Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones running for reelection




















Eight years have passed since Michelle Spence-Jones was elected to the Miami City Commission.

She isn’t willing to leave just yet.

Spence-Jones — who was charged with bribery and grand theft in 2009, suspended from office, acquitted and reinstated to her post — is seeking reelection, she announced Friday. She represents District 5, which includes Overtown, Little Haiti and Liberty City.





Whether Spence-Jones could run again has been the subject of much debate. The Miami city charter limits commissioners to two terms and Spence-Jones has twice won election. But City Attorney Julie O. Bru opined that Spence-Jones could run again because her second term was interrupted by the suspension.

“Our charter prohibits a commissioner or the mayor for running for reelection after that commissioner or mayor has served two consecutive terms,” Bru reaffirmed to Spence-Jones at a City Commission meeting Thursday. “You are eligible to seek reelection because you did not serve two full consecutive terms.”

Spence-Jones’s opponent isn’t buying it.

“The bottom line is, Michelle is term limited,” said the Rev. Richard P. Dunn II, who held the commission seat in Spence-Jones’s absence. “She received financial compensation for the time she was away and she was fully vested in the pension. Are the citizens of Miami going to pay her twice?”

Dunn plans to file a legal challenge “immediately,” he said.

Spence-Jones wants the additional term, she said, “to finish what I started.”

She pointed to the improvements she’s spearheaded along Northeast Second Avenue in Little Haiti. “We cleaned the place up, repainted many of the buildings and recreated a Caribbean feel by adding steeples,” she said.

The ultimate goal, Spence-Jones said, is to make Little Haiti a destination for tourists akin to Little Havana’s Calle Ocho. She has a similar vision for Overtown, which was once the cultural hub of Miami’s black community. To that end, Spence-Jones pushed for improvements to Northwest Third Avenue and provided grant money for local businesses.

“Now we’re going to move forward with a marketing campaign and build relationships with cruise lines and tour operators,” Spence-Jones said. “But these sorts of things take time.”

Other big projects are in the works.

Earlier this year, Spence-Jones pushed through a $50 million bond issue for improvements in Overtown — the largest investment the blighted community has seen in decades. The money will go toward affordable housing and some retail projects.

But Spence-Jones takes an equal amount of pride in some of her smaller initiatives, including a project that brought Hollywood director Robert Townsend to Overtown to film an independent movie. Students from the University of Miami and several local high schools had the opportunity to serve as interns. The film will debut this summer.

She plans to focus future efforts on Liberty City. She is already laying the groundwork for a program that will train residents to become laboratory technicians. A second program will help people with criminal records pursue careers in the automotive industry.

Spence-Jones’s tenure has been somewhat of a rollercoaster. After being elected to her second term, she was charged with bribery and grand theft in two separate cases and removed from office by then-Gov. Charlie Crist. Jurors later acquitted her of bribery, and prosecutors dropped the grand-theft charges.

A vindicated Spence-Jones returned to City Hall in August with newfound political heft.

Spence-Jones is now suing Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle and Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, accusing them of conspiring to destroy her political career via the prosecutions. She declined to talk about the suit, saying only: “I’m going to let my lawyers fight that battle.”

She may have another legal fight ahead.

Dunn believes the city attorney’s opinion giving Spence-Jones the go-ahead to run again won’t withstand a legal challenge. He says Spence-Jones has served two consecutive terms because she was paid for two consecutive terms.

Dunn also criticized the city attorney, saying she likely felt pressured to give that opinion because Spence-Jones is her boss.

“If it stands up in a court of law, I will respect that,” said Dunn, who attended Thursday’s commission meeting and took notes on a legal pad. “But I’m not going to be whitewashed by a city attorney’s opinion that’s biased by her boss’s posturing position.”

Dunn, who also sat on the commission in the mid-‘90s after Commissioner Miller Dawkins was removed from office, pointed to his own accomplishments as a commissioner. He said he helped secure funding for Gibson Park,and quelled racial tensions after Miami police officers shot and killed seven black men in 2010 and 2011.

“Michelle Spence-Jones does not own that seat,” he said. “It’s owned by the people of District 5.”

No other candidates have announced they are running for the post.





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New purported Galaxy Note 8.0 images confirm S-Pen support







Earlier this week, images that were purportedly of Samsung’s (005930) upcoming Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet leaked onto the Web. The slate looked like an oversized Galaxy S III smartphone and included the company’s physical home button, which had perviously been omitted from earlier Galaxy tablets. French blog Frandroid posted additional images of the tablet on Friday that confirmed it will include an S-Pen stylus, similar to the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy Note 10.1.


[More from BGR: Sony’s PS Vita: Dead again]






[More from BGR: The Boy Genius Report: Apple’s iMac takes desktop crown]


The Galaxy Note 8.0 is rumored to be equipped with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display, 1.6GHz quad-core processor and a 5-megapixel rear camera. The slate is also believed to include 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD slot and Android 4.2.


Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet next month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Buzzmakers: Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs and Carrie Underwood Premieres Two Black Cadillacs Music Video

What had ET readers buzzing this week?

1. First Clip: Ashton Kutcher Becomes 'JOBS'

Ashton Kutcher takes on the role of a lifetime in JOBS, and we have your first look at the movie.

In the clip, Jobs (played by Ashton Kutcher) is raving about the operating system that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (played by Josh Gad) created. While Jobs is certain that this will become a ubiquitous product for mass consumption, Wozniak needs convincing.

"Nobody wants to buy a computer," says Wozniak.

"How does somebody know what they want if they've never even seen it?" Jobs replies.

Steve Jobs lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 56 in October 2011 and as April 2013 marks the 37th anniversary of the founding of the Apple Computer Company, Open Road Films has decided to release JOBS on April 19.

Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, written by Matthew Whitely, shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter and produced by Mark Hulme, JOBS details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2001, according to a press release.

Click here for the video!

2. World Premiere: Carrie's 'Two Black Cadillacs'

Carrie Underwood's inner bad girl is darker than ever in the singer's latest music video for Two Black Cadillacs.

Clad in head-to-toe black, the Grammy nominee takes a turn for the wicked as she croons a juicy tale of infidelity and murder at her cheating husband's funeral.

Click here to watch the world premiere of Carrie's latest single Two Black Cadillacs (off her Blown Away album).

3. Pics: Obama's Inauguration Day Diary

The second-term inauguration of President Barack Obama saw Washington D.C. politicians rubbing elbows with Hollywood's elite. From Beyonce Knowles performing the national anthem to Alicia Keys behind the keys at the inaugural ball, Click here for a recap of the historic, star-studded day.

