samhexum

A Century Old Charm: Forest Park Carousel and Bandshell mark 100 years in Woodhaven Terms of Use Queer youth connect in Corona for Pride Prom as tradition continues to flourish

And who won't be.

Pizza Hut has abruptly shuttered 15 locations in the Midwest with more than 120 others at risk of closing down after the chain landed in a bitter legal dispute with a franchisee. EYM Group, which owns and operates 142 Pizza Hut locations in Illinois, Indiana, Georgia, South Carolina and Wisconsin, was accused of defaulting on millions of dollars in payments that were allegedly owed to Pizza Hut by a June deadline. Pizza Hut abruptly moved to shutter 15 restaurants in Northwest Indiana on Friday, according to a report in The Times of Northwest Indiana, which cited social media posts by employees. EYM has accused Pizza Hut of failing to modernize its menu as well as its digital ordering system — thus putting it at a disadvantage against the stiff competition in casual dining, including from Little Caesars and Domino’s. EYM Group filed suit against Pizza Hut in March 2023, alleging a breach of contract. Pizza Hut countersued earlier this month, alleging that EYM Group was beset by financial discrepancies and that it failed to make required payments — thus violating the franchise agreement. After several defaults, Pizza Hut entered into a forbearance agreement with the franchisee last year. Pizza Hut’s parent company, Yum Brands, reported last month that same-store sales at Pizza Hut declined by 7% in its most recent quarter. In the US, Pizza Hut same-store sales dropped 6% — a stark decline compared to 7% same-store sales growth during the same period last year. Shares of Yum Brands, whose subsidiaries include Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell, are up nearly 6% from Jan. 1.

Gay sex club in supermarket basement arouses imagination of genteel Brooklyn neighborhood I hope their meat section is properly sanitary. The Mercury News A mysterious figure is paying $600 to high school boys to be tied up, tickled and filmed... 2 days ago — A mysterious figure is paying $600 to high school boys in Moraga and Orinda to be tied up, tickled and filmed and the videos reportedly began circulating around Miramonte High School in Orinda. (S)he's contributing to their college funds. What's the problem?

