MTA ‘fare’ thee well

It’s the MTA’s most reliable service — constant fare hikes.

The transit agency will increase fares for the fourth time in five years this weekend, infuriating fed-up riders who are now searching for cheaper ways to get around town.

The hikes will send the cost of a monthly MetroCard to $112. At this time in 2008, the same card cost just $76.

That’s an incredible 47 percent increase in five years.

“I might invest in a bicycle,” said Steven Syrek, a 34-year old Ph.D. student who lives on the Upper West Side.

“After three months of not buying a MetroCard, I could afford a bike.”

He would, however, miss one subway benefit.

“I couldn’t read during my [two-wheel] commute,” he said.

Bean counters at the always-broke agency said they plan to hike fares every other year to make ends meet.

This year alone, said MTA officials, the agency needs the hikes to fill a $382 million budget gap.

Some straphangers said they’ll try to work from home to save on commuting costs.

“With the fare hike, I’ll try to avoid the subways as much as possible,” said Crown Heights, Brooklyn, resident Aliya Barnwell, 30, who rides the 4 train.

She’s even considering upgrading her current bicycle to a more rugged model to use during the winter.

“I’d rather make an investment than pay the MTA more,” she said.

The first wave of hikes kicks in on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Friday, when fares will increase by up to 9.3 percent.

“I’m mad about it but what can I do?” said physical-therapy student Joanna Esteves, who travels from Mineola to Penn Station on the LIRR.

“I can’t stop going to school,” she said.

To compensate, she’s considering opting for a less expensive iPad data plan, which should save her about $20 a month.

Also, “I think I won’t be able to eat out as much,” she said.

Anyone with an unlimited-ride MetroCard purchased before Sunday must activate it by March 10 to obtain the full value.

The MTA will also hike fares in 2015 — bringing in another $500 million.

Officials say they desperately need the money to pay for fixed costs, like soaring pensions and employee-health care.

jennifer.fermino@nypost.com

Read More..

Coral Gables native Martin Zweig, Wall Street wiz, dies in Florida

A decade before he foresaw the 1987 stock market crash, Coral Gables native Marty Zweig was already considered a Wall Street wizard.

Renown business journalist Dan Dorfman called him “the country’s hottest investment adviser” in 1981, his picture appeared on the cover of Money Magazine in 1982, and he was frequent guest on the PBS financial show Wall Street Week.

He wrote two best-selling books: Winning on Wall Street, in 1986, and Winning with New IRAs, in 1987.

On Oct. 19 that year, just as Zweig had predicted three days earlier on Wall Street Week, the market plummeted 23 percent.

Zweig, whose three-story Pierre Hotel penthouse is one of New York City’s most lavish residences, died Feb. 18 at another of his homes, on South Florida’s Fisher Island. He was 70. Zweig had been treated for cancer, and underwent a liver transplant in 2010 with tissue from his younger son.

Born Martin Edward Zweig on July 2, 1942, in Cleveland, he spent his formative years growing up in Coral Gables where he was known as Marty Gateman after his widowed mother remarried.

He attended Coral Gables Elementary and Ponce de Leon Junior High schools, was a Coral Gables High School varsity basketball player and track star — class of 1960 — and 2001 Cavalier’s school Hall of Famer.

Childhood friend Richard B. Bermont, a Miami financial adviser, remembered Zweig as a great poker player even in high school, “pretty much a jokester, and the ladies loved him.’’

He legally changed his last name back to Zweig when he was 21, after his mother and Dr. Gateman divorced, said former wife Mollie Friedman.

Zweig wrote that his interest in financial began when the 1948 Cleveland Indians were playing in the World Series.

“I was the kid who knew the most about the team and had a vague idea about what batting averages mean. I had begun to love numbers. Perhaps this was a tip-off that I’d later graduate to the market.’’

He earned a bachelor’s in economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1964, later an M.B.A. from the University of Miami and a doctorate in finance from Michigan State University.

In 1984, Zweig joined with stock picker Joe DiMenna, with whom he co-founded Zweig-DiMenna Partners, their first long/short hedge fund.

Zweig also created two closed-end funds traded on the New York Stock Exchange, according to his corporate biography: The Zweig Fund in 1986 and The Zweig Total Return Fund in 1988.

In his first book, he wrote: “When playing the market, remember you must deal with probabilities, employ sensible strategies to limit risk, and get aggressive only when conditions warrant.’’

