Friday, June 7, 2013

True News Updated 24 7

After All the Political Convictions No Reform to State Government

It Takes An Indictment To Change Adult Day Care Rip Offs
Bronx adult day care center tied to Assemblyman Stevenson bribery (4/24/2013, NYDN)
 
Council Bill Would Crack Down on Proliferation of Adult Day Care Centers
Officials said they would introduce legislation this week to increase oversight of programs that have taken advantage of Medicaid payments by luring relatively healthy clients. A bill that will be introduced Wednesday in the New York City Council would impose minimum requirements on the virtually unregulated proliferation of Medicaid-supported adult day care centers

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Mayoral Race

Weiner Fat Cop Joke

Weiner makes big fat cop gaffe (NYP) Mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner put his foot in his mouth at a campaign stop yesterday, implying to a crowd in Brooklyn that NYPD officers are fatsos. The Democratic former congressman was talking about putting cops on bike and foot patrols when he... * Weiner: some cops "could use a few hours on a bike, u know what Im saying?"  * Weiner Creates New Reasons to Apologize(NY Mag)
*  Anthony Weiner to meet with Rev. Al Sharpton, speak at rally(NYDN)Weiner will meet privately with Sharpton at his House of Justice in Harlem and then speak at the weekly rally that is held there and broadcast on the radio. * Anthony Weiner has nothing to lose (Wash Post) * Met fan Weiner: "I'd love to have Major League Soccer here in Queens. Heck, I'd like to have Major League Baseball here in Queens first." * Swing and a miss! Weiner beats on Mets during pitch for soccer in Queens(NYP) * Weiner Shrugs Off ‘New York-Style’ Confrontation at Democratic Club(NYO) * Anthony Weiner sidesteps a reference to his sexting scandal.



 A television advertisement featuring former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani touting Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota’s leadership in the wake of 9/11 drew criticism from Lhota’s rivals and several civic leaders
Lhota's Giuliani Ad Draws Attacks(WSJ)
Some Say New Television Ad Opens Door for Criticism of 9/11 Role. Bloomberg: Lhota Not Only Candidate with 'Proven Leadership' (WSJ)* Republican Hopeful John Catsimatidis Skipped Running -- AND Voting -- For Mayor In 2009


 City's Bar Association Hosts Latest Forum For Mayoral Candidates(NY1)




Feisty Words Fly At Queens Mayoral Debate(NY1)


35m
What's the Yiddish word for pander? "Quinn's rivals hit BBerg for regulating a controversial circumcision practice"

Moving run-off in mayoral primary back a week will help Republican nominee, giving Ds less time to unite, experts say

Cats Did Not Vote In 2001 and 2009
Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis didn't vote in 2009 because "the line was out the door" when he showed up to vote, a spokesman said. He also skipped the 2001 race. [Erin Durkin]

Piers Morgan and Chris Quinn Discuss 'The Weiner' and the Mayor's Race
Christine Quinn Defends Surveillance in Wake of Monitoring Reports
Quinn slams mayor for failing to appoint community-investment board member — then reveals her own belated pick.  

Needs of Small Businesses Ignored by Mayoral Debate
Will a Democrat for mayor stand up for small stores?(The Villager)
 The elephant in the room was what was not debated: the closing of our small businesses and a lack of criticism of a 20-year Republican mayoral economic philosophy for New York City that many feel is a disaster for small businesses and the middle class.





Muslim Democratic Club of NY endorses : . Our story on him courting the Muslim vote:

inbox: "REVEREND FLOYD FLAKE TO ENDORSE BROOKLYN DISTRICT ATTORNEY JOE HYNES FOR REELECTION"
 
