- Chris Christie, beware. Christie has been über-vocal in
recent weeks, speaking out loudly about the federal government’s lack of
response to the needs of Hurricane Sandy victims. The New Jersey governor has
sounded a lot like another politician who once presided over an area battered
by a natural disaster: former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. Nagin denounced the
federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, but the federal government
had its chance to reprimand Nagin on Friday when a federal grand jury on Friday
charged him with 21 counts of public corruption including receiving thousands
of dollars in kickbacks for city services. Nagin faces six counts of
bribery, nine counts of wire fraud, four counts of filing false tax returns and
one count each of conspiracy and money laundering. "Nagin used his public
office and his official capacity to provide favorable treatment that benefited
the business and financial interests of individuals providing him with bribery
or kickback payoffs in the form of checks, cash, granite inventory, wire
transfers, personal services and free travel," the indictment said.
Federal prosecutors allege that in one case, Nagin received $72,500 in bribes,
and $50,000 in another. Some of the alleged crimes stem from countertop company
called Stone Age LLC that Nagin and his sons, Jeremy Nagin and Jarin Nagin,
owned. The company provided granite for projects such as kitchen remodeling and
according to the incidtment, in some cases Nagin received wire transfers and
granite as bribes during his two terms as mayor from 2002-10. He also became a
very vocal figure after a powerful hurricane broke local flood walls swamped
most of his city, killing some 1,500 people and wrecking tens of thousands of
homes. Nagin famously told federal officials to "get off your asses"
as thousands of people who had been forced from their homes waited for help.
Perhaps not so ironically, New Orleans is still struggling to bounce back from
the hurricane and with leaders like Nagin having shepherded them along the way,
it makes sense. Several local and regional businessmen have received deals to
avoid charges and testify against Nagin, so the case against him is strong. Mix
in the Nagin administration's former chief technology officer, Gregory Meffert,
pleading guilty in 2010 to tax fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and
bribery in connection with a city program that received federal funds and the
picture looks even bleaker for the former mayor, who faces up to 48 years in
prison and fines of more than $1 million if convicted on all charges…….
- Something is likely to stink along the East Coast in 2013
and it won't just be the New York Jets. While 2012 was something of a break for
residents of coastal states when it came to the menace known as stink bugs. The invasive
insects from Asia exude a rubber-like stench when they’re crushed and yet,
people tend to keep on crushing them because they’re pests. No one despises
them more than farmers, who mostly received a reprieve from the bugs in 2012.
Unfortunately, environmental experts believe the bugs may make a major comeback
in 2013. Crop growers are already bracing for an insurgence of brown marmorated
stink bugs, which can ruin e all kinds of crops, ranging from corn to peaches.
Unfortunately, stink bug attacks can be impossible to predict because the pests
can live and survive just about anywhere. Experts say there were two primary
reasons 2012 was a lighter year for stink bug bombings: an early spring season
that allowed crops to get a head start before the bugs could attack them and an
unusually high mortality rate for the bugs in 2011. "For some reason that
we don't fully understand, there was high nymphal mortality in the fall of
2011, so that translated into fewer adult bugs in spring 2012," said Chris
Bergh, an entomologist at
Virginia Tech University. Without a definitive explanation as to why the bugs
died, farmers can’t exactly be hopeful about their prospects for a repeat in
2013. According to the U.S. Agricultural Research Service, insect populations
have recovered and in larger numbers — six times more than in the previous
year. Those bugs are hibernating in barns, fields and attics for now and when
spring arrives, they will duel with farmers armed with new pheromone traps to
give an early warning and EPA-approved pesticides to use on an emergency basis………
- Scarlett Johansson has long been an object of desire for
every dude over the age of 10 because of her, um, significant assets. She’s
further entrenched herself as someone for jealous women to look at with a
withering glare by not only scoring roles in blockbuster movies while
distracting husbands and boyfriends everywhere, but also by venturing into
music and releasing an album with indie rock favorite Pete Yorn. She has also
made runs to Broadway and even won a Tony Award for her
role in Arthur Miller's “View From The Bridge” back in 2010. In between filming
chapters of the über-profitable “Avengers” movie franchise and her other film
projects, she is taking another side trip to the Great White Way with a stint
in a revival of Tennessee Williams' “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.” Reviews of the
musical and of Johansson’s performance specifically have been mixed, but there
is no denying that the production has been a commercial success and popular with
theater goers so far, having sold more than 9,000 tickets in its first four
weeks. That number is even more impressive considering that top-tier seats are
priced at a steep $94. Some critics have praised Johansson’s performance in the
production, saying audiences should be pleased with the effort she delivers,
but others have been critical of the emotional depth – or lack thereof – in her
performance and questioned her ability as a singer. Then again, there will
always be haters and critics……….
