November 20, 2005
A TASTE FOR BATTLE; EX-CNN BOSS TO TRY WAR-ZONE SECURITY BIZ
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amEX-CNN News boss Eason Jordan - ousted earlier this year after controversial remarks suggesting journalists killed in Iraq may have been targeted by the military - is hoping to leverage...
WHERE ARE THE NUMBERS WE CAN ACTUALLY TRUST?
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amDear John: I admire your honesty in warning the public about the machinations of our government in reporting economic numbers. Are there any "real" public or private numbers out there...
SAMSUNG'S OMEN IN THE OVEN
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amA Manhattan man is burning mad after his Samsung microwave turned itself on, he claims, and started a fire, scorching his refrigerator and ruining the 3-year old oven. Bradd Bambo,...
OVERSTOCK CEO NEVER DELIVERS, SAY ANALYSTS
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amIndependent research shop Gradient Analytics and hedge fund Rocker Partners said they bet against embattled Overstock.com not because of a conspiracy but because the CEO of the embattled Web retailer...
OLYMPIC TIX COST US MORE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amAmericans buying tickets for February's Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, will pay more than 40 percent above face value, thanks to the longstanding ticketing policy of the folks at the...
FORGET REMAKES: 'KONG' STILL KING
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amWHEN director Merian Cooper told Fay Wray her leading man in "King Kong" would be "the tallest leading man" in Hollywood, the actress thought he was talking about Cary Grant,...
TV'S NEW BRAT PACK WORKS MY NERVES
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amEphram, meet Becca. The two of you are TV's leaders of the brat pack. And your long faces are standing in the way of my good time. Ephram - of...
THE DON'T MISS LIST
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amHOLIDAY YOU have to get up early, but you can still stay in your pajamas and watch the Thanksgiving day parade on NBC. The annual pageant of schmaltz (Katie Couric...
PROGRAMMERS ARE DUMBER THAN EVER
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amHOW much intelligent thought, do you suppose, is applied to the actual broadcast of television productions? Well, in some cases we'd settle for even just a little. Somewhere, last Saturday,...
GUINEA SHELTER; SURGERY HELPS SMALL PETS WITH BIG PROBLEMS
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amTHE guinea pig, a favorite childhood pet, can experience some very grown-up medical problems. Take the case of Kasha, a pet guinea pig whose owner, Lila Levey of Staten Island,...
A FISTFUL OF WESTERNS
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amSPAGHETTI westerns - financed in Italy and shot there and in Spain - aren't limited to Sergio Leone faves like "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "A Fistful...
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amSUDDENLY, it's the 1960s again: The Russians have the world's best team. Women players are struggling. And there are rumors of cheating involving the world championship. The latest dose of...
THE HOT SEAT - JOHN MALKOVICH
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amHE played the title role in 1999's brilliantly wacky "Being John Malkovich," but the actor's magnetic presence made him a household name long before that. Whether he's playing a diabolical...
HOT LIST - WHAT WE'RE OBSESSED WITH THIS WEEK
November 20, 2005 | 5:00am'Sonic' dissonance The remixed re-issue of Sonic Youth's groundbreaking 1990 "Goo" includes rare outtakes and demos, and is replete with the original, effortlessly cool cover art. N.Y.C.'s big science fair...
VILLAGE PEOPLE - THE ORIGINAL CAST OF 'RENT' RETELLS THEIR NYC STORY FOR THE MOVIES
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amGREED was good, the homeless were plentiful and AIDS was rampant. Still, deep in the '80s, Jonathan Larson found something to sing about. For "Rent," he took the struggling young...
THIS WEEK'S MOVIES
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amDOWN TO THE BONE Drama of a single-mom coke addict and how she copes. MY BIG FAT INDEPENDENT MOVIE Spoof on indie faves such as "Memento," "Amelie," "Swingers" and, particularly,...
USHER 'MIXING' IT UP - SEXY-SMOOTH R&B STAR LANDS HIS FIRST BIG FILM ROLE FOR 'IN THE MIX'
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amAS a multi-platinum, Grammywinning R&B singer, Usher's sweet crooning, flawless dance moves, debonair style and (oh yeah) washboard abs make ladies of all ages swoon. It would have been easy...
BEAT THIS! DEFINITIVE NEW BIO OFFERS UP A DECADE IN THE LIFE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amTHE BEATLES: THE BIOGRAPHY Bob Spitz (three stars) Little, Brown, $29.95 IMAGINE climbing into a comfortable car for a leisurely road trip through the long and fascinating landscape of pop...
