Logic & Sanity

"dimly lit"

Jermaine Washington picked the wrong people to rob yesterday, cops said.

Washington, an ex-con with 33 prior arrests, hid in the bushes along a dimly lit path in Manhattan's Riverside Park just after midnight, intent upon holding up the next two people he encountered, police said.

Unfortunately for Washington, those two people were a pair of armed and uniformed rookie cops.

"It was stupid criminal tricks," said a police source. "The guy didn't even look to see who was coming."

Seems that it's not just the path that was dimly lit. But what's a guy with 33 arrests doing on the street, anyway?

You can lead a plane to water

...but you can't make it drink.

NYPD

[Click on the photo for a bigger version]

I've been wondering for a while if I'll ever get stopped to have my bag searched in the subway, and today it has finally happened when I was about to get on the PATH where the World Trade Center used to be. The female cop was pretty polite, but more importantly - pretty. For a split second I entertained the idea of asking her if she stopped me because she thought I was suspicious, or just cute. I decided against it as her rookie partner looked like the jealous type. Anyway, the whole process took no more then 25-30 seconds. I put down my umbrella, opened up my bag. I had a sealed box of cigars that I forgot to take out the night before, she looked at me inquisitively - "Cigars", I explained. She took the box, held it up, shook it a little - it didn't explode. I was on my way.

No big deal really - didn't feel violated nor did I get an urge to call my lawyer. Heck, maybe I'll start concealing a bouqette of flowers in my bag in case she decides to search me again.

Freight 200

Freight 200 is one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen. Maybe the most disturbing...

The claim that it's based on real events makes it even worse.

Citysearch

Now and then I like to browse CitySearch and read reviews for the places I've visited. A negative review can be very entertaining, but even a positive one can be pretty amusing. Here's a fine example:

This is a typical Russian lounge, me being Russian it worked out beautifully. Me and my friends got lucky on a Friday night we DIDN'T get carded =)~...

Nice! Nothing like drawing heat to a place you like.

"Organic"

We have all seen those "organic" labels on produce which, to most of us, meant that only the price will be much higher. I saw it as a marketing ploy myself, but it looks like I've been wrong [via Consumerist]:

A ten-year study comparing organic tomatoes with standard produce found almost double the level of flavonoids - a type of antioxidant.

Flavonoids have been shown to reduce high blood pressure, lowering the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the team said nitrogen in the soil may be the key.

Dr Alyson Mitchell, a food chemist at the University of California, and colleagues measured the amount of two flavonoids - quercetin and kaempferol - in dried tomato samples that had been collected as part of a long-term study on agricultural methods.

These findings also confirm recent European research, which showed that organic tomatoes, peaches and processed apples all have higher nutritional quality than non-organic
Peter Melchett, Soil Association

They found that on average they were 79% and 97% higher respectively in the organic tomatoes than in the conventionally grown fruit.

Looks like my produce budget is about to expand.

Fashion show in Iran

More here.

Klitschko vs Brewster II

The fight starts in about 5 mins, on HBO (replay at 10pm). My prediction? I am a fan of Brewster and I think he has a real chance of knocking out Klitschko. If he does knock out Wladimir, then it will happen within the first 3 rounds. Otherwise its going to be a borig fight, with Klitschko either knockhimg him out in the last 2 rounds or winning by points.

UPDATE

So, Klitschko has won but, eh, another boring fight. Sure the guy wins fights, but he's just like this big robot. All he does is jabs with his left, throws his straight right once in a while, pushes his opponents head down with the left forearm, and clinches.

*yawn*

Truth about human nature

There's an interesting article in Psychology Today titled Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature. Quite an interesting read. For example - why do men like women with big breasts? One of the theories is that they are a good indicator of age. There's a bunch of interesting info in there, so read the whole thing.

Justice coming, after 15 years

Two immigrants allegedly linked to the Russian mob went on trial yesterday in two gruesome 1992 murders finally solved last year when federal snitches came forward.

"These murders remained unsolved for 13 years," prosecutor John Holmes told two Brooklyn Supreme Court juries for Marat Krivoi, 37, and Vitaly Ivanitsky, 33.

The men are accused of executing Boris Roitman, 21, in August 1992 and pool hustler Thien Diep, 24, four months later.

A friend of mine was pulled a gun on and robbed by either these fellows or the members of their crew back in the early 1990's. Luckily, he didn't share the fate of the above mentioned victims. Gruesome details of the murders and details of the case can be read here. Further reading: the original FBI indictment, other related posts.