December 2, 2004

ADMINISTRATION'S LOOKING GLASS DISTORTS ECONOMIC STATS

THE late Geoffrey Moore liked to tell this story from the time he was the head of the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics in the early '70s. One day in...

DIRTY DEALING - NEWS RETALIATING FOR WHISTLEBLOWING ON CIRC: DEALERS

The Daily News has retaliated against home-delivery dealers for cooperating with a New York Post investigation that raised questions about the accuracy of News circulation figures, a lawyer for the...

DOUBTS ON FEMALE SEX DRUG

A Food & Drug Administration advisory committee raised questions yesterday about the safety and effectiveness of a patch developed by Procter & Gamble to increase the sex drives of women....

WALL STREET IS PAVED WITH GOLD FOR RUDY

Rudy Giuliani, who 18 years ago laid the foundation for his political career by cleaning up Wall Street, will now be cleaning up on Wall Street. America's mayor will likely...

FOOTSTAR MAY LOSE KMART BIZ

Kmart Corp. is trying to wiggle out of contracts that account for almost all of Footstar's remaining revenue, calling into question the future of the company, according to court documents....

BURST OF ENERGY - MARTS SOAR ON FACTORY ORDERS, BIG OIL PRICE DROP

An avalanche of good business news rallied stocks and made economists optimistic about corporate profits, busier stores, and stronger hiring over the holidays. The first Christmas present delivered yesterday was...

OVITZ SPENT A WHOLE LOT, BUT WASN'T A THIEF: LITVACK

GEORGETOWN, Del. - Walt Disney Co.'s former general counsel testified that Michael Ovitz never ripped off the company when questioned about Ovitz's lavish gift-giving and company perks such as personal...

NEWSDAY FALLING SHORT ON BUYOUT VOLUNTEERS

Newsday appears to be falling short of its goal of getting 100 employees to accept voluntary buyout packages. The Long Island daily had said that if it didn't get the...

ESPN SCORES SPORTS PHONE DEAL WITH SPRINT

ESPN is scoring some winning points in the sudden new race to sell sports programming and other TV shows over mobile-phone screens. ESPN yesterday said it is launching its own...

STARR REPORT

FNC leads the pack Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly sits down exclusively with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tonight (8 p.m.), at the Pentagon, on "The O'Reilly Factor." Meanwhile, for the...

GIANT KILLER - ONE-DAY WONDER 'JEOPARDY!' CHAMP HAD TO KEEP MUM ABOUT KEN'S UPSET

NANCY Zerg, aka "The Woman Who Toppled Ken Jennings," did not have long to savor her victory. Last night, she was knocked off in her first game after beating the...

CARSON TAKES ON CLARK

NBC is sending Carson Daly to go head-to-head against Dick Clark on New Year's Eve. The MTV host will anchor NBC's first New Year's Eve special - featuring a batch...

DEPP'S 'NEVERLAND' FINDS FIRST FILM AWARD

'FINDING Neverland," a fictionalized drama about the creation of "Peter Pan" starring Johnny Depp, won the top prize in the season's first movie awards given yesterday by the National Board...

U2'S 'BOMB' IS NO BOMB

IRISH superstars U2 dropped a "Bomb" on the charts, selling 840,000 copies of their new disc, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." That earned U2 the No. 1 spot atop...

'GILLIGAN' GOLD

TBS' heavily promoted reality show "The Real Gilligan's Island" got off to a strong start Tuesday night, attracting about 3.9 million viewers during its two-hour premiere, according to Nielsen Media...

ALICIA'S BIG HEART & SOUL

GOOD music for a good cause was the order of Alicia Keys' World AIDS Day benefit concert last night. The show at Angel Orensanz, a former synagogue on the Lower...

THE BRAVEST ACTRESS IN NEW YORK - WOULD YOU STAR IN SOMETHING CALLED 'FAT PIG'?

EVERY night of the week, Ashlie Atkinson is called a pig and a fat sow. She's compared to an ape and considered a loser. And she couldn't be happier. As...

TWO HARD TO TELL - BEWARE MIXED SIGNALS ON A 'WONDER DATE'

ONE night, when Elizabeth Lampert, a 22-year-old single Manhattanite, was enjoying a few drinks at a pub with a guy she liked, she was flabbergasted when he commented on a...

DARK SIDE OF PINK PANTHER

INCLUDED in the press materials for the HBO movie, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," is a quote from the late comic actor in which he says, "To see...