4. Taylor Swift Stuns As Rapunzel in New Disney Ad

Like Jennifer Lopez, Gisele Bundchen, Beyonce, Jessica Biel, Julianne Moore, Scarlett Johansson, Olivia Wilde and countless other A-Lister ladies before her, Taylor Swift is now starring in Disney Parks ad where she brings to life one of the Mouse House's most memorable characters for their ongoing Disney Dream Portrait campaign.

Slipping into Rapunzel's shoes (errrr, hair extensions) for this "Where A World of Adventure Awaits" spot was a dream come true for the Grammy winner. "When Disney came to me and said we want you to play Rapunzel, I was just so honored," Swift said. "It's such a wonderful character to get to play, a childhood fantasy come into reality for me."

Turns out, the gig couldn't have been a better fit because Swift got her start singing Disney songs! "My parents realized I was really obsessed with [singing] when I'd go up to strangers and sing Lion King songs," Swift laughs. "I think about all the times me and my little brother went to Disney World and we were able to escape to that place anytime we had a hard time. Any time you're going through something rough, you can go back into your imagination and you're at Disney World."

Click here for the video!

5. Leo DiCaprio Taking a 'Long Break' From Acting

Unless something was lost in translation, Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed to a German publication that he will be taking a hiatus from acting.

The 38-year-old A-lister told Germany's daily Bild (via Deadline), "I am a bit drained. I'm now going to take a long, long break. I've done three films in two years and I'm just worn out."

DiCaprio's Django Unchained just came out this past month and he also has The Great Gatsby hitting theaters this year (May 10th) as well as The Wolf of Wall Street. So, what does DiCaprio plan to do with his free time? "I would like to improve the world a bit. I will fly around the world doing good for the environment."

The actor added, "My roof is covered with solar panels. My car is electric. A normal person does not drive more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) a day. That can be done with a plug."

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Two arrested for stealing Hurricane Sandy relief supplies from Staten Island church








“It’s like stealing from God.”

A pair of heartless fiends were arrested yesterday after they were caught stealing donated supplies for Hurricane Sandy victims from a church.

Edwin Rios, 46, of Arden Heights, and William Banks, 43, of St. George, were nabbed at the Christian Pentecostal Church early Friday trying to put 35 cases of bottled water into a rented truck.

“When you see creeps like this, it bothers me. If you need it, come get it, but when you take stuff like this it’s like stealing from God,” Pastor Dr. John Rocco Carlo told the Staten Island Advance.




Carlo, a retired NYPD detective, said the thefts began before Thanksgiving, and he reached out to police. The church has been a lifeline for Sandy victims still in need of help.

“I’m glad they caught two of the guys. But to me it looks like a gang, you don’t just operate like this with a couple of people,” Carlo surmised.

The thieves had been hoisting themselves over walls to get into the locked parking lot where the supplies were stored and making off with blankets, diapers, cleaning supplies and other items.

The NYPD set up a sting operation, leaving the parking lot gate open.

Rios and Banks were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, petty larceny and criminal trespass.










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Fed aims for a 6.5% jobless rate




















Six and a half percent unemployment in America would mean almost 2.1 million more people working than today. At the rate the country has been creating new jobs each month, it would take more than a year to find work for that many people.

Keep 6.5 percent in mind this week when the Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday to talk about its efforts to push interest rates down. The hope is that the cheap cash will spur on investment leading to job creation. After all, the central bank has promised to keep its target interest rate near zero as long as more than 6.5 percent of Americans in the workforce are without work. The Fed has put other conditions on maintaining its historically low interest rate such as low inflation, but official measures remain tame. So its job growth the Fed is looking for.

It won’t have to wait long for the latest update. On Friday the first jobs report of 2013 will be released. Hiring has been a slow grind but it has been positive.





Finding work in January, though, can be tricky. Winter weather, a hangover from the holidays and seasonal work ending can slow down hiring.

It will be months, maybe even a couple of years before the U.S. unemployment rate hits 6.5 percent. There is nothing magical about that number, but as long as the Federal Reserve has it in its sights, so should we.

Tom Hudson is anchor and managing editor of Nightly Business Report, produced by NBR Worldwide and distributed nationally by American Public Television. In South Florida, the show is broadcast at 7 p.m. weekdays on Channel 2. Follow him on Twitter, @HudsonNBR.





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Miami police arrest suspect in shooting of woman at Liberty City restaurant




















A suspect accused of shooting a woman in the face after taking her purse in Liberty City was arrested Friday by Miami police.

Kamiah Lanier, 20, was charged with attempted murder, armed robbery with firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and use of firearm during the commission of a felony.

At about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Evelyn Matamoro was leaving Café Ruyi, a Chinese restaurant in the 5300 block of Northwest Seventh Avenue.





As she reached her car, a robber pointed a gun at her and made several statements, which Matamoro, the mother of two young children, didn’t understand because she doesn’t speak English, according to a Miami police arrest report.

Fearing for her life, Matamoro handed over her purse. The suspect then shot her once in the face, police said.

The suspect, who Matamoro later identified as Lanier, ran through the rear parking lot and escaped in a gray Dodge Charger driven by his sister, police said.

At about 7:45 p.m., a Miami officer stopped the car and arrested Lanier’s sister, who admitted picking up her brother but said she had no knowledge of the robbery and shooting.

At Jackson Ryder Trauma Center, where she remained in critical condition, Matamoro identified Lanier from a series of photographs. Police arrested him at 1:55 a.m. Friday.

He denied robbing Matamoro, according to police.

Matamoro was in stable condition Friday afternoon, said Miami police spokeswoman Kenia Reyes.

This report will be updated as more information becomes available.





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Kristen Stewart, Ben Affleck Reveal Movie Crushes to W Magazine

W magazine was able to get some of the biggest (and notoriously private) stars to really open up in a series of screen-tests. Who does Kristen Stewart have a girl crush on? What Golden Globe winner has a "cinematic" thing for Brad Pitt? W delves in:

"I think Brad Pitt is my cinematic crush," Argo star Ben Affleck reveals. "Brad Pitt to me is like the perfect man and actor. ... Brad, I hope this doesn't disturb you to hear."

As for Twilight leading lady Stewart, "I used to have a huge thing for Harrison Ford. But Amy Adams, man, she's my favorite actress right now. I have a total crush on her because I got to work with her."


RELATED VIDEO: KStew's Sit-Down With Her Other Movie Crush

From Kerry Washington to Matthew McConaughey, find out who the A-listers are crushing on at the movies by clicking HERE.


Who is your movie main squeeze?

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Court sets aside 2 of 4 Casey Anthony convictions








ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida appellate court on Friday set aside two of the four convictions Casey Anthony faced for lying to detectives during the investigation into her missing 2-year-old daughter.

