CrimeWatch: Two email scams you shouldn’t fall for




















This week I am going to share with you some scam emails that are going around. People are falling for them, but many could have been avoided with some common sense. If you get an email like the one below, please call the person before sending cash, which many have done and have lost their money.

Caught out of the country

Omg!! I’m writing this with tears in my eyes, my family and I came down here to Perth, Scotland, in United Kingdom for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed, all cash, credit card and cell were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us. We’ve been to the embassy and the police here but they’re not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in less than 19 hours from now, but we’re having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let us leave until we settle the bills, I’m freaked out at the moment.





Sandy scams

Dear Friend, in light of what happened in the Northeast, here is a great opportunity for you to help and make some money. FEMA needs clean-up crews for South Jersey. It’s $1,000 for seven days, hotel and food included. Call this number... [The fraudster’s number would be here.] We will contact you as soon as possible. Thank you for applying.

The latter is a scam that is truly deplorable, but due to the kind hearts of many, they have fallen for it and have given their social security number, date of birth and other information that probably will be used in identity theft. Here the first thing one should have done is gone to the FEMA sight to see if it’s true.

The above scams were emailed to me from several readers, so please be careful, and as I always say, learn to use the “delete” key because if it involves money you have to dish out, it’s a scam.

Assault weapons

Now on to a subject that we should all be adamant about, and that is the murders that have been caused by assault weapons this past year.

On Sept. 13, 2004, the federal assault weapons ban expired. This ban was put in place in 1994, and outlawed 19 types of military-style assault weapons. A clause directed that the ban expire unless Congress specifically reauthorized it, and our congressional leaders did not. Shame on them! These are the consequences we are now seeing across the country. As stated by many in the law-enforcement community, these weapons are nothing more than “cop-killer guns”.

I always tell you that we need to get involved, we need to be part of our community, and we must demand that our community be a safe place to live. Therefore I ask you to please contact your representatives in Congress and ask them to support this ban. I truly believe that the killing of 20 little children should be sufficient for our congressional leaders to take the appropriate action. If you don’t know who your House member is, go to www.house.gov/representatives/find and you can find your representative.





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We Salute the First Baby Senator






We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:


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Here’s our suggestion to improve the (already pretty hilarious) swearing-in process for U.S. Senators: Each new member of Congress must bring a cute baby.


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Apparently the BBC has decided to market a line of lunch boxes specifically made for hungry polar bears. They are still working out the kinks: 


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The Golden Globes will be bittersweet this year. Don’t get us wrong — we’re really excited to watch Amy Poehler and Tina Fey entertain us. But we’ll also be also really sad when this thing is over because it means the end of these promos:


And finally, it’s Friday. And it’s time to dance. Enjoy your weekend. 


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Cher Signs Development Deal with Logo

Logo just announced at The Television Critics Association in Pasadena, CA that the network has signed a development deal with the ultimate gay icon, Cher.


AUDIO - Listen to Cher's New Song

The show, which is in its earliest stages of development, would mark Cher's first regular TV gig since The Sonny and Cher Show ended in 1977.

While this could change before the show hits the air (if it actually does), Cher's Logo show is set to revolve around Hollywood in the 1960s. It's unknown what Cher's on-screen participation will be like at this time. 

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Grads’ high score









“Grad tidings are sad tidings” (Dec. 26) takes note of the highly promising CUNY ASAP program at six community colleges, which has successfully boosted three-year graduation rates to substantially more than double the average at urban institutions.

This program has attracted national attention for its innovative curriculum, student advisement and support system and focus on earning degrees.

Efforts are already under way to expand ASAP, offering even greater numbers of associate-degree students the pathway to a successful collegiate experience.

Jay Hershenson, senior vice chancellor for university relations, CUNY




Pensions & power

While I firmly believe that our first responders deserve increased benefits for their heroic service at the World Trade Center on 9/11, The Post’s observation about the connection between lawmakers and the courts is extremely important (“Pension Pay Day,” Editorial, Dec. 30).

Our federal and state constitutions mandate a separation of powers to prevent abuse and to preserve liberty. That was severely compromised in 2009 when Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver engineered the appointment of his childhood crony, Jonathan Lippman, as the state’s chief judge.

With his compliant stooge at the helm of the courts, Silver controls two-thirds of state government, which solidifies his power and makes him more valuable to affluent supporters.

The issue of public-employee pensions is dwarfed by the fact that political opportunists like Silver and Lippman have brazenly corrupted state government for their own benefit at public expense, without repercussion or consequence.

Charles T. Compton, The Bronx

Papa’s pet problem

Why the surprise? We have a president who wants to control everything from medical care to gun ownership (“Washington vs. Hemingway Cats,” Jonah Goldberg, PostOpinion, Dec. 31).

Has President Obama ever been to Key West? Being dressed up is considered sneakers and no socks with formal wear.

Except for a random complainer, does he think those beautiful cats with extra toes — might we say “extraconstitutional” — must be caged for the safety of all?

John Brindisi, Manhattan

Bloomberg 2.0

With the mayor’s considerable influence behind her, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is already putting together her administration and making deals with NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly (“Christine’s Ray of Hope,” Jan. 2).

Her close friends are probably already calling her Mayor Quinn.

The last thing we need is for the mayor’s handpicked successor to continue his pattern of flouting our constitutional freedoms when they conflict with his personal opinions.

Quinn has already shown a penchant for this behavior by trying to shut down a Chick-fil-A restaurant because she disagreed with the views of the franchise’s president.

Mayor Bloomberg bought two terms, then stole another one. Now he wants to continue his reign by proxy.

Gary Taustine, Manhattan

Praise for a pundit

John Podhoretz outlines this conservative issue perfectly (“Conservatives Gone Wild,” PostOpinion, Jan. 4).

One could only wish for more sensible commentary of this sort, rather than the mindless bashing that is characteristic of most op-eds on the left and right.

Chris Armstrong, Tiburon, Calif.









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Needle reaches the inner groove for Spec’s




















In the end, even the almighty Adele and Taylor Swift could not hold back the inevitable.

Spec’s, one of the last great record stores, will close its flagship location in Coral Gables on U.S.1, thus joining once-favored chains like Virgin, Tower and Peaches, locally and abroad, that have withered from Internet shopping.

With the closing, sometime in January after the merchandise is liquidated, 64 years of history becomes memory for countless people who discovered a love of music in the home Martin “Mike” Spector built in 1948 when U.S.1 was but a two-lane road.





The original store, which sold cameras alongside 78-rpm records, was a few blocks south on the highway in South Miami and is now an Einstein’s bagel spot. The present location, opened in 1953 in Coral Gables, lived through the bobby sox era, Beatlemania, disco, punk, hip hop/rap, grunge, electronic dance music and all the format changes including 12-inch vinyl, 45-rpm, reel to reel, 8-track, cassette, compact disc and mp3.

After the first music industry recession in the late 1970s, Spec’s still managed to double in size by breaking through the walls of two restaurants in 1980 on its north side. The original room on the south side of the building would house, first, Spec’s’ VHS movie rentals and sales — Saturday Night at Spec’s! — and, later, one of the most expansive collections of classical music in town.

“It’s the soundtrack of our lives,” said store manager Lennie Rohrbacher, who spent 23 years of his life working at Spec’s, from Clearwater to Coral Gables

Music sales

At its peak, the Spec’s chain grew to some 80 stores in Florida and Puerto Rico. In 1993, annual sales exceeded $70 million. Spec’s went public in 1985 and, in 1998, the Spectors sold to Camelot Music Group, which was acquired by Trans World Entertainment Corp.

Trans World, which did not return several telephone messages, shrewdly kept the Spec’s name attached to the flagship store as goodwill even though, technically, it operated under the company’s retail subsidiary, F.Y.E. (For Your Entertainment).

But those are the cold, hard business facts.

Spec’s was “not like another Eckerd’s,” a drug store chain that also slipped into oblivion amid changing times, said Rohrbacher. “This was part of the community, part of my life. It’s not another store going under.”

