January 29, 2004

400K AOL SUBSCRIBERS FLEE AS SERVICE BATTLES ITS RIVALS

AOL "bottomed out" last quarter, executives announced yesterday, but it's gambling that a new advertising campaign and revamped content will pull it out of the hole. The service hemorrhaged 400,000...

BOOK: GREENSPAN BLASTED 'CORRUPTING' OF MARKETS

CAPITALISM is not working! There has been a corrupting of the system of capitalism." Did Karl Marx say this? Vladimir Lenin? John Lennon? None of the above. That quote -...

LBO FIRMS SHOW HEALTHY INTEREST IN VITAMIN GIANT

Leiner Health Products, one of the country's top makers of private-label vitamins, dietary supplements and over-the-counter drugs, is all pumped up for a sale, The Post has learned. Leiner's parent,...

DE SOLE CASHES OUT $25M IN GUCCI STOCK

Domenico De Sole has begun cashing out his Gucci Group stock options four months before he is scheduled to leave the company, a series of financial filings show. De Sole,...

FREDDIE TO PUT ON A $200M FIX

Freddie Mac restated its revenue fo $5 billion - and now the company plans to spend another $200 million to help fix the problem, officials with the mortgage company said...

BARCLAYS SAY THEY BID $18 A SHARE

Reclusive brothers David and Frederick Barclay, who have proposed to buy ousted Hollinger International CEO Conrad Black's controlling stake in the company, say they made an offer to buy the...

PROBE OF EXCHANGE OVERSIGHT EXPANDS

An SEC investigation into how the New York Stock Exchange regulates itself has been expanded to include self regulation at other exchanges around the country, The Post has learned. The...

MARTS ARE FED UP ; GREENSPAN MOVE SLAMS DOW WITH 141-PT. DROP

Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan knocked stocks for a loop yesterday with a hint of the coming end to historically cheap and easy money for businesses. After comments from the...

TRUMP TO GET $1M ADVANCE FOR 'APPRENTICE'-INSPIRED BOOK

Donald Trump has returned to Random House for his next book - pegged to his experiences on NBC's hit show "The Apprentice." The tome is to hit in April 2004,...

CBS MARKETWATCH ORDERS ITS REPORTERS TO REGISTER STOCK HOLDINGS WITH BOSSES

In a widening crackdown to prevent business journalists from dabbling in stocks of companies they cover, CBS MarketWatch is requiring reporters to register all their stocks with bosses. Just two...

TRUMP STRIKES 'APPRENTICE'-INSPIRED BOOK DEAL

Mega developer and star of NBC's The Apprentice, Donald Trump, has returned to Random House for his next book, hitting in April 2004 just in time for his show's finale....

ALL OVER BUT THE CRYING FOR 'FRIENDS'

FOR the cast and crew of "Friends," the walk-up to the taping of the show's final episode last week was a bittersweet whirlwind. There were no less than three major...

A-DO'H!-RABLE; COMMERCIALS IN SUNDAY'S SUPER BOWL SPORT SOME SURPRISING STARS

HOMER Simpson is going to the Super Bowl on Sunday. The animated star of "The Simpsons" will headline a 30-second MasterCard ad - one of several funky spots airing during...

OUTKAST HOLDS FAST IN TOP SPOT

SOUTHERN hip- hoppers OutKast held on to the top of the charts for the second week in a row, adding 86,421 copies of their double album, "Speakerboxx/The Love Below," for...

FOR DISS & DAT ; ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS, SAY IT WITH RAP LYRICS

IT is a truth, universally acknowledged, that nothing rhymes with the word orange. Unless, that is, you're Nelson Rodriguez, an enterprising New York rapper with a mouthful of gold who...

A KILLER MUGSHOT; 'PERFECT HUSBAND' GETS A JUMP ON THE REAL THING

Giving new meaning, or at least new timing, to the phrase "ripped from the headlines," USA Network has cobbled together a movie from a news story so fresh, it hasn't...

