samhexum

Adele’s former trainer leapt to her defense after she came under fire for betraying her plus-size fan base.

How one Brooklyn grocery store manager has survived the coronavirus crisis When Lucy Fortune gets home from working at the Met Fresh supermarket in Brooklyn each day, she hides so that her 1-year-old son can’t see her coming in. “I get rid of all my dirty clothes, strip down, and shower. About 30 minutes later, I go give him a hug,” Fortune, a 26-year-old assistant manager at the Bushwick grocery store, told The Post. “I am concerned about infecting my family. It is a big concern,” she added. “When I took this job… I didn’t think [a global pandemic] would happen.” But Fortune, who’s getting ready to graduate from nursing school, knows she plays an important role as an essential worker and has to be there not just for hungry New Yorkers, but also the staff she manages. “You never know what you’re walking into it. But as the assistant manager you show up to work in order to show some form of encouragement, especially for my fellow employees,” said Fortune who lives in Canarsie with her husband and son. “I am more than grateful, not only for the continued paycheck, but also for the acknowledgement from the society for taking a risk everyday to help and serve those most in need during this pandemic.” When the pandemic first struck, “Everyone was scared,” Fortune recalled. “We were just not sure if it was safe to come to work or if we were allowed to come to work. [but] we saw how much the community needed us to serve them and made us feel ok,” she said. Even though Fortune and her team were grateful to serve others, dealing with the initial crowds of panicked shoppers was difficult, she said. “People were hoarding stuff, customers were aggressive — they didn’t understand why they were limited to certain stuff at the time — like toilet paper and water,” Fortune recounted. “Everyone is scared, we wanted everyone to have a fair chance to have items.” After a few weeks, the store caught up to the crisis and finally, masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers arrived while plexiglass shields were installed at cash registers. The store added marks on the floor to remind customers to stand 6 feet apart and limited the number of shoppers allowed in the store at any time to 10. The chain has small stores. “We do try our best to be careful and cautious, try to change our gloves and masks as much as possible, wash our hand,” Fortune said. “We are working hard enough to keep it going smoothly.” Fortune, who makes minimum wage plus overtime, was working close to 50 hours a week at the height of the virus crisis, but luckily things have “simmered down,” allowing her to focus on her family and her schoolwork at Mildred Elley. She’s still scared about having to commute from Canarsie to Bushwick each day on the train, terrified she’ll bring the virus home to her son and husband, but she knows she can’t stop now. “As an essential worker, I need to show support and encouragement for everyone else,” Fortune said. “You need to put your fear behind you and walk with faith.”

Adele’s former personal trainer has leapt to the defense of the recently slimmed-down star who has come under fire for betraying her plus-size fan base. On May 6 — her 32nd birthday — the “Rolling In The Deep” singer caused a stir by flaunting her drastically altered figure on Instagram in a post thanking healthcare workers for their service during the coronavirus outbreak. Pete Geracimo, who worked with Adele for four years between 2012 and 2016, called for less judgment of the newly-lithe mom-of-one on his Instagram page. “My hope is that people appreciate the hard work that Adele has done to improve herself for the benefit to her and her family only,” he wrote. “She did not lose weight to make others feel bad about themselves.” SOMEBODY ELSE...

