September 14, 2006
OIL & GAS SPECULATORS BURNED BY GREED
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amAMERICANS have just lived through one of the biggest financial frauds in this country's history - and, sadly, most don't even realize it yet. I've been complaining in this column...
FORD TAKES ITS HITS IN ANGLING FOR A FIX
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amFord had plenty of problems - uninspired design, declining market share and mounting losses - when it launched a Web site for people to weigh in on its turnaround efforts...
TARGET: YOUTUBE - UNIVERSAL MUSIC WARNS WEB VIDEO SWAPPER
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amUniversal Music chief Doug Morris launched a loud salvo at YouTube, warning the upstart Internet firm that it could come into the legal crosshairs of the world's largest music company....
FOOL'S GOLD - METALS TRADER COST CITI $20M, HID MILLIONS MORE
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA renegade Citigroup metals trader cost the financial giant $20 million and concealed millions more in trades from the bank, which didn't catch on to her schemes for more than...
NEXT WAVE - NEW HOMES OFFER HIGH-TECH FLOURISHES INSIDE AND OUT - GET SMART - AS BUILDINGS GO HIGH-TECH, RESIDENTS CAN CONTROL EVERYTHING - FROM ANYWHERE THEY ARE
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amWHEN we first met George Jetson, way back in 1962, the idea of homes anticipating our needs seemed the stuff of fantasy. But flash forward less than 50 years, and...
MOCKADEMY AWARDS - FILM SPOOF & RFK TALE TOP TALK AT FILM FESTIVAL
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amTORONTO - "Oscar is the backbone of an industry not known for having a backbone." That's one character's unwittingly damning observation in Christopher Guest's "For Your Consideration," a side-splitting spoof...
'WE WON'T FIDDLE WITH KATIE NEWSCAST - YET'
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amCBS News boss Sean McManus says he will wait at least a month before tinkering with "The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." The Katie-cast's Free Speech segment - in...
MAN AND 'MOON' PUT N.Y.C. BACK IN THE PINK
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amIT'S been more than 20 years since "Dark Side of the Moon" has been performed live in New York, but at the first of two Madison Square Garden concerts Tuesday,...
MEREDITH'S FIRST DAY ON THE 'TODAY' SHOW WAS ... VIEIRA GOOD
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amMEREDITH Vieira's opening line - "I feel like it's the first day of school and I'm sitting next to the cutest guy in the class" - wasn't exactly up there...
STARR REPORT
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amABC's Bob Woodruff, still recovering from the injuries he sustained in Iraq last January, spent the summer with his family at Lake George and is "planning to be back at...
FRIEND IN NEEDY - THERE'S NO ESCAPING YOUR STALKER PAL
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amSTEPH and I met at a party, the kind of downtown bash where the music is loud and the men are short. We danced, compared shoes, bonded over multiple playings...
JAY'DED - 'PROJECT' WINNER BACK ON THE RUNWAY - THIS TIME FOR REAL
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amJAY McCarroll was the first winner of "Project Runway" and, three years later, remains that show's most popular, recognizable contestant - partly due to his charm, partly due to his...
HOW TO GET GUYS - JUST SAY THINGS NO WOMAN WOULD
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amIcould devour you like a piece of chocolate cake, lick you up one side and down the other. I want to ride you into the sunset. Let's do this fast...
AND IN THE MOST 'NO DUH' BIT OF NEWS EVER ...
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amCONFIRMING what the whole world already knew, Jay-Z is coming out of retirement. The 36-year-old Brooklyn rapper and president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, born Shawn Carter, declared his...
'STARS' BACK FIELD IN MOTION
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amABC's "Dancing with the Stars" is back with a bang - and with an instant fan favorite, Emmitt Smith. The retired Dallas Cowboys legend made quite an impression on viewers...
CITY-WIDE OPEN HOUSE IN BEACON
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amIF you're looking to do some upstate real-estate shopping and don't mind a little exercise, check out Beacon's first city-wide open house this Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m....
GIMME SHELTER
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amCALYP-SELL It took Harry Belafonte more than a Day-O, and a little less dinero, to unload his oversized 17-room West Side apartment that he's owned for almost 50 years. The...
NO SOUP FOR YOU - 'SEINFELD' WRITER STARTS NEW TALK SHOW THIS WEEKEND
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amWHY resort to torture when "Talk Show with Spike Feresten" is available? This show is so excruciating that playing tapes of it for prisoners at Guatanamo would probably loosen their...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amBROOKLYN * A dimwitted bank robber claiming to be carrying a bomb was nabbed by police as he waited for an employee to count out cash, authorities said yesterday. The...
$30M GIFT FOR CUNY
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amFinancier William E. Macaulay has donated $30 million to the City University of New York - the largest in its history - to make a permanent home for its esteemed...