MEET MARKET - THE PLACE WHERE THE POST HOOKS YOU UP AND SENDS YOU OUT
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amDebonair doctor sks heart attack MEET Alan, a 33-yearold plastic and reconstructive surgeon. When he's not nippingand tucking in the O.R., the good doctor says he enjoys "artmuseums, reading 19th-century...
OIL BARREN - 'SYRIANA' OFFERS A COMPLEX, CORRUPT TALE OF ENERGY MOGULS
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amWHEN taking on the oil industry, it's best to begin at the end, says Stephen Gaghan While most political thrillers end with a big reveal - "It was big oil!...
SPREAD HOLIDAY JEERS - YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS AN ANTI-CLAUS!
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amTEN years ago, a holiday miracle occurred. It came from the Internet. It was called "The Spirit of Christmas." And lo, computer screens everywhere were surrounded by a multitude of...
HEAR THIS
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amIN CONCERT * At Irving Plaza: Gloomy post-punks Echo & the Bunnymen tonight. Emocore Matchbook Romance headlines with Armor for Sleep, Lovedrug and Gatsby's American Dream on Tuesday. * At...
THIS WEEK'S CDS
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amSYSTEM OF A DOWN "Hypnotize" (three stars) Columbia FOR the second half of a two-disc set - the first, "Mezmerize," arrived this spring - System of a Down descends deeper...
DANCE FEVER
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amWITH underground hits like "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" and "Give It Up," LCD Soundsystem has demonstrated a serious knack for getting a party bumping. It's not a...
REQUIRED READING
November 20, 2005 | 5:00am"Confessions of an Innocent Man" is timely. It's Canadian engineer William Sampson's harrowing tale of how he was snatched off the street outside his house in Riyahd, Saudi Arabia -...
MAN OF 'ACTION!' ; WTC-HERO MARINE 'STARS' IN STONE 9/11 FILM
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amMarine Sgt. David Karnes - who rescued the last two cops trapped in the rubble at Ground Zero on Sept. 11 and 12, 2001 - wakes up every morning in...
'KIDNAP' GIRL IN GRIEF & SHOCK; LAYS TO REST SLAIN FOLKS AS ; COPS TELL OF BEAU'S PREVIOUS 'GAL GRAB' WOES
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amLITITZ, Pa. - The 14-year-old girl whose unhinged 18-year-old boyfriend gunned down her parents in a fight over their illicit affair stood dazed as she laid her folks to rest...
'GOBLET' ON FIRE AT BOX OFFICE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00am"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is working its magic on the box office - taking in an estimated $36 million on its opening night Friday on its way...
FBI TESTS ON BELIZE SLAY VICTIM
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amAs the family of the Brooklyn-born backpacker slain in Belize prepared yesterday to bring her body home, officials in the Central American country waited for an FBI lab in Guatemala...
HILL & HIGH WATER; CLINTON & ELLEN WOW S.I. FERRY CROWD
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amLady Liberty wasn't the only famous female in New York Harbor yesterday. U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton took talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres aboard the Staten Island Ferry yesterday for a...
'SMOKING' GUN KILLS GRAMPS
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amAn elderly black-market cigarette dealer was found shot to death in his Bronx apartment, police said yesterday. Angel Jimenez, 71, was the victim of a robbery gone wrong, his friends...
COPTER TWIST; PILOT FAULT IN PETERS-HUBBY DEATH
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amThe horrific helicopter crash that killed actress Bernadette Peters' husband two months ago in the Mediterranean was most likely the fault of the pilot, who had little experience maneuvering over...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amMANHATTAN *** A Brooklyn man was busted by Manhattan detectives in a slick Internet scam that defrauded people selling items on eBay, sources said yesterday. Andre Vega, 41, of Rockaway...
ET TU?BLOOMY BUDDY BOO$TED FERRER BACKER
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amONE of Mayor Bloomberg's closest business associates quietly donated the maximum amount allowed in the general election to Tom White, a Democrat running for City Council in Queens who was...
2 COPS BRAVE BLAZE IN MIDTOWN RESCUE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amTwo fast-acting Midtown cops rescued residents of a Hell's Kitchen building after an inferno broke out on its roof early yesterday. Midtown North Precinct officers James Smith and Brendan Heaps...
