Large Form iPod Touch To Launch in Fall ‘09

We’ve got this from three independent sources close to Apple: expect a large screen iPod touch device to be released in the Fall of ‘09, with a 7 or 9 inch screen.

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Mastering the art of the all-you-can-eat buffet

If you’re a Buffet Amateur like me, your pupils dilate and your mouth starts watering as soon as you spot the long table full of steam trays and criss-crossed table cloths. Since then I’ve been tutored on the art of mastering the all-you-can-eat buffet. Everybody’s got their own techniques, but here’s what I’ve learned over the years.

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11 Geeked-Out Movies we're Waiting For in 2009

The holiday movie season has come and gone without so much as a certified blockbuster. Thank goodness for 2009, which is chock-full of movies for every fanboy (or girl).

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Been gone a while

I haven't had much time to update this blog. It's not because I'm busier then before, but because there are so many social networks out there I don't have time to use them all. I'm a big fan of facebook now, so mostly I'll update there in the form of my status. I also use Loopt, which works well in conjunction with Facebook. I'm new to twitter, but I'm loving that as well. If you want to find me at any of these places here are the links.

Facebook
Loopt
Twitter

WASP Knife

The WASP knife is basically a knife with a compressed air cartridge built into the handle. When you stab something (like a person), you push a button and the compressed air fills the cavity and practically freezes the surronding tissue. Basically it will really fuck you up. If you are in Law enforcement, be wary of this. A regular knife in the wrong hands is bad enough. This thing is a disator waiting to happen.

New Camera

It's been a long time since I've owned a "real" digital camera. Most of the pictures you see on this blog are either from my Treo 700p, which has done a pretty good job so far. Otherwise I simply download them off the web from websites (such as the above photo of my new camera) or from friends who send pictures from services such as snapfish or kodak. Now however, I have a brand new toy. This camera looks to do everything I need, with the only sacrifice being it's size. It's a little bit bigger then these ultra small compact point and shoots thats so popular theses days. Our biggest selling point is the lens has a 10x optical zoom, which coupled with it's image stabilization really allows one to get up close and personal. I intend to take many, many photos and post them here when I return!

Travel Companians

Well you know I don't need an excuse to buy new gadgets especially when it's video game. I have a long flight ahead of me, so I figured I'd better get some entertainment in case I don't like any of the movies on board. I picked up a used copy of Gods of War:Chains of Olympus. It's everything it's cracked up to be. I haven't enjoyed a game this much in a long time (maybe since Halo) on the Xbox. While I was at the local Gamestop, I noticed also that the actually had a few Wii's available. That's my next big purchase! Although the long lines for the GTA4 makes me want to buy an 360 or PS3 to see what all the fuss is about.

Iron Man

Go see this movie. Now. It's great. A little tip though. Stay after the credits, you will be rewarded. If you follow Marvel Comics, you'll enjoy the clip at the end. If you don't, you'll be a little confused.

Little Danielle turns one!

Tempust fugit, latin for "time flies". It's so true. I feel it was only a weeks ago that we welcomed young Danielle into the world, and here we are already, her 1st birthday! It was great to see so many of the old gang again. It's funny cause we all look exactly the same just a little bit older, a little grayer and we move a tad bit slower! Of course at each outing, there are more and more kids in tow!

Maria sings the opera!

My first Opera ever, and surprisingly, I loved it! Here's the gang out in support of Maria Todaro, our resident kick boxer/Opera singer! As usual she kicks ass (pun intended)! We saw her show at the John Jay College Theatre, and were thouroughly impressed with both the show and the performance of all the actors! Cool note, they had a cake at the end of the performance, shaped to look like the theatre! Very cool. I tried 2 out of 5 flavors. Chris somehow managed all 5!

Ting ties the knot

It was a long time coming, but Ting finally tied the knot. The wedding was a lot of fun and we did everything from the "electric slide" to traditional thai (laotion) style dancing. I of course continued with my "shadow boxing" dance style, which is very easy to do, but slightly dangerous for your dance partners! Ting congratulations, and we'll certainly miss you when you move off to Iowa!

Giant Stingrays Found Near Thai City [PICS]

Recreational fishers and biologist Zeb Hogan hold a live, 14-foot-long (4.3-meter-long) giant freshwater stingray the fishers caught in the Bang Pakong River in Chachoengsao, Thailand, on March 31, 2008.

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Kwame takes first place!

Kwame's first go at a bona fide karate tournament was a rousing success! It seemed like the cards were stacked against him when he found out there weren't going to be enough people in his division to compete against, so he was forced to compete one division up in the brown belt division. Although outranked, Kwame was far from out classed and competed easily in this higher division.

Kwame did a terrific kata, flowing smoothly from movement to movement, with snappy kicks and loud kiai's. His performance earned him a medal, and there would be more to come. Next he and his uke (partner) expertly performed some very sharp self defense moves which clearly impressed the judges. The throws were clean, the strikes sharp and the overall execution was nearly flawless. Despite having to squeeze in more techniques due to the higher difficulty of the division, and all this having been done last minute, Kwame still managed to take the first place prize! Ouso!

Lastly, after having already competed in 2 events, Kwame went on to the last event. A grueling exchange of punches and kicks which utimately culminated in Kwame taking an impressive second place win. Although at one point a judge warned him for an illegal technique to an opponents head, Kwame was clearly in the running for another first place win. A lucky shot by his competitor sealed the deal, ending Kwame's day with an impressive medal, a second place finish in sparring and a first place trophy for self-defense. Well done Kwame!

I went to HS with this dude! What the hell????

BY REBECCA BAKER
THE JOURNAL NEWS • APRIL 1, 2008

Dan Culhane scammed his friends and their families out of $1.17 million by convincing them of a future windfall if they would help him retrieve his trust fund.