R.I.P. VCR - DVD FORMAT BURIES TAPE TECHNOLOGY

DIGITAL video is killing the VCR, the home electronics star of the 1980s and '90s. Video cassette recorders, the most successful consumer electronic devices ever besides TVs, are now an...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A Nebraska man walked up to his mom at the gas station where she works and playfully announced that he had a gun. Unfortunately for him, a customer who wasn't...

PLAZA'S HISTORIC EATERIES TO CLOSE

Hey Eloise, you better call Dominos. It's going to be a lot harder to get a meal at The Plaza - its new owners are closing three of the hotel's...

SANTA GETS ELFING HAND

Santa Claus is getting a big helping hand from the U.S. Postal Service this month. The post office expects more than 150,000 of its customers to play elf during December...

WWII BOOK HELPED HIM RISE ABOVE COMPETITION

TOM Brokaw might have been just another anchorman if it hadn't been for World War II. Born in 1940, he was too young to remember the war, much less serve...

YANKS IN RENT SQUABBLE WITH CITY

The Yankees are forking over $2,456,592 in extra stadium rent after an audit by Comptroller William Thompson determined the team had underreported revenue and overstated deductions. But the team is...

FUMES SICKEN BX. SCHOOLKIDS

A noxious odor forced 250 students and teachers to evacuate a Bronx elementary school yesterday, authorities said. Thirty-eight of the students complained of nausea after exposure to fumes from what...

FERRER GROUP HANDS KUDOS TO RIVAL

A nonprofit group headed by Fernando Ferrer gave his likely mayoral primary opponent - Rep. Anthony Weiner - a perfect rating in his support for the middle class. In a...

STARS IN TAX-BREAK FLICK PITCH

Look out, Canada. Rapper-turned-actor Ice-T and former "Sopranos" co-star Joey Pantoliano showed up yesterday at City Hall to back a bill for tax incentives to lure more TV and movie...

REPUBLICANS HAVE DEMS OVER A 'BARREL'

THE United Nations looms as a new hot political issue, thanks to the exploding revelations of corruption of its oil-for-food program - and that spells more trouble for a Democratic...

STUDY SLAMS 'SECRETIVE' PATAKI

ALBANY - When it comes to open government, the Pataki administration is a closed book, a new report yesterday charged. The New York Public Interest Research Group report found that...

KOJO CASHED IN ON DADDY, NOTES REVEAL

WASHINGTON - The son of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan used his father's worldwide connections to wheel and deal with heads of state - at U.N. gatherings - on behalf of...

SHARON MUST REBUILD GOV'T

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sacked his main coalition partner yesterday after a parliamentary defeat left him scrambling to avoid early elections and save his Gaza withdrawal plan....

'STRIP' SLAVE DRIVER - N.J. SEX KINGPIN GUILTY

The leader of an alleged stripper import ring pleaded guilty yesterday to charges that he lured women from Russia to dance nude in New Jersey adult clubs under the threat...

FORGET STADIUM AND COLLECT $436M: STUDY

The proposed stadium and convention center slated for the MTA rail yards on the far West Side would generate $436 million less than developing the massive site with residential and...

BOGUS BRIDGE-BOMB TIPSTER PLEADS GUILTY

A Brooklyn man from Pakistan 'fessed up to concocting a chilling lie when he gave an FBI agent a bogus tip about a plot to blow up the Verrazano Narrows...

KLEIN'S BIG PLAN$ - WANTS TO EXPAND PRE-K, CUT CLASS SIZE

Expanding pre-kindergarten programs and slashing class size are the top priorities for the first phase of spending a multibillion-dollar windfall that could be headed for city schools, Chancellor Joel Klein...

TWICE TO THE HEAD - MOB WANNABE HIT

A former nightclub bouncer who served time for trying to bribe cops was found shot to death in Brooklyn yesterday - his body on the ground next to his running...

SUBWAY CHAOS - DERAILMENT, FIRE DISRUPT TRAINS

A predawn derailment and afternoon fire sparked commuter chaos on the Sixth Avenue subways yesterday. The turmoil and delays started at 4:13 a.m., when a loose rail caused the F...

$1M BAIL FOR LOHAN FATHER

The bad-boy father of teen queen Lindsay Lohan was held yesterday in lieu of $1 million bail on charges he violated a protection order against his estranged wife and drove...