He was as quirky in his private life as he was serious about investing. Stan Smith, a Fisher Island friend, said that last year, Zweig installed a “banana yellow’’ 1934 Packard convertible in his living room.

Zweig’s memorabilia collection includes the dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy in 1962, a pair of JFK’s silk pajamas, the suits The Beatles wore on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Super Bowl rings, Heisman Trophies, Oscar statuettes and Gold Records; one of the Harley-Davidson Hydra-Glide motorcycles that actor Peter Fonda rode in the film “Easy Rider;” an outfit that Jimi Hendrix wore in concert; and the booking sheet from one of Al Capone’s arrests, and a letter written by baseball legend Mickey Mantle describing a sexual encounter at Yankee Stadium.

Read More..

Is this really the end of Cuba’s Castro brothers? Exiles say not so fast

On the streets of Miami, the announcement of a possible end to the Castro brothers’ rule was met with uncharacteristic silence Monday — no clanging of pots and pans in Little Havana and Hialeah.

No loud pronouncements on Spanish-language radio, either, about the news that President Raúl Castro planned to retire in 2018 and had named an heir apparent.

“There’s like, a little burnout about this subject with us,” said Alex Fumero, 30, a co-creator, editor and contributor of the poetry group Hialeah Haikus.

But the emotions were as strong as ever for Cuban-born U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who believes this is just another sinister ploy by the Castro brothers.

“The fact that this possible retirement won’t take effect for years is just another in a long line of false propaganda tactics used by the regime to trick the masses and international community,” said Ros-Lehtinen, whose political career has been dedicated to opposing Castro.

“U.S. law states that no Castro may be in power, so this may be a ploy by the Cuban regime to attempt to normalize relations prematurely with the U.S.,’’ she said.

Miami radio commentator Ninoska Perez Castellon said five more years of any Castro is a long time. "This is just more of the same, and a cruel joke on a people enduring a 54-year-old dictatorship," she said.

Many like the idea of an end to the Castros, but they say it should have happened years ago.

“They’re giving up power too late and five years is too long to wait for them to actually do it,” said Francisco “Pepe” Hernandez, president of the Cuban-American National Foundation, a group that has long lobbied in Washington against the Castros.

“‘They’ve already done so much harm to the Cuban people. And the nerve to think they can name a successor, as if Cuba was their personal farm. The successor they named better be careful; those guys sometimes just disappear,” he said.

Cuban-born Marta Olchyk, a Surfside commissioner, said she was “glad that Raúl Castro said he is leaving in five years” although it would have happened anyway because of his age, she said.

“Cuba is slowly but surely moving away from communism,” said Olchyk, who left the island in 1960. “So, this is not earth-shattering news.”

Battle-weary Jose Basulto met the news with a cynical laugh.

“I have to laugh because this is so disrespectful, such an insult,” said Basulto, who took part in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and founded the Brothers to the Rescue, a group that helped rafters fleeing Cuba find their way to U.S. shores.

Juan Clark, a professor emeritus at Miami Dade College and Bay of Pigs veteran, does not believe Raúl Castro actually will leave on his own in five years.

“I think many people were eager to see the end of the system and unfortunately that hasn’t happened,’’ said Clark, who has studied the exile community for many years.

Some “historic exiles” who came to the United States in the early days of the revolution have sworn they will never return as long as a Castro is in power.

Others, mainly those who have arrived after the Mariel boatlift in 1980, still have family on the island and travel there to help fledgling family businesses and might not even consider themselves exiles, Clark said.

Cuban-Americans offered a variety of opinions through The Miami Herald’s Public Insight Network.

It was ho-hum news for some younger Cuban-Americans, known as the ABCs — American-born Cubans who learned to hate the Castros from older family members.

Lazaro Castillo of Orlando, who was born the year of the revolution, gave little credence to the announcement.

“Any change in the island has a meaning, and this particular change is another manipulation, and in order to maintain the dynasty,’’ he said.

Miramar resident Olga Perez-Cormier, an American-born Cuban, also felt it was no more than a ploy.

“I listen to this with my usual skepticism,’’ she said. “I wish both Castro brothers would hurry up and die, but apparently, it will never be that easy.”

Miami Herald staff writer Mimi Whitefield contributed to this report. It also includes comments from the Public Insight Network, an online community of people who have agreed to share their opinions with The Miami Herald. Sign up by going to MiamiHerald.com

/Insight.