STARR REPORT

Reege's tribute Regis Philbin on his pal Jack Paar, who died Tuesday at the age of 85: "There never has been another man like Jack Paar. He was a man...

FRIEND OR FAUX? FOOL EVERYONE WITH AN EBAY 'IMAGINARY GIRLFRIEND'

FOR just $50, you can rent a girlfriend for a month. You'll never get to kiss her, give her flowers or even meet her, but at least she'll send you...

SEX APPEAL IS GOING TO WORK: WOMEN USING SECRET WEAPON TO TRUMP GUYS

THE battle of the sexes may be the longest fight in history, but on TV, eight beautiful women are killing their male competition by relying on the oldest rule in...

GAMBLING TAKES CENTER STAGE ON SUPER SUNDAY

PATRIOTS versus Panthers isn't merely a football game. It's the Super Bowl of Gambling. From the Las Vegas casinos ($70-something million), to telephone calls to your neighborhood bookie, to offshore...

DIVA TAKES $7M FOR GLASS-TOWER DUPLEX

Domestic diva Martha Stewart has finally unloaded her downtown domicile. The embattled tycoon of taste has just gone to contract on her unoccupied condo in the Richard Meier Building on...

BRIT TO GET BOOT IN WTC $CAM

A British citizen who tried to scam redevelopment officials out of $12,000 in downtown residential grants intended for post-9/11 relief has been sentenced to six months in jail and will...

PUSH TO DEFEAT ID-THIEF DECEIT

A crook made off with Wanda Ortiz's identity last February and the 29-year-old housekeeper is fighting to clear her name and get sole custody of her Social Security number. The...

STORE'S 3G FINE SPURS NEW BATTLE OVER OLD BOTTLES

Vintage isn't just a look - it's the law. That's the hard lesson for the owner of one Brooklyn furniture store, who was hit with a $3,500 fine last month...

BRAINIACS BID FOR SCHOOL AID

Three Big Apple high-school students yesterday were named finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, the nation's oldest pre-college science competition. Matan Harel of Stuyvesant HS in Manhattan, Shaye Storm...

'WE WERE ALL WRONG ON WMD'

WASHINGTON - Former CIA weapons inspector David Kay admitted to Congress yesterday that Iraq almost certainly did not have weapons of mass destruction before the war. But he blamed faulty...

MIKE PLANS SNUB-YA TO DUBYA

When President Bush accepts the Republican nomination at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 2, one prominent New York Republican isn't likely to be standing with him - Mayor Bloomberg. The...

TWO-THIRDS FAIL THE REGENTS

Nearly two-thirds of last year's city high-school graduating class failed to pass the five Regents exams required to obtain a diploma, new statistics show. But some managed to graduate because...

SADDAM'S OIL BRIBES ; IRAQIS PROBE PAYOFFS TO HONCHOS IN '46 NATIONS'

Iraqi leaders yesterday began an investigation into whether Saddam Hussein bribed politicians and institutions from 46 nations - including senior French officials, the ruling parties of India and Bulgaria and...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Cops staking out a brothel got the shock of their lives when their own police chief emerged. James Martin Leason, chief of the Runnemede, Pa., police, was busted after allegedly...

CANCER KID'S DESPERATE DAD CAN'T VISIT

LOS ANGELES - A family court judge yesterday rejected a desperate plea for visitation by the estranged father of Michael Jackson's cancer-stricken accuser. The dad, who's name is being withheld...

2 FERRY BIGS REFUSING TO MEET WITH FED CRASH PROBERS

Two city officials at the center of the Staten Island Ferry disaster are stonewalling the investigation by refusing to meet with federal prosecutors, law-enforcement sources told The Post. Department of...

STEPBROTHERS FLEECED OF 16G IN COLLEGE FUNDS

A Long Island mom was horrified to discover more than $16,000 missing from the college-savings accounts for her two young sons - and that her grown stepson allegedly forged their...

MASSIVE COMPUTER VIRUS PUTS THE SNAIL IN E-MAIL

The most virulent computer infection in history, MyDoom, continued to jam e-mail boxes worldwide yesterday and slow down the Internet. As the FBI launched an investigation, virus hunters also discovered...

