December 19, 2005
WRONG PACKAGE - UPS RETIREE CITES MERRILL BROKER IN $3.2M LOSS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amMerrill Lynch is under attack from United Parcel Service retirees who claim a Merrill broker took advantage of their valuable piles of UPS stock to put them into disastrous high-risk...
ORGANIZING FOR SUCCESS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amORGANIZING FOR SUCCESS By Kenneth Zeigler McGraw-Hill, $16.95 AS the New Year approaches, the thing on everyone's mind - besides how to recover from their holiday hangover - is getting...
THE ART OF GIVING - MUSEUM GIFT SHOPS ARE TROVES OF TREASURE
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amNOTHING says time less like a silver Egyptian bracelet from 1560 B.C., or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Gifts like that - along with high-styled housewares, clever toys and oddities from...
TRUMP HIRE: HERO TO ZERO
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amIT might have been better for Randal Pinkett if he hadn't won "The Apprentice" last week. Things sure seemed that way over the weekend as fans and writers took sides...
FASHION AWARDS '05; FASHION VAMPS AND VICTIMS '05
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amSHE'S gone from Valderama to va-vavoom. We must confess - Lindsay Lohan proves that brunettes have more fun, surging ahead to become the bestdressed celebrity of 2005. She had us...
THE KARMIC CHAMELEON - BARBARA LOOKS EVERYWHERE FOR 'HEAVEN'
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amFor Barbara Walters, heaven is kissing the Dalai Lama. And rubbing noses with him is practically a shortcut to Nirvana. Walters had both experiences while on a global quest earlier...
'DEAL' ME IN - LINDA MAKES CASE FOR BEST GAME SHOW SINCE 'MILLIONAIRE'
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amDo you remember how insanely exciting the first season of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" was? Well, hold onto your seats, because for the next five nights something as...
STARR REPORT
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amShow nets 'names' Tickets go on sale today for the Feb. 6 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS show on Broadway, featuring stars from ABC's daytime lineup. Susan Lucci (" All My...
NEW GAME IS A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON
December 19, 2005 | 5:00am'DEAL or No Deal" has had a storied history since premiering overseas in 2003. The game show, produced by Dutch reality giant Endemol ("Fear Factor," "Big Brother," "Extreme Makeover: Home...
CONDOLEEZZA RICE SAID PRESIDENT BUSH ACTED WITH "CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITIES" ...
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said President Bush acted with "constitutional authorities" when he authorized the National Security Agency to monitor international phone calls and e-mails of suspected...
MIKE TAKES GUN BATTLE NATIONWIDE
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg vowed last night to take his fight to get illegal guns off city streets to "a national level." Addressing the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives at...
CLAUDIA SCARED STIFF BY BREAK-IN AT HOME
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amClaudia Schiffer is living in fear after burglars cleaned out her home - while the supermodel and her family slept upstairs. Thousands of dollars' worth of electronic gear was stolen...
VIOLENCE DIPS ACROSS STATE
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amThe recent murders of two city cops cast a pall over encouraging new statistics that show a drop in violent crime statewide, including a 5.3 percent decline in murder, Gov....
DOZENS DIE IN POST-VOTE ATTACKS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amAfter a lull of several days during elections, Iraqi insurgents killed nearly two dozen people over the weekend. Most of the bloodshed came on the first full workday after Thursday's...
'KING KONG' CROWNED - JACKSON'S APE EPIC IS 'MONKEY' IN THE BANK
December 19, 2005 | 5:00am"King Kong" climbed its way to the top of the box office over the weekend - but the heavily hyped blockbuster still fell far short of the haul Hollywood analysts...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amBROOKLYN * A man was shot dead during an argument yesterday on an East New York street, cops said. Clifford Birkbeck, 26, was walking with two other men at Linden...
SLAMMING ST. ICK - EX-MARINE RIPS 'BAD SANTA' FROM GRISLY DISPLAY
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA former Marine took a stab at saving the Christmas spirit yesterday - ripping down a knife-wielding, blood-drenched Santa doll hanging from a controversial display outside a Manhattan home. Julius...
ARIEL IN HOSP AFTER MILD STROKE
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amIsraeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (left) was rushed to a Jerusalem hospital yesterday after suffering a mild stroke. Doctors said the 77-year-old leader, who is on the campaign trail to...
'CHARITY' ISN'T SO SWEET
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Muslim charities accused by the U.S. government of being fronts for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups have major operations in Iraq, raising fears that support networks for...
OFF-TRACK SWEATING IN MTA 'DEADLOCK'
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amContract talks between the MTA and the transit union are "deadlocked," MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow admitted yesterday. Kalikow's pessimistic comments - which came shortly before his labor strategist and Transport...
