samhexum

Man with ‘world’s largest penis’ reveals hardest things about daily life applause.wav Baby, you're incredible.wav drum.wav Here Comes Trouble.wav I feel good (James Brown).wav bite me.wav That's the way I like it.wav

‘Perfect hiding place’ for MH370 applause.wav Baby, you're incredible.wav excellent.wav jaws.wav KnowItAll.wav woo hoo.wav

The doctor's office called with the results of the Holter monitor I wore for a week; there were a couple of extra beats during the week, but nothing my doctor was concerned about. My primary care physician happens to be a cardiologist so that works out well.

Roughly two dozen more Red Lobster locations are scheduled to close within the coming days as part of the seafood restaurant chain’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. A recent court filing shows that the company is rejecting the leases of an additional 23 locations by Saturday, August 31, joining the more than 100 restaurants that Red Lobster closed earlier this summer. Once complete, the chain will have around 500 outlets left — a sharp decline from the 650 it had just last year. Red Lobster is in the process of selling itself to Fortress Credit Corp., a lender experienced in restaurant management that also owns Krystal, Logan’s Roadhouse and J. Alexander’s. The firm recently gave the seafood chain a $100 million loan to allow it stay afloat. On Monday, Fortress announced that it will install the former chief executive of P.F. Chang’s, Damola Adamolekun, as Red Lobster’s new CEO once the chain exits bankruptcy proceedings. Adamolekun left the Chinese food restaurant chain in August 2023 following a four-year stint. Mismanagement, competition, inflation and other factors brought down Red Lobster, which has been a pioneer in the restaurant industry. Thai Union, a global seafood supplier, became Red Lobster’s leading shareholder in 2020 and filed for bankruptcy four years later in May. Under Thai Union’s leadership, Red Lobster’s culture turned toxic, former leaders told CNN. Red Lobster cut costs, removed longtime suppliers and implemented strategies that backfired, such as making $20 endless shrimp a permanent menu item. The chain lost $11 million on the endless shrimp deal. The new list of restaurants leases identified to be closed “are likely to continue to drive losses” and the company does “not anticipate needing in order to operate their business going forward and can be rejected,” the filing said. Here are the locations Red Lobster plans to close: Arizona -1521 S. Yuma Palms Pkwy., Yuma Arkansas -8407 W. Markham St., Little Rock California -8703 Murray Drive, La Mesa Colorado -4925 N. Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs Florida -326 Miracle Strip Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach -5110 N. 9th Ave., Pensacola -8909 U.S. Highway 19, Port Richey Georgia -6550 Tara Blvd., Jonesboro Illinois -1604 N. State Road 50, Bourbonnais -902 Commons Drive, Geneva -4625 N. Sterling Ave., Peoria Indiana -4353 Franklin St., Michigan City Minnesota -8900 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley -12515 Elm Creek Blvd. North, Maple Grove Missouri -2381 Maplewood Commons Drive, Maplewood New York -925 Hunts Point Ave., Bronx -750 Upper Glen St., Queensbury North Carolina -304 A Western Blvd., Jacksonville Ohio -17227 Southpark Center, Strongsville South Carolina -1270 Knox Abbott Drive, Cayce Virginia -555 S. Van Dorn St., Alexandria -4415 S. Laburnum Ave., Richmond -709 Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach

Gunman kills mourner at friend’s grave after victim threatens to puke in cemetery

Repots Claim Ben Affleck Has Been "Hanging Out With" RFK Jr's Daughter https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/repots-claim-ben-affleck-hanging-144800602.html what, or who, is a repot?

They had to add two extra matinees a week and just over two years after opening they are still selling at 97% capacity for all shows, which Ticketmaster considers a sellout, so maybe not the Hollywood bowl because they were never particularly big in America but selling out a 3000 seat arena for over two years qualifies it as a success, I would think. KISS sold their song catalog to a company partly owned by Bjorn for $300 million so they are going to be the next group presented in this manner. I would think the reasons you're not gonna get that many groups to do it are that some people are dead, some bad blood can't be overcome even for money, and there would be a lack of venues available that could accommodate the technology, since the arena in London was built specifically for this purpose and retrofitting a regular arena for it would probably be expensive and in the United States I don't think it would wind up being a big enough draw to be worth it. The only place that would work would be at the sphere in Las Vegas because that would accommodate the technology and also with tourists coming in from all over the world and new people visiting every week you could have a constant stream of people who would want to see it. Alas, I feel I never shall get to see it, though I'm one of the few people in the United States who can say I actually did see them live in 1979 at Radio City Music Hall and I still have the yellow T-shirt that I haven't been able to wear since probably , two years after I saw them live at Radio City Music Hall.