Judges on the 5th District Court of Appeals agreed with Anthony's attorneys that two of the charges constituted double jeopardy, or being convicted or punished more than once for the same crime.

"We cannot conclude that the Legislature intended to authorize separate punishment for each false statement made during a single interview," the judges said in their ruling.





AP



Casey Anthony





Anthony was acquitted of killing Caylee in 2011. Jurors convicted her of four counts of lying to detectives, and her attorneys appealed those convictions. Anthony was sentenced to time served for the misdemeanors.

She was sentenced to a year of probation after her release from jail for an unrelated case. Her whereabouts have been kept secret since she was released from state supervision last year.

Jurors determined that Anthony lied when she told detectives that she worked at Universal Studios, that she had left Caylee with a babysitter who kidnapped the girl, that she had told two friends about her daughter's disappearance and that she had received a phone call from Caylee.

The appeals judges ruled that the trial court was correct to allow Anthony's statements to detectives to be used during her murder trial. Anthony's attorneys had argued that she was in police custody at the time and hadn't been read her Miranda rights. They also had argued that Anthony should have been convicted of only a single count of lying because of the double jeopardy concern.

But the judges said there was a break in time between two interviews Anthony had with detectives.

"Where there is a sufficient temporal break between two alleged criminal acts so as to have allowed a defendant time to pause, reflect and form a new criminal intent, a separate criminal episode will have occurred," the judges said.










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Lennar design accommodates multigenerational families




















In some cases, it may be Grandma moving in with the family. Other times, it may be a recent college graduate returning to the nest.

For all sorts of reasons — financial, medical, personal — a rising number of Americans are moving into extended family households.

Spotting a niche in the growing trend, Lennar Corp. has launched a new concept tailor-made for multigenerational family living.





It’s basically a house within a house: a smaller living unit next to the main home designed to provide independence but also access to the rest of the family household.

“People are really loving the whole concept,” said Carlos Gonzalez, president of the southeast Florida division of Lennar, a Miami-based home-building giant. “We adapted to the market from a design standpoint.”

In Miami-Dade County, Lennar is selling various versions of multigenerational homes in three new developments in Doral, Kendall and Homestead.

Louis Moreno of Kendall and his wife, Danilza Velez, signed a contract for a large NextGen home in The Vineyards development in Homestead last October — even before the models had been built.

“We loved it,” said Moreno, a 45-year-old engineer.

Moreno said his mother-in-law will be able to use the new suite when she visits, as will his family members who frequently come to town from Puerto Rico. “This will provide them with more comfortable space and more privacy,” he said. He also plans to use it as a game room and entertainment area.

The two-story Zinfandel home Moreno picked has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in the main home with a family room and two-car garage. In addition, it has an ample 789-square-foot suite with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchenette. The suite has its own garage, a separate front entrance and an internal door connecting to the main home.

The Zinfandel, which has 2,249 square feet of air-conditioned space in the main house, starts at $283,990 in the Homestead community at 128 SE 28th Ter., but a similar home in Kendall would run about $100,000 more, primarily because of higher land costs, Fernandez said. (In Doral, there is a NextGen home priced at $677,990.)

Some multigenerational models have suites as small as 489 square feet, but all have a separate entrance, a bedroom, a bathroom and some sort of kitchen space.

The idea takes various shapes. One option at the Kendall Square development at 16950 SW 90th St. is a Granny unit above a detached garage.

“Independence is the key word,” said Frank Fernandez, director of sales and marketing for the southeast Florida division.

Depending on local zoning rules, some homes can have full kitchens, others are restricted to kitchenettes with a microwave but no stove. Similarly, some municipalities permit the space to be used as a rental, others prohibit it.

The choice is proving popular. Fernandez said in The Vineyards development in Homestead, 10 of the 14 homes sold to date are NextGen. At Kendall Square, 35 of 107 sales are multigenerational, and at the Isles at Grand Bay development at 11301 NW 74th Street in Doral, five of 48 houses are.

Adapting homes for special needs, such as wheelchairs and safety railings, is done at cost, Fernandez said: “That is company policy.”

As one of the nation’s largest home builders, Lennar has been rebounding strongly from the housing crash. Last week, the builder, whose shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, posted better than expected earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Nov. 30, 2012.





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Youth Crime Watch helps kids take a bite out of crime




















Last week’s column generated several emails from you asking if Youth Crime Watch is in every school. Unfortunately due to budgets, we are not, but we do service those that contact us. Therefore I asked our program director, Joel Mesa, to write my column for today to enlighten my readers about our program.

Youth Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County serves nearly 35,000 students per school year via youth crime prevention presentations, safety projects, YCW club meetings, assemblies, rallies, and special events. Our YCW School Coordinators conduct more than 500 presentations per school year at the Miami-Dade schools on: YCW orientations, YCW installation, YCW appreciation, reporting crimes, school safety, school violence prevention, bullying and cyberbullying prevention, sexting prevention, stranger danger, personal safety, drug prevention, gun prevention, character education, cyber safety, anger management, McGruff the Crime Dog, and much more.

I have experienced at first-hand the dominant factors that youth crime prevention education has in molding our future leaders to strive for success and strengthen our school communities. The students are the “eyes and ears” of our schools. They are the primary stakeholders in preventing crime at their schools by educating their peers on safety topics and by anonymously reporting threats and warning signs that can lead to violent incidents. However, they cannot do this without adequate training. YCW of Miami-Dade County’s primary mission is to provide them the training and skills to make their safety visions an observable reality. It is a mission that has been possible year after year.





Children and young people can be so vulnerable to fall for the ills of school crime. Youth Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County has been healing those ills throughout the last 33 years by implementing programs in the Miami-Dade schools. YCW of Miami-Dade County was selected as the National Crime Prevention Program of the Year by the National Crime Prevention Council. YCW educates students on safety skills which in turn the youth apply those skills in their schools to promote safe school environments, educate their peers on youth crime prevention, and curb school crime. The organization also provides students and faculty a multitude of crime prevention materials so the safety education can be reinforced in the classroom lessons and in YCW club activities. YCW is also the premier organization which has McGruff the Crime Dog appear at Miami-Dade school safety functions and help kids “take a bite out of crime.”

School crime statistics and survey assessments have continuously demonstrated that schools with YCW programs have lower crime rates and safer school environments. This in turn is a contributing factor in academic achievement. A child that is fearful of being bullied and harassed will prioritize their fear over their academics. On the other side of the “safety spectrum”, those children that feel comfortable and safe in their school environments will be more motivated & determined to focus on their academics.

Crime Prevention is a holistic process, working with teachers, counselors, parents, administrators and schools police, but the most important participant is the parent. For more information, feel free to call our office 305-470-1670 and we will be happy to send you a brochure.