9/11 MEMORIAL PANEL LACKS LEADER

Members of the group that will spearhead a $500 million fund-raising campaign for the World Trade Center memorial were announced yesterday, but officials still can't find anyone to lead the...

MY GAY TED TRYST - NEIGHBOR TELLS JURY: WE MET & 'GOT BUSY'

Danny Pelosi's defense kicked off yesterday with a gay man who described a lurid homosexual encounter he claims he had with Ted Ammon two years before the millionaire financier was...

JURY SET IN 'BARETTA' SLAY TRIAL

LOS ANGELES - A jury of seven men and five women was picked yesterday to weigh the fate of actor and accused killer Robert Blake, who's finally set to go...

ELEX-BILL BOO$T FOR WEINER

WASHINGTON - Rep. Anthony Weiner could get a $1.5 million head start in a run for mayor, thanks to a provision slipped into a massive spending bill awaiting a final...

BOOM FOR SCHOOLS A BUST FOR TAXPAYERS

ALBANY - A family with an income of $70,000 a year would pay an additional $800 annually in income taxes under one scenario to boost funding for schools, a budget...

UNION BOSS HIT WITH 9 YEARS

A once-powerful union official was sentenced to nine years on federal racketeering charges yesterday for orchestrating a massive phantom-job scheme that spanned almost three decades. Charles Novak, 68, the former...

CITY BIDS FOR FULL PENSION TO TRAGIC KIN

The city is drafting emergency state legislation that would designate firefighter Chris Engeldrum's death in Iraq as a line-of-duty fatality so his widow can collect a full pension and benefits...

DAD WEEPS OVER KIDS' COFFINS - FAREWELL TO VICTIMS OF BX. FIRE

The inconsolable father of two Bronx kids who died last week in a devastating fire wept openly at their wake yesterday as their mother - who had not yet learned...

ART THIEVES TIMED HEIST PERFECTLY

It looks like the brazen pair of art thieves who snatched a $2 million painting from a posh Upper East Side gallery knew just when to strike and exactly what...

ONE JUROR HOLDS OUT IN MURDER

A knife-wielding jealous boyfriend - accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend and forcing her date out the window to his death - is only one juror away from a murder conviction....

'HOOP EXTORT' SURRENDER

The fourth man accused in the plot to extort $3 million from NBA star Carmelo Anthony turned himself in yesterday. Omar Shabazz, whose alleged cohorts were arrested last week, pleaded...

MANHATTAN HS KID SET FOR SOUTH POLE VAULT

Sasha Agosta is giving a whole new meaning to going south for some sun over the winter break. The 16-year-old junior at Eleanor Roosevelt HS in Manhattan is one of...

SAME BLAST KILLED L.I. SMOKE-EATER

The same bomb that killed hero FDNY firefighter Chris Engeldrum also took the life of a Long Island fire volunteer, a "true American" and "fallen hero" named Wilfredo Urbina. "If...

W. ENDS CANADA 'MERCI' TOUR

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday told Canadians that he knows it's tough to "sleep next to the elephant" - the United States - as he wrapped up a fence-mending trip...

YULE BE SORRY - RAT SQUEALS ON GOTTI OVER $50 XMAS GIFT

The gangster Peter Gotti allegedly ordered to whack "Sammy Bull" Gravano said he was conflicted about ratting out the Gambinos, until he got a Christmas card in prison from his...

NEW JERSEY COPS BUST MOB

New Jersey police yesterday shut down a massive mob co-operative with early-morning raids that resulted in more than 40 arrests, netting guns, drugs and more than $1 million in cash....

DAD FLIES TO SEE INJURED BX. MEDIC

The proud dad of city firefighter Daniel Swift, the hero medic wounded in a roadside explosion in Iraq that killed two of his buddies, flew from his Bronx home to...

GIRL GANG IN BIAS ATTACK

A wolf pack of seven girls beat and robbed a 13-year-old girl and taunted her with racial epithets after they followed her onto a city bus on the Upper West...

TOM SIGNS OFF - EMOTIONAL THANKS ON LAST NEWSCAST

Good night, Tom. An emotional Tom Brokaw, 64, signed off from the "NBC Nightly News" yesterday for the last time, thanking viewers of his top-rated evening newscast for watching him,...

25 IMMIGRANT PERVS IN CITYWIDE ROUNDUP

WASHINGTON - A Department of Homeland Security crackdown on foreign-born sexual predators has nabbed 25 sickos in the city, officials announced yesterday. That brings to 300 the number of immigrant...