White collar crime: NY conman cleric used $650K in phony charity donations to fund lavish lifestyle, plastic surgery There was a whole lot of monk-y business going on.

Kentucky State Fair removes ribbon-winning miniature after realizing it depicted a porn set

Calling all Swifties! The Shops at Atlas Park to host Taylor Swift-inspired dance party next week I imagine @pubic_assistance will plan to attend after a meal at his favorite German restaurant, mere blocks away on Myrtle Ave. When the Myrtle Avenue El connected Ridgewood to Downtown Brooklyn The platform between the tracks at the Metropolitan Avenue station in Middle Village were originally lined with wooden planks, similar to a beach boardwalk. Rusting away above the Myrtle Avenue-Broadway station on the J and M lines in Bushwick is a reminder of the first major commuter train that linked Ridgewood and surrounding communities to the business hubs of Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. The last steel trusses of the old Myrtle Avenue Elevated Line (El) tower over Myrtle Avenue from Lewis Avenue in neighboring Bedford-Stuyvesant to the curvy spur where M trains shift between the elevated Broadway Line and the existing Myrtle Avenue Line that runs through Bushwick and Ridgewood to Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village. Trains last ran on the Myrtle Avenue El in October 1969, which — by that point — deteriorated greatly from overuse, neglect and urban decline. Nonetheless, it played an important role in accelerating the transition of our neighborhood from rural to urban life, spurring the construction of communities filled with apartment houses, single-family homes and small businesses that remain vibrant to this day. Brooklyn Rapid Transit (BRT, later reorganized as Brooklyn Manhattan Transit [BMT]) developed the Myrtle Avenue El, with the first section opening in April 1888. At first, it was a shuttle line connecting Adams Street in Downtown Brooklyn to Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill. Development of the line continued into Queens in 1890, when it reached Wyckoff Avenue in Ridgewood. From there, the Myrtle Avenue El moved to ground level and ran through Ridgewood along Palmetto Street and the former Lutheran Line (named for the nearby cemetery) to its terminus at Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village. At first, heavy steam locomotives pulled the Myrtle Avenue El trains. By 1900, the entire line was electrified via third rail technology. This enabled the BRT to introduce lighter train cars capable of crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. Thus, a rail line was constructed in Downtown Brooklyn running the Myrtle Avenue El over the famed bridge to Park Row in Lower Manhattan, which became the line’s western terminus. In early February 1913, the city’s Public Service Commission announced that it had granted the BRT permission to elevate the 1 1/2-mile section of the Myrtle Avenue Line from Wyckoff Avenue to just east of Fresh Pond Road. This was done to eliminate some of the congestion at the Ridgewood depot at the corner of Myrtle and Wyckoff avenues. Prior to this, there were low-level stations at Seneca Avenue, Forest Avenue, Fresh Pond Road and Metropolitan Avenue. From Wyckoff Avenue to Fresh Pond Road, the at-grade railroad was fenced in on each side and the only crossings were at the stations. Shortly thereafter, the BRT placed contracts with Frederick C. Burnham to build the 1 1/2-mile elevated railroad, but one of the conditions was that he had to do so while maintaining service on the railroad to Metropolitan Avenue so as to not inconvenience local residents. In turn, the Manhattan-based Burnham hired various subcontractors including Million Brothers Company to erect the steel and Empire Construction Company to lay the steel rails when the steel structure was completed. Prior to the erection of the new elevated section, a dangerous reverse curve led the trains from the elevated level to the ground level at Myrtle and Wyckoff avenues, across from the car yards. This was eliminated and replaced by a single curve from Myrtle Avenue into Palmetto Street. By May 1914, all of the concrete had been poured and about 35 percent of the steel work had been completed. In September 1914, the Empire Construction Company started laying rails. On Feb. 15, 1915, the new section of the elevated railroad was placed into service from Wyckoff Avenue to Fresh Pond Road. Shortly thereafter, the private right-of-way on the surface of Palmetto Street was made available for electric trolley service. The Fresh Pond Storage and Service Yards were enlarged on the east side of Fresh Pond Road at Putnam Avenue to hold 700 cars. The BRT purchased additional land at a $20,000 cost to accomplish this. They also built a concrete clubhouse for the trainmen as the move to switch some of the trolley lines that had formerly terminated at Ridgewood Depot to Fresh Pond Depot. The lost stations Later dubbed the MJ line, the Myrtle Avenue El ran on the current M line between Metropolitan Avenue and Central Avenue in Bushwick, then continued above Myrtle Avenue to Bridge-Jay Street. Along the way, it served the communities of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, with stops located at Broadway (above the Myrtle Avenue J train station), Sumner Avenue, Tompkins Avenue, Nostrand Avenue, Franklin Avenue, Grand Avenue, Washington Avenue, Vanderbilt Avenue and Navy Street. For decades, residents used the line to not only businesses in downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan, but also the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which — during World War II — employed 70,000 people. Students also relied on the Myrtle Avenue El to reach schools such as St. Joseph’s College and Bishop Loughlin High School, both in Clinton Hill. End of the line Many factors led to the Myrtle Avenue El’s downfall. One of the first occurred during the late 1930s, when the underground G line opened between Brooklyn and Queens. The Crosstown Line, as it is called, served many of the same communities as the Myrtle Avenue El and offered an important north-to-south link to other subway lines and points of interest. The El suffered another blow in 1944, when the BMT ended its trips across the Brooklyn Bridge. The line then terminated at Bridge-Jay Street. New York City began to decline financially during the 1950s and 1960s, as waterfront industry fled and middle-class residents left the city for the suburbs. The state and federal governments also invested tens of millions of dollars in constructing expressways bisecting the boroughs — but provided little to support the city’s transit system. In its last few years, the Myrtle Avenue El became symbolic of public transit decay. It was the only line still using wooden passenger train cars; modern steel cars were used everywhere else in the subway system. The elevated stations— many of which were still lined with wood plank platforms—also deteriorated greatly. In July 1969, the MTA announced that it would be shutting down the Myrtle Avenue El — a move which Ridgewood lawmakers immediately protested. In the July 24, 1969 Ridgewood Times, Assemblyman John Flack and Assemblywoman Rosemary Gunning “called for a public hearing before any action is taken to discontinue the present service.” Flack and Gunning, in a letter to then-MTA Chairman William Ronan, argued that “the elimination of train service to downtown Brooklyn will create severe hardship and great inconvenience to workers, students, shoppers and other residents who must use the line daily.” Ronan, however, noted that the declining ridership made it a losing proposition to continue. “In addition to operating savings and increased revenue from the bus service” that would replace it, he reportedly said, “demolition of the elevated structures will open a 35-block stretch of Myrtle Avenue to light and air.” The end finally came for the Myrtle Avenue El in October 1969, when New York City Transit ended service west of Myrtle Avenue-Broadway to Bridge-Jay Street. The New York Times reported that about 1,200 people rode the final cars to pass the line. In the years that followed, the elevated structure west of Lewis Avenue was taken down piece by piece. While Ridgewood, Bushwick and Middle Village residents are still connected by rail to the rest of the city via the M line, there remains no direct rail link to Downtown Brooklyn. https://qns.com/2024/08/myrtle-avenue-el