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TSX near 18-month high, buoyed by Agrium, RIM






TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index hit a near 18-month high on Thursday, as shares of Agrium Inc rose after the fertilizer maker raised its profit forecast and as U.S. manufacturing and labor data drove optimism on the economic outlook of Canada’s largest trade partner.


Shares of Research In Motion Ltd also boosted the market, rising more than 3 percent after a report that China’s Lenovo Group said a bid for the BlackBerry maker was among the options available to boost its mobile business.






Canadian stocks were also supported by data that showed Chinese manufacturing growth hit a two-year high this month. Gains were kept in check by falling gold stocks, which slipped with the price of the precious metal.


In the United States, a private survey showed that factory activity advanced at the fastest pace in nearly two years this month, while the government reported the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits hit a five-year low last week.


“There’s a growing feeling that we’re heading in the right direction. The U.S. economy is showing a little bit of life, and that’s spilling over into Canada,” said Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod.


The Toronto Stock Exchange‘s S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> was up 41.36 points, or 0.32 percent, at 12,835.41, after touching 12,863.47, its highest since August 2, 2011.</.gsptse>


Seven of the 10 main sectors on the index were trading higher.


The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, slipped 0.1 percent as declines in gold stocks offset a rise in shares of fertilizer giants Agrium and Potash Corp .


Agrium rose 3.5 percent to C$ 114.55 after it raised its fourth-quarter earnings forecast as strong grain and oilseed prices spurred demand for its fertilizer products over the fall season.


Ketchen, noting the activity in Agrium shares over the past few days, said, “People are taking another look at it, thinking maybe it’s time to get back in.”


Potash was up 2.1 percent at C$ 42.77.


The energy sector gained 0.6 percent and was the biggest contributor to the market’s gains as U.S. crude oil prices rose.


Canadian Natural Resources Ltd rose 1.5 percent to C$ 30.62.


Financials, the index’s weightiest sector, added 0.4 percent. Toronto Dominion Bank


was up 0.4 percent at C$ 83.51, and the Royal Bank of Canada rose 0.3 percent to C$ 61.62.


(Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Leslie Adler)


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Lady Gaga to Collaborate with Tony Bennett on New Duets Album

Just days after Lady Gaga gave a surprise performance with Tony Bennett at an inaugural ball for President Barack Obama, the pop superstar confirmed she's doing a duet album with the music icon.

PICS: Michelle Obama, First Lady of Fashion

Gaga, 26, revealed the news in a Twitter post that included a link to a photo of her duet Tuesday night with the 86-year-old Bennett for a performance of The Lady is a Tramp. "And here's me and my handsome date, I simply cannot wait for our album together, he's my darling!" she tweeted.

RELATED: Gaga Gives Private Show to Obama Supporters

The two artists had previously performed The Lady Is a Tramp for Bennett's release of his 2011 album Duets II. At the time, the music legend said he was in awe to work with Gaga. "She's the biggest. I'll tell you, I never met anyone with more talent than that lady," he gushed to MTV News.

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A clue? Clintons house hunting in Hamptons - choose broker who listed 'White House'








Bill and Hillary Clinton are house hunting in the Hamptons.

The former president, 66, and wanna-be future president, 65, are looking for an oceanfront property where they can unwind and prepare for their next phase of life, sources tell the Post.

On the heels of her recent health scare, Hillary Clinton — who had a blood clot in her head — is about to step down as Secretary of State and is potentially plotting a 2016 presidential run.

The Clintons have been summering in the Hamptons and enjoy its unique mix of R&R and highly social scene, sources tell The Post.





UPI



Former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at President Obama's inauguration ceremony.





While they have in the past rented a $19 million home on Lily Pond Lane, the political duo have decided to “mix it up” and look elsewhere a source said, adding that they are working with Saunders & Associates.

One of the homes Saunders lists is dubbed the 'White House,' but that $6.9 million home is not private or stately enough for the power pair.

The Clintons own a home in Washington, DC, and a Chappaqua home they purchased prior to Hillary's successful run for Senate.










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Miami Dolphins slam Norman Braman, Marlins Park deal




















The Miami Dolphins ramped up their public campaign for a tax-funded stadium renovation this week, buying full-page ads against their top critic and trying to distance the plan from the unpopular Marlins deal.

The team bought an ad in Tuesday’s Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald knocking auto magnate Norman Braman’s criticism of the Sun Life Stadium deal, which would have Florida and Miami-Dade split the costs with owner Stephen Ross for a $400 million renovation. The Dolphins would pay at least $201 million, with taxpayers using state funds and a higher Miami-Dade hotel tax to pay $199 million.

In a fact sheet sent to media Tuesday morning, the Dolphins listed ways their deal differs from the 2009 Marlins deal. First: Ross, a billionaire real estate developer, would use private dollars to fund at least 51 percent of the Sun Life effort, compared to less than 25 percent from Marlins owner Jeff Loria. Second, Sun Life helps the economy more than the Marlins park does.





“Just because the Marlins did a bad deal doesn’t mean we should oppose a good deal where at least a majority of the cost is paid from private sources and more than 4,000 local jobs are created during construction alone,” the fact sheet states. And while the Dolphins’ Miami Gardens stadium has hosted two Super Bowls since 2007 and is in the running for the 2016 game, “Marlins Stadium does not generate the ability to attract world-class sports events -- other than a World Series from time to time depending on the success of the team.”

NFL teams play eight home games a year if they don’t make the playoffs, while baseball teams have 81.

Miami and Miami-Dade built the Marlins a $640 million stadium at the site of the Dolphins’ old home at the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The Marlins contributed about $120 million and agreed to pay between $2.5 million and $4.9 million a year for 35 years to pay back $35 million of debt the county borrowed for the stadium. As a publicly owned stadium, the Marlins ballpark pays no property taxes. Most of the public money came from Miami-Dade hotel taxes, along with $50 million of debt tied to the county’s general fund.

Sun Life is privately owned and pays $3 million a year in property taxes to Miami-Dade. It currently receives $2 million a year from Florida’ s stadium program, a subsidy tied to converting the football venue to baseball in the 1990s when the Marlins played there. The Dolphins also paid for a second full-page ad with quotes from leading hoteliers in Miami-Dade endorsing the stadium plan. Among them: Donald Trump, whose company recently purchased the Doral golf resort. “Steve Ross’ commitment to modernize Sun Life Stadium -- while covering most of the construction costs -- is the right thing for Miami-Dade,’’ the ad quotes Trump as saying.

Also on Tuesday, Ross and team CEO Mike Dee sent a letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and county commissioners requesting negotiations over the stadium deal. The letter said the deal Ross unveiled last week is a “baseline for debate” and asked for talks. The letter also urged the commission to adopt a resolution proposed by Commissioner Barbara Jordan endorsing the state bill that would allow taxes for Sun Life. The resolution is on the agenda for Wednesday’s commission meeting.





