King’s son brings message to South Florida

The past few days have kept the eldest son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. busy. He’s been to at least three states to carry on his father’s message: ending violence and learning from historical wrongs.

In a Fort Lauderdale Baptist church early Friday, he delivered another directive:

“A nation is judged on how we treat our most prized possession,” Martin Luther King III said. “And our most precious resource, I think, is our children.”

King served as the keynote speaker at the ninth annual Martin Luther King Jr. inspirational breakfast hosted by the YMCA of Broward County.

More than 500 gathered inside the First Baptist Church on Broward Boulevard, selling out the $2,500 per table event, to honor King’s legacy.

“My concern was that it would not be reduced to a day of relaxation,” said King III. “We have to look at this as a day on — not a day off.”

The Rev. King, a prominent civil rights leader, was born this week 84 years ago. He lead peaceful protests and bus strikes working for racial equality until his 1968 assassination.

The younger King told the South Florida audience about spending his youth at the local YMCA in Birmingham, learning to swim and working out with his dad.

“Those were wonderful experiences, experiences that I will never forget,” he said.

Like his father, King III has been a fighter for human rights, justice and non-violence in the United States and abroad. He also served as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s president, a position his father once held.

During his 2009 inauguration, President Barack Obama declared the holiday honoring King should be spent as a national day of service.

At Friday’s event, 15 youngsters from the Lauderhill YMCA were honored for their service to the community. The young friends managed to clean up a popular overpass and get rid of gangs who were harassing children.

They called their project “Own the Overpath.” The idea started when 14-year-old Kervens Jean-Louis was attacked by a gang on a fenced in walkway that spans the Florida Turnpike while coming from the YMCA, based at Boyd Anderson High School. But Jean-Louis didn’t back down.

He and other students mobilized and launched a campaign to clean-up the area surrounding the “overpath.” The youngsters made a formal presentation to the Lauderhill City Commission and Florida Department of Transportation officials.

Now, there is a $400,000 project in the works to install more lights on the bridge to increase visibility. The city broke ground in November.

“I learned that when you speak out loud it makes a difference,” said Jean-Louis.

For Jean-Louis, speaking loud meant going back to the bridge to warn others of the dangers of traveling across it at night.

He will spend this upcoming Saturday as a volunteer, painting and cleaning up a garden.

“Now I tell others what’s going on and how they can help out,” he said, much like the man they had all come to honor.

After the youngsters were honored, King III left the crowd to ponder a final thought: “We can either be a thermometer or a thermostat.”

A thermometer, he explained, takes the temperature while a thermostat regulates the temperature.

Despite the progress his father saw in his lifetime, and the decades since his death, there is still much work to be done, King III said.

“I always come with a heavy heart in January,” he said. “Because we have not fully realized the dream.”

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Drew Barrymore on Oprah's Next Chapter

Drew Barrymore opens up about her complicated childhood and the lessons she's learned when it comes to being a new mother on Oprah's Next Chapter, and we have a sneak peek!

Pics: Celebs and Their Cute Kids

Marking the first time cameras have ever been allowed inside her home, Drew also talks to Oprah about her new marriage to Will Kopelman, shares details about their newborn baby Olive, and reveals the story behind why her mother did not attend her wedding.

Related: Drew Barrymore's Daughter Olive Lands First Cover

Oprah's Next Chapter with Drew Barrymore airs Sunday at 9 pm ET/PT on OWN.

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Man found dead after fire in abandoned building in Queens

A man was killed in a Queens fire early today, police said.

The blaze erupted about 12:55 a.m. in an abandoned building on 120th Street near Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill, authorities said.

The unidentified man was found in a detached garage in the back of the building at about 1:30 a.m., after the fire was extinguished.

A police source said homeless people are known to take shelter in the building.

The city medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

Sixty firefighters battled the blaze. Fire marshals are investigating the cause, according to an FDNY spokesman.

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Miami-Dade sees first hiring drop since 2010

Miami-Dade ended 2012 with its first overall job loss in more than two years as sharp drops in construction, healthcare and government jobs wiped out other gains.

The sectors all share one key funding source — tax dollars — as ongoing squeezes in government budgets force cutbacks in hospitals, infrastructure projects and basic municipal staffing. Miami-Dade lost nearly 5,000 local government jobs in December compared to the year before. Its hospital and construction sectors were both down almost 2,000 jobs each. Miami-Dade last saw its overall payroll number decline in June 2010.

Along with a hiring loss, Miami-Dade reported a sharp increase in people describing themselves as unemployed. Miami-Dade’s unemployment rate went from 8.4 percent in November to 8.8 percent in December, the sharpest increase since the recession was still underway in 2009.

Miami-Dade’s new job numbers were easily the most discouraging data set in Florida’s latest employment report. Florida reported an unemployment rate of 8 percent for December, down from 8.1 percent in November even though hiring is down for the year. And Broward recorded its second month of job gains, up about 5,000 positions.

Construction and government hiring have been rocky for years in South Florida, but the decline in the healthcare could mark a new, disturbing milestone for Miami-Dade’s economy. Before the end of 2012, Miami-Dade hospitals hadn’t reported a net job loss for 56 months. The losses follow significant layoffs at both the University of Miami medical school and the Jackson hospital system.

Miami-Dade’s 8.8 percent unemployment rate is still significantly lower than where it was a year ago, when unemployment sat at 10.2 percent in December 2011. Monthly employment reports also subject to revisions, so the hiring picture could look much better in a month. Still, Miami-Dade’s increase of four-tenths of percentage point in the unemployment rate is the fastest growth since April 2009, two months before the 2007-09 recession officially ended.

Of all the local job markets, only Miami-Dade receives a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate on the same day as the statewide report. The smaller markets’ raw rates aren’t considered as reliable.

Broward’s raw unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in December, down from 7 percent in November.

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Jackson Health System leaders fire off memos on UM

A little known children’s program at Jackson Memorial Hospital run by University of Miami doctors has sparked two contentious memos to the county’s political leaders.

Speaking about the pediatric bone marrow transplant program, Marcos Lapciuc, the Jackson board chairman, fired off an email late Thursday to the mayor and county commissioners complaining about UM “wishing to cease” providing such services at Jackson.

Jackson Chief Executive Carlos Migoya quickly responded with a “clarifying” memo to the politicians that “we have every indication” that UM will continue to providing such services at Jackson,” but might also provide those services elsewhere.

Migoya added that, if UM also undertook such services at another hospital, it would “clearly raise a host of complex issues.”

Both the medical school and Jackson have been struggling to overcome financial problems. UM so far has refused to say what it plans to do. When board members raised the issue earlier this week, UM spokeswoman Christine Morris said only that “we continuously work with our expert doctors and leadership at Jackson to make sure that our patients get the best possible care.”

Bone marrow transplant can be a crucial, life-saving treatment. UM doctors working at Jackson do about 10 to 20 of them each year on children, said Jackson spokesman Edwin O’Dell.

What concerns board members is that, as with any operating room procedure, staff needs to do quite a few each year in order to remain competent and hone their skills. If a program’s annual number of procedures gets too low, the state could withdraw certification.