"It was all a complete lie," said Jeff Leddy of Larchmont, one of Culhane's victims. "When the D.A. knocked on our doors, Dan was still telling us the deal was real."
Culhane, 32, a former star hockey player at Mamaroneck High School, will spend the next 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 years in prison for his scheme. He was sentenced yesterday in White Plains by Westchester County Judge Susan Cacace.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny in December. A hockey standout for the Mamaroneck Tigers in the early 1990s, he was convicted of bilking 17 people over several years. He could have gotten 4 1/2 to 15 years behind bars.

Culhane asked his victims, all friends and acquaintances, to help him retrieve an inheritance left by his mother. Once the trust was settled, Culhane promised them a large cash reward for their "investment."

"We thought we were clearing up old taxes for his mom's estate," Leddy said. "There was never a trust."

So far, Culhane has paid back just $120,000 of what he stole.

At least 10 of his victims were in the courtroom yesterday.

Defense lawyer Arthur Aidala asked for a sentence of one to three years, saying the longer Culhane spends in jail, the longer his victims would have to wait for their money.

Culhane apologized to his victims and for embarrassing his family.

"I can't put into words how ashamed I am and how miserable my life has become because of my actions," he said.

His apology meant little to Eugene Augustine, a retired New Rochelle firefighter, who gave $109,000 to Culhane because his son believed his story.

Augustine, 70, said he and his wife were forced to sell their home upstate to make up the loss. His son, Matthew Augustine, lost $139,000 in the scam.

"Matt came to us and asked for money under pretext that we were going to have a windfall coming back," he said. "He was my son, so I believed him."

"As time kept going on, I said something just doesn't fit right here," the elder Augustine said. "Dan kept saying, 'I've got the money coming. Don't worry about it.' "

Aidala said the influence of alcohol played "a major role" in Culhane's crimes.

He handed the judge affidavits from people who said Culhane did not act alone.

Assistant District Attorney Matt Brotman questioned the validity of the affidavits because of the relationships between Culhane and those who wrote them.

Leddy, 39, said he was good friends with Culhane's older brother. He said Culhane promised him millions of dollars.

"He kept telling me, 'Hang in there, it's almost over,' " Leddy said.

Leddy said he was scammed out of $300,000 and lost his business in sports facilities construction. He said he had to move back in with his mother in Larchmont.

"It's been about the worst five years I could have imagined," he said. "He has lied, cheated and swindled from honest people his entire adult life, and has destroyed many lives in the process."

Reach Rebecca Baker at rebaker@lohud.com or 914-694-5064.

Charlton Heston passes away at 84

Legendary actor, civil rights leader and political activist Charlton Heston passed away today, at the age of 84.

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Amazing interview with Steve Jobs

One of my favorite podcasts, Mahalo Daily with an exclusive interview with Steve Jobs. The reporter, Veronica Belmont is as cute as ever! Check it out!

See, white men really can't jump!

Lion Tackles "Martial Artist"

Apparently this woman studies some sort of martial art. The lion thinks she's a dancing zebra and pounces on her. It's really funny watching stupid people. Reminds me of that Chris Rock line, "The Lion didn't go crazy, it went LION!"

Russia's 'Rambo' dies after shoot-out with police

This is one serious badass! A heavily armed recluse nicknamed Russia's Rambo of the Forest has been gunned down in a shoot-out with police.Alexander Bichkov, had lived a semi-feral existence in the woods for 20 years, terrorising locals and the police if they ventured near him.A giant at 6ft 7in with a wild straggly beard, the man lived in an old shack and self-made camps.

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Flashlight converts into gun!

In honor of St. Patricks day:6 Ways Fate Screwed Ireland

Ah "The Luck of the Irish." Has a crueler phrase ever been coined? The sad truth is, the Irish are about as unlucky as a race can be while, you know, still being white.

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That's a whole lotta gun for this tiny girl!

Skinny Girl Owned By Desert Eagle - Watch more free videos

Give some dumbass chick, with pipe cleaner arms, and no training a loaded .50 cal Desert Eagle, point her down the field, with instructions to "squeeze the trigger" and "put your tongue back in your mouth" and hilarity ensues!

Wendy's Commercial that never aired

It's a little funny, but nothing too crazy, not sure why they never aired it.

I found this NYTimes article, thought I'd share it.

In New York, Only Older Officers Pack the Old .38
By MICHAEL WILSON
The New York Times
December 16, 2004

Roughly 19 out of 20 officers in the New York City Police Department carry the semiautomatic pistols that have been standard issue for 11 years, a boxy handful of steel and polymer as clean and smooth as many of their young faces.

This story is not about them. It's about the 1 in 20, and the old, heavy piece parked on that officer's hip like a jalopy at the top of the driveway. Wow, people say - look at that thing. Does it work?

An older model of sidearm was grandfathered in with officers who are, in some cases, grandfathers. It is thick, but elegant in its way, its grip curling lazily out of the holster, the grooves in the hammer like those around aging eyes.

It goes by many names - thirty-eight, six-shooter, pea-shooter, wheel gun - but the .38-caliber revolver is a dying breed on the belts of New York, soon to go the way of the rosewood nightstick.

Today, a few more than 2,000 service weapons are revolvers, down from more than 30,000 in 1993. Never again, the police said, will new revolvers be issued, and so the number shrinks with every retirement. Many officers own two guns, and some officers continue to carry revolvers off-duty, but again, that choice is no longer available to new recruits.

More than anything else, it is carrying a gun - the daily familiarity of it, the expectation that it must be used on a second's notice - that most sets apart the police from the policed.

And yet, choosing the gun was unceremonial, rushed and uninformed: pick up a revolver off a table, see how it feels, try the next one, then a third, then pick your favorite. Then, during training, the recruits learned to respect this piece of equipment that can take a human life. Now it feels strange to leave the house without it. They have come a long way together, these 2,000 officers and their revolvers. Uniforms have come and gone, and the belly under the belt has grown, but the gun hanging there is not to be messed with.