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Many customers on third day without AT&T&#x2019;s U-Verse service




















Many AT&T U-Verse customers still did not have Internet, TV or phone service Wednesday, the result of a mass outage that began Monday and has affected users in Florida and about 13 other states across the Southeast and Southwest.

“I’m living in a prehistoric age with AT&T,” vented Sabrina from Miami on her Twitter account.

Many customers have been frustrated with the lack of communication from the communications giant. Over the past three days, the company has provided little information about the cause of the outage or the timeframe for when customers might see their service restored.





Tuesday, the company provided an email to The Miami Herald that stated the problem was with a server that supports U-Verse, which uses fiber-optic technology. It also stated that the company’s technicians and engineers were working to restore the service, and included an apology to its customers for the inconvenience.

The outage has caused more than an inconvenience for many customers who use the fast Internet service for their businesses.

On Twitter, AT&T U-Verse posted that some customers might be able to restore service by restarting their systems. “More to come ASAP.” That post was about 8 p.m. Tuesday. There had been no update as of early Wednesday afternoon.

“Not a happy camper,” Michael Johnson of Little Rock, Ark., posted on AT&T’s U-Verse Facebook page. The page has yet to post any information about the outage.

On an AT&T support forum, one post said the outage was caused by authentication servers that went down in Texas. It states if the residential gateways can’t authenticate, they can’t get IP addresses. Other angry social media posts have suggested the problem may be due to hacking of the system.

A Twitter post from Carrie Carlton Schumacher of Boynton Beach said it’s no use calling customer service because a recording says that agents will have no information about the outage.

By 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, AT&T issued a statement that said the outage was at that point affecting “less than 1 percent of our U-verse subscribers."

The statement continued: "But that is too many and we are working hard to fix this. We are making progress in resolving the issue which is related to a server complex, and are working to determine when service will be completely restored. “

Meanwhile, AT&T’s U-Verse refer-a-friend sweepstakes continues.





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Emmy Rossum 'Beautiful Creatures' Featurette

Warring supernatural beings, forbidden love between a mysterious individual and a young mortal… Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Beautiful Creatures is looking to capture a bit of that Twilight lightning in a bottle, and we have a first look at the spooky Southern tale starring relative newcomers Alice Englert and Alden Ehrenreich opposite Shameless star Emmy Rossum and veteran thesps Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson and Viola Davis.

Pics: 13 Must-See Movies of 2013

"Audiences can expect to fall in love with these two young people who just desperately want to be together," says Rossum of star-crossed lovers Lena and Ethan (played respectively by Englert and Ehrenreich), who are confronted with a situation much bigger than the two of them.

Ethan is a young man longing to escape his small town, and Lena is the new girl with a dark secret – she comes from a family of witches (they prefer the term "casters"), and when she turns 16 her powers will be claimed by either the forces of light or darkness. With only weeks before her birthday, the two lovers are caught in a tug-of-war between good and evil.

"What I'm offering to audiences is an adventure, but most of all a love story," says director Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You).

Related: Emmy Rossum's 'Journey'

An adaptation of the first novel in the best-selling series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures casts its spell in theaters on Valentine's Day.

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Knicks top Lakers as most valuable NBA team








The New York Knicks have pulled back ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers to top Forbes’ annual ranking of the most valuable NBA teams.

The Knicks rose 41 percent in value to $1.1 billion, thanks largely to the ongoing renovation of Madison Square Garden, which led to more suite sales, ads and sponsorships, Forbes Senior Editor Kurt Badenhausen told The Post.

The overhaul resulted in the Knicks leading the league in revenue with $243 million.

The Lakers fell to No. 2 and are valued at $1 billion, up a more modest 11 percent. Last year, the Lakers were ahead of the Knicks because of a lucrative cable rights deals the team signed with Time Warner Cable.




Besides the new arena, the Knicks sold the most NBA merchandise, showing that fan support is growing, Badenhausen said.

Teams on average this year gained 30 percent in value due to the league’s new collective bargaining agreement.

The Brooklyn Nets — boosted by the move from New Jersey — are valued at $530 million, up 48 percent.

Badenhausen said the Nets may not make money this year, when considering the $30 million-plus annual pilot payments its owners pay for the new stadium.

But revenue will rise significantly from $84 million last year to what sources project could reach $140 million.

jkosman@nypost.com










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Miami Dolphins slam Norman Braman, Marlins Park deal




















The Miami Dolphins ramped up their public campaign for a tax-funded stadium renovation this week, buying full-page ads against their top critic and trying to distance the plan from the unpopular Marlins deal.

The team bought an ad in Tuesday’s Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald knocking auto magnate Norman Braman’s criticism of the Sun Life Stadium deal, which would have Florida and Miami-Dade split the costs with owner Stephen Ross for a $400 million renovation. The Dolphins would pay at least $201 million, with taxpayers using state funds and a higher Miami-Dade hotel tax to pay $199 million.

In a fact sheet sent to media Tuesday morning, the Dolphins listed ways their deal differs from the 2009 Marlins deal. First: Ross, a billionaire real estate developer, would use private dollars to fund at least 51 percent of the Sun Life effort, compared to less than 25 percent from Marlins owner Jeff Loria. Second, Sun Life helps the economy more than the Marlins park does.





“Just because the Marlins did a bad deal doesn’t mean we should oppose a good deal where at least a majority of the cost is paid from private sources and more than 4,000 local jobs are created during construction alone,” the fact sheet states. And while the Dolphins’ Miami Gardens stadium has hosted two Super Bowls since 2007 and is in the running for the 2016 game, “Marlins Stadium does not generate the ability to attract world-class sports events -- other than a World Series from time to time depending on the success of the team.”

NFL teams play eight home games a year if they don’t make the playoffs, while baseball teams have 81.

Miami and Miami-Dade built the Marlins a $640 million stadium at the site of the Dolphins’ old home at the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The Marlins contributed about $120 million and agreed to pay between $2.5 million and $4.9 million a year for 35 years to pay back $35 million of debt the county borrowed for the stadium. As a publicly owned stadium, the Marlins ballpark pays no property taxes. Most of the public money came from Miami-Dade hotel taxes, along with $50 million of debt tied to the county’s general fund.

Sun Life is privately owned and pays $3 million a year in property taxes to Miami-Dade. It currently receives $2 million a year from Florida’ s stadium program, a subsidy tied to converting the football venue to baseball in the 1990s when the Marlins played there. The Dolphins also paid for a second full-page ad with quotes from leading hoteliers in Miami-Dade endorsing the stadium plan. Among them: Donald Trump, whose company recently purchased the Doral golf resort. “Steve Ross’ commitment to modernize Sun Life Stadium -- while covering most of the construction costs -- is the right thing for Miami-Dade,’’ the ad quotes Trump as saying.

