Logic & Sanity

Tatiana got robbed

A popular Russian restaurant in Brooklyn was robbed yesterday morning by an armed strongman who made off with as much as $100,000, police sources told the Daily News.

The general manager was alone at Tatiana Restaurant in Brighton Beach when a masked man sneaked in through a rear door about 8:30 a.m., demanded cash and brandished a gun, sources said.

Manager Leo Blinder, 59, wrestled the gunman and forced him to drop his weapon.

But the thief then pulled a knife and slashed at Blinder.

The thief stole the restaurant's holiday proceeds - which police sources estimated to be $100,000 in cash - grabbed his gun off the floor and fled.

That's an easy one to solve. Look at the bus boys who have recently quit. Then again, they already hopped a plane to Moscow by now...

"Well, you know when it's time to go."

Aw, Rosie finally got challenged on her views and now she's hurt. From her blog:

When one fan wrote, "Work isn't worth that battle," Rosie replied, "Agreed." Another wrote, "Please walk away. It's not worth it." Rosie replied, "Well, you know when it's time to go."

Yep, and that's how easy it is to put Rosie beyond her depth. She just folded.

Poor, poor me!

Police Officer Joseph Harmon found that out yesterday after Daily News columnist Michael Daly detailed how the cop's family could be homeless by June 1 because he couldn't make a living on an NYPD salary.

His plight drew overwhelming support from fellow cops and from kindhearted strangers, who believed the city's strength - conquering the high crime of the 1980s and bouncing back from 9/11 - was due in large part to the men in blue.

"It's scary, but it's not just me. There are hundreds of cops in the same position, all standing behind me," Harmon, 29, said.

Harmon left his job as an accountant with Bloomberg Financial Media to join the NYPD in January 2005. He patrolled public housing in the Bronx and now walks the housing beat in Queens.

For the risk, he takes home $1,247.47 every two weeks - not enough to pay the rent and keep afloat his wife, three children and a fourth on the way.

"I had to suit up every night and solve everyone else's problems. It is funny because I couldn't even solve my own," Harmon wrote in a letter to The News.

I am not against cops getting a raise and I can totally sympathize with a low salary. In fact, I wish they could decrease MTA employees' salaries by 30% and give that to cops.

The problem here, however, is Officer Joseph Harmon's lack of responsibility. The guy takes home $2,500 a month, which works out to, roughly, $45k a year before taxes. Not a lot of money, but a single guy can totally manage on that. But to support a stay at home wife with the fourth kid on the way? That's just sheer stupidity on his part. He should've been too emberassed to cry to the media and have his photo taken. Sorry, no sympathy - I know couples who make way more money and still don't feel financially secure enough to have their first child.

A not so "happy ending"

The tourist and Neely - the alleged "true stunning blonde bombshell" named Tiffany - began arguing over the meaning of "full service massage" and the fact that Neely did not resemble the woman in the ad, which advertised her as "5 feet 5 with a toned petite body," police said.

Eventually, Neely said she was willing to perform a massage with a "happy ending" for $300, police said.

The tourist refused.

As he tried to leave the room, Lang emerged from the closet and leaped on his back while Neely kicked and punched him, police said.

The tourist had several bruises, cuts and lumps on his face, police said.

They "don't see this as robbery. They believe they're entitled to the money whether it's for an hour or a second. There's no backing out," the source explained, adding the women freely admitted to resorting to violence whenever there is a dispute over services rendered or not rendered.

Heh... I don't see why prostitution can't be legal. Regulate it. Tax it. Why not?

Amnesty

I haven't commented on the proposed amnesty, yet, but I'll keep it brief. I have donated quite a chunk of money to my party over the course of the past few years, but I'll not donate another cent to any politician or a party that will support this bill. The fact that this travesty is even being floated around in Washington is making me want to register as an independent.

This post, by Mark R. Levin, sums it up just right:

Ok, we don't have to call it amnesty. We can call it Christmas, since the beneficiaries will receive all kinds of presents from the American taxpayer, including legalized status, entitlement benefits, and so forth.

Where's the outcry? Where are the human shields?

Lebanese tanks and artillery pounded a Palestinian refugee camp in this northern Lebanese city for the second straight day on Monday, trying to trap members of a radical Islamist group and raising concerns for thousands of Palestinians inside the camp.

Government officials said at least 60 people had been killed — 30 soldiers, 15 militants and 15 civilians — in the fighting that began when a police raid on bank robbery suspects early Sunday escalated into one of Lebanon's most significant security crises since the end of the civil war.

Tanks and artillery pounding a palestinian "refugee camp"? Whoa! Not even precision weapons! There's probably a huge outcry amongst human rights groups and quickness to condemn Lebanon... Then again, probably not. The roads to the airports are probably clogged as western "human shields" are hurrying themselves off to Lebanon... Then again, probably not. There are palestinian kids throwing stones at armed, arab soldiers... Then again, probably not. Unlike the Israeli soldiers, these will shoot back.

Check out the video. No kids with stones in sight.

Wrong haul?

From today's Page Six:

THE clueless thieves who burglarized several apartments in a posh building on East 54th Street in March passed up paintings worth a fortune in favor of small change and far less valuable jewelry, sources say. The burglars who broke into art collector Michel Cox Witmer's penthouse passed up works by Rothko, Picasso, Kandinsky and Courbet. "The place was left dirty, but the masterpieces were untouched," said a source. Last week, paintings by the likes of Rothko and Warhol fetched upwards of $70 million at auction.

Clueless or not, but it would be a whole lot harder to move a Picasso then some jewelry. You can hold it for ransom, ofcourse, but that would get too messy...

Tax $ at work

The 150-room SRO hotel at 317 W. 45th St. was built by Vincent Astor, one of New York's richest men, in 1918.

Today, the city is paying an estimated $400,000 a month to house homeless couples.

What's the frigging necessity to house the homeless just blocks from the Time Square??? That's prime real estate!

R.I.P Diego "Chico" Corrales

I don't know how I missed this news, being a boxing fan and all, but apparently Diego Corrales was killed in a motorcycle accident last week. What a shame. Diego was a great boxer who was not afraid to take a punch. His first fight against Corrales is in my top 5. Rest in peace Diego.

Slavery on Long Island

A "monstrous" millionaire couple from Long Island's Gold Coast kept two Indonesian women as slaves for five years in their tony estate-turned-house of horrors - until one victim was found wandering the street half-naked this week muttering, "Master," authorities said yesterday.

The details are pretty bad:

Less than a mile away, authorities said, was what had become her hell on earth: an antiques-stuffed, cedar-shakers mansion where she was beaten with brooms and rolling pins, repeatedly sliced on the ears with a paring knife, starved and forced to sleep on the kitchen floor.

That photo is of the perp. Good luck pleading innocent with that face, lady!