TIME HONORS THREE WHO LIVE TO GIVE
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA rock-solid Irish musician and a Microsoft couple have been named 2005 "Persons of the Year" by Time magazine. U2 lead singer Bono, along with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and...
BANKS ARE DUCKING POOR AREAS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amMore than 200 banks opened in New York City in the last five years - but only three are in poor neighborhoods, according to a study released yesterday. The 20...
PIRRO DONORS WANT $$ BACK
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - If Jeanine Pirro decides to quit the Senate race against Hillary Rodham Clinton to run for state attorney general - and wants to transfer her campaign war chest...
HELP TROOPS PHONE HOME
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amAMERICANS looking for a way to offer some holiday cheer to our troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan might want to consider the USO's Operation Phone Home - a program...
BUS STOP: DRIVERS WALK OUT IN STRIKE 1
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amDrivers at two Queens bus lines walked off the job early today, firing the first salvo in what could erupt into a crippling citywide transit strike tomorrow. Some 50,000 commuters...
STUDENT A BEAST TO HIS DOG: ASPCA
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amAn NYU student got flunked by the ASPCA yesterday - when agents busted him for animal cruelty and abandonment over the way he treated his dog, Dudley, authorities said. Cleveland...
TOURISTS 'INN' THE THICK OF THINGS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amIt was a real-life "Twilight Zone" at the Grand Hyatt Hotel last night as throngs of tourists arrived to enjoy Christmas in the city, only to see the people who...
50G BANANA REPUBLIC 'THIEVES' ARE HELD AT EBAY
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA pair of Banana Republic employees were busted for grand larceny yesterday after they stole more than $50,000 worth of clothing, and attempted to sell it on eBay, authorities said....
HOMEBODY CHUCK - SCHUMER SPURNS OVERSEAS JUNKETS POPULAR WITH POLS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Call him "Sen. Stay-at-Home." Chuck Schumer hasn't taken a single congressional trip abroad during his entire Senate tenure, according to a Post review of lawmakers' travel records. "I...
SECRET STASH FOR PERV ATTACK
December 19, 2005 | 5:00am"Phony fireman" Peter Braunstein stashed some of the gear he allegedly used to brazenly sexually assault a Chelsea woman. After the Halloween night attack, the 42-year-old freelance writer hid the...
WORKERS WALK THE LINE
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amStriking workers at the two private Queens bus companies - some donning red arm bands in solidarity - hit the picket line this morning. "We have no time limit. We...
PA DOCKED AS SAFE HARBORS GET $ECURITY BOATLOAD
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Federal bureaucrats have sent millions in security grants to lightly trafficked port facilities in remote parts of the United States - at the expense of the busy, high-risk...
SMUG 'FIRE' CREEP SNUBS HIS OWN DAD - BUT REVELS IN SICK FAME
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amHalloween sex-attack suspect Peter Braunstein went from a hospital bed straight to a jail cell yesterday, then appeared to bask in his 15 minutes of sickening infamy by entertaining reporters,...
DRIVER DEAD AS CAR FLIPS OVER IN QNS.
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA driver was killed yesterday when his vehicle flipped over several times on the Grand Central Parkway and crashed into a tree, police said. Kevan Sinanan, 23, of Queens, suffered...
CHENEY IN SURPRISE TROOP VISIT: 'QUITTING IS NO OPTION'
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amVice President Dick Cheney made a surprise stop in Iraq yesterday for his first trip there since 1991. The visit was so secret that even the Iraqi prime minister was...
KIDNAP COURT FIGHT - S.I. KIN SUE ABDUCTOR
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA man who abducted two Staten Island brothers after one of the boys engaged in sexually explicit phone calls and e-mails with his young daughter won't likely face prison time...
GUARD-PUNCH GIRL IN BROOKLYN COURT TODAY
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amThe 12-year-old girl who allegedly punched a school safety agent who later died will appear today in Brooklyn Family Court. The child, who has not been identified because of her...
BUSH: WE'RE WINNING WAR - URGES COUNTRY NOT TO 'ABANDON OUR IRAQI FRIENDS'
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush, in an effort to regain American confidence in his Iraq war strategy, declared recent elections the birth of democracy in the Middle East and urged the...
TWEED JANITOR OFFERED 15-YR.-OLD INTERN 'SEX ED': PROBE
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA 15-year-old summer intern at the Department of Education's headquarters was ogled and hit on by a janitor more than twice her age - and right under the noses of...
'TOXIC' BIRTH-DEFECT LAWSUIT
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA Westchester couple is suing contracting and landscaping firms in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, claiming they dumped toxic waste near the Eastchester school where the mom worked, causing...
THE ROAD HOME - BUSH BOXES IN HIS CRITICS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amLAST night, in his Oval Office address, President Bush graciously gave his critics their proper due - even as he was putting them in a strategic and ideological box from...