Indeed, Spec’s was, first and foremost, a community gathering spot to share a love of music. In the ‘70s and ‘80s Spec’s resembled a makeshift camp site where people would sleep overnight in the parking lot to get the best shot at concert tickets in a pre-Internet world. Spec’s, a hop-skip from the University of Miami’s music school, served as its own music education outlet thanks to a knowledgeable sales staff.

Music education

“The proximity to the UM is prime real estate. Not to have it there will really be different. Even if they didn’t have what I was looking for, the staff was knowledgeable and you were sort of tapping into this knowledge base of people who could turn you on to new music. That’s what I’ll miss about it and the community around the store,” said Margot Winick, an employee at the Coral Gables Spec’s in the mid-1980s when she was a freshman at the UM.





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Lamberti praises agency’s work to reduce hate crimes in last news conference as Broward sheriff




















In his last news conference as Broward’s top cop, Sheriff Al Lamberti praised his agency’s efforts to reduce hate crimes in the county — a finding reflected in the 2011 Hate Crimes in Florida report issued by the state attorney general’s office this week.

But Lamberti, one of the most visible Republican elected officials in Broward, declined to say if he would ever run for office again, or to divulge many details about his plans once he steps down next week.

“Effective Tuesday, I’m going to be back where I was when I started: a citizen of Broward County,’’ said Lamberti, who was first elected sheriff in 2008 but lost to Democratic challenger Scott Israel by about 45,000 votes in November’s general election.





“I sacrificed ... a lot of time with my wife and my son,’’ he said. “So, I’m looking forward to catching up on lost time.’’

A 35-year veteran of the Broward Sheriff’s Office who began his law enforcement career working in the county jail, Lamberti rose through the ranks to be appointed sheriff by then-Gov. Charlie Crist in September 2007.

Broward voters elected Lamberti for an additional four years in 2008, choosing him over Israel, who is a former Fort Lauderdale police officer and North Bay Village police chief.

Lamberti took office at a time when the agency was in desperate need of stability after former Sheriff Ken Jenne went to prison on charges of fraud and tax evasion.

“I think we steadied the ship and got it going in the right direction,’’ Lamberti said, “and we accomplished a lot.’’

During Lamberti’s tenure, the sheriff took on Broward’s rampant pill mills and pushed to have lawmakers make attacking the homeless a hate crime — an accomplishment for which Lamberti expressed particular pride.

Flanked by local representatives of organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Pride Center and the Broward Coalition for the Homeless, Lamberti spoke Friday of the potent partnerships his agency forged with these groups and elected officials such as former Florida Rep. Ari Porth — who also was in attendance — to enact legislation in 2010 that made attacking the homeless a hate crime.

Lamberti said one of the first things he did as sheriff was to create a Hate Crimes Task Force, in response to annual state reports that found Broward led all Florida counties in hate crimes for several years.

“It has worked wonders,’’ Lamberti said of the task force, which is led by Capt. Richard Wierzbicki, who will be leaving the agency as well.

Ron Gunzburger, who has been named general counsel and senior advisor to the sheriff-elect, said BSO will continue to make it a priority to fight hate crimes.

“Sheriff Israel intends to keep the task force,’’ Gunzburger wrote in an email. “The sheriff sees hate crimes as serious incidents requiring prompt arrests and appropriate prosecutions.’’

Holding copies of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s latest hate crimes report, and another issued by the National Coalition for the Homeless citing Broward as a national leader in preventing hate crimes against the homeless, Lamberti presented them as evidence of the task force’s effectiveness.





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The Death of E-Readers Is All Your Fault






So there’s a reading gadget and a reading gadget with Angry Birds Star Wars. Which do you pick? Well, you, cultured person that you are, would select the dedicated e-reader, of course, just like you would rather watch Frontline instead of Honey Boo Boo, or pick up Vanity Fair instead of Us Weekly on the checkout line. Or at least that’s what the ideal version of yourself would do. But as Amazon and Barnes & Noble are quickly discovering this year, the highbrow ideal all too often gives way to the mass-market realities. Sales of the Kindle and especially the Nook fell this holiday season, despite lower prices than more fully functioning tablets, which are distinctly on the rise. And market researchers estimate that these divergent paths will continue — The Wall Street Journal reports that e-readers sales will be cut in half, from 14.9 million per year to just 7.8 million, by 2015. But the death of the e-reader has less to do with the iPad than what’s inside of it: from tablets to TV shows and everything in between, the most high-minded of ideas for cultural consumption always seem to devolve toward mindless entertainment.


RELATED: Gordon Brown Predicts the Future; Cormac McCarthy Doesn’t Tweet






Take Bravo, the once completely enlightened — and completely failing — network that, like Arts & Entertainment and The Learning Channel before they became A&E and TLC, once devoted itself to being a slightly less boring knockoff of PBS. In 1985, five years after its founding, The New York Times‘s Steve Schneider described Bravo’s success, measured then by its 350,000 subscribers, as follows: 



What has kept things afloat for the past five years has been an evolving mix of cultural programming. Nowadays, a spokesman said, approximately 70 percent of the premium service’s schedule is devoted to films, nearly all of which are either from abroad, from the fringes of American production or from times past. The remainder of the schedule is given over to the performing arts -jazz concerts, ballet, opera, modern dance and the like. From Woody Allen films to documentaries about Latin America to performances by the Pina Bausch dance troupe, the offerings range from the challenging to the downright esoteric.



All that changed when NBC bought Bravo in 2002 and gave it a makeover almost completely motivated by ratings. It started with Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which in its first year delivered 3.3 million viewers per episode. Then came the much acclaimed era of Top Chef and Project Runway, which are still considered highbrow in their own way, but only in the context of their fellow reality shows like The Real Housewives. And let’s face it: Bravo is pretty much all Housewives all the time. Well, that and a show about Silicon Valley that features no computer programming at all.


RELATED: Barnes & Noble CEO Is Done with Books; 43 Famous Writers Walk into a Cafe


And remember The Learning Channel? It was founded by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, along with NASA. Really! Then in came Discovery as the new boss, and with it American Chopper and, eventually, TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras, which birthed Honey Boo Boo — not to mention major ratings. Arts & Entertainment has long been a corporate entity, but it gave way from highbrow post-Nickelodeon fare and devolved into, you know, Dog the Bounty Hunter and whatever Gene Simmons is up to these days.


RELATED: The New Kindles We’ll Probably See at Today’s Amazon Event


It’s all a little reminiscent of the days when Us magazine was actually a glossy movie magazine that Hollywood stars loved to pose for. The New York Times started it! Then came a partnership with Disney, and J.Lo, and on and on to the supermarket tabloid you now know as Us Weekly, one of the most successful print publications on Earth.


RELATED: Ebook Juggernaut John Locke Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You


7ba1e  4f7ed729ad329699a488dd5c719abb6c 330x371 The Death of E Readers Is All Your FaultSo, in the slowly dwindling technological world of the e-reader and its advanced brethren, Amazon‘s Kindle is like old-school TLC and the B&N Nook is maybe a little younger and cooler, like Bravo, but still failing; the iPad, however, has Here Comes Honey Boo Boo written all over it. Not that there’s anything wrong with what Amazon and Barnes & Noble were trying to do — a small audience might enjoy a device that has novels and long biographies and maybe some newspapers and little more. But the majority of people these days want to spend their downtime with HBO Go and Netflix apps, with games and email and other ways to relax their entire brains… not just the fancy parts of it. With tablet prices falling to more affordable levels — Amazon sells a Kindle Fire for $ 159 and a Kindle Paperwhite for $ 119 — of course today’s readers are going to choose the thing that helps them go beyond boring old reading. It might not have that easy-on-the eyes screen, but the majority of time spent on tablets isn’t spent reading books but answering emails, reading the news (a shorter reading experience than an entire book), and playing games, according to Pew. Plus, the iPad has its own Kindle app, for those times when you do, after all, feel like indulging in something a bit more highbrow. Because people do, still read a lot of books. They just like doing everything else a lot more. If the death of the e-reader is nigh, maybe the age of the straight-and-narrow, undistracted smartypants isn’t far from ending, either.


Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Rare Photo Of Teenage Princess Diana

A never-before-seen photograph featuring the late Princess Diana has been made public in the weeks before the rare pic is set to go up for auction.

The black-and-white snapshot displaying a "not to be published" marking shows a teenage Diana lounging next to an until-now mystery pal, reportedly dating back to 1981.

Pics: Remembering Diana 15 Years After Her Death

"The young man was Adam Russell, the great-grandson of former prime minister Stanley Baldwin," Andrew Morton, Diana's biographer, revealed to the U.K.'s Guardian. Through his investigation, the writer discovered the context of the photograph was not intimate, as it appears at first glance. Apparently the twosome had been injured while skiing and simply kept each other company for the afternoon.

Now that's not to say the young man didn't escape Diana's charms.

Related: Naomi Watts Talks Princess Diana Movie - Exclusive

"Adam was somewhat smitten," adds Morton. "But absolutely nothing happened."

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Hulu CEO Kilar boogies with a $6 million bonus








Hulu CEO Jason Kilar had millions of reasons to quit.

He bagged a $6 million year-end bonus — on top of the $40 million payout he received for his Hulu stake in October — before announcing his resignation late yesterday, The Post has learned.

While flush with cash, Kilar, 41, told his staff in an e-mail that he was leaving with a heavy heart, saying it’s “impossible to state in words how much Hulu means to me.”

Industry watchers expected Kilar to quit right after he landed the $40 million payout, which coincided with Providence Equity selling its stake in Hulu. But the additional $6 million was clearly worth the extra three months’ wait.





Outta here: Hulu CEO Jason Kilar announced on his blog yesterday that he is leaving the popular video-streaming service, sparking speculation he will return to Amazon or join rival Redbox.

Reuters





Outta here: Hulu CEO Jason Kilar announced on his blog yesterday that he is leaving the popular video-streaming service, sparking speculation he will return to Amazon or join rival Redbox.





What’s unclear is where Kilar will land next. He’s been spotted making the rounds of top venture capital firms in recent weeks, including Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers, Andreessen Horowitz and Greylock Partners.

Kilar is also tight with Jonathan Nelson, who has made a number of media-focused investments as the head of Providence.

In July, speculation swirled at the mogul retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho, that Kilar was poised to join Facebook in a senior position, possibly taking over for COO Sheryl Sandberg.

There’s also chatter that Kilar might return to Amazon, where he was a senior vice president of software and one of CEO Jeff Bezos’ earliest hires.

No doubt Kilar will be in demand given his knowledge of both the technology and media worlds. He could prove particularly valuable to Amazon as it continues to roll out its own streaming video service to rival Netflix and Hulu.

Providence also kicked around a possible investment in Coinstar, which owns those Redbox DVD-rental kiosks, some months ago.

Coinstar’s CEO stepped down Thursday and will be replaced in March by the firm’s chief financial officer. Hiring Kilar could help jump-start Coinstar’s streaming video partnership with Verizon.

While Kilar figures out his next move, his exit poses some questions for owners Comcast, Disney and News Corp., including who will replace him. Kilar has clashed with Hulu’s big media backers at times over strategy, but he is widely credited with turning the site into a popular destination for TV viewing. (News Corp. also owns The Post.)

“There are some possible candidates” to replace him, said one source. They include: Ross Levinsohn, former interim CEO of Yahoo!; former NBCUniversal executive Jeff Gaspin; and Mark Shapiro, who has held top jobs at Six Flags and ESPN.

There’s also the question of whether Hulu’s partners will continue to invest in programming as terms tighten with traditional pay-TV distributors who want to be the sole conduit for all video online.

At this time last year, Kilar boasted Hulu would invest $500 million in programming in 2012. That claim is yet to be repeated this year, even though the firm collected almost $700 million in revenue in 2012. Kilar had been asking for $200 million to grow the business, sources said.

A rep for Hulu didn’t return a request for comment.

catkinson@nypost.com










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College championship won’t be easy money again




















South Florida hotels should count their blessings from this weekend’s football bookings. The championship crowds won’t come this easily again.

With Notre Dame playing for its first national title in more than 20 years, demand is unusually high for both hotel rooms and tickets for Monday’s championship game against Alabama. The teams have two of the largest fan bases in the country, making this BCS game the biggest sports draw since the 2010 Super Bowl was held in Miami Gardens.

But if this game means an enviable match-up for the tourism industry, it also marks the end of South Florida’s automatic dibs on the championship every four years.





Next year will be the last time that college’s football championship rotates among the four cities that host major bowl games. In its place, college conferences will open up hosting duties to any community willing to bid on the championship game — a process bound to pit South Florida against larger subsidies and better stadiums offered by hungry rivals

“There are a lot of communities in the country that would love to host this event, like the Final Four and like the Super Bowl, ” said Michael Saks, COO of the Orange Bowl Committee, which organizes the BCS game when it comes to Miami Gardens.

This weekend’s BCS turnout should offer a tempting target for cities eager to wrest the game from its rotation among Pasadena, Calif. ( home to the Rose Bowl); Scottsdale, Arizona (Fiesta Bowl); New Orleans (Sugar Bowl); and Miami Gardens.

Turnout for Notre Dame alumni is so strong that organizers have set up a special hospitality tent off South Beach’s Ocean Drive. Notre Dame boosters have about 85 busses ready to bring in fans from as far away as Boca Raton for a 7 p.m. pep rally. “They’re thinking it could be 50,000 people,’’ said Graham Winick, of Miami Beach’s special-events division. “We’ve had multiple phone conversations.”

Alabama has its own pep rally at 4 p.m., but Winick wasn’t worried about that event. With Alabama playing for its third championship in four years, organizers are expecting a strong turn-out from the Crimson Tide but not a swarm.

Tickets for Monday’s game start at about $1,000, but sitting on the Notre Dame side of Sun Life Stadium costs about $500 more, said Michael Lipman, owner of the Tickets of America brokerage in Miami.

“The least expensive seats are being bought up by Alabama,’’ he said. “The lower bowl is going to have more Notre Dame fans, and the upper bowl is going to have more Alabama fans.”

Stubhub.com, the top ticket reselling site, said the BCS game is its best-selling event ever in terms of total sales volume. The average BCS ticket was going for $1,800 on the site midweek, up from the $1,200 price tag for the last two BCS games in 2012 and 2011, spokeswoman Shannon Barbara said.

At the Loews hotel in Miami Beach, all but a few of the 790 rooms are booked this weekend. The hotel’s eight poolside cabanas were also booked up at about $600 a day, giving guests access to the two-story apartments with showers, televisions and the option to order some fan-themed indulgences.

Fighting Irish supporters can drink a Pickled Irishman (Jameson’s Irish whisky and pickle juice) and eat Irish Nachos (waffle fries topped with Guinness-braised short ribs.) Fans of the Crimson Tide can order an Alabama Slammer (Southern Comfort, peach schnapps and sour mix) and Roll Tide ribs (soaked in “moonshine sauce.”)





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Requests for gun permits spikes in Florida




















Nearly 800,000 people requested background checks so they could buy guns in Florida in 2012 — far more than in any recent year.

Statistics from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement show 797,970 background checks were requested last year — nearly 200,000 more than were requested in 2011 and more than double the number for 2004, the earliest year for which statistics were provided.

The numbers were already higher than usual in the first 10 months of 2012, but surged after President Barack Obama won re-election in November and skyrocketed in the days after the Dec. 14 mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 children and six adults.





The dramatic spike is likely fueled by fear that greater gun control laws may be passed after the Connecticut shooting.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with the national tragedy. It’s not the direct cause,” said Marion Hammer, the chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association in Florida. “The direct cause is when politicians call for gun bans, that creates fear.”

In December alone, there were 131,103 background checks requested through the FDLE — the highest number the agency has recorded in any single month. That beat the previous record, set only a month earlier, when 84,745 background check requests were submitted in the same month that Obama was re-elected.

