incorrect filing of his tax returns and not telling him how much money he made after the sale of one of his companies.

(NY Daily News)

Lou Gossett Stiffs The Lakers

2007-04-18T05:23:00.000-07:00

Lou Gossett is is in hot water with the Lakers. Dude copped a pair of $37,000 tickets and never paid for them.

In a lawsuit filed recently in Los Angeles Superior Court, the former "Iron Eagle" is accused of signing a 2003 contract for a pair of exclusive Premier Seats at Staples Center -- home to the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers and the NHL's L.A. Kings -- but never forking over the dough. The tickets, located close to the floor, are good for nearly any sporting event at the arena -- for two years!

(TMZ)

Buckwild Host Going To Jail

2007-04-18T05:03:00.000-07:00

Did you ever watch that show on the Playboy channel called Buckwild, where Snoop Dogg and this guy named Ken Francis followed rappers around to strip clubs and stuff? Well you should have. Maybe if the show had been more successful, Ken wouldn't be going to jail for smuggling Ecstasy! Dude had a little modeling agency on the side where prosecutors said he took part in a drug smuggling ring that involved recruiting couriers to travel to Belgium and the Netherlands to pick up packages containing Ecstasy tablets. The couriers told authorities they were told they were smuggling diamonds. The packages actually contained tens of thousands of pills that were brought into Los Angeles and New York in 2000 and 2001, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Cheryl Murphy. Before he was sentenced Monday, Francis told U.S. District Judge Manuel Real that he "got involved in this whole drug-smuggling conspiracy by wanting to start my own business, which was a modeling business." He said he initially thought the models were traveling to Europe for photo shoots, but he later learned they were smuggling drugs.

(Newsday)

Dave Chappell Back On The Block

2007-04-18T04:55:00.000-07:00

Dave Chappell is back with a vengence. He stayed onstage at the Laugh Factory for six hours and seven minutes last Sunday night.

"He was absolutely amazing, for six hours making people laugh," the club's owner, Jamie Masada, said Tuesday.

(Yahoo)

Penis Power

2007-04-18T04:54:00.000-07:00

Gehry building is crap

2007-04-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

Just because a building is designed by a famous architect, doesn't mean it's not crap. So says an opinion piece in AM NY:

The glass menagerie

Photo from AMNY.com

Rivers as runways?

2007-04-18T03:47:00.000-07:00

There's so much congestion at the airports that the city is now considering landing planes on the water again:

New Plan on Air Traffic Here Envisages Rivers as ‘Runways'

A spokesman said one option Mayor Bloomberg is throwing his support behind is a plan that could replace some airline shuttles that fly to and from East Coast cities with seaplanes — fixed-winged aircraft that take off and land on water — which could be used to pull traffic off overcrowded runways at the three regional airports that serve New York.

Photo from Abandoned and Little Known Airfields: New York City, Queens

U.S. Conferences to Feature Lectures on Wound Healing with Honey

2007-04-18T03:45:00.000-07:00

Cell Phones Hurting Bee Populations?

2007-04-18T03:32:00.000-07:00

The value of street trees

2007-04-18T03:28:00.000-07:00

Factoring in the costs associated with planting and upkeep, New York City’s street trees provide an annual benefit of about $122 million, according to the Parks Department. The study concludes that New York receives $5.60 in benefits for every dollar spent on trees.

Maybe Only God Can Make a Tree, but Only People Can Put a Price on It

Trees in lower-density areas, typically in Queens and on Staten Island, are generally more valuable than those in Manhattan and high-density areas of Brooklyn and the Bronx because they provide the greatest environmental benefits, according to Fiona Watt, chief of forestry and horticulture for the city.

The tree census found that Queens has about 40 percent of the city’s street trees, followed by Brooklyn, with about 25 percent; Staten Island, with about 16 percent; the Bronx, with about 10 percent; and Manhattan, with roughly 8 percent.

Photo of "majestic silver maple tree in front of 91-32 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens" from NY Times

Florida That Everyone Forgot

2007-04-18T03:04:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Cacophony Society’s 1990 Sewer Tours

Disused Stations In The UK

Urban exploration in and around San Francisco

Canberra Cave Men

Demolition of River Roads Mall

Exploring the Abandoned Michigan Central Station

Suburban Underground Vadders. Based in South-Central Texas.

Florida That Everyone Forgot

Chicago Tunnel Company - Wikipedia

More Abandoned and Urban Exploration? Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

Toddler Does S%&t Face Plant

2007-04-18T02:53:00.000-07:00

YouTube - Toddler does S%&t Face Plant

LI Building Moratorium

2007-04-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

It looks like people on Long Island know how to take action on overdevelopment:

Hempstead building moratorium hearing packed

So what's wrong with NYC?

School of crap

2007-04-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

"Who knows what's going up on 163rd Street just south of Northern Blvd in Flushing? We do know that it will look nothing like the rest of the houses on that side of the street." - K.W.

Well in answer to your question, K.W., it seems that they applied to build some kind of self-certified mixed use school-dwelling-"roof detention" building. Not surprisingly, there is a stop work order on this property, not that it would halt construction or anything.

143 Reasons That I Will Be The Best Girlfriend You've Ever Had

2007-04-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

Knicker yobs in street attack

Women ogle more than men

Most Pierced Woman in the world

Ugly Dress.com - Bridesmaid Dresses From Hell

The 10 Most Expensive Celebrity Divorces

best of craigslist : 143 Reasons That I Will Be The Best Girlfriend You've Ever Had NSFW TEXT

A woman whose hair is longer than she is

10 Things You Never Knew About... The Male Body vs The Female Body

Man painting love message on rock dies after fall. He kept saying her name was too long. He tried to reach out further and he slipped.

Why I Will Never Have a Girlfriend

The US Singles Map

Single Women Outnumber Married Women in the United States

Women to rule new town

Female Body Shape in the 20th Century (via)

More Men and Women? Page 1 Page 2

10 Coolest Classic Cars

2007-04-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

eXasis Transparent Car

Top 10 Copycat cars

Sexiest Luxury Cars

UK Man’s Classic Bristol Towed, Crushed, Despite Being Legally Parked

Panorama Pictures Of Car Interiors (via)

Team Autoblog crashes the BYOBW event in S.F., literally

The World's Cheapest Cars

Monster Roll Royce

Defensive Driving: 70 Rules to Live By

10 Coolest Classic Cars

Life-size model car kit (via)

Sheriff gives himself a ticket

Top Ten Most Unusual Items Shipped with a Car

Pope’s old VW fails to sell on eBay

YouTube - Aquarium Car (via)

Le décret français aurait-il fait un émule ?

2007-04-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

Le décret pris en France le 6 février dernier pour l'attribution et la gestion des noms de domaine prévoit que le nom des institutions nationales de la République française, et celui des services publics nationaux, seul ou associé à des mots faisant référence à ces institutions ou services, ne peut être enregistré comme nom de domaine au sein des domaines de premier niveau correspondant au territoire national que par ces institutions ou services. Bref, on ne peut pas enregistrer senat.fr, seul le Sénat peut le faire.
Alors que le Parlement américain discute actuellement le TaxPayer Protection Act pour 2007, il souhaite exclure du web les sites portant un nom identique ou proche à celui du fisc français, l'Internal Revenue Service. Il était déjà interdit d'utiliser ce nom dans un signe, mais la loi ne visait pas clairement les signes électroniques.