Read More..

Bachelor Recap: Sean Lowe Invites Catherine, Lindsay and AshLee to the Fantasy Suite

Fresh from last week's hometown dates, Bachelor Sean Lowe whisks his remaining ladies off to the sunny shores of Thailand.

Lindsay is the first of the three to snag some time with the hunky Texan, and the pair uses the opportunity to experience the strange and wondrous delights of an open-air Thai marketplace. Determined to show she's adventurous, Lindsay accepts Sean's challenge to eat an array of bugs on a whim.

Pics-- Meet Sean Lowe's Lucky Ladies!

Proud of his date, Sean invites Lindsay for a romantic dinner and traditional Thai show where Lindsay finally musters the courage to drop the L word on him. Though he doesn't exactly return the same affections, Sean offers her a night in the fantasy suite for some one-on-one time which she accepts.

"You're the best friend that I've been looking for," he gushes to Lindsay, adding that she could definitely be the woman he pictures as his wife down the road.

AshLee is up next, and the twosome decides to hit the waves and explore a dark and dangerous looking cove. Despite her better judgment, a nervous AshLee takes the plunge and the daring decision pays off as they ultimately come face-to-face with a beautiful secluded beach.

After facing her fears, AshLee feels reinforced of her love for Sean who she reveals "literally healed my broken heart." Although both parties express a desire to spend the night in the fantasy suite, Sean wants to make it clear the time would be spent talking and getting to know eachother better rather than something untoward. AshLee eagerly accepts his invitation.

In the suite, AshLee lets it be known exactly which engagement ring she desires, should he propose to her.

Related-- 'The Bachelor' Scorecard: Did the Relationships Sizzle or Fizzle?

Catherine is the last of the three to join Sean for a date and they set sail across the crystal blue ocean, kissing and swimming during a thunderstorm. Sean asks if Catherine would ever move to Texas with him after the show ends and she says yes, adding that she takes their the commitment seriously enough to relocate from Seattle.

Back on the shore, the elephant in the room is the fantasy suite invitation. A bit terrified, Catherine explains that before she'd met him, she would never have entertained the thought of accepting the invite because of its improper implications, but now realizes that it's merely more time that they can spend together off camera which she wants very much. Sean feels the same way and the two spend the night together.

When it comes time for the final rose ceremony, the significance of this week's dates are not lost on Sean. Not too long ago, the now-Bachelor had his heart broken by Bachelorette Emily Maynard in Curacao just shy of the finale.

Sitting down with Chris Harrison, he tells the host that he is indeed "in love" with an undisclosed lady and, furthermore, believes he's ready to propose.

Related-- Sean Lowe Is Most Sincere 'Bachelor' Ever, Says Host Chris Harrison

The moment of truth arrives and Sean gifts Lindsay and Catherine with a stem. Without saying goodbye to the other ladies, a fuming AshLee storms out to the awaiting car with the Bachelor begging to be heard out. Sean apologizes but it doesn't seem enough for AshLee who bursts into tears on the ride home.

"I thought Sean was the one," she cried. "This wasn't a silly game to me."

Next Monday night on ABC, The Bachelor's jilted girls reunite for Women Tell All. In two weeks, the final two meet Sean's family before the big decision.

Read More..

Blade: I’ll be back

Legless Olympian Oscar Pistorius, possibly facing life in the slammer for killing his model girlfriend, told cops yesterday that he’ll soon be on the “run.”

The “Blade Runner” disclosed to South African authorities that he’ll resume training while he’s out on bail for the Valentine’s Day shooting of Reeva Steenkamp.

It was the first time Pistorius, 26, had to check in at a police precinct. The terms of his $113,000 bail package say he has to do so twice weekly.

“It’s his wish to continue to practice,” said James Smalberger, a Pretoria corrections official.

Pistorius’ spokeswoman, however, denied that the athlete wanted to resume racing on his world-famous prosthetic limbs.

“Absolutely not,” said Janine Hills.

“He is currently in mourning, and his focus is not on his sports.”

Read More..

David Samson: Miami Marlins saw trouble with ticket sales before Day One

The Miami Marlins’ new ballpark was slow to draw fan interest even before a disastrous season led to a collapse in attendance so steep that the front office never contemplated it, team president David Samson said Monday.