Northwell Health discharges 10,000th COVID-19 patient Amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis as officials and individuals grapple with consequences and concerns and push for progress, Northwell Health announced a hopeful number, recently discharging its 10,000th coronavirus patient. The New Hyde Park-based hospital system discharged the patient with a celebration, amid masked healthcare workers holding signs with rainbows and messages. One sign said “We Luv U” and another said “Here comes the sun” near a picture of the sun and a rainbow sharing one space, as healthcare workers showed appreciation to patients for their struggle — even as many others show support for healthcare workers. “Based on the data we’ve seen, Northwell has treated more COVID-19 patients than any other health system in the nation,” Northwell President CEO Michael Dowling said in a written statement. “Crossing the threshold of 10,000 discharges represents a positive moment in this ongoing fight.” The ritural was reassuring at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, one of 23 run by Northwell, mixing relief, a sense of rebirth, and a reminder that, amid tragedy and loss, there are triumphs as well. And it was an opportunity to celebrate success and reinvigorate healthcare staff as well as celebrate an individual patient’s journey out of the hospital. Northwell has cared for nearly 13,000 patients on Long Island, in New York City, and Westchester, nearly 20 percent of all COVID-19 patients hospitalized in New York State, according to the system. And it has treated more than 41,000 COVID-19 patients including those seen in emergency departments, 52 Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care centers and physician offices. The healthcare system conducted about 52,000 telehealth visits as the Food and Drug Administration loosened regulations, allowing telemedicine to become a key tool amid the COVID-19 crisis. Northwell hospitals added nearly 2,000 additional beds in less than two weeks after Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for hospitals to expand, increasing its hospital capacity by about 50 percent. The system also oversaw clinical operations at the 1,000-bed field hospital staffed by Army clinicians at the Javits Convention Center in Manhattan and the 1,000-bed USNS Comfort Navy hospital ship that docked at Pier 90 in Manhattan. While this ritual marked a hopeful milestone, the battle and the struggles continue for many patients and healthcare providers. Northwell Health at the time of the release of the 10,000th patient a few days ago was providing care for 1,203 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a still large number, but down 65 percent from the peak of 3,425 on April 7. Northwell Health is the state’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, nearly 800 outpatient facilities and more than 14,200 affiliated physicians. The system cares for more than 2 million people annually and employs 72,000, including more than 17,000 nurses and 4,500 physicians.

Blond psychopath Villanelle in “Killing Eve” is the kind of over-the-top fictional character who couldn’t possibly be real — right? Not so fast. It turns out that Villanelle, played by Jodie Comer, 27, was based on a very real villain who reportedly killed nearly two dozen people in cold blood, all while seducing police officers like a pro. Luke Jennings, who wrote the “Villanelle” novel series that the hit AMC and BBC America series is based on, has exposed the inspiration behind the character: Idoia López Riaño, a Spanish ETA hitwoman known as La Tigresa, according to The Independent. “She killed 23 people, and she was clearly a psychopath and completely, completely without empathy,” Jennings revealed in an online chat for the new Lyme Crime literary festival. Although she was imprisoned in the 1990s for murders she committed for the Basque terrorist group, the now-55-year-old was released in 2017. “Killing Eve” follows Villanelle’s obsession with intelligence agent Eve (Sandra Oh). Although that part of the story is invented for the show, Jennings said La Tigresa reportedly earned her real-life nickname for her “legendary sexual prowess,” as she’s rumored to have had sex with police officers before slaying their colleagues. In the TV series, Comer’s vain Villanelle is frequently shown preening in the mirror and shopping for designer fashions. Riaño, Jennings said, also enjoyed gazing at her own reflection. The author recounted one such occasion, when Riaño was assigned to assassinate a police officer: “At the key moment, Idoia, who was supposed to be doing the killings, didn’t actually see him because she was so entranced with the window of a fashionable store and her own reflection in it.” Now in its third season, “Killing Eve” contributed to the rise of Hollywood darling Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who helmed the first season, and it earned Oh a Golden Globe in 2019 and Comer an Emmy that same year. “Killing Eve” has already been renewed for a fourth season. Season 3 is currently airing Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC and BBC America.

From Dorian Gray Antiques.

I actually found a copy of it on a porn site a month or two ago and downloaded it. It's on my computer whenever I feel like watching it.