SPORTS ICAHN IN $10M BOOST

Financier Carl Icahn has donated $10 million to help the Parks Department build a $40 million track-and-field stadium on Randalls Island that will bear his name, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday....

DA DETAILS GRUESOME 'DAD SLAY'

A correctional officer accused of beating her father to death with a pipe to cash in on his $1 million estate originally planned to wipe out her entire family, a...

BOO BIRDS BASH GOV OVER SPORTS TIX TAX

Sports fans cried foul yesterday over a proposed new state "ticket tax" for all college and pro games to pay for improved emergency cellphone service and other "security" measures. Tucked...

NEW SLAY RAP IN HIT-RUN HORROR

The Long Island chef arrested in the fatal triple hit-run of a teenaged Queens mother is facing additional, more serious charges, authorities said yesterday. Raymundo Herrera, 32, was busted Tuesday...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

Bronx Hours after he was charged with his girlfriend's murder, a Castle Hill man was arrested yesterday for a fatal hit and run that occurred nearly two years ago, cops...

BLOTTO JACKO; STINTS IN REHAB, MAG SAYS

Pop star Peter Pan wannabe Michael Jackson, who stands accused of plying a young cancer patient with wine to get him to submit to his sexual advances, has been treated...

MIKE TAKES HITS ON TICKET BLITZ

The City Council will ask the Bloomberg administration to explain how it missed counting 128,729 quality-of-life summonses, said officials who were fuming over the hidden ticket blitz. "It's a serious,...

FEDS ICE SIX-STATE CIG RING

The feds have busted a massive, multimillion-dollar cigarette-smuggling ring that operated out of New York, New Jersey and four other states, officials said yesterday. The crackdown, described as one of...

OPENING THE DOOR; SCHOOLBOY'S STORY BACKS KILLER COP'S TALE

A 14-year-old boy is the new mystery witness helping cops piece together how a housing officer shot an unarmed teenager in a rooftop stairwell, law-enforcement sources said yesterday. Cops took...

CITY $CORES AFTER YANK 500G ERROR AT HOME

The Yankees over-billed the city nearly $500,000 in maintenance expenses in 2002, City Comptroller Bill Thompson said. Thompson said he recouped the money with routine audits. Under a 1972 lease...

SLASH-SLAY TWIST; KILLER TRIED TO MOLEST GIRL: VICTIM'S KIN

An 18-year-old Queens man slain in a one-man crime wave last week died defending a young relative from a potentially vicious sexual assault, family members told The Post. The teen,...

MORE SUBWAY BOOTHS GET BOOT

The MTA will shut down 17 subway-station booths over the next two months starting tomorrow, officials said yesterday. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved the closing of 62 booths last year...

SLAMMER FOR WEALTHY 9/11 FLIMFLAMMER

An elderly millionairess pleaded guilty yesterday to taking advantage of the mass murders at the World Trade Center by scamming money from 9/11 relief organizations. The plea means Beatrice Kaufman,...

-HINTS ON HOW HE'S TRYING TO SAVE FACE (M)-LOOKS LIKE BIG JOHN'S TRYING TO SAVE FACE (S, LCF)

WASHINGTON - Democratic front-runner John Kerry denied yesterday he's had Botox injections or cosmetic work done on his increasingly taut face. Rumors about Kerry getting a face job have been...

FLU MOST FOWL; RUSH FOR BIRD-BUG VACCINES

Officials around the world scrambled yesterday to come to terms with the rapidly spreading bird flu strain in Asia, making plans to rush a new vaccine into production and urging...

SUICIDE DOPE'S EXCUSE

A Manhattan lawyer whose catastrophically botched suicide-by-stove attempt blew up three floors of Stuyvesant Town told a judge yesterday he had no idea gas could explode. The bizarre admission by...

LOST SOUL: 'BATTERER' BROWN BUSTED

James Brown looked like something the cat dragged in yesterday after cops busted him for allegedly attacking his young wife. His face unshaven and his hair a horror show, the...

