Mainstream News

Parents sue after their son’s remains used in police dog-training

"Niagara County officials in western New York are facing a lawsuit from the parents of Roger Dunn, who allege that a coroner took a piece of his body for canine police-training after he died last year. Dunn, 32, was killed in an automobile accident in Cambria on April 13, 2012 according to the Associated Press. His body was transported to the office of Niagara County Coroner Russell Jackman, but not before he provided some of Dunn's tissue to a volunteer firefighter chief Vincent Salerno, who was trying to train a dog to track human remains. Both Jackman and Salerno resigned and were charged with misdemeanors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingParents sue after their son’s remains used in police dog-training

Woman scams metal buyers out of thousands with fake silver bars

"Police are looking for a woman who they say sold several hundred fake silver bars to local metal buyers under the guise that it was real silver. According to police, a 40-year-old white woman came to the Traverse City area in late April and sold these metal bars to at least three different precious metal buyers in the area. On April 27th, the woman walked into Bay West Antiques and sold 100 silver bars to store owners, Holly Dalley and her husband Pete. Real silvers bars are currently worth just over $24.00 each. Police say the suspect was paid over $6,500 from three different local businesses and has now left the area." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWoman scams metal buyers out of thousands with fake silver bars

How To Make A Quick $1,944,000

"Buy a truckload of cigarettes in Virginia and sell them in New York. Yeah, it's illegal. But that's how much can be made from selling a tractor trailer's worth (that's 800 cases, each holding 600 packs of cigarettes) of low-tax Virginia cigarettes in high-tax New York, based on estimates from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. And that's exactly what criminals are doing. In 2011, more than 60% of all cigarettes sold in New York were smuggled in from another state, according to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank. That's up from about 36% in 2006." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow To Make A Quick $1,944,000

Sleeping Bag Coat for the Homeless Finds Fans in the Fashion World

"A few years ago, Veronika Scott, now 23, set up a coat manufacturing business in a graffiti-covered building in an old Irish manufacturing neighborhood of Detroit. She had a few sewing machines and a drive to help the homeless. Since late 2010, Scott and her employees -- 10 formerly homeless women who moved into housing only after they started working for Scott's nonprofit company, called The Empowerment Plan, have made more than 1,000 of the coats, which have been distributed for free to the homeless nationwide -- mostly by nonprofits in Detroit and Ohio but also in San Francisco, New York, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Aspen and Philadelphia." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSleeping Bag Coat for the Homeless Finds Fans in the Fashion World

Turns Out British Spies Were Giving Bags of Cash to Karzai, Too

"A week after we learned that the CIA delivered bags full of cash to Afghan President Hamid Karzai in exchange for his cooperation, the United Kingdom's MI6 admitted to doing the same thing this weekend. While the British spies say they forked over just a fraction of what their American counterparts did, the new information proves that this quasi-bribery scheme was hardly an isolated incident. In fact, it sounds like it was a big part of the allies' operation in Afghanistan. The leader called the CIA and MI6 contributions an 'easy source of petty cash' for dealing with the Taliban." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTurns Out British Spies Were Giving Bags of Cash to Karzai, Too

Geneva unveils wireless electric bus technology

"A revolutionary new electric bus that operates without overhead wires will begin operating in Geneva next month. The bus was developed by a public-private consortium including ABB Sécheron, the Geneva public transport authority (TPG) and SIG, the canton of Geneva’s utility company and supplier of electricity. The articulated bus works on a flash system that allows it to be recharged in 15 seconds at every stop with an overhead device that delivers 400 kilowatts of electricity. The vehicle is capable of storing enough energy to operate between stops, the consortium said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGeneva unveils wireless electric bus technology

New York City bike-share program bans riders who weigh more than 260 pounds

"It is 'prohibited' for any rider who weighs more than 260 pounds to sign up for the soon-to-launch initiative — prompting backlash from riders who say the fat-shaming rule is enough to make them fly off the handle. Everyone who signs up for the program has to agree to a contract, which states users 'must not exceed maximum weight limit (260 pounds)' because the bikes can’t hold that much heft. Would-be riders called the rule unfair, saying the 40-pound cruisers are plenty sturdy. Others claimed the rule makes no sense — especially at the height of the city’s obesity problem. Several bike-shop owners agreed that the weight limit was bogus." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York City bike-share program bans riders who weigh more than 260 pounds

Dave Gold dies at 80; entrepreneur behind 99 Cents Only chain

"Dave Gold launched his 99 Cents Only Stores empire in Los Angeles at age 50 after mulling over the idea for over a decade. The thrifty entrepreneur took the dollar store concept and introduced it to middle-class and upscale neighborhoods. In the process, he created a chain that has become a mainstay for families squeezed during hard times or those who simply love a good bargain. Long before dollar stores dotted many street corners, Gold opened the first 99 Cents Only store in Los Angeles in 1982. It was the beginning of a chain that would exceed 300 stores in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDave Gold dies at 80; entrepreneur behind 99 Cents Only chain

Botched Kim Dotcom case spurs New Zealand to allow domestic spying

"New Zealand unveiled plans Monday to allow its foreign intelligence agency to spy on local residents, to fill a loophole exposed when Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom was illegally snooped upon. Prime Minister John Key said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) needed additional powers because the challenges facing intelligence agencies had changed enormously in the past decade. Existing legislation says the GCSB is supposed to focus on foreign intelligence and cyber-security, explicitly forbidding it from spying on New Zealand citizens or residents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBotched Kim Dotcom case spurs New Zealand to allow domestic spying

Amsterdam forced Jews to pay rent while in WWII concentration camps

"Amsterdam council has vowed to probe revelations that it forced Jews returning from World War II concentration camps to pay rent arrears, even if their homes had been destroyed or occupied by Nazis. The scandal, involving an unknown number of Jews and non-Jews living in city-owned properties, was uncovered by a young art history student in Amsterdam’s archives. Less than a quarter of Amsterdam’s Jewish population survived the war, with the Netherlands occupied by the Nazis from 1940 to 1945. The council even issued fines for late rent payments for homes that were confiscated and occupied by Nazi forces or members of the Dutch collaborationist NSB movement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmsterdam forced Jews to pay rent while in WWII concentration camps