LI travel agent shoved to his death in Brooklyn robbery: police








A Long Island travel agent who showed up at a South Slope, Brooklyn address to buy a car wound up dead when he was shoved to the ground and smashed his head in an apparent robbery, law enforcement sources said this morning.

Jesus Morales, 67, of Merrick, LI, was discovered lying with head injuries at 260 18th street at around 7:15 p.m. yesterday.

Morales was rushed by EMS to Lutheran Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Cops are calling the incident a robbery, though it was unclear what was taken.

According to family, Morales owns a travel agency in the neighborhood.











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Florida company provides electrical power for the world




















More than 4,000 miles from its home base in Doral, Energy International is helping keep the lights on and the power grid humming in Gibraltar, the British territory on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

Energy International, a global provider of power plants and energy solutions, sent a temporary plant that will provide power for at least the next two years while a more permanent fix is sought for the territory’s erratic and aging electrical system.

The Doral company was founded 14 years ago as MCA Power Systems and its initial goal was to pursue energy contracts in Latin America. It began in 2000 with a name change and in recent years its focus has become global.





“The world needs energy,’’ said Brett Hall, EI’s vice president of finance.

While the 2007-2008 recession curtailed the growth of worldwide energy demand, the U.S. Energy Information Agency has projected that global demand for electricity will increase by 2.3 percent annually from 2008 to 2035.

The potential is especially strong in developing nations. The International Energy Agency estimated that in 2009, 21 percent of the world’s population — 1.4 billion people — didn’t have access to electricity. In sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of people without power rises to 69 percent.

Energy International has expanded sales from Latin America and the Caribbean to Europe, Africa and the Middle East, boosting revenue from $100 million annually in 2009 to more than $300 million today, Hall said. This year, EI is anticipating revenue of $350 million to $375 million.

In the next seven years the company, which is privately owned by American shareholders and affiliated with Gecolsa — the Caterpillar dealership in Colombia — hopes revenue will top $1 billion, he said.

Even though Energy International is based in the United States, it does little work domestically. Its sweet spot is emerging economies and projects that require an investment on its part of $100 million or less.

“Our focus is to do whatever makes the most economic sense for a particular market,’’ said Hall.

“We’re not going to be building a nuclear power plant,’’ he said. But EI will accommodate its solutions to local fuel supplies whether it’s biofuel, natural gas or heavy fuels that are more prevalent.

When it comes to the type of temporary power solution needed by Gibraltar, which had been plagued by a string of power outages at its archaic electrical facilities, EI can have a temporary plant up and running in 30 to 40 days, supplying the engineering, rental turbines and other equipment and doing the installation.

“We were able to support Gibraltar’s power needs on short notice,’’ said Andres Molano, EI’s vice president of sales. “Some of their equipment required major maintenance and they needed to stop their plants.’’

EI, one of the world’s largest suppliers of interim energy solutions, signed a $12 million contract with the government of Gibraltar in November and the plant was operational by Dec. 21. The agreement includes an option for a three-year extension.

The equipment now in use in Gibraltar is considered part of EI’s fleet and will move on to other energy emergencies when its service in the territory famed for the Rock of Gibraltar is complete.

But when it comes to its permanent power plants, EI will build a facility for a client looking to generate its own power or construct a plant, run it and sell power directly to the final user.

“We can do all the work ourselves. We have all the skills in house — finance, design, operations, maintenance, building and the equipment,’’ said Hall.

Energy International moved into the Middle East last year, completing projects in Oman and Yemen and establishing a subsidiary in Dubai to pursue business in Africa and the Middle East, said Molano.

“Africa is new to us, but we believe there are opportunities there,’’ he said.

The company also is looking for continued growth in Latin America, especially in Colombia, which is now attracting foreign investors who previously had been spooked by violence.

Remote areas of the Amazon where temporary power solutions are needed also represent opportunity for the company.

“EI is very fortunate to be in a position in which we have more excellent opportunities than capital.’’ said Hall, so this year it will be concentrating on raising equity to finance growth.

“One of our biggest challenges in 2013,’’ Hall said, “will be to find investors or joint venture partners to provide capital that will enable EI to perform these projects so our aggressive revenue growth targets can be achieved.’’





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Miami police to buyback guns — no questions asked




















In efforts to reduce gun violence, Miami police will hold its first 2013 gun buyback operation of the year.

Beginning on Jan. 19, anyone can drop off any firearm at designated locations and receive a gift certificate with no questions asked.

“We are urging the public to join us in the efforts to reduce gun violence and make a difference,” the police department said in a news release.





The buybacks will be from 10 a .m. to 2 p.m. at the following locations:

• Jan. 19 - Model City NET, Jordan Grove Baptist Church, 5946 NW 12th Ave.