SCHOOL BLITZ GETS 'A'

The number of crimes at the city's 12 most dangerous schools dropped dramatically in the first week of Mayor Bloomberg's school safety crackdown, officials said yesterday. The average number of...

SLOW SNOW CRAWL: DAFFY DIG-OUT AS APPLE SHAKES OFF BIG BLAST

He's the Pied Piper of the snowblower - a Central Park maintenance man who attracted a conga line of cold commuters as he cleared 10 inches of snow from a...

WITNESS WOES; MARTHA'S BUDDY FACES LEGAL FIGHT

Martha Stewart's best pal, who has been called to testify against the domestic diva at her sensational trial, is a "mercurial" Connecticut real-estate agent battling her own financial and legal...

CAROLINA THE PLACE FOR SHARPTON TO MAKE HIS MOVE

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Now it's Al Sharpton's move as the presidential race hits South Carolina, where 50 percent of the Democratic primary voters could be black. It's the biggest test...

STUNG - CAB FARES RISE 26%; HAIL STORM: TAXI RIDERS GET RUN OVER WITH 26% FARE HIKE

Get ready to dig deeper for a taxi ride. Riders will be socked with a 26 percent fare hike under a new proposal that will raise rates for the first...

L.I. KIDS ROBBED OF SNOW $$

A pair of enterprising Long Island schoolkids, who took advantage of canceled classes yesterday to find work shoveling snow, were robbed of their hard-earned cash by two heartless thugs. The...

DIDDY DRIVER'S HELL; STRESSED OUT WHEEL MAN TELLS OF NARROW ESCAPE WITH J.LO FROM CLUB SHOOTING

A limo driver says one night with J. Lo and P. Diddy ruined his life. Wardel Fenderson has been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and has been in constant fear...

TOP DEAN AIDE GETS AXED FOR GORE GUY

Slip-sliding Democrat Howard Dean last night ditched his campaign manager and reached for help from Al Gore as he sought a way to take on newly crowned front-runner John Kerry....

OREGON HOTEL WORKER: I HAD CONSENSUAL SEX WITH KOBE

LOS ANGELES - An Oregon hotel worker reportedly has told Colorado authorities she had a fling with Kobe Bryant, feeding a prosecution theory that the embattled hoops star trolls hotels...

SADDAM'S OIL BRIBES; IRAQIS PROBE PAYOFFS TO HONCHOS IN '46 NATIONS'

Iraqi leaders yesterday began an investigation into whether Saddam Hussein bribed politicians and institutions from 46 nations - including senior French officials, the ruling parties of India and Bulgaria and...

ISRAELIS KILL 9 IN ARMORED GAZA RAID

JERUSALEM - Israel killed nine Palestinians in a sweep through an arms-smuggling quarter of Gaza City, but also began a prisoner exchange today that had been three years in the...

EVIL STEPBROTHER TOOK KIDS' COLLEGE $$: COPS

A Long Island mom was horrified to discover more than $16,000 missing from the college-savings accounts for her two young sons - and that her grown stepson allegedly forged their...

TRAGIC TEEN A VICTIM OF THE BED-STUY WAR ZONE

IF activists and residents of Bed-Stuy want answers in the tragic death of Timothy Stansbury , they don't have to look further than out their front window. Before Police Officer...

COPS HUNT EAST SIDE SEX FIEND

Cops are asking for the public's help in finding a man who robbed and sexually assaulted an 18-year- old woman on the Upper East Side. The man came up behind...

BROWN: I FEEEEEL BAD!

James Brown looked like something the cat dragged in yesterday (above) after cops busted him for allegedly attacking his young wife. His face unshaven and his hair a mess, the...

BUS BOMB CARNAGE IN CENTRAL JERUSALEM

JERUSALEM - A homicide bomber blew himself up on a crowded bus in central Jerusalem early this morning, killing at least five people. Dozens more were wounded, witnesses and Israeli...