HE’S DOING IT AGAIN, FOLKS… ONLY BETTER After a miserable first month, over his last 100 games, Judge is batting .378/.505/.835 with 45 home runs, 106 RBIs and 84 walks since April 27. Nobody has ever done that. With 5 HR in his last 4 games, he's on pace for 62 again. Since 1930, only three seasons have statistically rated higher than Judge’s 224 wRC+ (meaning he’s 124 percent better than the league average hitter): 2002 Barry Bonds, 2001 Bonds and 2004 Bonds. Judge has developed into the most-feared hitter in the sport. His 224 wRC+ is 36 percentage points better than Soto’s 188, who ranks second in MLB. As of Friday night, his .728 slugging percentage was higher than the OPS of 18 MLB teams. Danny Jansen to join Red Sox's lineup at start of suspended game vs. Blue Jays, play for both teams Jansen will be the first player in MLB history to play for both teams in the same game. D-Backs' Jordan Montgomery says Scott Boras 'kind of butchered' his free-agency negotiations Ohtani stole his 40th base tonight then later hit a 2-out walk off grand slam to become the fastest ever to 40/40. We've never seen anything like this before and we may well never see it again, even from Ohtani. One of the biggest factors in Ohtani's breakout on the basepaths is the fact that he isn't pitching and doesn't have to preserve his lower body to the degree that he will next year, when he returns to mound action. And the Dodgers almost certainly won't ask him to run as much knowing they want him to take a turn in the rotation every five or six days. Then there is Ohtani's age, which hit 30 on July 5. He's nowhere near a decline phase but even if he eventually gives up pitching, it'll be down the line when his speed and overall durability is likely to be less than it is right now. The confluence of factors that made this 40-40 season (and maybe 50-50) possible is unlikely to ever happen again. He, Judge, & Bobby Witt, Jr. are having legendary seasons. Have we seen many shooting stars like Bobby Witt Jr. streaking across our skies? I don’t think we have. He ranks No. 1 in the sport in sprint speed. He ranks No. 1 among all infielders in outs above average. His batting average since the All-Star break is .445. The 140-220 Club — If the Royals shortstop keeps filling up the Runs and Hits columns in the box scores at this clip for another six weeks, he’s going to finish this season with 141 runs scored and 227 hits. Just so you know how cool that would be, the 140-220 Club hasn’t admitted a new member in 88 years. Last to get there: Charlie Gehringer in 1936. … The only other American League player to do it in the past 100 years: That Lou Gehrig guy again, in 1930. … The only other AL hitters to top 140 and 220 before that: Ty Cobb (1911) and Nap Lajoie (1901) … who both did it before the invention of the refrigerator! Now sprinkle on a little 30-30 seasoning — But Witt is also cruising toward 30 homers and 30 steals. So now let’s ask: How many players in history have made it into that 140-220 Club and the 30-30 Club in the same season? If you guessed zero, that’s some astute guessing. Speaking of 30-30 — I started wondering how rare it is for any man to lead the major leagues in batting average in a year when he was also going 30-30. Is once in history rare enough for you? Mookie Betts did that in 2018. But even if we lower the bar to admit guys who just led their own league in hitting, only Christian Yelich (2019) joins the fun. Amazing. But hang on, because here comes an even cooler club Witt could enter … Batting champs who played ’em all — It’s the fourth week of August, and how many games has Witt missed? Not one. Does he ever get tired? I only ask because in modern times, we never see batting champs who play every single game. He has a shot at the XBH-single Double-Double — Finally, is anyone else rooting for Witt to lead his league in extra-base hits and singles? It isn’t out of the question. Witt is five back of Aaron Judge for the AL lead in extra-base hits. And he’s nine behind Jose Altuve for the league lead in singles. I know this is a long shot, but I mention it because this one is really hard to do. The last man to lead his league in both categories in the same year: Stan Musial (yeah, him again) … nearly 80 years ago, in 1946. The only other player to do it in the live-ball era: Musial’s Cardinals teammate, Enos Slaughter, in 1942. The only two to do it in the dead-ball era: the usual suspects! In other words … Ty Cobb twice and Nap Lajoie twice. Sometimes, nature calls at inopportune times. Just ask the Clearwater Threshers’ new bat dog. The Single-A affiliate of the Phillies debuted a new team pooch, Lucy May, after the third inning of their game against the Dunedin Blue Jays.Lucy May for sure left her mark at BayCare ballpark, quite literally — by defecating on the infield. The team, using the alternate identity “Beach Dogs” on Friday night, officially changed bat pups, with veteran Layla giving the duties to Lucy May. Lucy May did her business on the field. Lucy May was let loose to retrieve the bat left near the left-hander’s batters’ box, but had almost no interest in going for the lumber, and instead ran toward the first-base coach’s box before going down into the visitors’ dugout. She was eventually coaxed out of the Blue Jays’ bench with a bat, but again, had next to no interest in it, zooming past the wood and taking a lap around the infield grass. And then, standing on the right side of the infield, Lucy May went to do her business, much to the delight — and shock — of the 2,682 in attendance. She was eventually corralled by the Clearwater staff and given one last chance at grabbing the bat — but to no avail. Lucy May even said hello to the team’s pitcher. Lucy May wanted to say high to relief pitcher Jonh Henriquez, who seemed almost unfazed by the hilarity of it all. “Lucy May’s debut was more entertaining than we ever could have imagined,” the team wrote on X along with crying and poop emojis. Fans on X seemed to enjoy the video as it went viral on social media. “She got the excited poops! Completely understandable,” wrote one. “Try to fire her and I will file a wrongful termination lawsuit on her behalf.” Rest assured, the Threshers aren’t getting rid of Lucy May any time soon. “We would never! Happens to the best of us,” they wrote in a reply. Lucy May didn’t bring the Threshers any luck, however, as they lost 6-0.