• Jan. 26 - Overtown NET, St. John Baptist Church, 1328 NW Third Ave.

• Feb. 2 - Little Havana NET, San Juan Bosco Catholic Church, 1301 W. Flagler St.





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The next CIA’s director’s challenges






qWhat John Brennan faces after confirmation


I see no reason why the Senate won’t confirm John Brennan, President Obama‘s chief counter-terrorism adviser, to be the next director of the CIA. There will be pro forma inquiries into his past entanglements with the NSA’s domestic surveillance program and his knowledge and approval of the CIA’s “Greystone” torture protocols, but he will have ready answers for the questions and he will say plenty in private to sooth the concerns of those whose concerns need to be soothed.






Assuming Brennan becomes the DCIA, as he will thenceforth be acronymed, he’ll inherit a powerful spy agency facing a set of tough questions. Actually, every CIA director since the advent of the age of Al Qaeda has more or less dealt with these same issues. The daily demands of the job require tactical thinking and leave little room for attention to the bigger picture.


SEE MORE: Why Django is better than Lincoln


# Is the CIA a paramilitary force? Should it go back to its roots as a source of intelligence and warning?  You see this question phrased as such a lot, but it ignores virtually all of the CIA’s history, except for a period in the 1990s when the “Peace Dividend” and director John Deutch pulled back significantly on the agency’s ambit. The CIA has always been both and will always be both. From the start, the agency has very broadly and probably (in an affront to the original understanding of the National Security Act of 1947) interpreted its mandate to do stuff to further American interests abroad, even and often to the point of violence, as Adam Elkus reminds us today. The question really is one of authorities and chains of command: how are American resources properly allocated? Are the mechanisms of accountability sufficient? Is there really anything better than an ad hoc framework for determining whether combined CIA-military operations are really CIA operations or military operations?


# There is no such thing as secrecy anymore, at least not in the way that the CIA has understood the term. We live in an era of open source everything, which means that the agency’s crown jewels have very short lifespans and that public interest in what the CIA does is bound to increase exponentially. The agency has to figure out a posture on the New Secrecy that satisfies its mission while accepting the Open Source reality. Younger analysts have different expectations of how to gather and collect information and are less satisfied with the complicated and fairly broken traditional secrecy rules.


# Similarly, it is exceedingly difficult for would-be spies to come to the CIA without significant social media trails, and it is very hard for them to work in the world without leaving electromagnetic detritus for everyone to exploit and discover. How can the CIA’s case officers maintain their cover identities? Is the era of fully-fledged cover identities over? Will the CIA continue to rely (and over-rely) on foreign intelligence services for critical human intelligence operations? 


# The same Open Source world that hinders CIA secrecy also provides the agency with far more data than it ever imagined having. The CIA will never face a problem of not having enough intelligence. It will face the problem of having too much and not knowing what it has or how to use it.


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Behind the Scenes of PSY's 2013 Super Bowl Commercial

ET has your exclusive sneak peek at PSY's next big project!

Video: Stars Party Gangnam Style Backstage at AMAs

The Korean superstar will launch an out-of-this-world Super Bowl commercial Sunday, January 3, and we have your first look behind the scenes of the top-secret shoot this Wednesday.

Also tomorrow, inside Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey's American Idol feud! Plus, the deleted scene deemed too sexy for Twilight.

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NYPD Daily Blotter








Manhattan

***

A female gang member was gunned down at a Harlem housing project, authorities said.

Jayyidah Woodley, 32, was found in a lobby of a building at the King Tower Houses on Lenox Avenue at 11:30 p.m. Monday, police said.

She had been shot 12 times in the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Woodley had a record of 12 arrests, including one for murder, and was a member of the Bloods, police sources said.

***

A woman walking her dog in Washington Heights yesterday found the body of a woman that had washed up from the Hudson River.

The body of the 55-year-old woman was spotted on the rocks near West 165th Street at 8:30 a.m., just steps from where construction workers were working.





Police are looking for two men (above) who are wanted for a home invasion robbery in Long Island City, authorities said.


Police are looking for two men (above) who are wanted for a home invasion robbery in Long Island City, authorities said.




Police are looking for two men (above) who are wanted for a home invasion robbery in Long Island City, authorities said.


Police are looking for two men (above) who are wanted for a home invasion robbery in Long Island City, authorities said.





“I arrived early this morning and was doing some work when I heard a woman screaming,” said Donovan White, 50.

“She said, ‘Oh, my God, there is a body in the water! Help!’ ”

There were no signs of injuries, and the body was fully clothed.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

Brooklyn

***

A corrections captain was busted for DWI in East Flatbush, authorities said.

Jahaira Almodovar, 33, was driving a 2001 Ford Expedition at 3:05 a.m. when she crashed into a telephone pole, cops said.

