Popular-ish

Pop culture and current events happenings as filtered through my brain.

Levi Johnston, Fiancee Name Baby-to-Be after Italian Gun & Your Favorite Vodka Cocktail

Naming your new baby can be a daunting task. You want to pick a name that honors who they are and the life they will have. Or, you could choose a name that honors your favorite firearm instead. That’s the option that Levi Johnston (former fiancé of Bristol Palin and father to their 3-year-old son, Tripp) and his current fiancée, Sunny Oglesby, chose. The couple revealed that they would name their baby-on-board, Breeze Beretta (Beretta like the Italian handgun and Breeze like, I don’t know, his favorite stripper back in Alaska, perhaps).

(via)

Empire State Building with World Trade Center in the background: On 9/11 and today. (via @uberdrivel)

Empire State Building with World Trade Center in the background: On 9/11 and today.

(via @uberdrivel)

Wife vs. Girlfriend: The Battle Over the Secrets of the Late Thomas Kinkade

A battle is brewing between the family and personal assistant/girlfriend of the late Thomas Kinkade, your grandmother’s favorite painter. The disagreement boils down to statements that Kinkade’s girlfriend, Amy Pinto-Walsh, made to various media outlets, which the family alleges breaks a confidentiality agreement that Pinto-Walsh signed when she began working for the painter. Although Kinkade lived with Pinto-Walsh, he was still married but separated from his wife of 30 years, Nanette.

In statements to local Northern California newspapers and the Los Gatos Patch, Kinkade’s girlfriend stated that Kinkade, who died April 6, had a heart condition and died in his sleep. According to ABC News, a recording of the 911 call, which was reportedly made by Pinto-Walsh, indicated that Kinkade had consumed a significant amount of alcohol when he died, prompting media speculation about his history of alcoholism.

(via)

nrdc: America’s best cities for public transportationThis week, Walk Score is releasing its first ranking of city transit systems, revealing which, by their calculations, offer residents the best access to public transportation.  The rankings are based on the organization’s Transit Score, a GIS-based set of calculations that is a companion service to the organization’s flagship walkability rankings.  Transit Score, according to the organization in a press release, “measures how well a location is served by public transportation, and is based on data released in a standard open format by public transit agencies.” Here are the top 25 cities, listed with the Transit Score for each: (1)     New York (Transit Score: 81)(2)     San Francisco (Transit Score: 80)(3)     Boston (Transit Score: 74)(4)     Washington, DC (Transit Score: 69)(5)     Philadelphia (Transit Score: 68)(6)     Chicago (Transit Score: 65)(7)     Seattle (Transit Score: 59)(8)     Miami (Transit Score: 57)(9)     Baltimore (Transit Score: 57)(10)   Portland (Transit Score: 50)(11)   Los Angeles (Transit Score: 49)(12)   Milwaukee (Transit Score: 49)(13)   Denver (Transit Score: 47)(14)   Cleveland (Transit Score: 45)(15)   San Jose (Transit Score; 40)(16)   Dallas (Transit Score: 39)(17)   Houston (Transit Score: 36)(18)   San Diego (Transit Score: 36)(19)   San Antonio (Transit Score: 35)(20)   Kansas City (Transit Score: 34)(21)   Austin (Transit Score: 33)(22)   Sacramento (Transit Score: 32)(23)   Las Vegas (Transit Score: 32)(24)   Columbus (Transit Score: 29)(25)   Raleigh (Transit Score: 23)  Read more. Photo: the DC Metro (by MJM/Mike, creative commons license)

nrdc:

America’s best cities for public transportation
This week, Walk Score is releasing its first ranking of city transit systems, revealing which, by their calculations, offer residents the best access to public transportation.  The rankings are based on the organization’s Transit Score, a GIS-based set of calculations that is a companion service to the organization’s flagship walkability rankings.  Transit Score, according to the organization in a press release, “measures how well a location is served by public transportation, and is based on data released in a standard open format by public transit agencies.”

