newyorkpost--2020-12-24--Jets’ J.T. Hassell living out his dream against all odds

Kim Hassell has to pause to fight back the tears , because the memory of her son ’ s words that day are words a mother can never forget when her heart is pierced the way it was , even 20 years later .
The boy was in kindergarten when it hit him , and hit him terribly hard , that no one else had a left hand that looked anything like his , a tiny hand deformed at birth with only the semblance of a pinky and a thumb maybe an inch in size , the middle of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to his mother in their Titusville , Fla. , home that day and asked : “ How come God didn ’ t make me like my friends ?
How come God didn ’ t make me like the rest of the kids in my class ?
If I just die , then I can get born again , then maybe I can be like everyone else.
” The boy remembers .
Of course he does .
“ Just being around other kids , and seeing them how happy all the time , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a daily basis with both hands , I didn ’ t understand why I was different , ” J.T .
Hassell told The Post after Jets practice on Wednesday .
“ I kinda began to hate myself in a way and hate the way I was born.
” On this Christmas Day , Hassell can look back on a remarkable journey that has somehow , some way , taken him to the Jets .
They somehow became the 1-13 Jets on the day he made his debut with the team and blocked a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the 23-20 upset of the Rams barring a miracle , will send Trevor Lawrence to the Jaguars .
Hassell can look in the mirror now and see an inspiration not only to his mother , but also to everyone with a disability , to everyone forced to endure the cruel slings and arrows from small-minded bullies , to everyone who has lost a best friend to gun violence , to everyone who grew up struggling in a single-mother home , to everyone searching for a father figure , to everyone who refuses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can author a story about the triumph of the human spirit .
He can smile through the ups and downs of a life and the precarious NFL career he dreamed of as a boy believing now that God never hated him , but always loved him .
“ For me to be in this situation on the phone with you right now , it ’ s all God , ” Hassell said .
“ I don ’ t even know how I do it sometimes .
I ’ m the type of person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sometimes there might be like there ’ s not a way for me or there ’ s not an opportunity for me because of certain reasons , but I just have to go and make a way.
” A way to make tackles with gloves sewn by his mother .
A way to lift weights at his Pro Day .
A way to go from South Dakota State , to Florida Tech , to being an undrafted free agent , to playing four games at safety and on special teams with the 2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ squad for several days , to the Jets .
“ I ’ m thankful for all the things I go through ’ cause it allows me to help others , ” Hassell said .
“ A lot of people come to me for help and motivation and just want to tell me about themselves , because they know like I ’ ve been through everything .
They just see a smile on my face every day no matter what I ’ m going through .
For them to see the strength and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every day in life no matter what I ’ m going through , that ’ s somebody that you want to be around , and somebody that motivates you to live a happy life.
” They say it takes a village sometimes .
“ The teachers were not gon na allow people to make fun of him , ” Kim Hassell said .
“ They were not gon na allow him to be treated any different.
” She worked three jobs to try to make ends meet , and has driven a school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 19 years .
She never missed J.T.
’ s high school games , first at Titusville H.S.
, then at Astronaut H.S .
And she only missed one game at Florida Tech , an hour ’ s drive from her home , because of an impending hurricane .
“ I ’ m the mom that ’ s always there , ” Kim said .
“ I would go donate my plasma , and I would save my money in the offseason on my plasma card , so I could travel to go to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a prosthetic made for him when he was around 10 , but J.T .
declined .
“ I want to be the way God made me , ” he said .
She is one of the biggest motivations in his life , along with his son Cameron , who turns 7 in February .
She and a small group of family erupted when he blocked that punt against the Rams .
“ We came out of our chairs and everybody ’ s standing up screaming !
” Kim said .
She knew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to him .
“ Seeing him being able to accomplish a lifetime goal that he ’ s made , it ’ s very heartwarming for me , ” Kim said .
“ He would be the first one there at practice , and the last one to leave at practice .
On the weekends , kids are sleeping in — not my son .
Six o ’ clock in the morning , ‘ Can you drive me to the gym ?
’ ” “ Before that play happened , ” J.T .
said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my teammates on the sideline , I was like , ‘ I can ’ t believe I ’ m on the sideline right now playing in this game.
’ I was literally just at my mom ’ s house .
“ And then I went and blocked the punt , and it gave me so much joy for me and my teammates.
” He only wishes Johntay Gowdie could have shared it with him , too .
“ My best friend got shot in the head when I was younger , he was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we grew up playing football together .
I still think about that every day , ” J.T .
said .
He is proud of himself today , and deserves to be , and has finished writing a book about his 25-year-old life .
“ Even outside the hand situation , I ’ ve been through so much in my life , ” Hassell said .
“ No matter what I go through I just keep going .
… I ’ m more proud than anybody can be .
I ’ m my biggest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ ve been through , or how hard it is to get to this point in my life.
” Against all odds , he got there .
“ Now being here , ” J.T .
Hassell said , “ it ’ s really a dream come true .
”

Kim Hassell has to pause to fight back the tears, because the memory of her son’s words that day are words a mother can never forget when her heart is pierced the way it was, even 20 years later.
The boy was in kindergarten when it hit him, and hit him terribly hard, that no one else had a left hand that looked anything like his, a tiny hand deformed at birth with only the semblance of a pinky and a thumb maybe an inch in size, the middle of the hand bent in. And he turned to his mother in their Titusville, Fla., home that day and asked:
“How come God didn’t make me like my friends? How come God didn’t make me like the rest of the kids in my class? If I just die, then I can get born again, then maybe I can be like everyone else.”
The boy remembers. Of course he does.
“Just being around other kids, and seeing them how happy all the time, and then being able to do things on a daily basis with both hands, I didn’t understand why I was different,” J.T. Hassell told The Post after Jets practice on Wednesday. “I kinda began to hate myself in a way and hate the way I was born.”
On this Christmas Day, Hassell can look back on a remarkable journey that has somehow, some way, taken him to the Jets. They somehow became the 1-13 Jets on the day he made his debut with the team and blocked a punt that set up a field goal in the 23-20 upset of the Rams barring a miracle, will send Trevor Lawrence to the Jaguars.
Hassell can look in the mirror now and see an inspiration not only to his mother, but also to everyone with a disability, to everyone forced to endure the cruel slings and arrows from small-minded bullies, to everyone who has lost a best friend to gun violence, to everyone who grew up struggling in a single-mother home, to everyone searching for a father figure, to everyone who refuses to take no for an answer and can author a story about the triumph of the human spirit.
He can smile through the ups and downs of a life and the precarious NFL career he dreamed of as a boy believing now that God never hated him, but always loved him.
“For me to be in this situation on the phone with you right now, it’s all God,” Hassell said. “I don’t even know how I do it sometimes. I’m the type of person I have to find a way. Sometimes there might be like there’s not a way for me or there’s not an opportunity for me because of certain reasons, but I just have to go and make a way.”
Jets safety Justin (J.T.) Hassell as a youngster. Hassell family photo, Titusville YMCA
A way to make tackles with gloves sewn by his mother. A way to lift weights at his Pro Day. A way to go from South Dakota State, to Florida Tech, to being an undrafted free agent, to playing four games at safety and on special teams with the 2019 Browns, to the Patriots’ practice squad for several days, to the Jets.
“I’m thankful for all the things I go through ’cause it allows me to help others,” Hassell said. “A lot of people come to me for help and motivation and just want to tell me about themselves, because they know like I’ve been through everything. They just see a smile on my face every day no matter what I’m going through. For them to see the strength and the courage and the passion that I have every day in life no matter what I’m going through, that’s somebody that you want to be around, and somebody that motivates you to live a happy life.”
They say it takes a village sometimes.
“The teachers were not gonna allow people to make fun of him,” Kim Hassell said. “They were not gonna allow him to be treated any different.”
She worked three jobs to try to make ends meet, and has driven a school bus for Brevard County school board for 19 years. She never missed J.T.’s high school games, first at Titusville H.S., then at Astronaut H.S. And she only missed one game at Florida Tech, an hour’s drive from her home, because of an impending hurricane.
J.T. Hassell with the Jets last weekend. AP
“I’m the mom that’s always there,” Kim said. “I would go donate my plasma, and I would save my money in the offseason on my plasma card, so I could travel to go to his college games.”
She offered to have a prosthetic made for him when he was around 10, but J.T. declined.
“I want to be the way God made me,” he said.
She is one of the biggest motivations in his life, along with his son Cameron, who turns 7 in February. She and a small group of family erupted when he blocked that punt against the Rams.
“We came out of our chairs and everybody’s standing up screaming!” Kim said.
She knew exactly what living this NFL dream meant to him.
“Seeing him being able to accomplish a lifetime goal that he’s made, it’s very heartwarming for me,” Kim said. “He would be the first one there at practice, and the last one to leave at practice. On the weekends, kids are sleeping in — not my son. Six o’clock in the morning, ‘Can you drive me to the gym?’ ”
“Before that play happened,” J.T. said, “I was literally talking to my teammates on the sideline, I was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m on the sideline right now playing in this game.’ I was literally just at my mom’s house.
Getty Images
“And then I went and blocked the punt, and it gave me so much joy for me and my teammates.”
He only wishes Johntay Gowdie could have shared it with him, too.
“My best friend got shot in the head when I was younger, he was like a close brother to me, we grew up playing football together. I still think about that every day,” J.T. said.
He is proud of himself today, and deserves to be, and has finished writing a book about his 25-year-old life.
“Even outside the hand situation, I’ve been through so much in my life,” Hassell said. “No matter what I go through I just keep going. … I’m more proud than anybody can be. I’m my biggest fan.Everybody doesn’t know the things I’ve been through, or how hard it is to get to this point in my life.”
Against all odds, he got there. “Now being here,” J.T. Hassell said, “it’s really a dream come true.”
A dream Christmas.


