Angry at his bank for taking too big a scoop in overdraft fees, one Pittsburgh ice cream shop owner decided to set up his own flavor of a community bank, with interest on deposits paid out in sweets.

Ethan Clay, a 31 year-old Steel City native, began running the Whalebone Café Bank out of the Oh Yeah! Ice Cream and Coffee Company in January and says so far he's taken in around $660 in deposits, mostly from regular customers. He also performs cash back transactions and for a $4 fee, check-cashing services.

"I want to skinny up these big banks," Clay said. "This is people putting their money together to transform the retail banking industry."
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"London. You know: fish, chips, cup 'o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary (expletive) Poppins. ...London!"

That line, delivered by Dennis Farina's fast-talking, diamond-dealing character Avi in Guy Richie's 2000 hit film "Snatch," sums up the long-held convention that English food is rather bleak. However, such stereotypes are fortunately antiquated.

London, with its cultural vibrancy and burgeoning international food scene, has become a destination for gastronomes seeking modern, exotic dishes with a touch of old-world charm. In today’s London, you can grab a good old-fashioned pint and shepherd’s pie at the pub for lunch and feast on top-notch curry for dinner.

Here are a few suggestions for a flavor-filled weekend in the Olympics host city:
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Members of a Brooklyn food co-op voted down a controversial motion Tuesday night that would have paved the way for a referendum on the boycott of Israeli-made goods, effectively ending three years of heated internal debate at a community institution usually more concerned with sharing organic recipes than divisive geopolitical issues.

The vote at the 16,000-plus member-owned Park Slope Food Co-Op would have brought the co-op one step closer to participating in the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS.

BDS supporters aim to help Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank by boycotting Israeli products and companies that do business with Israel. Those opposing the boycott defeated its supporters in a 1,005 to 653 vote.

According to Joe Holtz, one of the organization’s founders, only a few Israeli products are sold at the co-op, including vegan marshmallows, pesto tapenade and Israeli couscous. Yet, the mere possibility of a boycott sparked extensive local media coverage and stoked tension amongst co-op members and New Yorkers on both sides of the issue.
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