Did you drop a lot of things on the floor accidentally?

AND... I believe they were shooting a gay porn movie this morning at Northshore Hospital in Manhasset with the actors dressed as orderlies and male nurses because otherwise there must be another hospital in a parallel universe that had some really ugly men working there this morning.

They're due out in the US in a few days and I plan to get one next week,

DEAR ABBY: My sister has a squawky bird she insists on keeping alongside the dinner table when she invites guests for dinner. Its ear-piercing screeching inhibits guests’ ability to carry on normal conversation, so I asked her if, in the future, she could please put the bird in another room during dinner. She responded that the bird is a family member. I said, “So are children, but they aren’t permitted to run around the dining table screeching when there is company over.” This year, when we returned for another dinner, she pulled the bird and its cage even closer to the table and the person sitting next to her than last time. She apparently decided the comfort of her guests is not as important as her closeness to the bird. I don’t know how to address this in the future when she disregards my feedback. Aside from the squawking, it’s not appealing to have a birdcage pulled up alongside a dinner table, or to have the host constantly distracted and conversation interrupted. What is your advice? — NERVE-WRACKED IN NEW JERSEY DEAR NERVE-WRACKED: Because it’s clear your advice wasn’t appreciated, the next time you are invited to a dinner party at your sister’s home, feel free to say you are busy. The only bird at the table should be a nice roasted chicken or a stuffed turkey. BIRD OWNERS ARE JUST WEIRD. MAYBE DINNERS WOULD BE MORE ENJOYABLE IF THE BIRD IS ALLOWED TO FLY AROUND AND YOUR SISTER IS PUT IN A CAGE.

I've been a little more short of breath than usual, but they sent me home with no stent... minimal blockage. Lots of good-looking orderlies & male nurses. I knew things would turn out well when the wheelchair they used and the bed they put me in were named after my long-lost twin brother: STRYKER... he & I celebrated our 62nd Wednesday.

Dogs at new NYC shelter neglected inside cramped, filthy cages, council member and whistleblowers say A new, $75 million city-funded animal shelter in Queens is disturbingly overcrowded with rescue pets – which are crammed into too-small cages, provided with insufficient food and living in their own filth, The Post has learned. The shelter now houses more than 220% more pets than it has capacity for, with 161 dogs and 206 cats – plus 45 rabbits and seven guinea pigs.