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--Bottle shock! Bootlegger made blueberry wine inside sewage plant

No wonder it was forbidden fruit .
A modern-day bootlegger who was busted running an illegal winery out of a sewage plant in Alabama says he was brewing sickly-sweet blueberry vino , according to a report Thursday .
Back-alley boozemaker Allen Maurice Stiefel was tossed in jail — and canned from his city job — after cops raided the operation inside a Rainsville municipal building last week , according to the Oregonian .
“ I was making blueberry wine , ” Stiefel , 62 , explained in a telephone interview with the paper .
On Dec. 17 , the DeKalb @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approximately 200 gallons of the wine and arrested him .
Stiefel — who was charged with unlawful possession of an illegally manufactured alcoholic beverage — spent an hour in DeKalb County Jail before he was released on a $ 20,000 bond .
He was also suspended from his job without pay during the investigation , according to the paper .
“ He lost his job .
They just yanked everything out from under him , and we ’ re sitting here right before Christmas , hurting , ” his wife , Cathie , @ @ @ @ @

No wonder it was forbidden fruit.
A modern-day bootlegger who was busted running an illegal winery out of a sewage plant in Alabama says he was brewing sickly-sweet blueberry vino, according to a report Thursday.
Back-alley boozemaker Allen Maurice Stiefel was tossed in jail — and canned from his city job — after cops raided the operation inside a Rainsville municipal building last week, according to the Oregonian.
“I was making blueberry wine,” Stiefel, 62, explained in a telephone interview with the paper.
On Dec. 17, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office investigators seized approximately 200 gallons of the wine and arrested him.
Stiefel — who was charged with unlawful possession of an illegally manufactured alcoholic beverage — spent an hour in DeKalb County Jail before he was released on a $20,000 bond.
He was also suspended from his job without pay during the investigation, according to the paper.
“He lost his job. They just yanked everything out from under him, and we’re sitting here right before Christmas, hurting,” his wife, Cathie, fumed to the paper.


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--Mind-boggling Giants error part of messy week for TV

Lakers fans finally have something to complain about — one ...

’Twas the day after the night before Christmas and all through the house, one could enjoy the day or read Mushnick grouse.
I’ll ALWAYS be there for you.
Holiday, schmoliday, another week of TV destroying what it once did right by doing as little as possible.
Let’s start with last Saturday’s Northwestern-Ohio State Big Ten championship game on Fox. Analyst Joel Klatt tried to make us miss Kirk Herbstreit’s ability to complicate the simple.
Early, we heard “Ohio State matriculated the ball down the field in its first possession,” soon followed by the shouted breaking news that “Northwestern is here to play, folks!” He explained that Northwestern kept it close because it was “able to out-leverage them to the short side of the field,” whatever that meant.
He also obliterated a metaphor by again referencing the cavalry — linemen galloping to the rescue — as “Calvary,” a Christian sect. What about the separation of church and freight?
And a standard play-action pass he identified as an “RPO” — Run Pass Option” — when the R was never an option.
But this was merely the cocktail hour of what was coming, including balding Chris Berman’s impossible-to-ignore latest among dozens of hair colors, this one off the Martin Paints chart — it fell somewhere between Joe Franklin Orange and Bozo Red — as he hollers at NFL highlights we’d seen 10 times.
Kirk Herbstreit Getty Images
Reader Steve DeCillis concedes that math was taught the old fashioned way when he attended P.S. 244 in East Flatbush, thus he was left confused by the opening kickoff graphic on NBC’s Giants-Browns. It read, “Dion Lewis, 15 kick returns, average 21.9, longest 17 yards.” But who am I to make fun? I scored “SEE ME!” on my math SATs.
In the fourth quarter of the Jets’ win, a huge post-play personal foul was called against Jets tight end Trevon Wesco, but Fox was forced to ignore, then short it, until sideline reporter Laura Okmin wrapped up her long, unneeded ode to Frank Gore.
CBS’s Kevin Harlan screamed so loudly on a fumble in the Niners-Cowboys game he must’ve waited all his life to finally see one.
Linebacker Aldon Smith had been banished from the NFL for everything from failed drug tests, to a stabbing episode, to a hit and run, before returning to the league this season with Dallas. CBS’s Trent Green explained on Sunday: “He ran into some off the field problems and spent the last four years out of the league.” Oh.
Dion Lewis Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
NBC’s Cris Collinsworth continued to weekly assess a dozen players as the best in NFL history plus those half-dozen who played only to “leave me impressed.” And a promo within Sunday Night Football, for a special on NBC, included the charming video of a musician grabbing his crotch.
Sunday, there was technically a TD pass of three inches — off a tiny backfield pitchout from 49ers QB Nick Mullens. But soon Harlan read off a stat sheet that each team “has thrown for two TDs,” So throw another stupid stat on the pile.
Monday night, yak-in-the-box Brian Griese had enough breath left to report that, “Three weeks in a row, defenses have played downhill against the Pittsburgh offense.”
And in another prison-yard brawl garbage game between the Bengals and Steelers, a late hit near the Bengals’ bench after a Cincy interception invited more mayhem, yet ESPN pulled out of the sideline shot for an overhead of the field.
Sunday night, NBC’s Hannah Storm tied the bow on it. Of injured Browns guard Chris Hubbard she reported, “He’s officially questionable.” Aren’t we all, Hannah, aren’t we all?
So much for holiday spirit from big bullies
There are two large universities that annually demonstrate that their women’s basketball coaches can and will do anything to leave the school in sanctioned disrepute: Connecticut, publicly funded, and Baylor, the country’s largest Baptist college.
On Saturday, UConn, under the cruel leadership of Geno Auriemma, led Xavier by 45 points in the third quarter, yet the starters remained in and continued to shoot and make 3-pointers.
Imagine being the kid on the bench Auriemma allowed just two minutes of playing time in a 106-59 final, while four starters played at least 30 minutes. But Auriemma has long specialized in humiliations of both opponents and his own young women.
Over the weekend, Baylor beat Northwestern State, 136-43, then McNeese State, 117-24. Baylor totaled 46 steals when none were needed. Head coach Kim Mulkey has long enjoyed stomping “guests.”
Why haven’t the schools and the NCAA stood up to these bully coaches as antithetical to even the minimal standards of sportsmanship? Another of those good questions with no good answer.
That father-son golf event that was supposed to be seen on NBC on Saturday and Sunday, included many legends not seen of late, but few were seen for more than a glimpse. NBC predictably devoted the telecast to Tiger Woods and his 11-year-old son, Charlie, who finished seventh.
Tiger Woods looks on as his son Charlie Woods plays a shot today at the PNC Championship. Getty Images
Reader David Distefano: “I hadn’t seen Greg Norman hit a golf ball in years, and after NBC’s father-son event I still haven’t. If not for the leaderboard showing him in second or third place I wouldn’t have known he was playing.”
And as reader Dick Syriac wrote, in addition to being the world’s best human being, Tiger Woods has been anointed by NBC’s Tiger-obsequious golf host Dan Hicks as the “World’s Best Father.”
With winners Justin Thomas and his dad in full view at NBC’s Sunday’s close, Hicks dripped, “Hard for us to put into words what we’ve seen this week, starting with Tiger and Charlie Woods.”
MLB set to pay tribute to true ‘Icons Lost’
MLB Network, on Saturday at 8 p.m., will debut “Icons Lost,” tributes to six greats who died this year: Al Kaline, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Whitey Ford, Joe Morgan and Tom Seaver.
Still lost on this Anthony Davis thing. Not so much that he clipped his nails during an NBA game, but why would he carry nail clippers in the first place? Reader Phil Rubin thinks it was a signal: He wants to be traded from the Lakers to the Clippers.
Is there a WFAN sports gambling expert in the house? How do you handicap football games decided by misconduct penalties?
Good guy radio survivors Larry Hardesty and Gordon Damer will soon co-host a late-night show on ESPN Radio-NY. In 2014, Damer spoke my still-favorite ad-lib when, on WCBS-AM, he reported that the Phillies had traded Roberto Hernandez to the Dodgers. Damer added that Hernandez, who began his MLB career under the alias Fausto Carmona, had been traded for “a player to be named later.”


