​Camel cigarettes branded for the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg, called recently (and for years prior) the "new front line" of gentrification, are selling pretty well in their namesake area, at least according to anecdotes from bodega owners. Brooklyn Paper reports that the special packs, also rotting minds and lungs in Seattle and Austin, are "selling out...quick." Sure, they're a buck cheaper, but they're also the evil idea of R.J. Reynolds, a huge corporation.

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​Twenty-six New Yorkers are being charged with money laundering and human trafficking for their roles in a "complex criminal scheme" that included smuggling and employing illegal aliens from China.More >>

Joe Bruno

By Adam Schwartzman

Five prominent New York politicians have dipped into their campaign funds to pay for nearly $3 million in legal expenses associated with investigations of their possible misconduct, a Voice examination of campaign disclosure reports has revealed. While it's unclear if that level of expenditure is a record, good-government groups are increasingly concerned about the frequency of elected officials using funds from campaign donors to pay instead for costs connected to their alleged abuses of public office.

One of the most notable examples of this campaign fund abuse is Joe Bruno, the ex-state Senate majority leader indicted in 2009 on eight counts of corruption and convicted on two. More >>

​The day the internet exploded, triggered by the death of Michael Jackson, is approaching its one-year anniversary. The outpouring of re-grief in the media -- also known as clamoring for stories on sticky summer days -- has already begun, ushered in by the Associated Press and their release of a detailed day of death timeline. It is full of detail, and yet quite boring. Britain's Daily Mirror, on the other hand, has an exclusive interview with Jackson's mother Katherine, her first since his death, and though equally exploitative and sensational, it is painfully sad, especially with regards to Michael's children.

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