A Florida teen learning to drive accidentally mowed down her dad — as he was teaching her to park his pickup truck, according to a report. Tarpon Springs police said the 15-year-old’s dad got out of his Ford F-150 to let her practice pulling it into a parking space Tuesday in an empty lot, news station WTVT reported. But as he stood in front, the girl “unintentionally” hit the accelerator while the vehicle was still in drive, police said. The truck then jolted forward over a curb and struck the man before hitting a tree, authorities said. When police arrived, the girl was attempting to provide aid to her father, who later died of his injuries, the outlet reported. Their names haven’t been released and the crash remains under investigation. ‘Soccer mom’ caught on camera using power saw to break into Botox clinic August 28, 2019 A Mercedes-Benz-driving “soccer mom” used a power saw to break into a Botox clinic in Texas and rip off anti-aging products, authorities said. The woman, who cops say is between 35 and 45 years old, can be seen in surveillance video provided by the Sugar Land Police Department tugging on the glass door of the Botox RN MD Spa around 8:25 p.m. Friday. She walks away, then is shown driving a light-colored Mercedes SUV closer to the business and getting out with the saw. She grinds away at the door until she manages to slip in through a hole she created. Alonso Perez, the spa owner, told local outlet KTRK that he was shocked to see the video. “Looks like the average soccer mom in a Mercedes trying to break into your business,” he said. “Had no regard for anybody else’s property. Had no regard for her own safety. I mean by doing what she was doing with the power tool to a window.” Someone had just broken into the spa the night before, and one window was already boarded up with plywood, Perez told the outlet. “Nobody should go through this, you know?” he said. “I mean, it is not normal for a human being to try and take somebody else’s stuff … that they work hard for.” The thief remains at large — and cops are working to identify her. She was last seen wearing a light-colored top with dark pants, police said in a statement. Her Mercedes did not have a front license plate. Perez told the outlet he’s personally offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest. Home destroyed, at least 7 damaged in explosion that shakes London, Ont., neighbourhood Police believe explosion caused by ruptured gas line, 1 woman charged with impaired driving Aug 15, 2019 At least seven houses were damaged and seven people were sent to hospital in London, Ont., after a vehicle drove into a house in the city's east end Wednesday night, damaging a gas meter and setting off an explosion that set fire to nearby homes. Police were called to a house on Woodman Avenue near Queens Avenue at about 10:40 p.m. ET to reports that a vehicle driving the wrong way on Queens Avenue had struck a house. About 15 minutes after the driver of the car was arrested, the house exploded. Daniella Alexandra Leis, 23, of Kitchener, Ont., has been charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm and driving above the legal limit. She is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 4. Acting Deputy Fire Chief Jack Burt said crews were dealing with multiple structure fires overnight and 100 homes were evacuated. He said the home that exploded was reduced to rubble and at least seven others have significant damage. "We also have a significant debris field from an explosion that actually goes over more than a block area at this point," he said. Burt said more than 50 firefighters were at the scene at the height of the fire. Here's a breakdown of injuries from the fire: Four firefighters were hurt. Three have since been released from hospital and one remains in hospital in serious but stable condition. Two police officers were also taken to hospital, but have since been released. A civilian was taken to hospital, treated for minor injuries and released. Neighbours quickly came together following the explosion, offering a place to sleep for those told to leave their homes. Others were circulating with water and coffee. "I could see sparks exploding over the trees," said Joanne Bishop, a resident in the area. "These are our friends and neighbours, so I think people are scared right now." "There's debris everywhere, windows are shattered. We watched the roof fly higher than the trees on the street. The sound was extremely loud. You could feel the explosion go right through you," said witness Krystina Curtis. Approximately 100 homes on Quebec Street, Woodman Avenue and Charlotte Street, between Lorne Avenue and Dundas Street, were evacuated, and the area cordoned off for investigation. With so many people unable to go home, the City of London arranged for hotel rooms for dozens of families. By Thursday evening, all but 12 of the evacuated homes were deemed safe and people were allowed to go home. "In my 20 years in the fire service, I've never seen an event of this nature," said Burt. He said the home where the explosion occurred has been "reduced to rubble" and nearby homes have extensive damage. Burt said it was fortunate the area was evacuated when the gas leak was first detected or "this could have been a very different story."

