The latest pro-cop banner to fly over New York City blasted Mayor de Blasio Tuesday morning with a sly reference to his admitted past drug use.

“DE BLASIO GET OFF THE POT. RESIGN. WE (HEART) NYPD,” the aerial message read.

De Blasio — who infamously appeared bleary-eyed and baked in his college yearbook photo — last week denied smoking pot inside Gracie Mansion in response to a question posed at a news conference.

“I haven’t smoked marijuana since I was at NYU,” he said to chuckles from his aides.

via New banner calls for de Blasio to resign, stop smoking weed | New York Post.

NEW YORK CITY — The NYPD is investigating several threats to kill NYPD officers during New Year’s Eve celebrations, DNAinfo New York has learned.

Sources say there are several gang members on social media calling for New Year’s Eve to be “Kill a Pig Night” so that it will become “The New Year’s Eve Massacre 2014.”

via NYPD Investigates Threats to Kill Officers on New Year’s Eve, Sources Say – Civic Center – DNAinfo.com New York.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who came to prominence as an imposing figure in a track suit, shouting indignantly at the powerful, stood quietly on a stage last month at the Four Seasons restaurant, his now slender frame wrapped in a finely tailored suit, as men in power lined up to exclaim their admiration for him.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo hailed him as a civil rights icon. President Obama sent an aide to read a message commending Mr. Sharpton’s “dedication to the righteous cause of perfecting our union.” Major corporations sponsored the lavish affair.

It was billed as a “party for a cause,” in honor of Mr. Sharpton’s 60th birthday. But more than a birthday celebration, or a fund-raiser for his nonprofit advocacy group National Action Network, the event in Manhattan seemed to mark the completion of Mr. Sharpton’s decades of transition from consummate outsider to improbable insider.

“I’ve been able to reach from the streets to the suites,” he said that night.

via Questions About Sharpton’s Finances Accompany His Rise in Influence – NYTimes.com.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard in advance of a grand jury decision about whether a white police officer will be charged in the fatal shooting of a black 18-year-old in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

Nixon said Monday that the National Guard would assist state and local police as needed, in case there is civil unrest when the grand jury’s decision is announced.

There was no indication an announcement was imminent. There is no specific date for a decision to be revealed about whether Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson should face charges for shooting Michael Brown on Aug. 9. The St. Louis County prosecutor has said he expects the grand jury to reach a decision in mid- to late November.

via State of emergency declared over Ferguson | New York Post.

President Obama met with Ferguson protest leaders on November 5th, the day after the midterm elections. The meeting was not on his daily schedule. He was concerned that the protesters “stay on course.”

What does that mean?

And why is the president meeting with the violent Mike Brown protesters before a verdict is reached in the court case?

via Obama Met With Ferguson Activists – Said He’s Concerned They “Stay on Course” | The Gateway Pundit.

A bicycle accident in Central Park has left rocker Bono injured and facing surgery — and forced U2 to cancel a week-long appearance on “The Tonight Show,” the band revealed on its website Sunday night.

“It looks like we will have to do our ‘Tonight Show’ residency another time — we’re one man down,” read the statement.

“Bono has injured his arm in a cycling spill in Central Park and requires some surgery to repair it.

“We’re sure he’ll make a full recovery soon, so we’ll be back!

“Much thanks to [‘The Tonight Show’ host] Jimmy Fallon and everyone at the show for their understanding.”

The Web post provided no details on the crash.

The accident came on the heels of another frightening incident for the rock star, whose private plane lost a rear hatch on Wednesday as he traveled from Dublin to Berlin.

Besides Bono, whose real name is Paul David Hewson, there were four other passengers and two pilots on board.

The crew didn’t know the hatch was missing until after the aircraft had landed, about 11 minutes after it blew off.

Fallon had been promoting the band’s appearance all last week and was holding a YouTube “lip sync” contest for fans who wanted to sing the band’s new song, “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone),” live with U2.

U2 released its latest album, “Songs of Innocence,” for free on iTunes to all 500 million customers — much to the dismay of Apple users who are not fans.

Bono later apologized for the failed p.r. stunt in a mea culpa.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said on Facebook.

“I had this beautiful idea, but got carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that kind of thing. A drop of megalomania, a touch of generosity, a dash of self-promotion and deep fear that these songs, that we poured our life into over the last few years, mightn’t be heard.”

Apple reportedly spent up to $100 million on the campaign.

via Bono facing surgery after Central Park bike crash | Page Six.

Prayer carpets were laid out under the soaring arches of the Washington National Cathedral early Friday for an unprecedented Muslim worship service in one of the best known churches in the United States.