KERIK TOPS HOMELAND CANDIDATES

WASHINGTON - One of Rudy Giuliani's top allies, former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, has emerged as the leading candidate to become President Bush's new Homeland Security secretary, sources...

WAR HERO'S FINAL GIFT - SLAIN BRAVEST'S WIFE PREGNANT

The grieving widow of hero firefighter Chris Engeldrum will have something to remember him by forever - his yet-to-be-born child. For three months, Sharon Engeldrum has known she has been...

EARLY-MORNING RAIDS BY NEW JERSEY POLICE YESTERDAY SHUT DOWN A GAMBLING, DRUG AND EXTORTION RING ...

Early-morning raids by New Jersey police yesterday shut down a gambling, drug and extortion ring so lucrative that four of the five major crime families were involved, authorities said. The...

HS KIDS ON S. POLE VAULT

Sasha Agosta is giving a new meaning to going south for some sun over the winter break. The 16-year-old junior at Eleanor Roosevelt HS in Manhattan is one of five...

2 KILLED IN HIGHWAY SMASH

A crash on the Henry Hudson Parkway killed two people, including a teenage girl, police said. The teen's mother and another passenger walked away with minor injuries. Star Asia Taylor,...

9/11-GEM WEB SITE

The NYPD is launching a new Web site intended to help return jewelry to the families of victims killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, The Post has learned. The...

FIREFIGHTER IN PERV PROBE

A fireman has been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl who had stopped by his Westchester firehouse to drop off household goods and presents for troops in Iraq. Paolo...

W'CHESTER PERVS STRIKE AGAIN

Two more Rye children were terrorized last night by a pair of sickos who tried to lure them into a green SUV- the sixth such incident in Rye and nearby...

CRASH KILLS TEEN, BEAU

A tragic accident on the Henry Hudson Parkway yesterday left two people dead, including a popular Bronx teen whose mother was driving. "I want to blank it out," said the...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN * A 24-year-old man was stabbed on a Queens-bound E Train yesterday afternoon after being grabbed by the attacker on the platform at the 51 Street station on Lexington...

GIAMBI ADMITS TO STEROIDS: REPORT

Yankee slugger Jason Giambi has admitted to injecting steroids and human growth hormone last year, according to federal grand jury minutes. Giambi, who has repeatedly said he never used performance...

BOO$T FOR WEINER IN ELEX BILL

WASHINGTON - Rep. Anthony Weiner could get a $1.5 million head start in a run for the mayor's office thanks to a provision slipped into a massive spending bill awaiting...

WAR HERO'S BABY - SLAIN FIREMAN'S WIFE PREGNANT

The grieving widow of hero firefighter Chris Engeldrum will have something to remember him by forever - his yet-to-be-born child. Sharon Engeldrum has known for three months that she's been...

THE GREAT FIRE OF 1835

The firemen really had their hands full on Dec. 16, 1835, when a raging fire left the city's business district in ruins. Read about the most destructive fire in New...

HUBIE BACK IN BOOTH

Hubie Brown will join Al Michaels on ABC's lead announce team this season, The Post has learned. Brown, 71, who resigned as Grizzlies coach on Thanksgiving Day, resumes a broadcasting...

FAST START BODES WELL

THIS time of year, most ski racers are just starting to get the kinks out. But Bode Miller, the Michael Jordan of ski racing, has already put in an incredible...

AQUEDUCT DOESN'T RIDE OUT THE STORM

The thrill of winter racing at Aqueduct was postponed for 24 hours when yesterday's card at the Big A, which would have marked the opening of the inner dirt track,...

CHAD NEWS IS GOOD - QB LIKELY TO START FOR JETS FOLLOWING 'POSITIVE' PRACTICE

With each throw Chad Pennington unleashed in yesterday's Jets practice, he felt many eyes upon him. Curtis Martin, for one, kept asking him, "How do you feel? How do you...

PENALTIES BEGIN TO RAISE FLAGS

JET NOTES The Jets have been the least-penalized team in the NFL since Herman Edwards took over four seasons ago. That trend has taken a turn for the worse. In...

PIGSKIN PROFIT

ARMY vs. NAVY 2:30, Ch. 2Where: Philadelphia. Line: Navy -13. Angle: Sorry, Alabama-Auburn, Lehigh-Lafayette, Ohio State-Michigan, this is the greatest rivalry in college football. Series stands at 49-48-7 in favor...