About 200 rogue goats took over a California neighborhood this week after they escaped from their enclosure, video of the wild episode shows. The invaded an east San Jose neighborhood Tuesday evening after one of them somehow tapped an electric fence while munching on flowers, local resident Terry Roelands told KNTV. Then the boards on the fence broke, setting the goats loose, Roelands said. “I’m dead,” Roelands’ son Zach tweeted. “When I got back from the store all the goats had broken through the fence and were [wreaking] havoc on our street.” “This is the craziest thing to happen all quarantine,” he added. Zach told The Mercury News the goats were rounded up quickly, but munched on neighbors’ potted plants during their jailbreak and left behind a trail of droppings. Terry Roelands told KNTV the hill behind his home caught on fire about 15 years ago and since then, goats are used a few times each year to eat their way through the brush.

Alex Wood hasn’t lost his fastball, even two months after coronavirus suspended MLB’s season. The Dodgers pitcher reacted to Mark Teixeira’s suggestion that players should take less money than expected to play baseball this year, slamming him for the take on Twitter. “I refuse to judge someone I don’t really know off of one comment but damn this statement is just so stupid lol,” Wood tweeted Tuesday night. Wood — who was set to make $4 million this season — fired back at Teixeira as MLB began to negotiate with the Players Association over a deal that would try to restart the season. The expected hangup is the money, as the owners want to have a 50-50 revenue share with the players instead of the prorated salaries they agreed to in a deal in March. Teixeira, who made more than $200 million across his 13-year career and had the best ass in the game when he played***, did his former teammates and fellow players no favors when he encouraged them to take the deal. “Players need to understand that if they turn this deal down and shut the sport down, they’re not making a cent,” the former Yankees first baseman and now ESPN analyst said on Tuesday morning. “I would rather make pennies on the dollar and give hope to people and play baseball than not make anything and lose an entire year off their career.” Teixeira said he was making an exception by not siding with the players. “This is unprecedented in the history of the Major League Baseball Players Association,” Teixeira said. “And every other year, I would stand together and say, ‘The owners aren’t going to do this to us and we’re going to get paid our full fare. If I’m going to put myself out there, I’m going to get paid a full day’s wage.’ “The problem is you have people all over the world taking paycuts, losing their jobs, losing their lives. Front-line workers putting their lives at risk. These are unprecedented times, and this is the one time I would advocate for the players accepting a deal like this. A 50-50 split of revenues is not that crazy. “If I’m a player, I don’t like it, but I’m going to do whatever I have to do to play and that means taking this deal. ***