I guess there's an advantage to being cynical & uninterested in finding love... Sitting at the kitchen table, Matt struggles to recount the events of the past few months. “As soon as I found out that it was a suicide, I was 100% sure that it was the scam,” he says. “Our father was, from the day I was born until six months ago, always a positive, happy person. This was literally the only thing in his life that had happened, to where it changed him, and it just crushed him.” On a horse farm in northern Virginia, surrounded by sprawling fields and stables, the family gathers at their younger sister Adrianne’s house - something they’ve done a lot in the three months since their father took his own life after falling victim to a so-called “pig butchering” scam. The scams – mostly run out of Southeast Asia - are given that name because they involve “fattening up” victims before taking everything they have. The con artists behind them take on false online identities and spend months financially grooming their victims to get them to invest on fraudulent cryptocurrency websites. Dennis Jones, an avid runner and photographer, was adored by his children and grandchildren. Described as “a bit of an activist” by his family, the 82-year-old spent much of his retirement working with refugees and debating politics online. But in the last few months of his life he withdrew from his family and, having been divorced for years, befriended a woman going by the name Jessie on Facebook. The two had been talking online for months and built a close relationship. Eventually, Jessie convinced Dennis to invest in crypto. Dennis complied. Without ever meeting Jessie in person, he spent everything he had, and when he had nothing left, she demanded more. Until one day the money disappeared, leaving him in ruin. In early March, Dennis’ children scheduled a meeting to help their father get back on his feet after the scam. The plan was for him to move in with Adrianne and her family. “We wanted him to know that he was going to be taken care of,” Matt said. But the morning of the meeting none of them could reach Dennis. Matt drove to Dennis’s apartment but he wasn’t home, and all calls went straight to voicemail. They figured he must be out on one of his long runs. An hour later, police knocked on Matt’s door to inform him that Dennis had taken his own life. Dennis was one of countless victims of a massive global criminal operation predominantly run by Chinese gangs who have built a multibillion-dollar scam industry in Southeast Asia. There, they’ve assembled an army of scammers, many held against their will in guarded compounds and forced to con people all around the world out of their life savings. It’s theft at a scale so large that investigators are now calling it a mass transfer of wealth from middle-class Americans to criminal gangs. Last year, the FBI estimates, pig butchering scams stole nearly $4 billion from tens of thousands of American victims, a 53% increase from the year before. While the crime takes place online, its real-world consequences are devastating. Law enforcement sources predict that losses will continue to grow in the next year, and as the criminals remain out of reach, money and lives will continue to be lost. Santa Clara county prosecutor Erin West has dedicated the last few years to fighting pig butchering scams. “I’ve been a prosecutor for over 25 years, I’ve done all kinds of different types of crime. I spent nine years in sexual assault. And I’ve never seen the absolute decimation of people that I’ve seen as a result of pig butchering,” she says. Being in the heart of the tech industry in California’s Bay Area, Erin and her team were some of the first to begin investigating pig butchering scams. “We’ve got victims victimizing victims and the only winners are Chinese gangsters,” she says. Shawn Bradstreet, US special agent in charge of the San Francisco field office, told CNN that some of the money stolen from American victims is spent on expanding the scam operations and the massive compounds that house them and other illicit activities. West and Bradstreet are part of a small group of US law enforcement agencies working to find ways to tackle a crime that largely takes place online and overseas. Social media is flooded with scammers hunting for victims, on WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn and, increasingly, dating apps such as Bumble and Tinder. “The unfortunate reality is that scammers may pull on the heartstrings on those looking for love or connection - on dating apps and on all online platforms,” a spokesman for Match group, which owns Tinder, said in a statement. Both Match and Facebook and Whatsapp parent company Meta told CNN they are working to prevent scammers from using their platforms, by flagging suspicious language and educating their users. CNN has reached out to LinkedIn and Bumble for comment. In May, a group of tech companies including cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase, Meta, Match group and the anti-scam charity organization GASO announced the “Tech Against Scams Coalition,” acknowledging that scams “are a pervasive issue across the entire tech landscape.” But West says that’s not enough. She recently set up a task force called Operation Shamrock to bring together law enforcement, social media, crypto exchanges and traditional banks to tackle crypto scams. A 2023 CNN investigation revealed that many of the scammers are themselves victims of human trafficking. Lured to Southeast Asia with promises of white-collar jobs, they are instead trafficked into Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and other destinations. Since a 2021 military coup, Myanmar has become Asia’s scam capital where criminals can operate freely under the cover of a bloody civil war. Today, city-sized compounds loom over the Myanmar side of the border with Thailand, with nothing but a dried-out river separating the two countries. Inside are what can only be described as scam factories — offices full of hundreds of slaves, working 16-hour days to befriend victims and convince them to invest in cryptocurrency on fake platforms that mimic legitimate crypto exchanges. Those kept inside tell stories of torture and abuse, of scammers who don’t bring in enough money being beaten with electrical sticks and forced to do hundreds of squats as punishment. Rakesh, an Indian national, was trafficked to a compound called Gate 25 in Myanmar after applying for an IT job in Thailand in late 2022. There he signed a scamming contract under threat of execution, and was trained to scam. For 11 months he posed as “Klara Semonov,” a Russian investor based in Salt Lake City. To avoid