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Silver Lopez Sued

Sorry Does Not Cut It
Two employees of the NYS Assembly say the Assembly speaker, Silver, worked with former Assemblyman Vito Lopez to hide allegations of wrongdoing
Gropez ‘victims’ mining for $ilver (NYP) Two young women who say they were sexually harassed while working for disgraced then-Assemblyman Vito Lopez want Speaker Shelly Silver to pay up for allegedly enabling the pervy politician’s come-ons and other “deplorable” antics. In two law suits...  * Suits Say Silver Helped Lopez Conceal Sexual Misconduct(NYT)
Two lawsuits filed by former staff members of ex-assemblyman Vito Lopez accuse Lopez of sexual harassment and charge that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver “aided and abetted” the sexual discrimination, the Daily News reports: * SEX IN GOV'S MANSION: New harassment bombshell as two Vito Lopez staffers file suit against him, Sheldon Silver(NYDN) * More details on the lawsuits filed against Vito Lopez by former staffers, including the allegation the former Brooklyn lawmaker’s far-fetched scheme to have one of them to have a tryst at the governor’s mansion.* Disgraced Vito Lopez urged young female staffer to have sex with a Gov. Cuomo official to get housing bill passed: SHOCK LAWSUIT

What About Vito Lopez's None Profit Machine That He is Using to Collect Petitions and Run for City Council?
New York AG goes after political nonprofits(Politico)
 Vito Lopez Uses Government Funds to Run His Machine(True News)

True News Exclusive First Sign of Vito Lopez Petitioning for City Council
Daily News: Lopez Departure Does Not Purify Albany
The Daily News predicts that the two women suing Silver for letting Lopez victimize them will win their cases and calls for Silver’s ouster from the Assembly.  DN: "Surely, Silver will not have the gall to mount a defense or to tap the taxpayers to cover settlements."The departure of pervy Vito Lopez from office doesn’t purify Assembly (NYDN Ed) Shelly Silver must not remain as speaker * State GOP keeps up anti-Silver drumbeat in radio ads (TU) * Cox Once Again Calls For Special Prosecutor: State Republican Chairman Ed Cox this morning once again called f...



Silver holds Plaza fund-raiser as Assembly is poised to pass campaign finance (NYP)reform State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his political arm squeezed business fat cats, labor leaders and lobbyists for campaign cash at a swank fund-raiser at the Plaza Hotel today – as the Assembly is about to pass a campaign finance reform bill....  

  
From City and State A Clean View
Oh please, won’t you pay attention to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s legislative agenda? Never mind the wiretaps, the indictments, the groping, the drunk driving arrests, the resignations, the lawsuits, the toking up, the selling out, the sentencing, the apologies, and the general sense of entitlement of those in power.

Cuomo wants you to see through the miasma of members’ misanthropy and savor his Tax-Free initiative, his Women’s Equality Agenda and his casino gaming plans. And he wants you to bug your representatives, no matter how distracted they may be, to make them the law of the land. For if they fail, no one is a winner—and we’re all losers.

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Legislative Session Ending


Whatever is Accomplished In Albany This Year Will Only Become Clear On the Last Day of the Session - The Cuomo Style

It is All BS Until the Deal is Cut
With the legislative session drawing to a close, Senate Republicans are frustrated that Assembly Democrats are sitting on bills that get tough on crime, while several Assembly priorities have remained bottled up in the Senate, the Times Union writes * A perennial June sport in Albany: accusations and cross accusations of foot-dragging between the Senate and Assembly.

Report Says State Economy Grew Slower Than National Rate In 2012(NY1)

NY's per capita GDP "fell from No. 5 among states in 2011 to No. 7 last year."

Some Dems Concerned That NYC Is Being Left Out Of Cuomo's Tax-Free Job Creation Plan(NY1)

A lawyer representing the towns of Vernon and Verona in Oneida County wrote a letter to state and federal prosecutors accusing Gov. Andrew Cuomo of purchasing the vote of the Oneida Indian Nation in giving them a casino monopoly, the Syracuse Post-Standard writes:

The Journal News argues that Cuomo might have to accept a compromise on the Women’s Equality Act that excludes a provision codifying abortion rights: *  Sen. John DeFrancisco calls the abortion component of the women’s agenda a “non-starter.”

