In South Florida, canceled flights leave Northeasteners stranded

Northeasterners taking cold weather respite in South Florida right before the storm scrambled when they faced flight cancellations and couldn’t get home.

At Miami International Airport, 30 to 40 flights had been canceled as of Friday night. At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, 69 flights were canceled and 31 were delayed.

Despite the cancellations, Greg Chin, a spokesman for Miami International Airport, said it looked like a normal day.

“I think the word got out about the storm early enough for people to make other plans,” he said. “It wasn’t a surprise to anybody.”

Several South Florida hotels had lobbies bustling with travelers who needed to extend their stays.

The Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six in Fort Lauderdale was busier than usual, with guests staying longer to avoid the storms, while The Delano Hotel in Miami Beach was sold out and had to turn away guests needing a room for a few more days.

South Florida events continued as planned, with a few exceptions. A jazz show featuring band 3 Cohens in the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center had to cancel for Feb. 9 because of the storm.

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Khloe Kardashian: Kim Just Wants to Move On

Khloe Kardashian tells ET that sister Kim "just wants to move on" with her life and wrap up divorce proceedings with ex Kris Humphries, saying, "Honestly, she is so happy with her life right now, she just wants to put this behind her and move on."

Pics: Five Years of Kim K. Fashion

Kim, who is pregnant with Kanye West's child, filed a declaration in Los Angeles Superior Court last month seeking dissolution of her short-lived marriage to the basketball star. She is hoping to have it over and done with by the time she has her baby, due in July, but claims that Humphries is "stalling" the process.

Related: Kris Refuses to Expedite Divorce From Kim

Khloe spoke with ET at a meet-and-greet to promote her new fragrance with hubby Lamar Odom, Unbreakable Love, at the Sears in Downey, CA. Khloe says her husband was the one who wanted to make the fragrance in the first place, one that they could both wear, making them the first celeb couple to have a unisex fragrance.

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The Dow at 14,000: not as good as gold

What an illuminating week for Wall Street — the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been bobbling just above and below the record high 14,000 mark, even as the country comes to grip with the reports that its economy has actually been slumping, with GDP shrinking 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2012.

The Obama administration is trying to put a bright face on things — but the rest of us feel like we’re smoking more now and enjoying it less.

Well, guess what: While the Dow Jones Industrials have been edging past 14,000, the actual value of those stocks has been going down.

Bernanke: Has kept the Dow floating high by sinking the dollar’s value.

By this, I mean that if you take one share of each of the stocks in the Dow index, their combined value as measured in gold is lower than it used to be. The price in paper money may be going up, but the real value is slumping.

At about 14,000, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stands at nearly twice the 7,949 at which it stood on the day in January 2009 when President Obama first took the oath of office. But value of the stocks in the index has drifted downward; a portfolio of one share of each stock is worth only 8.3 ounces of gold, down from 9.3 ounces on Jan. 20, 2009.

There are those who will say that this is a trick, that no one measures things in ounces of gold anymore. Not since 1971, when President Richard Nixon finished taking America off the gold standard — which then still defined the dollar by law as a 35th of an ounce of gold.

Nixon’s move put us on a system of fiat money, in which the dollar isn’t backed by specie but nonetheless must be accepted in payment of debts.

Throughout history, though, people all over the world thought of gold and silver as the real money — and thinking of it that way can still be illuminating.

In his weekly radio address two years ago, the president spoke on soaring gasoline prices, saying there is “no silver bullet” to solve the problem.

It was a funny choice of words. It turns out that the value of gasoline — measured in ounces of silver (or gold) — hadn’t been going up at all. It had been going down.

In other words, it wasn’t the price of gasoline that was going up. It was the value of the United States dollar that was going down.

This is the part of the policy partnership of Barack Obama and Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernankethat no one likes to talk about. What it means is that there’s little joy on the street — Wall Street or (especially) Main Street — even in a week when the Dow Jones Industrial Average touches a historic high of 14,000.

Track the Dow in terms of gold, and you see what a collapse it’s been: The index was valued at 41.3 ounces of gold as recently as 2000.

Rep. Ron Paul is practically alone in Congress in paying attention to this warning. He confronted Bernanke with the question at a congressional hearing two years ago. The Fed chairman dodged by suggesting that consumers didn’t want to buy gold.

That was a funny argument to make at a time of soaring gold prices. And it’s a hard sell at a time when the Dow Jones average is at a historical high, yet the value of the stocks in it is slumping in terms of gold. Call it “the fiat Dow.”