PARIS' 100G SPREE - 2-HR. SHOP BLITZ IN BEV. HILLS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amParis Hilton doesn't need Santa Claus. The 22-year-old hotel heiress was doing just fine without the jolly old fella, spending a whopping $100,000 in a frenzied two-hour shopping spree in...
S.I. GIRL, 12, KILLS HERSELF
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA 12-year-old girl apparently committed suicide yesterday in her family's Staten Island home, authorities said. Gemma Rauner's mother found the body in the girl's bedroom at the Woodward Avenue residence...
HILLARY IS FLAG BURNED - WAS HER IDEA: GOPER
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - It was Hillary who made the first move. The Republican sponsor of a flag-burning bill - for which Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has come under fierce attack from...
TOY BOMB SNARLS JFK TERMINAL
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA passenger touched off a bomb scare at JFK Airport last night when he was found carrying a toy hand grenade in his carry-on bag. The act prompted Port Authority...
MOM'S TORMENT IN PLOW TRAGEDY - OUTRAGE & GRIEF A YR. AFTER KID KILLED
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amMaria Jimenez takes no joy in the New Year, or Christmas, or any part of the holiday season for that matter. Her 10-year-old daughter went out to play in the...
CONDI'S TRUE GRID - PICKS NYC AND NFL OVER WHITE HOUSE BID
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - All the world's her stage, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dreams of life in New York. Why? Because it's home to the National Football League - and...
SUIT OVER HOMELESS 'MURDERER'
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amThe wife of a Queens bridge painter senselessly gunned down by a homeless man at a work site just off the Grand Central Parkway has filed suit against the city,...
SESSION ON GUN LAWS IS HELD UP BY 'SHEL' GAME
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWEDNESDAY'S special legislative session called by Gov. Pataki to toughen laws against gun trafficking and assaults on cops "is looking to be a waste of a day," a top Republican...
SICK CON JOB - FUGITIVE MAKES STOPS FOR DIALYSIS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA dangerous fugitive drug dealer with a bum kidney is using unwitting New York dialysis docs to help him dodge the law, The Post has learned. Convicted Bronx-born crack dealer...
KIDNAP DAD SUED BY KIN OF S.I. BROS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA man who abducted two Staten Island brothers after one boy engaged in sexually explicit phone calls and e-mails with his young daughter won't likely face prison time - but...
CAR WOES DRIVE L.I. MAN BATTY
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA Hampton Bays resident has become something of a celebrity on the East End for the dogged war he has waged against an auto dealer he says defrauded him back...
CHENEY RALLIES TROOPS IN IRAQ - 'QUITTING NOT AN OPTION,' HE SAYS IN SURPRISE VISIT
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amVice President Dick Cheney made a surprise stop in Iraq yesterday for his first trip there since 1991. The visit was so secret that even the Iraqi prime minister was...
CAR'S FLIP IS FATAL - QNS. DRIVER KILLED
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA driver was killed yesterday when his vehicle flipped over several times on the Grand Central Parkway and crashed into a tree, police said. Kevan Sinanan, 23, of Queens, suffered...
PA DOCKED AS SAFE HARBORS GET SECURITY $$ BY BOATLOAD
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Federal bureaucrats have sent millions in security grants to lightly trafficked port facilities in remote parts of the United States - at the expense of the busy, highrisk...
NO ROOM AT THE INN FOR TOURISTS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amIt was a real-life "Twilight Zone" at the Grand Hyatt Hotel last night as throngs of tourists arrived to enjoy Christmas in the city, only to see the people who...
KID CROOKS FORCED TO WORK FOR DEMS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amBrooklyn's Democratic machine forced juvenile offenders from a charity-run criminal rehab to do grunt work on political campaigns this fall, The Post has learned. The young campaigners, all members of...
NYRA NEEDS $20M TO AVOID BANKRUPTCY
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amThe Big A shut its doors yesterday for a nine-day Christmas break that some fear could become permanent if the cash-starved New York Racing Association doesn't get its financial house...
TIKI TAKES OVER
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amQUARTERBACKS: C+ Eli Manning (17 of 32, 186, 1 TD, 1 INT) is now officially a New York sports figure, as he has heard his first boos from the home...
DEVS' GOMEZ MAY WIND UP ON THE BLOCK
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amScott Gomez learns today his status for the U.S. Olympic team. The issue that will remain unsettled is his standing with the Devils. Gomez and Alexander Mogilny were benched by...
PATIENT WILDCATS LULL HALL TO SLEEP
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amN'western 44 - Seton Hall 42 Next to Pete Carril, nobody is more in favor of the Princeton offense than Northwestern coach Bill Carmody. Carmody spent 14 years at Princeton...
THOMAS: MARBURY NO LONGER NUCLEUS OF KNICKS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWhile the rumblings inside the organization have suggested all season the Knicks are no longer building around Stephon Marbury, team president Isiah Thomas finally went public with that fact over...
