- New York City is relentless - and no just its busy streets
and insane real estate prices. Now, NYC is weighing a 10-cent surcharge on plastic
bags, a la many European cities. The city council wants grocery and retail stores to
charge customers 10 cents for each plastic bag they use, with the dual aims of
a) padding their own city’s pockets and b) (allegedly) cutting own on the
100,000 tons of plastic bags the city pays $10 million a year to put into
landfills and to clean up the city. New York’s move toward a complete nanny
state has already included the brilliant (a smoking ban) and the moronic (a ban
on oversized sugary drinks), but this is a turn in a different direction.
Council members who support it insist the new law is not a tax because the
stores will keep the money. Then again, does anyone who would have to pay the
money care where it goes? Some shoppers have expressed support for the plan,
but others have noted that the practice is already in place in Connecticut and
they believe it is an unfair one. Sure, making shoppers double-clutch on the
decision to use another bag is prudent in an environmental sense, either in
compelling people to bring reusable bags with them or recycle plastic bags on
their own, but is there really a need to make daily living in one of the world
priciest cities even more expensive? The lone exception for the new law would
be folks on food stamps, but the overall goal would be convincing everyone to
switch to reusable bags and not simply changing to paper bags that still have
to be hauled away for recycling. Supporters of the bill cite the success of the
concept in other cities, but the National Federation of Independent called the
proposed law a tax that will hurt consumers and small businesses. It will be formally
introduced Thursday………
- How much money can Christian Bale say no to? The British-born actor
made it clear after the last in his trio of “Batman” movies wrapped that he was
done playing Gotham’s caped crusader. Bale and director Christopher Nolan both
said they were walking away even though the powers that be behind the franchise
never said they were ending it with their two top stars leaving. Now, Warner
Bros. is desperate to win back Bale as Batman and executives are reportedly
willing to pay upwards of $60 million to make him change his mind. The plan is
to have Bale star alongside “Man of Steel” leading man Henry Cavill in the
upcoming “Batman vs. “Superman” action hero epic. Sources near the project said
Bale feels immense pressure to take the offer, as would anyone who was
basically having a fleet of Brinks trucks backed up to their door for a few
months of work on a movie. Part of Bale’s reasoning for walking away from
arguably the most lucrative gig of his career was his desire not to be
pigeonholed as Batman, a notion executives plan to counter by arguing that
Robert Downey Jr. has managed to avoid that fate despite appearing in four
“Iron Man” films - three in a leading role and one in “The Avengers” - in less
than a decade. Bale is every bit the actor Downey is and would most certainly
get offers for other projects, ones that don’t involve any capes, masks or
superheroes, when he finished work on “Batman vs. Superman.” Oh, and even if he
didn’t, $60 million or so and being known as the face of one of the best action
franchises in years would be a pretty nice capper to a career…….
- Staging "one of the largest international penny
stock frauds and advance fee schemes in history,” eh two shady Canadians? That
is what two Canucks have been accused of after being arrested Wednesday in
Thailand. The alleged thieves are Canadians accused of scamming more than $140
million by selling worthless penny stocks to people around the globe at
pumped-up prices, federal authorities in New York said. Gregory Curry, who
had been hiding out in Thailand for 14 years, was arrested Tuesday at his
ex-wife's house in Kabin Buri district in the eastern province of Prachin Buri,
Lt. Col. Kanaphat Phahumunto said. "His Thai wife told police he paid her
20,000 baht ($630) to find a place for him to hide and we found him on Tuesday
morning at his ex-wife's residence," Kanaphat said. Sandy Winick, the
suspected mastermind of the plot, was apprehended by Thai police on
Saturday. The two men are the core of a nine-man posse identified by the
FBI as those who allegedly set up a fake law firm that charged victims them to
try to get their money back. The first seven suspects were arrested last
week in North America. "[Winick and Curry] thought that they could simply
run away from their crimes. Today, with the help of our friends in Thai law
enforcement, we once again showed that fraudsters cannot hide from the
law," U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch said in a statement issued
Tuesday. Law enforcement officials FBI called the scam "one of the
largest international penny stock frauds and advance fee schemes in history”
and now, all nine suspects will have their day in court for their alleged crimes
against the world……..
- The NBA is moving forward with its fashion and one of the
league’s premier franchises is at the front of the pack. The Los Angeles Lakers
have won more championships than any franchise other than the Boston Celtics,
but their immense tradition won’t stand in the way of them becoming one of the
teams rocking short-sleeve jerseys designed by adidas next season. The Lakers
will follow in the footsteps of Golden State, which was the only team in the
league to wear the jerseys last season, and will be one of the 10 teams
scheduled to play on Christmas day that will wear the short-sleeve creations. Sources
confirmed that the team will wear the new-look gear multiple times next season.
According to adidas, the uniforms are
26 percent lighter than the traditional NBA jersey. For the Lakers, the new
tops will be white, the same color as the alternative uniforms the Lakers
introduced for the 2002-03 season and traditionally wear on Sundays. Of course,
this change may matter at the team shop and NBA.com online store, but it won't
help the Lakers replace the departed Dwight Howard or win games if Kobe Bryant
isn’t healthy to start he season as he recovers from an Achilles’ tendon tear.
A history full of with Hall of Famers and championships galore won't change
that either, but maybe a new look will help in some respect. The Phoenix Suns,
who recently redesigned their jersey, are also among the teams reportedly set
to wear the short-sleeve uniforms. A total of 17 teams experimented with the
look jerseys during summer league this offseason and depending on how often the
mood strikes them, the Lakers may wear them as many as 12 times during the
2013-14 campaign. Ironically, Lakers point guard Steve Nash suggested last
season that each player should be able to choose his own uniform preference and
insisted he had no problem with the league abandoning tradition by changing the
cut of the jerseys………
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