December 9, 2001
BULL'S EYE
DUTCH SEIZE PLAYSTATION 1 MACHINES In an odd turn in the game-console war, Dutch authorities confiscated more than one million PlayStation One machines and slightly fewer accessories just before they...
KROGER VIEWS ARE MIXED BAG
Kroger, the nation's largest grocer, is in a good, supposedly recession-proof industry. It's simple: People need food. Sell it to them. But of course, business is never that easy. The...
JANUS DERIVATIVE PLAN IS NOT SOUND INVESTING
WHEN Bankers Trust dabbled in derivatives, there was hell to pay. When Long-Term Capital Management blew up, it was because of derivatives. And, most recently, Enron decided to get into...
BUYING LIFE INSURANCE
WWW.LIFEINSURANCE.NET These days, in the post-Sept. 11 environment, life insurance is something many people feel they cannot do without. For people who don't have it yet, and those who may...
THE LIGHTER SIDE OF JIM BROADBENT
Jim Broadbent has cut such a wide swath playing supersized characters that it's almost a shock to meet him in person: He's far thinner and younger-looking than he appears on...
WELCOME TO BLOOMY'S BIG TOP: A PLAN FOR A HAPPIER NEW YORK
If it's possible to fall for a dancing poodle and still go to heaven, then, brother, count me in! But not just any dancing poodle. It must be Fifi, that...
HOLIDAY HITS PROVIDE AT-HOME GROOM SERVICE
You can count on beauty gifts to lighten up the holiday season. But finding the best ones is not always easy. So The Post has rounded up some suggestions sure...
"THE BROTHER: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ATOMIC SPY DAVID GREENGLASS AND HOW HE SENT HIS SISTER, ETHEL ROSENBERG, TO THE ELECTRIC CHAIR" BY SAM ROBERTS
RANDOM HOUSE543 PAGES, $35 Considering all the apprehension about nuclear secrets falling into the wrong hands, and the specter of controversial trials looming, the release of a new non-fiction title...
SUN SETTING ON KING OF BROADWAY MUSICALS?
At the end of this month, we will see the end of a Broadway era.Of course, eras have a habit of ending at the drop of a hat nowadays, but...
HITCHCOCK, FELLINI AND FRIENDS
There's a new series coming to the Film Forum, and it is, quite literally, for "The Birds." It also is for "Duck Soup," "The Lady Eve," "Paths of Glory" and...
STYLE & SUBSTANCE: MICHAEL MICHELE
'ER" star Michael Michele was so grateful to be in Africa shooting the movie "Ali," opposite Will Smith and Jamie Foxx, that she didn't mind getting sick. "I was sick...
A PAINFUL LESSON IN TEACHING ROMANCE
I'm no expert on dating. I've had too many unfortunate encounters with men to know that. So when a woman from the Learning Annex called and asked me to teach...
THE GIFTED PET: HOLIDAY TREATS FOR THE SHAGGY SET
In a recent survey, the Colorado-based American Animal Hospital Association found that 38 percent of us buy between one and three presents for our pets annually, while 27 percent of...
TIPS FROM OUR MAN AT THE MIKE
For frustrated singers like myself, karaoke nights are the stuff that dreams are made of. But if you're intimidated by the bright lights of the amateur stage, consider these tips...
FACE TIME: FRANCOIS NARS EXPLAINS HOW TO 'MAKEUP YOUR MIND' WITH NEW BOOK
'I don't think women want to read about makeup," says Francois Nars, who founded his namesake makeup line in 1994. "They want to see what it can do." In his...
GET INTO THE GROVE WITH $25 PRIX-FIXE
Grove restaurant's airy garden is a natural in summer for dining al fresco. But having a meal there when it's glassed in is also a balm during the chilly weather...
WHAT I WATCH
Nancy Novogrod Editor-in-chief Travel & Leisure Magazine Alex Baldeon Model and actor "Vanilla Sky" Joe Pantoliano Actor, "The Sopranos"
VICTORIA GOTTI
IF Yasser Arafat is serious about helping in the war against terror, he would join the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Could Arafat find Osama, if he really wanted to?...
BUSH PARLAYS POPULARITY WITH RADIO DIG AT DEMS
President Bush yesterday said the Democratic-controlled Senate has stalled his efforts to help the jobless, and urged the American people to call Congress and "let them know you want action."...