Joaquin del Cueto, a veteran Jackson board member, told The Herald Thursday that the small program is symbolic of larger tensions between UM and Jackson. When UM purchased the 560-bed Cedars Medical Center, across the street from Jackson Memorial, in 2007, there was an understanding that UM pediatric services and transplants would remain services performed at Jackson, del Cueto said.

Earlier this week, a Jackson attorney told the board that there was nothing in the agreements with UM in which UM promised to keep transplants exclusively at Jackson.

Nevertheless, board members thought they had an understanding. Joe Arriola called the UM possibility of taking the pediatric program elsewhere “a stab in the back to our feelings,” to which fellow board member Darryl Sharpton added, “not to our feelings: Our viability.”

Board member del Cueto told The Herald that the spreading of the bone marrow program is “not in our best interests” because “we’ve invested millions of dollars to be the regional provider of transplant services” and Jackson has developed “highly trained professionals,” nurses and others, to do the procedures..

Del Cueto said he believes that Jackson’s basic operating agreement with UM requires UM to support the Jackson transplant program. He said he understands that Migoya is trying to calm the waters, to keep negotiations open with UM, but “I can’t sit by quietly” while UM is undermining Jackson.

In his memo to county commissioners, Migoya said, “We are continuing conversations with university leaders to find solutions that address both institutions’ long-term goals.” He said that UM has provided no notice that it plans to terminate these pediatric procedures at Jackson, but if it did, that “could be viewed” as a violation of the Jackson and UM signed agreements.

“Our professional recommendation is to continue our conversations with university leaders,” Migoya wrote.

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Why Won’t the NRA Say Anything About Its (Possibly Fake) New Video Game?

If this app is, in fact, an unlicensed kind of hoax using the NRA acronym without permission, you’d think the NRA might want to squash the brand association quickly. Despite the gun lobby’s slow response to the Newtown massacre, the NRA isn’t afraid of issuing cease and desists or suing President Obama, the District of Columbia, or the Department of Justice.

RELATED: One Month After Newtown, NRA Releases First-Person Shooter Game with AK-47

What’s more, as ArsTechnica’s Kyl Orland points out, the NRA’s earlier efforts at officially licensed video games have been successful in the lobby’s seemingly unending efforts to the turn gun-violence debate away from guns and toward other industries accused of stoking violence. Orland writes:

So Practice Range fits right into the NRA’s arguments about video games’ insidious effects on our society. “There’s nothing wrong with guns in video games per se,” the organization seems to be saying; “the problem is the way those guns are used by most of the big-money game industry in service of ultra-violent revenge fantasies. If only the game industry could use its immense influence and power to promote responsible, safe use of guns, as we have with our humble app, the world might be a different place!”

If the app isn’t the NRA’s, then the app and the controversy surrounding it would seem to present an opportune time for NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre to hammer home his point about violence in video games. In his notorious post-Newtown press conference, LaPierre in the days following blamed the gaming industry for mass violence:

And here’s another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal: There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people.

The video-game industry has been reeling as it struggles to put together a lobbying defense of its own. Of course, all these theories would be moot if the app is indeed the NRA’s. As of today, the app is still up in the iTunes Store.

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Selena Gomez Talks Justin Bieber to Nylon Magazine

Even before it was splashed across blogs that Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber had split, the Spring Breakers star was already playing coy as to her relationship status. In an interview with NYLON magazine, Gomez offered up her views on this "normal thing" called love.

"I'm having fun," the actress/singer, 20, said when asked about dating by the publication (via London Daily Mail). "At the end of the day, love is such a normal thing, and everyone deals with it. Just because it's a different lifestyle doesn't change the meaning of what I've been raised on, which is fairy tales."

RELATED: 10 More Shocking Celebrity Breakups

There is one relationship that is still going strong for Gomez -- the one with Taylor Swift. "We both experienced the same things at the same time," she said of her bestie. "But we've never once talked about our industry. She just became the person I'd go to for an issue with my family or boyfriend. It's so hard to trust girls, so I'm lucky to have her."

RELATED: Is Swift Writing About Ex Harry Styles?

Who do you think Gomez should date next? Let us know, below.

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Alicia Keys to sing national anthem at Super Bowl

A person familiar with Super Bowl entertainment plans tells The Associated Press that Alicia Keys has been lined up to perform the national anthem before the NFL championship game in New Orleans on Feb. 3.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL has not yet announced the anthem singer.

Grammy-winner Keys released her fifth studio album, "Girl on Fire," late last year.

The NFL said in October that Beyonce will be the star of the halftime show at this year's Super Bowl. She sang the national anthem at the 2004 NFL title game in her hometown of Houston.

Marcus Owen/startraksphoto.com

Alicia Keys

This year's Super Bowl teams will be determined Sunday, when the 49ers play the Falcons, and the Ravens face the Patriots.

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Jackson Health System leaders fire off memos on UM

A little known children’s program at Jackson Memorial Hospital run by University of Miami doctors has sparked two contentious memos to the county’s political leaders.

Speaking about the pediatric bone marrow transplant program, Marcos Lapciuc, the Jackson board chairman, fired off an email late Thursday to the mayor and county commissioners complaining about UM “wishing to cease” providing such services at Jackson.

Jackson Chief Executive Carlos Migoya quickly responded with a “clarifying” memo to the politicians that “we have every indication” that UM will continue to providing such services at Jackson,” but might also provide those services elsewhere.

Migoya added that, if UM also undertook such services at another hospital, it would “clearly raise a host of complex issues.”

Both the medical school and Jackson have been struggling to overcome financial problems. UM so far has refused to say what it plans to do. When board members raised the issue earlier this week, UM spokeswoman Christine Morris said only that “we continuously work with our expert doctors and leadership at Jackson to make sure that our patients get the best possible care.”

Bone marrow transplant can be a crucial, life-saving treatment. UM doctors working at Jackson do about 10 to 20 of them each year on children, said Jackson spokesman Edwin O’Dell.

What concerns board members is that, as with any operating room procedure, staff needs to do quite a few each year in order to remain competent and hone their skills. If a program’s annual number of procedures gets too low, the state could withdraw certification.

Joaquin del Cueto, a veteran Jackson board member, told The Herald Thursday that the small program is symbolic of larger tensions between UM and Jackson. When UM purchased the 560-bed Cedars Medical Center, across the street from Jackson Memorial, in 2007, there was an understanding that UM pediatric services and transplants would remain services performed at Jackson, del Cueto said.

Earlier this week, a Jackson attorney told the board that there was nothing in the agreements with UM in which UM promised to keep transplants exclusively at Jackson.

Nevertheless, board members thought they had an understanding. Joe Arriola called the UM possibility of taking the pediatric program elsewhere “a stab in the back to our feelings,” to which fellow board member Darryl Sharpton added, “not to our feelings: Our viability.”

Board member del Cueto told The Herald that the spreading of the bone marrow program is “not in our best interests” because “we’ve invested millions of dollars to be the regional provider of transplant services” and Jackson has developed “highly trained professionals,” nurses and others, to do the procedures..

Del Cueto said he believes that Jackson’s basic operating agreement with UM requires UM to support the Jackson transplant program. He said he understands that Migoya is trying to calm the waters, to keep negotiations open with UM, but “I can’t sit by quietly” while UM is undermining Jackson.

