Three people, including a minor, were being held Sunday in the slaying of a newly inaugurated mayor just hours into her term in a gang-troubled central Mexican city. Morelos Gov. Graco Ramirez ordered flags on state buildings flown at half-staff and called for three days of mourning following the killing… Read More
Who needs guns? Mafia now killing people with cancer
Looks like the Italian mafia may be more deadly than anyone ever imagined. An Italian parliament-mandated health survey has confirmed higher-than-normal incidents of death and cancer among residents in and around Naples, thanks to decades of toxic waste dumping by the local Camorra mob. The report by the National Institute… Read More
Supreme Court Justice: Keep America “One nation under God”
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Saturday the idea of religious neutrality is not grounded in the country’s constitutional traditions and that God has been good to the U.S. exactly because Americans honor him. Scalia was speaking at a Catholic high school in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, Louisiana…. Read More
And you thought your tax bill was bad! Apple socked with $350 million bill
Apple has agreed to pay Italy 318 million euros (about $350 million) in taxes for several past years, prosecutors said last week, part of a broader European effort to make multinationals pay what they owe in each country where they do business. Italy has already brought several cases against global… Read More
End of an era? NYC to ditch thousands of payphones
Operator, won’t you help me replace this call? A 9-foot-tall, narrow structure installed this past week on a Manhattan sidewalk is signaling a plan to turn payphones into what’s billed as the world’s biggest and fastest municipal Wi-Fi network. The first of at least 7,500 planned hot spots are due… Read More
Trump to environmentalists: You’re messing up my hair!
Donald Trump has a personal beef with one of the efforts aimed at protecting the environment — it’s messing with his hair. Trump told supporters in South Carolina last week that he’s not impressed by replacements for old aerosol hairsprays that contained ozone-eating chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. “You can’t… Read More
Bare-knuckle brawl breaks out at anti-violence rally
An anti-violence demonstration in Newark, New Jersey, devolved into a physical altercation between two activists. NJ.com reports the small crowd began arguing on the steps of Newark City Hall last week about the city’s attempts to curb violence. The demonstration was organized by two anti-violence groups. They say they wanted to… Read More
Tropical vacation lands cop in hot water
A vacation in Hawaii not only cost a former Connecticut police officer his job, but also led to criminal charges being brought against him. The Stamford Advocate reports Donald Chen was granted two weeks off from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15 by the Stamford police department so he could report for… Read More
San Francisco throws birthday party… for a rhino!
The San Francisco Zoo this weekend celebrated the 45th birthday of the oldest black rhinoceros in North America with a special cake of rolled oats and molasses. The exact date of Elly’s birth isn’t known, as she was born in the wild. But she has lived at the zoo since April… Read More
Two of Carson’s top advisers resign
Two of Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson’s top paid advisers are leaving the campaign with only a month to go before Iowa’s leadoff caucuses. That’s according to Carson’s Iowa director, Ryan Rhodes. He says Carson campaign manager Barry Bennett and senior campaign spokesman Doug Watts are “out” as of Thursday…. Read More