TERROR BOSS MADE WIFE AND KIDS 'MARTYRS'
The wife and three daughters of Ayman al-Zawahri - Osama bin Laden's right-hand man - died as "martyrs" in Afghanistan, the family of the fiery Egyptian doctor confirmed. A death...
'VICTIM' MAY BE AIDING STRIPPER
One of the city's top defense lawyers, Benjamin Brafman, has been hired by the sexy Swiss stripper at the center of a titillating murder-for-hire plot against her sugar daddy. Shockingly,...
COUPLE ARRESTED IN BX. SHOOTING
A Bronx mother and her boyfriend were busted on assault charges yesterday after a shooting that left her 10-year-old daughter with a wound in her leg, police said. Brenda Diaz...
2 WOUNDED AS PUNK PAIR SHOOT UP CAB
Police were hunting for two teenage gunmen yesterday who fired multiple shots into a borrowed livery cab, critically wounding the driver and a passenger. The violence erupted at 10:05 p.m....
WORKAHOLIC WAS LONG A BURNOUT CANDIDATE
IT still haunts Jeff Van Gundy that he didn't start J.R. Reid instead of Herb Williams that night in Philadelphia 6? years ago, the night he was named to succeed...
PALS SING HERO'S PRAISES: ROCK-BAND GUITARIST LIVED TO BE FIREFIGHTER
Firefighter Christopher Pickford never wanted to be anything other than a firefighter, although he had many talents. The 32-year-old also played the guitar with his band, Ten Degree Lean, wrote...
MOM BROKE TOT'S SKULL & RIBS: COPS
A Bronx mom was charged last night with cracking the skull and ribs of her 7-week-old boy, allegedly shaking the him violently because he was crying, authorities said. Tyrell Jackson...
2 HIJACK THUGS LIVED IN APPLE: ATTA & PAL TRACED TO B'KLYN AND BX. PADS
Terror ringleader Mohamed Atta, who put the final touches on the Sept. 11 attack at a Midtown bar, rented rooms in the Big Apple with another hijacker in June 2000,...
JULIUS & ETHEL: STILL GUILTY: DON'T FALL FOR LATEST EFFORT TO DENY THE PLAIN TRUTH
NEARLY a half-century after their deaths, it's hard to think of two executed criminals whose case continues to generate as much emotion as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were put...
SUNDOWN WELCOMES HANUKKAH
Jews tonight light the first candle to mark the start of Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights that takes on added significance this year. "Hanukkah is the holiday of lights...
NEW BOMBING AFTER 4 ARAFAT COPS KILLED
Violence flared anew early today in the Mideast, where a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a checkpoint near Haifa in north Israel hours after Israeli forces shot four Palestinian cops...
HARRISON MYSTERY REMAINS
George Harrison's family may have duped fans of "the quiet Beatle" - claiming his ashes were scattered into the Ganges River in India when it actually might have happened in...
TRAITOR RAT HOLED UP AT MARINE BASE
John Walker, the American who fought for the Taliban, is being held at a remote Marine base in Afghanistan while the Justice Department decides whether to file charges against him....
KNICKS IN TURMOIL
Knicks fans reacted with shock and disbelief yesterday to coach Jeff Van Gundy's sudden resignation. "Oh man! I'm at a loss for words. I can't believe it. I'm in total...
FANS HONOR TWO BEATLES ON TRAGIC ANNIVERSARY
With the death of Beatle George Harrison fresh in their minds, hundreds of Fab Four fans flocked to Strawberry Fields in Central Park yesterday to honor the 21st anniversary of...
REALITY BITES MY DREAMS OF 'SOPRANOS' STARDOM
Yes, my friends, I was thisclose to living the dream of every red-blooded American. No! Not the one about sleeping with the entire cast of "Ocean's Eleven" and shooting Osama...
MOM'S SHAKING HURTS TOT: COPS
A Bronx mom was charged last night with cracking the skull and ribs of her 7-week-old baby boy, allegedly shaking the infant violently because he was crying too much, authorities...
OSAMA LEADING 'INTENSE' BATTLE
Terror boss Osama bin Laden has been spotted in eastern Afghanistan personally commanding about 1,000 fighters in a last-ditch defense of his mountain stronghold, a Northern Alliance spokesman said today....
MIKE MULLS UNLEASHING RUDY'S PET PROJECTS
When Mayor Giuliani exits City Hall in three weeks, he'll leave behind a desk full of pet projects and problems that new Hizzoner Mike Bloomberg will have to tackle. Some...