SCIENTOLOGISTS' NEW PSYCH-OUT MUSEUM
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amScientology is taking its fight against psychiatry to the streets - namely Sunset Boulevard. The church will open a "Psychiatry: Industry of Death" museum next month in L.A., complete with...
CITY STALLS ON SCHOOL ROAD SAFETY
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amNearly two years after unveiling an ambitious project to address traffic hazards around schools, the city has yet to conclude studying the hot spots - let alone begin to make...
QUEENS HS TEACH GRINS AND BARES IT: POLICE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amA high-school girl helped cops bust a smiling teacher for fondling himself in a car on a Queens street, police sources said. Ara Muradyan, 26, was allegedly sitting behind the...
BLAZE KILLS QUEENS MAN
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amA man died in a blaze after his Queens home was engulfed in flames, fire officials said. Firefighters responding to the 7 a.m. fire Friday found Pio Estrada, 24, passed...
THE KID IS FLU$H - 21-YR.-OLD SHARK RAKES IN $2M AT FIRST POKER FEST
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amThis ain't Bar Mitzvah money! Manhattan kid Nick Schulman became the youngest winner in the history of the World Poker Tour Friday night, pulling in $2.1 million as he wiped...
SPYING FOR STALIN; COMMIES LOVED THE CAUSE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amENGINEERING COMMUNISM: HOW TWO AMERICANS SPIED FOR STALIN AND FOUNDED THE SOVIET SILICON VALLEYBY STEVE USDIN YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 329 PAGES, $40 THERE are still those who persist in believing...
CRASH ENDS 45-MINUTE L.I.E. CHASE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amA wild police chase - which included a helicopter - raced down a busy Long Island freeway yesterday, ending when five cop cars tried to box in the runaway driver...
HARLEM JOURNO BUSTED; EMBEZZLE RAP
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amA top editor at the Amsterdam News was arrested on embezzlement charges after the paper's publisher accused him of thievery, authorities said yesterday. Jamal Watson, executive editor of the newspaper,...
'KIDNAP' GIRL IN GRIEF & SHOCK; LAYS TO REST SLAIN FOLKS AS COPS TELLOF BEAU'SPREVIOUS 'GAL GRAB' WOES
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amLITITZ, Pa. - A 14-year-old girl, whose unhinged 18-year-old boyfriend allegedly gunned down her parents in a fight over their illicit affair and then fled with her, stood dazed yesterday...
BRIDE CHRISTINA DRINKS A NUP OF WINE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amThe girl got what she wanted. Pop sensation Christina Aguilera married her music-exec beau last night in a spectacular ceremony at a California winery that capped off a four-day wedding...
FIREWOMAN SUES OVER 'SEX HARASS'
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amA pioneering female firefighter is suing the FDNY for $10 million, saying she was forced to retire from her beloved job after years of mental and emotional anguish at the...
FAKE FIREMAN A 'BOMB' BUYER; GOT BLAST MATERIAL & POLICE BADGE ON EBAY
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amHe could be a ticking time bomb - literally. Fugitive Peter Braunstein bought enough potassium nitrate to blow up a small building just five weeks before the twisted Halloween-night sex...
DRAWING ATTENTION TO GREAT THURBER HEIST
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amON ANY given Friday night, perchance out of passion for lofty culture, one could see my friend Mike McGovern and myself under the historic gaze of the great humorist James...
HARLEM EDITOR BUSTED - EMBEZZLE RAP
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amA top editor at The Amsterdam News was arrested on embezzlement charges after the paper's publisher accused him of thievery, authorities said yesterday. Jamal Watson, executive editor of the Amsterdam...
SPARE LIFE OF CONVICT WHO KILLED 4: SNOOP
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - Rapper Snoop Dogg and 1,000 protesters rallied outside San Quentin prison yesterday, demanding a murderous gang leader be spared the death penalty after turning his life around...
SNOOP: SPARE KILLER - DEATH-ROW RALLY
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - Rapper Snoop Dogg and 1,000 protesters rallied outside San Quentin prison yesterday, demanding a murderous gang leader be spared the death penalty after turning his life around...
AUTO 'INTER-LEWD' GETS TEACHER BUSTED
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amA high-school girl helped cops bust a smiling teacher for allegedly fondling himself in a car on a Queens street, police sources said. Ara Muradyan, 26, was allegedly sitting behind...
