Culver City Observer -

As noted by Time Magazine, New York City police must now give a “receipt” to people they stop and frisk. The change, put forth by a federal monitor, is meant to prevent abuse of power; however, the police union said it will only increase crime.

Have you read the October 2015 issue of Sunset Magazine yet? I have and the article called “The Best of Wine Country: New places to taste, stay and play in Napa, Santa Barbara and Oregon” has gotten me so jazzed that I’m on the way to Costco to fill up the gasoline tank.

Do you remember last year when hackers broke into the Office of Personnel Management and exposed security clearances, dossiers and sensitive information on nearly 22 million Americans? Chinese hackers were thought to have been behind the attack, which was much more sweeping than officials initially acknowledged publicly. Earlier this year hackers broke into the Department of Homeland Security and stole data on about 30,000 employees. To make us feel better, our government said there was no indication sensitive information had been stolen.

If your Uncle Max and his wife Sally came from Boston for a two-week vacation, where would you put them up? Well, I don’t know about you, but Theodorsia and I would take them to the Peninsula Beverly Hills. You see, that hotel is ranked supreme in this year’s “Best Hotels” list recently released by U.S. News and World Report for 2016. That list ranked the Peninsula #1 in Los Angeles, #1 in California and number #5 in the nation.

The fat cats (and fat dogs) better whip out their Beverly Hills check books. Their fair city a while back announced $184 million in unfunded pension liabilities. Of the $184 million, $114 million is from safety employees (no, we aren’t talking about crossing guards) and $69 million from everybody else.

If you had $25,000 in an old suitcase in the maid’s closet you probably are living in Beverly Hills. Here is the plan; grab the dough before the IRS audits your returns going back to 2011 and take it to the Beverly Hills Education Foundation. For a paltry $2,500 you can put your name on an auditorium theater seat and for a little bit more (say, $25,000) will get signage on a classroom. Boy oh boy, the Wilshire Blvd. crowd knows how to take care of business.

Perhaps you have wondered how the schools in our district are ranked among the top 100 in California according to NICHE.com. This website provides reviews into neighborhood, college and K-12 schools. No, I’m not going to list our schools, you can do that; however, the Rodeo Drive jet set saw Horace Mann at number #50, Hawthorne School #40 and Beverly Vista #79. Beverly Hills, like all districts, is ranked by strength of academics, quality of teacher’s diversity, as well as the overall quality of the school district. Visit k12.Niche.com/rankings/public-elementary-schools/best-overall/s/California/.

Did you serve in the United States Navy? Or perhaps you have an interest where our fleet is positioned around the world. If so, check out the Navy’s missions at navytimes.com/navy-map.

If you want to send a birthday card to Peyton Manning, the former Denver Broncos quarterback, it’s a little late as it was March 24 and he turned 40.

Chicago has approximately 12,000 cops and 11,876 are darn good, but 124 have serious problems. Those policemen have cost the city $34 million in misconduct settlements since 2009. The Chicago Tribune reported those 124 were identified in nearly a third of the misconduct lawsuits, and one officer had seven settled lawsuits against him. Most settlements were for injuring arrestees during traffic stops, making false arrests and using racial slurs. Totally unbelievable.

If you were a member of ISIS would you like to know what our government’s plans are? For a look at the region once the militants are driven out, visit militarytimes.com/isisstrategy.

The rescue mission, “Operation Entebbe,” took place in 1976. In ninety short minutes the Israeli military rescued 102 hostage held by Idi Amin in Uganda.

Are you concerned about Type 2 diabetes? If you are, run immediately to the Congressman Julian Dixon-Los Angeles County Library on Overland Avenue and check out Time Magazine, January 25, 2016, page 44. Read the Diet Prescription by Mandy Oaklander. This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and shows promise in preventing and treating diabetes.

For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in the website’s search box.