WIFE HITS BACK AT 'BOILER ROOM' BANDIT
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA convicted stock schemer who blames his estranged wife for getting him thrown back in the slammer is a lying "thug" who abused her and kept her in fear, her...
DEAL KO'D FOR LILLO 'DWI' PAL
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amThe ex-gal pal of disgraced "Sopranos" actor Lillo Brancato wants to plea-bargain with prosecutors over her DWI charge - but the Bronx DA's Office won't do it, her lawyer said...
DEMOLITION JOB - BUILDING-SITE 'GRAFT GANG' BROUGHT DOWN
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amFour brazen thugs were charged yesterday with putting millions of dollars in their pockets by successfully bullying some of the toughest guys on the city landscape - construction workers. The...
HILL WANTS $2B FOR SICK WTC HEROES
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amThe feds should put up $2 billion for long-term medical treatment for thousands of sick Ground Zero workers, Sen. Hillary Clinton said yesterday. "If we don't take care of these...
ANDY ON THE ATTACK - LINKS PIRRO TO 'FAILED' PATAKI & BUSH
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA day after Andrew Cuomo won the Democratic primary for attorney general, he and top Democratic officials took aim at his "Pataki-backed, Bush-funded" Republican rival, former Westchester County District Attorney...
'BRAVEST' PROVES IT IN RESCUE
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA truck driver was pulled from the burning wreckage of his smashed tractor-trailer yesterday by an off-duty firefighter who arrived moments after the vehicle crashed and burst into flames on...
GRANNY TO SEE NIXZMARY SIBS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amThe maternal grandmother of Nixzmary Brown - who was allegedly beaten to death by her parents - has been given permission to hold unsupervised visits with the girl's five siblings,...
WEARY VOTERS LIKE PREZ MIKE - AMERICANS WOULD DITCH PARTIES FOR INDIE: POLL
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amVoters across the nation are prepared to embrace an independent presidential candidate in 2008 - and Mayor Bloomberg is perfectly positioned for a White House run, according to a New...
KAZAKH 'N' ROLL: BORAT'S HERE!
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amNiiiice! Borat Sagdiyev, everyone's favorite Kazakh reporter, arrived in New York in style yesterday - climbing out of the trunk of a cab. He's in town stumping for his new...
GOVS I. BACK TO DRAWING BOARD
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amState and city officials are tossing out all the bids from developers to turn Governors Island (right) into a major tourist draw, sources said yesterday. The Governors Island Preservation and...
$3.4M STUDY OF SCHOOLS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amThe city has agreed to pay the Rand Corp. roughly $3.4 million to study its effort to end social promotion from the third and fifth grades, The Post has learned....
CHRISTIE TO FILE FOR A DIVORCE - TELLS COOK'S LAWYER IT'S OVER
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amChristie Brinkley is pulling the plug on her marriage to fourth husband Peter Cook, preparing to file divorce papers against the amorous architect who broke her supermodel heart by cheating...
COURT KICKS 'SOLE MAN'
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amThere were more tootsie troubles yesterday for accused foot fetishist Joseph Weir - charged with kissing, licking and grabbing the shoes of female subway riders in Manhattan and Queens. Weir,...
FARE-LY GOOD TAXI $$ PLANS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amTaxi officials today will consider measures that will make fares fairer to both passengers and drivers, officials said. The $45 flat rate charged for taking a yellow taxi from Kennedy...
LAWYER RIPS COP IN DWI SLAY CASE
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amThe lawyer for the alleged drunk who crashed into a limo on Long Island, decapitating a 7-year-old and killing the driver, tried yesterday to shoot down the DWI case against...
HANDS OFF TRAIN BRAKE
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amIn the event of an emergency, do not pull the emergency brake. That's the main advice offered by the MTA in the agency's new evacuation instructions, being distributed at subway...
JUDGE'S GUARDIAN OUT
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amAn embattled court-appointed lawyer accused of mismanaging the assets of an elderly and incapacitated ex-judge was removed from the case yesterday. Emani Taylor, the legal guardian of former Judge John...
'MORAL' MESS OF A MISS - PENTAGON ADMITS WIMPING OUT ON TALIBAN AS CONGRESS FUMES
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - U.S. forces in Afghanistan gave a free pass to more than 100 sitting-duck Taliban terrorists because the military has a "higher moral and ethical standard" than the enemy,...
ANNA CRIME PROBE - DEATH OF SEXPOT'S SON 'SUSPICIOUS'
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amThe mysterious death of model Anna Nicole Smith's son has been labeled "suspicious" - and the sexpot will be subpoenaed to testify at a coroner's inquest, authorities said yesterday. Magistrate...
AGONY OF DEATH-CHASE STUDENT
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amHe was in agony. J.B. Hehman - a beloved NYU student chased by four teen thugs into the path of a car in Harlem in April - was screaming and...