"Eventually, they'll all be gone," said Inspector Steven J. Silks, commanding officer of the firearms and tactics section of the Police Academy. "It's like people who like to have a stick shift. You take it away from them, they feel like they can never drive in the snow again."

In the early years of the Police Department, officers carried any weapon they chose, until Theodore Roosevelt, as president of the Board of Police Commissioners, ordered the 4-inch, .32-caliber Colt revolver to be the standard sidearm. Training with the guns began on Dec. 30, 1895.

Ninety-eight years later, in 1993, after much debate among the department and the unions and legislators in Albany, the department switched from revolvers to semiautomatics, primarily to meet the advanced weaponry carried by criminals and dispel the perception that the officers were outgunned.

The newer guns were easier to reload and held 15 rounds in the magazine and one on the chamber, almost three times as many as the revolver. Officers with revolvers were allowed to keep them if they chose, while rookies received the new guns.

So, the model of an officer's gun dates him or her like rings on a tree. The outer bands are the semiautomatic, 9-millimeter pistols. The next ring is much thinner, the brief period of the so-called spurless revolver, a gun with an internal hammer that for safety cannot be cocked. Finally, in the center, there is the classic revolver, such as the Smith & Wesson Model 10 or the Ruger Police Service Six, more commonly seen on "T. J. Hooker" reruns or film noir than on the streets of New York.

The grips still echo the earliest revolvers, designed in the 19th century to feel like the handle of a plow in a man's hand. Lt. Eugene Whyte, 45, with 22 years on the job, remembers arriving at a meeting for the Republican National Convention this summer, and men in suits quickly calling him aside, agog at his snub-nosed sidearm. "I had Secret Service guys asking me if they could see it," he said. "It was as if I was carrying a flintlock pistol."

It is not only fellow law officers who notice. Officer Andrew Cruz, 41, was posted in Times Square recently when a tourist did a double take at his revolver. "He said, 'Old school,' " the officer recalled. They get that a lot: "You're a real cop," or, "You must have seen a lot," or, "You must be getting ready to retire."

"They say, 'What are you, an old timer?' " said Officer Mark Steinhauer, 41, who joined the department in 1991. "My answer to them is, 'It worked for John Wayne.' "

The guys with revolvers, they say, are the same guys who married their high school girlfriends. Dependable. No surprises.

"It's put me through 20 years, and I'm still alive," said Officer Gregg Melita, 41, who not only carries a Ruger Police Service revolver, but the old "dump pouches," two leather carriers that hold loose cartridges. "This is when guns were guns, and cops were cops," he said. "The new guys don't even know what dump pouches are. They go, 'Hey, what's that hold?' " He chuckled. "'Bullets, kid.'"

The design of a 9-millimeter magazine, with a spring pushing cartridges in single file into the chamber, makes it susceptible to malfunction, to jamming. With a revolver, there is always another round ready to fire, no matter whether the one before it did.

"These aren't Ferraris," Inspector Silks said. "These are Chevrolets."

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly ordered the switch to 9-millimeter pistols 11 years ago, and learned to shoot one himself. But it is his revolver, a Colt Detective Special, that he carries today, under the slight break in his trouser leg at the left ankle.

"It's easier to carry, for me, anyway, the revolver. I've carried it for a long time," he said. "I actually won it in the Police Academy, many years ago," graduating first in his class. It is inscribed: "Bloomingdale Trophy won by Probationary Patrolman Raymond W. Kelly. May 15, 1967."

As for the decline of the revolver, he said, "I don't think it means very much, tactically. I don't see that much difference in shooting a semiautomatic handgun or a revolver. The difference, people will tell you, is dependability. You take a revolver that's been in a drawer for 100 years, take it out, pull the trigger, and it's going to go off. Automatics have the potential, probably more so than revolvers, for jamming. At least, that's what people think."

Officers with revolvers say that yes, they feel more comfortable with a gun that is virtually malfunction-proof, and that six shots at a time, along with their extra six-shot speed-loaders, ought to be enough. "After 18 rounds, if I can't hit him, I'm in big trouble," said Officer Sean Murtha, 40, who carries two speed-loaders. (And he would be a statistical aberration. To date in 2004, the average number of rounds fired by a single officer in a police shooting is 2.8, down from 4.6 in 2000 and 5.0 in 1995.)

But there is something else about the gun. It makes a statement.

"It has to do with identity," said Officer Cruz, from the 88th Precinct in Fort Greene in Brooklyn. "You see someone with a .38, you know they've got some time on them."

Officer Melita, with his dump pouch, joined in 1986 and patrolled in Harlem for 18 years. He believes his gun shows younger officers that he was at work when times were different in New York. "That's how you can tell who's been on the job awhile," he said. "Back when it was, you know, wild."

Officers must appear twice a year at the firing range in Rodman's Neck in the Bronx. Detective Tomasa Rodriguez, with the Midtown South precinct, remembered the announcement for everyone with revolvers to step aside to a separate range. "It was embarrassing. All the young kids were looking at us like, 'Oh my God, these people, they're emotionally disturbed, they still have a .38,'" she said. "Before you know it, you're out of there. There's, like, two or three people. I told my partner, 'I was embarrassed at the range.' But I don't care. I like my weapon, I know how to use it."

The department had 2,367 revolvers in service in 2003. At last count this fall, that number had dropped to 2,019. Wait, make that 2,018 - Marty Paolino, 42, retired from the 88th Precinct a few weeks ago. ("I never wanted to go for the special training," he said on his last day of work. "They don't pay you enough.") Next year, with the expected retirements of officers who joined in 1985, a relatively large class of recruits, hundreds of revolvers will disappear from service.

It is too soon for eulogies, but not much. For an epitaph on the revolver's tombstone, consider two statements from two officers, six little words for why they kept their six-shooters.