“It didn’t occur to us... that the off-field results of last year could be what they were,’’ Samson said during a press conference at Marlins Park. “We didn’t even contemplate in a worst-case scenario that our revenues would be what they were.”

And while Samson said the biggest miscalculation was in just how poorly the Marlins would play, he said lukewarm support was noticeable well before the Marlins’ infamous mid-season dive.

Season-ticket buyers did not respond to the late 2011 signing of Jose Reyes and other star players, months before the ballpark’s debut. His marketing team had hoped to announce a string of sell-outs before the April 4 Opening Day, but even the Boston Red Sox didn’t bring enough demand to sell all 37,500 seats.

“We misread last year on and off the field,’’ Samson said. “We did not have the bump we expected after the winter meetings [when the Marlins signed Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell]. That got us worried. Not panicked, but worried.”

His comments danced around a central question looming over the opening of Marlins Park at the site of the old Orange Bowl football stadium in Little Havana.

Can Miami sustain a Major League Baseball team? Samson said he wasn’t trying to suggest the city couldn’t, noting “fans are always right.”

“I’m not going to say Miami is not a sports town,’’ he said. “Or that there is something wrong with the fans. I would never say that.”

Samson’s comments to reporters was the sideshow to owner Jeffrey Loria defending the Marlins’ stripping the team’s payroll of Reyes and other expensive players — a move he said was needed after the players failed to deliver in 2012.

Loria’s press conference came a day after he published a full-page letter to fans in local newspapers defending the move and the controversial deal that had Miami-Dade borrow nearly $400 million for the stadium’s construction.

Facing heavy fan backlash and the prospect of a season even worse than the one that brought “tens of millions of dollars” in losses last year, Loria hopes Miami will see his new young team as one worthy of support.

“We needed to fix the chemistry, we needed to fix the core of the team,’’ Loria said. “We didn’t draw more people [to the stadium] because the team was losing.”

So far, season-ticket sales are about half what they were a year ago, and the team isn’t sure it can sell out Opening Day on April 8. And the Marlins are facing revived ire over the 2009 stadium deal as the Miami Dolphins pursue their own tax-funded renovation for Sun Life.

Dolphins executives have promised a funding arrangement far more palatable than what the Marlins offered, and Loria on Monday called the Dolphins’ effort a “smear campaign’’ for its implicit slam against his arrangement with Miami-Dade.

A referendum on the Dolphins’ proposal probably will come in May, meaning the debate over tax-funded stadium projects will heat up just as the Marlins try to recover from the worst debut season among all ballparks built since 2001.

In his comments, Samson offered new details on the weak ticket sales, and said the collapse in revenue left the team no choice but to cut payroll.

The season’s announced attendance of 2.1 million was still far better than what the team drew when playing in Sun Life, and put the team at No. 18 in the 30-team league in terms of attendance. But Samson said the internal numbers of actual paid attendance were much worse. He put the so-called “turnstile” attendance for the season at 1.4 million. That’s roughly 17,000 people per game — or not even half of the stadium.

In its worst-case scenarios for the 2012 season, Samson said the team’s forecasts only contemplated for a turnstile attendance of 2 million.

Samson said an early sign of trouble was when June match-ups with the Red Sox didn’t deliver at the box office.

“We were very, very worried when the Red Sox games didn’t sell out,’’ he said. As the team turned in a strong performance in May — only the second month in the ballpark -- ticket sales weren’t delivering.

“Our fans I thought would see win after win. Our advanced sales didn’t move,’’ Samson said. “I don’t know the reason. I really don’t.”

He also declined to predict a sell-out for Opening Day – a lack of confidence for only the second year of the stadium’s existence.

“Fans are reticent and upset,’’ Samson said of the fury over dumping the star players. “I am so sorry about that.”

Read More..

Archbishop Wenski leads 90-mile motorcycle run

After a blessing, motorcycles roared their engines and drove out of St. Richard Catholic Church in Palmetto Bay to participate in the first Motorcycle Poker Run organized by the Archdiocese of Miami.

Heading the bikers: Archbishop Thomas Wenski wearing a biker’s leather jacket and riding his black Harley-Davidson Street Glide motorcycle.

“Bikers are people that are accustomed to praying because if you’re going to ride a motorcycle, you should know how to pray,” said Wenski, who has been riding his motorcycle for about 10 years. “This is a way to bring some good attention, find financial support for St. Luke’s Center [Catholic Charity] and have a good time.”