It’s not just gadflies who are sounding these warnings. John Taylor, one of America’s savviest economists, argued in The Wall Street Journal this week that the Federal Reserve’s “quantitative easing” policy has not only failed to solve the economic problems in the country but has actually made things worse.

If you want to draw your own conclusions as to whether he’s right, track the value of your IRA or pension fund in terms of ounces of gold.

Lipsky@nysun.com

Have a comment on this PostOpinion column? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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Sign up for Feb. 21 Miami Herald Small Business Forum

Prepare your best pitch for the Miami Herald’s Small Business Forum, Feb. 21 at the south campus of our sponsor, Florida International University.

In addition to how-to panels and inspirational stories from successful entrepreneurs, our annual small business forum will include interactive opportunities with experts to learn about financing options and polish your personal and business brands.

During our finance panel, audience volunteers will be invited to explain their financing needs to the group. During our box-lunch session, they will be invited to pitch their business or personal brand to our coaches.

Those who prefer just to listen will be treated to a keynote address by Alberto Perlman, co-founder of the global fitness craze Zumba. Panels include success stories from the local entrepreneurs who founded Sedano’s, Jennifer’s Homemade and ReStockIt.com; finance tips from experts in small business loans, venture capital, angel investments and traditional bank loans; and insiders in the burgeoning South Florida tech start-up scene.

Plus, it’s a real bargain. $25 includes the half-day seminar, continental breakfast and a box lunch.

Register here.

Program

8 a.m.

Registration and continental breakfast, provided by Bill Hansen Catering

8:30 a.m. Welcome

Host: David Suarez, president and CEO, Interactive Training Solutions, LLC

•  Jerry Haar, PhD, associate dean & director, FIU Eugenio Pino and Family Global

Entrepreneurship Center

•  Alice Horn, executive director, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE South Florida)

•  Jane Wooldridge, Business editor, The Miami Herald

Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge Overview:

•  Nancy Dahlberg, Business Plan Challenge coordinator, The Miami Herald

8:45 a.m. Session I – Success Stories

Moderator: Jerry Haar, PhD, associate dean & director, FIU Eugenio Pino and Family Global

Entrepreneurship Center

Speakers:

•  Jennifer Behar, founder, Jennifer’s Homemade

•  Matt Kuttler, co-president of ReStockIt.com

•  Javier Herrán, chief marketing officer, Sedano’s Supermarkets

10 a.m. Session II – All about Tech

Moderator: Jane Wooldridge, Business editor, The Miami Herald

Speakers

•  Susan Amat, founder, Launch Pad Tech

•  Nancy Borkowski, executive director, Health Management Programs, Chapman Graduate School of

Business, Florida International University

•  Mark Slaughter, CEO, Cohealo.com

•  Chris Fleck, vice president of mobility solutions at Citrix and a director of the South Florida Tech Alliance

11:15 a.m. Keynote

Speaker: Alberto Perlman, CEO and co-founder of Zumba® Fitness

Introduction: Jane Wooldridge, business editor, The Miami Herald

11:45 a.m. Session III – Show me the money: Financing your small business

An interactive session featuring audience volunteers who will be invited to make a short investment pitch before a panel, including experts in microlending, SBA loans, traditional bank loans, venture capital and angel investing. Audience volunteers should come prepared with a two-minute presentation that includes details about current backing, how much money they are seeking and a brief synosis of ow that money would be used.

Moderator: Melissa Krinzman, founder and managing director, Venture Architects

Panelists:

•  Marjorie Weber, chairman, SCORE of Miami-Dade

•  Cornell Crews, Jr., program director, Partners for Self Employment

•  Darius G. Nevin, co-founder, G3 Capital Partners, a mid-market and early-stage investment company

•  Boris Hirmas Said, chairman of the board, Tres Mares S.A. (Santiago, Chile) and entrepreneur in

residence at the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center

1 p.m. Lunch session - Polish your Pitch, Brighten Your Personal Brand

An interactive session featuring audience volunteers who will be invited to make short pitches about their businesses and themselves. Audience volunteers should come prepared with a two-minute presentation.

Coaches: Melissa Krinzman of Venture Architects and Michelle Villalobos of Mivista Consulting

advise audience volunteers on how to best pitch themselves and their products.

Box lunch provided by Bill Hansen Catering

All speakers confirmed unless otherwise noted. Agenda is subject to change without notice .

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Stranded python hunters rescued from Broward Everglades

Two python hunters were rescued Thursday afternoon by Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue after they became stranded and disoriented in the Everglades.