Sexual assault lawsuit against Dwight Howard dropped

Cryptocurrency ‘pig butchering’ scam wrecks Kansas bank, sends ex-CEO to prison for 24 years The former CEO of a small Kansas bank was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for looting the bank of $47 million — which he sent to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by scammers who had duped him in a “pig butchering” scheme that appealed to his greed, federal prosecutors said. The massive embezzlement by ex-CEO Shan Hanes in a series of wire transfers over just eight weeks last year led to the collapse and FDIC takeover of Heartland Tri-State Bank in Elkhart, one of only five U.S. banks that failed in 2023. Hanes, 53, also swindled funds from a local church and investment club — and a daughter’s college savings account — to transfer money, purportedly to buy cryptocurrency as the scammers insisted they needed more funds to unlock the supposed returns on his investments, according to records from U.S. District Court in Wichita, Kansas. But Hanes never realized any profit and lost all of the money he stole as a result of the scam. Judge John Broomes on Monday sentenced Hanes to 293 months in prison — 29 months more than what prosecutors requested after he pleaded guilty in May to a single count of embezzlement by a bank officer. During the sentencing hearing, “I called his actions ‘pure evil,’” said Brian Mitchell, who for years was Hanes’ next-door neighbor in Elkhart, a town of 2,000 or so people in southwestern Kansas, north of the Oklahoma panhandle. Mitchell, whose farm and movie theater chain businesses banked at Heartland Tri-State, said there were around 30 shareholders in the bank who attended Hanes’ sentencing, more than a year after their stock value was wiped out in the failure. “There were people who lost 70, 80% of their retirement” as a result of Hanes’ actions, Mitchell told CNBC on Wednesday in a phone interview. One local woman is “struggling to afford a nursing home” for her 93-year-old mother, while another woman “can’t retire” now because of the crime, Mitchell said. Mitchell, who was not a shareholder but who belonged to the investment club victimized by the CEO, said Hanes showed little, if any, remorse for his actions, despite hearing victims tell the judge about the effects of his crime. “Shan was facing the judge, and he just looked over his left shoulder for a second, and didn’t make eye contact, and said, ‘Sorry,’” Mitchell recalled, describing the scene in the courtroom. “And that was it.” But Hanes had a look of “absolute shock” on his face when Broomes imposed the stiff sentence and ordered the former bank chief taken into custody immediately, Mitchell said. Mitchell said that for years he considered Hanes a “good guy,” who like other people in Elkhart pitched in to help others in the small community when they needed help, and preached at his local church. Hanes also testified several times before Congress about community banking. But prosecutors and bank regulators said that Hanes, who has three daughters with his school teacher wife, began stealing after being targeted in a pig-butchering scheme in late 2022. That scheme was described in a court filing as “a scammer convincing a victim (a pig) to invest in supposedly legitimate virtual currency investment opportunities and then steals the victim’s money — butchering the pig.” Hanes, who had served on the board of the American Bankers Association, and been chairman of the Kansas Bankers Association, in December 2022 began making transactions to buy cryptocurrency, which “appeared to be precipitated by communication with an unidentified co-conspirator on the electronic messaging app ‘WhatsApp,’” prosecutors wrote in a court filing. “To date, the true identity of the co-conspirator, or conspirators, remain unknown,” the filing notes. Hanes initially used personal funds to buy crypto, but in early 2023 he stole $40,000 from Elkhart Church of Christ and $10,000 from the Santa Fe Investment Club, according to prosecutors and a defense filing. He also used $60,000 taken from a daughter’s college fund, and nearly $1 million in stock from the Elkhart Financial Corporation, his lawyer said in a filing. In May 2023, he began to make wire transfers from Heartland Tri-State Bank to accounts controlled by scammers, at first with a $5,000 transfer. Two weeks later, on May 30, Hanes wired $1.5 million and a day after that, he sent another transfer of the same amount the following day, filings show. Three days later he directed two wire transfers totaling $6.7 million to be sent by the bank to the crypto wallet, and a whopping $10 million less than two weeks later, and another $3.3 million days afterward. Hanes told bank employees to execute the wire transfers, and “made many misrepresentations to various people” to get access to the funds so they could be transferred, prosecutors wrote. Heartland Tri-State employees circumvented the bank’s own wire policy and daily limits to approve Hanes’ wire transfers, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. “We believe that the CEO’s dominant role in the bank and prominent role in the community contributed to a reluctance on the part of Heartland employees to question or report the alleged fraudulent activities earlier,” that report said. Prosecutors wrote that the series of 11 wire transfers from Hanes to the scammer “illustrate a common pattern” in pig-butchering schemes. “First, there is an initial ‘investment’ followed by another transaction required to secure or guarantee those funds,” prosecutors wrote. “Further ‘investments’ may be made, but always require another need for