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Taliban "Honor" Kills "Adulterous" Afghani Woman -- And There's Video (NSFW)

Just in case you didn't already think the Taliban was a murderous gang of shit-bags, we bring you the latest "honor killing" of a woman in Afghanistan. Her alleged crime: adultery.The cowardly murder was caught on video, which you can see below.The three-minute video was originally obtained by Reute ... More >>

McDonald's Nixes Fries From Dollar Menu, Spuds Lovers Bummed

There's no question that the best choice on the McDonald's Dollar Menu is the fries, but that's no more. McDonald's restaurants in the United States will be altering their value priced menu items, swapping out small drinks and small fries for baked cookies and ice cream cones instead, Reuters repo ... More >>

Swedish Man Lives After Being Stuck In His Car For Months

Image Via​New Yorkers lucked out this year with a pretty low-key winter. After last year's horrible mess of a season, mother nature gifted us with a mostly snowless couple of months so far. But you know who got absolutely rocked with snow? Sweden. So much so, that a man was recently discovered ... More >>

Occupy Oakland Protesters Arrested; Cain Endorses Gingrich; More Details In Greg Kelly Case

Chaos broke out in Oakland Saturday, after Occupy protesters tried to take over the vacant Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, in what they called "Move-in Day," a plan to turn a vacant building "social center, convergence center and headquarters." Hundreds of people were arrested, and three police o ... More >>

Bank of America Retracts $5 Monthly Debit Card Fee

​Bank of America has changed its mind about charging customers a $5 monthly fee for using their debit cards, a move that angered many a banking customer, not to mention lawmakers, and in part was a catalyst for Bank Transfer Day, a move initiated by Kristen Christian, an L.A. woman, to get peo ... More >>

Four Loko Is Back... With a New Can!; Vodka Marketing Is Out of Control

​If you thought you'd heard the last of Four Loko, were you ever wrong. After removing caffeine from the recipe last year, Four Loko's makers have agreed to change the label to read, "This can has as much alcohol as 4 regular (12 oz. 5 percent alc/vol) beers." That should do the trick. [FOX Ne ... More >>

Moms Fail Health Department Standards on Packed Lunches; Restaurants Are Shrinking

​Gordon Ramsay is trying to revive his struggling restaurant empire in the U.S. with a deal with Caesars in Vegas to launch three restaurants. [NY Post] A look at the lineup for the food-truck lot in Queens: Kimchi Taco truck, Taim, and Andy's Italian Ices one day; Eddie's Pizza, Desi Food, a ... More >>

Stressed-Out Hamptons Puppies May Get Valium, Earmuffs

via​This Reuters headline really says it all: "Pampered pooches may pop Valium to cope with N.Y. rock festival." Did you get that? We'll expound. East Hampton is playing host to the "Music to Know Festival" August 13 and 14. The Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons is located on the same patch o ... More >>

Oprah Winfrey Rumored to Be Possible Host of Next Year's Oscars

​[Insert obligatory "And you get an Oscar! And you! And you!" joke.] Oprah Winfrey, ruler of Earth, is rumored to be a candidate to host next year's Academy Awards, although nothing is official at this stage in the game. Look, anything beats Franco and Hathaway. At the Oprah Oscars, winners won't ... More >>

American Drones Carry Out Strikes in Somalia; Maria Shriver Files for Divorce

​The United States has stepped up efforts against Islamic extremist groups in Somalia, the New York Times reports. Unmanned drone attacks late last month marked the first American military action in the nation since 2009. Shabab members were targeted after reports that the group was carrying ... More >>

Andrei Finkelstein, Russian Astronomer, Says We'll Encounter Aliens Within Twenty Years

​Andrei Finkelstein, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Applied Astronomy Institute, is pretty sure we're not alone in the universe. Reuters reports that Finkelstein told attendees at a forum dedicated to the search for extraterrestrials, "Life exists on other planets and we will fin ... More >>

Bottle Service Is Back, Baby; Upscale Restos Do Fast Food

​Jason Wang of Xi'an Famous Foods and Jonel Picioane of the Ridgewood Pork Store and the Sunnyside Meat Market are examples of second generations in food families taking their businesses into the 21st century. [NY Times] Au Bon Pain has announced a redesign to stores and a menu expansion that ... More >>