“The White House has made it clear that they’re going to push for gun bans,” Hammer said. “As long as people have money and guns are available, I would imagine people are going to keep buying.”

Whatever the exact cause, the most recent presidential election years do seem to have stoked fears of new restrictions on gun purchases.

FDLE numbers show that the number of gun background checks spiked significantly in November and December of 2008 as well, with nearly 64,000 requests during each of those months.

In 2007, the numbers were far less — 36,948 in November and 48,416 in December.

But the most recent numbers appear to show gun sales at an all-time high.

“The NRA is hard at work frightening people that Obama is going to take their guns,” said Art C. Hayhoe, executive director of the Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “Why would you think these guns won’t ultimately be a problem? If you’re going to have a place saturated with guns, why would anybody be surprised if there’s more gun violence?”

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said he doesn’t believe the increased sales are necessarily a cause for concern.

“I don’t know of any incidents that have taken place because of law-abiding citizens and responsible gun owners that have created a problem for us,” Gualtieri said.

The sheriff noted that most of the firearm-related crimes his agency deals with have to do with felons who have guns or guns that have been obtained illegally. Most gun owners are responsible with their weapons and purchase them through legal means, he said.

What would be of concern, the sheriff said, is if the surge in gun purchases is for assault rifles, and weapons bearing more power than what one might require for sporting or personal security. Some gun sellers have reported an uptick in sales of such high-powered weapons after the Connecticut shooting, but whether those sales are widespread is unclear.

“I think there is room for a good, solid discussion about what measures are appropriate and what policies we should set,” Gualtieri said. “This is a tough issue, and it’s an important issue.”

Dan Sullivan can be reached at dsullivan@tampabay.com or 727-893-8321.





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Google emerges from FTC probe relatively unscathed






SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google has settled a U.S. government probe into its business practices without making any major concessions on how the company runs its Internet search engine, the world’s most influential gateway to digital information and commerce.


Thursday’s agreement with the Federal Trade Commission covers only some of the issues raised in a wide-ranging antitrust investigation that could have culminated in a regulatory crackdown that re-shapes Internet search, advertising and mobile computing.






But the FTC didn’t find any reason to impose radical changes, to the relief of Google and technology trade groups worried about overzealous regulation discouraging future innovation. The resolution disappointed consumer rights groups and Google rivals such as Microsoft Corp., which had lodged complaints with regulators in hopes of legal action that would split up or at least hobble the Internet’s most powerful company.


Google is still trying to settle a similar antitrust probe in Europe. A resolution to that case is expected to come within the next few weeks.


After a 19-month investigation, Google Inc. placated the FTC by agreeing to a consent decree that will require the company to charge “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” prices to license hundreds of patents deemed essential to the operations of mobile phones, tablet computers, laptops and video game players.


The requirement is meant to ensure that Google doesn’t use patents acquired in last year’s $ 12.4 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility to thwart competition from mobile devices running on software other than Google‘s Android system. The products vying against Android include Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad, Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and Microsoft‘s Windows software.


Google also promised to exclude, upon request, snippets copied from other websites in capsules of key information shown in response to search requests. The company had insisted the practice is legal under the fair-use provisions of U.S. copyright law. Nonetheless, even before the settlement, Google already had scaled back on the amount of cribbing, or “scraping,” of online content after business review site Yelp Inc. lodged one of the complaints that triggered the FTC investigation in 2011.


In another concession, Google pledged to adjust the online advertising system that generates most of its revenue so marketing campaigns can be more easily managed on rival networks.


Google, though, prevailed in the pivotal part of the investigation, which delved into complaints that the Internet search leader has been highlighting its own services on its influential results page while burying links to competing sites. For instance, requests for directions may turn up Google Maps first, queries for video might point to the company’s own site, YouTube, and searches for merchandise might route users to Google Shopping.


Although the FTC said it uncovered some obvious instances of bias in Google‘s results during the investigation, the agency’s five commissioners unanimously concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to take legal action.


“Undoubtedly, Google took aggressive actions to gain advantage over rival search providers,” said Beth Wilkinson, a former federal prosecutor that the FTC hired to help steer the investigation. “However, the FTC’s mission is to protect competition, and not individual competitors.”


Two consumer rights groups lashed out at the FTC for letting Google off too easily.


“The FTC had a long list of grievances against Google to choose from when deciding if they unfairly used their dominance to crush their competitors, yet they failed to use their authority for the betterment of the marketplace,” said Steve Pociask, president of the American Consumer Institute.


John Simpson of frequent Google critic Consumer Watchdog asserted: “The FTC rolled over for Google.”


David Wales, who was the FTC’s antitrust enforcement chief in 2008 and early 2009, said the agency had to balance its desire to prevent a powerful company from trampling the competition against the difficulty of proving wrongdoing in a rapidly changing Internet search market.


“This is a product of the FTC wanting to push the envelope of antitrust enforcement without risking the danger of losing a case in in court,” said Wales, who wasn’t involved with the case and is now a partner at the law firm Jones Day.


FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said the outcome “is good for consumers, it is good for competition, it is good for innovation and it is the right thing to do.” Before reaching its conclusion, the FTC reviewed more than 9 million pages of documents submitted by Google and its rivals and grilled top Internet industry executives during sworn depositions.


The Computer & Communications Industry Association, a technology trade group, applauded the FTC for its handling of the high-profile case.


“This was a prudent decision by the FTC that shows that antitrust enforcement, in the hands of responsible regulators, is sufficiently adaptable to the realities of the Internet age,” said Ed Black, the group’s president.


The FTC has previously been criticized for not doing more to curb Google‘s power. Most notably, the FTC signed off on Google‘s $ 3.2 billion purchase of online advertising service DoubleClick in 2008 and its $ 681 million acquisition of mobile ad service AdMob in 2010. Google critics contend those deals gave the company too much control over the pricing of digital ads, which account for the bulk of Google‘s revenue.


If Google breaks any part of the agreement, Leibowitz said the FTC can fine the company up to $ 16,000 per violation. Last year, the FTC determined that Google broke an agreement governing Internet privacy, resulting in a $ 22.5 million fine, though the company didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing.


Google‘s ability to protect its search recipe from government-imposed changes represents a major victory for a company that has always tried to portray itself as force for good. The Mountain View, Calif., company has portrayed its dominant search engine as a free service that is constantly tweaking its formula so that people get the information they desire more quickly and concisely.


“The conclusion is clear: Google‘s services are good for users and good for competition,” David Drummond, Google‘s top lawyer, wrote in a Thursday blog post.


Google‘s tactics also have been extremely lucrative. Although Google has branched into smartphones and many other fields since its founding in a Silicon Valley garage in 1998, Internet search and advertising remains its financial backbone. The intertwined services still generate more than 90 percent of Google‘s revenue, which now exceeds $ 50 billion annually.


Throughout the FTC investigation, Google executives also sought to debunk the notion that the company’s recommendations are the final word on the Internet. They pointed out that consumers easily could go to Microsoft‘s Bing, Yahoo or other services to search for information. “Competition is just a click away,” became as much of a Google mantra as the company’s official motto: “Don’t be evil.”


Microsoft cast the FTC’s investigation as a missed opportunity.


“The FTC’s overall resolution of this matter is weak and — frankly —unusual,” Dave Heiner, Microsoft‘s deputy general counsel, wrote on the company’s blog. “We are concerned that the FTC may not have obtained adequate relief even on the few subjects that Google has agreed to address.”


FairSearch, a group whose membership includes Microsoft, called the FTC’s settlement “disappointing and premature,” given that European regulators might be able to force Google to make more extensive changes.


“The FTC’s inaction on the core question of search bias will only embolden Google to act more aggressively to misuse its monopoly power to harm other innovators,” FairSearch asserted.


Yelp also criticized the FTC’s handling of the case, calling “it a missed opportunity to protect innovation in the Internet economy, and the consumers and businesses that rely upon it.”


Investors had already been anticipating Google would emerge from the inquiry relatively unscathed.