Behind him, more than 60 other riders followed for about 90 miles through South Florida roads.

“Today he is not just my spiritual leader,” said Natacha Quiroz, the only woman driving a motorcycle on her own. “He is my road leader.”

At every stop, including Robert Is Here, the fruit and vegetable farm stand in Florida City, Cafe 27 in Weston, and Peterson’s Harley-Davidson in Miami Gardens, the contestants picked up a card, eventually collecting a complete poker hand.

The bikers were also able to interact with the archbishop and others while competing for the $500 Harley-Davidson gift card.

But Wenski’s favorite stop was at the Schoenstatt Center in Homestead, where riders were able to stop at the chapel, say a private prayer and enjoy refreshments.

“It’s always good to ride with good people,” said Bob Borges of Hollywood, who rode with his daughter. “The problem with a lot of other rides is that they all go from bar to bar to bar, and I don’t drink when I ride.”

The Chrome Knights Motorcycle Association and other groups helped the archdiocese organize the poker run and guided the inexperienced drivers. Volunteers from the organization also helped guide the riders and stop traffic at intersections.

For Quiroz, who had never experienced riding in a group, the privilege of riding with the archbishop was indescribable.

“My heart is pounding so hard,” said Quiroz, who took out her motorcycle from her garage for the fist time in more than a year. “My motorcycle is the tiniest among these huge machines, and if you see me I look like a butterfly among eagles. But to know that I’m the only girl makes me feel like an eagle, I am proud.”

The Poker Run, according to the Rev. Luis Rivero, was also a way to show others that following Christ can be fun.

“It’s a way for us to learn to use the tools of today, speak the language of the younger generations and bridge the gap between the ancient and the new,” said Rivero, who has been riding his three-wheeled Spyder for the past three years. “The archbishop makes fun of me and says that because I have three wheels I’m still in training.”

The proceeds of the run will go to programs that help people in the community recover from various types of addiction, and Wenski is hoping to establish the poker run as annual event to support St. Luke’s.

“Many people know I’ve been riding a motorcycle for some years now, so hopefully they’ll support it even if they don’t ride a motorcycle,” Wenski said. “I pray before, during and after I ride my bike.”

Read More..

Oscar 2013 Recap

Argo, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence were among the big winners during the star-studded telecast of the 85th Oscars, host by Seth MacFarlane live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Read on for the recap...

CLICK HERE for the complete list of winners.

The Best Picture

Fulfilling its promise of incredible momentum this awards season, Argo was named Best Picture over Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty. Producers George Clooney, Grant Heslov and producer/director Ben Affleck took the stage for an emotional acceptance, with Ben talking a mile a minute. In addition to acknowledging Steven Spielberg, "our friends in Iran" and the "eight great films that have as much a right to be up here as we do," he reflected on his first Oscar win for Good Will Hunting back in 1998: "I was really just a kid, and I went out and I never thought I would be back here," he said, adding of his rise, fall and career rebirth in Hollywood, "It doesn't matter that you get knocked down in life -- all that matters is that you get up."

The Best Actors

Daniel Day-Lewis became the first-ever actor to win three Best Actor Oscars, the latest for his stirring portrayal of our 16th president in Spielberg's Lincoln. Calling the win a "huge honor," he delivered a stream of rapid-fire jokes and poked fun at his persona, quipping that he had originally been committed to play Margaret Thatcher and Meryl Streep was Spielberg's first choice for Lincoln. "I'd like to see that version," he smiled, adding that he had to persuade Spielberg that "Lincoln shouldn't be a musical." He also thanked his wife Rebecca Miller, "who has lived with some very strange men" over the years (due to his very dedicated acting method) and has been "the perfect companion to all of them." Also acknowledging the "mind, body and spirit of Abraham Lincoln,"
the Brit star bested Bradley Cooper, Hugh Jackman, Joaquin Phoenix and Denzel Washington.

A stunned Jennifer Lawrence stumbled up the stairs to pick up her Best Actress statuette for her incredible performance in Silver Linings Playbook. Declaring, "This is nuts!" she upset tough competition in Jessica Chastain, Emmanuelle Riva, Quvenzhané Wallis and Naomi Watts, and told the standing audience, "You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell, and it's really embarrassing."