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--Cuomo grants clemency to 21, including women locked up for killing abusive partners

Two New York women locked up for killing their abusive partners got an early Christmas present Thursday , as Gov .
Andrew Cuomo granted them and 19 other convicted criminals clemency .
The women — Theresa Debo and Maria Ordonez — each had their sentences commuted by the governor .
“ In New York , we believe the law should be just , as well as compassionate , ” Cuomo said in a statement .
“ Those receiving sentence commutations have undergone a successful rehabilitation , demonstrated true remorse for their actions and shown themselves to be worthy of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had nightmarish childhoods filled with harm and neglect , the governor ’ s office said in a statement .
Throughout her adult life , Debo , now 64 , cycled in and out of abusive relationships , including with the man she was convicted of shooting and killing in 2006 .
The Central New York woman maintained that she feared for her life and acted in self-defense during one of his drunken outbursts .
She was handed a sentence of 22 years to life — of which she has already served 16 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ when she killed her abusive boyfriend as he was beating and choking her .
She was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree in 2018 , and has since served six out of her nine-year sentence .
The women were among seven people who had their lengthy prison sentences chopped down by the governor .
A Vietnam vet , Arnold Raimondo , 70 , has spent nearly 40 years behind bars after being convicted of murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in 1983 and sentenced to 50 years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 17 and “ upon return , he suffered from PTSD that manifested itself in destructive behavior , ” the statement said .
Clifton Williamson , now 43 , will also be cut loose after completing 25 years out of the 25 year-to-life sentence for crimes committed in 1996 and 1997 .
At just 18 , he was convicted of murder , despite not having been the one who pulled the trigger .
Fourteen people were pardoned of crimes including petit larceny , attempted robbery , forgery and the criminal sale or possession of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the prospect of deportation without a pardon .
Cuomo , a third-term Democrat , typically pardons incarcerated New Yorkers around the end of the year .
His gesture also follows a slew of controversial clemencies granted by President Donald Trump ’ s earlier this week , his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort , political consultant Roger Stone and disgraced former US Rep. Chris Collins who was convicted of insider trading charges .
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic , prison rights advocates have pressured the Cuomo administration to authorize additional pardons for older inmates and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prison system has experienced a series of outbreaks .
Concerning outbreaks among prisoners and staff have shut down visitation at a slew of prisons across the state , including those housing some of the Empire State ’ s most dangerous criminals in maximum security facilities like Attica Correctional and Wende Correctional near Buffalo , and Clinton Correctional in Dannemora near the Canadian border .
Earlier this spring the governor granted the release of over 1,000 low-level parole violators citing infection concerns .

Two New York women locked up for killing their abusive partners got an early Christmas present Thursday, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted them and 19 other convicted criminals clemency.
The women — Theresa Debo and Maria Ordonez — each had their sentences commuted by the governor.
“In New York, we believe the law should be just, as well as compassionate,” Cuomo said in a statement.
“Those receiving sentence commutations have undergone a successful rehabilitation, demonstrated true remorse for their actions and shown themselves to be worthy of a chance to re-enter society.”
Both women had nightmarish childhoods filled with harm and neglect, the governor’s office said in a statement.
Throughout her adult life, Debo, now 64, cycled in and out of abusive relationships, including with the man she was convicted of shooting and killing in 2006.
The Central New York woman maintained that she feared for her life and acted in self-defense during one of his drunken outbursts.
She was handed a sentence of 22 years to life — of which she has already served 16.
Ordonez, meanwhile, was just 20 when she killed her abusive boyfriend as he was beating and choking her.
She was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree in 2018, and has since served six out of her nine-year sentence.
The women were among seven people who had their lengthy prison sentences chopped down by the governor.
A Vietnam vet, Arnold Raimondo, 70, has spent nearly 40 years behind bars after being convicted of murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in 1983 and sentenced to 50 years to life.
Raimondo enlisted at just 17 and “upon return, he suffered from PTSD that manifested itself in destructive behavior,” the statement said.
Clifton Williamson, now 43, will also be cut loose after completing 25 years out of the 25 year-to-life sentence for crimes committed in 1996 and 1997.
At just 18, he was convicted of murder, despite not having been the one who pulled the trigger.
Fourteen people were pardoned of crimes including petit larceny, attempted robbery, forgery and the criminal sale or possession of a controlled substance, with several facing the prospect of deportation without a pardon.
Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, typically pardons incarcerated New Yorkers around the end of the year.
His gesture also follows a slew of controversial clemencies granted by President Donald Trump’s earlier this week, his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, political consultant Roger Stone and disgraced former US Rep. Chris Collins who was convicted of insider trading charges.
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, prison rights advocates have pressured the Cuomo administration to authorize additional pardons for older inmates and immune compromised individuals, as the state prison system has experienced a series of outbreaks.
Concerning outbreaks among prisoners and staff have shut down visitation at a slew of prisons across the state, including those housing some of the Empire State’s most dangerous criminals in maximum security facilities like Attica Correctional and Wende Correctional near Buffalo, and Clinton Correctional in Dannemora near the Canadian border.
Earlier this spring the governor granted the release of over 1,000 low-level parole violators citing infection concerns.