At first, she cooperated when cops tried to administer a Breathalyzer, but changed her mind and allegedly turned combative.

She later submitted to a test, and her blood-alcohol level was allegedly .22 — nearly three times the legal limit. She was hit with charges of DWI, reckless driving, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

***

A man stole an acquaintance's wallet in a Bed-Stuy home, then attacked the victim when confronted about the theft, authorities said.

Jackie Moorer, 46, snatched the wallet off a counter in a Monroe Street brownstone at 12:10 a.m., Sunday, and walked off, court papers claim.

When the owner confronted Moorer about 15 minutes later, the suspect hit him in the face with an unknown object, leaving a gash that required sutures, the papers say.

Moorer was charged with petit larceny, assault, menacing, criminal possession of a weapon, attempted assault and harassment, records show.

Queens

***

Police are looking for two men who are wanted for a home invasion robbery in Long Island City, authorities said.

The thieves went into the home on 45th Avenue near 23rd Street at 1:50 a.m. Sunday, police said.

One flashed a gun and demanded the seven people inside fork over their belongings, police said.

They made off with cash, jewelry and cellphones, police said.

The suspect with the gun is in his late 40s, about 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds. The other is between 27 and 33 years old, 5-foot-9 and about 240 pounds.

No one was injured.

Staten Island

***

A drunken driver was collared by FDNY fire marshals after he hit two cars in St. George, authorities said.

Lorenzo Garcia, 33, was zooming down Richmond Terrace in a Ford Windstar at 1:35 p.m. Sunday when he rear-ended a sedan and almost hit a pedestrian at the intersection of Hamilton Avenue, court papers say.

Garcia then sideswiped a fire marshal’s GMC Yukon further up Richmond Terrace, near Carroll Place, cops said.

Two marshals nabbed Garcia and held him for police.

His blood-alcohol level was .232, almost three times the legal limit of .08, court papers state.

Lorenzo, who had a suspended license, was busted for aggravated DWI, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving,

***

A gunman robbed a man of his cellphone in Old Town, authorities said.

Jesus Marrero, 24, flashed his firearm at the victim at around 12:36 a.m. Jan. 4 and barked, “Run your pockets,” according to a criminal complaint.

Marrero then pistol-whipped the victim in the head and made off with his Samsung Galaxy III smartphone, cops said.

Marrero was apprehended in Oakwood, and officers found a 9mm gun stashed under the front seat of his Toyota Camry, according to cops.

He was charged with robbery, weapons possession and assault, records show.










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4 smartphones with standout features




















These days, smartphones are almost all drawing from the same bag of tricks, and it can be hard to tell one from the next. If the average smartphone will do all the basic things you want it to, what does it take to be special? Here are four smartphones with unusual features that really make them stand out.

Nokia Lumia 920

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)





The good: This phone forges new Windows Phone ground with wireless-charging support and a highly sensitive screen you can use with gloves. Moreover, Nokia helps fill in Windows Phone OS gaps with a few missing features.

The bad: A thick, heavy build and slippery finish for some colors make the Lumia 920 harder to hold and carry, and the phone’s overhyped camera doesn’t have enough settings.

The cost: $99.99

The bottom line: Nokia’s Lumia 920 is heavy and thick, but if you want the most powerful, feature-rich Windows Phone smartphone available, this is it.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: Oodles of screen real estate make this terrific for videos, games, and reading, and its improved stylus aids productivity. A blazing quad-core processor, a great camera and strong battery life round out the advantages of this Android 4.1 phone.

The bad: The huge display makes it unwieldy to carry, and hiccups in the S Pen stylus and apps can slow you down. The pricey Note 2 isn’t a suitable tablet replacement across all categories.

The cost: $149.99 to $309.99

The bottom line: Samsung delivers a powerful, boundary-pushing device that gets a lot right. Yet its complicated features and high price raise questions about its purpose.

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: This Droid (Verizon) offers fast performance, a big, eye-popping screen and luxurious design. It also has great call quality, lots of storage, 4G data speeds, and unbeatable battery life.

The bad: The major weakness is a camera that produces subpar images. The phone is filled with Verizon bloatware as well.

The cost: $149.99 to $299.99

The bottom line: Motorola’s fast, stylish Droid Razr Maxx HD offers outstanding battery life, but its camera captures unimpressive images.

Samsung Galaxy Beam

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)

The good: An integrated pico projector, as well as a dual-core processor, 720p video capture and a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen.

The bad: The projection software needs some work, the 5-megapixel camera sometimes blurs indoor shots, and the Beam is thicker and heavier than many phones.

The cost: $474.49 to $839.99

The bottom line: Despite weak software, the Galaxy Beam’s bright projector pushes boundaries, and strong smartphone features make it a worthy standalone device.