SADDAM'S OIL BRIBES: IRAQIS PROBE PAYOFFS TO HONCHOS IN '46 NATIONS'

Iraqi leaders yesterday began an investigation into whether Saddam Hussein bribed politicians and institutions from 46 nations - including senior French officials, the ruling parties of India and Bulgaria and...

PANDA-MONIUM: NEW BABIES ARE PAW-SOME

Talk about cute and cuddly! These are the first pictures of some of the seven adorable giant pandas recently born at the Wolong Nature Reserve in China. Giant pandas are...

CONCUSSION KOS LINDROS: MIGHT BE RIGHT TIME TO RETIRE

AFTER last night, this much is clear - the next concussion is a matter of when, and not if. Eric Lindros, who took the eight count last night, suffering the...

YEE-HA! HOUSTON'S GOT IT GOIN' ON

HOUSTON - The folks in this Texas town are wearing their 10-gallon hats with pride these days. They've never qualified for a World Series or had a team in a...

CAROLINA EYES DEAL TO LAND FRIESEN

DETROIT - So far, the Devils are resisting. They prefer steals to deals, especially since they're in pouncing range of the Eastern Conference and NHL leads. With the Devils actively...

ISLES SET FOR ROUGH REMATCH

You don't need a crystal ball or tarot cards to predict what will happen tonight when the Islanders complete a home-and-home against Boston at the FleetCenter. There will be hitting...

GREAT UNKNOWN ; TUNA SON-IN-LAW UNSUNG HERO FOR POWERHOUSE PATS

HOUSTON - Scott Pioli has always had a gift for breaking bad news gently to loved ones. There came a morning in 1997 when the phone rang inside his parents'...

'ACTION' HAS NUMBERS TO END DROUGHT

It's been a quarter-century since the reigning 2-year-old champion went on to win the Kentucky Derby, when Spectacular Bid took the roses in 1979. Hand-in-hand with that long drought, no...

ACHING ALLAN MULLS HIATUS

During the Knicks' West Coast trip in early December, Allan Houston sat out for eight days, giving his ailing right knee a rest. The break didn't help. Houston is right...

VAN HORN MIGHT SIT

KNICK NOTES The Spurs' Tim Duncan dropped 30 points on the Knicks on Tuesday night, but may have done the largest damage to Keith Van Horn's left shoulder. Duncan blocked...

CAPS SEEK CARTER DEAL

Despite much speculation that Jaromir Jagr's trade to the Rangers marked only the first step in a Washington fire sale, that's just not the case at all. In fact, by...

BIG EAST BASEMENT OFFERS NO BARGAINS

The season was on the line for St. John's. The team's dwindling chances of making it to the Garden in March for the Big East Conference Tournament all rode last...

ANDRUZZI & CO. READY TO LAY IT ALL ON LINE

HOUSTON - Of course, Joe Andruzzi admits, the Patriots offensive line is overlooked. The big guys who often toil in anonymity at that grunt position are rarely thrust into the...

PANTHERS' FAB FOUR: WHAT'S IN A NAME?

HOUSTON - No names, please. Not yet, anyway. They aren't called anything, other than the Carolina Panthers front four. No slogans, no catchy monikers. They are Julius Peppers, Brentson Buckner,...

BOMBERS TAP TYLER

In a Yankee merry-go-round that would make Abbott and Costello happy, Tyler Houston is in the third base mix, Gary Sheffield is still in right field and Drew Henson is...

REVITALIZED ZEILE BACK WITH METS

When Todd Zeile was released by the Yankees last August, he figured he might be wrapping up his final season. But two days later, the Expos picked him up and...

BUSH SR. THRILLED ANDY, ROG ARE ASTROS

SUPER BOWL CONFIDENTIAL HOUSTON - Former President George Bush, Sr., speaking on the NFL Network, said "It's a great thing for our city" that Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte will...

LIFE ON THE LINE ; SUPER CHAMP, 35, DYING OF CANCER

DALLAS - Room 1105 in Medical City Hospital seems so much further away than the hour-long flight from Dallas to Houston, particularly with James Parrish lying helplessly in the bed...

