Victoria Bekiempis

Medical Marijuana: Los Angeles Pot Shop Owners Fight Ban

The Los Angeles City Council voted in July to ban prescription pot shops, but dispensary owners have decided to fight back, the L.A. Times reports. As detailed by the Times, the City Attorney has threatened medical marijuana managers with "penalties of $2,500 a day and up to six months in jail" if ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 225: Tofu Pudding from Tung Woo Co.

Hot and Sweet Tofu from Tung Woo Co. (230 Grand Street)

Powerball: Is It Possible To Write a Lotto Story That Doesn't Suck?

Full disclosure: when we set about writing this post, we were going to open with a snarky (read: stale) complaint about how the lottery subgenre of reportage just isn't creative enough. In fact, our lede was going to be something like: "There must be a whole chapter on lotto coverage in "Journalism ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 218: You Will Totally Want To Win This Contest

$2 Pork and Vegetables from GUESS AND YOU WIN A PRIZE!

Year of the Takeout Day 217: Here's One of The Best $3.50 Lunches EVER

Fast Food from Kim Tuong (83 Chrystie Street, 212-966-2878)

Year of the Takeout Day 215: East Noodle & Izakaya

Gyoza and Spring Roll from East Noodle & Izakaya (E 119 Second Avenue, 212-982-4285)

Oh Yes! Trojan To Give Away Free Vibrators!

Talk about good vibrations... Trojan Company, best known for its condoms, is going to give away 10,000 free vibrators from two hot dog carts Wednesday and Thursday. One of the "Pleasure Carts" is going to be parked in the Meatpacking District, on 14th Street and Tenth Avenue -- while the other wi ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 211: Wood EAR from Hou Yi

Wood Ear(!) from Hou Yi (112 Eldridge Street, 212-625-8989)

Year of the Takeout Day 202: How Do You Eat Lychee?

So, how do you eat a lychee, anyway?

Year of the takeout Day 201: China Town

Chicken Chow Mein from China Town (250 East Houston, 212-529-9888)

Medical Marijuana: Can It Treat Diarrhea?

Well then. We're not sure how accurate this item is, but it's interesting reading, to say that least: The Weed Blog claims that medical marijuana might be good for treating the runs.

Year of the takeout Day 199: ???

Medical Marijuana: New Jersey Grows Prescription Pot!

Several days after a New Jersey lawmaker called on his fellow politicians to explain delays in prescription pot dispensary development, a report indicates that marijuana is being grown in the state. The state's first legal cannabis crop in generations has been growing hydroponically, in a warehouse ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 198: Han's Deli

More Steam Tablin' from Han's Deli (645 Broadway 212-473-8596)

Year of the Takeout Day 197: Kamboat Bakery and Cafe

What Magic Is This? from Kamboat Bakery and Cafe (111 Bowery)

More Ladies Are Using Long-Term Birth Control, Researchers Say

More American women are using effective, long-term contraceptives -- namely, intrauterine devices (IUDs) -- a new Guttmacher Institute study indicates. IUDs are implanted in a woman's uterus and can prevent birth for up to 10 years and tend to have a one percent or less annual pregnancy rate, mean ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 192: Stinky, Stinky Durian

Durian, from Chinatown supermarket

Year of the Takeout Day 193: Sunac Natural Food

Sichuan Slaw from Sunac Natural Foods (440 Union Avenue, Brooklyn, 718-643-0508)

Bronx Rapist on The Lam, Attacked Tourist in East Tremont Hotel Room

A tourist was raped in her Bronx hotel room on Wednesday -- and cops say the man in this video is the perp.

Medical Marijuana: Will Massachusetts Voters OK Weed?

Last week, we reported on Massachusetts medical marijuana advocates' move to gather enough signatures to put prescription pot on November's ballot. Now, it looks like Mass voters will def vote on weed.

Medical Marijuana: Can Weed Treat Obesity?

We're still trying to wrap our heads around this item, but here we go... Several British researchers claim that cannabis -- fondly known for inducing intense cravings for everything from Hot Pockets to Doritos to Taco Bell -- might actually have appetite suppressant qualities, and could even be use ... More >>

If You Post a Pic of Your Bank Card, @NeedaDebitCard Might Tweet The Photo

OK, so there seem to be two things going on here, both of them strange (and brought to our attention by the Voice's Steven Thrasher.) The first: People post photos of their debit cards online, for all the world to see. And we're talking detailed pics -- with identifying info like their names, acco ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 183: Mr. Broadway Kosher Delicatessen

Fong Wan Gai from Mr. Broadway Kosher Delicatessen (1372 Broadway, 212-921-2152)

Babies: More Time in The Womb Means More Success in School, Study Finds

Time to further complicate the nature-versus-nurture debate... A new study published today in Pediatrics suggests that academic achievement and brain development are directly tied to gestational time -- how long a kid is in the womb. What's unique about this study, which tracked 128,050 New York ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 179: TORTOISE?

Sauteed Tortoise Meat from ? (81 Allen Street, 212-625-0001)

Going Commando: Is It Healthier?

