samhexum

Can we get started on a Trump documentary already?

Congratulations — you’ve been rejected. A Florida college sent 430 acceptance notices to students whose applications to the school had been rejected.The Admissions 101 blunder was committed by the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. “Once again congratulations on your admission to USFSP!” read an email addressed to prospective students. “We are excited to welcome you to the university and very proud of all that you have accomplished so far.” An hour later, according to the Tampa Bay Times, would-be students received a follow-up saying: “There was an error in the system. Please disregard the previous email.” The school’s chancellor blamed the emails on “human error.” A school spokeswoman said a staff member mistook a list of applicants for a list of accepted candidates, and sent the email in error. “We regret it,” the school’s chancellor said. According to USFCP, 680 acceptance emails were sent out, but only 250 recipients had actually been accepted. The school has 3,691 undergraduates and a 47% acceptance rate. Only 32% of USFCP students graduate.

‘Trump will handle it.’ Florida man has warning after harassing Iraqi neighbors, cops say Shortly after moving into a home in Holiday, Florida, David Allen Boileau started to harass some of his new neighbors, police say. The 58-year-old man complained one family — originally from Iraq — shouldn’t be living in the neighborhood because “the U.S. needs to rid the country of all of them,” police say, according to The Tampa Bay Times. The family has four children, the newspaper reported. Boileau now faces a burglary charge and a possible hate crime after the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office says he tried to intimidate the unsuspecting family because of their country of origin. On Monday, police say Boileau “threw screws at the victim’s brother-in-law’s vehicle in hopes of damaging it or them running over the nails and flattening their tires,” according to the Tampa Bay Reporter. The following day, Boileau — who allegedly remarked “we’ll get rid of them one way or another” — broke into the family’s home and went through their mail, police say, according to the Tampa Bay Reporter. Police say he got into the house, which had no people inside, through an unlocked back door. A neighbor then saw the 58-year-old going through the family’s mail and called law enforcement, police say. When police arrived, they said they found Boileau walking down the street and he then admitted to breaking into the home. Police say he also stated that “if he doesn’t get rid of them, Trump will handle it,” when talking about the Iraqi family, according to the Tampa Bay Reporter. For Nocco, it’s perplexing that a new neighbor tried to determine who could live in the neighborhood. “He said he does not like them, he wished they weren’t in his community,” he told The Tampa Bay Times. “Which is ironic because he’s the one who moved into our community.” He was arrested and charged for the burglary on Tuesday evening, when police say he “uttered several statements of his dislike for people of Middle Eastern descent,” as reported by The Tampa Bay Times. The homeowner returned and said that multiple gift cards, credit cards and a debit card were missing, as well as an ID. Bolieau denied stealing any of those items, which police did not locate. Police say “the victim owns and has lived at her home for three years without any issues prior to the defendant moving into his residence,” as noted by the Tampa Bay Reporter. In an interview with ABC Action News, the homeowner’s sister said the man targeted her family because “he thinks we’re bad people.” “I know there’s some bad people from the Middle East,” the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told the TV station. “That’s why we’re here.” Florida Secretary of State Mike Ertel resigns after photos of him in blackface emerge TALLAHASSEE -- Newly appointed Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel has resigned from office after photos of him posing as a female Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface were obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat, the paper reported online Thursday. According to the Democrat, the photos were taken in 2005, shortly after Ertel had become supervisor of elections in Seminole County, and depict Ertel in blackface, wearing a New Orleans Saints bandanna around his head and a shirt with the words “Katrina Victim” written on it. In an email to DeSantis just before 2 p.m. Thursday, Ertel submitted his resignation “effective immediately.” Ertel had been named Dec. 28 to replace Ken Detzner, who had been in the role since 2012 under former Gov. Rick Scott. In a statement, the governor’s office said it had accepted Ertel’s resignation.

She falls into the Abe Vigoda 'He/She was still alive?!?' category that you'd have thought died a long time before. Doris Day is that category for me now. Every once in awhile there's a headline about her & I find myself surprised that she's still alive.