MORE REHAB FOR GRIFFIN: LEAVES NETS AFTER HOTEL INCIDENT

ORLANDO - Four days after an incident at a Rutherford, N.J., hotel - during which, police said, they responded to calls from alarmed guests concerning Eddie Griffin going to the...

LAWRENCE WANTS MORE FROM BENCH

NET NOTES ORLANDO - Hey, Zoran Planinic and Brandon Armstrong and Tamar Slay. Your time is coming. But don't worry, Lucious Harris and Rodney Rogers and other Net bench players....

MILLER LEADS U.S. TEAM TO BIG WEEKEND

BODE Miller is starting to find his groove on the ski slopes of Europe and scoring some World Cup points for the U.S. Ski Team as he does. In Kitzbuehel,...

'CANES EYE DEAL TO SNARE FRIESEN

DETROIT - So far, the Devils are resisting. They prefer steals to deals, especially since they're in pouncing range of the Eastern Conference and NHL leads. With the Devils actively...

ZEILE BACK WITH METS, SAYS BRONX NOT FOR HIM

Todd Zeile is now officially a Met reserve. And he'd rather be that than a potential Yankee starter. The 38-year-old Zeile signed his one-year, $1-million deal with the Mets yesterday...

JETS LOSE ASSISTANT TO RAIDERS

The Jets lost another assistant coach yesterday when the Raiders hired Jimmy Raye to be their assistant head coach/offensive coordinator under Norv Turner. Raye had been with the Jets the...

JOHNNIES' SKID HITS 7 ; RED STORM DROP 7TH STRAIGHT

W. Virginia 73St. John's 64 It was so quiet in Alumni Hall at the end of last night's St. John's game you could hear a season drop. Which is exactly...

CONCUSSION KOS LINDROS: EIGHTH TIME FOR ERIC; TESTS WILL TELL SEVERITY

Capitals 2 Rangers 1 The injury was much more momentous than the insult. For midway through the second period of last night's inexcusable 2-1 Ranger loss to the threadbare Caps...

HOME COOKIN': PATS' VET READY TO TAKE BITE OUT OF PANTHERS

TOMBALL, Texas - There are differing views of what Super Bowl flavor is really about. The masses of TV cameras, microphones and notebooks scurrying around think Super Bowl flavor is...

OTTIS SEES SOME GIANT SIMILARITIES

What was good for the Juice should be good for the Panthers. Two years ago, Ottis Anderson felt the underdog Patriots were the reincarnation of his Super Bowl XXV-winning Giants....

SUPER PROEHL WEEK: RICKY STARTED THE BOWL ROLLING FOR PANTHERS

HOUSTON - It seems a little bit of a stretch to think a single play in the first game of the season could be a primary reason the Panthers reached...

I LOVE THIS GAME! CONFESSIONS OF A SUPER BOWL JUNKIE

HOUSTON - I love the Super Bowl. I love everything about the Super Bowl. Does that make me an ugly American? Good, because you know what? I qualify on both...

JET YOUR APPETITE: MCKENZIE CASSEROLE WILL BOWL YOU OVER

STANDING a little more than 6-foot-6 and weighing in at about 335 pounds, Jets right tackle Kareem McKenzie likes to eat. Fortunately, as a bachelor who works long hours, he's...

SUPER BOWL QUIZ

1. Name the only player to be on five consecutive Super Bowl rosters. 2. Who's the only player to intercept three passes in a Super Bowl? 3. How many teams...

BOBBY FLAY'S SUPER SPREAD: HOW TO MAKE YOUR PARTY THE TASTIEST IN TOWN

"The key to watching the game is doing most of the food ahead of time. You don't want to have to keep getting up and miss the game." Bobby Flay...

DOESN'T GET ANY BETTOR THAN THIS: PROP BETS TO KEEP YOU IN GAME ALL NIGHT LONG

Forget waiting for the final score. The Super Bowl gives you an incredible amount of gambling options to keep your interest from before kickoff until the last whistle. Betonsports.com is...