La Section 8 du projet en cours de discussion prévoit d'amender la section 333 du titre 31 de l'United States Code, section qui porte sur l'interdiction d'usage des noms et symboles du Département du Trésor. Il y sera ajouté "internet domain address" au titre des signes interdits, et "any other mass communications by electronic means" au titre des usages interdits.
La mesure pourrait surprendre dans le pays du Premier Amendement, où l'on compte légions de noms de domaine critiques ou parodiques, reprenant en particulier les noms des services étatiques. Si l'usage du nom est proscrit, c'est pour éviter que ceux qui possèdent un nom de domaine "irs" abusent de leur situation pour proposer des services qu'ils ne devraient pas fournir.

Now batting: # 7, Sunnyside Gardens

2007-04-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

Historic Districts Council is battle-hardened and ready for today's landmarks hearing on Sunnyside Gardens:

If this designation does not pass due to the race-baiting gutter politics of its opponents, it may have terrible implications for future preservation efforts throughout the city.

And yet another naysayer:

Wants Landmark Debate

Photo from Curbed

Random Thoughts 01

2007-04-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

Been a lot of things going on, so I haven't had time to review the manga or anime titles as normal. Sorry about that. But I have a few minutes before I see the doctor so here goes some thoughts on recent anime events (or maybe not so recent).

Item 1: ADV has the 2nd Ah! My Goddess TV series as everyone has long known. What I was blissfully unaware of is that instead of using the name "Everyone Has Wings" (which is the translation of "Sorezore no Tsubasa"), ADV is going with "Flights of Fancy." I was peeking in on some A!MG boards and folks aren't too happy with this. While I won't be buying this series (I was sorely disappointed with the anime adaptation of the manga), I am wondering what thought process was going through the folks at ADV's head. The title of the DVD's aren't much better. Oh well.

Item 2: Most anime fans hate 4Kids and their treatment of anime titles they've licensed. Gone are the days of Pokemon where they could do what they wanted and who knew the difference. Every time the head of 4Kids would open his mouth about anime or manga (Khan), fans would scream. Every time they licensed an anime, fans would scream. When One Piece was licensed by them, the screams were the loudest I ever heard. Further, I've never heard such passion, even among casual anime fans, wanting 4Kids to lose the license.

A while back, 4Kids dropped all references to One Piece from their website, including the official site they'd created. Fans were all a buzz about this, wondering what had happened. Even when folks would say, "Yes, 4Kids has lost the license," fans were afraid to believe it. Then FUNimation comes out and says, "We have the license." Mato will be translating it and while there is uncertainty as to where in the series FUNimation will start releasing the unedited DVD's (for the Toonami TV release, FUNimation has to start dubbing with episode 144, picking up where 4Kids left off), fans are ecstatic. With the unedited DVD's, fans are happy with Mato saying how things will be in the subtitles, and mostly happy with how the dubs will be done.

I've never seen the series, but with Mato doing the subtitles, I may be checking it out now (assuming FUNimation releases the early episodes on DVD sooner rather than later). I believe 308 episodes have been released in Japan so FUNimation has another "unending" series in their library. I suspect this one will do better than Detective Conan though.

Item 3: Despite Viz's horrible treatment of the Maison Ikkoku manga (and my dissatisfaction with the subtitles for the anime), I still love the series from Takahashi-sensei and feel it is her best work. The Japanese have felt this as well, so I suppose it is only natural that a live-action version was next on the agenda. I don't know how many live-action adaptations of manga/anime you guys have seen, but I've seen a few. The Sailor Moon live-action series made me cringe. The You're Under Arrest! live-action series was just awful. The original Maison Ikkoku movie wasn't very good to me. BUT, the live-action Honey and Clover movie was pretty good. So, while I am uncertain as to how this series will be, when it airs on May 12th, I plan on catching the raw (maybe we'll see some subtitles for this). I'm not sure about the casting for Ichinose-san. She doesn't have the short, stocky look of the anime. Yotsuya-san looks way too old for the role, but again, we'll see how things play out.

Well, that's it for this installment.

Foreclosure disclosure

2007-04-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

The Real Deal examines what's Behind Queens' high foreclosure rate

Of the city's 554 new first-quarter residential foreclosures recorded by real estate data site PropertyShark.com, 319 were in Queens, and the borough posted a 91 percent jump in foreclosures over the fourth quarter.

"Queens was hardest hit by foreclosures due to the prevalence of single-family residential properties," said PropertyShark CEO Ryan Slack.

Queens Crap remakes classic movie

2007-04-17T05:10:00.000-07:00

1941: The story of a Welsh valley's turn-of-the-century descent from pristine paradise to despoiled coal mining region. Now considered to be a movie classic.
2007: The story of a NYC borough's turn-of-the-century descent from livable society to overdeveloped nightmare. The acting in this one is absolutely jaw-dropping.

Coming soon to the Trylon, Elmwood and RKO Keith's Theaters.

28th photo of Spring

2007-04-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

Daffodils in Woodside

Propolis Compounds May Boost Growth of Neural Stem Cells

2007-04-17T04:09:00.000-07:00

Antibiotic-Resistant Staph Infections May Be Helped By Medicinal Honey

2007-04-17T04:07:00.000-07:00

Since When Are Celebrity House Listings Considered Gossip?

2007-04-17T03:35:00.000-07:00

When there ain't nothing else to talk about! Check out Miami Heat Dwyane Wade and his wife Siohvaughn's Miami crib. Click here for an inside view.

Price: $8,900,000

City: Pinecrest

Neighborhood: Pinecrest

County: Miami-Dade

Bedrooms: 7

Full/Half Baths: 7/1

Sq Ft Living Area: 11,611

The opportunity for one lucky fan to own a Miami Heat MVP's personal estate, now offered furnished with artwork and personal memorabilia (please request inventory list). This gorgeous Pinecrest residence is on almost a full acre of land that features a playground and room for a full basket ball court or tennis court. Newly constructed French Design, the estate features a spacious 7 bedrooms and 7 and a half baths, marble and wood floors. Beyond the swimming pool are separate Guest Quarters. The pool is especially in-laid in tile (see photos). The patio area features a large summer kitchen with grill conducive to indoor/outdoor entertaining. The interior design is contemporary yet warm, and features elegant, smooth Venetian plastering expertly applied throughout, especially prominent in the grand foyer. The main floor contains a living room, a more informal family room, dining room, kitchen with breakfast dining area, granite-top island and stainless finishes, and plenty more, such as office and prominent garage space. Located in one of Miami’s most prestigious communities, this exquisite gated estate boasts an additional media and billiard room with a hand-crafted, custom glass door, and a master bathroom that is en suite. As an option to climbing the lovely, dual-sided spiral staircase one may choose the adjacent elevator, one of the many additional features of this fine home.