In his memo to county commissioners, Migoya said, “We are continuing conversations with university leaders to find solutions that address both institutions’ long-term goals.” He said that UM has provided no notice that it plans to terminate these pediatric procedures at Jackson, but if it did, that “could be viewed” as a violation of the Jackson and UM signed agreements.

“Our professional recommendation is to continue our conversations with university leaders,” Migoya wrote.

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Florida Supreme Court upholds law requiring state workers to contribute 3 percent of pay to state pension plan

TALLAHASSEE --
In a major victory for the state, the Florida Supreme Court ruled against state workers and allowed the state to retain the 3 percent levy on worker salaries to offset the state’s investment into the Florida Retirement System.

The ruling allows lawmakers to avoid another $2 billion budget hole next year, while state employees will see their salary cuts retained indefinitely. The lawsuit, Scott v. Williams, was filed by the Florida Education Association. Lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott had approved the new law over pension fund contributions in 2011. It affected the salaries of 623,000 public employees, including teachers, state, county and some city workers.

Lawmakers argued at the time that the change was needed to fill a $3.6 billion budget gap and bring Florida in line with 47 states that require their government workers to contribute to their pension plans. The savings was then plowed back into the budget, not into the retirement fund.

The Supreme Court overturned a decision by Leon County Circuit Court Judge Jackie Fulford, who ruled in 2012 that the pension changes were unconstitutional because they impaired the contractual rights of the FRS employees, took private property without full compensation and violated employee collective bargaining rights. She ordered the state to halt the practice and reimburse workers with interest.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and Republican legislative leaders immediately challenged the ruling and continued collecting money from employee payments.

If the seven justices had upheld the lower court ruling, state and local governments would have had to reimburse active workers in the Florida Retirement System and cover the resulting hole in their budgets.

The state has already collected more than $900 million from employees and are expected to take up to $2 billion by June 30, 2013, the end of the state’s current fiscal year.

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PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 could cost just $350, expected to launch this fall

Sony (SNE) and Microsoft (MSFT) are both expected to announce their next-generation gaming consoles at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in June, or even a little before then. While we have seen rumored specs for both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox 720, one thing that has escaped us is a possible price tag. In a research note to investors on Monday, Colin Sebastian of Baird Equity Research suggested that both consoles could retail for between $ 350 and $ 400 in the U.S., Games Industry International reported. The analyst revealed that during the Consumer Electronics Show last week he spent time “with a number of companies involved in video game development and distribution,” who informed him that the next-generation consoles will be “largely built from ‘off the shelf’ high-end PC components, along with hybrid physical/digital distribution models, enhanced voice controls and motion sensing, and broad multi-media capabilities.”

[More from BGR: HTC One SV review]

Sebastian believes that “a PC-based architecture (Intel chips in the case of Xbox) should have a number of advantages over custom-developed silicon.” In his opinion, there will be less of a “learning curve” for software developers compared to completely new technology, and the cost of production and retail price points should be lower than prior console launches.

[More from BGR: Dell’s bold plan to reinvent itself: A USB-sized PC that gives access to Windows, Mac OS, Chrome OS]

Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in 2005 with a top end price of $ 399, while Sony released the PlayStation 3 a year later for $ 499 and $ 599 respectively.

“It will be easier to build online services around PC chip architecture, including flexible business models (free-to-play, subscriptions) and multi-media (over the top) content offerings,” the analyst added. “For Microsoft, this design will also allow for more integration with Windows 8 and Windows Mobile devices.”

Sebastian expects Sony to launch the PlayStation 4 in October and Microsoft to launch the Xbox 720 in November.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Mob Wives Season Three Exclusive Clip

New Mob Wives castmember Love Majewski has been delivering the drama all season long and as you can see in ETonline's exclusive sneak peek at Sunday's all-new episode, the potential for fireworks won't fizzle out any time soon.

RELATED - Honey Boo Boo's Shocking Family Admission

Over cocktails with Drita, Love reveals that fellow Mob wife Carla has been dating her ex and that he's a psycho stalker!

But will Love give Carla the scoop? And will Carla be open to hearing about her boyfriend's psychotic tendencies? You better hope so given the conditions Love sets for their meeting. Watch!

Mob Wives airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on VH1.

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Majority of NY voters back Cuomo's gun bill: Siena poll

ALBANY - New Yorkers like Gov. Cuomo's new controversial gun bill - and most of the other proposals he unveiled in last week's State of the State speech, a new poll out today found.

Support for the gun bill Cuomo signed Tuesday — which made New York the first state in the nation to act after last month's Newtown elementary school massacre — was strongest (91-8 percent) for a provision toughening penalties for buying illegal guns or using guns on school grounds, the Siena College survey found.

That was followed by strengthening the state's ban on assault weapons and limiting magazines to seven bullets (73-26).

AP

Gov. Cuomo addresses an audience in Rochester Wednesday.

New York voters opposed the National Rifle Association's proposal — not in the Cuomo bill — to place armed guards in schools (52-46 percent) and more strongly opposed training and arming teachers (69-30).

The Jan. 10-15 telephone survey of 676 registered state voters found that while Cuomo's favorability (71-24) and job approval (60-38) ratings remained strong, his support among fellow Democrats edged up while fewer Republicans backed the governor in the wake of what was widely viewed as a solidly Democratic 2013 agenda.

Voters supported numerous elements of the agenda, including increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.75 an hour (83-15), providing taxpayer money for state campaigns while limiting the size of contributions (59-36), allowing for early voting (67-30), providing state aid for schools to lengthen the school day or year (62-35) and decriminalizing up to 15 grams of pot in public (62-35 percent).

But by 53-44, voters oppose removing restrictions for college financial aid for undocumented immigrants — the "Dream Act."

And they also backed a tough "bar exam" for teachers by 76-23 percent.

The poll also found New Yorkers narrowly turning against the controversial practice of fracking for natural gas upstate (44-40), a reversal from a Siena poll last month that found narrow support (42-36).

Support for legalizing casino gambling, another Cuomo priority, shrank a bit (52-43) from prior surveys — with city voters evenly divided and stronger support in the suburbs.

Voters continued to think the state is moving in the right direction by 57-33 percent, up slightly from last month.

But New Yorkers — after overwhelmingly voting to re-elect President Obama — said narrowly (49-46) that the nation is headed in the wrong direction.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

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Jackson Health System asks Kendall trauma center be shut down

Ratcheting up the stakes in Miami-Dade’s hospital wars, Jackson Health System has filed two petitions with the state demanding a hearing to consider its belief that the license for trauma operations at Kendall Regional Medical Center was granted illegally and should be revoked.

Jackson, which for years has had the county’s only trauma center, has been complaining loudly since the Scott administration decided the state needed more centers. Kendall Regional’s opened in November 2011.

Jackson executives estimate it has been losing about $28 million a year since then because, as one of its trauma doctors quipped, Jackson Memorial’s Ryder Trauma Center tends to get the inner-city gunshot victims who have no insurance while Kendall gets the suburban car accident victims with insurance.

State officials and the HCA hospital chain, which owns Kendall Regional, maintain that Miami-Dade’s size requires more than one trauma center.

Mark McKenney, medical director of the Kendall center, said Wednesday the center has treated 2,500 patients in its first year -- “with mortality rates significantly below the state and national averages.” He said Kendall treats anyone who comes through the door, including plenty of gunshot and stabbing victims who may or may not have insurance.