funds, to guarantee or unfreeze the earlier transfers. This pattern is clearly represented in the defendant’s embezzlement.” Mitchell confirmed that to CNBC, saying that he got a call from Hanes at 7:40 a.m. on July 5, 2023. “He said, ‘Brian, I need your help, and you’re the only guy who can help me,’” Mitchell recounted. Mitchell, who had survived prostate cancer two decades ago, said he thought Hanes was calling him to say that he had the same type of cancer. But when Mitchell showed up at Heartland Tri-State to meet Hanes, before the bank had officially opened to customers that morning, the CEO told him something much different — and stranger. “The first thing he says is, ‘Brian, I need to borrow $12 million for ten days, and I’ll give you $1 million for loaning it to me,’” Mitchell recalled. “I’m sitting there and I said, am I in a bank in Elkhart, Kansas, or in an alley with a loan shark in Chicago.” When he asked Hanes what he wanted the money for, Hanes “pulls out his phone and acts like he’s logging in and he shows me this account that has $40 million, $42 million,” Mitchell said. “He said, ‘Brian, I’ve got this money and it’s in cryptocurrency, and I need $12 million to help verify the funds.’” Hanes then hold him he had been in touch with a banker in Denver named “Jim” and “another guy in Oklahoma” and they had invested in crypto held in Coinbase accounts, where they had made a lot of money, Mitchell said. “I told him, ‘You’re in a scam, dude. You’re in a scam,’” Mitchell said. “I stopped him and said, ‘Is this bank money you’re playing with?’ And he said, ‘No, Brian.’” Hanes kept telling him he needed the $12 million to “activate” the funds he had already transferred to the crypto account, which he said was in Hong Kong, Mitchell recalled. “I said, ‘Get on a plane, go to Hong Kong, hire an interpreter, and go get a bank check’” for the funds supposedly held there, Mitchell said. “Then I said, ‘I’m not going to loan you the money.’ I said, ‘You’re in a scam, walk away.’” But later that same day, after Mitchell rebuffed his entreaties, Hanes had bank employees wire $8 million to the scammers’ accounts, prosecutors said in a court filing. Two days after that, Hanes had employees wire the scammers another $4.4 million. In the meantime, Mitchell, who was unaware of those transfers during that period, said that after meeting with the CEO he was worried that Hanes would get access to customers’ deposits at the bank and transfer the $12 million that he had asked for. “We kept checking our lines of credit,” Mitchell said. “The next week, I was in the bank, and one of the employees caught me, she just looked so stressed,” Mitchell said. The woman told him that Hanes had wired money out of the bank. “I said, ‘Don’t say another word to me... I’ve got to talk to a board member,’” Mitchell said. “And I talked to a board member that night, and he went to talk to an attorney that night,” Mitchell recalled. Hanes was fired within days. About two weeks later, on July 28, 2023, Heartland Tri-State was closed by the Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Shareholders were wiped out, but depositors did not lose any money, as Dream First Bank, National Association, of Syracuse, Kansas, assumed all deposits. Heartland Tri-State, had nearly $140 million in total assets and $130 million in total deposits as of the prior March. Word quickly spread that a scam had led to the bank’s failure. But Hanes remained uncharged until last February, when he was charged by federal prosecutors with embezzlement. He was separately charged in Morton County, Kansas, state court by the county attorney in a 28-count complaint related to looting the bank. Hanes was under house arrest until his sentencing in federal court this week. “I talked to him last month when he was out mowing his yard,” Mitchell said. Hanes, who had traveled at one point to Perth, Australia while being scammed to try to recover the funds he transferred, told Mitchell that he believed there had been a way to recover the money up to the point he was arrested. “He said ... ‘If I just had another two months I could get the money back,’” Mitchell recalled. Mitchell said that at Hanes’ sentencing, Judge Broomes asked Hanes several questions about his actions, but, “He didn’t really have any good answers.” Broomes later looked at the victims in the courtroom’s gallery before announcing Hanes’ sentence. “He said ... ‘I want you to forgive Shan. I know that he’s hurt you, I know this, but I want you to move on, and I want you to find some joy in your life. Let me discipline him,’” Mitchell recalled. Broomes also told Hanes that although several people had noted how intelligent the former CEO was, “If you were that intelligent you would have stopped this,” Mitchell recounted. Hanes’ lawyer John Stang, who did not respond to a request for comment, in a sentencing submission wrote, “Mr. Hanes made some very bad choices after being caught up in an extremely well-run cryptocurrency scam.” “He was the pig that was butchered,” Stang wrote. “Mr. Hanes’s vulnerability to the Pig Butcher scheme caused him to make some very bad decisions, for which he is truly sorry for causing damage to the bank and loss to the Stockholders.” Kansas U.S. Attorney Kate Brubacher, in a statement, said, “Hanes’ greed knew no bounds. He trespassed his professional obligations, his personal relationships, and federal law.” “Not only did Shan Hanes betray Heartland Bank and its investors, but his illegal schemes also jeopardized confidence in financial institutions,” Brubacher said. https://www.aol.com/news/cryptocurrency-pig-butchering-scam-wrecks-202959513.html

