Reuters Group plc

SHOOTING AT EMPIRE STATE BUILDING; 10 Shot, Gunman Dead *UPDATE*

* 9:34 a.m. At least two people -- and as many as five -- have been shot outside of the Empire State Building (the tally is now at 10. see updates below), according to multiple reports.The shooting happened just before 9 a.m. at Fifth Avenue and East 34th Street.According to the @NY Scanner Twitter ... More >>

BREAKING: Rodney King Found Dead in His Pool in L.A.

As of 11:25am, Reuters is reporting that 47-year-old Rodney King, the famous victim of LAPD police brutality and protest symbol in the early 1990s, has been found dead in his pool. According to the news wire, "there is no sign of foul play" and his representative, Suzanne Wickman, has conf ... More >>

Medical Marijuana: Feds Threaten Pot Shop Landlords

Right as New York's Assembly voted to greenlight prescription pot, federal authorities continue to put pressure on states with legal medical weed -- targeting dispensaries and now, landlords who lease space to marijuana shops.

Europeans Are the World's Biggest Boozers

Is it really a surprise that the World Health Organization and the European Commission found that Europeans drink more than anyone else in the world? No, but the numbers, as reported by Reuters, are still pretty intriguing: the consumption of alcohol in the European Union is double the world average ... More >>

McDonald's Shuffles, Sweet Suits

McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner is retiring after 41 years at the fast-food chain. Donald Thompson, the company's current president, will take his spot. [AP via USA Today] What's more natural, sugar or high fructose corn syrup? This old debate was the subject of a lawsuit over false advertising between ... More >>

Married American Women Make Less Money Than Their Husbands, Exit Workforce

Happy International Women's Day: if you are a married and educated woman in America, you probably make a lot less money than your husband -- a fact which might have prompted ladies to leave the U.S. workforce in droves, economists say. Reuters reports that the Federal Reserve is set to release a n ... More >>

For the Love of God, It's Not 'Downtown' Abbey!

Have you seen the extremely popular British period drama called "Downton Abbey"? It's all the rage right now. It won a Golden Globe! People are talking about it, watching it, DVR-ing it, weeping with joy and raising their glasses to it as we speak. And people and news organizations, which are bigger ... More >>

Under Fire

Chipotle Founder Named 'Innovator of the Year'; Consumers 'Ripped Off' When Buying Fish

​Just in case you were wondering, "Montezuma's Revenge" has not been a problem for athletes at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. [Washington Post] Kosher food is becoming more conventional in Berlin, post World War II. [Reuters] Restaurants are getting ready to raise prices as ... More >>

German Riesling Dries Out; George Washington Peddles Whiskey

​German Rieslings are straying from sweet and heading toward dry, which some find disconcerting. [NY Times] Bottles of whiskey from distilleries closed during the 1980s' recession can be a solid investment. [Decanter] Bargains can be had with "second wines" from Bordeaux, like Château Marga ... More >>

Cheesecake Factory Ranked Consumer Fave, Again; Only 2% of Food Imports Inspected

Kraft is recalling three flavors of Velveeta Shells & Cheese single-serve microwavable cups due to possible thin wire bristle pieces in the cups. [Chicago Tribune] In a widespread market survey, consumers ranked the Cheesecake Factory their favorite casual-dining restaurant for the second year in a ... More >>

Start Bracing for Solar Storms

​The magnetic storm that has been developing on the Sun's surface may cause problems down here on Earth soon. Reuters reports that above average solar activity is proving to be a real concern for the Space Weather Prediction Center. They warn that communications and GPS satellites could be aff ... More >>

Letter Grades on Food Carts Not Imminent; Food Corps Still Placing Unhealthy Products

​Mayor Bloomberg is at odds with the Health Department over letter grades on food carts. He wants them, but with just 20 out of 100-odd inspectors assigned to mobile vendors, there aren't enough resources to grade the city's 5,100 street-food carts. [NY Post] Major food corps may have pledged ... More >>

91 Dead in Norway Massacre; Heat Wave Claims Lives in U.S.

viaAnders Behring Breivik, the suspected Norway killer. ​The death toll from yesterday's horrific violence in Norway is now reported to be 91, mostly from the youth camp shootings on Utoya island. At the camp, at least 84 people died, some as young as 16. The bombing in Oslo killed 7 and injured 9 ... More >>

Little Italy Replaces Greeters with Suave 'Maitre Ds'; Menu Calorie Counts Can't Be Trusted

​It appears that Little Italy is trading in its pushy greeters in favor of "outside maitre d's": suave young gentlemen who attract lady tourists with their eyes. [NY Post] The Hurt Locker star Anthony Mackie's new Bed-Stuy bar NoBar welcomed stars like Samuel L. Jackson and Sam Rockwell at it ... More >>

Philly Has a Soulful Vendys; Eating Invasive Species

​Gigi and Big R's soul food truck took top honors at Philadelphia's first-ever Vendy Awards. [Wall Street Journal] Why eat shark fin soup when you can save reef fish populations along the Florida coast by eating lionfish, an invasive species? [NY Times] Arturo's is not so out of place in Ma ... More >>

Americans: Fat and Wary of Healthful Menu Options

​America, we have been told yet again, is fat. Especially the part known as Mississippi. We're so fat, in fact, that today, the state with the lowest obesity rate (that would be Colorado) would have had the country's highest rate in 1995.