A Look at Who Is Really Responsible for All These Food Trucks; Oscar Mayer Sued for False Health Claims

​The Shanghai Stainless Product & Design Company on Gerry Street in Brooklyn is the place to go for your brand new haute food truck. They've done trucks for Korilla BBQ, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Treats Truck, and Van Leeuwen. [NY Times] Colicchio & Sons will run a beer garden on the forthcomin ... More >>

One-Celled Protozoa Will Have Sex Inside a Cat Before Killing You

​Each week, Death by Science will use the latest scientific research and news from the world of nature and technology to figure out exactly how you are going to die. Our findings have been proven to be 100 percent accurate*. SPOILER ALERT: This week, you will die after a one-celled organism dr ... More >>

Executions Are Slightly Less Popular These Days

​The world is slightly less into killing people, according to Amnesty International -- or at least, less into killing people by way of official state execution. Approximately 527 people were executed last year around the world, which represents a decrease from the 714 executed the previous yea ... More >>

Qaddafi Forces Withdraw From Key City; Carles Quits; Possible Pub Crawl Ban

​Libyan rebels have regained control of Adjabiya, a key city in the east. Adjabiya is considered a gateway to Libya's oil fields. In other Libya news, a woman named Eman al-Obeidy fought to tell foreign journalists her story of alleged rape and abuse by 15 government soldiers. She broke into ... More >>

Somali Pirates Hijack American Couple's Yacht; Man Saved After Staten Island Ferry Jump; Bronx Rapist Busted (Weekend Links)

Jean and Scott Adam, an American couple, were taken captive by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean yesterday. The pair were sailing from Mumbai to Oman when they were captured, and "sources onshore in Somalia indicated that a well-known piracy gang from northern Somalia had captured them and was ta ... More >>

Egyptian Military Dissolves Parliament; Algerian Protesters March in Capital; Italian Women Rally Against Berlusconi (Sunday Links)

Italian women protest Berlusconi. (via)​Sunday Links are a little protest-heavy. First -- well, this isn't really still a protest, but on theme nonetheless -- Egypt's military has dissolved the parliament and suspended the constitution. It says that it will rule for six months or until democratic ... More >>

The Most Interesting Man in the World Just Got More Interesting; Lagers Go Dark

​Dos Equis is the first beer brand to reach the coveted milestone of 1 million 'Likes' on Facebook, thanks largely to the awesome Most Interesting Man in the World ads. [BusinessWeek] This Super Bowl Sunday, will you be drinking ale or lager, craft beer or Coors? Beer industry insiders weigh ... More >>

Egyptian Protests Continue; Al Jazeera Cairo Bureau Shut Down; Sudanese Students Protest in Khartoum (Weekend Links)

via Reuters​The latest out of Egypt: thousands of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square are demonstrating, even though the military is firing shots into the air to scare them off. New protests are also being reported in Alexandria Suez. Yesterday, Pres. Mubarak appointed Omar Suleiman (whom the Time ... More >>

Fox Shoots Man; Murdered Journalist's Ashes Poured into Times Square Subway Grate (Weekend Links)

​Happy Sunday! Enjoy your brunches and precious, precious sleep while you still can. Today will be partly cloudy with a high of 33. There's a joke about "man bites dog" here that I'm not quite coming up with, but yesterday a fox managed to shoot its would-be hunter in Belarus. It escaped ... More >>

New Jersey Cops Need to Cool It With the Steroids

​Who polices the police? In New Jersey, it's lawmakers who are moving to "crack down" on steroid use among police and firefighters, who are more obsessed with staying fit than everyone else in New Jersey. The measure, introduced as a state assembly bill on Monday, would make it so "uniformed p ... More >>

Lady Gaga Goes from Wearing Food to Selling It; Where to Slaughter Your Own Turkey This Thanksgiving

​Lady Gaga has reportedly become part owner of Vince & Eddie's, a restaurant that has been around since 1989. [Hollywood News] A new study reveals that -- shocker -- parental nagging over food can lead to kids having issues involving eating habits. [Reuters] "Food Works," a new study publish ... More >>

Malaysian Kitchen Food Truck Spreading the Good Food News; Café des Artistes Murals to Live On