According to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles, a call came in shortly before 4 p.m. that the hunters, 22 and 25 years old and from Tennessee, were stranded 15 miles west of U.S. 27 near the Broward-Palm Beach County line.

“It doesn’t seem like they were familiar with the area,” Jachles said. “They underestimated the conditions. We had temperature in the 80s. “

The men, suffering from exhaustion and dehydration, complained of lightheadedness and weakness when air rescue located them. They were taken two miles from where they were found and treated by firefighters and paramedics.

“Fortunately our helicopter and rescue crews got to them before it would have gotten much worse,” Jachles said.

The victims, thought to be staying in their car, refused to be taken to a hospital for further treatment.

Jachles could not confirm that they were taking part in the ongoing “Python Challenge,” which began last month and offers cash prizes to hunters who kill the most, and longest, Burmese pythons, which have infested the Everglades in recent years.

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The Big Bang Theory Stars Talk Huge Ratings

With an average of 18 million viewers tuning in every Thursday night, The Big Bang Theory has become ratings gold for CBS. 

Despite six years of continued success, the cast of TV's #1 comedy tell ET they're still trying to wrap their heads around the extreme popularity of their show.

Pics: Star Sightings!

"When we hit 10 million a couple of years ago, Kaley [Cuoco] hunted me down at the gym to tell me," remembers Johnny Galecki with glee. "I was so excited. We thought that was the end-all, be-all."

What's the sitcom's secret? Star Jim Parsons has a theory.

"[Syndication] exposed us multiple times a day on a couple of different networks," speculates Parsons. "[It] will make you love us."

Related: Kunal Nayyar Goes 'Beyond' The 'Bang'

Of course, it doesn't hurt that co-star Simon Helberg is Big Bang's personal cheerleader in his free time.

"I hand out flyers over the weekend," Helberg jokes. "I dress up as Spider-Man…with the spinning sign."

Watch the video above for more from The Big Bang Theory's stars!

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Jersey sure bet

Nj Gov. Chris Christie has changed his mind.

In a gamble to save an embattled Atlantic City, the governor essentially legalized online gaming yesterday — paving the way for bets being placed via a computer from anywhere in the Garden State.

The first online bets could be placed sometime in September, insiders predict.

Gov. Christie’s okay came after he vetoed on online gambling measure for the second time in less than two years — but this time with certain conditions that he and lawmakers agree on.

“The conditions are minor changes,” state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, a sponsor of the bill, said in a phone interview, talking about the governor’s insistence that the law expire after 10 years and that funding for programs to help gambling addicts get pumped up.

Gov. Christie also insisted on boosting the tax on online gambling winnings to 15 percent from 10 percent.

“This is going to be wildly successful, and it’s going to bring in millions of dollars of additional revenues for the casinos and the state,” the Democratic lawmaker added.

As word of the conditional veto spread from Trenton to Wall Street, shares of Caesars Entertainment, which operates three AC casinos, including Harrah’s, soared 18.6 percent, to $10.07.

Boyd Gaming, which operates the Borgata, jumped 2.8 percent, to $7.10.

Under the bill, only NJ residents could bet online. Any casino bet could be made from any computer anywhere in the state — whether it’s in your kitchen or at a Starbucks.

Only AC’s 12 casinos could run online betting operations, and the software would be based in AC.

Lesniak predicted that gambling revenue could increase as much as $300 million in the first year — and that thousands of jobs would be saved.

That would help Atlantic City’s 12 casinos, which have seen revenues fall for six straight years as competition has popped up in neighboring states.

Since 2006, AC revenues have fallen nearly 42 percent, to $3.05 billion last year.

“Now is the time for our state to move forward, again leading the way for the nation, by becoming one of the first states to permit Internet gaming,” Christie wrote in a statement. “While Atlantic City’s reputation and stature as one of the premier resort destinations on the East Coast are well-chronicled, it is no secret that revenue from the region’s most important industries, gaming and tourism, has been in decline.

New Jersey will be the third state to legalize online gambling — after Nevada and Delaware passed similar laws.

Lesniak is now in the courts, fighting the National Football League over a bill Gov. Christie has signed allowing sports betting only at casinos and race tracks.

Briefs in the case have been filed, and the lawmaker believes there is a 50-50 chance the judge rules in his favor.

New York is moving forward with its own gaming initiatives. Albany will likely vote this year on whether to legalize brick-and-mortar casinos outside of racetracks.