Google‘s stock rose 42 cents Thursday to close at $ 723.67. Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., shed 37 cents, or 1.3 percent, to finish at $ 27.25.


In a research note Thursday, Macquarie Securities analyst Benjamin Schachter described the settlement as “the best possible outcome” for Google. “We believe that the terms of the agreement will have very limited negative financial or strategic implications for the company.” Schachter wrote.


___


AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this story.


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Celebrities Who Had Babies Before Marriage

Kim Kardashian and Jessica Simpson are just some of the stars bucking tradition and having children before they say "I do."

Video- Kim K. Exclusive: Pregnancy is Hard

Tomorrow on ET, we break down the celebrity couples who set to welcome their bundles of joy prior to making it official with their main squeeze.

Also Friday, the world's thinnest woman shares her heartbreaking story.

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Deal makes Vanderbeek sole owner of Devils








Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek has finally struck a deal to refinance the team’s debt and buy out his partners, ending months of wrangling over the cash-strapped club.

The agreement with lenders gives Vanderbeek two and a half years to stabilize the team’s finances and meet certain financial targets, or they have the right to remove him as owner, sources said.

He has a chance of hitting his targets but it is far from a sure thing, one source added. Much depends on the new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its players and if the team makes the playoffs. The Devils last year missed debt payments and the NHL had to advance the team money to keep it operating.




Vanderbeek is now sole owner after buying out Michael Gilfillan, who owned 47 percent, and Peter Simon, who owned the remaining 6 percent.

“Our future is now secure, and we can be confident of continued on-ice success,” Vanderbeek said.

While financial details weren’t disclosed, Vanderbeek personally put down much of the $20 million that went to pay overdue loans and get lenders to agree to a $160 million package that covers both the team and arena debt.










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The return of the cranes: Miami-Dade construction projects on the horizon in 2013




















The cranes are coming back to Miami.

The battered construction industry is going higher in the new year after showing strong signs of life in 2012. Will Miami feel more like Manhattan in a few years? It just might.

So far, there has been more talk than action, fewer shovels in the ground than grand announcements. Even so, construction is underway on a dozen new condominiums in Miami-Dade County — something that seemed beyond the realm of possibility not so long ago.





Commercial building is picking up, too, particularly in Miami’s hot new urban core.

The construction sector, which posted 62 consecutive months of job losses in Miami-Dade as of November 2012, is expected to finally begin adding jobs in 2013.

By far the centerpiece project to date is Brickell CityCentre, a $1.05 billion shopping and mixed-use project that broke ground in June 2012 and will span three blocks just west of Brickell Avenue to the south of the Miami River.

The 5-million-square-foot mega-project by developer Swire Properties will include a department store, luxury shops, restaurants, a hotel, office towers and condominiums. It is expected to be connected with bridges and covered walkways and to cement downtown Miami’s emerging image as a trendy place to work, live and play.

In Brickell alone, three new condominium projects already are under construction: Jorge Perez’s Related Group is building Millecento, a 42-story tower with 382 units, and MyBrickell, a smaller project with 28 stories and 192 units shoehorned onto a 0.4-acre site. Newgard Development Group is building BrickellHouse, a 46-story, 374-unit project.

More building, much more, is coming.

“We’re going to see a lot of cranes popping up in the first and second quarter, and a year from now, we’re going to see cranes all over the skyline,” said Tom Murphy Jr., chairman and CEO of Coastal Construction, a large Miami builder that is involved in various projects, from hotels to condominiums. “I believe we as a community — South Florida, especially Miami — will build more in the next 10 years than we did in the last 15.”

Among a long roster of projects, Coastal was tapped by developer DACRA for a major renovation project in the Design District, which in 2012 marked the arrival of luxury fashion retailers such as Cartier, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Celine, Christian Dior and Prada, adding a new dimension to an area already known for home furnishings and restaurants.

DACRA president and CEO Craig Robins has a broader plan to bring in 40 to 50 luxury brands to the Design District by 2014. The area will have a pedestrian promenade, rooftop gardens and public plazas, in keeping with Miami’s emerging urban scene.

The focus on commercial development in Miami’s urban core, is all about providing more services to cater to the new residents who want everything within walking distance.

Spanish developer Espacio USA will break ground in 2013 on the first phase of a $412 million mixed-use project at 1400 Biscayne Boulevard. Starting with one 103,000-square foot office tower, the project will eventually include retail shops and residential units.

“It’s becoming much more of a New York lifestyle, and we’ll continue to see that,” said Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors in Coral Gables.





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New Year is a good time to count your blessings




















The new year is a great time to look back and consider how blessed you are. I try to do that every day, but often in my life I am overwhelmed at the enormous blessings the Lord has bestowed on me.

No, I didn’t get a great big financial windfall last year. And I walk with a cane, because of painful arthritis in one of my knees. Still, I am blessed. I can still walk.

A few years ago, I was told by two doctors that I was going blind. But today, I can see without eyeglasses. So, every time I pass a patch of flowering weeds along the road, I say a silent "Thank you," to the Lord for allowing me to see His beautiful handiwork. I even get excited when I see my mango tree heavy with new blossoms, signifying a bumper crop (hopefully) of mangoes this season. And when I see a momma bird caring for her young, it brings a smile to my face.





Yes, I have a lot to be thankful for as I go into this new year. And so do you. This is even more evident in a letter I received a few months ago from local gospel recording artist Pat Jackson. She briefly told her touching story of survival and blessings and wanted to know if I wanted to interview her. I did, and still do. However, Jackson’s email doesn’t seem to work and the number she enclosed in her letter was missing one digit.

Jackson said she is a survivor of thyroid cancer. Her story is so touching for this and any time of the year, that I will share with you what she shared with me in her letter.

Jackson, 50, has been plagued with serious health issues nearly all her life, that included multiple cysts, benign tumors, diverticulitis, ruptured intestines, four major surgeries, during one of which she nearly bled to death, survived six car accidents and a stray bullet that came through her sister’s home.

She never knew her biological mother or father and spent her entire childhood as a foster child. "I was very fortunate and was able to live in the same [foster] home until I became an adult," she said.

"But," she added, "Today, I am cancer-free, even though doctors doubted that I would ever be able to speak or sing again. To God be the glory, for allowing me life and a second chance," she wrote. She has an album titled, Lord, I’m Still Standing.

What’s your "I am thankful for another year" story? Tell me in a few words and I may use them in a future column.

Email them to me at: bea.hines@gmail.com, or write to me at: Bea L. Hines, c/o The Miami Herald, 2000 NW 150th Ave., Suite 1105, Pembroke Pines, FL 33028.

‘Jews of Asia and Africa’

If you want to be in the class, "Jews of Asia and Africa," to be offered at the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, Jan. 9-April 17, you have until Jan. 9, to register.

The class will be taught by FIU research professors Nathan Katz and Tudor Parfitt, and is open to both degree-seeking FIU students and community members interested in taking the class on a auditing basis.

Community members interested in auditing the class may enroll through the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education at 305-576-4030, ext. 128, or carlaspector@cajemiami.org. The cost is $295. Students seeking credit may enroll in course REL 4312 through FIU.

The 12-week course will look at the Jewish experience beyond Florida, which has been the traditional focus of the museum. The class will also feature guest speakers to include a visiting member of Zimbabwe’s Lemba Jewish community, and will employ different methodologies, from genetic anthropology to participant/observation findings.

For more information, contact Katz at nathan.katz@fiu.edu.





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Judge rejects part of Apple App Store suit vs Amazon






SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday rejected part of Apple Inc‘s lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc‘s use of the term App Store, ruling Apple cannot bring a false advertising claim against the online retailer.


U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California, granted Amazon‘s motion for partial summary judgment, which only challenged Apple’s false advertising allegations. Apple leveled other claims against Amazon, including trademark infringement.






An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment, and an Amazon representative could not be reached immediately.


Amazon has stepped up competition against Apple in recent years, launching its cheaper Kindle tablet computer to go after the dominant iPad and trying to lure mobile application developers to its Kindle platform.