"I hate change."

"It looks cool"

Here we go! Buckle up, cause it's gonna get rough out there!

The U.S. unexpectedly lost jobs in February for the second consecutive month, adding to evidence the economy is in a recession.Payrolls fell by 63,000, the biggest drop since March 2003, after a decline of 22,000 in January that was larger than initially estimated, the Labor Department said today in Washington.

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Alien Prank Video

These guys love tormenting their room mate, whose terrified of Aliens. This video goes from weird to freaky in 0 - 60. Check out the video.


Roommate Alien Prank Goes Bad - Watch more free videos

Larry Davis, piece of trash meets his maker.

This is a long post. Larry Davis who in the 1980's had a shootout with the NYPD, resulting in six cops getting injured. He somehow managed to escape, resulting in a nationwide manhunt. Read the article below, taken from wikipedia. This is once again proof that there is some sort of karmic justice. Good riddance.

Larry Davis (May 28, 1966 - February 20, 2008), who changed his name to Adam Abdul-Hakeem in 1989, was a New Yorker who shot six New York City police officers on November 19, 1986 when they raided his sister's Bronx apartment to arrest him on charges of murdering five drug dealers. At trial, Davis's defense attorneys claimed that the raid was staged to murder him because of his knowledge of the involvement of corrupt police in the drug business. With the help of family contacts and street friends, he eluded capture for the next 17 days despite a massive manhunt. Once the search was narrowed to a single building, he took a family hostage but surrendered to police under the belief that the presence of reporters provided assurance that he would not be harmed.[1] His ability to survive the shootout, though outnumbered, and to elude capture in the subsequent massive manhunt gained him near folk hero status in some quarters.[2] Davis was found guilty of weapons possession and murder and was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.[3] In 2008, Davis was stabbed to death by another inmate.[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Raid and escape
3 Search and capture
4 Trials
4.1 Murder of four Bronx drug dealers
4.2 Attempted murder of nine police officers
4.3 Murder of Victor Lagombra
4.4 Murder of Raymond Vizcaino
5 Representations on film
6 Death
7 References
[edit]Background


The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.
This section has been tagged since February 2008.
Davis was sought as a suspect in seven murders: the execution-style killing of four drug dealers in a Bronx apartment, another during an apparent drug robbery in Manhattan, and two more. During the weeks before the raid, he knew he was wanted by the police and avoided his own apartment, spending time at his girlfriend's and at his two sisters' adjoining apartments on Fulton Avenue. At age 20, Davis had a record of arrests and convictions dating back to early 1983 and had violated his probation for a 1984 robbery.[5][6]
Acting on a tip, in the evening of Wednesday November 19, 1986 a team of 27 officers and detectives from the Bronx 41st Precinct station house and the NYPD's elite Emergency Service Unit assembled in a parking lot. Wearing bulletproof vests and armed with shotguns and handguns, they went to the six-story Fulton Avenue building where two of Davis's sisters had adjoining apartments on the ground floor.
[edit]Raid and escape

At about 8:30 p.m. 15 officers surrounded the building and 12 others entered; nine of these went to the three-room apartment of Davis's sister Regina Lewis and seven entered it. Davis, his girlfriend, his sister and her husband were in the apartment along with four children. Lewis's two infant children were asleep in the bedroom at the rear.[5]
According to an interview with Regina Lewis the next day, she answered a knock at the door and the police entered the living room with guns drawn. They told the adults to get the children out, and called out "Come out, Larry, you don't have a chance - we've got you surrounded." Thinking the police were about to start firing, Lewis shouted "Don't shoot! My babies are back there!" At trial, accounts would differ as to whether Davis or the police fired first. From the darkened bedroom Davis fired a 16-gauge sawn-off shotgun and a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, wounding six of the seven officers in the living room, two seriously. The police took cover, returning fire as they retreated. In the confusion no one kept track of Davis, who slipped into his other sister's apartment and escaped out a back window.
Police collected the shotgun and the expended shells from the .45-caliber pistol that Davis took with him. A .32-caliber revolver and .357 Magnum pistol were also left behind.[5] Ballistics tests would later link the .32-caliber revolver to the Manhattan drug dealer killing and the .45 caliber pistol to the four dead Bronx dealers.[7] In the interview with Regina Lewis, she said that she had complained to her brother about him bringing guns to the apartment and told him to get out; he did leave but returned. She also quoted him as telling her, "If I'm caught in the street, the police are going to shoot me. But I am going to shoot them first."[8]
A police official said that all escape routes had been covered by officers but none apparently saw Davis leave. He also said that the wounded officers were unable to return fire effectively due to the presence in the apartment of the two infants and other bystanders. Davis fired four shotgun blasts and nine .45 caliber pistol shots; the police fired four shotgun blasts and 20 pistol shots. Neither Davis nor the two infants with him in the bedroom were wounded.[5]
The following year, three of the wounded officers accused the NYPD of "negligent" and "reckless" planning and execution of the raid, and blamed the Bronx detectives for creating "chaos" by bursting into the apartment before Emergency Service Unit officers could seal off escape routes.[9]
[edit]Search and capture