Also on Tuesday, Ross and team CEO Mike Dee sent a letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and county commissioners requesting negotiations over the stadium deal. The letter said the deal Ross unveiled last week is a “baseline for debate” and asked for talks. The letter also urged the commission to adopt a resolution proposed by Commissioner Barbara Jordan endorsing the state bill that would allow taxes for Sun Life. The resolution is on the agenda for Wednesday’s commission meeting.





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Growers want state to give them 30-year no-bid access to Everglades land




















Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet will be asked on Wednesday to agree to a no-bid contract to allow two major agriculture companies to farm on Everglades land for another 30 years, a deal that would include pouring tons of phosphorous-laden fertilizer onto the site the state is spending billions to clean-up.

The request from Florida Crystals and A. Duda and Sons is supported by the state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vinyard and South Florida Water Management District officials. But environmentalists aren’t happy.

“The State of Florida is putting 13,952 acres of state land off the table as a possible solution to future problems,’’ said Charles Lee, director of advocacy for Audubon of Florida at a meeting of the Cabinet aides last week. “It is passing up an opportunity.”





Environmentalists have agreed to allow Florida Crystals to continue sugar farming 7,862 acres in the Everglades Agricultural Area because they believe the company is “holding the state hostage” and won’t allow a crucial next step to go forward in the Everglades clean-up plan if they don’t get the deal.

But environmentalists strongly oppose the Duda deal, which would allow that company to continue to grow vegetables farm 6,089 acres of land and pump 339 tons of fertilizer each year into the Everglades, exacerbating the clean-up problem the state is spending billions to fix. They want the state to require Duda to reduce its phosphorous run-off in exchange for the favorable no-bid contract.

According to emails obtained by the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee bureau, Tracy Peters of the Division of State Lands initially suggested that Florida Crystals reduce its pollution levels in exchange for the lease extension. But the attorney for the company, Silvia Morell Alderman of Akerman Senterfitt, responded that such requirements “would be deal breakers” because the company has been improving its phosphorous levels for 17 years.

Peters then backed off and, on several occasions, asked Alderman’s permission to make other minor changes to the proposal, the emails show.

Under a 1994 Everglades Forever Act, the companies were to give 20-year leases to farm land in the Everglades Agricultural Area in exchange for reducing polluted run-off that is choking the Everglades. The proposal to be voted on by the governor and Cabinet Wednesday will extend five of those leases, which are set to expire between 2015 and 2018, and allow them to continue for another 30 years.

In September, Scott formally signed off on $880 million worth of Everglades cleanup projects that will expand efforts to stem the flow of polluted farm, ranch and yard runoff into the famed River of Grass. The agreement between the state, sugar growers and the Environmental Protection Agency, would allow the state to move forward with building stormwater treatment projects and meet a series of discharge limits beginning in 2018.

Lee told the Cabinet aides that the state may not have the legal authority to negotiate the lease renewal in the first place but, if it does, it should attempt to reduce phosphorous loads onto the land. A similar deal was cut three years ago when the state renewed agricultural leases as part of a land-purchase deal with U.S. Sugar and the company agreed to reduce phosphorous levels on the land in exchange for the deal.





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Is Facebook envy making you miserable?






LONDON (Reuters) – Witnessing friends’ vacations, love lives and work successes on Facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness, according to German researchers.


A study conducted jointly by two German universities found rampant envy on Facebook, the world’s largest social network that now has over one billion users and has produced an unprecedented platform for social comparison.






The researchers found that one in three people felt worse after visiting the site and more dissatisfied with their lives, while people who browsed without contributing were affected the most.


“We were surprised by how many people have a negative experience from Facebook with envy leaving them feeling lonely, frustrated or angry,” researcher Hanna Krasnova from the Institute of Information Systems at Berlin’s Humboldt University told Reuters.


“From our observations some of these people will then leave Facebook or at least reduce their use of the site,” said Krasnova, adding to speculation that Facebook could be reaching saturation point in some markets.


Researchers from Humboldt University and from Darmstadt’s Technical University found vacation photos were the biggest cause of resentment with more than half of envy incidents triggered by holiday snaps on Facebook.


Social interaction was the second most common cause of envy as users could compare how many birthday greetings they received to those of their Facebook friends and how many “likes” or comments were made on photos and postings.


“Passive following triggers invidious emotions, with users mainly envying happiness of others, the way others spend their vacations and socialize,” the researchers said in the report “Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users’ Life Satisfaction?” released on Tuesday.


“The spread and ubiquitous presence of envy on Social Networking Sites is shown to undermine users’ life satisfaction.”


They found people aged in their mid-30s were most likely to envy family happiness while women were more likely to envy physical attractiveness.


These feelings of envy were found to prompt some users to boast more about their achievements on the site run by Facebook Inc. to portray themselves in a better light.


Men were shown to post more self-promotional content on Facebook to let people know about their accomplishments while women stressed their good looks and social lives.


The researchers based their findings on two studies involving 600 people with the results to be presented at a conference on information systems in Germany in February.


The first study looked at the scale, scope and nature of envy incidents triggered by Facebook and the second at how envy was linked to passive use of Facebook and life satisfaction.


The researchers said the respondents in both studies were German but they expected the findings to hold internationally as envy is a universal feeling and possibly impact Facebook usage.


“From a provider’s perspective, our findings signal that users frequently perceive Facebook as a stressful environment, which may, in the long-run, endanger platform sustainability,” the researchers concluded.


(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Heath Ledger Through the Years



April 1979- Jan. 2008







Five years ago, Hollywood was struck with grief upon hearing that Heath
Ledger had passed away at the young age of 28. Today, we remember the Dark Knight actor and his big smile and presence on the red carpet. Click the pics for a look back at the Ledger's life in the limelight.








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Tuiasosopo apologized to woman whose picture was used to portray fake Te'o girlfriend

The woman whose photo was used as the "face" of the Twitter account of Manti Te'o's supposed girlfriend says the man allegedly behind the hoax confessed and apologized to her.

Diane O'Meara spoke to NBC's "Today" show Tuesday. She says Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used pictures of her without her knowledge in creating a fake woman called Lennay Kekua. Te'o asserts he was tricked into an online romance with Kekua and, until last week, believed she died of leukemia in September.

O'Meara went to high school with Tuiasosopo, but she says they're not close. She says he called to apologize Jan. 16, the day Deadspin.com broke the hoax story, but "I don't think there's anything he could say to me that would fix this."






Photo of the image used to portray Manti Te'o's imaginary girlfriend Lennay Marie Kekua.