NHL MUST PROMOTE MAGIC MATCHUP
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amTHERE will be no Zen warriors Tuesday in Pittsburgh; no scantily clad women in the locker room helping the athletes dress, at least none that we know of. Rather, when...
JINTS LOOK TO REVERSE PHILLY EDGE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES As the Giant-Eagle rivalry continues today, the Giants are seeking to shift a balance of power that in recent years has tilted decidedly toward Philadelphia. The Eagles own...
WALT: HUSH, STEPH! 'TOO EARLY' TO QUESTION LARRY
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amKnick legend Walt Frazier was unsure how the Stephon Marbury/Larry Brown marriage would wind up - but he never expected to see a fissure develop before the club got out...
COLLINS' LEG PROBLEMS ARE BACK
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES Jason Collins figured he had the problem beat. It turned out his sore lower right leg, which forced him to sit two games and miss half of a...
'ATTIRE' CAPTURES STUYVESANT
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amNice to see oldtimer Evening Attire back in winner's circle after Grade 3, $100,000 Stuyvesant Handicap. The winner of the 2002 Jockey Club Gold Cup, trainer Pat Kelly's 7-year-old gray...
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amRangers 4Hurricanes 3 It's exactly the kind of line that everybody else around the NHL used to have but the Rangers could never seem to either conceive or construct. But...
LET'S PRAISE 'EM, NOT (MAR)BURY 'EM
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amLARRY Brown's nonstop harpooning of his players isn't any thing new, that's for sure. But it's so shamefully unbecoming for a coach of any consequence, much less his privileged rank,...
YANKS TO FLASH: TWO IS ENOUGH ; BUT A-ROD, JETER IN GORDON'S CORNER
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amYankee management is dead set against offering Tom Gordon a three-year contract. At the same time, though, the team's cornerstone players are adamant about bringing the set-up man back for...
LEGREE LEADS WAY FOR FORT HAMILTON
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amPSAL SEMIFINALSFt. Hamilton 38Kennedy 22 Jeff Legree battled a stomach virus early in the week and nerves all the way up until the start of yesterday's semifinal. At least he...
AMAZIN'S EYEING PADRES' SWEENEY
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amNot every trade or signing can be a blockbuster. And between the trade of Mike Cameron and the pursuit of Billy Wagner, Mets GM Omar Minaya has looked for some...
LIONS ROAR AGAIN ; JOEPA'S BOYS BEAT MSU TO CLAIM BIG TEN TITLE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amPenn St. 31Michigan St. 22 EAST LANSING, Mich. - Now that he is back atop Mount Nittany, Joe Paterno can make some concessions to father time. The Penn State coach...
BUSH IS JETS' BEST BET
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amLIFE as a Jets' fan is never easy. This team can mess up a first and goal on the one-inch line. Woody Johnson is supposed to be an owner with...
HOME DEFENSE ; NETS 'D' TAKES FIZZ OUT OF WIZ
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amNets89 Wizards 83 Apparently, the message got through to the Nets. "We understand how important defense is for us to win. In our wins we played defense, and in our...
WORK ON COLLINS' BACK FIXES LEG
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES Jason Collins was relieved to find out he's got a problem with his back. Sort of. The pain in his lower right leg - an ailment that kept...
THIS TIME, COMING CLOSE SATISFIES DEVILS
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amSenators 5Devils 4 KANATA, Ont. - The Devils claimed moral victory, if not an actual one. "Our guys showed a lot of heart and I'm proud of them," Larry Robinson...
STORM UNTESTED BY HAWKS IN TEPID OPENER
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amSt. John's 77UMES 40 Here is what could be gleaned from St. John's season-opener against MEAC cellar-dweller Maryland-Eastern Shore. One: The Red Storm will play an energetic, athletic brand of...
BATES' INJURY TAKES JOY FROM WIN
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amIslanders 5Panthers 3 SUNRISE, Fla. - Shawn Bates has been a crutch for the Islanders all season, so it was especially crushing for him to need a pair of them...
PRETTY PERSUASION ; FLOYD MAKES CASE TO MEET ZAB
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amPORTLAND - Hopefully, the next time "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather steps into the ring, his opponent in the opposite corner will be undisputed welterweight champion Zab Judah. Sure, Mayweather can...
BYE-BYE BIRDIES - GIANTS WOULD STAY AT TOP, DECK EAGLES WITH VICTORY
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amThe Giants last week were confronted with a rather unusual situation. They found themselves rooting for the Eagles, hardly a common occurrence. That goes to show something about the changing...