The six wounded officers were carried across the street to the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital and the manhunt began. The surrounding area and the rest of the building were searched immediately. Police stakeouts were set up at terminals, bridges and tunnels leading out of the city and a nationwide alarm was issued. As the manhunt spread, raids were staged in Chicago, Albany, Newark and other cities where Davis had relatives or friends. A man who said he was Davis called ABC-TV, expressing fears he would be beaten by police and stating he would not be taken alive.[5]
Acting on a tip that Davis had been seen entering his mother's home four days after the escape, police searched the building while interviewing Mary Davis in a laundromat across the street. She suffered an apparent heart attack shortly thereafter.[10] As she recuperated three days later, she urged her son to call the NAACP, who had offered to help arrange a safe surrender.
Davis was the youngest of 15 children.[11] Five of his six brothers had been arrested a total of 63 times with 31 convictions including one for murder, leading police not to seek family cooperation in the search.[12][2] The homes of his siblings and other family members came under observation and their telephones were tapped. By the end of the search, nine buildings occupied by Davis friends, acquaintances or relatives had been raided.[2]
On the afternoon of December 5, 1986 police received a tip that Davis had been seen entering the Bronx housing project where his sister Margaret lived. They surrounded the 14-story building, closed off local streets and posted sharpshooters on nearby rooftops. After searching his sister's second-floor apartment, police began a systematic canvass of all 312 units. During the afternoon, Davis forced his way into a family's 14th-floor apartment just as a neighbor and her son arrived, holding both families at gunpoint for several hours. After threatening the safety of the four remaining hostages, at 11:45 p.m. Davis released the two visitors and sent the hostage husband out to pick up food from a nearby Chinese restaurant. He also ordered the husband to call his mother's and sister's tapped telephones and give false location information. When the husband returned with the food he was stopped for questioning by the police and informed them that his wife and two daughters were being held.[1]
Police set up a command post in a nearby apartment and by 1:30 a.m. had established telephone contact. At one point Davis threatened to kill the hostages with a hand grenade, at other points he chatted with negotiators about stereo equipment, asked about a lawyer and showed concern for his own safety, saying that he was afraid police would harm him. Throughout, negotiators repeated "There is no use running, you have nowhere to hide now."[13]
To assure Davis that he would not be harmed, police showed him the press credentials of three reporters in a nearby apartment and allowed him to speak to his girlfriend. At about 7 a.m. Larry Davis laid down his .45-caliber pistol and surrendered. As he was taken from the building in handcuffs, residents leaned out of their windows, clapped and chanted "Lar-ry! Lar-ry!".[1]
[edit]Trials

After the shootout and manhunt the Bronx District Attorney's office, together with District Attorney offices in Manhattan and Long Island, had a long list of charges against Larry Davis including weapons possession, murder of drug dealers, attempted murder of police, kidnapping, and automobile theft. Despite three trials in two years, prosecutors were unable to convince a jury of Larry Davis' guilt for any but the weapons charge, finally getting a conviction over four years after the shootout.
[edit]Murder of four Bronx drug dealers
During their opening and closing arguments Davis's attorneys William Kunstler and Lynne Stewart contended, without producing any evidence, that the prosecution evidence was fabricated and that the murder charges were a frame-up to excuse the police raid on Davis's sister's apartment. They further contended that Davis had been recruited into a drug ring by rogue police officers and that the object of the raid was to kill him. The prosecution contended that Davis was a crack dealer who specialized in the armed robbery of other crack dealers, and presented testimony from more than 50 witnesses, including ballistic evidence and fingerprints on a cash box that placed Davis at the scene of the October 1986 murders. The jury found conflicting testimony from witnesses, and discrepancies in times given by prosecution witnesses. After deliberating for nine days, the longest in Bronx history for a single defendant, the jury acquitted Davis of the charges.[14]
[edit]Attempted murder of nine police officers
Davis was next tried for shooting six police officers during the apartment raid. He was charged with nine counts of attempted murder, six counts of aggravated assault, two of criminal use of a firearm and eight of criminal possession of a weapon. During jury selection, each side charged the other with racist tactics. The defense charged that the prosecution was deliberately excusing black women because they might be sympathetic to Davis. The judge found that the defense as well had abused their peremptory challenges, "to exclude white jurors on racially motivated grounds". Judge Fried dismissed the first six seated jurors and declared a mistrial.[15] A second mistrial was declared at the request of both sides after the only white juror on the new jury expressed a concern about possible police harassment if he voted to acquit Davis.[16] The jury finally seated was made up of ten blacks and two Hispanics.[17]
Once the trial began, ballistic experts linked the shootings to the .45-caliber pistol seized when Davis was captured. Several wounded officers, including "point man" Thomas McCarren who entered first, identified Davis as the person who had shot them. McCarren testified that when he entered the apartment Davis got up from the couch and ran down a narrow hall to the back bedroom carrying a handgun. McCarren pursued, and the next time he saw Davis was when Davis shot him in the mouth with the .45 pistol. A 12-gauge shotgun slug was found embedded in a drawer in the bedroom and the defense suggested that McCarren was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun and was the first to fire. McCarren said that he had been carrying a shotgun earlier in the evening but had turned it over to another detective assigned to cover the rear of the building, and was armed with only a 38-caliber service revolver when he entered the apartment.[18]
The defense contended that Davis feared for his life and acted in self-defense. Without producing any evidence, they charged that Bronx police were corrupt and involved in the drug trade,[19] and that the police had opened fire first. Davis's mother testified that a police officer had pushed her and threatened to kill her son two weeks before the raid, and that she had warned her son, while also complaining to the Police Department's Civilian Complaint Review Board. The Board sustained her complaint.[11]
On November 20, 1988, after deliberating 38 hours over five days, the jury acquitted Davis of attempted murder and aggravated assault charges but found him guilty of six counts of criminal possession of a weapon.[17] Interviewed by a reporter afterward, the jury forewoman said Davis was a "young and innocent kid who got recruited by a few corrupt policemen... they came in to wipe him out... they wanted him dead so he couldn't squeal on them... they would have killed him." She said the jury believed the defense assertion that the police fired first and that Davis was defending himself.[19]
McCarren, the detective most seriously wounded and forced by his injuries to retire, called the jury's verdict "a racist verdict", and said "The day this happened, a bunch of good honest police officers went to lock up Larry Davis because he had killed people, and not for anything else." Defense attorney Kunstler said "The jury understood what happened – that he acted in self-defense." Defense attorney Stewart said "I really think that the black community is no longer going to have black Sambos, they're going to have black Rambos."[17]
Davis was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison on the weapons possession charges.
[edit]Murder of Victor Lagombra
In October 1989 Davis went on trial for the September 1986 murder of Victor Lagombra, described by the prosecutor as a "mid-level" crack dealer. The prosecution charged that Davis killed Lagombra in a "cold-blooded act of savagery" when Lagombra walked into a Manhattan apartment while Davis and two other men were robbing two drug dealers. Ballistics tests showed that Davis's 32-caliber revolver was used in the killing. The defense produced two witnesses who testified that Davis was in Florida making a rap album on the day of the murder.[20][7]
After a five-week trial and three days of deliberations, Davis was found not guilty. Although William Kunstler was not Davis's attorney in this case, he afterward repeated earlier statements that Davis had helped dishonest police sell drugs, and said that the constant accusations against Davis were a conspiracy.[21]
[edit]Murder of Raymond Vizcaino
In January 1987 Davis's older brother Eddie Davis was arrested on charges of murdering a drug dealer during an August 1986 robbery attempt. According to the prosecution, Eddie Davis and Larry Davis, along with two others, shot Raymond Vizcaino to death through an apartment door on Webster Avenue in the Bronx. A jury found Eddie Davis guilty in June 1989.[22]
Larry Davis went on trial for the Vizcaino murder five months later. He was found guilty on March 14, 1991.[23] Already serving 5 to 15 years on weapons charges, he was sentenced to serve an additional 25 years to life. After the sentencing, Davis spoke for about an hour, repeating his longstanding complaint that the police and the court system were engaged in a vendetta against him.[3]