Wilson Menashi palmed a squid in his left hand and extended his arm into an aquarium tank, watching as a giant Pacific octopus stretched out arms to greet him like a friend. Freya latched some of her 2,240 suction cups onto Menashi’s arm, using their powers of taste and smell to gather information about the 84-year-old man known as the octopus whisperer — and the seafood treats he was bearing. “She’s just contacting me and she’s saying, ‘You come to me,’” Menashi said of Freya, a 3-year-old predator weighing 35 to 40 pounds. Her arms span 14 feet and pack enough strength to kill sharks and other enemies. But this afternoon’s gentle interaction left no doubt that Menashi has a special way with the cephalopod, whose body includes a large, sac-like head and eight powerful arms. More than 25 years ago, Menashi retired after a career as a chemical engineer and began volunteering at the New England Aquarium in Boston. He’s spent 7,800 hours — the equivalent of about four years working full time — hanging out with octopuses, the aquarium said. “I’ve been able to interact with them from the beginning. I do not know why. I cannot explain it, but I can connect with them,” Menashi said, standing in front of the Olympic Coast Sanctuary exhibit that is home to Freya and Professor Ludwig Von Drake, a younger male giant Pacific octopus living in a separate tank. Menashi’s eyes twinkled with mischief as he acknowledged that his encounters with the octopuses have left a mark on him. “I will come back home sometimes with hickeys all over my arm and my neck,” he said. So how did he explain them to his wife? “Not too difficult when you have about 10 or 15 marks next to each other,” he said. “It did not take too much. She also knew where I was, anyway.” Menashi’s volunteer work has included designing puzzle boxes for the octopuses as well as rubbing their backs and wrestling their arms — all intended to ensure that the highly intelligent animals receive the mental stimulation to thrive and stay healthy. Two decades of working with the largest members of the octopus species has not dulled his sense of wonder at the animal’s adaptability and mysteries. Experiments have shown these animals to be color blind, but they are supreme masters of camouflage. A complex system of pigment cells, nerves and muscles allows them to change skin color in the blink of an eye to match their surroundings. “What I find totally surprising is how they could tell different people and react differently,” Menashi said. “I’ve also made them a few toys, made up some boxes and…I put different latches so they could get in and figure out how to get the food that I put in the boxes. However, I’ve had some that said, ‘It’s too much time to figure out how you do the latch.’ So they just crushed the box.” That eye for detail, patience and willingness to experiment makes Menashi a perfect octopus whisperer, said Bill Murphy, a senior aquarist. “Every octopus is different. So then you can’t use the same rules for every octopus,” Murphy said. “You need to change it up. And Wilson does that.” Menashi said spending time with octopuses and other animals gives his life a whole new purpose in retirement. “Just being here has been, to me, a lifesaver,” he said. “Gave me something to do. Gave me different interests and showed me the world is a wonderful place to be.”

A nurse at a healthcare facility in Arizona was arrested Wednesday for raping an incapacitated patient who gave birth last month, police said. Nathan Sutherland, 36, a licensed practical nurse at the Hacienda HealthCare facility was arrested for sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse after providing authorities with a DNA sample Tuesday under court order, said Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams. The 29-year-old woman has been a patient at the facility since she was a toddler after a near-drowning. Cops initially said she was in a coma, but a lawyer for her family said last week that she’s not. The lawyer says she has “significant intellectual disabilities” and can’t speak but has some ability to move her limbs, make facial gestures and respond to sounds. She gave birth to a baby boy Dec. 29. Sutherland had been one of the staff members responsible for her care at the time of the assault, the police chief said. Employees at the long-term health facility said they had no clue the victim was pregnant and court records say her last physical was in April. Sutherland was being booked into Maricopa County Jail Wednesday morning.