McKenney said the state decided Miami-Dade needed more trauma centers after a 2005 study showed that only 39 percent of the county’s trauma victims were treated in trauma centers. Those treated in ordinary emergency rooms showed a considerably higher mortality rate, McKenney said.

In Miami-Dade, HCA’s Mercy and Tenet’s Palmetto General have also applied for trauma licenses. Jackson countered by seeking trauma units at its two community hospitals, Jackson North and Jackson South.

In its filings to the Department of Health on Jan. 2, Jackson’s lawyers asked for formal administrative hearings, maintaining North and South were unfairly denied approval in a Dec. 13 Department of Health letter that stated the regulators were rethinking trauma rules on trauma centers after court rulings.

The Jackson petitions, first reported on Tuesday by Jim Saunders of News Service of Florida, noted that an administrative law judge in November 2011 decided that the Department of Health’s trauma certification rule was invalid. After that, the department granted provisional licenses to Kendall Regional and three other hospitals.

On Nov. 30, 2012, the First District Court of Appeal upheld that decision. Seven days later, the department approved the application of Ocala Regional, another HCA facility, and allowed it to open the following day. Gov. Rick Scott is the former chief executive of HCA.

Jackson’s attorneys accused the department of giving these other hospitals a “selective benefit.” They said that a hearing would establish that “the ultimate facts” show that “all provisional licenses issued under the invalid trauma rule need rule should be revoked,” as well as all pending applications, until the department established a legally acceptable rule on trauma centers.

Steve Ecenia, an attorney for HCA, called Jackson’s petition “bizarre” because, instead of seeking approval for its own applications, it was trying to hit back at other hospitals, including Ocala, “hundreds of miles away.” He said the appeals court decision wasn’t final, because there are demands for a rehearing, and the Department of Health’s licensing has been fair.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said Wednesday that the department “had no additional information to provide.” A Jackson spokesman said executives couldn’t comment “because of pending litigation.”

Wayne Brackin, chief operating officer of Baptist Health South Florida, said Baptist is “very worried about this trauma issue,” because in the 1980s, the trauma system fell apart in Miami-Dade with many hospitals losing money on the service, and Baptist doesn’t want the Ryder Trauma Center weakened by competition that could again endanger trauma care in the county.

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Driver in Rickenbacker Causeway cyclist death to be sentenced

A motorist who killed cyclist Aaron Cohen in a hit-and-run crash on the Rickenbacker Causeway will learn his fate Wednesday.

A Miami-Dade judge on Wednesday afternoon will sentence Michele Traverso, 26, who earlier pleaded guilty for the crash that killed Cohen last February.

The fatality, and a similar hit-and-run wreck in 2010, has renewed calls for increased safety for cyclists and joggers on the popular causeway. Fellow cyclists staged a memorial ride and erected a billboard overlooking Interstate 95 in Cohen’s honor.

Members of Miami’s avid cycling community are expected to be on hand for the 1 p.m. sentencing.

Traverso, driving on a suspended license, struck Cohen and cycling partner Enda Walsh as the two rode in the northbound lanes near the crest of the bridge. Traverso surrendered to police 18 hours after the crash.

Though there were reports of Traverso drinking in Coconut Grove that night, investigators could not prove that his blood alcohol content level was above the legal limit because of the delay in turning himself in.

Traverso pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving a death, leaving the scene of an accident with great bodily harm, and driving with a suspended license. He also pleaded guilty to earlier cocaine possession charge.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas could sentence him to as little as 22.8 months in prison, and as much as 35 years behind bars.

In May, Thomas told Cohen’s widow, Patricia Cohen, that he would be unlikely to deliver the maximum sentence, although he could consider “20 or 25 years” after hearing from her and Traverso’s own family at a possible sentencing.

The Cohen family is suing Traverso and his father, who owned the car.

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Leaked BlackBerry 10 sales manual reveals new images and details

The buzz continues to mount leading up to the January 30th unveiling of Research In Motions’s (RIMM) next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform, but we’re not sure how much is left to learn. Many BlackBerry 10 features have already been announced, we’ve seen RIM’s first two next-generation handsets — the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry X10 — a number times, and now Rogers’ internal sales manual for BlackBerry 10 devices has leaked thanks to CrackBerry. The manual is packed full of images and it also confirms some specs reported a few months ago, and the full document is embedded at the source link below. RIM’s next-generation operating system and handsets will be unveiled during a press conference on January 30th, and BGR will be on hand reporting live.

[More from BGR: Dell’s bold plan to reinvent itself: A USB-sized PC that gives access to Windows, Mac OS, Chrome OS]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

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Jennifer Lopez Talks Age Difference with Boyfriend Casper Smart

Jennifer Lopez, 43, is definitely not shy when it comes to her boyfriend choreographer/dancer Casper Smart, 25, and acknowledges their 18-year age difference in a new interview with People.

"I ask him, 'Why don't you go find a young girlfriend and get out of here? What do you want with me?' And you think, 'How long is this gonna be?'," she admits. "You think, 'Okay, in 10 years I'm going to be like this and you're going to be like that' and … men at that age are … I think all different things. The truth is we don't know what's going to happen. We're loving this moment right now. We make each other happy."

Video: Vogue's Andre Leon Talley One-on_one with J.Lo

She also credits her new beau with helping her heal after her 2011 divorce to Marc Anthony.

"I just got out of a big, heavy, devastating thing, and he's helped me heal," she says.

Video: J.Lo on Running Into Her Famous Exes at the Globes

As for her well-documented love life, which includes past relationships with superstars Ben Affleck and P Diddy, the seemingly ageless Lopez has "no regrets."

"I don't regret those things – that's who I am," she says. "But at least now I'm at a point where I have to recognize that these choices and things that happen are partly because of me and my decisions and I have to be more careful. So I am being more careful."

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Dunkin' Donuts to open shops in Southern California

CANTON, Mass. — Dunkin' Donuts is going to bring its munchkins, coffee and doughnuts to Southern California.

The chain, owned by Dunkin' Brands Group Inc., said Wednesday that it looking to open locations in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange counties by working with franchisees that run multiple locations.

Dunkin' Donuts anticipates shops will start opening in Southern California in 2015.

"Expansion to California has always been part of our plan to grow Dunkin' Donuts' presence in the US," Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin' Brands and president of Dunkin' Donuts US, said in a statement.

It is also hoping to team up with some food service operators that can help bring its food and drinks to places like colleges and universities, casinos, military bases, supermarkets, airports and travel centers.

The company said that it has been expanding in new markets across the US and will also continue to open new restaurants in existing markets. Its long-term goal is to have more than 15,000 Dunkin' Donuts locations in the US.

Dunkin' Donuts opened 291 new restaurants in the US last year. It plans to open 330 to 360 new locations in the US in 2013.

Dunkin' Brands, which also runs Baskin-Robbins, has more than 10,000 restaurants in 32 countries.

Shares of Dunkin' Brands, based in Canton, Mass., gained 9 cents to $34.11 in morning trading.

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Miami Dolphins bill would bring state money to aging stadiums

A bill drafted by the Miami Dolphins would give Florida sports teams $3 million a year in state money to improve older stadiums, provided the owner pays for at least half the cost of a major renovation.