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--Fire in Missouri thrift shop sparked by sun shining through snow globe

This was a different kind of global warming .
Sunlight concentrated through a snow globe sparked a fire in the window display of a Missouri thrift store , according to a report .
The front window of the New Dime Store in Kansas City went up around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday , while the shop was still closed for the day , local CBS affiliate KCTV reported .
The sound of a fire alarm alerted customers and employees in a barbershop next door , including manager Josh Gilbert , who ran outside to find the dime store in flames , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hammer and broke the glass , ” Gilbert told the outlet .
“ The girls at the barbershop called 911 and started filling up trash cans with water .
And we were putting that on the fire.
” With the help of Carl Kuda , a jewelry store owner who came running with a fire extinguisher , the makeshift fire brigade put out the flames shortly before smoke-eaters arrived , according to the report .
The firefighters pinned the blame for the blaze on the sun shining through a snow globe in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tchotchke effectively functioning as a magnifying glass and generating enough heat to spark a fire , KCTV reported .
Similar incidents have been reported in recent years , both in the US and abroad .
In 2013 , firefighters in Middlesex Township , Pennsylvania suspected that a snow globe was to blame for a house fire , according to Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA .
The next year , a snow globe in the window of another thrift shop in Bournemouth , England set fake “ reindeer food ” and snow in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And in 2008 , The Baltimore Sun reported that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall notice for 7,000 snow globes sold in Hallmark Gold Crown stores , with at least two owners complaining that the decorations led to fires .
New Dime Store owner Kimberly Harris , who was home when the fire started , said that though no one was hurt , the damage to the store ’ s stock was particularly crushing during the holiday season , in a year that has already seen their profits tanked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to come in and you ’ ll smell it and you ’ ll see .
And it ’ s inside garments , ” she told KCTV .
But she thanked her neighbors , saying that without their quick actions , there might be nothing left at all .
“ If it wasn ’ t for them acting like they did and taking action and not waiting for the fire department , it could ’ ve been a whole lot worse so I am so grateful to them , ” she said .

This was a different kind of global warming.
Sunlight concentrated through a snow globe sparked a fire in the window display of a Missouri thrift store, according to a report.
The front window of the New Dime Store in Kansas City went up around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, while the shop was still closed for the day, local CBS affiliate KCTV reported.
The sound of a fire alarm alerted customers and employees in a barbershop next door, including manager Josh Gilbert, who ran outside to find the dime store in flames, the report said.
“I took a hammer and broke the glass,” Gilbert told the outlet. “The girls at the barbershop called 911 and started filling up trash cans with water. And we were putting that on the fire.”
With the help of Carl Kuda, a jewelry store owner who came running with a fire extinguisher, the makeshift fire brigade put out the flames shortly before smoke-eaters arrived, according to the report.
No injuries were reported.
The firefighters pinned the blame for the blaze on the sun shining through a snow globe in the dime store’s display, with the tchotchke effectively functioning as a magnifying glass and generating enough heat to spark a fire, KCTV reported.
Similar incidents have been reported in recent years, both in the US and abroad.
In 2013, firefighters in Middlesex Township, Pennsylvania suspected that a snow globe was to blame for a house fire, according to Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA.
The next year, a snow globe in the window of another thrift shop in Bournemouth, England set fake “reindeer food” and snow in the display ablaze, according to The Guardian.
And in 2008, The Baltimore Sun reported that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall notice for 7,000 snow globes sold in Hallmark Gold Crown stores, with at least two owners complaining that the decorations led to fires.
New Dime Store owner Kimberly Harris, who was home when the fire started, said that though no one was hurt, the damage to the store’s stock was particularly crushing during the holiday season, in a year that has already seen their profits tanked by the coronavirus.
“You have to come in and you’ll smell it and you’ll see. And it’s inside garments,” she told KCTV.
But she thanked her neighbors, saying that without their quick actions, there might be nothing left at all.
“If it wasn’t for them acting like they did and taking action and not waiting for the fire department, it could’ve been a whole lot worse so I am so grateful to them,” she said.


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--NYC hospital workers reportedly ‘ready to mow each other down’ for  vaccine

Some Big Apple health care workers are furious that less-at-risk hospital staffers have been cutting the line to get the COVID-19 vaccine — prompting a cut-throat battle for the life-saving shots , according to a report Friday .
Doctors and nurses at Morgan Stanley Children ’ s Hospital and other medical centers are turning against each other after higher-ups failed to prioritize and regulate who gets the jabs first , sources told the New York Times .
“ Clearly , we ’ re ready to mow each other down for it , ” one doctor from Morgan Stanley Children ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hospital ’ s rules , the most exposed employees — such as nurses and doctors in emergency rooms — were supposed to receive the vaccination first , followed by workers in other departments .
But employees far from the front lines — including social workers and clerks working from home — allegedly slipped into vaccination rooms ahead of schedule , according to the report .
The line-skipping sparked a “ free-for-all ” at the hospital during the first 48 hours after the vaccine arrived , a second doctor told the paper .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ people are starting to turn against each other , ” the doctor said .
“ Can you honestly say this clerk deserves it before I do ?
No , but nobody deserves it before anyone else.
” Health care workers are the first to get the preventive shots under New York state ’ s distribution plan .
But the state left it largely up to individual infirmaries to figure out how to dole out the coveted shots internally — and the plans appear to have failed at some hospitals , according to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrived , some nurses at Morgan Stanley Children ’ s Hospital had yet to be vaccinated while other workers received the jabs .
In one example of the tension among staffers , a nurse at the hospital confronted a social worker for allegedly jumping the line , according to the Times .
“ She said , ‘ We have to go to E.R .
sometimes ’ — but that ’ s not true , ” the nurse said of the social worker ’ s response .
The failure to clearly prioritize at-risk workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the hospital , according to the paper .
“ I am so disappointed and saddened that this happened , ” a top executive at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children ’ s Hospital , Dr. Craig Albanese , wrote in an email to staff , obtained by The New York Times .
In a statement to the Times , the hospital later said , “ We are following all New York State Department of Health guidelines on vaccine priority , with our initial focus on I.C.U .
and E.D .
staff and equitable access @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sinai Hospital , a doctor said workers could talk their way into getting a vaccine simply by standing in line and claiming to do “ Covid-related procedures , ” according to the paper .
“ We feel disrespected and underappreciated due to our second-tier priority for vaccination , ” a group of anesthesiologists at the hospital fumed to administrators over the weekend , the paper reported .
In a statement , officials at the hospital said they were aware of only a few vaccine-related “ improprieties.
” Meanwhile , workers at Columbia University @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a long wait for the vaccine .
“ There is competitiveness and skepticism and mistrust , ” occupational therapist Ivy Vega told the paper .
“ It ’ s turning into a rivalry .
”