'CHIN' UP: FBI SAYS JAILED ODDFATHER STILL RULES
EXCLUSIVE Vincent "Chin" Gigante is serving 12 years behind bars in a Texas prison for racketeering but remains head of the Genovese crime family, according to a confidential FBI document....
'DONNIE BRASCO' COACHED COP
The sting pulled off last week by undercover agent "Big Frankie" read like the script of the mob movie "Donnie Brasco" - and that was no coincidence. Big Frankie had...
HIS BID FOR CACHET ENDS IN DISASTER
In the days after buying his way into the exclusive art world that would ultimately bring him down, tycoon Alfred Taubman marveled at his new social status. To celebrate his...
NEW CHARITY FORCING KIN TO BEG FOR WTC RELIEF
A new Sept. 11 charity has launched a controversial "adopt-a-family" fund-raising campaign that requires families to plead for donations through an Internet site. The World Trade Center Miracles Foundation is...
ALFRED'S FELLOW 'FIXER' ISN'T PAYING THE PRICE
While the two Americans tied to the Sotheby's-Christie's price-fixing scandal anxiously await sentencing, their British counterparts are lying low and living well. Sir Anthony Tennant, the former chairman of Christie's...
VERDICT'S IN: FOLKS LOVE CROONING COURTHOUSE COP
Every morning in Manhattan Supreme Court, when the big man with the gun starts singing in the lobby about bombs bursting in air and terrible swift swords, people do more...
HOLIDAY MARKDOWN ON PATRIOTISM
And this will be a sign foryou: you will find a babewrapped in Stars and Stripesand lying in a manger . . .THE search for the hideously patriotic Christmas gift...
ARAFAT CLAIMS ISRAEL KILLED ITS OWN POL
Middle East peace efforts hit new lows and fueled fresh violence yesterday after furious Israeli officials discovered Yasser Arafat had been blaming Israeli security forces for the assassination of an...
WHY EWING WANTED OUT OF NEW YORK
From the book "Living without EW: The Crash of the Post-Ewing Knicks" by Marc Berman. Copyright @ 2001 by Marc Berman. Reprinted with permission of Albion Press. When franchise star...
BEATING AROUND THE BUSH ON NEXT TERROR TARGETS
ANALYSIS (see metro newspaper for complete text)
TIME FOR GANG GREEN TO CHANGE HISTORY
PITTSBURGH - They are the Heartbreak Kids. They can't stand prosperity. They don't know how to finish. They get hit in the solar plexus by December and they go down...
MICKENS EAGER FOR FRESH START
PITTSBURGH - Ray Mickens has been here before, and he likes being counted on. He thrives on it, in fact. Mickens will be in the Jets' starting defensive lineup against...
CURTIS PLANS ON A BUSY HOMECOMING
PITTSBURGH - After a lot of talk all week about Jets offensive coordinator Paul Hackett going conservative after opening it up early against the Patriots, don't look for him to...
WHEN ELSTON TOUCHED HOME
SEVERAL years ago, I was talking boyhood with Ralph Wimbish, The Post's assistant sports editor. We're the same age, thus it stood to reason that we'd share many of the...
FONZIE NOT THRILLED ABOUT A SWITCH TO HOT CORNER
As a free agent after this season, Edgardo Alfonzo is very reluctant to move from second to third. "I don't really feel comfortable playing my last year of my contract...
GIAMBI FLUNKED PHYSICAL RUMOR FLAT OUT FALSE
According to industry sources, a rumor swelling through baseball that Jason Giambi failed a Yankee physical is false. "There is no deal so there is no physical," a source close...
RAGING FEVER IS HOT STUFF AT AQUEDUCT
The classy 3-year-old filly Raging Fever, who won her first five starts at 2, four of them stakes, but was winless in over a year, returned to the charmed circle...
VALENTINE POSITIVELY 'IFFY' ON JUSTICE DEAL
As reporters mulled around Bobby Valentine during yesterday's Christmas party at Shea, a boy came over and chimed in with a question. "How long do you think David Justice is...
SUDDENLY THEY'RE PLAYING DEFENSE
Devils3 Capitals1 There it was, visible again after vanished so long. For the first time in a month, these December Devils are poised, confident and mostly comfortable with themselves once...
ARROYO INJURES RIBS IN SPILL
1ST RACE -Norberto Arroyo Jr. suffered injured ribs in two-horse spill at top of stretch. Arroyo's mount, Pete Shure, was stalking pace but was trying to get out constantly during...
