Photograph by steuben on Flickr Reader Daniel pointed our attention to this photograph of a military trailer, carrying Humvees and headed towards Manhattan on Flatbush. He noticed that the center one was "outfitted with the so-called non-lethal Active Denial System." What's the Active Denial System, you ask? Here's how the AP described ADS in 2007: "The military calls its new weapon an 'active denial system,' but that's an understatement. It's a ray gun that......

A month after a jury found Cesar Rodriguez guilty of manslaughter in the brutal death of his 7-year-old stepdaughter NIxzmary Brown, a judge sentenced him to the maximum allowed, 26 /12 years to 29 years in jail. He told the court, "I loved Nixzmary...I can honestly say that I’m being accused of something I did not do...but I will take responsibility." Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Hall had to scold courtroom spectators who cheered after......

Robert Chambers, the infamous Preppy Killer who was busted last fall for dealing drugs to undercover cops, is going to use a "psychiatric 'poly-substance abuse' defense." His lawyer Valerie Van Leer-Greenberg told a judge, "He did not act knowingly" because he was so influenced by drugs. How influenced? Van Leer-Greenberg said, "He was using 10 to 12 bags of heroin a day," plus he smoked crack and pot and abused the painkiller Dilaudid. Currently at......

A heretofore secret witness--previously described as a jailhouse snitch--testified in the murder trial of Cesar Rodriguez, charged with killing his 7-year-old stepdaughter Nixzmary Brown in 2006. The witness claimed the girl's mother confessed to killing her daughter. Nixzaliz Santiago, Nixzmary's mother who will face her own murder trial later, allegedly told the witness that Nixzmary was a bad child and she and Rodriguez beat the young girl in the bathtub. She testified that Santiago "kept......

The Dept. of Homeland Security is funding the installation of a number of anti-missile defense systems on commercial jets flying in and out of JFK Airport. The tests are the third stage of testing of a system that is already used by military aircraft. The defense system consists of equipment affixed to the bottom of the aircraft that electronically jams the heat-seeking component of shoulder filed missiles. The latter are referred to as man......

One of the ten suspects arrested in the Q train beating of a Jewish man during Hanukkah is saying that hate crime charges are completely uncalled for because he himself is Jewish. Joseph Jirovec Jr. was arrested two weeks ago after a group of Hanukkah revelers was beaten while on a the Q train after wishing happy holidays to other riders. Members of a crowd on the train took objection to the Jewish greetings and......