Some Big Apple health care workers are furious that less-at-risk hospital staffers have been cutting the line to get the COVID-19 vaccine — prompting a cut-throat battle for the life-saving shots, according to a report Friday.
Doctors and nurses at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and other medical centers are turning against each other after higher-ups failed to prioritize and regulate who gets the jabs first, sources told the New York Times.
“Clearly, we’re ready to mow each other down for it,” one doctor from Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital told the paper.
Under the hospital’s rules, the most exposed employees — such as nurses and doctors in emergency rooms — were supposed to receive the vaccination first, followed by workers in other departments.
But employees far from the front lines — including social workers and clerks working from home — allegedly slipped into vaccination rooms ahead of schedule, according to the report.
The line-skipping sparked a “free-for-all” at the hospital during the first 48 hours after the vaccine arrived, a second doctor told the paper.
“I think the sad thing is people are starting to turn against each other,” the doctor said. “Can you honestly say this clerk deserves it before I do? No, but nobody deserves it before anyone else.”
Health care workers are the first to get the preventive shots under New York state’s distribution plan. But the state left it largely up to individual infirmaries to figure out how to dole out the coveted shots internally — and the plans appear to have failed at some hospitals, according to the paper.
A week after the vaccines arrived, some nurses at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital had yet to be vaccinated while other workers received the jabs.
In one example of the tension among staffers, a nurse at the hospital confronted a social worker for allegedly jumping the line, according to the Times.
“She said, ‘We have to go to E.R. sometimes’ — but that’s not true,” the nurse said of the social worker’s response.
The failure to clearly prioritize at-risk workers infuriated some staffers — prompting an apology from the hospital, according to the paper.
“I am so disappointed and saddened that this happened,” a top executive at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, Dr. Craig Albanese, wrote in an email to staff, obtained by The New York Times.
In a statement to the Times, the hospital later said, “We are following all New York State Department of Health guidelines on vaccine priority, with our initial focus on I.C.U. and E.D. staff and equitable access for all.”
Meanwhile, at Mount Sinai Hospital, a doctor said workers could talk their way into getting a vaccine simply by standing in line and claiming to do “Covid-related procedures,” according to the paper.
“We feel disrespected and underappreciated due to our second-tier priority for vaccination,” a group of anesthesiologists at the hospital fumed to administrators over the weekend, the paper reported.
In a statement, officials at the hospital said they were aware of only a few vaccine-related “improprieties.”
Meanwhile, workers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center were also frustrated about a long wait for the vaccine.
“There is competitiveness and skepticism and mistrust,” occupational therapist Ivy Vega told the paper. “It’s turning into a rivalry.”


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--Christmas under lockdown: Let us vow, ‘never again’

WASHINGTON — Maureen Brennan will spend Christmas with her daughter ...

So we made it to Christmas. It isn’t a normal Christmas by any means: no holiday parties with sloshed colleagues, no late Manhattan nights with red and green lights flickering on chilly streets, no large gatherings or intimacy with our elder kin. As one of the proud New Yorkers who has yet to move to Florida, I can pretty much say that all I want for Christmas is a bar that stays open past 10 p.m.
Gov. Cuomo for well on 10 months has been doing his best John Lithgow impression, turning the most vibrant place in the world into the little town in “Footloose” — no dinners out, no movies, no joy. And he is convinced that Santa has a great present in store for him, even after he presented the restaurant workers of the city with a cold lump of coal, throwing them out of work days before Christmas based on unscientific, evidence-free reasoning.
This muted, quiet, lonely Christmas should inform our New Year’s resolution. Just a few simple words: never again. Say it with me. Never. Again.
Never again can we allow petty tyrants and bureaucratic weirdos who don’t follow their own rules to destroy our rights in the name of protecting us. Never again can we allow Big Tech and mega-corporations to push us into permanent techno-remote living, an atomized existence in which the joy of human contact is replaced by faces on screens and empty Amazon boxes.
Never again can we allow the city of 8 million stories to deflate into one sad tale of isolation and boredom.
“Flattening the curve” — remember that? — was one thing. But this inhuman regime has persisted far beyond that goal. And there are those in the public-health establishment who are openly talking about extending social distancing and masks even after we’ve defeated COVID, because, after all, the regular flu is pretty bad, too. Wouldn’t be nice if we could hit pause on life until death itself has been conquered?
No. Hell no. Never again.
Have you noticed the perverse joy some politicians and public-health officials seemed to take in “canceling Thanksgiving” and “canceling Christmas” — a joy that bespoke an aggressive secularism keen to flaunt its mastery over religion and tradition? That arrogance, too, must be met with our resolute “No” in 2021.
What the joy of Christmas must remind us of is that no mortal king, or governor, gives us our rights; it is God who does. And no modern governor or epidemiologist can cancel Christmas; none can succeed where Herod failed.
This must not only be the first Christmas when New Yorkers suffered under irrationally imposed deprivations — it must also be the last. And in that sense, this Christmas, this New Year, this time of pause and reflection is more important than any has been for generations. The arrival of God incarnate in that modest barn in Bethlehem isn’t about presents or feasts, bright trees with toy trains scrambling beneath; we all know that. So what is Christmas about? It is about freedom.
God’s grace can’t be erased by worldly hands covetous of power. Our freedom is inside of us, even when we lose sight of it. So on this joyous day of Christ’s birth, let’s remember the wonderful freedom he gives to all of us, the most precious and permanent present any of us will ever receive.
Revel in the twinkle of a child’s smile, drink deep from the cup of cheer, taste of the meats and delicacies of a thousand traditions, pray in gratitude to the depth of God’s love. And in all of it, every smell and smile, every sound and solace, remember that our right to live as free people does not stem from Albany or Washington, but from the kingdom of heaven.
Merry Christmas, Gotham, and here is to a happy, and free, 2021.
David Marcus is The Federalist’s New York correspondent. Twitter: @BlueBoxDave


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--The Knicks’ biggest issue is rearing its ugly head again

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau went into the season-opening contest versus ...

The star of the Knicks’ preseason is already hurt. Two former lottery picks at the same position developed splinters on the first night. And their journeyman starter was unimpressive.
Point guard remains inarguably the Knicks’ No. 1 issue.
Immanuel Quickley, the first-round pick out of Kentucky who was already becoming a fan favorite after his strong performance in the final two exhibition games, suffered a hip pointer in the season-opening loss to the Pacers on Wednesday night and is listed as day-to-day. He was held out of a light workout Thursday after he felt tightness in his hip upon waking up.
“Hopefully, it won’t be long,” coach Tom Thibodeau said after Thursday’s practice.
Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr., 2017 lottery picks (Smith was chosen by the Mavericks) who are still trying to establish themselves, didn’t do enough to impress Thibodeau during the preseason to warrant being part of his 10-man rotation. Even without Quickley in the second half Wednesday, Thibodeau opted to use Alec Burks at the point over Ntilikina and Smith, neither of whom got their rookie contract extensions by Monday’s deadline.
“Everything is based on performance,” said Thibodeau, who eventually turned to Ntilikina in the closing minutes Wednesday night. “You have to make tough decisions, and we have. But I never write anyone off, so long as they continue to work, and when their opportunity comes, just be ready.”
Then there is Elfrid Payton, the veteran who got the nod over Quickley in the starting lineup and was a minus-15 against Indiana, committing more turnovers (five) than he had assists (three) or made field goals (three).
It is uncertain if Quickley will be able to play in the home opener against the 76ers on Saturday at the fan-less Garden. Before he got hurt, Quickley scored five points and had an assist and a steal, continuing his quality play. Thursday was just a walk-through and the Knicks are off Friday, so he will be using the time to get treatment. Quickley suffered the injury in the second quarter after getting hip-checked by Pacers forward Myles Turner.
Elfrid Payton driving during Wednesday night’s loss. AP
“I felt OK at first, then I tried to run and it just didn’t feel right,” Quickley said. “Hopefully it gets better.”
If he can’t go, Ntilikina or Smith could get a chance, unless Thibodeau again opts for Burks, who can play either on or off the ball.
Burks had a strong debut, scoring 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting, added three assists and just one turnover in 32 minutes. But the argument can be made the Knicks are better off using him as a starter at shooting guard or making sure he’s focused on scoring rather than running the offense.
At least Nitilikina got a shot, playing five fourth-quarter minutes in which he missed both of his shot attempts and was a minus-5. Smith didn’t get off the bench.
“We’re going to need everyone over the course of the season. We’re seeing that now,” Thibodeau said. “It’s something we talked about from day one, whether it be injury, sickness or whatever you might have. And so you settle on a rotation and then there will be opportunities as we go forward.”


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--Russian pol jailed for beating 12-year-old son to death with dumbbell

It ’ s one of the most gut-piercing scenes ever to be ...