Reverend Gina Campbell welcomed worshippers, declaring the Washington National Cathedral “a place of prayer for all people.”

“Let us stretch our hearts and let us seek to deepen mercy for we worship the same God,” she told the men and women sitting separately in rows, on the floor before her.

In the sermon, or Khutba, Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool praised religious freedom in America and lashed out against extremism, specifically mentioning Islamic militants who have slaughtered Christians in the Middle East.

“If we do not stop them at the monasteries, they will make their way to the mosques,” he said.

Church leaders and their Muslim partners say they hope the Friday Jumaa prayers will send a message of interfaith brotherhood that counters extremists’ use of religion to justify hatred and strife.

The idea came to the cathedral’s director of religious liturgy, Rev. Gina Campbell, and South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, who is a Muslim, when they organized an interfaith memorial service for Nelson Mandela last year.

The carpets have been arrayed diagonally in the transept, to the side of the sanctuary, so that worshipers can face in the direction of Mecca without seeing crosses or Christian icons. Muslims are not supposed to pray in view of sacred symbols alien to their faith.

Ambassador Rasool said the service is meant to be both a symbol for America’s three million Muslims to feel welcomed in its predominantly Christian society, as well as for Muslims in countries where they are the majority, to show hospitality to people of minority faiths.

Despite its name, the Washington National Cathedral is not an official U.S. government church, which is prohibited by the Constitution. However, the Episcopal church, which is funded by private donations, does possess important symbolic value and regularly hosts official events, such as presidential inaugurations and funerals.

via National Cathedral Holds Friday Muslim Prayers.

Gary Oldman has sent an explanation to the Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Weisenthal Center, in response to the ADL’s charge he propagated anti-Semitic stereotypes in his Playboy Interview. He’s the response:

Dear Gentlemen of the ADL:

I am deeply remorseful that comments I recently made in the Playboy Interview were offensive to many Jewish people. Upon reading my comments in print—I see how insensitive they may be, and how they may indeed contribute to the furtherance of a false stereotype. Anything that contributes to this stereotype is unacceptable, including my own words on the matter. If, during the interview, I had been asked to elaborate on this point I would have pointed out that I had just finished reading Neal Gabler’s superb book about the Jews and Hollywood, An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews invented Hollywood. The fact is that our business, and my own career specifically, owes an enormous debt to that contribution.

I hope you will know that this apology is heartfelt, genuine, and that I have an enormous personal affinity for the Jewish people in general, and those specifically in my life. The Jewish People, persecuted thorough the ages, are the first to hear God’s voice, and surely are the chosen people.

I would like to sign off with “Shalom Aleichem”—but under the circumstances, perhaps today I lose the right to use that phrase, so I will wish you all peace–Gary Oldman.

via UPDATE: Gary Oldman Answers ADL Charges Of Anti-Semitism In Playboy Interview – Deadline.com.

‘N Sync’s Lance Bass and former “Real World” star Mike C. Manning executive produced the Showtime documentary

An ungodly amount of homosexual Christian kids are torn violently from their homes and sent to the Dominican Republic in the first official trailer for the ‘Kidnapped for Christ’ documentary, which asserts these are crimes for which somebody must ultimately pay.

Also read: Hillary Clinton Clashes With NPR Host Over Gay Marriage (Audio)

The eye-opening Showtime doc — executive produced by ‘N Sync’s Lance Bass, Mike C. Manning and Tom DeSanto — shines a harsh light on a Christian behavioral modification program called Escuela Carib. It seemingly hopes to indict the tyrannical religious leaders responsible for destroying so many thousands of lives over the years.

via Gay Teens Are Ripped From Their Homes in the Name of God in ‘Kidnapped for Christ’ Trailer (Video) – TheWrap.

“I can’t really say that. But Bill Maher and Jon Stewart can, and nobody’s going to stop them from working because of it,” he tells the magazine

Gary Oldman might not be the only actor fed up with the new look of Hollywood, but suddenly he’s the most vocal.

In a surprisingly frank Playboy interview, the “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” star eviscerates a film industry that has made him millions while also coming across as strangely supportive of ostracized celebrities like Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin.

See video: ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ Trailer: Gary Oldman Rallies Humans, Caesar Attacks (Video)

1. On Hollywood’s sensitivity toward racism:

“At the Oscars, if you didn’t vote for ’12 Years a Slave’ you were a racist.”