In the Times Union, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a senior attorney at the NRDC, said that the state’s Public Service Commission should consider the history of a Canadian company set to purchase an upstate electric utility: 

Republican senators complain their tough-on-crime measures always stall in the (by )

7m
Extender of binding arbitration for police, firefighters now on floor calendars in both houses. Whither the Gov? ___________________________________________________________________________________
Espada's Long Goodbye

Judge disputes Espada's claim he privately urged a verd(NYDN)
The federal judge presiding over former state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr.’s embezzlement trial denied Espada’s claims that he coerced jurors in the case to reach a verdict, saying he wasn’t even in the building at the time


 
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No Transparency Bills

"Senator Rules" is Mike Bloomberg(Queens Crap)

From the Queens Chronicle:
Within the halls of Albany roams a lawmaker, unelected and unseen, with one role: to introduce legislation no other state senator wants to be associated with. “Senator Rules” is his (or her) name, and he (or she) is the lead sponsor of a bill currently in the Senate’s Rules Committee that will alienate what is now parkland to allow the United States Tennis Association to expand its presence in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The legislation literally lists “Rules” as its sponsor, reflecting the committee’s ability to refer bills to itself. It is part of a common practice in the Senate, sources with knowledge of Senate practices told the Chronicle. “Senator Rules” is the resulting fictitious lawmaker jokingly referred to in the halls of the state Capitol for such bills. But intrigue surrounds who exactly pushed for the USTA alienation bill. Several lawmakers demurred at speculating who pushed the Rules Committee to take up the bill, but several sources said a Republican-controlled Senate committee would not grant anonymity to a Democratic lawmaker. 

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BOE $98 Million Scanner Crime Ignored


Legislature Appears Set to Delay Date for Primary Runoffs in Mayoral Race(NYT)
New York City’s Board of Elections said it wanted the extra week to determine the Sept. 10 primary results and prepare for the runoff. * Mayor On Board As BOE Inspects Lever Machines(NY1)

You know all the really good lever machine techs retired when the machines did. How much is the Shoup tech contract?


BOE Scanner Vendor Paying Grandson of Queens GOP Leader Payoff for A Pay to Play Contract
BOE Corruption Investigation

True News Has Confirmed From A Current Top Executive That BOE warehouse employee Phil Ragusa the nephew of the Queens GOP leader is on the payroll of ESS as A Paid Consultant.

New Yorker's Were Prevented From or Had A Hard Time Voting Because of A Corrupt Contract
The BOE purchased the scanners and a maintence contract from ES&S that every New Yorkers now knows cannot do the job of allowing voters to vote and counting them.

Mayor Bloomberg continues to slam NYC's electronic voting system. "It is just a nightmare," he said.

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Did 911 Corruption Lead to Death


911 dispatcher LAUGHED during fatal stabbing call - then passed along bad info to cops(NYP)
 A 911 dispatcher was caught on tape laughing about a call for a Brooklyn stabbing — then passing along bad information to cops that allowed the victim’s body to rot for days in a basement apartment... The city's "glitchy" 911 emergency call system may have contributed to the death of 4-year-old car crash victim Ariel Russo. [Juan Gonzalez] * EXCLUSIVE: SHE WAS STILL ALIVE! Four minutes lost to 'human error' delayed help in reaching little girl as she lay dying from horrific SUV hit on the upper West Side * 911 Worker’s Error Delayed Response to Crash That Killed Girl, Officials Say(NYT) * The Three Worst 911 Operators of the Week(NY Mag) * FDNY Cites Human Error In Fatal Crash Response(NY1)



The cops made me do it(NYP Ed)
A sweet, beautiful 4-year-old girl is dead, her grandmother is injured and a lawyer wants to blame the police. The story begins Tuesday morning with 17-year-old Franklin Reyes, who was driving the family SUV without permission and with only a learner’s permit. Cops pulled him over on West 89th Street for driving recklessly. As the police walked up to his car, Reyes sped off, leading them on an eight-block chase, blowing through red lights. It ended with Reyes hitting and killing Ariel Russo, as well as injuring Russo’s grandmother, Katia Gutierrez.