A Russian politician was sentenced to 14 years in prison for beating her 12-year-old son to death with a dumbbell during an argument, reports said Thursday.
Authorities said Galina Morozova, 56, bludgeoned her son, Alexander Parakhnyakov, in March because he had defied her and snuck out to go to a sleepover, according to The Sun.
She then reported the boy missing, playing the frantic mother in public pleas on social media and taking part in searches in the city of Astrakhan, the report said.
Her son’s body was found three months later, encased in concrete in the foundation of his older brother’s house, where police said Morozova buried him.
It was her older son, 36-year-old Denis Parakhnyakov, who reported her to the police in June, the report said.
During a police interview, Morozova was “calm and cold blooded” as she confessed to the murder, cops said, adding that she acted alone.
She allegedly told detectives that she’d been furious the boy had disobeyed her — and unleashed the brutal attack..
“Morozova confessed to her hostile attitude towards her son,” said Yulia Svitina, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office.
The boy “died on the spot,” according to the Russian Investigative Committee.
Previous 1 of 10 Next Advertisement Galina Morozova weeps in court. East2West News Galina Morozova with her son Alexander and husband Nikolay Parakhnyakov. VK.com Advertisement Galina Morozova shows how she hid the body. Investigative Committee Galina Morozova VK.com Investigators check the dumbbell. IC in Astrakhan region Advertisement Galina Morozova with her son Alexander and husband Nikolay Parakhnyakov. VK.com Alexander Parakhnyakov VK.com Advertisement
Morozova is a well-known local politician who tried unsuccessfully last year to become governor of her region.
Her son was remembered as a talented Taekwondo star and junior pianist.


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--Consider 2020 the year of ‘King Lear’ for all

Shakespeare ’ s Globe theater in London could be shuttered permanently because ...

It’s one of the most gut-piercing scenes ever to be enacted on the theatrical stage. An old man, bleary-eyed and half-naked in an ancient English heath, rages against a pitiless storm: “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout till you have drench’d our steeples, drown’d the cocks!”
His shrieking at the cutting rain is unworthy of his royal pedigree, for he is a king: King Lear. And if we could match every year to a Shakespeare play, 2020 would undoubtedly be a “King Lear” type of year.
“Lear” is the greatest tragedy ever written, because it’s so damned tragic. Schoolchildren are taught “Romeo and Juliet” and even “Hamlet,” but fewer teachers dare go near “Lear.” From its hopeful opening, which finds a royal father planning to magnanimously bestow his kingdom upon his three daughters, to its bloody end, where nearly every meaningful character lies dead, the Bard is unsparing.
The play was so dark that for more than 150 years, eminent critics like Samuel Johnson approved Nahum Tate’s rewritten happy ending. Johnson admitted he couldn’t re-read the last crushing scenes until the work of editing Shakespeare’s collected works forced him to do it.
And America’s 2020, as I say, was a “Lear” type of year. No, it didn’t feature a revolutionary or civil war. There were bread lines, but not as bad as the Great Depression’s. Nor did 2020 pile up the body counts of World War II. Even our social unrest, bad as it was, didn’t reach the militant lows of the 1960s.
Still, 2020 did have a paralyzing pandemic that consumed lives, destroyed jobs and shuttered businesses. The violence of riots was surpassed only by the vitriol of the mind, manifested in critical race theory, cancel culture and unapologetic censorship. As hatred abounded, and mercy was in short supply, there was no lack of cultural storms and bodies strewn about the stage; 2020, too, was unsparing.
But returning to “King Lear,” it’s instructive — and deeply heartening — to know that there can be great light amid darkness, hope in the presence of tragedy. An often-ignored scene in “Lear” reminds us of this enduring truth. Lear, in the crashing storm, has been betrayed by two of his daughters. His friends have abandoned him. He has lost his sense, never mind his kingly comforts.
Worse, his conscience torments him over his treatment of his one honest daughter, Cordelia, who loves him, though pride and misunderstanding led him to banish her.
As the storm subsides and his other, wicked daughters continue to pursue Lear’s life, Cordelia (now the queen of France) rescues her father. The scene of their reconciliation, the sheer grace a wronged daughter visits upon her shamed father, is so poignant that it nearly rivals Christ’s Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Upon reuniting with his once-lost daughter, and notwithstanding the perils that are to come, Lear abounds in joy. Even as the two are captured and facing harsh imprisonment, he comforts Cordelia. Lear’s joy doesn’t fade: “No, no, no, no! Come, let’s away to prison: We two alone will sing like birds i’ the cage. . . . And take upon’s the mystery of things, as if we were God’s spies.”
Grace enters Lear’s bloodstained world, suddenly, in a moment’s reconciliation. It’s almost like, well, Christmas, when, we Christians believe, the creator of the universe entered human history as a baby — that most joyous arrival — to reconcile humankind to himself.
In the year 2020, as we arrive at Christmas, we likewise have reason for great hope and sublime joy. While the storm wracks mercilessly outside, let’s find what Pope Francis calls “the joy [that] may reach the ends of the earth, illuminating even the fringes of our world.”
Let’s discover what Saint Paul calls “the peace that passes all understanding” — the peace of the divine-child in Bethlehem, who promises reconciliation between God and man.
We can find enduring joy like Lear’s, even and especially in this pandemic- and riot-battered moment in American history, by being open to the graces of the season. Christmas is the hour of hope and the season of joy inextinguishable.
Tod Worner is a practicing physician and the managing editor of Bishop Robert Barron’s Evangelization & Culture, the journal of the Word on Fire Institute.


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--Progressives have made a mockery of the slogan ‘listen to science’

You were warned about this first in The New York ...

Behold science, the sword and the shield of progressivism.
Over the course of the pandemic (and before that, in debates over climate change, stem cells, etc.), liberals have insisted that we must listen to science and heed the scientists. It was a cornerstone of President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign and a constant refrain of President Trump’s critics.
Taken literally, I endorse the phrase “listen to science” wholeheartedly. Scientists have important things to say to policymakers and citizens alike — and let’s not forget that in a democracy, voters are policymakers, too. A well-informed electorate is a useful check on ill-informed politicians.
The problem, however, is that the people who say “listen to science” tend not to mean it literally but figuratively, and worse, intermittently.
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing in May, massive protests against racism and police brutality erupted across the nation. The point of the protests (at least, most of them) was noble and understandable. But the same champions of science suddenly changed their tune about mass gatherings, because this was a good cause.
In a pluralistic society, the definition of a good cause is going to vary. Telling people that they can’t see their dying parents, attend a funeral or make a living because science says it’s too risky but that protesting systemic racism and police brutality is OK is a great way to convince millions of people that “listen to science” is a weaponized political term, not a universal apolitical standard.
Indeed, liberals handed Trump precisely the kind of foil he wanted. At rallies, the president would tell the packed crowds that “they” don’t want you to go to church, work, school or sporting events, but “they” think social-justice protests are fine. He even started calling his rallies “protests” to highlight the double standard.
Some epidemiologists made things worse by stepping out of their lanes.
“We should always evaluate the risks and benefits of efforts to control the virus,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins, declared on Twitter. “In this moment, the public-health risks of not protesting to demand an end to systemic racism greatly exceed the harms of the virus.”
I’m open to the idea that if the protests this summer could have ended racism, the benefits would outweigh the risks. But where is the evidence that happened? Is racism over now? Heck, where was the evidence that such an outcome was in the realm of the possible in the first place?
I trust epidemiologists to explain how epidemiology works. But there is no transitive property to their expertise. The opinion that the protests would even come close to eradicating systemic racism and police brutality is just that — an opinion, and a flimsy one at that. Moreover, the opinion of medical scientists on such matters has no more authority than that of plumbers or electricians — and less than that of many social scientists or, dare I say it, politicians.
Which brings us to the point. Again, politicians should listen to scientists, but at the end of the day, they must consider factors from outside science. That’s not only fine but unavoidable. Using the phrase “listen to the science” as a shield for your preferred policies or as an attack on policies you dislike is not only bad faith, it’s a bad idea, because it will undermine the credibility of scientists and politicians alike.
Now that we’re entering the vaccination chapter of this horrible story, many of the same science worshippers are, in effect, telling the scientists to listen to politics.
In California, there’s an effort to factor “historical injustice” into the vaccination rollout as a form of reparations. Because indigenous Americans were treated horribly in the past, the argument goes, they should be moved higher on the list of vaccine recipients.
A similar argument has emerged over whether the elderly — those most likely to die from COVID-19 — should be moved down the list, because “older populations are whiter,” as noted by Harald Schmidt, an assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Society is structured in a way that enables them to live longer,” Schmidt told The New York Times. “Instead of giving additional health benefits to those who already had more of them, we can start to level the playing field a bit.”
Scientists are free to make such arguments, but these aren’t scientific arguments. They are political opinions, and they don’t become any more legitimate simply because you wear a lab coat at work. So by all means, listen to the scientists, but listen very carefully, because they might be saying things that aren’t very scientific.
Twitter: @JonahDispatch