Here at the Voice, we're very concerned with sexual health -- from answering age-old questions about seasonal screwing to queries on drug-resistant pubic lice. With the onset of summer, we decided to look into a method used by many women to keep cool -- going commando. What we wanted to know: Is t ... More >>

Synthetic Weed Stoner Brutally Attacks Elderly Couple, Cops Claim

And you thought bath salts were the only designer drug making people go batshit... A Costa Mesa, Calif. man, high on synthetic marijuana, was "speaking gibberish and hanging out in front of a married couple's apartment in the 600 block of Baker Street when he allegedly stole the 70-year-old man's s ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 172: Chrysanthemum Tea

Canned Chrysanthemum Tea

Mutant Crabs: Yes, There Are Drug Resistant Pubic Lice, Too

Yesterday, the Voice reported on something both terrifying and gross: drug resistant head lice. Turns out, some strains of these bugs have gotten so used to common treatments over the years that their exoskeletons have grown thicker and as a result, they're hardier and can survive all but the harshe ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 168: Fish Sausage?

Uhm....

Do People Have More Sex During The Summer?

This question came to mind today, when we were busy with this serious business. People tend to wear less clothes and socialize more in warm weather, so do people have more sex during the summer? Indeed, as the season fast approaches, talk about flings and romantic things of the like -- summer lovi ... More >>

Birth Control Buzz Kill: HHS Contraception Mandate Comes Under More Fire

American Protestants apparently want to be just like American Catholics. According to Religion News Service, they too are pissed about Barack Obama's Health and Human Services Mandate, which requires that insurance companies provide birth control coverage.

Troop Suicides: More U.S. Soldiers Die By Their Own Hand Than In Battle

Almost every day this year, a soldier on active duty took his or her own life -- meaning that suicides killed more troops than war, according to a just released study. The Times as well many other media organizations have reported that there had been 154 suicides this year, compared to 124 militar ... More >>

Here Are Some More Abortion Restrictions

So here we were, waiting for takeout, thinking we could make it through a whole news cycle without someone trying to restrict abortion. We thought wrong because, you know, legislators nationwide are apparently trying to break 2011's second-place record -- for the number of new laws restricting rep ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 158: Donde?

WHERE?

FYI: Your Birth Control Might Not Work

Here's some important info if you don't want a kid: neither the transdermal patch, vaginal ring, nor the pill are the best way to go about birth controllin'. According to a recently released New England Journal of Medicine study, intrauterine devices(IUDs), under-the-skin implants, and Depo-Provera ... More >>

Anonymous Online Speech: Soon To Be Banned by Albany?

The Voice's Steven Thrasher just brought this to our attention. Legislation is pending in Albany that would make illegal anonymous online commenting, City & State tweeted this morning. Looks like Wired was among the first to report on the measure. The bill's backers, according to the mag, want ... More >>

Year of the Takeout Day 141: Snacky

Pork Buns from Snacky (187 Grand Street, 718-486-4848)

Middle-Aged Women Are Annoying, Says The Internet

Wow.

New Yorkers Don't Like Occupy Wall Street or The Tea Party: Poll

It's a pollapalooza! Shortly after a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute came out identifying New Yorkers' hatred of indoor smoking and love of bike shares, yet more info has come out detailing voters' tastes.

Year of the Takeout Day 131: Natalie Bakery

Custard Tart from Natalie Bakery (271 Grand Street, 212-226-8882)

Newsweek and Time: Two Kinds of Mommy Porn

Yup, this sure is a 3-year-old breastfeeding on the cover of Time Magazine.

Year of the Takeout Day 130: Food World Restaurant

Crispy Intestine from Food World (19 Eldridge Street, 212-219-0006)

Year of the Takeout Day 128: How Not To Heat Chinese Food

Oops!

Year of the Takeout Day 124: 'Asian Chicken'

Asian Chicken from Not Telling

Year of the Takeout Day 123: Congee Village (Bowery)

Roast Duck and Meatball Porridge from Congee Village (207 Bowery, 212-266-2828)

Unemployment Is (Barely) Down

And now for even more reasons to be skeptical about the alleged economic recovery: Unemployment is down, but a smaller share of Americans are in the labor force and many have just given up on trying to find work. The newest Bureau of Labor Statistics data came out this morning, and the April jobs n ... More >>

Can Protesting Stop-and-Frisk Get You Convicted of Disorderly Conduct?

Can you get jailed for protesting a polemic cop policy in front of a police precinct? A Manhattan judge delivered a guilty disorderly conduct verdict this afternoon to a group of 20 political protesters, including Princeton Prof Cornel West, the Associated Press reports. The charge is considered a ... More >>

New York City Really Has a Thing for Pain Pills

Not too long after data came out questioning whether America might be addicted to painkillers, additional details have been released about New York City's pill popping. From 2008 to 2010, prescriptions for opioid analgesics surged 22 percent, according to The Associated Press (via CBS). What's s ... More >>

Will Subway Stations Soon Have Wifi?

Subway fares might be going up, The MTA's capital plan might be funded by debt, and the city's mass transit lines might be overrun by rats but hey, commuting in New York might not be all bad. Boingo and Transit Wireless will start hooking up wifi in the city's subway stations over the next five yea ... More >>