One of the first public clashes in their tussle was Apple’s 2011 lawsuit.


Apple accused Amazon of misusing what it calls its APP STORE to solicit developers for a mobile software download service. However, Amazon said its so-called Appstore has become so generic that its use could not constitute false advertising.


In a legal filing last year, Amazon added that even Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and his predecessor, Steve Jobs, used the term to discuss rivals. Cook commented on “the number of app stores out there” and Jobs referred to the “four app stores on Android.”


In her ruling on Wednesday, Hamilton wrote that the mere use of “Appstore” by Amazon cannot be taken as a representation that its service is the same as Apple’s.


“Apple has failed to establish that Amazon made any false statement (express or implied) of fact that actually deceived or had the tendency to deceive a substantial segment of its audience,” Hamilton wrote.


A trial on Apple’s remaining claims is scheduled for August.


The case is Apple Inc v. Amazon.com Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 11-01327.


(Additional reporting by Alistair Barr in San Francisco; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Jeffrey Benkoe)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Celebrity Weight Loss Secrets

Which celebs are triumphing over the battle of the bulge?

Related: Five Celebrity Diet Tips for 2013 Resolutions

From Christina Aguilera to Kirstie Alley, ET breaks down the stars who are staying trim during the holidays.

Also Thursday, Julianne Hough reveals physical and mental abuse as a child. Plus, an exclusive first look at Jennifer Lopez's sexy spread in Bazaar magazine.

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Take that, Tina!








Andrew Sullivan, one of the most prolific and high-profile writers for the Daily Beast, is leaving the IAC/InterActiveCorp-owned news venture and starting his own subscription website.

Sullivan, who arrived from The Atlantic with much fanfare two years ago to write The Dish blog for Daily Beast Editor Tina Brown, said in a blog post that his contract ended on Dec. 31.

He and executive editors Patrick Appel and Chris Bodenner formed their own company, Dish Publishing LLC. On Feb. 1, they will begin charging readers an annual subscription rate of $19.99 for access to the site, andrewsullivan.com.





WireImage



Just days after Tina Brown steered Newsweek into an online-only existence, she’s lost one of her biggest draws at the Daily Beast: journalist Andrew Sullivan.





The site will eschew ad dollars because of “how distracting and intrusive it can be, and how it often slows down the page painfully,” Sullivan wrote. “We felt more and more that getting readers to pay a small amount for content was the only truly solid future for online journalism.”

He thanked Brown and IAC/InterActiveCorp Chairman Barry Diller for hosting the Dish site.

“We’re sad to see him go, but we’re excited for him as he goes off to try something new,” said a Daily Beast spokesman.

The move is seen as a blow to Brown, who supervised the last print edition of Newsweek, which was folded into the Daily Beast, and laid off about 60 people on the 270-person staff. She will begin publishing a paid digital-only version starting this Friday for $29.99 a year.

“Her biggest mistake from the beginning was merging Newsweek into the Daily Beast, rather than vice versa,” said Samir Husni, a professor who founded the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism. “She was willing to kill a brand that was 80 years old that every household in America knew for one that nobody knows.”

A spokesman for Daily Beast declined to comment.

kkelly@nypost.com










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Portion of Macy’s Flagler Street property in downtown Miami sold




















A New York firm bought part of the Macy’s building in downtown Miami and is expected to acquire the rest. The next priority is negotiating a new lease to keep Macy’s as a tenant.

In a deal that could have implications for the future of downtown Miami’s anchor retail tenant, a New York real estate investment firm paid $15.55 million to acquire more than half the property that now houses Macy’s Flagler Street store.

The acquisition by Aetna Realty Group includes the 48,000 square feet of land that was leased to R.W. Burdine in 1917. Until the recent sale, the property was owned by 23 heirs of Richard and Harriet Ashby, who signed the initial 99-year lease with Burdine. The lease expires in 2016.





The Ashby family began taking steps to prepare the property at the intersection of Miami Avenue and Flagler Street for sale nearly four years ago, said Lewis R. Cohen, a GrayRobinson lawyer who represented the Ashby family in the transaction that closed on New Year’s Eve.

Over the years, Macy’s and its predecessor, Burdines, grew the site’s downtown presence well beyond the Ashby land, and the current building now extends another 30,000 square feet of land. Aetna has also made a commitment to purchase the remaining portion of the building, that is currently owned by Macy’s, Cohen said. But that deal hasn’t closed yet.

“That deal is a sure thing,” Cohen said. “They could not have closed with us without having an agreement with Macy’s completely nailed down.”

When Macy’s decided not to purchase the Ashby land itself, the owners soughta third-party that could control both pieces. The reason: Improvements made to the store over the years straddled both properties, such as elevators and escalators starting on one parcel and ending on another.

“Between the engineering difficulties of severing the properties and the legal issues involved, it would have been somewhere between extremely expensive and impossible” for different entities to share control, Cohen said.

Aetna was one of three bidders interested in the site, Cohen said. One of the other players was the Barlington Group, a Miami developer that in 2011 signed a deal with Macy’s to sub-lease 20,000 square feet of empty ground-floor space for a mix of restaurants and cafes.

Macy’s spokesman Jim Sluzewski said this transaction doesn’t impact Macy’s current lease. He declined to comment on any other pending transaction regarding the property the retailer owns in downtown Miami.

“It’s business as usual,” said Sluzewski, who also would not discuss Macy’s long-term plans for downtown Miami beyond the expiration of its lease. The company’s roots in downtown Miami date to 1898, when the first Burdines opened in a nearby downtown location.

Aetna and its local attorneys did not respond to calls Wednesday for comments.

But Cohen said Macy’s is in the process of finalizing a short-term deal with the new owners.

“They intend to stay for at least the foreseeable future,” Cohen said. “For a minimum of five years they’ll be there and possibly longer.”

Downtown scene

Macy’s long-term future on Flagler Street has been in doubt since 2007, when Macy’s Florida then-Chairwoman Julie Greiner took city leaders to task for the deplorable conditions in downtown and threatened that the retailer might leave.





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Man grazed by stray bullet in Miami on New Year’s Eve




















A stray bullet fired into the air just after midnight on New Year’s Eve struck a man as he celebrated at a party in Miami, according to police.

The bullet grazed the man’s upper left shoulder. Paramedics treated him outside the Allapattah home at Northwest 25th Avenue and 32nd Street. The man, who was not identified, wasn’t taken to a hospital.

Miami police spokesman Detective Willie Moreno confirmed that the victim was struck by a stray bullet.





Homeowner Randy Ruiz said the injured man was a friend of a friend who was visiting his home on New Year’s Eve.

“We had a lot of friends and family in my yard, and fireworks were being fired off,” Ruiz said. “Just after midnight, one of the guests complained of blood on his shirt. So we quickly ran over to see what was going on and saw there was blood on his left arm.”

Neighbor Barbara Jimeno, who has three grandchildren between the ages of one and four, said she was alarmed by what happened.

“It could happen to me or my grandchildren, who live around the block,” she said.

The injury followed a series of warnings from the Miami mayor, Miami police and activists about the dangers of firing bullets into the air on New Years Eve.





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Armed robbers hit Paris Apple store






PARIS (Reuters) – Armed robbers targeted an Apple Inc store in central Paris on New Year’s Eve, taking thousands of euros (dollars) worth of goods, a police official said on Tuesday.


The robbery took place at about 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Monday, three hours after closing time at one of Apple‘s flagship stores behind the Paris Opera which sells products ranging from iPhones and iPads to Mac computers.






The police official declined to comment on reports the thieves walked away with about 1 million euros ($ 1.32 million) of loot, saying the company was still evaluating the loss.


Christophe Crepin from the police union UNSA told reporters four masked and armed individuals forced their way into the shop and afterwards escaped in a van.


“They were well prepared. As the majority of police were busy watching the Champs Elysees (for New Year’s Eve celebrations), the robbers took advantage of this opportunity,” he said.