Rising tides

2007-04-17T02:07:00.000-07:00

What we just experienced wasn't even a hurricane and look at the problems it caused. While this weekend's Storm Leaves a Toll of Flooding and Hardship in its wake, and the Army Corps of Engineers is entering a New Phase for a Decades-Old Shoreline Plan on Long Island, a warning comes from the UN that the city will drown if the Earth warms.

Emily Lloyd, commissioner of the city's Department of Environmental Protection, confirmed that a rising sea level and more frequent and intense storms are threats.

The DEP has been working with the Parks and Transportation departments to use roadways and open spaces to hold storm water until it can be absorbed more slowly after storms. "We've already done quite a bit of this on Staten Island because there's so much open land," Lloyd said.

Once again, building towers on the waterfront and filling in every inch of open space in the city with concrete may not be the smartest idea.

Photo of flooding in Howard Beach from 1010WINS.com

Treading on their turf

2007-04-17T01:57:00.000-07:00

onNYTurf today launches a new map: "Pedicouncil or Pettycouncil" which highlights where each New York City council member is known to publicly stand on Speaker Quinn's attempt to override the Mayor's veto of her pedicab bill. Here's the blog post about it. Not surprising who is kissing Christine's butt on this one.

Pink prankster strikes again

2007-04-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

Something very interesting happened to the Crapper recently (besides having to wade through knee-high water this past weekend). I found myself being contacted by three local papers all wanting to do a story on this blog.

First I said to myself, "Hmmm...that NY1 story must have caused some waves." Then I realized what was really going on. You see, dear readers, I received a tip that the reporters didn't want to do a story on what this blog is about. They really want to promote a new blog that "counters" Queens Crap.

If the counterblog was a pro-development site, I would say that it's no surprise that the local weeklies want to pump up the real estate industry, so bring it on and let's have fun with it. But the counterblog all of them mysteriously want to compare and contrast this site with is not about being pro development. Instead, it is a giant rant against anyone that has dared to speak out against a certain councilman from district 30. The posts echo his insane ideas about everything and even include derogatory photoshops of private citizens that he is at war with (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery).

Could it be that Pinky is using his taxpayer-funded time to blog? Is he spending some of that campaign money he raised to hire someone to do it for him and then writing it off as a campaign expense? The site is full of unsubstantiated charges of bigotry and thievery against private individuals, all of whom have spoken out against Dennis Gallagher at one time or another. Comments are moderated but somehow anonymous threats of physical harm against Pinky's constituents who have fallen out of his favor manage to slip through.

The site had been up and active for about 2 weeks. There was no contact information on the blog except for an almost hidden e-mail address at which to reach the blog author. So how did these papers all pick up on this new blog and then simultaneously have the same idea to write stories on it?

Those who saw the NY1 story commented how it was great to see young people involved in the battle against overdevelopment. We may be young but we weren't born yesterday. The Crapper understands exactly what is going on here and doesn't want to be included in any "comparison" article. We can't wait to see which papers go forward with promoting the pink prankster's sick agenda.

We had planned to really rip the jester a new one in this post, but thankfully a group of his victims already did an excellent job of it, and now we don't have to. Kudos to them.

Angry Cats

2007-04-17T00:22:00.000-07:00

A round up of the best cat attack videos on YouTube one or two of which have already been featured on here in the past. I've saved the best until last. :)

YouTube - Burger the angry cat

YouTube - Cat Flips Out at the Vet

YouTube - Evil Cat

YouTube - MEOWARCHY: Demon Cats

YouTube - Pinky the Cat

YouTube - TV Reporter Cat Attack

YouTube - When Cats Attack

Name that Hair-Metal Band

2007-04-16T23:42:00.000-07:00

120 Years of Electronic Music - Electronic Musical Instrument 1870 - 1990

Spinning Into Oblivion: RIAA is killing the music industry

Charity Songs of the Eighties and Nineties

National Music Museum

Popular musicians who committed suicide

Name that Hair-Metal Band. I got 4.

The Strangest Music Videos Of All Time

My Top Ten Sad Songs @ Blogcritics.org

Lennon's son sells Beatles stake

YouTube - The Zimmers "My Generation"

YouTube - Removing the Bot Fly Larva

2007-04-16T23:36:00.000-07:00

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Why should we have eight hours' sleep?

YouTube - Classic Animated Alka Seltzer Commercial

Deafness in Disguise: Concealed Hearing Devices of the 19th and 20th Centuries

American Surgical Antiques and Civil War Amputation Sets

First X-ray (1896)

YouTube - Removing the bot fly larva. EEK!

The sunshine superstar: study reveals Vitamin D as 'wonder vitamin'

Your Brain. What happens in the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s disease? This tour explains how the brain works and how Alzheimer's affects it. (via)

Mysterious Pee Shiver

More Health? Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Baby marmosets and a baby porcupine. Giant Mi...

2007-04-16T23:33:00.000-07:00

Baby marmosets and a baby porcupine.

Giant Mice Devouring Island Seabird Chicks, Threatening Extinction

20 endangered rabbits released; 14 promptly eaten

Cat adopts mouse

Crocodile severs Taiwan vet's arm. YouTube - News Report (GRAPHIC)

Frogs rain down on Serbia

Sea lion attacks Australian girl

Why Insects Can't Fly Straight at Night

US Spider Identification Chart - Venomous or Dangerous?. free wallchart too if you live inthe US.

The hell of St. Mary's

2007-04-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

St. Mary's found they no longer needed their parking lot across the street after the diocese closed their school and demolished their convent, which was probably the oldest documented building in Woodside. The former parking lot was sold to a developer for $1,810,000 last August.
Observe workers on the scaffolding of these 3-family houses on a Saturday. A search of DOB's site found no special permit for weekend work. There will be six 3-family pieces of crap across the street from the church now. Not that you'd know since the online permit only shows the plan for one house.

27th photo of Spring

2007-04-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

Hawks circle over Flushing Meadows

Testing Post - Embedding My Maps to Blogger

2007-04-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

A test post.. so feel free to ignore. Just seeing if i can embed My Maps into Blogger..

Spatial Technology Gallery - Digital Urban at the AAG

2007-04-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

It took a visit to Franks Google Earth blog and then onwards to Alan's Geography 2.0 Virtual Globes to find out the details - we will be showing work at the Spatial Technology Gallery, a special event at the 2007 Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting.

Details taken from Geography 2.0 are:

When:
Wednesday, April 18, 2007, 7:00pm-9:00pm,

Where:
Conference Room Yosemite B, Hilton San Francisco, located at 333
O'Farrell Street San Francisco, CA 94102 -View Location on My Maps.

What:
On Wednesday evening, a select group of researchers from academia, government labs, and industry have been invited to demonstrate their latest, cutting-edge spatially-enabled technologies. The format will be simultaneous demos--a mix of science fair, test drive, and show-and-tell. This organic event will provide an opportunity to examine and discuss the technology and incubating ideas that will be impacting in coming weeks, months, and years, with the pioneering minds that are making them. We anticipate topics spanning virtual globes, augmented reality, open source mapping projects, internet GIS, environmental simulation and prediction, map mashups, and mobile spatial data collection.

