City crime is one thing, but a New York tabloid has upped the ante - stealing the entire Empire State Building.
The Daily News claimed it had pocketed the 102-storey Art Deco icon by filing fraudulent documents with the city register to expose New York's dangerously lax system for recording property.
According to the News, the "heist" took just 90 minutes. Then they returned the building to its real owners, Empire State Land Associates.
The phoney documents were made even more laughable by appearing in the names of legendary bank robber Willie Sutton and original King Kong movie star Fay Wray.
"The massive ripoff illustrates a gaping loophole in the city's system for recording deeds, mortgages and other transactions," the News said.
"Of course, stealing the Empire State Building wouldn't go unnoticed for long, but it shows how easy it is for con artists to swipe more modest buildings right out from under their owners. Armed with a fraudulent deed, they can take out big mortgages and disappear," the News warned.
#1
Just as long as everyone keeps their hands off of my bridge, they can do what they want.
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
12/03/2008 15:24 Comments ||
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#2
Ah! So this is why I keep getting a past due notice on a mortgage on the UN. Still wont pay.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/03/2008 16:23 Comments ||
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#3
It must be true; I saw it on an episode of Law and Order called "Identity". That case involved a "family man" stealing Lonnie Jackson's identity and his Harlem brownstone.
#1
"This is what mother nature does over the long term... some of the water will seep into the ground and some will evaporate. The lagoon will have four areas and eventually the water will get clearer," Najim told Gulf News. He said this technology is commonly used in countries that cannot afford proper facilities or infrastructure.
#2
they can build the worlds tallest building , new malls. and about anything else that money can buy but not a second sewage treatment plant? where are the euros screaming the enviromental shit at them
#3
Different cultures - different priorities. Why should we care, if we don't have to live with it? Remind me to cross Dubai off my places to visit.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/03/2008 16:17 Comments ||
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#4
The tanker in the picture is, Ima guessin' about 3500 gallons capacity. There are 500 tankers a day. So you have about 1.75 million gallons of wastewater hauled per day. Say everyone uses 50 gallons per day, then you have about 35000 people served. Everyone generates about 0.17 lb BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) per capita, so you have something around....say, 6000 lb BOD per day. A primary cell in a sewage pond, not using air blowers, but just the air/water interface to transfer O2 to water for the bugs to decompose the sewage (BOD) will be 30 lb BOD/acre. So you have a pond in the order of 200 acres. Big pond. You could do something like make 4 ea 50 acre ponds. Then you take the output of those ponds and feed by gravity into a settling pond, where the solids remaining will settle and the effluent clears itself up. You could put a roll type liner in the pond and eliminate ground contamination.
The point of this little exercise is to show that it took about 10 minutes to gage and scope out the problem. With minimal expense, they could have their sewage problems solved.
Another example of simple math, fundamentals of engineering and biology vs. The Insh'allah Effect. When the IE dominates, all you get is a pile of sh*t.
QED
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Nikolaevsk, AK ||
12/03/2008 16:27 Comments ||
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#5
AP wins the combined Rantburg U. and Snark o' the Day award. ;-)
Duffel bags stuffed with cocaine were delivered by plane to an out-of-the-way suburban airport while two sheriff's officers provided security. A police officer stood by to guard the cash and keep out the riffraff at a poker game where $100,000 changed hands. And a drug dealer was told squad cars marked "sheriff" and "sheriff's police" might be available on a "freelance" basis to provide protection for his deliveries.
Such tales of law enforcement gone awry emerged in court papers Tuesday as federal prosecutors unveiled a series of elaborate sting operations aimed at officers who hired out to ride shotgun for drug deals and other criminal activities.
Fifteen officers and two other men who had pretended to be law enforcement officers were charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine or heroin or both.
But the most spectacular pretending was done by the federal agents themselves.
The pilots of the airplane were not drug runners but undercover agents. So were the gamblers who busily played hand after hand of high-stakes poker all for show.
The drug broker who squired the officers to the airport to pick up the duffel bags was an agent. So was the drug dealer who stuffed the bags into his Mercedes-Benz.
U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said he was dismayed to find that so many law enforcement officers had "sold out their badge."
"When drug dealers deal drugs, they ought to be afraid of the police not turn to them for help," Fitzgerald said at a news conference.
Officials paid homage to an unnamed FBI agent who moved into a business in Harvey more than a year ago and set up shop as a drug broker. He soon attracted the attention of police and the corruption grew, authorities said.
They said the agent was sent in undercover because there had been reports of police corruption over the last several years in southern Cook County, including the Harvey police department. An investigation into allegations of robbery, extortion, narcotics offenses and weapons distribution is ongoing, officials said.
Those charged include 10 Cook County sheriff's correctional officers, four Harvey police officers and one Chicago police officer.
Of the 17 defendants, 14 were arrested or surrendered Tuesday and were being immediately brought before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason. Two sheriff's officers are on active duty with Army National Guard units in Afghanistan, and warrants were issued for their arrest.