The 23-year-old O'Meara is a marketing executive in Los Angeles. She says that for five years, Tuiasosopo "has literally been stalking my Facebook and stealing my photos."

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Existing home sales and prices rose in Broward in December




















South Florida’s housing recovery is on strong footing.

In Broward County, the median price of an existing single-family home surged 21.1 percent to $230,000 in December from a year earlier, according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors.

The median price of an existing condo or townhouse in Broward in December jumped 24.7 percent to $95,100 year over year, the group said.





Sales of single-family homes in Broward climbed 14.9 percent in December year over year while the volume of condo and townhouse closings increased 4.7 percent over the period.

The inventory of single-family homes in Broward fell 35.5 percent in December from a year earlier, while the inventory of condos and townhomes on the market declined 25.2 percent year over year, the Fort Lauderdale group said.

“Buyers are quite surprised there is not more inventory after everything they have been hearing,’’ said Eyvonne Kafourus, an agent with Prudential in Fort Lauderdale. “I see a lot of people coming in from other states, for job transfers and retirement.’’

“Buyers are getting aggravated because they are losing deals,’’ said Charles Bonfiglio, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors. “Eighty to 90 percent [of sales] are multiple offer situations. They’ve got to move quickly.’’

The median days on the market for a single-family home in Broward declined to 37 days in December from 56 days a year earlier, the Realtors group said.

Florida has been seeing a flow of new arrivals after a period of exodus during the downturn.

“We’ve obviously turned the corner. We’ve noticed inventory tightening up,’’ said Philip Vias, a broker associate with Prudential in Fort Lauderdale.

Vias said more buyers seem to be coming in from the Northeast. “What’s held things up is homes weren’t selling up north. North it’s starting to trickle down.’’

Statewide in Florida, single-family home sales climbed 15.8 percent in December from a year earlier as the median price increased 14.1 percent to $154,000.





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Lemurs run amok in North Miami Beach; scratch toddler




















It was a case of lemurs on the loose in one North Miami Beach neighborhood early Monday morning.

Julio Hincapie, who owns the two lemurs, said someone cut the locks on their cage and tried to steal them around 2 a.m.

The lemurs, however, had other ideas and ran wild through the neighborhood in the 2000 block of Northeast 73rdSt.





They charged at neighbors, launched themselves at police and at one point jumped on a toddler and scratched her face.

“They were scared. They were running around, everyone chasing them. There were a lot of lights,” said Hincapie. “They were scared.”

Rosemary Alonzo will never forget the screeching sound one made.

“A terrible sound, like a ‘roar’, very strong,” she said.

Surveillance video at her house shows a family quickly walking past with a lemur hot on their trail.

“I saw this lady running with a kid in her hands and a gentleman, it was terrible,” said Alonzo.

Her German Shepherd Thor went haywire trying to get it, as it walked the top of the fenceline.

“It was trying to fight and trying to scream at the dog,” said Alonzo.

One of the lemurs jumped on a two-year-old girl as she got out of the car with her mother. It jumped on her and scratched her face just under her eye.

Police and Hincapie finally managed to round-up the lemurs and put them back in their cage.

“In my 17 years, I have never seen anything like this. This is the first time I’ve been dispatched to a call like this,” said North Miami Beach Sgt. Richard Rand.

Rand said when he first got the call he thought he was being ‘punked’ by his fellow officers.

Neighbors familiar with the little lemurs said they are normally no threat.

“There’s nothing wrong with the monkeys. They’re very peaceful, we feed them and everything,” said Carlos Lezcano.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has launched an investigation into the incident.

Hincapie was ticketed for having an expired permit for the lemurs, and for allowing them to escape. But FWC officers say the caging for the animals is actually better than the state requires. They say he will be allowed to keep the animals.





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Atari US files for Ch. 11 to separate from parent






NEW YORK (AP) — Video game maker Atari’s U.S. operations have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to separate from their French parent company.


In a statement, Atari says the move is necessary to secure investments it needs to grow in mobile and digital gaming.






Atari’s U.S. operations have shifted to focus on digital games and licensing, including developing mobile games, and have become a growth engine for its owner. France’s Infogrames Entertainment first took a stake in Atari in 2000. It acquired the remaining stake in 2008 and changed its name to Atari S.A.


But the U.S. operations have been better performing than the rest of the company. In fiscal 2012 digital and licensing revenue both grew significantly and contributed 70 percent of revenue, while sales in bricks-and-mortar stores declined.


In December, Atari S.A. said a credit agreement it entered into with investor BlueBay would lapse at the end of the year and the company was seeking other ways to raise capital. It added that it expects to report a “significant loss” for fiscal 2012.


Atari, which turned 40 last year, was a videogame pioneer with games like “Pong” and “Centipede,” but has changed owners several times amid financial problems. In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, Atari said it had $ 1 million to $ 10 million in assets and $ 10 million to $ 50 million in debt. It is seeking approval for $ 5.25 million in debtor-in-possession financing from private investment firm Tenor Capital Management.


Atari said it expects to sell its assets or confirm a restructuring plan within the next three to six months.


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Alexander Skarsgard The East Trailer

Alexander Skarsgard's new movie, The East, was unveiled this weekend at The Sundance Film Festival, and now a bracing new trailer for the drama has been unleashed upon the world.

In the politically charged drama, the nearly unrecognizable True Blood star plays Benji, a founding member of an eco-anarchist group, called The East, that aims to punish those who pollute the earth. But don't you dare call him the leader.


RELATED - 2013's Most Anticipated Movies

"It's very important to Benji that he is not the leader," Skarsgard told EW. "There's no leader. They discuss everything. It's very decentralized, it's a collective."

Also fueling that hive mind is Ellen Page's character, who she describes as "a very intense eco-anarchist [who] believes in people taking responsibly for their destruction and death and sickness they're putting on the planet." Page says that she related to her character on a ethical level, adding, "In our world, we don't hold those people accountable. I can understand [her] frustration."


Click here to watch a trailer for The East, in theaters later this year.

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Former president Clinton photobombs Kelly Clarkson during inauguration








Twitter.com/@BrooklynSpoke



Oh Bill!

Former President Bill Clinton may have been putting in a request to become the Internet's latest meme.

Clinton, who was in attendance for the second inauguration of President Obama, seized the opportunity to photobomb Kelly Clarkson during the "American Idol" winner's rendition of "My Country 'Tis of Thee."

In the photo, posted to Twitter by Doug Gordon, who describes himself as a Brooklyn documentary TV producer, the 42nd President of the United States sticks his head out and gives what appears to be a look of approval.