This "after hours" event is open to anyone interested in spatial technology, so you will not need to register for the AAG meeting to attend. If you want to participate in any other aspects of the AAG meeting, however, you would need to register and pay like normal.

Who:
--ESRI
--Microsoft
--NASA World Wind
--Urban Mapping LLC
--CASA University College London
--Center for Fire Research and Outreach (Berkeley)
--UCSB Center for Nanotechnology in Society and UCSB Geography
--Dave Lemberg (Western Michigan)
--Jesse Rouse and Sue Bergeron (WVU/Very Spatial)
--Johannes Schoening (Muenster)
--Brian Tomaszewski (Penn State)
--Dawn Wright and Andre Skupin (Place and Spaces Project)
--Chuanrong Zhang (Kent State)

YouTube - Billy's Balls 2

2007-04-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Not quite what the title suggests it's just some guy who has amazing skills throwing a ping pong ball into a cup from all kinds of angles.

YouTube - Billy's Balls 2

NSF/ESRC Agenda Setting Workshop on Agent Based Modelling of Complex Spatial Systems - Day 2

2007-04-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

Day two at the NSF/ESRC Agenda Setting Workshop on Agent Based Modelling of Complex Spatial Systems in Santa Barbara.

Currently presenting is David O'Sullivan, ex of our lab at CASA.

Agent-based complex systems are dynamic networks of many interactingagents; examples include ecosystems, financial markets, andcities. The search for general principles underlying the internalorganization of such systems often uses bottom-up simulationmodels such as cellular automata and agent-based models -Grim et al 2005.

Complex systems are irreducible - a compact model of a complex system is possible. In general, specific to complex systems is the interest in the spatial locations of the outcomes, such as patterns, processes and the relationship between them.

Verification of any model of an open system is impossible and validation is not the same thing. In a similar fashion, calibration and confirmation are also not the same thing (as verification, or as one another), the argument therefore is for multiple models.

We therefore know that the end product is difficult to analysis and therefore do the models merely outcome what we expect? Keith Bevan has a proposal for a coherent philosophy for modelling the environment, while Steve Bankes advocates working with multiple models.

Agent Based Models models play multiple roles throughout the scientific process, as such it is hard to pinpoint the nature of the exploration. It is also of note that real world choices are made depending on the outcomes of models.

The talk ends with a series of questions - What type of science is Agent Based Modelling? Are tools making the problem work or can they be part of the solution? Does GIS have a role to play?

I would add that it needs to be asked why is the tool set is so complicated? The role of GIS and agents was demonstrated yesterday by ESRI and the level of complexity is concerning, as is the quality of the visualisation.

Interestingly, people do not seem to be aware of the type of model systems running in current game engines and therefore wth full 3D visualisation....

******

Next up is Dawn Parker of George Mason University looking at what researchers seek from Agent Based Models. In general is it a better understanding of the process behind real world systems. Yet models are complex, should they be simplified?

Take a look at Dawn's SLUDGE model (Simulated Land Use Dependent on Edge Effect Externalities). SLUDGE is a simle combined cellular automaton and agent-based model designed to study the joint influcent of distance-dependent spatial externalities and transportation costs on patterns of land use.

******

Coffee Break :) - For a full rundown on GIS and Agents see the CASA GIS and Agent Based Modelling Blog.

Times Newsweekly editorial on blogging

2007-04-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

From law.com: In attempting to maintain their anonymity, bloggers have claimed protection under the First Amendment. There is a rich history in the United States of protecting anonymous free speech. Long before the days of the Web and blogging, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, among many others, frequently used pseudonyms in authoring various papers assailing their political opponents. More recently, the Supreme Court of the United States in Talley v. California, 362 U.S. 60 (1960) struck down a local ordinance that required the distributor of handbills to disclose the author's identity.

Keyshia's Fucked Up Easter Performance

2007-04-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

Here's the audio. It sounds like she always sounds to me.

EURweb

The stage was foreign to R&B singer Keyshia Cole on the morning of Resurrection Sunday at the City of Refuge Church.
After being informed that she was present, the Pastor, Bishop Noel Jones, invited her to participate in a mini-concert of sorts.
Cole was the last of the plentiful talent asked to perform impromptu at the 11:00 a.m. service (including gospel group The Singletons and Olie Woodson of the Temptations) at the Gardena, CA sanctuary.
Both the congregation’s reception of the singer and her delivery were unexpected. The situation was awkward before she sang a note.
In addition to the Bishop mistakenly introducing her with the wrong first name, she had a “wardrobe malfunction” that she was not aware of. Wearing a short dress with thin straps, apparently Cole bore more skin than was deemed appropriate for the church. When a female member of the church attempted to cover her with a shawl, the back of her dress was accidentally lifted. According to witnesses in the choir stand, Cole’s backside was exposed. The woman assisting Cole managed to cover her rear just before she stepped out to sing.
She reintroduced herself as a recording artist and asked everyone to pray that she keeps the faith to sing the right messages to the yourg women she reaches with her music. Without pause she broke into an undigestable version of “His Eye Is on the Sparrow" which got progressively worse each time she tried to make adjustments.
The audience was restless. “Take your time,” one random voice from the packed to the brim sanctuary in Gardena, CA chimed. “You can do it Keyshia!” called another.
Unable to find the correct key, her vocals were shaky, out of tune and far from the quality of “Love,” her first mega hit that showcases her as an able vocalist. At one point she stopped to clear her throat and apologized to the audience. The musicians chased after her to find the right key and couldn't as she barely finished one verse in an shapeless a capella.
Performing to sold out venues as a concert headliner and as the star of her on reality show on BET: “KEYSHIA COLE: THE WAY IT IS” Cole is accustomed to being in control and perhaps is most comfortable when she has had time to prepare. Giving up in middle of the verse she apologized and lingered for a moment before she was ushered off the stage as the filled-to-the-brim audience looked on, applauding lightly.
Cole had been offered an opportunity to sing at the church the week before Easter and did not accept.
As if he were a mind-reader, Jones chided those in the audience who were judging the singer's appearance. He said he knew what he was doing and hoped some of the power and anointing that preceded her performance would impact her for the next time she took to the stage. She was too embarrassed to remain in the service. Allegedly, Cole’s manager asked the bishop not to run her performance on the national broadcast of the service, “Fresh Oil” which airs on BET.