Pics: This Year's Oscar Fashion Trends

The Supporting Players

"It came true," said Anne Hathaway after she was named Best Supporting Actress, her second nom and first win, for her emotional portrayal of Fantine in Les Miserables. Telling fellow noms Amy Adams, Sally Field, Helen Hunt and Jacki Weaver, "I look up to you all so much and it's been such an honor," she singled out co-star Hugh Jackman and her hubby, then declared, "Here's hoping that someday in the not too far future, the misfortunes of Fantine will only be found in stories and not in real life."

Christoph Waltz was named Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained, his second Oscar win under the sure writing and direction of Quentin Tarantino. He thanked that creator of Django's "awe-inspiring world," saying with the words of his own character, "You scale the mountain because you’re not afraid of it. You slay the dragon because you’re not afraid of it. And you cross through fire because it’s worth it." Bowing with declared "respect" to his fellow nominees, Waltz out-gunned Alan Arkin, Robert De Niro, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tommy Lee Jones.

Other Awards Highlights

Disney-Pixar's Brave won Best Animated Feature; Austria's Amour was named Best Foreign Film; Searching for Sugar Man won Best Documentary; Adele's Skyfall landed Best Original Song; Quentin Tarantino picked up Best Original Screenplay for Django Unchained, while Argo was also honored with Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing; Life of Pi earned Best Director for Ange Lee (who thanked "the movie god"), Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Visual Effects; Lincoln was voted Best Production Design; Anna Karenina got Best Costume Design; Les Miserables won Best Sound Mixing and Best Makeup & Hairstyling; and Best Sound Editing was a tie, going to both Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall.

Pics: Date Night at the Oscars

The Show High Points

Despite the show's epic length, freshman host Seth MacFarlane burst out of the gate cool and confident as he brought some good humor (the story of Argo is so top-secret "that the director is unknown to the Academy") as well as some edgy jokes (Django Unchained is Rihanna & Chris Brown's "date movie," the We Saw Your Boobs song) to his opening monologue. A song-and-dance man, the host also made sure to include plenty of sugar-sweet dance moments, from Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron dancing to The Way You Look Tonight to Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt doing a little soft shoe to High Hopes.

Other fun moments of the telecast included the usual "band plays 'em off stage" music replaced by the Jaws theme; the 50th Anniversary tribute to James Bond featuring Dame Shirley Bassey singing Goldfinger, and later "the unstoppable" Adele singing Skyfall; William Shatner's cameo as Star Trek's James T. Kirk, returning from the 23rd century in a sketch to stop MacFarlane from bombing too bad; the potty-mouthed, animated Ted and Mark Wahlberg quipped that the annual "post-Oscar orgy" will take place at Jack Nicholson's house; the cast of The Avengers (Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson) reassembled – and mocked each other -- to present two awards; and select cast members of the Oscar-winning Chicago, Dreamgirls and Les Miserables also reunited to perform their big hits.

Pics: Best Oscar Fashions

In Memoriam

Dearly departed stars and industry artists who left us over the last year were remembered, including Ernest Borgnine, Jack Klugman, Celeste Holm, Adam Yauch, Michael Clarke Duncan, Charles Durning, Herbert Lom, Tony Scott, Nora Ephron, Ray Bradbury and Richard D. Zanuck. And prolific composer and EGOT Marvin Hamlisch was saluted by Barbra Streisand, who beautifully sang The Way We Were.

Tune into ET for complete coverage of the 2013 Oscars, before, during and after!

Read More..

Exploiting addiction

Andrea Peyser

He’s ringmaster in the Circus of the Damned.

Dr. Drew Pinsky is the nation’s leading huckster for celebrity addicts — the go-to guy for almost-famous faces lost to liquor, sex, ecstasy and crack.

Since 2008, Dr. Drew has glammed up and tarted up B- and Z-list celebs on his hit VH1 show, “Celebrity Rehab” — renamed “Rehab” last fall so as not to exclude folks who’ve yet to make it big by falling on their faces. He’s turned addiction from an affliction to a wise career move.

From Tiger Woods’ Bimbo in Chief Rachel Uchitel — self-diagnosed as addicted to inappropriate men — to plastic-surgery enthusiast Janice Dickinson, no life is too trivial or sad to exploit.

ABC via Getty Images

Dr. Drew and Mindy McCready

Thanks to the good doc, feeling powerless in the face of drugs or, who knows, compulsive, naked tweeting, are not weaknesses. He’s done more to make addiction look hip and trendy since stoned rocker Jimi Hendrix choked to death on his own vomit in 1970 at age 27.