QNS. GYM-CLASS TRAGEDY - GIRL, 16, DIES RUNNING LAPS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA 16-year-old girl who had complained to her parents of being pushed too hard by her phys-ed teachers died yesterday after crumpling to the athletic track during gym class at...
SHOOT VICTIM IDS 'KILLER' COP
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amParalyzed and bleeding on an apartment floor, a Brooklyn man summoned all his strength to finger the triggerman - his good friend of more than 20 years, an NYPD sergeant,...
JUDGE WHACKS TWO CHARGES AGAINST GOTTI
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA federal judge dealt a blow to prosecutors in the John "Junior" Gotti case yesterday, tossing two new racketeering charges after the feds failed to show enough evidence at trial....
SICK HOSP WA$TE - CEO'S JUNKETS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - The CEO of New York-Presbyterian Hospital went on lavish junkets to Switzerland and some of America's most exotic tourist locales, blowing the non-profit's cash on luxury hotels and...
9/11 KIN DELIVER KICK IN BRASS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amCity political leaders, 9/11 families and first responders expressed outrage yesterday that the U.S. military got on its ethical high horse and skipped a chance to wipe out a slew...
ANDY ON THE ATTACK - LINKS PIRRO TO 'DYSFUNCTIONAL' PATAKI
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA day after Andrew Cuomo won the Democratic primary for attorney general, he and top Democratic officials took aim at his "Pataki-backed, Bush-funded" Republican rival, former Westchester County District Attorney...
3 BUSTED IN MEDISCAM: FEDS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA doctor and two pharmacists were nabbed yesterday for allegedly skimming millions of dollars from the Medicaid program and giving kickbacks to HIV patients, authorities charged yesterday. Brooklyn physician Muhammad...
MCG: WIFE IN HOSPITAL AMID TRYST
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amTRENTON, N.J. - In a bombshell revelation, former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey says he had the first tryst of the torrid gay affair that led to his downfall while...
ASTOR'S SPEECH STIRRING DOUBTS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amShortly after Brooke Astor redrafted her will leaving everything to her son, Anthony Marshall, she gave a speech praising the "magnificent job" he was doing managing her affairs - a...
CNN CRIME-SHOW SUICIDE - GRILLED BY GRACE IN TOT-VANISH
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA Florida woman who claimed her toddler son was abducted from her home shot herself to death a day after bulldog CNN host Nancy Grace harshly interrogated her during an...
THUGS BEAT FIREFIGHTER
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amAn FDNY firefighter was savagely beaten on Long Island by three men after attending a 9/11 memorial service, authorities said yesterday. Richard Berkhout, 46, was walking with his wife, Margaret,...
HOOPS KID DIES AFTER 'ZAP' & FALL
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA Brooklyn teenager who had been playing basketball with pals in a locked schoolyard died last night as he tried to slip out through the fence, and came in contact...
ABOUT TIME FOR A GOOD KORS - DANCE DESIGNS ARE SHOWSTOPPERS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amAll of the shows we've seen until this point seem like rehearsals for the main event - Michael Kors, yesterday. Inspired in part by the revival of "A Chorus Line"...
AMAZING RESCUE - 'BRAVEST' PROVES IT IN FIERY B'KLYN CRASH
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA truck driver was pulled from the burning wreckage of his smashed tractor-trailer yesterday by an off-duty firefighter who arrived moments after the vehicle crashed and burst into flame on...
GIRL, 16, DIES IN GYM CLASS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amA 16-year-old girl who had complained to her parents of being pushed too hard by her phys-ed teachers died tragically yesterday after crumpling to the athletic track during gym class...
METS CREEPING UP ON CLINCHER - PHILLIES' SWEEP KEEPS CHAMPAGNE ON ICE
September 14, 2006 | 4:00am11 INNINGS: Mets 7 - Marlins 4 MIAMI - The Mets lost two of their three games yesterday. Heading into the day, the Mets had to have three things happen...
DEVS TAP CAP GURU
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amSearching for a way out, Lou Lamoriello has hired the NHL's expert to help extricate the Devils from their salary cap mess, The Post has learned. Their summer of cap...
CATCHING UP - GIANTS PLAN TO HANG ON VS. EAGLES
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amSure, Donovan McNabb is a quality quarterback, experienced, tough and talented. But the Giants are aware he's not Peyton Manning, and for that they're grateful. Convinced they were one step...
GROWLIN' GATORS ARE TENN-ACIOUS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amJUST when you thought there couldn't be another Manning family storyline . . . Well, it's more of a segue, actually. The Tennessee-Florida rivalry renews Saturday in Knoxville. And perhaps...
