Bloomberg bans Easter eggs

From Sodahead:

“Personally, if I had it my way I would ban them all,” stated a stern-faced Michael Bloomberg to reporters Thursday morning.

But New York’s Mayor is not talking about soft drinks this time. He is not talking about salt shakers, guns, cigarettes or headphones. No, this time Mayor Michael “The Ban Man” Bloomberg is speaking of Easter eggs. Yes, Easter eggs and the famed 400-year-old hare that delivers them, the Easter Bunny.

The New York City mayor signed an executive order Thursday forbidding the bouncing, buck-toothed icon of Easter from leaving the city’s children with plastic Easter eggs no longer or wider than one inch, thereby reducing with amount of candy that can be stored in them.

Happy Easter to all, and don't be an April Fool! - QC

Johnny kicks off mayoral campaign by repeating a lie

From the Daily News:

City Controller John Liu officially kicked off his mayoral bid Sunday by touting that he worked in a sweatshop as a child - a biographical claim the Daily News debunked years ago.

Speaking to supporters from the steps of City Hall, Liu pitched as cherished fact his childhood work alongside his mother in a sweatshop — but his parents said during the Democrat’s 2009 campaign for controller that their son's version of history was incorrect.

"My dad took a job far beneath what he had had in Taiwan," Liu said Sunday. "My mom spent years in a sweatshop, where I often had to pitch in to make ends meet."

Four years ago, The News investigated Liu's “sweatshop” story — his campaign had run ads featuring bleak factory scenes — and learned from his mother, Jamy Liu, that she never worked in a sweatshop.

She said she mostly worked from her Flushing, Queens, home on a knitting machine and that her son would help her, getting paid 25 cents for every ball he spun on a yarn-spinning tool.

John Liu’s father, a banker named Joseph who owned the middle-class home where his son was raised, confirmed in 2009 that his wife never worked in a sweatshop and neither did their son.

After The News broke the story, Liu acknowledged it was an exaggeration, telling the newspaper’s editorial board that he bought candy with the money his mother gave him for helping her.

From the NY Observer:

Mr. Liu might well believe that voters will treat the accusations against his associates no more seriously than he himself seems to regard them. The polls indicate at the moment that he is making a serious miscalculation—he trails Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. And if you think they’ll remain silent about the Liu campaign’s transgressions, you haven’t been following New York politics very long.

Some of Mr. Liu’s supporters, particularly in the Asian-American community, have suggested that he is the victim of a racist plot, presumably orchestrated by anonymous power brokers who can’t bear the thought of an Asian in Gracie Mansion. To his eternal discredit, Mr. Liu has not dismissed these ridiculous accusations out of hand. If anything, he has stoked the paranoia, saying that “something is driving this so-called investigation.”

Well, he’s right about that—something is driving this investigation. And that something is his campaign’s dreadful fund-raising practices.

It’s a simple matter, Mr. Liu: if your campaign had followed the rules, you wouldn’t be in this mess.

The man should be preparing to leave public service, not asking for promotion to the city’s highest elective office.

Men arrested for candy possession

From the Daily News:

Cops accused Cesar Rodriguez and Jose Pena of having crack cocaine in their work van, but it was only coconut candy, they said Friday.

Charges were dropped after tests showed they were telling the truth, but the two men plan to file a $2 million suit against the NYPD.

"I spent five days in jail for possession of coconut candy," said Rodriguez, 33, an ex-con who works as a plumber's assistant.

He and Pena were parked near an Arthur Ave. bodega Jan. 15 when two police officers asked to search their green Chevy Venture van, the men said.

The cops found pieces of the crystalline candy - known as crema de coco and sold in bodegas across the city - in a plastic baggie.

Officer Anthony Burgos of the 48th Precinct arrested the duo for drug possession despite their insistence they were guilty only of a sweet tooth, Rodriguez said.

"I kept telling him it is candy," he said.