Eight days ago, Dr. Drew lost it. With the passing of country singer and “Rehab” alum Mindy McCready (pictured with him), who died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, folks suspicious of the Rehab Industrial Complex are taking a dim look at Dr. Drew.

It’s about time.

“I think ‘Dr’ Drew Pinsky should change his name to Kevorkian. Same results,” singer Richard Marx tweeted the day McCready died Feb. 17, referring to the late Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who helped terminally ill patients off themselves.

Marx backed off the next morning. Sort of. “I went too far with the Kevorkian crack.” Then he continued to lay blame at Dr. Drew’s feet. “It is, however, my opinion that what Dr. D does is exploitation and his TV track record is not good.”

“Dr. Drew has lost another one,’’ was the reaction to McCready’s death from Eugene Kovar, grandfather of dead “Rehab” player Joey Kovar.

Five of Dr. Drew’s “Rehab” stars have, to date, succumbed to their demons, including actor Jeff Conaway and Rodney King. Three have died from the 2009 season alone — rocker Mike Starr of Alice in Chains was lost to a drug overdose in 2011, “Real World” star Kovar died in August from opiate intoxication, and McCready. Dr. Drew diagnosed her on the show as suffering from “love addiction.”

This is serious?

Dr. Drew is no killer. But he has reason to fail. He sits at the epicenter of the multibillion-dollar addiction industry, whose existence depends on the relapses of people he’s trying to cure.

“Whenever a celeb overdoses or has an addiction problem, buy Drew Pinsky stock. It’s good for his brand,” said Michael Levine, a Hollywood publicist and author who says he likes and respects the doctor.

Read More..

Miami medicine goes digital

About 10 years ago, Dr. Fleur Sack quit her practice as a family physician to become a hospital department head. Spurring her decision was the need to switch from paper records to electronic ones to keep her private practice profitable. “At that time, it would have cost about $50,000,” Dr. Sack recalled. “It was too expensive and it was too overwhelming.”

But times and technologies changed, and last year, Dr. Sack left her hospital job to restart her medical practice with an affordable system for managing electronic patient records. She agreed to a $5,000 setup fee and a subscription fee of $500 per month for the system. Her investment also qualified her for subsidy money, which the federal government pays in installments, and to date, her subsidy income has paid for the setup fee and about two years of monthly fees. “So far, I’ve got my check for $18,000,” she said. “There’s a total of $44,000 that I can get.”

That kind of cash flow is one reason why so-called EHR software systems for electronic health records have been among the hottest-selling commercial products in the world of information technology. EHR system development is a growth industry in South Florida, too. Life sciences and biotechnology are among the high growth-potential sectors identified by the Beacon Council-led One Community One Goal economic development initiative unveiled in 2012; already, the University of Miami has opened a Health Science Technology Park while Florida International University has launched a program in its graduate school of business oriented toward biotechnology businesses.

For many young businesses in the area’s IT industry, government incentives are paving the way. The federal government is pushing doctors and hospitals to use electronic health records to cut wasteful spending and improve patient care while protecting patient privacy — sending digital information via encrypted systems, for example, rather than regular email.

Under a 2009 federal law known as the HITECH Act, maximum incentive payments for buying such systems range up to $44,000 for doctors with Medicare patients and up to $63,750 for doctors with Medicaid patients. Hospitals are eligible for larger incentive payments for becoming more paperless. The subsidy program isn’t permanent; eligible professionals must begin receiving payments by 2016. But by then, the federal government will be penalizing doctors and hospitals that take Medicare or Medicaid money without making meaningful use of electronic health records.

“What the government did is, they incentivized, and now they’re going to penalize,” said Andrew Carricarte, president and CEO of IOS Health Systems in Miami, one of the largest South Florida-based vendors of online software service for physician practices. He said insurance companies also may start penalizing physicians for failing to adopt electronic health records because “the commercial payers always follow Medicare and Medicaid.”

It’s all part of the growth story at IOS Health Systems, which has more than 2,000 physicians across the nation using its online EHR system. Carricarte said many of the company’s customers buy their second EHR system from IOS after their first one flopped. “Almost 40 percent of our sales come from customers who had systems and are now switching over to something else,” he said.

Read More..