($ 1 = 0.7585 euros)


(Reporting By Thierry Leveque and John Irish; Editing by Michael Roddy)


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Taylor Swift Harry Styles New Years Eve Kiss

Taylor Swift and Harry Styles had equally amazing 2012's, and they kissed good-bye to the preceding 365 days together in Times Square last night.

After singing on ABC's New Year's Rocking Eve, Swift and Styles braved the crowds to watch the ball drop. And to the hordes of fans who'd gathered to count down to midnight, "Haylor's" ensuing smooch ended up being more captivating than all the twinkling lights in the sky.

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An ugly deal








Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was a model of understatement yesterday when he declared: “This shouldn’t be the model for how to do things around here.”

No kidding.

With a pre-dawn vote yesterday, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a compromise package that undoes the Bush tax cuts for individuals making $400,000 a year and families making $450,000, raises several other taxes and limits personal exemptions.

But the deal was far from done late yesterday: In the House, conservative Republicans had serious misgivings with its terms, and while the expectation was that it ultimately will pass, there were no guarantees.





AP



Mitch McConnell





So, barring a GOP revolt, the so-called “fiscal cliff” has been avoided: there will be no automatic tax-rate hike for all Americans instead of just the wealthiest. But, as Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) noted, the cliffhanger has been traded in for “a journey over the fiscal mountains.”

That’s because the last-minute deal simply postponed dealing with spending cuts, entitlement reform and trimming the national debt for another two months.

Indeed, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the package raises taxes by $620 billion while cutting spending by only $15 billion — a 41-1 ratio. Plus it adds $329 billion to the federal deficit in 2013, increasing it by $3.9 trillion over 10 years.

That means an even bigger battle soon. And, almost certainly, an even bigger political drama than the one America just witnessed.

This time, however, Obama will be without his biggest rhetorical weapon: his insistence on what he so misleadingly called “tax fairness.” Which, Republicans hope, means he’ll have to give more ground, provided they hold firm.

Because the fiscal-cliff package does next to nothing on the national debt and the budget deficit, at the risk of damaging the economy as it struggles to move forward.

In fact, the president’s chief goal throughout the talks was blatantly political, to portray the GOP as eager to sacrifice the middle class in order to protect the rich. (How ironic that most Democrats once vehemently opposed what they’re now staunchly defending as “tax cuts for the middle class.”)

Yet Obama — whose only contribution to the negotiations was creating ill will on both sides — made it clear that he hasn’t finished hiking taxes: Even before the House vote, the White House said that “continuing to ask the wealthy to do a little bit more” — i.e., pay even more taxes — “will be part of a balanced approach.”

In other words, he’s going to play the class-warfare card for everything it’s worth.

But the fiscal-cliff compromise actually brings in $200 billion less in tax revenue than did House Speaker John Boehner’s Plan B, which the president opposed (as, embarrassingly for Boehner, did House Republicans).

The whole idea of the “fiscal cliff” was to create a situation so precarious that Washington would have no choice but to reach a comprehensive solution.

But congressional fecklessness and presidential arrogance combined to once again avoid the unpleasant — but necessary — business of restoring the nation’s economic stability.

For all the back-patting now under way on Capitol Hill, the road ahead is sown with mines.

Take 10, America. It ain’t over.



Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!










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Housing, jobs key to lifting S&P toward record




















With it appearing that Washington lawmakers are working their way past the “fiscal cliff,” many analysts say that the outlook for stocks in 2013 is good, as a recovering housing market and an improving jobs outlook helps the economy maintain a slow, but steady recovery.

Reasonable returns in 2013 would send the S&P 500 toward, and possibly past, its record close of 1,565 reached in October 2007.

A mid-year rally in 2012 pushed stocks to their highest in more than four years. Both the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average posted strong gains in 2012. Those advances came despite uncertainty about the outcome of the presidential election and bouts of turmoil from Europe, where policy makers finally appear to be getting a grip on the region’s debt crisis.





“As you remove little bits of uncertainty, investors can then once again return to focusing on the fundamentals,” says Joseph Tanious, a global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds. “Corporate America is actually doing quite well.”

Although earnings growth of S&P 500 listed companies dipped as low as 0.8 percent in the summer, analysts are predicting that it will rebound to average 9.5 percent for 2013, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. Companies have also been hoarding cash. The amount of cash and cash-equivalents being held by companies listed in the S&P 500 climbed to an all-time high $1 trillion at the end of September, 65 percent more than five years ago, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Assuming a budget deal is reached in a reasonable amount of time, investors will be more comfortable owning stocks in 2013, allowing valuations to rise, says Tanious.

Stocks in the S&P 500 index are currently trading on a price-to-earnings multiple of about 13.5, compared with the average of 17.9 since 1988, according to S&P Capital IQ data. The ratio rises when investors are willing to pay more for a stock’s future earnings potential.

The stock market will also likely face less drag from the European debt crisis this year, said Steven Bulko, the chief investment officer at Lombard Odier Investment Managers. While policy makers in Europe have yet to come up with a comprehensive solution to the region’s woes, they appear to have a better handle on the region’s problems than they have for quite some time.

Stocks fell in the second quarter of 2012 as investors fretted that the euro region’s government debt crisis was about to engulf Spain and possibly Italy, increasing the chances of a dramatic slowdown in global economic growth.

“There is still some heavy lifting that needs to be done in Europe,” said Bulko. Now, though, “we are dealing with much more manageable risk than we have had in the past few years.”

Next year may also see an increase in mergers and acquisitions as companies seeks to make use of the cash on their balance sheets, says Jarred Kessler, global head of equities at broker Cantor Fitzgerald.

While the number of M&A deals has gradually crept higher in the past four years, the dollar value of the deals remains well short of the total reached five years ago. U.S. targeted acquisitions totaled $964 billion through Dec. 27, according to data tracking firm Dealogic. That’s slightly down from last year’s total of $1 trillion and about 40 percent lower than in 2007, when deals worth $1.6 trillion were struck.





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Peeping tom suspect nabbed at Forever21 store at Sawgrass Mills mall




















A suspected “peeping tom” was arrested Sunday after he was caught with video of women trying on clothes at the Forever21 store at the Sawgrass Mills mall.

Andre Clements, 30, has been charged with video voyeurism and disorderly conduct, Sunrise police said.

A manager at the store became suspicious when Clements, 30, was caught loitering in the dressing rooms. Customers also complained about Clements.





The manager alerted mall security, who called Sunrise police. When police arrived, the manager found several large slits in the curtain which separated the fitting room Clements was in and the adjoining fitting room.

In Clements possession police found a Sony camcorder with videos of young women changing clothes.

Clements admitted taping the women just before police had arrived.





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Movers roundup: Facebook, Best Buy






Among the stock activity stories for Monday, Dec. 31, from AP Business News:


— Shares of Facebook Inc. rose after an analyst said advertising spending was picking up on the Internet social network and raised his rating on its stock.






— Shares of Best Buy Co. rose on light volume as the struggling electronics retailer closed out a rocky year.


— Shares of Duff & Phelps Corp. rose on news that the company had agreed to be acquired.


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Hugh Hefner Ties the Knot!

It's official! Hugh Hefner married Crystal Harris in an intimate ceremony on New Year's Eve...

ET confirms that the 86-year-old Playboy founder and his 26-year-old model girlfriend were married at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.


Related: Hugh Hefner's Fiancee Shows Off Engagement Ring

Harris was nicknamed the "Runaway Bride" for calling off the couple's first attempt at a wedding just days before the ceremony in June of 2011. The couple announced their engagement in December 2010.

This is the third marriage for the Playboy mogul, who first married Mildred Williams in 1949 and then wed Kimberley Conrad in 1989.

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Even DC couldn’t stomp on stocks








Wall Street beat Washington last year.

Overcoming an inept White House and Congress, stock markets stumbled through the last quarter to post solid gains in 2012.

Despite President Obama and lawmakers fumbling the fiscal cliff issue throughout the fourth quarter — pushing major US marts into the red in the period — the Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the Nasdaq all rang up solid gains for the year.