Under the law, the stadium would need to be 20 years old and the team willing to put in at least $125 million for a $250 million renovation. That’s less than the $400 million redo of Sun Life Stadium that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross proposed this week, which he hopes will win state approval thanks to his offer to fund at least $200 million of the effort to modernize the 1987 facility.

Miami-Dade and Florida would fund the rest through a mix of county hotel taxes and state general funds set aside for stadiums. Sun Life currently receives $2 million a year through the program, and the Dolphins want to create a new category that would give them an additional $3 million.

While the Miami Marlins and Miami Heat both play in stadiums subsidized by county hotel taxes, the Dolphins receive no local dollars. The bill would change that by allowing Miami-Dade to increase the tax charged at mainland hotels to 7 percent from 6 percent, and eliminate the current rule that limits the money to publicly owned stadiums. Sun Life Stadium, in Miami Gardens, is privately owned but sits on county land.

The bill pits enthusiasm for one of Florida’s most popular sports teams against a lean budget climate and lingering backlash against the 2009 deal that had Miami and Miami-Dade borrow about $485 million to build a new ballpark for the Marlins. Ross also must navigate a Republican-led Legislature that has twice rebuffed his requests for public dollars.

“I would be surprised if that bill even got a hearing in committee,” said Mike Fasano, a Republican representative from the Tampa area and a critic of tax-funded sports deals. “I’m a big Dolphin fan, and have been for years. But with all due respect, we’ve got people who are struggling throughout this state right now . .. The last thing we should be doing is giving a professional sports team or facility additional tax dollars.”

While the bill would open up the $3 million subsidy to other the teams, the Dolphins see it as unlikely that another owner would be willing to put up as much money for renovations as Ross, a billionaire real estate developer.

If the bill were enacted today, any stadium opened before 1993 would be eligible for the money, provided it could show the proposed renovation would generate an additional $3 million in sales taxes.

Ross and his backers are pitching the renovation as a boon to tourism, with Sun Life a magnet for the Super Bowl, national college football games and other major events. The National Football League is considering South Florida and San Francisco for the 2016 Super Bowl, and the Dolphins say approval of renovation funding is crucial to winning the bid.

Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, who sponsored the Senate bill, said the funding makes sense because when Sun Life hosts a Super Bowl, the entire state benefits from both tourism dollars and publicity.

“It’s a small price to pay for economic development, and for all the shine we get from major sporting events,” said Braynon, whose district includes Sun Life. Rep. Eduardo “Eddy” Gonzalez, R-Hialeah, is the sponsor on the House side.

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Wedgie-spree at Florida theater lands prankster in jail

Authorities say that Charles Ross is known to go around Manatee County and create situations in order to harass and annoy people while filming their reaction for You Tube.

Last weekend, Ross, 18, of Bradenton, ended up in jail after police say he went on a wedgie spree at a theater.

Deputies say Ross was at Royal Palm Theater Sunday night with a friend and began grabbing people by their pants and pulling them up hard, causing discomfort.

A victim told deputies that Ross pulled up his pants, wedgie-style, and then asked the victim if he wanted to hit him, all while his friend was filming, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

One victim decided to press charges but others were too embarrassed, deputies said.

The deputy took the camera as evidence and both Ross and his friend were removed from the theater and told they would be arrested if they come back, according to the report.

Ross was booked into the Manatee County Jail on battery charges and was released Monday on a $750 bond.

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Tata Consultancy says demand in U.S. strong across segments

MUMBAI/BANGALORE (Reuters) – India’s top software services provider Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) said demand in the key U.S. market is strong across its business segments, with regional banks stepping up spending on technology.

The Mumbai-based company said on Monday that profit jumped 23 percent in the quarter ended December, beating analysts‘ expectations. TCS also gave an upbeat growth outlook, sending its shares up the most in more than eight months and prompting analyst upgrades on the stock.

Economic uncertainty in the United States had fuelled investor worry that clients may keep their IT budgets tight and postpone decision-making on technology spending.

“The U.S. is still a growth market,” Chief Financial Officer S Mahalingam told Reuters in an interview at his Mumbai office on Tuesday. “If it sneezes then we have got a big problem. (But) the demand is very good across all segments.”

The United States accounts for about half of TCS’ revenue, compared with more than 60 percent overall for India’s $ 100 billion outsourcing industry.

Banks, insurers and other financial services clients usually account for more than a third of the revenue at companies such as TCS’ rival Infosys Ltd , where better-than-expected results on Friday and an increased revenue outlook powered a 20 percent rise in its shares over two sessions.

“(The) U.S. economy has regional banks as well, and they are starting to spend. So there is growth,” Mahalingam said.

While Monday’s results prompted analysts from HSBC and CLSA to increase their ratings on TCS stock, some analysts said volume growth was not especially impressive.

Volumes, or billable hours, rose 1.25 percent on a sequential basis, while revenue in dollar terms increased 3.3 percent over the September quarter.

“The key disappointment was soft volume growth of 1.25 percent quarter-on-quarter. However, we remain assured by management’s optimistic outlook on FY14 growth,” Nomura analysts wrote in a note to clients.

(Editing by Tony Munroe and Ryan Woo)

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Revenge Cast ELLE Magazine Spread

Emily VanCamp

The cast of Revenge set aside their on-screen differences for a lavish photo shoot with ELLE magazine. From lead Emily VanCamp (playing the "Disgraced Daughter Out for Revenge") in an artsy ensemble to her on and off-screen beau Joshua Bowman playing in a fountain, these fun, sexy shots remind us why we can't get enough of ABC's nighttime soap. The ELLE shoot also includes a must-watch video where the cast plays the classic camp game, "F***, Marry, Kill."

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'Cannibal' cop denied bail

They wouldn't bite.

A Manhattan appeals court refused to release accused NYPD "cannibal cop" Gilberto Valle on bail this morning.

The three-judge panel didn't even pause to digest arguments from both sides before unanimously rejecting Valle's bid to reverse the previous rulings of three separate, lower-court judges.

Presiding Judge Peter Hall of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals didn't dish on the reasoning behind the decision, saying a brief, written order would be served up later today.

During about 15 minutes of oral arguments, Manhattan federal prosecutor Hadassa Waxman called Valle a danger to the community, saying he schemed to kidnap, cook and eat women during Internet chats she called "depraved, disgusting, troubling, gruesome."

OkCupid

Gilberto Valle

Waxman also revealed new allegations against Valle, saying he told a co-conspirator that he planned to make a female friend in Maryland his "next meal," and said his "mouth was watering the whole time" after visiting her in July.

Public defender Edward Zas contended that "the entire prosecution is misguided," noting that 40,000 people people take part in "the most depraved, heinous chats" at the sexual-fetish Web site where he insisted Valle merely engaged in fantasy "role-play."

"He's done nothing but imagine bad things and put them, foolishly, on the Internet in a really bad way," Zas said.

Zas also revealed that the defense would seek a one-month delay of Valle's trial -- currently set to start next week -- at a court conference this afternoon.

bruce.golding@nypost.com

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Global entrepreneurship nonprofit Endeavor coming to Miami

Flawless execution helped propel Argentine Marcos Galperin’s e-auction site, Mercado Libre, above the competition to become a $3.8 billion company. Some 50,000 small businesses now use it to market their wares.