Sharper Image files for Bankruptcy

Looks like there isn't such a huge demand for R2D2 robots, lightsabers and hand cranked flashlights after all. As for getting a free massage at the mall from those nifty massage chairs, looks like Brookstones gonna have the sole monopoly on those. Expect a lot of grumpy and tired husbands crowding Brookstones while the wifey shops!

Lunar Eclipse

Last night was a very cool lunar eclipse. I hope you were all out there to enjoy it. Yes it was chilly, but definately worth it. Here's a blurb about it taken from gothamist.com:

Tonight is the last chance until December 2010 to witness a total lunar eclipse. This is the third such eclipse in the past year. With any luck the weather will cooperate. It looks like there will be breaks in the clouds over the city, which should make for dramatic views. Break out the tripods and cameras!

A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth wedges itself between the sun and moon, casting its shadow on the latter. Unlike a solar eclipse you can look at a lunar eclipse without frying your retinas! The partial eclipse, when the earth's shadow starts to take a bite out of the moon, begins at 8:43 p.m.. By 10 p.m. the moon will be swallowed by the earth's shadow and will remain that way until nearly 11 o'clock. Bad Astronomy Blog and NASA have lots more details. As the earth's shadow creeps across the moon the moon doesn't get completely dark as you might expect, but turns brownish or even blood red. The reddish hue is because some sunlight gets refracted through the earth's atmosphere.

New Knight Rider

I watched this pilot last night, with great expectations and a lot of anticipation. My first impressions - the car, is really cool, the show is really lukewarm. While watching this 2 hour premier, I occasionally found myself picking up my laptop and browsing the internet. Not good, that means, that there were plenty of slow parts that caused me to lose interest. The new Michael Knight is okay, not bad, but not great. I hate to say it, but David Hassellhof simply had a lot more charisma. The female lead is not that attractive, again, I find her merely...Meh.

Now the new KITT, on the other hand is pretty slick. At first I was disappointed to learn that the new KITT would be a Mustang. A Mustang?!?! How exotic can you make a Mustang. Well they did a pretty good job with it and KITT actually looks pretty bad ass. It's good that KITT is revolutionary, cause when the rest of the FORD car's parts break down, KITT can automatically call AAA and send a tow truck!

SPOILER ALERT- don't read further if you still haven't seen the show.
I like the new abilities of KITT, but I am also annoyed that they've jumped into the nanotech bandwagon. It didn't make sense in the Bionic Women, and it doesn't really make sense here. Basically, with nanotech, KITT is now invincible as long as his computer is on. Blah, Blah, Blah. Too complicated and not really accurate with nanotech. We see bullets crash into the slick fiberglass hull, only to be instantly repaired, the spoiler being created out of thin air, and KITT's color instantly change. Ok, I can but that. But an SUV ramming into you at high speed, and coming to a complete stop crushing the SUV, yet leaving KITT unscracthed....Come on. What the hell happened to inertia, momentum and impact? We have technology that can circumvent that too? Also, making one of the characters a lesbian, doesn't automatically make her more interesting. As a matter of fact, the way that was thrown out there was a little awkward and seemed to serve no purpose other then making a statement like, "look at us, we're progressive, our heros can be gay too". Who cares? How does this affect the story? It doesn't.

I give KITT a 7 out of 10, but the show 5 out of 10.

Worlds most annoying commercial!

For some reason, this commercial makes people want to throw their TV's out the window. It's so annoying it makes me laugh! I hate it too, but I always play it cause it makes my wife batty!

Equilibrium.

Was just thinking about this movie. I love the "gun kata" concept, too bad it's all fiction, because it's really badass! Here's a clip from the movie (soundtrack not from the movie). Movie came out in 2002, before Christian Bale did "Batman".

This is why I sometimes hate NYC!

You'd never believe that we are considered to be the cultural mecca of the west once you see this video. People can be such assholes. This video is not for the faint of heart, but know that it's 100% for real, and happened earlier this week outside a Manhattan midtown bar.

Happy Chinese New Year!