For the Dow, which closed 2012 up 7.3 percent, it was the fourth straight annual increase following 2008’s 33.8 percent decline.





Getty Images






The S&P closed up 13.4 percent after logging a break-even 2011.

Bank of America — once the butt of jokes as the worst bank in the US — saw its shares soar 110 percent to $11.61 and outperformed its peers.

Apple stayed on the top of the heap as the world’s most valuable company with a market value of $500.6 billion. Shares rose 31 percent for the year to $532.17.

Stocks weren’t the only winners.

Gold closed up 6 percent, marking the 12th straight year it posted an annual price gain. However, it did not outperform the S&P 500 for the first time since 2004.

Oil had a bad year, with the price of US crude falling more than 7 percent, to $91.82 a barrel, snapping a string of three straight annual advances.










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Florida colleges a bargain, says Kiplinger




















Though Florida’s in-state tuition costs more than double what it did only a decade ago, many of the state’s public universities are still a good value, according to the latest annual “Best Values in Public Colleges” list compiled by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

Florida schools have long fared well in the magazine’s rankings, with this year being no exception. Six of Florida’s 12 state schools made the top 100, with two — the University of Florida and New College of Florida in Sarasota — keeping their place in the top 10, though both schools slipped slightly from their spots a year ago.

UF landed at No. 3 in this year’s rankings, down from No. 2 last year. New College, meanwhile, slipped two spots from No. 5 to No. 7.





In the case of both schools, Kiplinger’s praised what it described as a combination of strong academics and relative affordability. Though Florida’s price of tuition keeps rising, it is still among the lowest in the country — 40th out of 50 states, according to the College Board.

Kiplinger’s also noted UF’s strong retention rate.

“Students stick around, with only 5 percent leaving after freshman year,” the magazine wrote. “And although Florida is a big school — with 16 colleges, more than 150 research centers and institutes, and the largest undergraduate enrollment in our top 10 — it’s still selective, with a 43 percent admittance rate.”

New College is the complete opposite of UF in terms of size (it enrolls less than 850 students) but Kiplinger’s found it also offers “solid academics” along with the lowest total cost of attendance — $16,181 — of any of the top 10 schools. That figure combines the $6,783 annual tuition and fees with other college expenses such as room and board.

Lower in the Kiplinger’s rankings, four other Florida schools were also recognized. Florida State University came in at No. 26, the University of Central Florida landed at No. 42, the University of South Florida was No. 57 and the University of North Florida was No. 64.

Braulio Colón, executive director of the Florida College Access Network, said Florida families looking for a tuition bargain shouldn’t limit their search to state universities. Florida’s community colleges, Colón said, are high-quality, cost about half as much as state universities, and boast a guaranteed-transfer agreement that is the envy of many other parts of the country. Students who earn an associate in arts degree from a Florida community college are guaranteed admission to a state university, though it may not be to the student’s preferred school.

Long term, Colón said, Florida must overhaul its student financial aid system if it wants to maintain college affordability. The state’s largest college aid program is Bright Futures scholarships — some of which are awarded to affluent families who could afford to pay for college on their own. Helping students with demonstrated need must become more of a priority, Colón said, or college costs could eventually spiral out of reach for some families.

“We are at a turning point, right now, as a state,” Colón said.

To see the Kiplinger list go to: http://www.kiplinger.com/reports/best-college-values/





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Frankel gets ready to play politics on a national stage




















Her bags are packed. She’s found an apartment on Craigslist, and the utilities just got hooked up. And Lois Frankel, a Floridian for four decades, has a new and toasty winter coat, hat and boots.

On Tuesday, 20 years after she first hoped to move to Washington, D.C., Frankel finally will be making that journey north. Two days later, she’ll reach the pinnacle of her political career as she steps onto the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, raises her right hand and takes the oath of office to become the newest member of Congress from Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Read the full story at Sun-Sentinel.com.








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Kobe Bryant Finally Joins Twitter — Kind Of






Long among the sports world’s biggest Twitter holdouts, Kobe Bryant has finally joined the social network. But he hasn’t opened an account, and won’t be around for long.


Social savvy fans are being blessed with his presence thanks to Nike Basketball, which has turned over its account to Bryant since Tuesday.






[More from Mashable: Avery Johnson’s Teenage Son Unloads on Twitter After NBA Firing]


Nike Basketball, which sponsors Bryant and produces his official sneaker, announced the Kobe takeover in a Christmas Day tweet. The account’s name is now “Kobe Bryant” although its handle remains @nikebasketball. Kobe has spent the past few days tweeting about a variety of subjects using a series of hashtags that play off the theme #counton-fill-in-the-blank.


He’s tweeted about the Lakers progress as a team:


[More from Mashable: FanDuel Is Fantasy Sports With a Twist]


He’s tweeted behind-the-scenes snippets of training and treatment:


And he’s tweeted a totally normal, typical, everyday holiday family portrait:


Bryant actually joined Twitter for realsies back in 2011, but then deleted the account after racking up more than 35,000 followers in a just a few hours. He’s one of the NBA’s few stars without a Twitter presence. Nearly 90% of the league’s players are on the social network, according to Twitter.


But Bryant did become much more active on Facebook this summer, especially while traveling with the United States’ Olympic basketball team. He has nearly 15 million fans there, and reportedly writes his status updates and messages himself, with editing and actual posting done by support staff. In November he asked Facebook fans whether to join Instagram or Twitter next, and on Monday hinted in a status update that he may soon open an Instagram account.


What athletes would you most like to see get more active on social media? Let us know in the comments.


BONUS: 30 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts This NBA SEASON


1. @NBA


The NBA is arguably the world’s most engaging sports league on social media. Follow its official Twitter account for news, highlights and promotions.


Click here to view this gallery.


Thumbnail image courtesy Flickr, Keith Allison


This story originally published on Mashable here.


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Kobe Bryant Finally Joins Twitter — Kind Of
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Hillary Clinton Hospitalized for Blood Clot

Hillary Clinton was hospitalized in New York on Sunday after doctors discovered a blood clot.


Pics: From the White House to the Altar: Chelsea Clinton Through the Years

The 65-year-old Secretary of State's spokesman said the clot was found during a follow-up exam related to the concussion she sustained earlier this month when she fainted due to dehydration; Clinton was suffering from a stomach virus and has been sidelined from work for the last three weeks.

Clinton is expected to remain at New York Presbyterian Hospital for the next two days so physicians can treat her with anti-coagulants and keep an eye on her.


Video: Grammys Flashback '97 -- Hillary Clinton! 

Philippe Reines, deputy assistant secretary of state, said in a statement, "In the course of a follow-up exam today, Secretary Clinton's doctors discovered a blood clot had formed, stemming from the concussion she sustained several weeks ago. She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours. Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion. They will determine if any further action is required."

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Chill factor








Most popular songs

1. Locked Out of Heaven, Bruno Mars

2. I Knew You Were Trouble, Taylor Swift

3. Gangnam Style, PSY

4. Ho Hey, The Lumineers

5. Scream and Shout, Will.I.Am

6. Diamonds, Rihanna

7. Thrift Shop, Macklemore, Ryan Lewis

8. Beauty and a Beat, Justin Bieber

9. Cry (The Voice Performance), Cassadee Pope

10. Home, Phillip Phillips

TiVo favorites

1. NFL Football: 49ers vs. Seahawks

2. NFL Football: Giants vs. Ravens

3. The Big Bang Theory

4. NBC Nightly News, Thurs.

5. NBC Nightly News, Wed.

Top video downloads

1. Dashboard cam films Moscow plane crash





AP



Cassadee Pope




AP



Carmen Electra





2. Puppy’s first Christmas

3. Collison’s incredible game-tying 3-pointer

Google trends

1. UFC 155

2. Case McCoy

3. Norman Schwarzkopf

NY Post hot topics

1. Bethenny Frankel: Gimme your lawyer

2. Sex secrets of NYC’s men

3. Holiday apart for Carmen Electra

4. Gallery owner’s suicide manifesto










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