Leila Velez and Heloísa Helena Assis, cousins who grew up in the slums of Rio, started with one product and one salon. Today their company, Beleza Natural, operates 24 salons that bring in $75 million in revenues, employs 1,500 people and has an eye on U.S expansion.

Both were powered, in part, by Endeavor, a global nonprofit that selects, mentors, supports and accelerates high-impact entrepreneurs in metropolitan areas of 16 countries — and, soon, in Miami.

Endeavor and its local supporter, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, announced Tuesday that Knight is providing Endeavor with $2 million in grant funding over five years for Endeavor’s first U.S. expansion. Endeavor’s Miami office could ultimately service dozens of local entrepreneurs, but first a local board needs to be assembled, a managing director hired and offices set up.

Beginning late this year, South Florida’s innovators will be able to apply to become Endeavor Entrepreneurs, connecting them to a global network of mentors and advisors who can help grow their ventures. “We think this is a cornerstone of making Miami more of a place where ideas are built,” said Matt Haggman, Miami program director for the Knight Foundation, which has made entrepreneurship a key focus of its Miami program.

The announcement is an important milestone in Miami’s efforts to accelerate an entrepreneurial ecosystem, which has been gaining momentum, said Haggman, who led the effort for Knight, its largest investment in entrepreneurship to date. Accelerators, incubators and co-working spaces have been opening up, including Launch Pad Tech, which is receiving $1.5 million in public funding and opens for its first class next week. Last month, the first ever Innovate MIA week attracted hundreds of entrepreneurs, investors and other supporters to a packed schedule of daily events, which included the Americas Venture Capital Conference and Endeavor’s International Selection Panel.

“Miami is almost the perfect seeding ground for Endeavor,” said Peter Kellner, co-founder of Endeavor and now an Endeavor board member, an investor and South Florida resident who began discussing the project with Haggman in the spring. “There are commitments from large institutions like Knight, FIU, UM, there is capital, there are people that are interested in making things happen, there are already clusters of activity like accelerators and incubators. That’s where Endeavor thrives.”

Endeavor selects and works primarily with companies from a wide range of industries that are already earning $500,000 to $15 million in annual revenue and ready for the next stage: explosive growth.

“While the vast majority of small businesses employ two or three people, Endeavor businesses employ an average of 237,” said Endeavor co-founder and CEO Linda Rottenberg.

Launched in 1998 and headquartered in New York City, Endeavor now operates throughout Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia and supports more than 750 entrepreneurs who are chosen in a rigorous selection process.

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Crime Watch: Now is a good time to protect your credit cards

Well, the holidays are over, we have over-eaten and shopped until we dropped. With that said, let’s turn to a subject that we need to be very careful about: credit cards.

With all the shopping we did during the holidays, we need to make sure that our cards were not compromised. So when the bills start coming in, pay close attention to the charges, and I hope you kept all the receipts so you can match those charges!

Once again, I want to provide you with information in case you feel that you have become a victim of identity theft, so here is what you need to do immediately:

• Immediately close accounts you know or believe have been tampered with.

• File a police report and submit it to your creditors and others who may require proof of the crime.

• Contact the fraud department of the three major credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit file.

• File your complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft. The FTC maintains a database of identity theft cases used by law enforcement agencies for investigations. You can also call the FTC hotline: 877-IDTHEFT.

• Order your credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows you to get one free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once per year. You can get their names at www.annualcreditreport.com/ or by calling 877-322-8228.

• Correct all mistakes on your credit report in writing. Send a letter to the credit reporting agency identifying the problems item by item. Include a copy of the credit report and send the letter with a return receipt requested.

• Make a copy of all your credit card account numbers and bank account numbers and keep it in a safe place.

This past year was truly challenging for many of us, but by working together, staying informed and being involved we can continue to meet the challenges before us in 2013. Foreclosed and abandoned houses continue to be one of the biggest problems in our neighborhoods. All you have to do is ask any police officer that works those areas or the crime watch groups that have dozens of foreclosures in their community. Therefore, I hope to continue providing you with the necessary information to help resolve those issues.

To those that have chosen to implement Neighborhood Watch, I congratulate you, because you are making a difference working together with your police officers. Little by little, a block at a time, you are helping to keep crime in check in your area.

In closing I want to say “thank you” to all the readers who have helped in making this column so popular. It is hard to believe that next month I will be starting my eighth year writing this column. You the readers have contributed so much with your suggestions, your personal incidents and emails. Many of you have stated in more than one occasion this column has helped you not become a victim.

We may not always agree on some issues, but I try very hard to give you the tools necessary so you may get involved in strengthening our community. Once again, thank you for your support. Have a safe week!

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RIM says 15,000 BlackBerry 10 apps submitted in under two days

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Lena Dunham Thanks Chad Lowe at Golden Globes

Upon her show Girls winning a Golden Globe for Best Comedy, Lena Dunham took the stage and said she "promised" she'd thank actor Chad Lowe, but why?

The funny girl is referring to the infamous Academy Awards moment in 2000 when Lowe's then wife Hilary Swank forgot to thank him upon winning for Boys Don't Cry.

Dunham, 26, had won for Best Actress earlier in the evening but had declined to mention the Pretty Little Liars actor. Lowe, 44, tweeted following the actress' first acceptance speech, writing: "You forgot to thank me?! After all we've been through? I'm shocked."

She quickly fixed her mistake with her second win, telling the crowd, "I also promised myself that if I ever got this chance I would thank Chad Lowe. I'm sorry, I just promised and I promised my mom."

Lowe's name quickly became a Twitter trend with the actor responding: "Now that I'm trending worldwide (finally) does that mean I don't have to give my daughters a bath or change their diapers anymore?"

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Owners of Theatre Row playhouses settle wheelchair discrimination probe

The owners of six Times Square playhouses known as Theatre Row will give away free tickets to wheelchair users to settle a discrimination probe by the state Attorney General’s Office, The Post has learned.

The 42nd Street Development Corp. also agreed to start selling wheelchair-accessible seats in its six venues the same way it sells seats to the general public, whether online, over the phone or through third-party vendors.

Settlement papers say the AG’s investigation found that the company was “failing to ensure that accessible seating was sold during the same hours and stages of sales as other seating, and made available through the same distribution and purchasing methods.”

“People with disabilities should have the same opportunities to enjoy places of public accommodation as all Americans, and theaters are no exception,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.

Under terms of the deal, a pair of tickets to The Acorn Theatre -- one for a wheelchair user, and one for a companion -- will be given away once a month for a year.

The ducats will be distributed by non-profit groups that provide services to the disabled.

bruce.golding@nypost.com

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.CO sets sights on changing ‘the fabric of the Internet’

For the millions of people who equate the Web with .com, . CO Internet is out to change that mindset.

The Miami company that manages and markets the .co domain is already making impressive gains — more than 1.4 million in 200 countries have hung their businesses, blogs, personal projects or dreams on a .co virtual shingle. Still, that’s just a tiny fraction of industry titan VeriSign’s 105 million .com registrants.