gruesome punishments inflicted by his captors, he said he sent romantic messages to victims like Dennis to convince them to invest their money. “Seventy to 80% fall for fake love,” he said. Rakesh was eventually released in 2023 when his contract ended. He believes he was let go because he simply wasn’t good enough at scamming. “They (were) treating us like slaves,” he told CNN days after his release in 2023. Conveniently located on the border, the compounds use telecoms services from the Thai side. In November 2023 Thai Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong said they were working to cut off the compounds. Pachara Naripthaphan of the Thai National Broadcasting Transmissions Commission has since told CNN that in May they instructed all telecom operators to shut off wireless services in proximity to any areas bordering Myanmar, Laos or Cambodia. Despite that, their data shows that illicit activity has continued at a baseline level as criminals adjust to using other means of connecting to the internet such as Starlink. Even here on the border, where the physical distance is reduced to nothing but a narrow river, the criminals remain out of the reach of law enforcement, either locally or internationally. “Many of these perpetrators are beyond my reach. And in order to establish deterrence, we need to prosecute some individuals who are running these operations in Southeast Asia,” Santa Clara district attorney Jeff Rosen says. According to FBI data, out of nearly $5 billion dollars lost to cryptocurrency fraud in 2023, $3.96 billion was stolen in pig butchering scams. While Rosen’s office and the Secret Service have had some success in retrieving millions of dollars in stolen funds, no American law enforcement agency has been able to arrest a single suspected scammer. Carina, who asked CNN to only use her first name, met “Evan” on Bumble in May 2023. His photos showed a blond man with piercing blue eyes. He claimed to be Dutch and showed off his wealth — expensive cars and Rolexes, though none of that appealed to Carina, a chemistry PhD and triathlete. Their relationship moved fast. Right away he suggested they move their conversation to WhatsApp and delete the Bumble app to focus on getting to know each other. A few days later he started calling her “honey.” “We’re doing that already?” Carina asked, in a text conversation seen by CNN. Evan claimed he had made his money running a company with his uncle and investing in crypto. He told her she could pay off her student loans in a matter of months by investing. Carina was hesitant at first but eventually agreed to put in $1,000. He told her not to use the official app of the Kraken crypto platform, and instead sent her a link to a parallel website which they used to trade in the coming months. As their investments grew, so did their relationship. The two made plans for the future, romantic weekend getaways and family introductions, though they were yet to meet in person. “I’ve never met anyone like you before. Hard to believe I’m falling for a man I have never seen or spoken to,” Carina told him just a few weeks in. The first red flag emerged when Evan pressured Carina to enter an “event” where she would have to invest $150,000 by the end of July to make extra profit. If she failed to reach the target, her account and money would be frozen. Scared to lose the money she had already put in, Carina panicked. She took out a high-interest loan and borrowed money from friends and family to meet the deadline. Despite all his purported wealth, Evan refused to help her, instead lying and telling her he was struggling to meet his target of $500,000 and needed her help, she said. At one point, Carina found herself consoling her scammer, telling him the money didn’t matter as long as they loved each other. After Dennis took his life, his adult children were left piecing together what happened by going through his Facebook messages. There, they learned for the first time what Dennis had been dealing with. “I have been having dark thoughts about my life and it being over. Certainly it looks like my financial life is done,” Dennis messaged his scammer in the months before his death. “And the ultimate pain here is that I have betrayed family trust. This is unbearable,” he writes in screenshots of their conversation seen by CNN. “What’s most heartbreaking is reading through these messages. He was talking about having signs of a nervous breakdown. And so these were all shared with the profile,” Adrianne says. “Instead of sharing with us,” Matt adds. “What’s amazing here is that these scammers overseas have figured out a way that they can get victims to trust them over their own families,” West says. “It’s a major psychological stunt that they’re pulling on the rest of the world.” Carina didn’t tell her family about what had happened and the stress she was under until the very final moment. After hitting their event targets, Carina tried to withdraw some of her money, but was unable to do so, having violated platform rules by investing in the same account as Evan. After months of hiding it, Carina told her family, who suggested she speak to Kraken directly. The next morning she called Kraken customer services, who informed her there was no account under her name. “I realized I had been scammed at that point. And I broke down,” Carina says. “It was all fake. It was a fake profile. It was a fake story. The amount of time that he spent grooming and getting to know me was incessant.” Reading through their conversations a year later, Carina barely recognizes herself. “It’s actually heartbreaking for me to see the state that I was in,” she says. The emotional and financial entanglement had taken a toll on her, and she was left reeling from a breakup and bankruptcy at the same time. In the aftermath, Carina had to move back in with her mother. It will take her at least a decade to repay her debts. Their grief still raw, Adrianne and Matt are only now starting to understand what happened to their father. “He wasn’t up against one person. It’s a multibillion-dollar criminal organization with a playbook that’s playing on the emotions … It was almost like he was brainwashed to some extent,” Dennis’ daughter Adrianne says. As the criminals’ tactics continue to evolve and law enforcement struggles to find a way to stop them, there will be more victims in 2024, and more people like Matt and Adrianne, who suffer a loss far greater than money. “He died embarrassed, ashamed, financially devastated, heartbroken. And if sharing our story helps somebody else or another family, then it’s worth it,” Adrianne says. https://www.aol.com/news/killed-scam-father-took-life-160016296.html

