Cuomo in tough housing crackdown targets tenants, not landlords

According to Governor Cuomo, about one hundredth of one percent of regulated tenants cheat by applying for School Tax Relief that they’re not entitled to. At about $700 per head, that amounts to a whopping $109,200 per year. On the other hand, Cuomo has raked in over $2 million from landlords, so it kind of evens out.

Gov. Cuomo’s office is targeting tenants who use the STAR exemption and live in rent-regulated housing – NY Daily News.

Oxfam pulls a Komen, ScarJo steps down as “Ambassador”

Scarlett Johansson, the actress, model, singer and political activist, has served as a Global Ambassador for Oxfam International since 2007. In her role as an Oxfam ambassador, she raised funds, promoted awareness about global poverty, and traveled to India, Sri Lanka and Kenya to highlight the impact of traumatic disasters and chronic poverty.

Earlier this month, Johansson signed on as the first global brand ambassador of SodaStream International Ltd., an Israeli company that operates in the West Bank.

When the inevitable anti-Israel backlash began, Johansson stood firm, saying she was a “supporter of economic cooperation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine.” Good for her.

Oxfam, it turns out, has a strong policy on Israel: they oppose all trade from Israeli settlements, saying they are illegal and deny Palestinian rights. Oxfam declared that it was “considering the implications of her new statement and what it means for Ms. Johansson’s role as an Oxfam global ambassador.”

ScarJo responded that she has “respectfully decided to end her ambassador role with Oxfam after eight years . . . She and Oxfam have a fundamental difference of opinion in regards to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. She is very proud of her accomplishments and fundraising efforts during her tenure with Oxfam.”

I used to think that Oxfam was a politically neutral charity, just like I used to think that Susan G. Komen for the Cure was. I was so naive.

Scarlett Johansson Stepping Down As Oxfam Ambassador days after Super Bowl ad pulled  – NY Daily News.

Catholic Church still protecting sordid priests

Rev. Matthew Riedlinger quizzed his texting partner about sex videos, pressed for details about intimate liaisons, described sexual acts and encouraged mutual masturbation. He also repeatedly asked to meet.

The Church knew but kept it hidden until the local newspaper started asking questions.

N.J. priest in sexting sting thought he was talking to 16-year-old boy, wanted to meet | NJ.com.

Drunken teens trash house, parents threaten owner for releasing their names

‘Parents of the hundreds of teens who broke into and destroyed former NFLer Brian Holloway’s upstate vacation home are threatening to sue him for outing their brats on Twitter — saying he’s spoiling their chances of getting into college.

‘ “You would not believe the calls that have come in, threatening to firebomb me or hurt or sue me — any manner of things,” the stunned Holloway told The Post Thursday as he toiled away cleaning up the damage at his 200-acre spread in Rensselaer County.’

Parents want to sue ex-NFLer for outing brats | New York Post.

Tyson Gay — first athlete to not whine, deny or sue over positive PED test results

US sprinter Tyson Gay came up positive on a drug test. He’s not planning to sue or slander anyone — unlike some people we could name.

Gay said, “I have to go over everything with USADA first. I will take whatever punishment I get like a man. I do realize and respect what I put in my body and it is my responsibility. I’m going to be honest with USADA, about everything, everybody I’ve been with, every supplement I’ve ever taken, every company I’ve ever dealt with, everything.”

The USADA said it “appreciates his approach to handling this situation and his choice to voluntarily remove himself from competition while the full facts surrounding his test are evaluated.”

All of which makes him a much finer person than Lance Armstrong.

U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay tests positive, won’t race – ESPN.

Marco Rubio made gobs of money off of politics

Marco Rubio says “More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back.”

But government has been very good to Marco Rubio.

In 2005, Rubio got a $300,000 job with Broad and Cassel, a large Miami law firm that had done millions of dollars of legal work for the Florida House.

Rubio earmarked money to Florida International University and later got an unadvertised job as a part-time professor at the school.

After appropriating millions of dollars to Miami Children’s and Jackson Memorial Hospitals, Rubio formed a lobby shop and got contracts with the hospitals.

It’s a degree of self-dealing that would make a Tammany apparatchik blush.

Read more at the HuffPo: Marco Rubio’s Personal Finances Don’t Match His Rhetoric.

Neil Heslin, Father Of Newtown Victim, Heckled By Pro-Gun Activists

For goodness’ sake, you can be against gun control without being an absolute dick about it. The Newtown massacre was less than two months ago and the gun nuts show up to heckle the father of one of the victims.

Bite Me!

Neil Heslin, Father Of Newtown Victim, Heckled By Pro-Gun Activists VIDEO, PHOTOS.

Arizona professor promotes better living through chemistry

Braden Allenby, former Vice President for Environment, Health and Safety at AT&T calls sports doping “enhancement” and thinks that we should get over our opposition to it, because it’s just part of the evolution of our species.

You’d think this was some Onion parody, but it’s not. The guy is actually a professor of ethics at Arizona State University,  and is hoping to study the “ethical, tactical and logistical , legal and policy, military-civilian, and strategic issues raised by the future deployment of bio-medically-enhanced warfighters

Lance Armstrong’s fall: A case for allowing performance enhancement – The Washington Post.

See also: Evolve with technology, or become obsolete

Zumba hooker quite the busy beaver

According to Wikipedia, Kennebunk ME has a population of about 10,798. The percentage age 18 or over is 74.4. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 82.1 males.

Residents 18 and over = 10,798 x 74.4% = 8,033.

Adult male percentage = 82.1 / 182.1 = 45.1%

Males 18 and over = 8,033 x 45.1% = 3,621

Number of clients of the Zumba hooker > 100

Proportion of the adult male population of Kennebunk that patronized Alexis Wright = 100 / 3621 = 2.76%

Police release first round of names of men who allegedly paid Maine Zumba instructor for sex – NY Daily News.