“We want to change the fabric of the Internet,” Juan Diego Calle, founder and CEO of .CO Internet, said during an interview in .CO’s Brickell office. “We can only make that happen not by changing what happened in the last 25 years of the Web, which is owned by .com. We want to change the next 25.”

About 2½ years after the launch of .CO Internet, .co — the country code of Colombia — continues to be one of the fastest-growing Internet domains in the world and grew by 24 percent in 2012. .CO Internet is profitable and is projecting to bring in more than $25 million in revenues this year, the company said. The early success of .CO Internet, with operations in Miami and Colombia, is powered by passion and perseverance.

Calle moved to Miami from Colombia at age 15 with his family. He started several businesses, including one he sold in 2005 providing seed capital for what would come next. “I can’t say I ever sat still.” When he learned Colombia would be commercializing the country's .co domain extension in late 2006, he said it hit him like a lightning bolt.

With the right strategy and by “marketing the hell out of it,” the entrepreneur believed .co could solve a huge problem in the market — vanishing Internet domain names. If you’ve tried to nab a new .com address lately, you can relate — it’s difficult to find one that hasn’t been snatched up.

Calle thought that by appealing to the hearts and minds of the entrepreneur, .co could go where .info, .biz, .net or .me had never gone before. But first he needed the right team.

One of this first stops: The Big Apple, to visit Nicolai Bezsonoff, who had been an advisor and shareholder in Calle’s TeRespondo.com, a sort of Ask Jeeves for the Latin American market that was sold to Yahoo in 2005. At the time, Bezsonoff was the director of technology and operations at Citigroup.

“We went out for coffee, he started pitching me on a napkin. I said ‘really dude you want me to leave a big job at Citigroup for this?’ ” said Bezsonoff. “But he kept showing me the numbers … Later, that napkin was on my desk and it was one of those boring days and I kept looking at it and thought maybe I should.” He would become .CO’s chief operating officer.

Lori Anne Wardi, a lawyer and serial entrepreneur who was working at a venture capital firm at the time, became vice president in charge of brand strategy, business development and global communications. “She’s the heart and soul of the company,” said Calle. Eduardo Santoyo, based in Bogota, would become corporate vice president over policy and be the liaison with the Colombian government. “Some would say it was overkill talent but I needed the best. ... When you have a big dream, you have to think big and hire the right people,” Calle said.

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Newark mayor to headline Broward Democrats’ fundraiser

Rising Democratic star and Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker will be the keynote speaker at the Broward Democrats’ annual fundraiser March 23.

“He is clearly part of next generation of Democratic leaders,” local party chairman Mitch Ceasar said.

Booker, an African-American Rhodes scholar and Yale University law grad, became mayor at age 37 in 2006. He turned down a job offer from President Barack Obama after his first win. In 2012, Booker spoke at the Democratic National Convention and recently confirmed he is exploring running for U.S. Senate.

The Unity Dinner is the main fundraiser for Broward Democrats, who are preparing for the 2014 elections — most notably, a challenge to Gov. Rick Scott.

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Why This Outdated Dating Manual Did Not Need a Social-Media Update

The Rules, a dating instruction manual of yore by two ladies named Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider (they know what they’re talking about ’cause they’re married!), should, by now, have gone the way of the cave drawing or the horse and buggy, as a relic of times past. It was initially published in 1995, nearly 20 years ago, and we don’t even want to calculate what that means in dog years. But alas, it’s still hanging around, lurking in the bookshelves of various bricks and mortar stores where such things are sold; lingering on Amazon.com and giving us coquettish looks; promising such things as actual, official answers in the ongoing struggle to win a man and make him put a ring on it (I’m paraphrasing, of course).

RELATED: Actual Wall Streeters Respond to Matchmaker’s Tips for Dating Them

Far from aging gracefully and going away, it’s been updated to bring it up to speed with the newfangled ways in which we do things, you know, on the Facebook and World Wide Web and whatnot. Of course, business-wise, this makes sense. It’s a best-seller! In fact, there’s a whole franchise of Rules books, described by Elle as “one of the best self-help books of all time.” So why wouldn’t Fein and Schneider and their publisher hope to make some more money with a new installment of the book that promises answers to pressing social media-dating questions like these: “How long should I wait to respond to his text message? Can I friend him on Facebook? Why did he ask for my number but never call me?” 

RELATED: Andrea Peyser Does Not Approve of This ‘Online Dating’

Well, they would. Grand Central Publishing released the book, Not Your Mother’s Rules, on January 8, and it’s ranked number 4 in dating books on Amazon. One would presume from the title and the pitch that the ladies behind it hope that the younger generations will lap this stuff up, just like their moms did. 

RELATED: Commuting to the Suburbs of Love

Of course, it’s a self-help book, so I am predisposed to dislike it. Self-help books, especially those about dating, often fall into a category that could be better described as, well, undermining. The problems with such books for me are multifold. One, they posit that human relationships can be commoditized; that there is one path that works for all in terms of getting what you want. (They also presume, in a stereotypical manner, that what we all want is the same, and, I think, infer there’s some ongoing battle between men, who want one thing, and women, who want the opposite.) I don’t think those messages are true, and I don’t think they’re particularly healthy or helpful, either.

RELATED: The Trials of Being a Married Olympian

Further, self-help books are published to make money. Those that say they’ll teach a reader how to get married or get the relationship they want do so by preying on the bewilderment, confusion, insecurity, and desires of women (and sometimes men, too). Sure, dating is hard. Sure, it’s difficult to find “the right person.” But the process should also to be fun, experiential, silly, weird, unique, and something we learn from. Figuring out what you want for yourself by doing it, that’s a great thing. Making dating about adhering to some code that a couple of people came up with and want to sell you so they can make money, well, that’s not so great. Women and men may read this stuff because they think it can’t hurt. Sometimes it feels good to believe that there are rules that can be followed to get what we want; it means we need only have the dedication and commitment to follow those rules, which is way easier than, for instance, thinking for ourselves deeply and making our own decisions, and having courage and believing in ourselves. 

RELATED: Old People Are Getting Better at Dating

Some of the advice in this book may not be categorically awful. Simplified to “don’t act like an obsessive”; “pause before you rush to do something you regret”; and “take care of yourself!” some instructions could actually be quite handy as a common-sense reminder. But categorizing it as stuff women need to follow to snag a man makes it highly problematic, even if the occasional tip is not so bad. And stuff like this, “New chapters include rules for text flirting: women under 30 wait 30 minutes to respond to a man’s text; older women should wait 4 hours,” as Pat Kiernan wrote today on his blog, is particularly disheartening, and inherently sort of woman-hating. Control your texting, The Rules ladies say. “Women shouldn’t take the first step to initiate any relationship — and that includes online dating,” they told the New York Daily News. Once you have a guy, ignore him, “at least for a little while.” And don’t sext until you’re married. That might save us from a few political scandals. But is this the kind of advice women need, in this day and age? 