SARAH'S HAIR PERMED...

My brother-in-law filled me in on the latest concert news… since they opened, their shows have been running at 99% capacity. Because of that demand, they added 3pm matinees on Sat and Sun. All 9 performances a week are still running at 97% capacity. Ticketmaster UK reports that as a sell out. So because of the demand, they just extended thru May 2025 and are talking with the City of Stratford to extend to 2026. That's gonna be tough because the land that the arena is built on is designated to be developed for low income housing and they have delayed it twice already.

The Angels have DFA'd Mr. Vanessa Hudgens.

This is not a grammatical error; I just can't believe it made it to publication:

and he wants to know who has too much something else on (or in) his hands.

ME

Unfortunately, another parade in the area didn't go as smoothly: Several people were injured after a “possible chemical agent” was released during the Baltimore Pride parade Saturday evening, according to the Baltimore Police Department. Police said that a little after 8:30 p.m., attendees informed officers stationed at the parade that a chemical agent — potentially mace, hair spray or something else — was released into the crowd. Police confirmed it was not released by law enforcement. Fireworks were also set off at the event, which police said caused a large crowd to flee, injuring several people. Police did not specify whether all the injuries were caused by the stampede or the chemical agent. Fire officials treated individuals on the scene, and the event was shut down. Police have not yet confirmed the type of chemical agent released. They said they don’t have information at this time to conclude that this was a targeted attack. https://www.aol.com/news/several-injured-possible-chemical-agent-190018327.html

Some interesting real estate 'finds' made the news this week... 'Blockbuster discovery' found at George Washington's Mount Vernon estate June 15, 2024 Archaeologists at George Washington’s Mount Vernon have discovered dozens of glass jars filled with fruit preserves in the cellar of the historic Northern Virginia home that “likely haven’t seen the light of day since before the American Revolution.” Twenty-nine of the 35 bottles remain intact, and all contain either cherries, gooseberries or currants, the home and museum of the first U.S. president revealed in a press release Friday. “Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine this spectacular archaeological discovery,” Mount Vernon President & CEO Doug Bradburn said in a statement. “We were ecstatic last month to uncover two fully intact 18th-century bottles containing biological matter. Now we know those bottles were just the beginning of this blockbuster discovery.” Bradburn called the discovery an “unprecedented” find, adding, “nothing of this scale and significance has ever been excavated in North America. We now possess a bounty of artifacts and matter to analyze that may provide a powerful glimpse into the origins of our nation, and we are crossing our fingers that the cherry pits discovered will be viable for future germination. It’s so appropriate that these bottles have been unearthed shortly before the 250th anniversary of the United States,” which will be in 2026. The discovery comes two months after two bottles were found that contained a “mysterious” liquid, along with cherries and pits. Experts believe that the bottles were originally filled with cherries. The glass bottles were placed in the ground between 1758 and 1776 to refrigerate food. “For whatever reason, these were left behind, and they were in pristine condition, and that’s why this is such an extraordinary find, because you just don’t find 18th-century food remains, intact, outside of things like animal bones, which are pretty durable,” Mount Vernon principal archaeologist Jason Boroughs said. Skeleton unearthed at NY construction site, sparking mystery for investigators June 11, 2024 The grim find Monday in Woodbury's Eagle Rock Apartments is under investigation by Nassau County police, cops said. My friend used to live a few blocks from there; it's a nice area.

J. Lo gets to keep $2.5M from canceled tour JLo canceled her tour but she is keeping part of her $10 million signing bonus

What happens when an Orthodox woman comes out as gay By 19, Sara – nee Malka – Glass got everything an ultra-religious Jewish woman from the insular Borough Park neighborhood in Brooklyn could want. She’s married a God-fearing man and became a mother – her “true purpose” in life – while settling into the Hasidic enclave of Lakewood, NJ. After growing up in a “Fiddler on the Roof”-style home among five sisters, she externally looked the part of the perfectly pious: modest wig, covered collarbone and kneecaps, prayer book permanently stashed in purse – but all was not well. Between mining kosher cookbooks for gourmet recipes to please her emotionally unavailable husband, Malka unsuccessfully ignored an inconvenient truth: that despite her commitment to Judaism, she was a closeted lesbian who’d broken off a torrid affair with an equally religious woman just before her wedding. “My devotion to God and my deep, well-tended fear of his wrath didn’t leave much room for choice,” Glass writes in her new memoir, “Kissing Girls on Shabbat.” Her story is one of a woman trapped – in a loveless, arranged marriage, by the rules of her own faith, and by the self-denial she struggled with for years. Her anemic sex education consisted of a lesson involving a tube of toothpaste and “bendy toy” that raised more questions than answers as she lay with the stranger she happened to be her spouse. She was soon drowning deeper in a dire situation – burying burning secrets, both from herself and her cloistered world – while juggling two children in an increasingly untenable marriage. Once her controlling husband finally granted her a religious divorce, Glass writes that she was 24 and already had “ruined my own life. Forgive me, I begged of God.” Cognizant that one perceived slip-up would cost her her children, Glass forced herself to date men suitable for marriage. But after 13 years of “living in fear” and leading a “double life,” it was over — Glass won custody of her children with help from a group that supports ultra-Orthodox who left the community. She remains committed to this purpose today.

