Notorious landlord Steve Croman was hit Monday with a 20-count indictment and a civil suit related to his long-running campaign to harass rent-stabilized tenants into fleeing so he can jack up the rent.

Croman, who owns 140 apartment buildings across Manhattan, has long been the target of a criminal probe by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/nyc-landlord-steve-croman-arrested-threatening-tenants-article-1.2629980

The drugmaker Purdue Pharma launched OxyContin two decades ago with a bold marketing claim: One dose relieves pain for 12 hours, more than twice as long as generic medications.

Patients would no longer have to wake up in the middle of the night to take their pills, Purdue told doctors. One OxyContin tablet in the morning and one before bed would provide “smooth and sustained pain control all day and all night.”
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But OxyContin’s stunning success masked a fundamental problem: The drug wears off hours early in many people, a Los Angeles Times investigation found. OxyContin is a chemical cousin of heroin, and when it doesn’t last, patients can experience excruciating symptoms of withdrawal, including an intense craving for the drug.

The problem offers new insight into why so many people have become addicted to OxyContin, one of the most abused pharmaceuticals in U.S. history.

A few days before the speech, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel told Clinton that he was concerned that Obama’s not visiting Israel after his Cairo speech would insult the Israelis. He suggested that Clinton, who had been in Cairo with Obama, continue on from Cairo to Jerusalem “to do damage control.” Landler quoted a former senior administration official as saying “she couldn’t, wouldn’t and didn’t.”

Obama’s senior advisers were furious, viewing the secretary’s decision as based on personal political considerations motivated by her desire to avoid harming her image as a friend of Israel and her relationship to the American Jewish community, Landler writes. According to the book, Clinton’s refusal to go to Jerusalem after Cairo was one example of her clear disinclination to be involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process due to concern over political damage that would hurt her in a future run for the presidency.

A week later, Clinton spoke out sharply against the settlements and said that Obama was demanding a complete freeze. But while Clinton was speaking, talks were underway between Mitchell and representatives of the Israeli government toward a deal that would allow for construction within the large settlement blocs to accommodate natural growth only. According to the book, Clinton’s statements sabotaged those talks. The Israelis were livid and Obama’s advisers were irritated that Clinton had “plussed up” Obama’s position – corralling them into a more hardline position than they had wanted to take.