If there was to be an excellent dating self-help book for the year 2013, I’d hope it would tell people to trust themselves. To behave as they see fit, according to the situation they’re in, regardless of age, because they are smart, lovely people who deserve the good things they put out into the world, and even if they make mistakes, they’ll find their way and do the right thing. That self-help book would tell women to stop reading dating self-help books, and instead to behave as though they knew they were wise enough to decide for themselves what they should do, to interpret the signs and make the right moves, or make the wrong ones and deal with that, too, instead of adhering to some rules that aren’t really the way we are at all. It would most of all tell everyone to be themselves, and stop pretending to be something else. Because The Rules, and those who follow them, create some weird perceptions among men and women. Suddenly anyone who does text someone right back is perceived somehow as needy or “too easy to get.” That’s especially odd given that a four-hour delay in a response, when you could respond quite easily, is actually rather rude. Would that we could rid the world of such descriptions as “hard to get” altogether, because more important than playing games or appearing a certain way (difficult to get?) is finding someone you care about and behaving a way that shows that you do. Why do we persist, instead, in making everything so convoluted and difficult?

We can only hope, I suppose, that as time progresses these tips will become as ancient and quaint-sounding as, for example, the instructions in Miss Leslie’s Behavior Book, published in the 1800s. Until then, a word of advice. Follow your instincts; if it feels right, it probably is; don’t believe everything you read in dating books, and maybe, do yourself a favor: Don’t read dating advice books at all. But DO read Miss Leslie’s, for snippets such as this: 

Now, that’s helpful advice. 

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Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis Engaged

Olivia Wilde, 28, and Saturday Night Live star Jason Sudeikis, 38, are engaged, ET can confirm.

The pair, who went public in December of 2011, moved in together last year and have been seemingly inseparable since.

Related: Olivia Wilde Divorces Italian Royal

According to People, Sudeikis proposed to the Tron: Legacy star shortly after the holidays.

"They are so excited," says a source. "And very, very happy."

No word yet on a wedding date.

Video: Olivia Wilde Steams Up the Screen

This will be the second wedding for Wilde, whose divorce to Italian royal Tao Ruspoli was finalized in late September of 2011.

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6 arrested in new gang rape of bus passenger in India

AFP/Getty Images

Indian police personnel present six arrested men, accused of a gang rape in Punjab state, for an appearance at court in Gurdaspur.

NEW DELHI — Police said Sunday they have arrested six suspects in another gang rape of a bus passenger in India, four weeks after a brutal attack on a student on a moving bus in the capital outraged Indians and led to calls for tougher rape laws.

Police officer Raj Jeet Singh said a 29-year-old woman was the only passenger on a bus as she was traveling to her village in northern Punjab state on Friday night. The driver refused to stop at her village despite her repeated pleas and drove her to a desolate location, he said.

There, the driver and the conductor took her to a building where they were joined by five friends and took turns raping her throughout the night, Singh said.

The driver dropped the woman off at her village early Saturday, he said.

Singh said police arrested six suspects on Saturday and were searching for another.

Gurmej Singh, deputy superintendent of police, said all six admitted involvement in the rape. He said the victim was recovering at home.

Also on Saturday, police arrested a 32-year-old man for allegedly raping and killing a 9-year-old girl two weeks ago in Ahmednagar district in western India, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Her decomposed body was found Friday.

Police officer Sunita Thakare said the suspect committed the crime seven months after his release from prison after serving nine years for raping and murdering a girl in 2003, PTI reported Sunday.

The deadly rape of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus in December led to the woman's death and set off an impassioned debate about what India needs to do to prevent such tragedies. Protesters and politicians have called for tougher rape laws, police reforms and a transformation in the way the country treats women.

"It's a very deep malaise. This aspect of gender justice hasn't been dealt with in our nation-building task," Seema Mustafa, a writer on social issues who heads the Center for Policy Analysis think tank, said Sunday.

"Police haven't dealt with the issue severely in the past. The message that goes out is that the punishment doesn't match the crime. Criminals think they can get away it," she said.

In her first published comments, the mother of the deceased student in the New Delhi attack said Sunday that all six suspects in that case, including one believed to be a juvenile, deserve to die.

She was quoted by The Times of India newspaper as saying that her daughter, who died from massive internal injuries two weeks after the attack, told her that the youngest suspect had participated in the most brutal aspects of the rape.

Five men have been charged with the physiotherapy student's rape and murder and face a possible death penalty if convicted. The sixth suspect, who says he is 17 years old, is likely to be tried in a juvenile court if medical tests confirm he is a minor. His maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.

"Now the only thing that will satisfy us is to see them punished. For what they did to her, they deserve to die," the newspaper quoted the mother as saying.

Some activists have demanded a change in Indian laws so that juveniles committing heinous crimes can face the death penalty.

The names of the victim of the Dec. 16 attack and her family have not been released.

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After rough year, Carnival hopes for calmer waters

After boarding the latest addition to the Carnival Cruise Lines family, Josh Beaver sampled lasagna at the new onboard Italian restaurant, downed some drinks with his traveling companions and hit the water slides while the afternoon was still young.

“So far, from what I’ve seen, there’s lots to do,” said Beaver, 33, of Holden Beach, N.C.

The Carnival Breeze hadn’t even left PortMiami yet on a recent Saturday, and already it buzzed with vacationers exploring all there was to do: nosh on a Pig Patty from the new Guy’s Burger Bar, make friends with bartenders at the new RedFrog Pub or check out a novel and a glass of the grape at the new Library Bar.

Here aboard one of the largest ships in the biggest brand of the Number One cruise ship company in the world, there was little hint that the last year was one of the toughest in the 41-year history of parent company Carnival Corp. & plc.

Last year got off to a catastrophic start when Costa Concordia, owned by Carnival unit Costa Cruises, struck rocks in Italian waters as the captain steered the ship on an unauthorized route. The massive liner listed to one side, and 32 people died in the chaos that followed.

“When you lose lives, it’s heartbreaking,” said Carnival Corp. Vice Chairman and COO Howard Frank, who devoted much of his time last winter handling the aftermath with Costa leaders. “And so I think in terms of our emotional reaction to it, it’s been the toughest year we’ve had.”

Carnival Corp. Chairman and CEO Micky Arison took criticism for not going to Italy following the wreck, but said he believes the company did the right thing and doesn’t second-guess his actions.

Financially, the company took a hit as well, starting with discounts that were necessary to drum up business after the accident. Costa’s future bookings plunged, but picked up after the operator slashed prices. As of mid-December, prices at Costa remained lower than they were a year earlier, though the company expects that to change once the anniversary of the accident passes.

“I think we’ve been consistent in saying the recovery at Costa is not a one-year issue,” Arison said during the December earnings call with analysts. “It’s going to be multiple years, and we are forecasting a recovery of about half the yield deterioration.”

The ship remains on its side off the island of Giglio; it’s expected to be removed by the end of summer.

A flurry of civil lawsuits have been filed, but none have reached trial yet; the company has reached compensation agreements with 70 percent of the more than 3,000 passengers who were not physically injured and 60 percent of injured passengers and families of those who died.

As the company and broader industry focused anew on safety, the summer months presented a fresh set of problems when the European economy weakened just as cruise lines were stationing more ships in the Mediterranean. While North America was immune to those concerns, the run-up to the Presidential election and the fiscal cliff debates prompted Carnival to worry about a slowdown in business at home.

Last month, Carnival forecast 2013 earnings that were lower than expectations and said advance bookings for the year were behind what they were a year earlier at lower prices. Many analysts believe the projections were conservative, though, and executives said they were hopeful that January would bring more robust business.

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