TNT is retracting its Claws. The WarnerMedia-owned cable network has renewed the drama starring Niecy Nash for a fourth and final season. The news comes after the third season of the series wrapped in August. "For the past three seasons, Claws has handled delicate and culturally relevant themes like race, class, gender, age and sexual orientation with grace and humor via superb storytelling,” Brett Weitz, general manager of TNT, TBS and TruTV, said Tuesday in a statement. “Fans cherish the over-the-top Clawsian moments that have defined its run, and we will do them justice as we wrap up the tale of Desna [Nash] and her crew." Claws stars Nash as the owner of a nail salon in Bradenton, Florida, who along with her staff begin laundering money for an organized-crime outfit and eventually work their way up to controlling their own empire. The show also stars Carrie Preston, Judy Reyes, Karrueche Tran, Jenn Lyon, Kevin Rankin and Jason Antoon, with Harold Perrineau and Dean Norris. Claws has been a very steady and solid performer for TNT, but the decision to end with season four was a mutual one between the network and the creative team. Season three of the series, which was simulcast on TNT and TBS, averaged about 1.25 million viewers for initial airings, about even with the previous two seasons (1.29 million and 1.28 million). Delayed and multiplatform viewing pushed that figure substantially higher. On March 12, 2020, Warner Bros. Television shut down production on the series' fourth and final season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus baking demonstration backfires hilariously This baking tutorial sure went a-rye. A woman’s bread-making demonstration during the coronavirus quarantine backfired hilariously after she inadvertently tipped over the cutting board and ended up with a faceful of flour. The splat-tacular mishap can be seen in a viral Facebook video that has nabbed more than 8.8 million views since it was posted May 6. The uproarious clip, which is cheekily titled “The new way to make bread lol,” starts off with the unnamed baker — whose country of origin is unspecified — kneading dough and sprinkling it with flour as she explains the steps in Spanish. However, her cooking demo goes south when she attempts to use a rolling pin on her precariously placed cutting board, causing it to catapult a bowl full of flour directly into her face. The clip concludes with the embarrassed host cursing in Spanish and motioning for the camera person to stop recording. The would-be Martha Stewart’s cooking calamity has become a hit with the social-media masses, racking up over a half-million shares and almost 75,000 comments. Baking blunders have become a viral trend as stay-at-home cooks attempt to entertain themselves during lockdown — or replicate their favorite dishes from now-shuttered restaurants with disastrous results. An attempt to make a Key lime pie literally blew up in this amateur pastry chef’s face. And one woman’s chocolate-filled banana bread turned out looking like something that was exhumed from the rubble of a volcanic eruption. Then there are the woman whose banana bread resembled a brick more than a loaf and the misshapen pizza that looks like it was dropped face-down on the floor. But the crown jewels of cooking catastrophes could be these budding bakers’ genital-evoking macarons and cookies in need of censorship. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=349731982672532 amanda hugandkiss nobody nearⓋ@wendybyrdm This was supposed to be a nice, neat, braided circle of chocolate, caramel, and banana filled chocolate yeast bread, but the strands all burst and it ended up looking like a pan of Sasquatch feces. Tasted ok, though Auntie Anne’s selling DIY pretzel-making kits during pandemic Don’t get it twisted — cooking at home during quarantine is fun and all, but this ready-made kit is aiming to save even the most patient of home chefs from getting salty. Back by popular demand, Auntie Anne’s is once again selling its DIY pretzel-making kit to keep fans satisfied during the pandemic. The kit contains instructions and ingredients to prepare 10 original or cinnamon sugar soft pretzels, offering what the company claims is the closest option to the chain’s famous fare while many shopping malls and foodservice entities remain closed. “Make your kitchen, smell like our kitchen with our DIY At-Home Pretzel Kit,” wrote Auntie Anne’s on Instagram, no doubt referencing the pungent smell of pretzels that permeates the corner of any mall where an Auntie Anne’s is located. “We heard from our guests loud and clear that they are missing our hand-rolled, golden brown pretzel snacks, and quite frankly, we’re missing our guests, too!” Heather Neary, Auntie Anne’s president, recently said of the news in a recent press release. “The DIY At-Home Pretzel Kit is not only a great way to satisfy those pretzel cravings, but also creates a fun activity for families to enjoy together while remaining at home.” Neary explained that while the DIY kit was initially sold for a limited-time to celebrate National Pretzel Day on April 23, “it brought such joy to pretzel lovers that we decided we absolutely had to bring it back again.” Pretzel fanatics have also been posting their snackable creations to Instagram, with many aiming to show off their pretzel-tying skills. The pretzel kits are available exclusively in the U.S. for online purchase, currently retailing for $20.