DEAR ABBY: My brother lives in a different state, and every year he comes “home” for a week. I’m one of six siblings who live in the area, but “Jim” always stays with us. After the first time he stayed here he said, “I’ll just keep your key for next year.” I love my brother, but this means giving him my bedroom for a week or more. We have no other bedrooms, so I have to share with my husband and get no sleep. I’m in my 70s, and after a week with no sleep I feel awful. I have hinted to Jim about him staying with his son, but he says “no.” The other siblings don’t offer because he is so critical. Everything we do has to be his way. I really need to tell him he must stay elsewhere, but I can’t seem to find the right words. My siblings say just tell him. What should I do? — NEEDS MY SLEEP DEAR NEEDS SLEEP: Just tell him! Permit me to suggest a few phrases: “Jim, you will have to make other arrangements when you come to town because you can no longer stay with us. Going without sleep for a week while you use my bed is affecting my health, so please return our house key. We love you and would like to visit with you while you’re here, and we hope you understand.” Do not feel guilty for saying any of it because you have been more than generous to your brother. CHANGE THE @#!*ING LOCKS! Dear Abby: I have a friend I’ll call Rose who likes to brag about how cheap she is. Sometimes when we’re talking, she will interrupt me and ask, “How do you like my pants? I got them for a dollar at a yard sale.” Or she’ll say, “I got them for free.” Rose likes to draw attention to herself every time she wears something new by asking how I like it. Then she will tell me where she got it and how much it cost. I couldn’t be less interested, and I’m tired of hearing about her tacky, cheap clothes. We go to a water aerobics class together, and she will interrupt the class to ask how they like her “sexy” bathing suit. Abby, Rose is in her 70s and not sexy. I like her as a friend, but I am about ready to tell her to shut up! I don’t want to be mean. How can I get across that I don’t want to hear about her clothes? -- Tired of the Discount Fashion Show Dear Tired: If you say nothing, “Second Hand Rose” will continue her line of chatter. Try this: Say, “Rose, honey, you know how much I like you, but I wish you would stop talking about your wardrobe with me. You are interesting on so many other levels, and I’m just not into fashion.” Then cross your fingers and hope your friend gets the message. Next time she goes into her routine, play along, then when she tells you what the cost was tell her, "You overpaid," and walk away. P.S. You know that when she croaks, the headline will be "Friends shocked as miser leaves $30 million fortune to her cats", right? Dear Abby: I faked a secret admirer. It’s getting me a lot of attention, but I did it because I wanted to make my crush jealous. He thinks I’m faking, and I’m pretty sure he also thinks I’m needy and selfish. Now I don’t know what to do. Can you help? — Secretly Lying in Texas Dear Secretly Lying: I’ll try. When a technique doesn’t work, it’s time to change course. Quit talking about a secret admirer. If you are asked about him, just say, “It’s over” — which is less embarrassing than, “The jig is up.” Why your crush would call you selfish, I can’t guess. But if he asks you what happened, my advice is to say, “I like you better.” THAT’S the truth. Congratulate him for his excellent people-reading skills and tell him you hope he meets somebody more worthy of him than you some day.

I'd have to say the first BJ I was aware of was Thomas, and the second was probably ...And The Bear. What an odd topic!

When Pietro Boselli feels like having Asian, he doesn't order delivery. He picks it up himself.

When Pietro Boselli feels like having Asian, he doesn't order delivery. He picks it up himself.

the saga continues... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIKhNESg-Mg deluca & meredith got stuck in an elevator...