- Could it be? Is Zimbabwean dictator Bob Mugabe really
agreeing with his biggest rival on the shape of a new constitution in a deal that
appears to reduce some of the broad (i.e. oppressive) powers Mugabe has wielded
during his reign of terror? The rumors may actually be true as the country
prepares for (probably rigged) elections this year. Mugabe and Morgan
Tsvangirai – his longtime political rival and the prime minister in Zimbabwe's
uneasy ruling coalition – have agreed on the basic framework of the
constitution after four years of petty fighting about its design. The two sides
forged ahead in the negotiations largely because they were required by a bloc
of regional states following Zimbabwe's violent and inconclusive elections in
2008, but the process appeared to break down several times over serious disagreements
on more than 30 clauses, including those tempering presidential powers. While
Mugabe actually following through on a promise is anything but a guarantee, the
agreement on the constitutional outline appears to be a major concession on his
part, the sort never seen as he has ruled with an iron fist since independence
from Britain in 1980. Mugabe has shaken off attempts at judicial checks and
held onto the power to declare war and dissolve parliament. According to Constitutional
Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga, the dictator agreed to relinquish some of
those powers as part of Friday’s agreement. Matinenga said the new constitution
introduces a constitutional court and outlines an independent national prosecuting
authority while stripping the president of his or her power r to dissolve
parliament, a body that will be able to revoke the president's declaration of
war. Additionally, the constitution would also set term limits for the chiefs
of the army, police and intelligence services. From this point, the document
will move on to a parliamentary drafting committee and Zimbabweans could vote
on a referendum on the charter as early as April. Mugabe’s latest five-year
“elected” reign of terror officially ends in June and while he will run again, maybe
this time he and his sycophants won't rig the vote to ensure that he remains in
power at the age of 89. Either that or maybe he’ll do his nation a favor and
shuffle off this mortal coil before that decision has to be made……….
- Like a cheating husband who buys his wife a 99-cent
apology card at Dollar General, the National Hockey League is attempting to
make amends after four-plus months of royally f*cking its fans over with a
lockout that wiped out more than half of its current season. As the league
returns Saturday night after a work stoppage that delayed the season and
trimmed the schedule from 82 games to 48, many wondered how the sport could
ever mend fences and rebuild the bridges it had torched with a selfish,
out-of-touch lockout in which both sides – owners and players – dug in and
didn’t seem all that concerned with the fans. On Thursday, in a gesture that is
sure to warm the hearts of zeroes and zeroes of fans from sea to shining sea,
the NHL took out full-page newspaper ads to tell fans it's sorry for the
lockout. The ad says: "Like you, we've missed NHL hockey." It goes on
to claim that the league is "committed to earning back your trust and
support" with "hard work and unwavering dedication." It ran in
about 40 newspapers across the United States and Canada and it would be
meaningful if the people responsible for it weren't the same damn ones who
created the lockout and kept hockey from happening for four months. It would be
like Billy Joel taking out a newspaper ad to tell the family whose house he
plowed his car into in XXXX how much he missed them having a chance to live in
a house without a giant hole in its front wall. Yes, the NHL spent a few
thousand dollars running this farce of an apology in at least one newspaper in
each of the NHL's 30 team markets as well as a handful of national papers in
the two countries, but the goodwill it likely generated in any of those markets
can be measured in a much smaller number: 0………..
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