'I TOLD YOU HE WAS DEAD' - BEDNARIK KO'D GIFFORD 45 YEARS AGO TODAY
November 20, 2005 | 5:00am"I wish it was her on the other end of that shot instead of Frank." - Bednarik on Gifford's wife Kathie Lee, who once wondered if Bednarik was a type...
IT CAN GET WORSE! REELING JETS COULD BE IN FOR MILE-HIGH MASSACRE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amDENVER - It's been a tumultuous week for the Jets leading up to today's nearly-impossible task of trying to beat a Broncos team that looks like it could Super Bowl-bound....
NENAD HITS CAMPAIGN TRAIL
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES Nenad Krstic is going to phone home. A lot. Krstic might start burning up the long-distance lines between New Jersey and Eastern Europe now that he realizes he...
ONE BEFORE THE ROAD - WIZARDS LAST TEST, THEN NETS GO WEST
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amThe Nets embark today for their "See the West for Thanksgiving" trip, the annual trek that is as certain as death and taxes. It starts tomorrow against the Warriors, but...
HILL LOOKING TO HELP ST. JOHN'S CLIMB
November 20, 2005 | 5:00am"We're going to go as Daryll takes us." - Coach Norm Roberts St. John's opened its season last night at Carnesecca Arena against lightly-regarded Maryland-Eastern Shore, the beginning to what...
WRESTLE WITH THIS - HYPOCRITIAL LEGISLATORS GIVE WWE A FREE PASS ON 'ROIDS
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amWE'VE been writing it for more than 15 years, but we're going to try it one more time. And then we're going to try to do what the rest of...
YANKS TO FLASH: TWO IS ENOUGH - BUT A-ROD, JETER IN GORDON'S CORNER
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amYankee management is dead set against offering Tom Gordon a three-year contract. At the same time, though, the team's cornerstone players are adamant about bringing the set-up man back for...
PENN STATE'S MR. DO-IT-ALL - QB ROBINSON IS KEY TO LIONS' RESURGENCE
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amEAST LANSING, Mich. - There were two occasions during Michael Robinson's affiliation with Penn State when the hyper-personable and ultra-athletic quarterback was dumbfounded. The first time was when Joe Paterno...
IT'S POINTLESS - IF BROWN CAN'T GETTHROUGH TO MARBURY, THEN WHO CAN?
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amTHERE is a wonderful scene in "A Bronx Tale" when Lorenzo Anello, played by Robert DeNiro (in what is turning out to be his last great role) corners his son,...
THE MADNESS STARTS NOW - NEW BIG EAST BEAST SPARKS CALL FOR A MONSTER TOURNEY
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amIs bigger better? Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese fox trots around that question like a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. He'll tell you how exciting his 16-team league is...
YASHIN BASHIN' HAS BECOME THING OF PAST
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amSUNRISE, Fla. - The bashing seems to have stopped, and nobody's more responsible for silencing his legions of critics than Alexei Yashin. He's done it not by saying anything, but...
LAID-BACK LARRY A POSITIVE INFLUENCE ON DEVILS
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amKANATA, Ont. - It could have been Larry Lite that switched on the Devils. The Devils' coach last fired for being too soft says he toned down this year's criticism...
TONEY ALL PUMPED UP - WBC NAMES JAMES FOR TITLE SHOT
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amPORTLAND - James Toney was walking around the Benson Hotel Friday night wearing a chinchilla fur coat and puffing on a long cigar, looking like a modern-day Jack Johnson with...
NOT HALL THAT BAD
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amSeton Hall 75 Marist 72 It was a long two days at Seton Hall. Wednesday, the Pirates were embarrassed on national television, 93-40, by No. 1 Duke, and the team...
N.Y. FISH REGS BEING TWEAKED
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amNEW York State has announced some proposed changes for recreational fishing in marine waters and while not all bad, they are nothing to be reel happy about. The proposed changes...
BATES' INJURY TAKES JOY OUT OF VICTORY
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amIsles 5 Panthers 3 SUNRISE, Fla. - Shawn Bates has been a crutch for the Islanders all season, so it was especially crushing for him to need a pair of...
BLINDEST EYE IS ESPN'S
November 20, 2005 | 5:00amTHE FRONT cover of the latest issue of ESPN, the Magazine reads, "Special Report: Turning A Blind Eye To Steroids. The Inside Story of Baseball's Open Secret." Fascinating. After all,...