ANOTHER PIECE OF 20TH-CENTURY AMERICANA BITES THE DUST: Tupperware shuts down only remaining US plant, moves to Mexico as over 100 workers laid off

Dear Abby: My husband and I have a friend, “Sophie,” who is cheating on her husband of 25 years. Of course, this is not our business. But now, unbeknownst to her husband, she has incorporated her lover into their everyday life. Her lover is from India and is also married. Sophie is now obsessed with all things Indian — wearing saris, dancing in her lover’s dance troupe and wearing henna all over her body. My husband and I are involved in a small business with Sophie and her husband, and I’m growing more uncomfortable by the day as she constantly confides to me about her and her lover’s sex life, addictions, how she’s pursued him, etc. I told her she’s playing with fire. Now I remain silent, hoping she’ll stop. Meanwhile, she’s started a new business that has incorporated him into her life on a daily basis. We love Sofie’s husband. He’s a good and trustworthy man. I absolutely will never be the one to tell him what’s going on, but we need to get away from her. Without hurting the husband, what explanation can we give for stepping away on a business and personal level? Because he WILL ask why. He’s a kind and compassionate man who feels very close to both of us. Any gentle suggestions? — Knows Too Much Dear Knows: Start by making yourself and your husband less available to socialize with these people. If Sophie continues to confide in you, tell her you do not approve and do not want to hear another word about her affair. BLACKMAILING SOPHIE. You may not have to worry about keeping mum around the husband because, sooner or later, he is going to catch on to the fact that something is going on AND YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BLACKMAIL HER. Because you did not mention how closely tied your financial interests are with Sophie and her husband, I will assume you are not solely dependent upon it. That is why you and your husband should consider te KIlling Sophie’s husband that “considering the state of the economy,” your financial picture has changed, and you will need to relinquish your interest in the business. Your attorney can help you with IF YOU GET CAUGHT DOING this. Dear Abby: I have an identical twin who lives in a different state. I am married; she never has been. At 62, she still demands that I live my life her way. I love her, but I’m an adult. I live by my own rules. She seems enraged that I don’t think and behave the same way she does. By the way, she works from home and sets her own schedule. I work in a call center. I would appreciate your input. — Likes My Freedom in Iowa Dear Likes: At 62, you are entitled to live your life exactly as you wish. So is your sister. You may be identical, but this does not mean you must think alike. Perhaps the next time your twin unloads on you, you should remind her of that. WHAT IS IT ABOUT IOWA THAT MAKES IDENTICAL TWIN SISTERS NOT GET ALONG? ARE ONE OR BOTH OF YOU AN ADVICE COLUMNIST?

Firm co-founded by Milwaukee Bucks’ billionaire co-owner wants to save Red Lobster from bankruptcy A Wall Street investment firm co-founded by billionaire Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens could swoop in to save Red Lobster from bankruptcy, according to a report. Fortress Investment Group, the $48 billion private equity firm that specializes in rehabilitating distressed businesses, is the most likely company that is expected to take charge of the struggling casual dining chain as it looks to climb out of Chapter 11, according to Bloomberg News. Executives at Fortress, which was founded by Edens, Rob Kauffman and Randal Nardone, are poring over Red Lobster’s books in an attempt to figure out why its restaurants are failing, Bloomberg News reported. Fortress, which already holds a large chunk of Red Lobster’s debt, is also reportedly mapping out a strategy for the restaurant chain’s comeback by identifying which regions and demographics would best support a revival of its popularity. Edens is no longer co-chair of the company. The firm is particularly keen on shedding Red Lobster’s onerous lease agreements that have put a major dent in its bottom line, according to Bloomberg News. Last month, Red Lobster, which previously boasted 550 locations, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after it shuttered 93 restaurants. Court filings revealed that the chain is in danger of shutting down an additional 135 restaurants if the company is unable to renegotiate the terms of its leases. The filings list 228 rejected leases that the company has flagged as money-losing propositions if they continue without adjustments, according to Restaurant Business. Edens also co-owns the Bucks, which features superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.