After battling coronavirus for more than a month in intensive care, Broadway actor Nick Cordero has woken up from a medically-induced coma. His wife Amanda Kloots made the announcement on her Instagram story while holding their son Elvis. “Guys, we might have to change our hashtag to #CodeRocky because Nick — Dada — is awake!” she said. Code Rocky is a term that medical professionals use to indicate when coronavirus patients are on their way to a full recovery. Kloots had previously been using the hashtag #WakeUpNick to spread the word about Cordero’s condition and show support for him via social media. Kloots also gave more updates regarding Cordero’s condition in a separate post to her Instagram story, stating that he is still weak but following verbal commands. “He is extremely weak, so weak that he can’t close his mouth,” Kloots wrote. “But he is following commands, which means mental status is coming back.” Over the past few days, Cordero had started showing more signs of waking up and understanding commands. However, Kloots said in an Instagram Live video that they’re still preparing for a long recovery. “You don’t want to get yourself too excited because it’s been such a road. That’s why I say it’s a very long road still…but we are the beginnings of recovery,” she said. Cordero has been hospitalized since late March due to complications caused by coronavirus. After he was was initially diagnosed, doctors had to amputate his right leg due to blood clotting caused by blood thinners. He suffered even more health scares, including two mini strokes, a septic infection, fungus in his lungs, and he was given a temporary pacemaker for his heart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQbfuJ7KQr4

They haven't reconciled. Anderson Cooper said Tuesday that he has decided to co-parent his new son with ex boyfriend Benjamin Maisani, and declared that his friends have become his family. The CNN host told Howard Stern on that he has remained close enough to his former flame, Benjamin Maisani, whom he dated for a decade, that he asked him to help raise Wyatt Morgan. “Don’t you want a clean break from this guy? I mean this was a guy, you were in love, you had a close relationship, why have him involved?” Stern, 66, asked. “I don’t really have a family, so my friends have become my family. This is somebody I was involved with for 10 years,” Cooper, 52, answered. “He’s a great guy,” Cooper said of Maisani, 47, and why they’re co-parenting Wyatt together. “We didn’t work out as a couple, but … when I was a little kid, it was just my mom and my brother, but it was my mom — she was not the most parental person and I wish some adult after my dad died had stepped in and just been like, ‘You know what, I’ll take you to a ball game,'” he said. “Or, ‘Let’s go out to lunch every now and then, and let’s just talk.’ You know, no one ever did that and so I thought, well if something happens to me or even if something doesn’t happen to me, if more people love my son and are in his life, I’m all for that.” “You know, my ex is a great guy, and I think it’s good to have two parents if you can.” Cooper added that while he plans on going by “Dad” or “Daddy” by Wyatt, Maisani, 47 who speaks French to him will be called “Papa.” Cooper told Stern he has no idea what Maisani says to Wyatt in French, “He could be turning the kid against me, I don’t know.”

California man who went shopping in KKK hood won’t be charged The California man who went grocery shopping wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood last week said he didn’t mean to make “a racial statement” and won’t be facing charges, police said Monday. The hooded creep was spotted roaming the aisles of a Vons supermarket in Santee on May 2, a day after San Diego residents were required to wear face coverings in public amid the coronavirus pandemic. “The man expressed frustration with the coronavirus and having people tell him what he can and cannot do,” the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement to NBC News. “He said that wearing the hood was not intended to be a racial statement. In summary, he said, ‘It was a mask and it was stupid.'” The man’s getup drew outrage on social media and from officials in the city of almost 60,000 residents. But the US attorney’s office and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office investigated and didn’t find enough evidence to charge the man, who wasn’t identified by cops. “This incident should serve as a reminder for anyone contemplating wearing or displaying items so closely associated with hate and human suffering that our society does not hold in high regard those who do so,” the sheriff’s department said in the statement. “Santee is a city of families, and the community is rightfully disgusted at this man’s despicable behavior,” it added. “The Sheriff’s Department thoroughly investigates incidents such as these and will hold those who violate the law accountable.”

Yeah, butt I'll bet it's still a lot nicer than hers.

Not unless she has an ass like this...

Christopher Meloni and his wife have put their historic Hollywood Hills home on the market for $6.5 million, according to Variety. The 1916 home is famous for having been the TV (and real-life) house of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson of the famed sitcom “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” which ran from 1952 to 1966. According to Variety, Ozzie died in the master bedroom in 1975. The LA Times reported in 2013 that a Beverly Hills realtor, who sold the home three times after, said there was a legend it was haunted. The address also was Ari Gold’s house on “Entourage.”