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Series for Miami&#x2019;s emerging art collectors begins Thursday




















For art enthusiasts interested in bring their interest home, Miami’s Bakehouse Art Complex is hosting a lecture series for emerging collectors. The first panel, slated for Thursday at 6 p.m., features arists and curators who will talk about fine tuning your taste and learning to make informed decisions. The second session, Feb. 7, is oriented to the mechanics of purchasing. The third, on Feb. 21, explores how to manage your collection.

Moderating all three panels will be Denise Gerson, independent curator who served as associate director for the Lowe Museum of Art for 24 years. Cost is $25 per session or $60 for the series. Seating is limited; reservations are recommended.

Information at 305-576-2828; www.bacfl.org.





Jane Wooldridge





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High prices, Obama-paranoia at Miami gun show




















The Miami gun-show line stretched 200 people long. Many blamed President Barack Obama.

This is what the president’s gun-control talk has wrought: long waits to get into gun shows, higher firearm and ammunition prices and more paranoia.

The word “Obama” was frequently mumbled, muttered, hissed, cursed at Saturday’s Southern Classic Gun and Knife Show.





“Obama” was a catch-all word, a gun-rights shibboleth of sorts, a no-longer-shocking swear, a conversation starter.

To Calvin Hudson, a Miami Gardens resident bargain-hunting at the Miami-Dade fairgrounds firearms bizarre, the Obama-blaming was a sign people were being fooled into paying more in a firearms market panic.

“The industry is getting people all scared of Obama so they can kill us with some of these prices,” Hudson said.

Hudson told a stranger or two next to him not to worry about the president’s gun-control plans, announced in response to last month’s deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

“Obama’s not taking away guns,” Hudson said to one couple. “He just wants semi-automatic rifles off the street.”

It’s extremely unlikely Congress will go along.

The president might drop his “assault-weapons” proposal if Congress agrees to close the so-called “gun-show loophole,” which can allow people to buy arms without a background check.

But Republicans in Congress are likely to stop that, too.

Asked the day before the gun show if universal background checks are needed for any gun purchase, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio suggested he was opposed.

“Well, let me give you an example, the individual who carried out the atrocity in Colorado passed two background checks, one of them erroneously. And obviously the individual who carried out this atrocity in Sandy Hook didn’t pass any background check because they weren’t his guns,” Rubio said.

“The bottom line is, if you write a law, law-abiding people will follow that law. And people that are criminals ignore the law because they are criminals,” he continued. “What is effective is mandatory sentences like those we have in Florida.”

Rubio, when he was in the Legislature, repeatedly voted along with his fellow Republicans to loosen restrictions on guns. Democrats predicted a crime wave.

But the violent-crime rate in Florida has been declining.

And though the push for universal background checks ostensibly targets gun shows, the stark evidence of the loophole wasn’t inside Saturday’s gun show at all.

It was outside, next to the soda machine, where a guy and his friends were hawking a semi-automatic rifle, ammunition and case for $3,000.

No paperwork, background checks needed.

A plumber in line who didn’t want to give his name fretted: “That’s dangerous. That’s how stuff gets on the street. I have no problem treating them like licensed firearms dealers.”

When he first got in line, he shook his head at the long wait ahead: “Obama.”

He was there to buy some high-capacity magazines for his AR-15. The cost has skyrocketed.

Inside, there were bins of gun clips, and tables of shotguns, semi-automatic rifles and handguns, switchblade and throwing knives, sharp steel Ninja stars, swords, stun guns, batons, night-vision scopes machine-gun-conversion kits for semi-automatic rifles.





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Galaxy S IV benchmarks may confirm 1.8GHz CPU and Android 4.2






Apple needs a new product targeting its next generation of customers which will be fueled by this newly announced product


“iPotty: Brilliant, or worst idea ever? Experts weigh in on new potty training device – Unveiled last week at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the base of the iPotty looks like a regular ol’ plastic toilet with removable bowl— but there’s an adjustable stand attached, specifically for an iPad.”






Something easy to clean which will survive toddlers dropping them into their training potty.


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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The Wanted I Found You Music Video Teaser

ET is bringing you the latest sneak peek of The Wanted's highly anticipated music video for I Found You, and this brand-new, exclusive clip stars the youngest member of the group, 19-year-old Nathan Sykes.

Video: Sexy Siva Stars in The Wanted's 'I Found You'

The black-and-white clip shows the talented singer on the keyboards doing what The Wanted does best -- driving the ladies wild.

Video: The Wanted Teases 'I Found You' Video

The group's latest single is off their upcoming album Third Strike, out later this year. ET will premiere the full music video for I Found You Tuesday, January 22nd, and you can catch the full video on Vevo.com and ETonline.com Tuesday night.

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Ed Koch hospitalized with swollen ankles

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch is back in the hospital for the third time in recent months.

Spokesman George Arzt says Koch went to the hospital around 10 p.m. Saturday with swollen ankles.

He says Koch "sounded great" when they spoke Sunday and that Koch says it's "nothing serious."

It's unclear when he will be released.

Arzt says Koch didn't look well at lunch with former aides on Saturday afternoon. He was at dinner with friends Saturday night, including a doctor who recommended he seek medical attention.

Koch was hospitalized in December with a respiratory infection and in September with anemia.




Derek Storm / Splash News



Ed Koch



The 88-year-old Koch served three terms from 1978 to 1989. The Democrat is famous for asking constituents, "How'm I doing?"

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Investors await word from Apple




















No company today elicits such devotion and dedication among its customers and shareholders like Apple. The fervor felt by Apple fans for its products, its leaders and its business underscore the company’s technological eco-centric strategy. While that loyalty has made for rich rewards over the long term, it will mean very little to a myopic stock market when Apple reports its latest financial results Wednesday.

When a company so dominates a business like Apple does, it is subject to plenty of rumors, especially when that company, like Apple, is disciplined to not respond to speculation. There have been a series of anonymous and Wall Street analyst worries floated in the past quarter centered on the iPhone 5. First were concerns Apple couldn’t get enough supplies to build the phones fast enough. Then there were hints Apple cut its supply orders, suggesting slower sales.

Apple optimists have been quick to defend the company even as its stock has fallen from $700 to around $500 per share since September. The stock drop has come even as Apple probably sold a record number of iPhones and iPads during the holiday quarter.





No doubt Apple will trumpet its financial prowess on Wednesday. And it should. After all it generates more than $500 million dollars a day. But the short-sighted stock market has been conditioned to expect big numbers. Therein is the challenge for Apple: incubating such devotion without inflating expectations.

Tom Hudson is anchor and managing editor of Nightly Business Report, produced by NBR Worldwide and distributed nationally by American Public Television. In South Florida, the show is broadcast at 7 p.m. weekdays on Channel 2. Follow him on Twitter, @HudsonNBR.





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