Didn't he also write that autobiographical Cockney children's classic, Orton Ears A Oo?

DEAR ABBY: I’m a single man, and have been for 15 years. A year ago, I met a guy, “Josh,” and we fell in love. He lived 240 miles away. A month ago, he transferred his job to my city and moved in with me. (I supported this 100%.) I had sown my wild oats long before he moved in. Everything was going great until recently. Josh logged into my computer and saw all my emails and text messages, some of which were as recent as a week ago. I have been updating old flings that I’m no longer on the market, but in one particular text, I didn’t give such information. Instead, I simply didn’t respond. Later that day, Josh confronted me and began to cry. He said I hurt him, and he doesn’t know how to trust me again. Abby, I love Josh with all my heart, and I’m trying to weed out old “flings” as they come in, but as I mentioned, I’ve been single for 15 years and it will take time. Since this happened, I have deleted a lot of text messages and updated my social media to “in a relationship,” but I’m still unsure how Josh feels. Was he right to go through my emails and text messages? I have since changed my password, but I need advice. What should I do or say to him to make him feel confident in our relationship? I don’t want to lose him. — FORMER BACHELOR IN TEXAS DEAR FORMER BACHELOR AMORAL SLUT: The questions I have to ask you are: Why did Josh go into your computer, and why did he feel it was necessary to snoop through your texts and emails? DISSOLVE INTO A PUDDLE LIKE A LITTLE BITCH OVER ONE MESSAGE? How much do you know about his personal history, and did he have trust MENTAL HEALTH issues that started before you met? Tell Josh you would like the two of you to get couples counseling from a LGBTQ community center, if he will agree. If he does, AS FAR AWAY FROM EACH OTHER AS POSSIBLE; it may save your relationship LIFE. DEAR ABBY: My sister and I have been estranged for eight years. She had an “unusual” relationship with my ex-husband, meaning they moved in together three days after I left him. My entire family insists there’s nothing between them. She blames me, and even though I have reached out, she has never responded. She tells people all kinds of awful things about me and blames me for not knowing her girls. How can I know them if I can’t see them or meet them? I send gifts in the mail, but I’m somehow the “monster”? Help, please. — HURT IN MARYLAND DEAR HURT: You wouldn’t have left your husband if the marriage had been hunky-dory. That your sister took him in with no romantic involvement is suspicious. (Does your family also believe in the tooth fairy?) Surely your ex or your sister would have liked a romantic relationship with someone, if not each other. Of this, I am certain: You cannot control what someone says about you. But you CAN control how you react. Stop listening to gossip your sister spreads, and be suspicious of anyone who insists on telling you about it. Do not expect to have a relationship with her or her daughters, because it isn’t likely to happen. Just put one foot in front of the other, go on with your life and spend as little time as possible looking backward. BUY A GUN…

