Capital New York

newsweek:

How do you know who’s lying and who’s telling the truth about a rape? These cops crack New York’s most shocking sex crimes, from no-name scoundrels to big-power suspects like former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Egyptian banker Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar, arrested at the Pierre Hotel on Monday. In this week’s NEWSWEEK, NYPD expert and Paris Bureau Chief Christopher Dickey profiles the Special Victims Division. (via newsweek-paris-france)

fullcredit:

Two New York City Police Officers Acquitted of Rape

Although the defense never conceded that the two had sex, a central point of argument in the case was whether the woman was too drunk to consent to sex. Under the prosecutors’ theory of rape, they had to prove that the woman was physically unable to consent to sex, meaning that she was either unconscious or unable to speak when she was penetrated.

Defense lawyers pointed to surveillance footage of the woman walking on her own as she entered the building in front of the officers as evidence that she was conscious and able to communicate. They also contrasted what the woman told some friends shortly after the alleged rape — that she thought she was raped — with the certainty that she was expressing on the witness stand. Her spotty recollection of that night, the defense said, was enough to raise reasonable doubt over whether she was raped.

mcnallyjackson:

Wednesday? We’ve got Lynne Tillman & Paula “Courtney Love’s Grandmother” Fox. I don’t even feel like blurbing this one it’s going to be so good. That’s how good it is. So good.

While we’re on the wonderful subject of literature and Lynne Tillman, go to McNally Jackson tonight to see her read with Paula Fox. 7 p.m.! Prince Street!

After all, the statements aren’t even accurate.

Tom: “The avatar might be my favorite thing about it.”

markcoatney:

shortformblog:

Also worth noting: The Atlantic Wire, where we sourced this from, has this really cool open comment thread idea where regular users can pitch stories.

This is one of those things to remember when people say the market won’t support quality journalism anymore. 

Steven Boone asks this of some of his friends at the Bowery Mission Transitional Center (our own Sheila O’Malley gave John Cassavetes’ Opening Night as her answer).

We’re curious about yours! Let us know in the comments. Or tag a Tumblr post with #heartmovie, if you’d like to share.

tylercoates:

There was no such thing as oversharing before blogging, was there? The pages of a private diary offered an illusion of secrecy, and so in reading them under glass there is a feeling of candor. If Tennessee Williams had a blog, would he publish his thoughts immediately for his internet audience to read? Would he allow for commenting on his blog? Would he remember days or weeks later a post he typed in an admittedly drunken state that exposed a certain vulnerable side of himself? One can’t help but imagine how he might feel about strangers examining snippets of those thoughts as they sit under the low wattage of museum lighting.

I wrote about one of my favorite subjects for Capital New York: blogging! Well, sorta; it’s actually about an exhibit at The Morgan, which features the personal diaries of a handful of very famous people. But it made me think a lot of thoughts! (And thanks to Tom for coming up with a brilliant headline.)

On any given night, the Democrat from Queens, New York, can be seen sparring with Republicans on cable TV. Weiner can yell, interrupt and verbally joust with the best of them. On shows, he smiles directly into the camera and, even in a roundtable discussion, looks straight into the lens. He’s also funny and makes for great—if somewhat irreverent—television. In one widely reported appearance on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News, he faced off with Tea Party darling Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) about raising the debt ceiling. “All the surplus in Social Security is a big vault stuffed with IOU notes,” she said. “There’s not one dime sitting in there.” He responded without missing a beat: “Are you surprised to learn, Congresswoman Bachmann,” that “we don’t have a room filled with dimes?”

Indeed, Weiner is filling what some onlookers say is a gaping hole in the Democratic Party. Republicans have their fair share of talking heads and headline-grabbing gurus, ranging from personalities such as Rush Limbaugh to Sarah Palin, but few Democrats today have the kind of pizzazz that holds audiences in rapt attention. “He’s very telegenic and he gives great sound bites,” says one ABC News producer. “Everyone wants him on their show.”