This year is the year of the Rat. In the Chinese Zodiac, this represents the first sign, so it's a fresh beginning of sorts. Read more below:

THE YEAR OF THE RAT, 2008

February 7, 2008 - January 25, 2009 (Earth)

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2008 is a Year of the Rat (Earth), which begins on February 7, 2008 and ends on January 25, 2009. First in the cycle of 12 Animal signs, Rat Year begins the sequence and recurs every twelfth year. It is a time of renewal in so many ways. From New Year to Valentine's Day, to the arrival of spring, may all the blessings and delights of the New Year be yours.

A Rat Year is a time of hard work, activity, and renewal. This is a good year to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start. Ventures begun now may not yield fast returns, but opportunities will come for people who are well prepared and resourceful. The best way for you to succeed is to be patient, let things develop slowly, and make the most of every opening you can find. People born in an Earth Rat are said to be logical realists, shrewd, charming, ambitious, and inventive. Of course, the entire horoscope must be considered when making any personality assessment.

In Chinese, the Rat is respected and considered a courageous, enterprising person. People born in the Year of Rat are clever and bright, sociable and family-minded. They have broad interests and strong ability in adapting to the environment and able to react adequately to any changes.

They are gifted in many ways and have an easy going manner. They are active and pleasant, tactful and fantastic, and are able to grasp opportunities. They seem to have interests in everything and hope to participate in doing it and usually do it very well.

Eddie Murphy predicts Giants win!

True I should have posted this after the Giants beat the Packers to win the Div. Championship, but better late then never. How eerie is this?

Giants upset the Patriots!!!

WOW! What an awesome Superbowl! It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a game this much! I hope you all were watching!

Beware! Guard Dog!

That's what that sign actually says. Beware of dog farting in it's sleep maybe.

Tribute to 9/11

This is an old Superbowl commercial, which happens to be a tribute to 9/11. I thought it was well done, very classy. Check it out.

Grand Central Freezes in time.

This is a great video, wish I'd seen this in person!

Giants go to the Superbowl!

Well, young Eli had done it and will be leading the Giants to an epic showdown at the next Superbowl! His victory over the Green Bay Packers was exciting, full of suspense, emotion and drama! Only 4 days away, NY is abuzz with the excitement of Sunday night. Most of us are still wondering what we will be doing for Superbowl Sunday, whether we'll be going to a local sports bar, a friends house, or use this as an excuse to finally plunk down the coin for your very own HDTV (which is what I did last year!). Of course, with the Superbowl, comes the talk of commercial ads. Last couple of years have been pretty lame, hopefully they will be better this year. At the very least they should keep the wife entertained so this nonsense talk of changing channels won't come up!

The Joker Dies!

For some reason, whenever a celebrity dies, it becomes a circus show. Whenever a young talented actor dies, it becomes a freak show. Heath Ledger passed away in NYC earlier this month and it seems like you couldn't change the channel without hearing about him. I was at a training session when I heard the terrible news with my co-worker Ray. Well Ray received a text message about the death, and immediately showed it to me. Both of us immediately wondered "did he finish filming Batman yet???" I know it's callous, but that's how the minds of many grown men with adolescent fantasies work. When we heard about the Mary Kate Olsen angle, our next collective thought was "that chicks not a bad bang, but she needs a cheeseburger or 2". To all the crazies out there that think God is punishing Ledger because of his portrayal of a gay cowboy in Brokeback mountain, the only thing I can say is, life must be so simple when you're that frickin stupid. Rest in Peace Heath, thank you for being the Joker, and for the many movies that gave us such joy!

UFC 80

Well there weren't very many well known names, and many people felt that this entire event should have been a UFC Fight Night event, rather then a $40 pay-per-view. What's really interesting is that this night was packed full of knockouts and one very bloody brawlfest ending in the night's only submission in BJ vs. Big Daddy Stevenson. Click HERE to watch the fights.

If you want the blow by blow and don't wish to wait for the videos, read below: (The following courtesy of MMAmania.com)

UFC 80 QUICK RESULTS:

BJ Penn defeats Joe Stevenson via Rear Naked Choke Round 2
Fabricio Werdum defeats Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO (Strikes) Round 2
Marcus Davis defeats Jess Liaudin via TKO (Strikes) Round 1
Wilson Gouveia defeats Jason Lambert via TKO (Strikes) Round 2
Jorge Rivera defeats Kendall Grove via TKO (Strikes) Round 1
Antoni Hardonk defeats Colin Robinson via TKO (Strikes) Round 1
Paul Kelly defeats Paul Taylor via Unanimous Decision
Alessio Sakara defeats James Lee via TKO (Strikes) Round 1
Sam Stout defeats Per Eklund via Unanimous Decision

UFC 80 BLOW-BY-BLOW LIVE MAIN CARD COMMENTARY:

DrubySunshine will be the man to lead you through the action. Drubysunshine here for this mid afternoon MMA action in a card that should be entertaining even though its lacking star quality fights. However there is one star in BJ Penn who many could argue is the top pound for pound fighter in MMA when on top of his game, and he will face stiff competition in Joe “Daddy” Stevenson who has top level strength, ground and pound, and ju jitsu skills.

BJ Penn vs. Joe Stevenson for the vacant lightweight championship (155-pound limit)

Round one: Penn unloads with a HUGE right and uppercut combo!!! He drops Stevenson right away!! Penn now on top. Penn lands a elbow. Stevenson with half guard. Penn with another solid elbow. Stevenson with a nice right from the bottom. BJ has full mount now! Now over to side control. Penn cracks him with a huge right hand and now BJ is back on top. Penn back into side control. Stevenson with a great bushel of punches from the bottom. BJ with a big elbow and he slices Stevenson open with it!!! WOW! That is a nasty cut!!! Thats the round and Penn dominated that round and won 10-9 easy.