Online gaming, for the moment, is not on the agenda.

jkosman@nypost.com

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Miami startup that turns text to video receives $1 million in seed funding

Guide, a new technology startup based in Miami, announced Tuesday it has closed a $1 million round of seed funding from investors including the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Sapient Corp., MTV founder Bob Pitman, actor and producer Omar Epps, and early Google employee Steve Schimmel. The Knight Foundation is supporting Guide through its new early-stage venture fund, the Knight Enterprise Fund.

Led by CEO and founder Freddie Laker and COO Leslie Bradshaw, Guide’s team of seven is focused on turning online news, social streams and blogs into video for users who may be cooking, exercising, commuting or getting ready in the morning. The free application offers consumers a selection of about 20 “anchors” — including a dog, a robot and an anime character — that will read the article and present the accompanying photos, pull-out information and video clips in its video presentation. Revenue drivers for Guide could include in-app purchases, advertising-based anchors and customizations from publishers, said Laker, a former vice president at SapientNitro.

Laker and his team plan to launch a public beta next month, which they plan to do with a splash at the huge technology conference South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas.

Read more about Guide here on the Starting Gate blog. Follow Nancy Dahlberg on Twitter @ndahlberg

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Judge angered after learning mentally ill Miami man was placed in assisted living facility, and escaped

After Cristobal Abreu was arrested for stabbing a Hialeah SWAT officer with a large BBQ fork in December 2009, doctors deemed his mind too ravaged by mental illness to stand trial.

For years, he bounced around mental health facilities.

Then a stay at a Miami Gardens assisted living facility, where funds for his medications ran out and his mental state deteriorated, ended last month when the 72-year-old Abreu was shipped without a judge’s permission to Jackson North Medical Center.

Then last week, a Jackson case worker — again, without permission from the court — sent him to an ALF in Little Havana. He promptly escaped.

“I’m free! I’m free,” Abreu yelled as he shuffled away from the San Martin de Porras facility Tuesday, according to lawyers and court personnel who aired the episode over two days in court this week.

Abreu’s ping-ponging treatment has drawn the ire of Circuit Judge Ellen Sue Venzer, who has now ordered hospital and state-contracted mental health administrators to court Friday to explain what happened.

“The system is broken,” Venzer said angrily in court this week, adding: “What would have happened if Mr. Abreu had decompensated and gone out and hurt somebody else in our community?”

Abreu’s escape was short-lived: police quickly detained him, committing him back to Jackson Memorial Hospital for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation.

The unusual episode underscores what mental health advocates in Miami-Dade’s criminal justice system say has been a reoccurring problem: “incompetent” defendants are often shuffled between facilities without the knowledge of the court tasked with supervising them.

ALFs mostly house the elderly and others with mental health issues or disabilities. It is not unusual for incompetent defendants, usually non-violent ones, to be placed at an ALF in a residential neighborhood.

“The people in the social services arena have to recognize that a court-order is sacrosanct,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Wednesday. “I really understand the judge’s ire. She has the absolute right to be livid with everyone in the system.”

Subpoenaed to appear before the judge on Friday: Representatives from Jackson, the South Florida Behavioral Network, which contracts with the state to manage cases of the mentally ill defendants, and New Horizons Community Mental Health Center, which monitored Abreu’s case.

A lawyer for the Florida Department of Children and Families will also appear.

“It sounds like all these different agencies are treating these individuals like hot potatoes,” Venzer said in court Wednesday.

Abreu was initially arrested in December 2009 for attempted murder and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer. The attempted charge was later dropped; the SWAT officer was not hurt because the knife pierced his shield.

During a jailhouse interview with a psychologist, the incoherent Abreu admitted that he sometimes hears voices and see visions of “flowers [and] gold diamonds.”

The court determined that Abreu was “incompetent” to proceed to trial, meaning he could not assist his lawyer in defending the accusations.

After stays in several other facilities, Abreu wound up at the Graceful Gardens ALF, 18101 NW 47th Ct., in November.

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Justin Timberlake Reveals New Album Cover for 20 20 Experience

We're one step closer to The 20/20 Experience!

Justin Timberlake just dropped a major treat for his fans on Twitter, revealing the cover art and tracklisting to his upcoming solo album, The 20/20 Experience.

"I wanted you guys to see this first!!!," wrote Timberlake with a link to the cover (featuring the singer dressed to the nines behind a phoropter) and song titles.

Pics: Justin & Jessica's Long Road to the Altar

Check out the full tracklisting below:

-Pusher Love Girl

-Suit & Tie

-Don't Hold The Wall

-Strawberry Bubblegum

-Tunnel Vision

-Spaceship Coupe

-That Girl
Let The Groove Get In

-Mirrors

-Blue Ocean Floor

The 20/20 Experience hits stores on March 19.

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