If convicted of conspiracy to possess and distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine or one kilogram of heroin, the defendants would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life. The maximum fine would be $4 million.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart called the alleged behavior "absolutely reprehensible."
"The responsibility of watching over jail inmates is an important one and it's a shame these men didn't take that responsibility more seriously," he said in a statement.
Each of those charged has been suspended with pay pending a hearing next week, Dart said. "That step will then lead to a request for termination," he said.
Corrupt officials in Cook County? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you. Isn't this like shooting fish in barrel?
Two sheriff's officers are on active duty with Army National Guard units in Afghanistan, and warrants were issued for their arrest.
Then they were federalized, so why not let the UCMJ handle it - cause I can probably get good odds that the penalty will be a lot higher [ie no sense of humor] from the Courts Martial board. Seeing the connection between terrorism and the drug trade in Afghanistan isn't going to be something academic to the board members.
#3
In the 80s women were told that many Cook County Deputies were hit men for the mob and if they tried to pull them over on a dark section of road - to ignore them and drive to a well lighted and populated area before pulling over.
The Bangalore Police is on the lookout for a woman dentist who Bobbitised her doctor lover after he married another woman. The victim, Dr Meer Arshad Ali (32), is in a Bangalore hospital after efforts to trace his dismembered private part bore no result.
Dr Ali and Dr Syeeda Ameena (30) were neighbours in Mysore and reported to be lovers for the last eight years. The friendship between the two apparently blossomed while Dr Ali was studying for his MBBS and Dr Syeeda pursuing her BDS.
Dr Syeeda moved to Bangalore along with her parents after completing her degree, while Dr Ali stayed back in Mysore. Over the years, Dr Ali used to visit Bangalore regularly to meet Dr Syeeda, who had set up Meswak Dental Clinic at Koramangala.
It is learnt that around six months back, Dr Ali married another woman from Lucknow. However, the lovers reportedly used to meet and Dr Ali had told his wife about his friendship with the dentist.
On Saturday, Dr Syeeda invited Dr Ali to her clinic, where she offered him a juice mixed with something which made him lose his consciousness. It is said that she used a surgical blade to Bobbitise Dr Ali, allegedly for betraying her.
Subsequently, the dentist herself offered him first aid when Dr Ali started screaming owing to the pain. When the bleeding failed to stop, she even moved him to a multi-speciality hospital. She fled the spot after handing over Dr Alis laptop and mobile phone.
The relatives of Dr Ali searched for the dismembered part at the dental clinic for it to be stitched back, but it could not be traced.
Though the victims family did not want to inform the police because of the sensitivity of the case and also on account of the guilt Dr Ali carried for not marrying her as promised, a relative of Dr Ali working in the police department lodged a complaint with the Koramangala police.
The police have registered a case for attempt to murder and for voluntarily causing grievous injury.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
. . .were neighbours in Mysore . . .
And the good Doctor thought that was just the name of a place he lived . . .
#4
On Saturday, Dr Syeeda invited Dr Ali to her clinic, where she offered him a juice mixed with something which made him lose his consciousness. It is said that she used a surgical blade to Bobbitise Dr Ali, allegedly for betraying her.
That was not the woman to scorn
Posted by: john frum ||
12/03/2008 19:53 Comments ||
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#11
And to think that Larry Summers was forced out of the presidency of Harvard for merely suggesting that more research was needed to see if there were any innate differences between men and women that would explain why there are a lot more prominent male scientists than female scientists.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/03/2008 20:45 Comments ||
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#12
Somebody please remind me not to piss off Barbara. Thankew.
#14
Any male bonehead who thinks women can't remember never forgot a woman's birthday. Remember? The elephant, of mighty reputation though it might be, isn't even in the same league with the average married woman.
A man suspected of shooting his mother and killing three police officers called to the scene was found beheaded in southern Mexico on Tuesday, authorities said. He shot his Mom? And then killed three cops? And we're supposed to be concerned?
Fabian Ramirez's head was found at a highway intersection in Iguala, a town southwest of Mexico City, according to a statement from the Guerrero state Public Safety department. A message was found nearby: "This is what happens to all those who kill a police officer or a soldier." "Or shoot their Moms."
The department said Ramirez shot his 50-year-old mother in the back Monday, wounding her. He then allegedly killed three police officers who arrived at the scene, including Iguala's police chief. Police captured Ramirez later that day, but four armed men broke into the jail and took him away by force. "We come fer the Mom-shooter, Chuck!?"
"Hokay."
An anonymous phone call led police to the head on Tuesday. "The Mom-shooter's head's in the fork of the tree by the fork in the road!"
"Who's this?"
[CLICK!]
The four armed men were dressed in black and had lettering on their clothes identifying them as agents of Mexico's Federal Investigative Agency, the statement said. However, none of the police officers who had been guarding Ramirez recognized the four men, the department said. "Hi, there, fellows! You sure don't look familiar to me!"