Round two: Joe Daddy cut is gushing out like a geyser it is horrible. Stevenson comes out quick now. Stevenson lands a nice right and a huge elbow!! Joe Daddy with a stiff jab. BJ lands a great hook. Stevenson answers with a jab. BJ with a solid left. Penn with a good left right combo. BJ with a good right hook. They stop the fight to check the cut but the doctor lets it go on. BJ with another solid right. Penn with a great uppercut and good right hand that sends Stevenson to the ground!! BJ has full mount now and hes raining punches down on Joe Daddy. BJ with an elbow. BJ has the back now and is looking for hooks. Now Stevenson rolls onto his back again and BJ still has full mount. HUGE left hook by BJ!!! BJ has the back now and has Stevensons arm trapped and locks in the rear naked choke deep!!! Thats it, its over BJ dominated the whole fight and put on a clinic for the victory.

Round three:
Round four:
Round five:

Final result: BJ Penn defeats Joe Stevenson via Rear Naked Choke Round 2

-end-

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Fabricio Werdum (265-pound limit)

Round one: Werdum towers over Gonzaga which is amazing to me. Werdum with a straight right, but Gonzaga capitalizes and gets a take down. Gonzaga with side control. Werdum now works to half guard. Gonzaga back to his feet. Werdum had good defense. Powerful leg kick by Gonzaga. Another HUGE leg kick from Gonzaga. Gonzaga with another massive leg kick and it knocks Werdum off his feet!!! That was one of the best leg kicks ive ever seen. Werdum misses with a head kick. Gonzaga with two more stinging leg kicks and the 2nd of which knocks Werdum off his feet again. Gonzaga with a high kick but Werdum grabs his leg and gets the take down. Werdum now on top in Gonzagas half guard. Werdum with a sharp elbow that lands flush on the cheek bone. Werdum now lands a group of elbow which are doing some damage. Gonzaga trying to roll over into a knee bar.

Round two: Werdum with a front kick then lands a solid uppercut and left hook. Werdum shoots and Gonzaga sprawls out. Gonzaga with a leg kick Werdum lands a right and Gonzaga with a knee to the head. Gonzaga with two more leg kicks. Gonzaga with a body kick. Gonzaga with a leg kick and right hook. Werdum with a front kick but Gonzaga catches it and throws Werdum to the ground viciously. Ginzaga picks up Werdum and slams him. Gonzaga with another hard leg kick. Werdum with a great knee and then he lands another one! Werdum with two more knees from the clinch! Both fighters are flatfooted. The pace is slowing now. Gonzaga with a knee to the body. Now Werdum with two more knees to the head from the clinch. Werdum goes for the back and is looking for a rear naked choke. Werdum is raining down some serious punches from the top!! Hes peppering Gonzaga with right hands. Gonzaga is not doing anything to defend himself!! Thats it its over the ref steps in and stops it and Werdum scores a HUGE victory to help vault him into the top 5 heavyweights in the world.

Round three:

Final result: Fabricio Werdum defeats Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO (Strikes) Round 2

-end-

Marcus Davis vs. Jess Liaudin (170-pound limit)

Round one: Both fighters looking for distance. Liaudin with a high kick. The Joker with a solid leg kick followed by another. Liaudin with another good leg kick and follows it up with another. Good body shot by Davis. Liaudin comes in for another kick and Davis unloads a HUGE left that catches Liaudin right below the ear on the back of his jaw and neck which puts The Joker to sleep. Another impressive win for Marcus Davis.

Round two:
Round three:

Final result: Marcus Davis defeats Jess Liaudin via TKO (Strikes) Round 1

-end-

Jason Lambert vs. Wilson Gouveia (205-pound limit)

Round one: Lambert storms out of his corner. Gouveia with a jab but hes backpedaling. Lambert with a take down, Gouveia locks in a guillotine but Lambert is out. Lembert in Gouveias full guard. Lambert postures up. Gouveia with great defense. Lambert unloads with two decent rights but not much power behind them. Lambert now lands some solid rights with some sting in them. Gouveia with a leg sweep and now hes back to his feet. Lambert with a knee to the body and uppercut and now he gets another take down. Gouveia with half guard. Gouveia locks in a triangle out of nowhere!! WOW! Lambert pops out and avoids damage, great defense. Gouveia with full guard now. The pace has slowed to a crawl now. Lambert with a swift elbow. Lambert is dripping some blood from his nose. Thats the bell, gotta give that round to Lambert 10-9 he dominated in every facet of the game.

Round two: Body kick by Lambert. Good right by Gouveia. Lambert has him on the retreat. HUGE left by Gouveia!!!! WOW!! Ohhhh MY GOD!!!! That was a brutal knockout!!!! WOW! Gouveia was being dominated the entire fight, but one huge left hook out of nowhere and he wins the fight in devastating fashion.

Round three:

Final result: Wilson Gouveia defeats Jason Lambert via TKO (Strikes) Round 2

-end-

Kendall Grove vs. Jorge Rivera (185-pound limit)

Round one: Rivera with a leg kick then a quick take down. Grove trying to scramble. Rivera pounding on Grove with some stinging right hands from the top. Rivera now has his back and is raining down massive punches!!! Grove to his feet but hes wobbly. Rivera is doing serious damage and he drops Grove with a HUGE left!!!!!! Thats it!! Its over Rivera with a stunning victory over Kendall Grove.

Round two:
Round three:

Final result: Jorger Rivera defeats Kendall Grove via TKO (Strikes) Round 1

-end-

Happy New Years!

Yes I know it's been some time since I've last posted. I always feel so bad when there is a long spell between posts. For a while there I actually contemplated giving up the blogging, but I decided to blog on. At the very least it makes a great journal! Today is the AFC and NFC championship games. You have the Chargers v Patriots and the Giants v Packers. It's also brick ass cold out there.

This here is my new toy. The iPod touch. I would love the get the iPhone, but I just can't leave Verizon for AT&T. The iPhone is close to perfect, but now quite there yet. For now, I'll have to carry both the ipod and the Treo. Hopefully the new iphone will be better.