LAVAR'S IN RUSH TO MAKE IMPACT
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amGIANT NOTES So, where was LaVar Arrington in his Giants debut? Dropping into coverage, that's where. When the Giants signed Arrington they said he no longer would be miscast in...
NYRA FEARS BANKRUPTCY
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amThe New York Racing Association, which came within hours of filing for bankruptcy last December until New York State pledged a $30 million loan, is back to square one and...
BLUESHIRTS' GOAL: PLAYOFFS OR BUST
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amGuaranteed to happen when the Rangers report for training camp physicals today at their Westchester practice rink: presumptive captain Jaromir Jagr will be asked to guarantee a second consecutive playoff...
BIG NEWS: ILIC INKS NET DEAL
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amNo, it is not a mirror image. For starters, Mile Ilic is a few inches taller than Nets' center Nenad Krstic. But when Krstic looks at the newest Net, he...
NAUGHTY NEW YORKER WINS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amGen. Douglas MacArthur Handicap, 100-grander for NY-breds going mile, was supposed to be run opening day of meet last Friday, then was postponed until Sunday, but was cancelled both times...
WILLIE: MARTINEZ IS NO. 1 IF HEALTHY
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amMET NOTES MIAMI - If he is physically good to go, Pedro Martinez will be pitching Game 1 of the playoffs, Willie Randolph said yesterday. "If he's healthy, yeah," the...
YANKS GOTTA WAIT SOME MO
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amMariano Rivera threw off flat ground yesterday and reported no problems in the muscle below his right elbow that has been bothering him. The Yankee closer threw 25 pitches from...
'05 STRUGGLES PAY OFF IN '06
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amMIAMI - Maybe, just maybe, those meaningless September games the Mets played a year ago weren't quite as meaningless as they seemed. Maybe, just maybe, some of the seeds that...
DEVILS HIRE CAP GURU
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amSearching for a way out, Lou Lamoriello has hired the NHL's expert to help extricate the Devils from their salary cap mess, The Post has learned. Their summer of cap...
RANDOLPH: MARTINEZ IS NO. 1 IF HEALTHY
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amMET NOTES MIAMI - If he is physically good to go, Pedro Martinez will be pitching Game 1 of the playoffs, according to Willie Randolph. "If he's healthy, yeah," the...
A BERNING IDENTITY CRISIS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amBERNIE Williams sought out Joe Torre yesterday to ask his manager if here - less than three weeks until Game 1 of the playoffs - the Yankee manager could explain...
BERNING IDENTITY CRISIS FOR WILLIAMS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amBERNIE Williams sought out Joe Torre yesterday to ask his manager if here - less than three weeks until Game 1 of the playoffs - the Yankee manager could explain...
CHAMPAGNE IS WAITING ON ICE - METS EXPECT TO CLINCH DIVISION ANY DAY NOW
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amMIAMI - There was a cigar on Willie Randolph's desk before last night's game, and the manager said it was courtesy of assistant trainer Mike Herbst. It was almost time...
MELKY-MATSUI DEBATE LINGERS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES The more Joe Torre is asked about Hideki Matsui, the more it looks as if Matsui will reclaim left field from Melky Cabrera. "That's Matsui's job," Torre noted...
ANOTHER GOOD DAY VS. D-RAYS - CANO DRIVES IN FIVE, BUT LIDLE STRUGGLES
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amYankees 8 - Devil Rays 4 The Yankees' magic number was whittled down to seven last night in spite of Cory Lidle, who's revealing he might not be ready for...
YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT SOME MO - RIVERA SLOWLY WORKING HIS WAY BACK
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amThe sight of Mariano Rivera jogging in from the bullpen to signify the end of a Yankee opponent's hope is a familiar one to Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. As...
NO-BUDDIES BUSINESS - CHILL IN AIR FOR MANGINI VS. BELICHICK
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amIf you really want to know about the state of the relationship between Eric Mangini and his mentor, Bill Belichick, read between these lines: Question: "Eric, did you hear from...
MAYBE MEANINGLESS '05 FINISH WASN'T SO MEANINGLESS
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amMIAMI - Maybe, just maybe, those meaningless September games the Mets played a year ago weren't quite as meaningless as they seemed. Maybe, just maybe, some of the seeds that...
EXPECT MATSUI TO BUMP MELKY
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES The more Joe Torre is asked about Hideki Matsui, the more it looks like Matsui will reclaim left field from Melky Cabrera. "That's Matsui's job," Torre said before...
HONORED CHAD PASSES THE ACCOLADES AROUND
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amJET NOTES Chad Pennington yesterday got more good news regarding his long road back from two shoulder surgeries: The Jets quarterback was named the AFC's Offensive Player of the Week...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
September 14, 2006 | 4:00amTroy Stewart, of Lantana, Fla., wanted to break his 10-year-old daughter, Megan, of her fear of heights - so he had her jump off a local bridge with him into...