Don't Quote Me On This

2007-04-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

You know I love reading gossip on message boards right? It may not be true, but it sure is juicy. ~~I believe every word of it~~

......What has never really been mentioned is Beyonce’s little romance with Chico Debarge.. YES… CHICO DEBARGE.. they use to date back when she was with Destiny’s Child. It was all very secretive. The girls would stay at the Beverly Wilshire when they came to Los Angeles – The Wilshire is not far from a small boutique hotel where Chico DeBarge was a regular. Ms. Beyonce would slip over to his hotel for late night visits and leave in the AM. This was an upper crust hotel so not too many of the workers knew who she or he was, a few of them did and one night they heard them having very loud sex. One time Mr. Knowles came to the hotel ENRAGED because he found out Beyonce had been sneaking away at night to spend time with low class, jail bird Chico Debarge. He put an end to that relationship with the QUICKNESS for two reasons....1- He thought Chico was low class and he knew Beyonce was on her way to being a superstar. Beyonce didn’t care because she was in love, but her dad set her straight. 2 – She got pregnant with his child and well… She was deep into it with Chico.. her first real love.

Zoning Out Suburban Futures

2007-04-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

I'd been waiting for a nasty day when a lot of people might be trapped indoors to post this one. Today looks like that day!

A LI developer's take, the people's reply and what Islanders think of Brooklyn and Queens:

Zoning Out the Future

By VINCE POLIMENI
Published: March 18, 2007, NY Times

THE developer Charles Wang has withdrawn an innovative proposal that would have brought housing, retail, hotel and office space to Plainview. One could have easily found a compromise that would have adjusted the density envisioned by the proposal, but protesters instead quashed it altogether. Sensing no leadership from John Venditto, Oyster Bay supervisor, Mr. Wang withdrew the application and will wind up submitting the ho-hum plan for houses and offices that zoning law will allow. (You mean they have to abide by the zoning law? That's outrageous!)

In Great Neck, meanwhile, a developer wants to build luxury apartments, but seeks to set aside some 20 percent of the units for young firefighters who volunteer in the village fire department. If neighborhood criticism hobbles this effort, the developer will build what is allowed under the current zoning or sell his land to a church or synagogue. (Oh, the horror!)

In Syosset, a 10-year dispute between a developer and civic association members is still in court because the Town of Oyster Bay refuses to approve a compromise version of a mall featuring Neiman Marcus. The proposed mall would be put on an industrial site, surrounded by two highway department depots, an animal shelter and the Long Island Expressway. (Maybe Syosset realizes that they should be trying to attract new industry in order to maintain an industrial base.)

The list of failed or pending development on Long Island goes on.

The problem is that across the region, elected officials have willingly abdicated their zoning authority to civic groups that bitterly complain about property taxes while blocking proposals that would actually ease the burden borne by homeowners. (Elected officials are supposed to represent the will of the people, not actively work against their interests.)

Had these reactionary not-in-my-backyard forces been as dominant in the years just after World War II, most Long Islanders would still be living in cramped apartments in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens. (There was a lot more room back in the 1940s, housing was needed and farms no longer were.)

Sadly, few municipal leaders today have the political will or the governmental vision to embrace a new generation of progressive development. The obvious solution would be to recast the Long Island Regional Planning Board, which has a minimal role, into an agency that has the authority to supersede zoning laws in local towns and the Island's two cities. Having produced three huge master planning reports in the last 30 years pertaining to Long Island's land use, the board understands, as few others do, the strategic role of ''smart growth'' in creating a vibrant, strong and attractive region. It would take a political earthquake in Albany to give the board such powers, but crushing property taxes, combined with a strong governor, could create the crucible for such change. (More government oversight - that's what LI needs!)

What is lost in the hostile assault on new ideas is that Long Island is changing regardless of zoning delays. It has become so expensive to live here that the next generation of Long Islanders isn't just leaving, it's fleeing. Why? Because there's no affordable housing. (Because people from NYC are migrating east - see New York Times article in New York Wired link below.) The region continues to be dismissive of efforts to reinvent obsolete property like the old Cerro Wire factory in Syosset and the Kings Park Psychiatric Center in Smithtown.

But the biggest challenge is now before all of us. What do we do with tired, obsolete properties surrounding the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum? After a spirited competition that included me, Edward Blumenfeld and Jan Burman, Scott Rechler and Mr. Wang were declared the winners. Given the scope of their plan, which includes recreational, retail, office and residential space, they have a long road ahead of them. I hope Mr. Wang's experience in Plainview doesn't make them gun-shy.

Hempstead Town officials will find themselves facing the same historic crossroads as their forefathers did in 1947, when Levittown was approved. Can they play the role of visionaries intent on remaking Mitchel Field air base into an accessible, dynamic and economically potent community? Or will they abdicate and allow the future to come to them in whatever form it wishes to take?

What we need are master builders like Robert Moses, who understood how to dream big and build bigger. If the Town of Hempstead fails to deliver the future, we can only hope that a profound change in how we approve Long Island development proposals is not far behind.

Vince Polimeni, a former president of the Association for a Better Long Island, is the head of a development firm.

As Our Open Space Gets Gobbled Up
Published: March 25, 2007, NY Times

To the Editor:

Re ''Zoning Out the Future'' (Op-Ed, March 17): Vince Polimeni and his fellow developers pitch their ideas in ways that try to convince the rest of us that their primary goal is altruistic -- that the continued construction of amusement parks and strip malls is really in the public interest. Sorry, but we're not buying it.

We ''regular folks'' would like to live in a peaceful, quiet environment where we can still enjoy the things that make Long Island a great place to live -- open space, clean water and fresh air.

We've watched the gobbling up of more and more of our open space. Enough is enough. We'd like to see alternative proposals that preserve our open space.

JOHN ESPOSITO
Huntington

To the Editor:

Development that addresses the needs for affordable middle-class housing, appropriate commercial space and preserved open, public spaces is critical to Long Island. But Charles B. Wang's plan for Plainview was clearly not that. Vince Polimeni bemoans that protesters ''quashed it altogether.''

A cross-representation of the community came out to voice their concerns about a developer who was proposing high-end condominiums and rentals, a hotel, a conference center, retail spaces, office space and enclosed private land that would have benefited the few, not the many. The plan had just a handful of lowcost ''next generation'' housing and housing for the elderly.

The people of Nassau County last November overwhelmingly approved a $100 million bond referendum to preserve open spaces. If Mr. Wang's plan had truly addressed the needs of the ''next generation,'' struggling elderly citizens and this commitment to preserved public open space, I believe there would have been a very different outcome.

CAROLINE BOCK

Old Bethpage Developers and Oyster Bay
Published: April 1, 2007, NY Times

To the Editor:

In “Zoning Out the Future” (Op-Ed, March 18), Vince Polimeni, a developer, chastises Oyster Bay for not giving in to a plan to turn 166 acres into dense housing that is euphemistically called “smart growth.”

Mr. Polimeni says that Oyster Bay’s supervisor, John Venditto, has “no leadership” in this area. Mr. Venditto is doing his job representing the people who elected him and want to keep Oyster Bay the way it is, not giving in to the grandiose plans of a billionaire who would stand to profit from this construction.

Mr. Polimeni also decries the blocking by the Town of Oyster Bay of the development of a new mall. Everyone knows that Long Island does not have enough malls.

I wonder: were the developers planning on living in the middle of this “smart growth” that would be so “good” for Oyster Bay? It appears developers will not be happy until Nassau and Suffolk resemble Queens and Brooklyn.

