[vc318]

That's terrible! If you can do that to your own grandmother then I can't imagine how this person would treat a complete stranger!

[canflam]

All because she was bored.

Here's a story from allworldnews.com

Strange Bar Mitzvah

July 6th 2009

It was the scene of a sacred Jewish ceremony of a boy crossing the path to adulthood. The young boy read from the Torah during his bar mitzvah, his guests enjoyed a catered kosher spread and the pround father returned to his cell. The party for the son of a convicted scam artist was held at a New York City jail, and city taxpayers paid overtime for some of the jail staff to help out.

New Youk City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was fuming Thursday after learning of the Jewish ceremony celebrating the boys' coming-of-age held at the lower Manhattan lockdown known as The Tombs. A Correction Department spokesman confirmed that five staff members were disciplined over the December party, which was reported in the New York Post on Thursday.

Bloomberg said the bar mitzvah should have not have happened. ''I don't care how you sugarcoat it or how you define it, it's sort of through the looking glass,'' the mayor said, adding that the city Department of Investigations was looking into the incident. The bar mitzvah host, Tuvia Stern, was accused in June 1989 along with his brother Epraim of stealing $1.7 million through two scams including a bogus deal to lease back office equipment and a check-kiting scheme targeting Morgan Guaranty Trust.

While out on $250,000 bail, Tubia Stern fled to Brazil with his wife and children. Stern was detained in 2006 while trying to enter England and was returned the United States last year. Stern, 47, pleaded, guilty earlier this year to bail jumping and to grand larceny from the 1989 indictment; hewas sent to Woodbourne state prison in the Hudson Valley in April.

The bar mitzvah took place Dec. 30 in the jail's gym. About 60 guests attended, and Stern was allowed to use his own kosher caterer. Stern also was permitted to swap his jail garb for more festive clothing, and guests kept their cellphones, which normally are not allowed in city jails. A popular Orthodox singer, Yaakov Shwekey, performed.

The party was so successful that Stern held a small engagement party for his daughter at the same venue four months later. Rabbi Leib Glantz, the chaplain who arranged the bar mitzvah, was suspended for two weeks, and four other staff members lost two weeks of vacation each. Correction Department spokesman Stephen Morello said he could not comment ont he incident beyond confirming that several corrections officials were disciplined.

[vc318]

I'm sure if the father had just asked - and made sure not to host this thing on taxpayers' expense - then it would've been fine. How these things go on in a jail of all places just baffles me.

[ericfan1]

and all on tax payer's money... Unbelieveable!!!

[sunnykerr]

And yet no one can find any money for a real health-care system... interesting.

[ericfan1]

Well, I think the money came from NY taxpayers.

[vc318]

Originally Posted by ericfan1 (View Post) Well, I think the money came from NY taxpayers.

The guy has nothing so who else would pay for it?

[sunnykerr]

I'm guessing the big objection is over how much it cost and not the fact that the guy in jail obviously didn't have the means to pay for it himself...

I'm guessing.

[vc318]

^ Then he's guilty on both accounts. He should be required to pay back every last cent - whenever he gets out, that is.

[canflam]

I wouldn't expect him to payback that money if he gets out of jail, because how would he be able to unless it's includes another scam?

Here's another bizarre story that took place in New York: July 8th.

NEW YORK - A runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport was shut down briefly Wednesday morning after at least 78 turtles emerged from a nearby bay and crawled onto the tarmac.

Grounds crews eventually rounded up the wayward reptiles and deposited them back in the brackish water farther airport property, but not before the incident disrupted JFK's flight schedule and contributed to delays that reached nearly 1 1/2 hours.

''Apparently, this is something the tower has experienced before,'' said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters. ''I guess it's the season for spawning.''

The invasion began unfolding, slowly, at around 8:30 a.m., when an American Eagle flight crew reported seeing three turtles while taxing out for departure. Before long, a chorus of pilots was radioing the tower to report turtles either on the end of a runway that juts out into the water, or approaching on the grass.

The FAA halted flights for about 12 minutes shortly before 9 a.m. while some of the turtles were cleared away, then quit using the runway entirely affter getting new reports of ''massive numbers'' of turtles on the tarmac, Peters said.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman John Kelly said airport crews gathered up the turtles in about 35 minutes.

He identified the turtles as Diamond terrapins, a species common to Jamaica Bay, which surrounds the airport. The turtles appeared to be about 8 inches long and weigh 2 to 3 pounds each.

Jets hit turtles a few times each year at JFK, usually in the final days of June or earliest days in July, according to the FAA's wildfire strike database. There have been no recent reports of the strikes causeing any damage to an airplane.

How many of you have seen a turtle invasion before? It's hard for me to imagine being invaded by turtles. Wow that'd be awkward.

[vc318]

I've had a "duck" invasion in my complex. They lay their eggs wherever they please and enjoy our lake. I find the babies to be quite cute but obviously it's not a safe place for them to be but the "other" alternative isn't helpful either.

[sunnykerr]

Well, I'm from the country. So, you name it and we've had it: Bats, country mice, fire ants, spiders, snakes (small ones, it is Canada after all), frogs, small squirrels, etc.

It was mostly our land, mind you, but the bats got in our roof. And, seriously, country mice get in everywhere whatever you do. It's never, you know, Birds or anything. Just a fact of life.

[ericfan1]

Nope, I have never seen a turtle invasion either and I do not really want too either. LOL!!!

[vc318]

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post) Well, I'm from the country. So, you name it and we've had it: Bats, country mice, fire ants, spiders, snakes (small ones, it is Canada after all), frogs, small squirrels, etc.

Bats? Oh my gosh, I wouldn't even leave my house if I saw one of those things flying around.

[ericfan1]

Well, I had a bat inside my house once and it is funny now but it sure wasn't then. HAHA!!!