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Pension Special Interests

In the Post, James Copland, the director of the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Legal Policy, accuses Tom DiNapoli and John Liu of using the public’s pension funds to advance positions favored by special interests:

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Bloomberg Taxi Victory

A State Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the Bloomberg administration’s plan to issue up to 18,000 “hail licenses” for livery cabs in NYC, overturning a lower court ruling that stalled the plan last year
 Boros get gift of cab(NYP)
The city’s streets will no longer be a sea of yellow — next month, a fleet of “apple green” taxis will begin accepting hails from riders in upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs, the city announced yesterday.  The city’s newest form of...  * Hail, yes!(NYP Ed) * Court Permits Hailing of Taxis Across the City(NYT) * Mayor's Taxi Plan Gets Green Light(WSJ) * Court Rulings OK Five-Borough Taxi Plan, Street Hail App(NY1) * Mayor Bloomberg Celebrates ‘Bloomy Cars’ in the Boroughs(NYO)

  
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Education

NY1 Online: UFT President Talks Teacher Evaluations, Mayoral Politics
Harlem Children Zone's new charter school opens(NYDN)

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Hospital in Trouble

 Suitors line up for LICH(NYDN)At least seven suitors are eying troubled Long Island College Hospital in Cobble Hill — while its current owner is bleeding out crucial medical staff, doctors charged

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A Parade Examined



As Puerto Rican Parade Grows, So Do Complaints(NYT)
Organizers of the New York City event, which attracts two million spectators, are being scrutinized for how it is organized and what they do with the money it generates.
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Big Brother

Feds on right ‘track’ (NYP) WASHINGTON — New revelations of government tracking of millions of phone calls to help combat terrorism had the Obama administration playing defense yesterday — but congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle say critics are overreacting. ...

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Cheep Buses

Safety Agency Shuts Down Discount Bus Line(NYT)

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Bike Share
The Daily Show Mocks Citi Bike Opponents(NY Mag)
‘Daily Show’ Takes On the Bike Share Program (NYT)
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Gentrification

Tenants file suit to block alcohol-serving Denny's from New York condo building: 'They bring a lot of people we don’t want'(NYDN)

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Chase Plaza Still Closed

Another Summer Nears Without Chase Manhattan Plaza(NYT)
Building Blocks: The plaza, which opened in 1961, has been fenced off since September 2011, a year after the owner received approval to make repairs.





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Media
Queens man freaks over IRS bill, attempts suicide outside 'Today' studios(NYP) * Man Slashes His Arms Outside ‘Today’ Show Studio(NYT)


The New York Times Altered Its Obama Criticism for ‘Clarity’(NY Mag) * Why did the New York Times tweak its editorial?

The New York Post lays off 13.



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Washington

President Obama’s Dragnet(NYT Ed)
The scooping up of all our phone records is an abuse of power that demands a real explanation.
The New Security Team (NYT Ed)
Susan Rice and Samantha Power bring activist styles to their new positions in the Obama administration. 
Few in GOP Step Forward For N.J. Senate Race(WSJ)
32m
. changes scathing editorial:








US intelligence chief denounces info 'leak'...

Gov't Mining Data From 9 Leading Internet Firms - Gellman & Poitras, WP
Stop Freaking Out About Government Surveillance - Will Saletan, Slate
We Have the Elements of a Police State Here - Mark Levin, FOX News
Obama's Agenda Scorched By Exploding Scandals - Susan Page, USA Today
The Republican Spite Club - Paul Krugman, New York Times
IRS Can't Plead Incompetence - Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal
Absent Facts, Republicans Still Talk Scandal - Scot Lehigh, Boston Globe
IRS Corruption Is a Systemic, Character, Moral Issue - Rep. Trey Gowdy
The GOP's Tyranny of the Minority - Jamelle Bouie, The Daily Beast