​McDonald's employees in Ohio received pamphlets with their paychecks encouraging them to vote Republican. [USA Today] Old Town Bar celebrated the 100th anniversary of its lovely Hinsdale Urinals last night, often cited as the most beautiful specimens in the city. [Wall Street Journal] Danny ... More >>

Bartender Stabbed Outside the Branded Saloon; South Korea Suffers Kimchi Shortage

​A Brooklyn bartender was stabbed outside the Branded Saloon on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights after his dog became entangled with that of an ex-con. [NY Daily News] Sam Sifton remembers Shorty Tang, the inventor of sesame noodles as we know it, after seeing Tang's biography posted on ... More >>

Lady Gaga Wears Meat to MTV Awards; Corn Syrup Hoping to Change Name & Image

​Michelle Obama addressed the NRA recently -- the National Restaurant Association, that is -- calling for increased efforts to fight childhood obesity. [Nation's Restaurant News] U.S. Foodservice Inc., a food distribution company, agreed to pay $30 million to settle civil fraud charges that i ... More >>

Hot Bread Kitchen Moves into Harlem's La Marqueta; Prime Meats Takes Plastic

​The 4,500-square-foot city-owned La Marqueta market in Harlem will now house Hot Bread Kitchen, a non-profit bakery that trains low-income immigrant women in culinary skills. [Wall Street Journal] It still does not take reservations, but Prime Meats in Carroll Gardens now takes credit cards ... More >>

Blue Water Grill Goes Tiki; Coffee Liqueurs Make a Splash

​Eben Klemm, the head mixologist for B.R. Guest Restaurants, which owns Dos Caminos and Blue Water Grill, is trying out "tiki-inspired" tropical drinks for the summer, as well as cocktails made with Riesling. [Washington Post] Several new coffee liqueurs are making a splash, including Firelit ... More >>

Anita Lo Gets a Feng-Shui Boost at Annisa; Starbucks Launches Low-Cost Coffee Brand

​Steve Cuozzo takes aim at bad hotel restaurants, listing The Fives at Peninsula, Arabelle at Plaza-Athenee, and Commodore Grill at Grand Hyatt among the worst offenders. [NY Post] Despite being something of a "non-believer," Anita Lo hired a feng-shui consultant to help her redesign the inte ... More >>

Copenhagen's Noma Named Best Restaurant in the World; Amtrak Tests Beef-Powered Train

​Noma in Copenhagen finally topped El Bulli as the best restaurant in the world at the S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants reception, held last night in London. Daniel jumped 33 spots to no. 8, Per Se dropped four spots to no. 10, and Le Bernardin stayed at a comfortable no. 15. [Bloombe ... More >>

Martha Stewart Lunches with Old Prison Pal; Madonna Invests in Coconut Water

​McDonald's is celebrating 20 years in Russia with a buy-one-get-one-free deal on hamburgers. The chain only this year started outsourcing all ingredients. When it first entered the Russian market, all 300-odd ingredients had to be made in-house. [NY Times] Food companies could be charged mor ... More >>

Cadbury Workers Mount Anti-Kraft Protest; Spain Gets a Molecular Cooking School

​Major fast-food chains are rolling out new cheaper menu options. McDonald's will start a Dollar Breakfast Menu in January; Burger King is touting its $1 double cheeseburgers; and Taco Bell is gearing up for its 89-cent Beefy 5-Layer Burrito and, later, the Five Bucks Box with four food items ... More >>

Booze News: Soothing a Stuffed Belly with Amaro; Pairing Wine with Pumpkin Pie

​ Feeling overstuffed? No country can match Italy for the sheer variety of digestive liqueurs, called amari, which can soothe a fully belly at the end of a big meal... something you might want to look into this holiday season. [NY Times] Two cases of MacKinlay's Rare Old Whisky that Ernest Sh ... More >>

Gourmet Dining at the Symphony; Brooklyn Restaurant Staffers Underpaid; the Cannabis Cafe

​Mimi Sheraton will host a series of dinners beginning early next year that combine a concert by the New York Philharmonic and a meal prepared by such chefs as Alain Ducasse, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Lidia Bastianich, and Daniel Boulud. [Reuters] More than 200 workers at 25 Brooklyn restaur ... More >>

Cadbury Holds Out for Better Offer; Beware the 'Halal Mafia'