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--NYC residents can’t get gun permits due to George Floyd protests: source

The Big Apple ’ s staggering surge in shootings amid the COVID-19 ...

Larry Celona, Kevin Sheehan, Tina Moore, Bruce Golding

The NYPD hasn’t processed thousands of applications for gun permits partly because cops tasked with the job were reassigned amid the protests, riots and looting that helped spur the deluge, The Post has learned.
Meanwhile, a leading gun-rights group on Thursday called the inaction by the department’s License Division “very suspicious.”
The Post exclusively revealed Wednesday that while 8,088 applications for gun permits had been filed since March 22 — when COVID-19 restrictions went into effect — only 1,087 were granted, a rate of around 14 percent.
During the same time period last year, the NYPD approved 1,778 of 2,562 applications, a rate of nearly 70 percent.
A source familiar with the situation said would-be gun owners began flooding the department with permit applications shortly after the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked widespread protests, including in the Big Apple.
Some of the local demonstrations led to riots and looting, including the ransacking of Macy’s famed flagship store in Manhattan’s Herald Square.
”Many cops in police headquarters, including the License Division, were put in uniform to police those protests,” the source said.
In addition, applicants are being subjected to heightened scrutiny due to the corruption scandal that rocked the License Division in 2017, the source said.
Ed Mullins, head of the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association said, “I know a lot of people have complained about not getting their licenses.”
“I know some big league business people who have been having trouble getting their licenses — a lot of jewelry people,” he said.
“Because of the bribery scandal, the department stopped processing them the way they normally did.”
A Post reader said he applied for a permit in July but had yet to receive a response, adding that the emails he’s sent since then “all bounce back.”
An official with the Gun Owners of America, a Virginia-based lobbying organization, called the situation troubling.
“The steep drop in the approval rate for firearms permits in New York City is very suspicious,” GOA senior vice president Erich Pratt said.
“And this underscores the problem with forcing law-abiding citizens to get permission from bureaucrats before exercising their rights.”
The NYPD declined to comment.


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--Johnny Depp’s lawyers say he didn’t get a fair trial, want a new one

The `` Pirates of the Caribbean '' star has long been the ...

Johnny Depp’s lawyers argued to an appeals court Thursday that he didn’t get a fair trial after losing his sensational libel case against a British newspaper for calling him a “wife-beater,” according to a new report.
Attorney David Sherborne asked the panel to “set aside the judgment and order a new trial” after London High Court Judge Andrew Nicol ruled last month that The Sun’s headline was “substantially true” and the Hollywood superstar regularly roughed up Amber Heard, 34, and dismissed his claim, The Guardian reported.
The explosive trial that took place over the summer and featured Depp, 57, and Heard as witnesses — included allegations of everything from rampant drug use to a poop incident in the pair’s marital bed.
In court papers, Sherborne blasted the “Aquaman” actress’s testimony as unreliable and inconsistent, and criticized the judge for failing to scrutinize her account.
“[Nicol] concluded that the appellant was guilty of serious physical assaults without taking account of or even acknowledging that Ms. Heard had been untruthful in her evidence, without testing her account against the documentary evidence and the evidence of other witnesses, and without making any findings that he disbelieved those witnesses,” wrote Sherborne, according to The Guardian.
The lawyer called it a “very public judgment, reached by a single judge, making devastating findings of extremely serious criminal offenses” with “wider-ranging implications for the public at large,” the report said.
Depp sued The Sun and its executive editor over an April 2018 story that branded him a “wife-beater” based on Heard’s allegations.
Nicol found that 12 of the 14 incidents of domestic violence that The Sun relied on were “substantially true.”
At the time, Depp’s legal team called the decision “as perverse as it is bewildering.”
During the trial, the “Pirates of Caribbean” star testified that he was too much of a Southern gentleman to hit a woman — and it was actually Heard who was responsible for the violence in their marriage.
The final straw came after Heard or her pal defecated in his bed as a prank after the couple had a fight, he said. Photos of the offending feces were entered into evidence.
He portrayed Heard as a callous gold digger who’d fabricated the abuse allegations to ruin him.
The Sun’s star witness was Heard herself, who insisted she had loved her ex-husband but that he was a “hopeless addict” who would get so wasted that he couldn’t control his bladder or his temper.
He became such a “monster” during his drug and booze-fueled binges that he had nearly killed her during their five-year relationship, she said.
During a “three-day ordeal of assaults” in 2015, Depp lost his fingertip and used his severed digit to scrawl “I love you” in blood on a mirror, she told the court.
The warring Hollywood couple’s battle is far from over. Depp sued Heard for $50 million in Virginia over a Washington Post op-ed she penned about her experience as a victim of domestic violence.
She filed a $100 million countersuit, and the case is expected to go to trial next year.


newyorkpost--2020-12-24--A prayer to remember the spirit of Christmas

From the Gospel According to Luke , Chapter 2 , Verses 1 through 20 : And it came to pass in those days , that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus , that all the world should be taxed .
And all went to be taxed , every one into his own city .
And Joseph also went up from Galilee , out of the city of Nazareth , into Judæa , unto the city of David , which is called Bethlehem ; ( because he was of the house and lineage of David ) .
To be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being great with child .
And so it was , that , while they were there , the days were accomplished that she should be delivered .
And she brought forth her firstborn son , and wrapped him in swaddling clothes , and laid him in a manger ; because there was no room for them in the inn .
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field , keeping watch over their flock by night .
And , lo , the angel of the Lord came upon them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shone round about them : and they were sore afraid .
And the angel said unto them , Fear not : for , behold , I bring you good tidings of great joy , which shall be to all people .
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour , which is Christ the Lord .
And this shall be a sign unto you ; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes , lying in a manger .
And suddenly there was with the angel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ God , and saying , Glory to God in the highest , and on earth peace , good will toward men .
And it came to pass , as the angels were gone away from them into heaven , the shepherds said one to another , Let us now go even unto Bethlehem , and see this thing which is come to pass , which the Lord hath made known unto us .
And they came with haste , and found Mary , and Joseph , and the babe lying in a manger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child .
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds .
But Mary kept all these things , and pondered them in her heart .
And the shepherds returned , glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen , as it was told unto them .

From the Gospel According to Luke,
Chapter 2, Verses 1 through 20:
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David).
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.


newyorkpost--2020-12-25--More than 2 million people have already voted in Georgia Senate runoffs

At least $ 329 million has been spent since Election Day ...