An Oxford president strong-armed octopus off a welcome dinner menu — arguing that the dish might be off-putting to disadvantaged students, according to a new report. Octopus was the starter meal at an introductory dinner for freshmen at Somerville College — one of Oxford University’s constituent campuses — last year, The Telegraph reported. But Baroness Jan Royall, the school’s president, sank the dish. “One of our students told me of her bemusement at being served an octopus terrine at the Freshers’ Dinner,” Royall, also a British Labour Co-operative Party politician, wrote in a letter published on the college’s website. “I’m sure the cephalopod dish was delicious, but it might not be quite right for everyone. I have asked our catering colleagues to ensure that the first dinner at the beginning of term features dishes everyone is comfortable with,” she continued, without offering any more specifics. In a statement posted to Twitter Friday, the school said it said it “[doesn’t] make any assumptions about what our students will or won’t eat based on their social or cultural background.” “The point of education is to widen horizons, including introducing students to new tastes,” the statement said. “But we want to make sure that, at the Freshers’ Dinner at least, food is served that everyone is likely to be comfortable with.” But some students were opposed to the change. “Whilst this move appears to be a demonstration of the college taking access seriously, it’s more tokenistic than a serious step to improve access into the college,” one told the Telegraph. “It also implies that octopus, and certain food dishes, are not for people from a particular background and should be reserved for the privileged few.” Another added, “serving eccentric meals at the first dinner may have been off-putting to many students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but there are more important things to focus on in terms of reform.” Somerville College was founded in 1879 as Oxford’s first women-only, non-denominational college. Now both women and men are admitted to the school.

The family of a developmentally disabled woman is suing a Pensacola adult care facility after the nonverbal, immobile woman was allegedly raped and impregnated early last year. The 23-year-old woman suffers from "profound mental retardation" and has several developmental and intellectual disabilities to the point where she can't move her hands or fingers and has to be fed through a tube, according to a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in Escambia County. She was being cared for at Pensacola Cluster, a 24-bed intermediate care facility for children and adults with developmental disabilities. The lawsuit notes that due to the woman's multiple disabilities, she "was and is totally and completely dependent upon and at the mercy of National Mentor staff." National Mentor is the company that operates Florida Mentor which, in turn, operates Pensacola Cluster. A person who answered the phone at Pensacola Cluster on Wednesday afternoon said that the organization had no comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that in January 2018, the woman was attending Westgate School on weekdays, a school for children and young adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. Westgate employees observed behavioral changes in the woman and noticed bruising on her hip when changing her diaper, according to the complaint. Westgate staff alerted the woman's caregivers at Pensacola Cluster several times throughout the month of January, but the caregivers declined to seek medical treatment for the woman, investigate the cause of the injuries or notify the Florida Adult Abuse Hotline, according to the complaint. According to a separate Agency for Health Care Administration report that was not part of the initial complaint, the Westgate staffers alerted the Department of Children and Families to the suspected abuse. In February, a doctor at the Pensacola Cluster facility ordered an X-ray of the woman's hip and determined it was broken, according to the lawsuit. The next day, she was transported to Baptist Hospital for hip surgery. During a routine pre-surgical pregnancy screening, doctors learned the woman was pregnant. The AHCA investigation noted she was between two to three weeks pregnant at that point. A sexual assault examination was performed the same day, and the exam "revealed significant bruising on her outer hip, left inner thigh, and left calf," as well as lacerations and bruising on her vagina and hymenal ring, the complaint stated. The woman later miscarried. The complaint alleges that "due to her developmental disabilities, Plaintiff is unable to knowingly and voluntarily give consent to sexual intercourse and she has been declared legally incompetent." Her lawyers are seeking damages for the medical costs associated with her assault and pregnancy, as well as for severe emotional distress, pain and suffering. The lawsuit does not specify a particular dollar amount that the family is seeking. Jim Green, an attorney with the Clark Partington law firm in Pensacola who is representing the victim's mother, said in a statement that the family is seeking justice for the woman. "(The victim's) mother is outraged and devastated by what happened to (her)," Green said in an email to the News Journal. "What she wants is to protect (her daughter) from abuse and for (her daughter) to be safe." Maj. Andrew Hobbs with the Escambia County Sheriff's Office confirmed law enforcement investigated the incident, but said no perpetrator had been identified and the case had been closed. "We exhausted all leads, we have no suspects, and the case will be placed inactive," he said. "However, if we get any more leads, the case can always be reopened." Hobbs said he couldn't comment further on the investigation, including on whether or not DNA samples had been obtained and been matched with people who might have come into contact with the victim. According to the AHCA report, officials investigated the incident and cited several "deficiencies" with the way Pensacola Cluster responded to the situation. The program manager at the facility was informed several times of the victim's bruising and behavioral changes prior to the discovery of the assault and broken hip, but said she didn't call the abuse hotline because she thought the wheelchair caused the bruises, the report states. The program manager also said she didn't believe the victim had been raped, the AHCA report said. When the sexual assault was discovered, the victim was immediately transferred to a different care facility. The local case comes on the heels of another case in Phoenix, Arizona, involving an incapacitated woman who was impregnated while in an adult care facility. The woman, who was left in a vegetative state after a near-drowning more than 10 years ago, became pregnant while she was a patient at Hacienda HealthCare in south Phoenix. She gave birth to a baby boy on Dec. 29. Arizona officials are investigating the case, and Hacienda HealthCare's CEO resigned last week in the wake of the reports.