Pepsi Peddles Nutrition in India; ConAgra Sued Over 'Natural' Oils Labels

​PepsiCo may be turning its focus back to cola in some markets, but is looking to boost its health snacks business in India via its global nutrition unit. [Wall Street Journal] The owner of Fu Sushi in the East Village denies that his restaurant was open for business despite being ordered to ... More >>

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Accuser Sues New York Post for Calling Her a Hooker

​As the case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the alleged sexual assault of a Sofitel hotel maid seems to hang in the balance, perhaps to be dismissed entirely, the hotel maid, who is a Guinean immigrant, is fighting back against three articles in the New York Post that reported she was a pro ... More >>

New York Drinkers Mourn Two Booze Pioneers; Arkansas Now Distilling, Too

​Eric Asimov remembers Ray Deter of d.b.a., who died Sunday following a bike accident on June 27, calling Deter's bar "groundbreaking." [Diner's Journal] Debra Whiting of Red Newt Cellars and Bistro on Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes, a food and wine pioneer in the region, died in a car crash ... More >>

New York City Loses Yet Another Food Plant; Scientists Create 'Super Wheat'

​Maramount Corp., a Sunset Park food production plant responsible for school lunches and homeless shelter meals around the city, is moving to Pennsylvania, leaving more than 140 workers unemployed. [NY Daily News] McDonald's and Wendy's are among fast-food chains that have added new summer sa ... More >>

Rapture Was a Bust; Mitch Daniels Won't Run For President; Who Will Replace DSK?

​So, we all made it! No Rapture. Despite having assets of over $104 million, Harold Camping's Family Radio didn't quite get it right. How are Rapture believers dealing with it? Reuters talked to a man, Robert Fitzpatrick, who spent $140,000 of his life savings getting the word out about the Raptur ... More >>

U.S. Debt in $1 Bills Would Go to the Moon and Back Twice, Plus Other Useless Facts

​"Most people have trouble conceptualizing $14.3 trillion," Reuters reports about the U.S. government's debt. Yes, it's true! (Duh?) And so they have provided some fun trivia, which actually gets us no closer to understanding what a number that big means, but sure does sound neat. For instance ... More >>

Osama Bin Laden Busted With Porn!

​The reports coming out of Osama Bin Laden's Pakistani compound keep getting more strange -- from wacky ways to send emails to TV time and pot plants -- but this one is the money shot: "A stash of pornography was found in the hideout of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. commandos who killed him," Re ... More >>

Osama Bin Laden Death Photos Will Be Released to 'Some Senators'

​Reuters is reporting that the CIA will allow the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee to see the Osama Bin Laden death photos "if they wish." President Obama had ruled last week that the photos would not be provided to the public for viewing so ... More >>

Reuters Publishes Photos of Men Killed With Osama Bin Laden: Will Others Leak?

​Yesterday we asked "Should the United States Release Osama Bin Laden Death Photos?" but by this afternoon the White House announced that President Barack Obama had opted to keep the images secret for fear they would inflame anti-U.S. anger worldwide. "There is no doubt that we killed Osama bi ... More >>

Lindsay Lohan Sentenced to Jail; New York to Allow Conjugal Visits for Gay Inmates

​Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 100 days in jail yesterday for violating her drunk driving probation. She was held in custody for five hours before being sprung out of jail on a $75,000 bail (no indication of any Dog the Bounty Hunter involvement). LiLo is free for now while her lawyer appeals the ... More >>

'Miracle' Cat Survives Being Shot in the Head With an Arrow

A cat less tough than Max.​Adorable animals in trouble! A 3-year-old cat named Max who lives in Live Oak, near Santa Cruz, California, has somehow survived being shot in the head with an arrow. (Remember New York's own Sticky the goose? R.I.P., Sticky.) Anyway, the good news is that Max is oka ... More >>

Tornados Sweep Across Iowa; Qaddafi Forces Enter Strategic Town

​As many as 11 towns in Iowa were struck by tornados last night. [CNN] In Libya, Muammar Qaddafi's forces heavily bombarded the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiyah. [Reuters] The Times has this terribly sad story about babies born addicted to opiates. [NYT]

Converting to Pour-Over Coffee; More on Chefs & Foraging

​Frank Bruni chronicles his adventures in coffee snobbery in this era of evolved coffee culture. [NY Times] American Jews who also happen to be foodies have been looking to revive old Ashkenazic dishes that originated in Eastern Europe. [NY Times] The chef-owners of Seasonal Restaurant and ... More >>

Japanese Chefs Shun Gotham Water; Yet Another Egg Recall

​After restaurants with a "C" grade from the Health Department were outed, a number of diners are shocked and now say they will stop frequenting them. [NY Post] Japanese chefs at the Culinary Institute of America's three-day forum on Japanese cuisines refused to use local water and instead co ... More >>

Bitter Old People Get their Kicks Reading Bad Things About Whippersnappers

​People over 50 prefer reading negative news about young people, though they are indifferent when the news is about people their own age, according to a new study. So, go call your twisted parents and grandparents, and tell them the plight of the youngs is no laughing matter!