Over 2 million people have already cast their votes in the two critical Georgia Senate run-offs that will decide control of the body.
As of Thursday, about 1.3 million Georgians have voted early at in-person voting places, state data shows, while another 721,000 ballots have been cast by mail.
Nearly 1.4 million Georgians have requested absentee ballots for the Jan. 5 run-offs as of Thursday evening. The state will stop accepting requests on Jan. 1.
About 4 million people voted early in the November election, by comparison.
All eyes have focused on two Senate battles in Georgia, both with GOP incumbents. The current balance of the Senate is 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats, meaning that whichever way these two seats go will decide which party controls the upper chamber of Congress.
If Democrats were to win both seats and keep the body evenly split, tie votes would be broken by the vice president, Kamala Harris.
The first race has incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler facing off against Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where civil rights icon Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.
Loeffler was not elected to her seat; she was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to fill the vacancy left by Sen. Johnny Isakson, who resigned in December due to health concerns.
The second race pits Democrat Jon Ossoff against incumbent Sen. David Perdue.
President-elect Joe Biden narrowly carried Georgia over President Trump, marking the first time a Democrat carried the Southern state since Bill Clinton defeated former President George H.W. Bush in 1992.
Democratic strategists have said once-red Georgia is within reach for their party, but GOP analysts have argued it will be harder for the left to convince their voters to come out in an election without Trump on the ballot.
In order to carry the state, however, both parties will need to spend heavily to maintain relevance in an increasingly expensive race. Some have speculated that the advertising spending alone could approach $500 million.
With Post wires


newyorkpost--2020-12-25--Michigan State vs. Wisconsin prediction, line: Take Spartans

The NBA has been a Christmas Day staple for many years , but this year , hoops fans also will be treated to some Big Ten action with a battle of ranked teams —Michigan State and Wisconsin — leading things off .
The 12th-ranked Spartans are coming off a 14-point loss to Northwestern , but still rank second in the country in assists both per game and per possession , with six players averaging at least 2.3 assists per game .
The No .
9 Badgers also have had solid flow on offense , ranking 26th in the country in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 10th in team 3-point shooting percentage .
And Wisconsin is committing the third-fewest turnovers per game of any team in the country , with 8.5 .
Michigan State has been impressive on the glass this season , ranking 19th among Division I teams in rebound rate while both teams rank in the top 25 in defensive rebound percentage , preventing opponents from getting second chances .
Wisconsin has played only one road game this season and that was a 67-65 loss to Marquette .
Being tasked with winning in East Lansing for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much for the Badgers against a Michigan State team that has four players averaging more than 10 points per game , topped by forward Joey Hauser ’ s 12.1 .
The play : Michigan State on the moneyline , +115 .

Want even more betting news? Sign up for VSiN’s free daily newsletter. Listen Live to VSiN’s sports betting shows.
The NBA has been a Christmas Day staple for many years, but this year, hoops fans also will be treated to some Big Ten action with a battle of ranked teams —Michigan State and Wisconsin — leading things off.
The 12th-ranked Spartans are coming off a 14-point loss to Northwestern, but still rank second in the country in assists both per game and per possession, with six players averaging at least 2.3 assists per game.
The No. 9 Badgers also have had solid flow on offense, ranking 26th in the country in points on a per-possession basis while rating 10th in team 3-point shooting percentage. And Wisconsin is committing the third-fewest turnovers per game of any team in the country, with 8.5.
Michigan State has been impressive on the glass this season, ranking 19th among Division I teams in rebound rate while both teams rank in the top 25 in defensive rebound percentage, preventing opponents from getting second chances.
Wisconsin has played only one road game this season and that was a 67-65 loss to Marquette. Being tasked with winning in East Lansing for the first time since 2004 will be too much for the Badgers against a Michigan State team that has four players averaging more than 10 points per game, topped by forward Joey Hauser’s 12.1.
The play: Michigan State on the moneyline, +115.


newyorkpost--2020-12-25--Meghan Markle’s brother-in-law reportedly charged with domestic violence

Meghan Markle ’ s brother-in-law has been accused of striking his wheelchair-bound wife – the Duchess of Sussex ’ s sister – in the face after she asked him for help in using the toilet , according to a report .
Mark Phillips , 62 , was charged with domestic violence for allegedly hitting Samantha Markle at their home in Lakeland , Florida , on Dec. 14 after she asked him to help her get off the toilet late at night , the Daily Mail reported .
Phillips was booked into the Polk County Jail the day of the alleged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to the outlet , which cited an arrest affidavit it had obtained .
Samantha , 56 , told police that her husband , who works in storage unit clearance , had struck her in the face , the Daily Mail reported .
Phillips slapped her “ on the right side of her face in the ear area ” when he became irate after she asked him for assistance , according to the police reported .
He allegedly fled the scene but was later arrested as the “ primary aggressor ” and charged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a volatile relationship with her husband , with whom she has lived in Florida since 2016 , according to the news outlet .
When they lived in Albuquerque , New Mexico , police were called to their home multiple times – with one incident listed as a call for alleged domestic abuse , the Daily Mail reported .
Phillips also has been involved in a number of incidents with Samantha ’ s former husband Scott Rasmussen , 60 — with the exes taking out restraining orders on each other , according to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rasmussen and their daughter Noel had to be accompanied by police when they went to Samantha ’ s home to collect Noel ’ s belongings .
During the custody battle , which ended when Noel turned 18 in October 2016 , Phillips was accused of harassing her with abusive text messages , which the Daily Mail said it has seen .
On July 29 , 2015 , Phillips was accused of being abusive to Noel inside court , according to an affidavit filed by Rasmussen , the Daily Mail reported .
“ Stupid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the 18-year-old as she passed him in the corridor , according to documents the outlet said it has seen .
And in May 2018 , Samantha and Phillips were mocked after calling police about a car crash allegedly caused by paparazzi – but was later determined not to have happened .
Samantha had told TMZ she went to a hospital with a broken ankle after the alleged incident and shared a photo of herself looking miserable in the ER , the Daily Mail reported .

Meghan Markle’s brother-in-law has been accused of striking his wheelchair-bound wife – the Duchess of Sussex’s sister – in the face after she asked him for help in using the toilet, according to a report.
Mark Phillips, 62, was charged with domestic violence for allegedly hitting Samantha Markle at their home in Lakeland, Florida, on Dec. 14 after she asked him to help her get off the toilet late at night, the Daily Mail reported.
Phillips was booked into the Polk County Jail the day of the alleged attack and released pending a trial, according to the outlet, which cited an arrest affidavit it had obtained.
Samantha, 56, told police that her husband, who works in storage unit clearance, had struck her in the face, the Daily Mail reported.
Phillips slapped her “on the right side of her face in the ear area” when he became irate after she asked him for assistance, according to the police reported.
He allegedly fled the scene but was later arrested as the “primary aggressor” and charged with domestic violence.
Samantha has had a volatile relationship with her husband, with whom she has lived in Florida since 2016, according to the news outlet.
When they lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, police were called to their home multiple times – with one incident listed as a call for alleged domestic abuse, the Daily Mail reported.
Phillips also has been involved in a number of incidents with Samantha’s former husband Scott Rasmussen, 60 — with the exes taking out restraining orders on each other, according to the outlet.
A 2015 report also says Rasmussen and their daughter Noel had to be accompanied by police when they went to Samantha’s home to collect Noel’s belongings.
During the custody battle, which ended when Noel turned 18 in October 2016, Phillips was accused of harassing her with abusive text messages, which the Daily Mail said it has seen.
On July 29, 2015, Phillips was accused of being abusive to Noel inside court, according to an affidavit filed by Rasmussen, the Daily Mail reported.
“Stupid f—- b—–!” he allegedly shouted at the 18-year-old as she passed him in the corridor, according to documents the outlet said it has seen.
And in May 2018, Samantha and Phillips were mocked after calling police about a car crash allegedly caused by paparazzi – but was later determined not to have happened.
Samantha had told TMZ she went to a hospital with a broken ankle after the alleged incident and shared a photo of herself looking miserable in the ER, the Daily Mail reported.