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Parents of disabled kids blast Florida care




















Twice in the past year, state health administrators cut the number of hours caregivers assisted Alex Perez’s severely disabled son at his Westchester home. Both times, the child’s pediatrician was left wondering why the state had reduced the care he had prescribed for the boy.

On Monday, state Rep. Katie Edwards asked Perez if she had been “misled or misinformed” when state healthcare bosses told her that the company that reviews such prescriptions always speaks with family doctors to find a way to help parents.

“Yes,” Perez told Edwards at a town hall meeting in Sunrise for parents of disabled and medically fragile children Monday night.





Perez, whose 13-year-old son, Christian, suffers from cerebral palsy and failure to thrive, was one of a dozen parents and advocates who spoke to several lawmakers and other community leaders Monday night at the meeting called to address the needs of Florida children with severe disabilities and life-threatening medical conditions.

As Perez looked on, Edwards, the meeting’s chairwoman, called a spokesman for the state Agency for Health Care Administration to the podium. AHCA legislative director Chris Chaney said it was common for the private company, eQHealth Solutions, to speak with family doctors to “reach a consensus” over the care for children like Christian.

“Not happening,” several parents shouted from the audience.

“You need to correct this,” Edwards said, speaking to Chaney.

Edwards, a Democrat from Sunrise who was recently elected to the House, called Monday’s meeting at the Sunrise Senior Center following several stories in The Miami Herald about the state’s cutting of in-home nursing care to medically fragile children, which has forced some parents to place their children in geriatric nursing homes. Edwards said she became aware of children like Christian while volunteering at, and raising money for, a Homestead daycare center for children with complex medical conditions.

“They keep finding new reasons to deny services,” Perez told the group about eQHealth, a private company under contract with the state at the center of the controversy. “It’s a very combative atmosphere.”

The plight of children with complex medical needs came to light last fall when civil-rights lawyers with the U.S. Justice Department accused the state of warehousing severely disabled children in geriatric nursing homes — where the youngsters often have little contact with the outside world, and can spend their entire childhood with no social or family interaction. Hundreds of children have landed in such homes, the Justice Department wrote, because state health administrators have dramatically cut in-home and other services to children whose parents care for them at home.

Edwards said it was partly the Legislature’s “fault” that disabled children were suffering from lack of care. For too long, she said, lawmakers avoided getting involved in the details of state health and social service agencies, allowing departments to write their own rules with little legislative guidance, and offering inadequate oversight over how the state’s “limited pool of resources” is spent.

If the state is favoring nursing homes by strangling the flow of dollars to families raising disabled children at home, though, Edwards said that should stop.





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181,354 People on Twitter Think They’re Experts at Twitter






Do you tweet a lot? Do you post everything on Facebook? Do you #hashtag #complete #sentences #like #this? Do you describe yourself, variously, as a social media “maven”, “master”, “guru”, “freak”, “warrior”, “evangelist” or “veteran”? (Yes, a social media veteran. As if Tumblr were a deadly war you narrowly survived.) Well: you’ve got company! There are more than 181,000 such individuals on Twitter, people who adorn their profiles with credentials like “social media freak” and “social media wonk” and “social media authority.”


RELATED: Teens Hacking Their Friends’s Twitter Accounts Is All the Rage






B.L. Ochman at Advertising Age, whose heroic research produced the final tally, first noted the trend three years ago — when she recorded, among other distinctions, 68 “social media stars” and 79 “social media ninjas” on Twitter alone — and has been keeping track ever since. This isn’t just the stuff of legitimate Twitter news-breakers like Anthony DeRosa and Andy Carvin — Ohman provides a helpful breakdown of the terms she looked for — you know, like “social media warrior.” (We’re tempted to argue that such diligence makes Ochman something of a social media warrior herself.) Ochman also warns of using “guru” — a Sanskrit term — to describe oneself:



While a great many of these self-appointed gurus are no doubt taking the title with tongue firmly planted in cheek, the fact remains: a guru is something someone else calls you, not something you call yourself. Scratch that: let’s save “guru” (Sanskrit for “teacher”) for religious figures or at least people with real unique knowledge.


I’d argue, in fact, that “social media” and “guru” should never appear in the same sentence.



Whatever the term, social media seems to be a growth industry: there were only 15,740 “mavens” (or whatever) in 2009 — less than a tenth of those represented today.


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Huell Howser Reports For Entertainment Tonight at 1982 Grammys

Long before Huell Howser, who passed Sunday at the age of 67, would go on to find his passion shining a spotlight on small towns, landmarks, and places of interest in California, the KCET legend made quite the impression on us at Entertainment Tonight.

Related: Huell Howser Dead at 67

In 1982, the TV icon was a young, dapper reporter excited to cover music's biggest night for ET.

Watch the video for a look back at Howser's signature charm in action.

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