Here are the top 25 cities, listed with the Transit Score for each:

(1)     New York (Transit Score: 81)
(2)     San Francisco (Transit Score: 80)
(3)     Boston (Transit Score: 74)
(4)     Washington, DC (Transit Score: 69)
(5)     Philadelphia (Transit Score: 68)
(6)     Chicago (Transit Score: 65)
(7)     Seattle (Transit Score: 59)
(8)     Miami (Transit Score: 57)
(9)     Baltimore (Transit Score: 57)
(10)   Portland (Transit Score: 50)
(11)   Los Angeles (Transit Score: 49)
(12)   Milwaukee (Transit Score: 49)
(13)   Denver (Transit Score: 47)
(14)   Cleveland (Transit Score: 45)
(15)   San Jose (Transit Score; 40)
(16)   Dallas (Transit Score: 39)
(17)   Houston (Transit Score: 36)
(18)   San Diego (Transit Score: 36)
(19)   San Antonio (Transit Score: 35)
(20)   Kansas City (Transit Score: 34)
(21)   Austin (Transit Score: 33)
(22)   Sacramento (Transit Score: 32)
(23)   Las Vegas (Transit Score: 32)
(24)   Columbus (Transit Score: 29)
(25)   Raleigh (Transit Score: 23) 

Read more.

Photo: the DC Metro (by MJM/Mike, creative commons license)

(via faunslabyrinth)

thedailyfeed: Meet labor’s 1%. John T. Niccollai Jr., center, is the nation’s highest-paid local union boss, raking in $528,000 a year representing minimum wage grocery store workers. Half of his union’s dues go to officials’ salaries. Niccollai is the middle link of a three-generation family dynasty at the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 464A, where three of the nation’s four highest-paid local union officials earned salaries in excess of $350,000 last year, according to filings with the Department of Labor. Niccollai’s father, now deceased, was indicted at least three times for embezzling money from the union as its secretary-treasurer when it had ties to the Genovese crime family and was implicated in schemes to strong-arm supermarkets into selling mob-linked products, one of which ended in murder and arson. And Niccollai’s son pulls a $225,000 salary as the local’s director of business operations.

thedailyfeed:

Meet labor’s 1%. John T. Niccollai Jr., center, is the nation’s highest-paid local union boss, raking in $528,000 a year representing minimum wage grocery store workers. Half of his union’s dues go to officials’ salaries.

Niccollai is the middle link of a three-generation family dynasty at the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 464A, where three of the nation’s four highest-paid local union officials earned salaries in excess of $350,000 last year, according to filings with the Department of Labor.

Niccollai’s father, now deceased, was indicted at least three times for embezzling money from the union as its secretary-treasurer when it had ties to the Genovese crime family and was implicated in schemes to strong-arm supermarkets into selling mob-linked products, one of which ended in murder and arson. And Niccollai’s son pulls a $225,000 salary as the local’s director of business operations.

Follow or Be Followed: George Zimmerman Now on Twitter, Facebook

George Zimmerman’s team, in a bid to get his story across without subjecting him to questions from the media, are establishing Facebook and Twitter accounts for Zimmerman, who has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin. The Twitter account, which was opened on Thursday, already has 688 followers.

His lawyers acknowledge that a defendant communicating to the world via social media is rather unusual, but feel the nature of the case and the coverage demands it. On Zimmerman’s website, gzlegalcase.com, defense lawyer Mark O’Mara said that “social media in this day and age cannot be ignored,” and that it would be “irresponsible to ignore the robust online conversation.”

(via)

There’s Always Hand Sanitizer: NYC Considers Happy Hour Ban

Happy hour is the salvation of many a worker who just spent the previous 8 thinking up a multitude of ways to do away with their coworkers. However, in NYC, that 3-for-1 margarita special could soon be a thing of the past. Looks like you’ll have to deal with your homicidal fantasies through healthier outlets. Have you considered pot? I heard of a guy in Germany who grows his own.

(New York Post, via)

That’s going to be one awkward endorsement come Wednesday. reagan-was-a-horrible-president: Newt talks about Mitt…while the rest of us wonder why Republicans have such silly names.

That’s going to be one awkward endorsement come Wednesday.

reagan-was-a-horrible-president:

Newt talks about Mitt…while the rest of us wonder why Republicans have such silly names.