'BANJO' WINS GRAVESEND
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amYesterday was final day of racing until Wed. Dec. 28, when 183G pick 6 carryover is up for grabs. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Jockey Tara Hemmings, 28, from England,...
BLUE CRUSH - GIANTS HEATING UP WITH DIVISION CROWN IN SIGHT
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amTiki Barber has seen it before, when a little pebble of a season starts rolling, slowly at first, then picking up speed, gaining and accelerating and building boulder-sized momentum that...
COUGHLIN'S MUM ON WHO'LL RETURN
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES The Giants' 27-17 win over Kansas City Saturday showed they can play without a litany of starters. What wasn't said yesterday was just how much longer they'll have...
BLAME LARRY FOR 6-17
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amLARRY Brown has had three losing seasons in 33 years of coaching in the NBA, ABA and college. So it's pretty safe to say this season we're witnessing the worst...
'INSTANT' REPLAY SHOULDN'T CAUSE DELAY OF GAME
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amAS the instant replay rule continues to stop games cold, stretch them into tomorrow and turn on-field officials indecisive, it's worth noting that the rule is infrequently employed the way...
REAL VINCE IS SHOWING UP AGAIN
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES Vince Carter is starting to score like Vince Carter again. Carter, of course, came to the Nets and produced an offensive explosion last season, averaging 27.5 points after...
DOLPHINS' RECORD SAFE FOR ANOTHER YEAR
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amTHE Colts did everything possible to shackle the hands of the RCA Dome clock, to keep the game going as long as possible, because they knew once the final gun...
EX-DOLPHS GIVE INDY A SALUTE
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amMIAMI - There was a collective sigh of relief around Dolphins Stadium yesterday from the former Miami players who authored the 1972 perfect season when the news of the Colts'...
PERFECT FINISH BOLTS ON COLTS - GRITTY CHARGERS END INDY DREAM
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amChargers 26 - Colts 17 INDIANAPOLIS - The 1972 Dolphins can sleep soundly, their perfect record unmatched for another season. The Chargers handed the Colts their first loss of the...
FAMILIAR SCRIPT FOR BROOKS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amJET NOTES MIAMI - Brooks Bollinger played his heart out again, and again found himself on the wrong side of the final score. Bollinger was terrific for much of the...
YANKS MAY RESERVE DOTEL ROOM
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amFree-agent reliever Octavio Dotel was close to choosing a team yesterday, and the Yankees were "very much in it," a local source told The Post. Dotel, a hard-throwing righty coming...
FINISHING TOUCH ELUDES RANGERS - ICY STICKS LEAD TO HOME LOSS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amAvalanche 2 - Rangers 1 Let's just say that if the Rangers can still get Petr Sykora from Anaheim in exchange for Tom Poti, then Glen Sather had best get...
REDSKINS BLOW OUT THE 'BOYS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amRedskins 35 - Cowboys 7 LANDOVER - When Redskins tackle Chris Samuels was asked about Saturday's Christmas Eve showdown against the Giants, he said, simply, "I can't wait." Samuels and...
CARTER'S BACK IN GREAT FORM AGAIN
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amFor the first month of the season, Vince Carter wasn't his dazzling, high-flying self. He got his points, but he wasn't dominating games, leaping over defenders and turning them into...
JEFFERSON FINDS HIS SHOT
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES He's more comfortable. The Nets are running more. He getting better shots. And that's why Richard Jefferson entered last night's game as a 50 percent shooter again. "It's...
CARTER REGAINS OLD CONFIDENCE
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amFor the first month of the season, Vince Carter wasn't his dazzling, high-flying self. He got his points, but he wasn't taking over games, leaping over defenders and turning them...
NETS' BIG THREE BURY WARRIORS
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amNets 118 - Warriors 90 Jason Kidd compiled 18 points and had 13 assists, Vince Carter added 17 points and Richard Jefferson scored 14 for the Nets last night. In...
MCGINNIS MUM OVER PT
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amNET NOTES Three games ago, Jeff McInnis did not play. Two games ago, he played eight minutes, but just 27 seconds in the second half. Last night, he did not...
JR'S COMFORT ZONE'S AT 59
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amHe's more comfortable. The Nets are running more. He's getting better shots. And that's why Richard Jefferson entered last night's game as a 50 percent shooter again. "It's just getting...
NYLANDER'S THE FOCUS OF RANGER MOVES
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amWhile Tom Renney said that the changes in his lines - highlighted by Martin Straka's move back to the wing, Steve Rucchin's promotion back to second-line center and Dominic Moore's...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 19, 2005 | 5:00amA professor plans to create a 3-acre "body farm" in rural Iowa, where scientists can study how quickly human corpses decay under different climates. "Hopefully, I'll have those ranges of...