The garden on the grounds of the East Flatbush Safe Haven, a homeless shelter in Flatbush, was once an oasis of native plants. Now, it is being destroyed. Volunteers who nurtured the garden for years say it lowered temperatures in the area, which has little greenery, and provided shelter residents with the healing benefits of nature. However, staff at Breaking Ground, the nonprofit that operates the shelter, began leveling the garden on July 31, according to volunteers. The volunteers, who had a positive relationship with the nonprofit for years, say their relationship began to sour after a management shift at the shelter. Samuel Pressman, one of the main volunteers, shared his dismay: “My number one goal is to help people get in touch with nature and observe how it can benefit them, how it can help heal them, and help motivate them to be more positive,” said Samuel Pressman, one of the main volunteers who created the garden. “For me, gardening is very sacred [...] It was traumatizing to me when it was clear cut in a very sneaky, kind of evil way.” In 2021, volunteers initiated an eco-rehabilitation project on the seven-acre grounds of the former Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, where the shelter is located. Their aim was to beautify the grounds, connect residents with nature, and bring ecological benefits to the area. They planted about 150 species, over 90% of which were native, in five orchards and ten planters. The safe haven shelter has fewer restrictions than standard shelters, allowing vulnerable New Yorkers to access housing, medical care and case management without fearing eviction. Although the nonprofit initially welcomed the volunteers and their project, staff later claimed the garden was removed because it created unsafe, hidden spaces for residents. The eco-rehabilitation project was led by Marion Yuen, founder of The MYA Group, a sustainable infrastructure consulting firm, and Pressman, founder of Samuel’s Food Garden, an organization dedicated to expanding urban agriculture. “I’m about ecological restoration and bringing nature back to the city,” said Yuen. “Greenery has been proven to not only provide beauty, but plants have a beneficial effect on health. A lot of the clients put their faces by the bushes, touch them, and there’s a whole body of literature showing that has a beneficial effect.” Yuen and Pressman emphasize that their work is not just about sustainability or aesthetics, but also about promoting physical and mental health through a deep connection with nature. They were devastated by the loss of the garden, which they had hoped would continue to benefit shelter residents. Initially, Breaking Ground celebrated the garden's success, even promoting it on social media as "therapeutic and healing." The garden significantly reduced temperatures during heat waves, with a difference of 8 degrees Fahrenheit between the garden and a nearby parking lot. The garden was created from soil from the Clean Soil Bank and compost from the DSNY’s Composting Facility. The New York Restoration Project and other organizations donated plants, according to volunteers. The project was so successful that Breaking Ground asked the volunteers to replicate the model at other facilities. However, after a new director took over the shelter in January, the volunteers were informed they would no longer receive funding or be allowed to bring in outside help. Without these resources, the garden became overgrown, leading to its removal. On July 31, staff began cutting down plants, including grapevines and sunflowers. Yuen and Pressman say they have been barred from the facility, where some of their supplies remain. The volunteers have entered into mediation with Breaking Ground, facilitated by the New York Peace Institute, to address the situation and discuss how to move forward. Breaking Ground did not respond to requests for comment. “The punishment for the gardens developing so lushly, so well, and luring [residents] to want to spend time in them, led to them having a ‘management issue' with residents not being visible all the time,” said Pressman. “So it was kind of a recipe they didn’t know they were setting up, but they attacked the gardens instead of the real issue, which is that they really don’t know how to manage the residents properly.” Garden growers and volunteers Marion Yuen and Samuel Pressman. A Once-Therapeutic Garden at a Homeless Shelter in Brooklyn Faces Destruction, Sparks Outcry - BKReader WWW.BKREADER.COM Staff at the non-profit managing the garden claims it creates unsafe, hidden spaces for residents.

Perhaps the healthier spouse works or has other things that get him out of there regularly so for him it might just be like coming home to a studio apartment with maid and cooking services. I haven't been able to afford apartment insurance for years and am on the 'hope I die suddenly before my meager savings give out' long-term plan.