​Anthony Bourdain took his culinary adventure show No Reservations on a tour of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx on Monday night's episode with his friend Fat Dave, lead singer of the New York Dolls David Johansen, Chris Cheung of Monkey Bar, and Momofuko's David Chang. [NY Daily ... More >>

Smokers Fight, Kill for Rights in Turkey

​Apparently smokers are way more protective of their rights in Turkey than they are here in New York. A fight broke out when a restaurant owner in Southwest Turkey ordered a group of customers to extinguish their cigarettes following a national indoor smoking ban, leaving the owner dead and h ... More >>

Denny's Gets Sued Over Salt; Hawaii to Kick Wienermobile to the Curb

 A man from New Jersey is suing Denny's for failing to warn him that his favorite item, the Moons Over My Hammy egg sandwich, was "loaded up with the salt." [NY Daily News] Brooklyn councilman Bill de Blasio has proposed that New York follow in Chicago's footsteps and pass a green food resolut ... More >>

Naked Cowboy to Announce for Mayor's Race Today

We have done more than most to let you know about the New York mayoral candidates from minor parties such as the Green Party (Reverend Billy), the Rent Is Too Damn High Party (Jimmy McMillan), and the Democrats (Bill Thompson, Tony Avella). We hope to provide coverage in the near future of Libertari ... More >>

The Botanical Gardens Get Foodie & "What's Up with These Dumb, Pornographic Fast Food Ads?"

The New York Botanical Garden is embracing the fresh food movement this summer with its new Edible Garden program, which will feature such temporary exhibitions as "Tropical Fruits, Roots and Shoots." Martha Stewart helped the Botanical Garden revamp its herb garden, which now includes a variety of ... More >>

Bots! A.I. Revolutionizes Food Service in Japan, One Day the World

Will chefs and wait staff one day be obsolete? A new breed of Japanese food-making and food-serving robots says yes. For now, they work as temporary staff, according to a Reuters report, but soon may be found in fine dining establishments around the globe. They flip pancakes, arrange sushi, and ch ... More >>

Rare 1 in 30 Million Yellow Lobster Found; McNugget Scam Uncovered

Gebisa Ejeta, a scientist at the University of Purdue originally from Ethiopia, has been awarded the 2009 World Food Prize for his work on drought and weed-resistant varieties of sorghum. [VOA News] The most common source of food poisoning across the country in 2006 was chicken, followed by leafy v ... More >>

Chili's Big Mouth Bites Blow Big Macs Out of the Water; Midtown Lunch Founder Profiled

Starbucks plans to launch a healthy new menu later this month that will feature baked goods without high-fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors, as well as salads and other items. The new menu will be advertised with the slogan "Real Food. Simply Delicious." [Reuters] If you think a Big Mac has ... More >>

The Governor Bans Bottled Water; Guactacular Winners Announced

Bagless vacuum cleaner inventor James Dyson has filed a US patent application for "cubist" kitchen appliances, designed to take up less space than round, jug-shaped ones. [New Scientist] Governor Paterson has signed an executive order to phase out the purchase and use of all bottled water at govern ... More >>

You Might Have No Control Over What You Eat; Paris' Le Fooding Coming to America

A new study has revealed differences in the brains of people who are good at controlling their urges--like, say, overeating--versus those who aren't. Apparently, we all use the same part of the brain to make decisions, but a second part of the brain in people with good self-control can help them cur ... More >>

City Health Big Says "Hundreds" of Swine Flu Cases; CDC Says 45. (UPDATE: 2nd School Closed; Brother Leonard Speaks!)

You know how it is -- one kid gets swine flu, and the next thing you know everybody's got it. New York health commissioner Thomas Frieden says he now suspects "many hundreds" of swine flu cases in the city. CDC still says we have a total of 45, making 64 cases nationally, but they're just trying to ... More >>

This Is Why You're Fat--Study Says Allergies Can Hinder Weight Loss

A study in Japan has found that eating 2.5 ounces of baby broccoli per day for two months may help stave off a stomach bug that is linked to several more serious problems, including gastritis, ulcers and even stomach cancer. [Reuters] Downing a banana smoothie before bed could help sufferers of sl ... More >>

Fellow Arabs honor journalist's feat

Bush Looks Out for No. 1

Morning Report 5/13/05
Rider On the Storm

Attila the Shrub

Republican Party Shows True Colors With Conservative Platform