New York's Most Over-the-Top Fatty Foods; America's Craving for Bigger Flavors

​The Double Down sandwich from KFC isn't the most gluttonous thing you can eat in New York City. Other over-the-top calorie fests include Ditch Plains' Ditch Dogs (a pair of hot dogs on potato buns topped with mac 'n' cheese) and Mile End's Smoked Meat Poutine. [NY Post] Americans want spicie ... More >>

Jennifer Aniston on the Baby Food Diet; Child Farmworker Numbers Still High in the U.S.

​Arizona's new anti-immigration legislation has provoked boycotts of products from the state and concerns among hospitality operators. The city councils in Flagstaff and Tucson voted to sue the state over the law, which is sure to have a negative impact on tourism. [Nation's Restaurant News] ... More >>

New Test Strips Detect Pork for Muslims

Like this, but for pork​Kazakhstan scientists have invented a test strip that immediately detects the presence of pork.

French Macarons Go Mainstream; Two Burger Lovers Go Head-to-Head

​New York City's coffee wars are heating up. Despite the continued ubiquity of Starbucks, smaller chains like Gimme!, La Colombe, Stumptown, and the forthcoming Blue Bottle are cropping up everywhere. [NY Daily News] Are macarons poised to be the next dessert craze? The airy French pastries h ... More >>

Plane from LaGuardia Diverted Because of Kid Wearing Scary Tefillin

​A U.S. Airways flight that left LaGuardia for Kentucky this morning was diverted to Philadelphia, as a passenger was thought to have attached a weapon to his body ("strapped a wire device from his fingers to his head after takeoff," said Reuters). Fox, America's Terror Network, grimly referre ... More >>

Hark, Another Food-Based Reality Show: The United Plates of America

​NBC is unleashing another food-based reality show upon the viewing populace, and thanks to the title alone, it's already a groaner.

Booze News: Introducing Wine in Plastic; Beware Coffee in Booze

​Awatere Valley, N.Z. winemaker Peter Yealands bottles his wine in plastic bottles, which he's sure will become the convention, just as Coca-Cola went from glass to plastic. He's not the first to sell wine in plastic -- Wolf Blass in Australia does it, as do British supermarket chains Tesco an ... More >>

Not So Fast, Shawn: Rain Bumps Jay-Z World Series Interference Into Tomorrow

​On account of the huge dent an enormous stage might leave on the spongy Yankee Stadium field tonight, and also because Jay-Z definitely doesn't go outside unless his kicks are guaranteed to remain spotless, the dreaded Keys-Carter "Empire State of Mind" performance has been moved from Game 1 ... More >>

Calorie Info Makes a Difference After All; Yet Another Cheese Steak v. Cheesecake Wager

​Nickel deposits will be imposed on bottled water starting at the end of the month, which means that all water bottles under a gallon will have a five-cent refundable deposit, like beer and soda bottles and cans. [NY Times] The Post takes a look at hidden rich people, like Dushan Zaric, barte ... More >>

Smithfield Foods Getting Out of Hog Business; Zane Lamprey Trades Glass for Fork

​Norman E. Borlaug, a plant pathologist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in industrialized food production, which fought starvation worldwide, died Saturday in Dallas. Borlaug felt that environmentalists were hampering world food production by attacking the use of pesticides. ... More >>

Get Ready for Super Size Me, the Comic Book; Black Currants Legal & Delicious

Super Size Me's Morgan Spurlock has teamed up with Dark Horse Comics for a graphic novel entitled Supersized: Strange Tales From a Fast Food Culture, set for publication in the spring and inspired by real life fast-food tales, such as a fat man whose cremation made a mortuary smell like fries. [Reut ... More >>

A New Deputy Food Commissioner Will Protect Us From Our Food Here at Home; Codex Alimentarius Does the Job On a Global Scale

The Obama administration has created a new deputy food commissioner post in an effort to better curb salmonella and E. coli contamination following a rash of outbreaks in the last year, including the peanut product recall, the largest in U.S. history. An improved tracing system for identifying the o ... More >>

Food Cart Turf Wars & Fancy Food Favorites

Artisanal honey, blood orange, and caviar were among the hot products at the Fancy Foods Show this year. Smaller packaging was another trend, sparked by this, our poor economy. [NY Times] Has calling 911 because you got your food order wrong become a trend? The woman TMZ branded McNut called 911 wh ... More >>

Swine Flu Unrelated to Actual Pigs; Meat Will Still Kill You

The United Nations' food agency sent animal health experts to Mexico to determine if swine flu is really linked to pigs. So far, there is no evidence that humans contracted this strain of flu from our porcine friends. [Reuters] Food Network has launched Food2, a new website aimed at a young, hipper ... More >>

Bailout for Madoff Victims?

WFMU Goes Free-Form on McCain; Plus, Palin Hair for Obama!

Edible News Roundup

Hard Target

U.S. Military is pressed to probe run-ins between reporters and troops in Iraq