Robert F. LaPorta
Dix Hills

And now, an elected official who could teach a thing or two to Billionaire Bloomberg:

A Victory on Main Street
Published: April 1, 2007, NY Times

The village of Greenport has come up with an intriguing model for creating affordable housing, one that seeks to level the village’s badly tilted real estate playing field back in favor of regular working people. There is a dwindling number of those in Greenport, whose population of wealthy summer residents has grown significantly in recent years.

The idea came as part of a settlement of a long-running dispute over two acres of waterfront property that, in the ordinary Long Island scheme of things, would have been destined — or doomed, depending on your perspective and tax bracket — to become luxury housing for the village’s increasingly Manhattan-based demographic.

The agreement was brokered by Mayor David Kapell, who says he is all for economic growth in his village but hates the thought of housing prices being skewed so high by rich outsiders that they force out people who live and work in Greenport year-round — those with Main Street, not Wall Street, incomes.

Under the plan, the property, an old oyster-packing operation, would be redeveloped for both commercial and residential use. There would be one shop repairing and selling yachts, and another freezing and packing scallops. There would be a dozen 1,500-square-foot apartments sold at market — i.e., luxury — rates. And then there would be five little one-bedrooms, each 650 square feet, sold for $175,000, only to residents who live or work in Greenport full time. The residency requirement would apply to all future sales and units could not be combined into bigger ones, so — in theory, anyway — they would always be too small for the lofty appetites of hedge-fund managers, but just right for young teachers, firefighters or retirees.

Mr. Kapell, who has been in the real estate business for decades, thinks his plan would let the free market do its thing, but tweak it just enough to help the average Greenporter. This sort of idea could and should take hold across Long Island, if only communities could overcome their resistance to higher-density housing and accept the idea of giving a leg up to the dreams of ordinary Long Islanders.

A postscript: Greenport’s tiny experiment in resisting the gentrification juggernaut is further evidence of the political distinctiveness, civil ingenuity and creative enthusiasm of Mayor Kapell, who is leaving office next month after 28 years in public life, 13 as mayor. Mr. Kapell has long been a refreshing oddity in a political landscape where the knee-jerk response to new challenges ranges from “You can’t do that” to “Not in my backyard” to the all-purpose “No.”

Mr. Kapell is the original “Yes, in my backyard” politician. He is committed to preserving Greenport’s identity as a working harbor town, not a fake Ye Olde Village smelling of potpourri. He has worked aggressively to welcome new things — a park, a carousel, an ice rink, a power plant, community patrols in red berets, affordable housing, even Latino immigrants — and his village, once a dumpy, corrupt East End dead end, has thrived for it.

Wired New York has more on the Long Island housing situation: Wired New York Forum

And here's a problem being had in New Jersey: In Success of ‘Smart Growth,’ New Jersey Town Feels Strain

“Washington Township did everything right for smart growth, but families want to live there so bad, their numbers have gone through the roof...” Now Mayor David Fried is considering a drastic remedy: using eminent domain to seize undeveloped tracts and prevent developers from building hundreds of more homes, lest more young families move in.

“The last thing you want to do is turn kids into liabilities,” Mr. Fried said. “But we were slated for another 500 homes, and if we did that, it would be catastrophic because I can’t even handle the kids we have already.”

Photo from NY Times

Mike Tyson Trial Date Set For August

2007-04-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

A trial date has been set in Mike Tyon's latest skirmish with the law. Mike could be facing seven years after being ordered to stand trial for possession of cocaine and driving under the influence after he was stopped by police in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In other Mike Tyson news, Mike put his Paradise Valley, Arizona home on the market for 2.3 million dollars. He paid 2.1 million for it in 2005. It's initial listing was $2.45 million but Mike dropped the price after it sat on the market for 3 months. They say his neighbors couldn't be happier he's leaving because Mike built a big pigeon coop in his backyard that attracted dozens of birds to the area.

Can you image all the bird shit?

(Fox)

Kelis Gets $25,000 To Do Two Songs

2007-04-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

So Kelis was supposed to perform at a Palm Springs White Party and she got paid $25,000.00 in cash up front. Why she show up 2 hours late and only do two songs? They even had some chick on the stage lip-syncing Bossy. The party promoters are pissed, talking shit about they're making sure to report the cash payment to the IRS, cause they know Kelis won't. In Kelis's defense, her rep released this statement: "There were many missteps behind the scenes which created a less than suitable environment for any artist to perform. Because of her love for her fans, Kelis made the decision to take the stage, against any advice not to do so."

(Page Six)

Google looses in googles.eu case!

2007-04-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

A Spanish man registered googles.eu, used it for a web page where a search feature was available, with this disclaimer "This website does not have affiliation or relation with Google Inc. all the results are property of Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain Vew CA 94043, the USA)". One need not be used to domain name lawsuits to know what would happen next...

But Google lost its ADR case! A .eu name is only available to European companies or individuals.* The complainant in case 4113 was Google Ireland. The holder of the Community trade mark is Google Inc. The complainant said it represented the US company.
Because the complainant did not bring any evidence that it was entitled to claim this name (such as a license), the panelist ruled that it failed to demonstrate its right on the name.

[Personal note: I usually do not comment .eu ADR cases, but my opinion on such an issue is known, since I have ruled that EC Regulation 874/2004 article 22 does not bar a non trademark holder to act in the name of another person, as it states: "An ADR procedure may be initiated by ANY party" (emphasis added). The case was 1047 - festool.eu (§ 5.1.1. to 5.1.5; See also 596 - restaurants.eu)]

* "undertaking having its registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the Community, or organisation established within the Community without prejudice to the application of national law, or natural person resident within the Community"

War memorial vs. living memorial

2007-04-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

In further coverage of the historic tree grove/Korean War memorial controversy, Newsday reports that Planting a monument may damage a grove.

The plant advocates shouldn't worry, Queens Borough parks commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski said.

Oh well if Dottie is on the case, I am sure it will all work out. Let's remember that she is taking care of every acre of Flushing Meadow Park, which is in great shape.

Photo from about.com

What Age Do You Act?

2007-04-16T04:49:00.000-07:00

You Are 13 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Found at Miss Cellania

The testing of the green

2007-04-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't noticed, New York is becoming more and more artificial every day. Let's take Commissioner Benepe's plan to put fake grass in parks to replace real grass, for example:

KISS YOUR GRASS G'BYE

This is despite the worry that the rubberized pellets used in the turf may be toxic. Not all people think Benepe's plan is a good idea, though, including Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum:

Gotbaum to Parks Dept.: test city’s synthetic grass

Photo from Queens Tribune

Campaign for Community Based Planning

2007-04-16T04:07:00.000-07:00

The Queens Chronicle reports that the Municipal Art Society has just recently started inviting neighborhoods from Queens to take part in their neighborhood planning program:

Grass-Roots Planning Effort Woos Queens

Is the Crapper being too hard on ol' MAS? Well, take a look at their historic preservation page and judge for yourself. See any mention of threatened Queens properties? Staten Island? The Bronx? So much for the "citywide" effort.