See also: Oscars Propel ABC to Most-Watched Week in 4 Years

2. On the political correctness police:

“I just think political correctness is crap. That’s what I think about it. I think it’s like, take a fucking joke. Get over it. I heard about a science teacher who was teaching that God made the earth and God made everything and that if you believe anything else you’re stupid. A Buddhist kid in the class got very upset about this, so the parents went in and are suing the school! The school is changing its curriculum! I thought, All right, go to the school and complain about it and then that’s the end of it. But they’re going to sue! No one can take a joke anymore.”

3. On Bill Maher and Jon Stewart’s free pass:

“Well, if I called Nancy Pelosi a cunt–and I’ll go one better, a fucking useless cunt–I can’t really say that. But Bill Maher and Jon Stewart can, and nobody’s going to stop them from working because of it. Bill Maher could call someone a fag and get away with it. He said to Seth MacFarlane this year, ‘I thought you were going to do the Oscars again. Instead they got a lesbian.’ He can say something like that. Is that more or less offensive than Alec Baldwin saying to someone in the street, ‘You fag’? I don’t get it.”

Also read: Bill Maher Shocks ‘The View’ With Karl Rove Gay Lover Joke (Video)

4. On empathizing with Mel Gibson:

“I don’t know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we’ve all said those things. We’re all fucking hypocrites. That’s what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word nigger or that fucking Jew? I’m being brutally honest here. It’s the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy. Or maybe I should strike that and say ‘the N word’ and ‘the F word,’ though there are two F words now.”

Also read: Mel Gibson in Talks to Star in ‘Taken’-Style Action Thriller ‘Blood Father’

5. On his political leanings:

“I would say that I’m probably a libertarian if I had to put myself in any category. But you don’t come out and talk about these things, for obvious reasons.”

6. On legalizing marijuana:

“It’s silly to me. I’m not for it. Drugs were never my bag. I mean, I tried it once and it wasn’t for me, though, unlike Bill Clinton, I did inhale. To me, the problem is driving. People in Colorado are driving high and getting DUIs. That’s what I worry about. Listen, if you want to do cocaine, heroin, smoke marijuana, that’s fine by me. It’s just that I worry about kids behind the wheel of a car more than anything.”

Also read: Stephen Colbert Endorses Marijuana: ‘The Market is Toking’ (Video)

7. On his insecurities as an actor:

“At first I passed on [‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’], but then I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Once I signed on, I thought, Fuck me! I can’t do this. I can’t pull this off. Everybody’s going to see what a fake I am. This is the moment I get found out. Who does he think he is? He thinks he’s Alec Guinness.”

8. On the death of colleague Philip Seymour Hoffman:

“On the outside someone like Philip Seymour Hoffman appeared to be happy professionally. He had kids; he was working with interesting people. But one never really knows. What eventually happens is you put the drink or the drug before everything else. There’s no argument about how good he was, but who knows what was going on inside? I don’t mean this disrespectfully, but maybe he looked in the mirror and always saw that very pale sort of fat kid. It’s a real tragedy for his family.”

Also read: Philip Seymour Hoffman Autopsy: Actor Died of Mixed Drug Intoxication

9. On the importance of winning Oscars and Golden Globes:

“What people don’t realize is that you need to work at being a celebrity. I’m not talking about movies. I mean the other side of it. You have to campaign. It’s a whole other part of your career, and I wish I could have navigated it a bit better. I may have an Oscar now, had I… I know it certainly doesn’t mean anything to win a Golden Globe, that’s for sure.”

via Gary Oldman Is Mad He Can't Call Nancy Pelosi a 'C-nt' but Bill Maher Can – 9 Outrageous Quotes From Playboy – TheWrap.

Jim Carrey is a funny man. But he’s deeply profound, too — a side he revealed to graduates at Maharishi University. While his entire speech is great, we fast-forwarded to the punch to the heart at 10:18. Just click play and be blown away.

If you thought President Obama’s release of five top Taliban commanders in exchange for POW Bowe Bergdahl was bad, wait until you see what his Gitmo parole board plans.

Desperate to empty the Guantanamo Bay prison by the end of his term, Obama quietly is giving “get out of jail free” cards for the flimsiest of excuses.

One al Qaeda suspect captured in Afghanistan is considered reformed because he took up yoga and read a biography of the Dalai Lama. Another is eligible for release because of his “positive attitude.”

And one longtime detainee, a former bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, is now harmless because he’s going to start a “milk and honey farm.”

The Periodic Review Board already helped clear 78 of the remaining 149 prisoners for release, documents show, and has scheduled more hearings for this summer.

Many of these men were dubbed “forever prisoners” because of the threat they posed to the US — with intelligence officials warning that, if free, they would return to the jihad to kill Americans.

via Obama to free Gitmo terrorist ‘because he took up yoga’ | New York Post.