THINNING BLUE LINE - GIANTS DEFENSE SACKED BY INJURIES

One of the newest members of the Giants' revolving-door defensive line is Davern Williams, a first-year player out of Troy State just signed off the practice squad. He sat in...

JETER CAN'T PICTURE PEDRO IN PINSTRIPES

Derek Jeter said he hasn't thought much about Pedro Martinez coming to the Yankees. Maybe that's because the idea of the Red Sox icon in pinstripes sounded like it's hard...

KNICKS RIGHT AT HOME - GARDEN WINNING STREAKPUSHES THEM OVER .500

A few Saturdays ago at the Garden, the Knicks opened their 2004-05 home slate with an ugly 107-73 loss to Boston. The most entertaining part of the night was watching...

FACE IT, WILLINGHAM GOT RAW DEAL

The carnage is on. It's a feeding frenzy great white sharks would admire. Even Darwin would be taken aback by college football's version of survival of the fittest. College football...

JORDAN'S BP CAN'T TAKE OT

NET NOTES WASHINGTON - Today's lesson: never have your blood pressure taken during overtime. And that was one aspect of a very scary situation that Wizard coach Eddie Jordan was...

WILSON WILL MISS ANOTHER

GIANT NOTES Giants safety Gibril Wilson will miss his third consecutive game this weekend because of a neck burner that has lingered longer than expected and could force the dynamic...

ACHY TIM GETS BACK IN LINEUP

KNICK NOTES Tim Thomas, who left Tuesday night's game in the third quarter in Atlanta, was in the starting lineup last night against Memphis. Thomas was kicked in the right...

NAZR EXITS FAST LANE, GETS BACK INTO GEAR

Nazr Mohammed doesn't like discussing the effects his religious fast had on his game, probably any more than he enjoyed the effects themselves - the lethargy, the sorry shooting, the...

METS WAITING FOR MARTINEZ'S COUNTER-OFFER

The waiting game with Pedro Martinez continues for the Mets. Mets officials spent yesterday holed up in meetings in Westchester, but there's not much they can be doing right now...

LIEBER'S NEW DEAL IN KRIS-MAS SPIRIT

YANKEE NOTES The Yankees can blame the Mets for upping the price on free agent Jon Lieber after the Mets gave their free-agent pitcher, Kris Benson, a three-year deal worth...

RANDY-TO-BRONX STILL TALL ORDER - YANKS & SNAKES STALLED IN TALKS

What didn't work in July isn't clicking in December, either, when it comes to trading Randy Johnson to the Yankees. According to sources in and out of the Yankees' organization,...

BACKCOURT STIRS DRINK AT GARDEN

THE most tantalizing part about Allan Houston's absence isn't what it means for Houston, for his career, for his personal legacy with the Knicks. It's what he could mean for...

KIDD IS FINALLY READY TO GET GOING AGAIN

WASHINGTON - Sometime tomorrow morning, a very familiar figure is expected to trudge onto the Nets' practice facility court to begin working with the team. And maybe, just maybe, Jason...

LENNY TO JAMAL: KEEP SHOOTIN'

KNICK NOTES Jamal Crawford's 7-of-28 shooting on Tuesday wasn't his worst of the season. His 3-for-14 bricklaying in Toronto on Nov. 24 was technically worse. But all was forgiven when...

YA GOTTA BE KIDDING

Wizards 95 - Nets 68 WASHINGTON - Another major injury. Another wretched defeat. Yet this was not just another night for the Nets. That's because Jason Kidd received the green...

ZORAN BREAKS HAND

NET NOTES WASHINGTON - Zoran Planinic knew his left hand was damaged, but he thought it was jammed. He was 1-for-2, far better than the Nets ever do. As it...

NAZR'S AT CENTER OF GOOD RUN

Nazr Mohammed suffered through more than his share of losing in Atlanta, languishing on a club with low expectations and lower accomplishments. He heard the doubters who questioned the trade...

STEPH STIRS THE DRINK AT GARDEN

YOU only get a handful of nights like this in a season, when the basketball feels like an extension of your fingertips, when the basket looks as big as the...

SHOOTING STAR - MARBURY'S 3-POINTERS LIFT KNICKS

Knicks 90 - Grizzlies 82 It was shaping up to be another mundane evening in the back-to-back life of an NBA team. The Knicks, pushed to the limit by the...