Photo from Municipal Art Society

NC Apitherapy Conference to Explore Healing with Honey Bee Hive Products

2007-04-16T03:31:00.000-07:00

Ten Things Your Restaurant Will Not Tell You

2007-04-15T23:29:00.000-07:00

ulterior epicure's photosets on Flickr. 186 sets dedicated to taking high-resolution photographs of gourmet food.

Dispelling The Top 10 Nutrition Myths

YouTube - World's First Underwater Restaurant

Super (Mario) Cake on Flickr

The perils of Caffiene Withdrawal

Ten Things Your Restaurant Will Not Tell You

Shoppers eat chocolate billboard

BBC NEWS | Family of faggot fans fly the flag

Diner scarred for life after sausage explodes in her face

Woman Finally Eats After 2 Years Without Food

Medieval Recipes

Top 5 Foods to Prevent Bad Breath

Red PS3 Goes for $12,100

2007-04-15T23:25:00.000-07:00

So a PC, Mac, and Linux walk into a bar…

Top 10 Free Computer System Recovery Tools - Lifehacker

There's history and money in obsolete computers

Black Wallpapers

20 Tips That’ll Make Your Blog Work

Stanford Report: What Do Users Do On The Internet?

When and how to use internet image formats

Which Site Has the Best "Server Down" Page? (Google, YouTube, Flickr, etc.)

Speedup Windows XP in Minutes

Google Earth Library: Interesting things to do with Google Earth

Google Earth adds hiking trails - Lifehacker

120 Adobe Photoshop Tips

Red PS3 Goes for $12,100

Digg Case Mod

37 Famously Stupid Celebrity Quotes

2007-04-15T23:14:00.000-07:00

A mixed bag of links.

Monomania - Famous people who have a unibrow

37 Famously Stupid Celebrity Quotes

Easter Eggs in DVDs, Software, Movies, Music, and More

An Inside Look at the Offices of Martha Stewart, Michael Bloomberg, Aby Rosen, Paul Rudnick, and More

Badass origami

Funny pictures of people and their not so very smart ideas (via)

Magic Tap - Wikipedia

Bumper Stickers and You

Quite possibly one of the best mug shots ever

Hello Kitty Hell

Best Headline Ever?

Sultans of Sand World Wide Sand Sculpture Artists

Frustrations over Bellerose house

2007-04-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

The Times Ledger reports that the Queens Colony Civic Association is angry over a house being expanded along infamous 88th Road in Bellerose:

Robert Kersten, a member of the civic, claims a two-family house being constructed at 248-47 88th Rd., which is adjacent to his, does not adhere to the required 5-foot side yard requirement under zoning rules. He said the home only leaves about 1 feet of space between the two houses, meaning it should be set back another 3 feet.

He said if the home, known in the community as "the cruise ship" due to its long length, were to be set back, "it would give me some sun back in the yard."

Bellerose civic puts pressure on city

The home was issued a stop-work order Sept. 20 for not having its second floor set back enough. That was rescinded on Dec. 15, according to the Buildings Web site, and was cited again on March 21 for debris on the site. The second-stop work order was removed March 26.

This guy sounds like a great neighbor...and 88th Road sounds like the wild west.

Crap corner

2007-04-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hey why not buy yourself a bunch of corner lots? This way, you can abuse the zoning code and build something that fills up practically the entire space. While this colossal crap was being constructed, a stop work order was put in place for FAILURE TO PROVIDE APPROVED PLANS AT PREMISES AT TIME OF INSPECTION. Also busted for FAILURE TO POST CONTRACTOR'S SIGN. JC Contracting "of Woodside" is notorious for these type of things.
Residents have been parking commercial vehicles on the property illegally. Apparently this has been going on for quite some time...
The crudely made sign hung on the fence is the cherry on top of the crap. Hey folks, here's what the rest of the neighborhood has to look forward to.

LIC lofty living

2007-04-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

Thank you to K.W. for passing along this link to Curbed which explains that living in LIC has become quite cost prohibitive:

$1000 Per Square Foot in the LIC

A two-bedroom, 1102sf apartment in 5SL, Tolls Bros.' Long Island City loftarium, is in contract. Asking price: $1,132,990.

There are more than 300 comments on the subject, which go something like "LIC sucks!" and "No it doesn't!"

Photo from Curbed

Nokia N95 Tracking from San Francisco to Santa Barbara

2007-04-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

We have run a couple of posts recently on the GPS functionality of the Nokia N95, most notably using the Sports Tracker application to track a train in London. We continue this theme, this time tracking our 5 hour drive from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, California.

The interesting issues here are firstly the time covered - 5 hours - presenting an interesting spatial/temporal visualisation and secondly the fact that Sports Tracker was used at the same time as the general mapping application.

Previously we had used Sports Tracker as the main application, thus losing the ability to navigate as the tracker does not yet include a general map overview. To solve this you can set Sports Tracker running and then continue to use the phone for any other use, in our case general GPS navigation.

The ability to run tracker in the background means that you can view the map secure in the knowledge that your speed and route is being logged for later visualisation in Google Earth.

With a top speed of 137km/h and covering 508km you can view our entire route in Google Earth

Remember That Girl Who Tried To Blackmail Bill Cosby?

2007-04-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

You remember that girl, Autumn Jackson, the one who got convicted in 1999 for trying to blackmail Bill Cosby for 24 million dollars, threatning to reveal she was his secret love child? That chick is back in trouble again. This time for welfare fraud. Her and her mama are accused of submitting false employment verifications to qualify for child care benefits-illegally collecting about $40,000 between 2001 and 2003. What a dumb bitch.

'Off-the-books' are off-the-hook

2007-04-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

An economic study set to be released today found widespread illegal practices in New York City’s residential construction industry, estimating that one-fifth of the 82,000 workers who build housing in the city work off the books.

Off-the-Book Construction Jobs Soar in City, Study Shows

Industry experts say the number of residential construction workers employed off the books has soared because the industry needs so many workers, because so many illegal immigrants are eager to take construction jobs and because unions have made few inroads in organizing workers in residential construction.

The report said that employers that hire people off the books also often cut corners on safety, contributing to the increase in construction deaths.

Meanwhile, the NY Times reports that Tax Returns Rise for Immigrants in U.S. Illegally

The increase in filings comes amid talk of an immigration overhaul, with some proposals introduced in Congress linking amnesty to the payment of taxes. Many illegal immigrants showing up at tax preparation offices around the country say they hope that filing a return will create a paper trail that could lead to citizenship one day.

Photo from NY Times via Brownstoner

Happy Birthday Brat!

2007-04-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

Did you know Friday night was girl on girl night at Club Miami in Atlanta? That said, Da Brat celebrated her 33rd birthday at Club Miami last Friday Night. Don't act like you didn't know.
See the rest of the Pictures at SandraRose.Com

NSF/ESRC Agenda Setting Workshop on Agent Based Modelling of Complex Spatial Systems

2007-04-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Sitting in the Upham Hotel, Santa Barbara at a two day workshop on Agent-Based Modelling.

An interesting day of presentations ahead including a look into representations of complex modeling and a demonstration from David Maguire of ESRI.