Wendy Williams won’t be returning to her eponymous talk show anytime soon, as she’s now been hospitalized for complications stemming from her Graves’ Disease. “As Wendy Williams Hunter previously shared, shefractured her shoulder and has been on the mend. Over the past few days, Wendy has experienced complications regarding her Graves’ Disease that will require treatment. Wendy will be under the strict supervision of her physicians, and as part of her care, there will be significant time spent in the hospital,” a statement from the Hunter family read. “Despite her strong desire to return, she is taking a necessary, extended break from her show to focus on her personal and physical well-being. “Wendy thanks everyone in advance for their well-wishes and for respecting her and The Hunter Family’s privacy during this time.” Distributor and producer Debmar-Mercury said “The Wendy Williams Show” will air repeat episodes the week of Jan. 21 and will produce original episodes with a variety of hosts starting the week of Jan. 28. “For over ten years, Wendy has been a vital part of the Debmar-Mercury family,” the company said in a statement. “We wholeheartedly support Wendy in this decision to take the time she needs and we will welcome her back with open arms the moment she is ready.” Williams, 54, fractured her shoulder in December and then began to worry fans when she slurred her words on-air. She later apologized and blamed the painkillers she was taking. Since then, Williams has delayed her show’s return twice. It was originally supposed to return shortly after the New Year but was pushed back to Jan. 14. The showpushed the return date again to Jan. 21 in order to allow Williams to heal and come back “200%.” Because of Williams’ lengthy departure, fans have begun to question whether Williams is really treating her shoulder, especially given a report that exposed her husband’s alleged affair.

I've had Cantaloupe. Prefer Honeydew.

Brooklynites wondering what elk, ostrich and boar taste like are in luck. An organic burger restaurant that features exotic meat options is making its way to the border of Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene. Burger Village, a Long Island-based eatery that also has a spot on 7th Avenue, has signed a lease for one of the retail spots at luxury apartment complex 33 Bond Street. The restaurant will also be joined by Neighborhood Cut and Shave, a barber shop with three other New York City locations, the real estate developers announced. Both will have a 300 Livingston Street retail address. "We are thrilled to welcome Neighborhood Cut and Shave and Burger Village to 33 Bond Street, adding to the vibrant retail we have curated in partnership with Winick at the building...We are bringing great new amenities to Downtown Brooklyn for our residents and neighbors," said Steve Gonzalez, head of retail leasing with developers TF Cornerstone. The burger spot, set to open this summer, offers traditional beef burgers as well as everything from turkey to elk, wild boar and lamb. The menu also features options for vegan, vegetarian or gluten free diners, including black bean and mushroom patties and veggie patties. Their all-organic, antibiotic and hormone free menu also offers fries, salads, soups, shakes and desserts, according to the website. Both retailers will be added to the ground floor of 33 Bond Street, a 714-unit luxury residential building. "The retail at 300 Livingston Street offers an incredible opportunity for these incoming retailers," said Winick Realty Group Director Daniyel Cohen. "With access to public transportation, as well as the many development projects underway—including the nearby Ace Hotel and 9 Dekalb, anticipated to be Brooklyn's tallest building—their potential clientele grows almost weekly."