Time for Conservatives to Fix the Rigged Game - Tim Carney, Examiner
Will 2014 Be a "False Positive" for GOP? - Ron Brownstein, National Journal
Why Obama Keeps Losing at the Supreme Court - Ilya Shapiro, Bloomberg
Rice & Power: Right Choices at the Right Time - John Prendergast, Politico
At White House, Liberal Interventionists Ascend - Jacob Heilbrunn, LAT
Message From Ruins of Qusair - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
The Amish Are Getting Fracked - Molly Redden, The New Republic
Did Reagan, Not Obama, Slow the Rise of the Seas? - Rupert Darwall, WSJ

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING, LISTENING, READING....
Editorials
New Phone Record Seizures Raise Basic Issues - Investor's Business Daily
Obama Administration Has Now Lost All Credibility - New York Times
Mining Your 'Metadata': Can You Hear Us? - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Why Did Obama Administration Keep Program Secret? - Washington Post
Eugene Robinson: The government has too much power to pry 
With Little Time Before Election, Senate Race in New Jersey Begins to Take Shape
Administration Says Mining of Data Is Crucial to Fight Terror
 An IRS Political Timeline - Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal
Scandals Create Credibility Crisis for Gov't - Ron Fournier, National Jrnl
White House in Crisis, Obama Doubles Down - Doug Schoen, Forbes
No Amount of "Rebranding" Will Help GOP - Ana Marie Cox, The Guardian
Time to Flatten the IRS? - Steven Hayward, Power Line
ObamaCare Obsession Will Kill the GOP - Noam Scheiber, New Republic
Conservatism Is the GOP's Problem - Josh Barro, Business Insider
"Top Secret" Should Mean Just That - Max Boot, Commentary
Time to Dial Up Some Healthy Skepticism - Jonah Goldberg, NRO
The Problem With Metadata - Jane Mayer, The New Yorker
Baseball's Steroid Collusion With the Feds - Matt Welch, Reason

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Law and Order



Nearby Shootings Don’t Ruffle a Stately Brooklyn Neighborhood(NYT)
Residents say the spate of violence has happened outside or on the margins of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, not within its historic district of single-family homes. Lenox Road, not far from where three people were shot on Sunday about a block from the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens boundary.

Kosher Nostra plea(NYP)
Three Orthodox Jewish brothers accused of trying to intimidate a Brooklyn teen girl into dropping sex-abuse charges against a prominent Hasidic counselor avoided jail time yesterday by pleading guilty. Jacob, Joseph and Hertzka Berger were charged with coercion last year for ripping down the kosher certificate at a Williamsburg restaurant owned by the teen’s then-boyfriend. * Three Brooklyn brothers who admitted trying to bully Hasidic sex abuse victim's boyfriend receive no jail time(NYDN)

‘Hey, gals – be a ho!’(NYP)  Money, homes, cars, ski vacations — with perks like these, who wouldn’t want to be a hooker, a defense lawyer asked at a bizarre Manhattan sex-trafficking trial yesterday. “I’m trying to find a job myself that pays me 10 grand a week,” defense...
 NYCLU Report Shows Racial Disparities In Marijuana Possession Arrests(NY1)
NYCLU: Blacks get pinched for pot more in NYC(NYDN)

More security cameras for Staten Island as councilmen pursues a new "Ring of Steel"
Slay wife’s lock panic (NYP) The Queens woman killed by her cop husband contacted a locksmith to have her front-door locks changed just hours before she was gunned down, sources said yesterday. NYPD school-safety agent Lana Morris — whose husband, Sherlon Smikle, 33, shot her... NYPD sting busts 156 johns in second massive bust this(NYDN)
Not to Be Outdone, NYPD Arrests 156 Johns(NY Mag)








 Cops hunting for lower East Side gunman(NYDN)

Ex-Leader of Planned Mosque Near Ground Zero Settles Suit With Donor

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Terrorism


PRISM Stopped Najibullah Zazi From Blowing Up Backpacks in the Subway(NY Mag)


Obama defends NSA surveillance: 'They help us prevent terrorist attacks'(NYP)
US online surveillance helped foil Islamist militant plot to bomb NYC subway: report(NYP)






Actress wife arrested in Bloomberg, Obama poison letter plot after trying to pin on hubby

Woman From Texas Is Charged in Ricin Case