YOU COULD SEE THIS VAN CRASH COMING FROM A MILE AWAY
NOW we know what was really said last week in the Bulls locker room: Tim Floyd told his players Jeff Van Gundy was going to quit. The only surprise regarding...
JASPERS SHOCK STORM TO TAKE BATTLE OF NYC
St. John's has talked a lot this season about not committing the sins of the past. Apparently that's all it has been - talk. The Red Storm, as it did...
CHECKETTS: I BELIEVE JEFF
Former Garden president Dave Checketts was surprised at the timing of Jeff Van Gundy's resignation, but not by the reasons given. "You can't understand how hard he is on himself...
VG'S DAD: HEAT RUMOR JUST HOT AIR
Bill Van Gundy, Jeff's father, who lives in Miami, told The Post last night there's "no way" his son will wind up as head coach of the Heat, despite such...
FINALLY, THE LITTEL WHINNER IS OUT OF HERE
JUST call him Jeff Van Quitter, the smallest phony of them all. Know this about Jeff Van Gundy. He got everything he wanted as Knicks coach. He got big money,...
STUNNED PLAYERS LOBBY FOR DON
Even as Knick players expressed shock at Jeff Van Gundy's resignation yesterday, they rallied to support assistant Don Chaney ascending to the top job. That move is expected to be...
CHANEY'S ONLY CHOICE TO TAKE OVER TOP JOB
SCOTT Layden, the general manager, and James Dolan, the chairman of Madison Square Garden, tried to offer voices of assurance last night in the aftermath of Jeff Van Gundy's sudden...
JAX TREY MAKES DON A WINNER
Don Chaney's Knicks looked a lot like Jeff Van Gundy's Knicks. They lived dangerously, blowing a big lead. The important thing is, they lived, winning their sixth in seven games....
NETS FALL FROM TOP SPOT, BUT ONLY BRIEFLY
Bucks95 Nets79 MILWAUKEE - The view from the top ended. Only temporarily. Moments after tumbling from first place in the Atlantic Division in what they perceived as a measuring stick...
GRUNFELD WON'T JOIN JEFF BASHERS
MILWAUKEE - Any bitterness left in Ernie Grunfeld over his Knicks experience resides below the surface. So last night Grunfeld, now the GM of the Bucks, took the high road...
SPREE STUNG BY VG MOVE
When Jeff Van Gundy addressed his team for the final time Saturday morning, Latrell Sprewell was absent. Sprewell missed the shoot-around because he was caring for a sick child, so...
HE WAS SUPER GM - AND SUPER-SPECIAL MAN
HE was the first member of the Giant organization I met, and the one I will remember most. George Young taught me more about being a journalist than any of...
GM KNEW JINTS WOULD BE MARKED MEN
IRVING - They all knew they would be challenged, but not quite this severely. The Giants anticipated having a fight on their hands in the final month of the season,...
LET STRIPED BASS LIVE LONG & PROSPER
A RECENTLY released National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study of the Atlantic striped bass population calls for reduced fishing mortality to increase the number of...
CROUCH WINS HEISMAN: HUSKER QB SQUEAKS BY FLORIDA SOPH GROSSMAN
Two short seasons ago, Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch was on the verge of giving up football. Last night at the Marriott Marquis, he became a Heisman Trophy winner. Crouch let...
KITTLES HAS FILLED NETS' KNEE-D FOR SPEED
MILWAUKEE - The Kerry Kittles the Nets had hoped for has shown up in recent days. Oh, there were no real complaints with the Kittles who has been around since...
THIS BIG D TRIP'S ABOUT SURVIVAL : BIG BLUE ON THE SPOT AT SITE OF 2000 CLINCH
IRVING - The last time they left the field at Texas Stadium, their feet barely touched the artificial turf as they made a joyous and fairly riotous exit. Slightly more...
THIS BIG D TRIP'S ABOUT SURVIVAL: IT'S DO OR DIE FOR DEFENSE
IRVING - There is nothing wrong with John Fox's defense that the Cowboys can't fix. With five games to go, the Giants have to run the table. And if they...
MATES WANT TO SEE ARMSTEAD TAKE COMMAND
GIANT NOTES IRVING - As he returns to his hometown of Dallas, many eyes will be on Jessie Armstead after his strong comments this past week. Armstead all but promised...