Depending on the relevance we will update this post with details and thoughts..

First up is Mike Worboys, University of Maine looking into the technology which is driving effective agent based modelling.

Technology is weaving itself into everyday life until it becomes part of the general human experience, with each new innovation comes new challenges for modelling systems. Temporal progressions infer changes but we often miss occurrent entities and their relationships when developing models....

Distributed models are inherently complex, even if described by simple rules. Rule systems are not enough we need more 'mathematical' principles upon which such systems can be expressed. Credo: Process algebras and their extensions that handle mobility provide a possible next step from cellular rules.

Following on is Marina Alberti from the University of Washington on Modelling Complex Urban Landscape Dynamics: A Pattern-Orientaed Approach. Take a look at the research site for papers and details.

Agent based models are being used at Washington to model emerging phenomena resulting from the interactions of individual entities. Their agents exhibit complex behaviour and learning algorithms based on a hierarchical model.

Dynamic Probabilistic Relations Models (DPRM) are a particular type of nth order Markov model allowing for representation of different types of states and complex relations -each relation is described by its own set of variables. Washington's Bio-complexity Conceptual Model is structured with demographic and a micro simulation of human behaviour, represented by UrbanSim. The interaction between land user and land cover is driven by a number of spatial interactions.

In general the model provides a probability of the transition of rural/semi-rural to urban areas based on past observations and the generated output.

The discussion is subsequently opened up to the floor moving onto both Activity Theory and emerging phenomena in terms of Complex Systems.

Something stinks in Howard Beach

2007-04-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

For years, Shellbank Basin in Howard Beach has given off a horrible stench in the hot summer months. Last week, the Department of Environmental Protection pitched a permanent solution to members of Community Board 10:

Plant Planned to Remove Howard Beach Odors

CB 10 backs facility for Shellbank Basin

Meanwhile, scientists hypothesize that a Cleaning agent is tied to abnormalities in Jamaica Bay.

Photo from Queens Ledger

Honey Rivals Antibiotics

2007-04-15T05:37:00.000-07:00

The 3 R's: Razing, Rezoning & Redevelopment

2007-04-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

Curbed did an interesting post this past Friday on "the links between rezoning, redevelopment plans and demolition" in Brooklyn. The LPC historic districts, marked in yellow, of course are protected.

Brooklyn's Case of the Demolition Measles

Maybe Municipal Art Society will do the same thing for Queens. Maybe I'll win the lottery someday, too.

26th photo of Spring

2007-04-15T04:33:00.000-07:00

Crocus in Ridgewood

Industry-to-housing rezone in Flushing

2007-04-15T03:55:00.000-07:00

More on John Liu's proposed housing district in western Flushing:

Western Flushing in the (Affordable) House?

Flushing Zoning Change Eyed To Boost Affordable Housing

The cleanup's gonna be a real bitch!

Photo of zone from Queens Chronicle

1st Presbyterian Church celebrates 345th year

2007-04-15T03:53:00.000-07:00

Jamaica's landmark First Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 345th anniversary:

Despite the community flux, the oldest Presbyterian congregation in the United States has operated under rule of the Dutch, British and United States without interruption. Today, with 570 members – mostly families and some individuals – the church has transformed from merely a religious destination to a community center.

First Presbyterian To Celebrate 345th

Congratulations!

Photo from First Presbyterian Church's website.

Home Sharing Works

2007-04-15T03:52:00.000-07:00

This may be a better alternative than encouraging developers to replace historic structures with "affordable senior housing":

Home Sharing Preserves Independence

See also: NY Foundation for Senior Citizens

Expeditions to the Seafloor

2007-04-15T00:56:00.000-07:00

It's another beautiful day here in Newcastle so just a short post as we are getting ready to go out for the day.

World populations | Boomers and losers

Architect Claims to Solve Pyramid Secret

3000 Year-old Jinsha Coming to Life

Virtual Cave

Dive and Discover : Expeditions to the Seafloor

Stone Pages - Web guide to Megalithic Europe

Yellowstone Pictures & Photos, Trip Reports, Prints, Gifts and National Park Information

More Wonders of the World? Page 1 Page 2

BLOGEE

5BIOZ

8-clos.com

ALEX ET SES NICHONS!

The most expensive keywords of google adsens!

Mayoral swap proposed

Richmond Hill Republican Club sold!

Fakin' it may be makin' us sick

Avella and Gazette against water hike

The Fort Totten Historic District, part 4

Rally in Fresh Meadows this Saturday!

And speaking of "Queens"...

Congestion pricing considered by city

Stringer says...

The last photo of Spring!

A Taste Of His Own Medicine

50 Cent Baby Mama Cleans Up

Star Wars Personality Test

He May Be Buried But His Funeral Still Isn't Paid For

Joe Frazier Suing His Daughter

Sounds Like A Set Up

Negima! Vol 18 (Ch 167) *SPOILERS*

A History of Lego

Canada and the First World War

Medical Slang

Now why did that fall down?

Completely unbiased coverage

Everybody Wang Chan tonight

It Sure Looks Like Her

City sewer scandal

Luxury hotel will replace hot sheets motel

29th photo of Spring

Get Yo Money Right

Lou Gossett Stiffs The Lakers

Buckwild Host Going To Jail

Dave Chappell Back On The Block

Penis Power

Gehry building is crap

Rivers as runways?

U.S. Conferences to Feature Lectures on Wound Healing with Honey

Cell Phones Hurting Bee Populations?

The value of street trees

Florida That Everyone Forgot

Toddler Does S%&t Face Plant

LI Building Moratorium

School of crap

143 Reasons That I Will Be The Best Girlfriend You've Ever Had

10 Coolest Classic Cars

Le décret français aurait-il fait un émule ?

Now batting: # 7, Sunnyside Gardens

Random Thoughts 01

Foreclosure disclosure

Queens Crap remakes classic movie

28th photo of Spring

Propolis Compounds May Boost Growth of Neural Stem Cells

Antibiotic-Resistant Staph Infections May Be Helped By Medicinal Honey

Since When Are Celebrity House Listings Considered Gossip?

Rising tides

Treading on their turf

Pink prankster strikes again

Angry Cats

Name that Hair-Metal Band

YouTube - Removing the Bot Fly Larva

Baby marmosets and a baby porcupine. Giant Mi...

The hell of St. Mary's

27th photo of Spring

Testing Post - Embedding My Maps to Blogger

Spatial Technology Gallery - Digital Urban at the AAG

YouTube - Billy's Balls 2

NSF/ESRC Agenda Setting Workshop on Agent Based Modelling of Complex Spatial Systems - Day 2

Times Newsweekly editorial on blogging

Keyshia's Fucked Up Easter Performance

Don't Quote Me On This

Zoning Out Suburban Futures

Mike Tyson Trial Date Set For August

Kelis Gets $25,000 To Do Two Songs

Google looses in googles.eu case!

War memorial vs. living memorial

What Age Do You Act?

The testing of the green

Negima! Vol 18 (Ch 167) SPOILERS