Regarding the "And Finally": This is something that I'd think should be clear, but I get conflicting info on google, and the tax research services I access don't actually say. I'm having trouble figuring out what should be a simple question: Are Puerto Rico citizens not subject to US income taxes at all, or is it that so many are under the US income tax threshold?
Does that affect how little attention they've gotten over the years?
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can we stop calling them "new york's finest already?"
(the only time i ever see cops in the city any more is in times square posing for pictures with tourists)
Alternate Side Parking Rules Suspended September 24-25.
How did you miss it? Good news for Mr. & Ms. Parker!
Two days off from the alternate-side merry-go-round,
where the only prize is a nasty ticket.
2
To The New York Times:
Please cover the new proposal to develop Governor's Island. (Public hearing on September 26?)
Coverage of NYC land use issues is critical.
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@LS, been getting a song ready during lunch.
Ballad of Governors Isle
Tune of The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island
Just sit right back and you’ll learn the plans
The plans for a wondrous spot
The hearing’s on the 26th
When we’ll learn what’s what!
It seems the hearing isn’t closed
The interest is too strong
And if they do what’s now proposed
The hearing won’t take long. (The hearing won’t take long.)
So come hear how they'll use the land
Or read the reports they file.
We’ll find out all that they’ve got planned
There for Governors Isle.
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Tough day recapping the news, what already happened.. The only good news seems to be the terrific weather to look forward to, and the free plastic water bottles to help the environment.
But as you guys say, in the forecast, “We couldn’t ask for a better way to start the week” as far as the weather goes. Some days, the thing to do mis look at what we hope will come (like today’s weather and maybe a mid-term election that makes things better!)
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Of all the questions this column asks, the big one missing is: Why is prostitution illegal?
Obviously, human trafficking is already illegal and should remain so, but the government, at any level, should not interfere with paid (or unpaid) sex between consenting adults.
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While we may protest the government's role in interfering between two consenting adults, we still have the compassionate accountability as human beings to interfere when unscrupulous pimps (redundant) and predatory Johns prey upon young, street hardened, desperate girls (adults or not)! Wake up America.
4
Prostitution often involves the exploitation of people, usually women, girls, and young men. They are vulnerable to disease and violent injury. The oppressors - - pimps and clients - - are almost always men. Clients, when arrested, receive far lighter penalties than sex workers.
Government-regulated prostitution merely institutionalizes the exploitation of vulnerable people. We should focus on a universal minimum living standard and better jobs.
5
Why is this a “police scandal”?
As an attorney who represents accused cops, I respect the NYTimes.
But when it comes to stories about cops, the Times’ typical integrity and rigor quickly devolves
into stereotypes.
The Times would agree that it’s wrong to attribute the actions of one person to an entire group. So why do they do it with cops?
This brothel story is a scandal involving criminals who worked aspolice officers. If true, the main guy is clearly smart, takes extraordinary risks, and has zero morality. He took advantage of his status as a cop. That is surely newsworthy.
But it’s unfair and intellectually dishonest to call this a “police scandal” as if this guy’s fellow cops condone this behavior.
Every cop has an enhanced tolerance for risk, which also happens to be the core element of bravery.
A downside of that attribute is when a cop gets super dark and cynical to the point where they abandon the rules of the profession and go to the dark side.
At some point, this brothel cop lost his moral compass.
It happens in every profession. It’s always happened. And it will always happen. But it happens less than it did 10 years ago. And much less than 20 years ago.
But rest assured. This is not 1970. Police departments do not look the other way. The pendulum has swung the other way.
The problem now is that departments are hyper aggressive and unfairly target innocent cops. Hopefully NYTimes will do that “police scandal” story too!
6
As the mom of an ex officer, I appreciate your comment. I live in Oakland, Ca, and the local newspapers in the Bay Area have such an aggressive anti-police bias that I now only read The NY Times. Oakland police did not fire their weapons even once in 2017, yet a there is a coffee house in Oakland that has banned police officers and have local support. Is that even legal? It takes the concept “safe space” to trumpian heights.
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On the NYT app on my iPhone, there seems to be no way to post a comment for the Metropolitan Diary with all five entries.
I guess you now comment each day through “New York Today.”
I enjoyed all five entries. I’m still thinking about green and white asparagus. To the Uber driver: My mother’s name was Ruth. And I’m picturing the orange envelope in my mind’s eye.
4
@Dean, in a school musical, one of my favorite character names was Ruth O'Day, who was an insufferably cheery character whose optimistic take on everything everyone in the show would rue and dread. The audience didn't seem to get the pun of the name, so by the third performance, it was underlined and spelled out: "Excuse me, I'm looking for Rue The-Day." "Oh, you mean Ruth O'Day. You can't miss her, she's the only one smiling."
It is a touching, wistful Diary item today. Like Ruthie the author, I wouldn't have known what to say, either, whether talking about his wife Ruth would bring joy or sadness. Maybe cabs on the street are safer (though more distant) emotionally, with Uber drivers knowing your name.
6
Hi again, Dean - I don't know about earlier today, but the comment area on the multi-story Diary is there now. On this Mac I'm on right now, it's accessed with a blue rectangular box at the bottom of the article. (I can't find it on my Blackberry, though.)
2
Thanks, Freddie. I found it.
Yes, the comment access is there now, but for whatever reason, it was not available when I read the Diary at 6:30 this morning. This is a case where the early bird did NOT get the worm.
3
No offense to Mr. Cuomo, but instead of taking funds to impanel a commission to design a monument, he should directly invest those funds in the future of the island itself -- And no doubt San Juan's Mayor, Carmen Yulin Cruz, would be able to tell him just how.
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