"We ain't."
Officials declined to say whether police were suspected in Ramirez' killing. "Nope. Can't tell."
Beheadings have become common in Mexico's criminal underworld in recent years, most of them attributed to drug cartels trying to intimidate their rivals. Nine men were found decapitated in Tijuana over the weekend. "Spanish fly?"
"No, thanks."
"You wan' rent my seester?"
"No, thanks."
"Then how 'bout a nice head? Make the ladies giggle, eh?"
"Y'got any red ones?"
Southern Guerrero state, home to the Pacific resorts of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, has long been the focal of point of territorial fights between Mexico's drug cartels, land disputes and leftist rebellions. But this happened in Tijuana, not there.
The message found alongside Ramirez' head also included a threat against a powerful rancher and former mayor of the town of Petatlan who went into hiding in May after gunmen killed 17 of his associates and relatives. The message was signed, "the people's avenger." "Señor Former Alcade! This death threat! It's signed with a 'Z'!"
"Sergeant Garcia! Pack my bags! I'm suddenly called away to... ummm... Milpetas!"
Posted by: Fred ||
12/03/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds like Mexico needs a Rapid Action Battalion.
#1
This is some true dart throwing here:
22-170 million birds breed there
8000 - 100000 birds oiled annually
166 million to die over 30-50 years; how does that 5.5 million dead per year compare to the other 16.5-164.5 million who do reproduce?
I'm not gonna say that recovory from oil sands are spic and span but it is Canada it will be done as cleanly as possible as opposed to say, chinese rigs off cuba or hugonauts drilling off venezuela. Articles like this are responsible for over 26486g153148xd434151*687 brain cell deaths annually.
Some of Canada's foremost counterterrorism cops secretly took on a group of young Muslims yesterday, in a pitched contest in downtown Toronto. The result? A 4-4 tie.
Soccer matches, not typically seen as a means of advancing national security, can apparently help get the ball rolling. At least, that sensibility led a group of Mounties and Muslim youth to a downtown stadium yesterday, where an hour spent as soccer adversaries was followed by a friendly question-and-answer session.
Many Mounties and Muslims alike feel they get bad publicity these days. Playing soccer was seen as a chance to bypass perception and the press, and explain themselves to one another directly. "It helped put into perspective that it's not an us-versus-them mentality," explained Muhammad Robert Heft, the Muslim side's goalie and the event's organizer. "You're dealing with a person now, not an idea."
Unfortunately, a Globe and Mail reporter and photographer were turned away from the game, partly due to national-security reasons. When the journalists showed up uninvited, some officers were concerned about their faces turning up in the newspaper. Other Mounties apologized, saying Ottawa headquarters had not cleared the match as a media event. The Muslims were more media-friendly, speaking outside the stadium afterward.
The outspoken Mr. Heft, a Muslim convert recognizable in his trademark white turban, runs a Toronto Islamic centre known as P4E. An avowed fundamentalist, but one who is deeply critical of terrorism, he spent months organizing the match. He said his time paid off, even just to see smiling cops running around with young Muslim men. He described the Mounties as good sportsmen, even if he found them pretty lax about enforcement. "We didn't even have a referee in the game," he said. "... A couple of times, our guys were offside and they [the Mounties] let them go."
Familiar, polarizing topics were touched on during the post-match discussion at centre circle - such as the cases involving Maher Arar, Omar Khadr, and the 2006 roundup of 18 Toronto-area Muslims, mostly young, on terrorism charges. The Mounties, including some officers who worked on these very cases, said they couldn't say much about matters before judges.
After the match, Mostafa Hashamm, a bearded 19-year-old whose wife wears a veil, said he is concerned about unwarranted police scrutiny just about "every time I drive." But he found the Mounties to be "more open than I thought," and he said they mostly talked about "how they can get rid of youth paranoia."
At the conclusion of the event, Mr. Heft, the organizer, thanked the Mounties for their time. Then, he said, he urged them to convert to Islam.
#1
"... A couple of times, our guys were offside and they [the Mounties] let them go."
Knew they cheated and still drew a tie? Ha!
that it's not an us-versus-them mentality," explained Muhammad Robert Heft, the Muslim side's goalie and the event's organizer
By playing competetive sports when teams are declared along such lines...right. Hey Mu'Bob, the infidels scored 4 against you; shame. A pure Arab would have held them scoreless.
a bearded 19-year-old whose wife wears a veil, said he is concerned about unwarranted police scrutiny just about "every time I drive."
Love to burst your conceited little bubble, but I scrutinize every 19 year old behind a wheel, and moreso when I see a 19 year old boy with a scrabbly couple whiskers and somebody with a pillow case over their head slouched in the back seat.
At the conclusion of the event, Mr. Heft, the organizer, thanked the Mounties for their time. Then, he said, he urged them to convert to Islam.
Worse than d2d vacuum sales - "Hey, we see you like balls too. Come join us for some islam after the game."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
