Holland Tunnel shootout snarls traffic for miles

The Holland Tunnel was shut down to motorists Friday during the evening rush hour.

A deranged driver was shot by police in the Holland Tunnel Friday after he tried to plow through traffic and run over cops with his car, law-enforcement sources said.

The enraged motorist, who was not identified, was asked by Port Authority cops to pull over for a minor traffic violation near the mouth of the tunnel in Jersey City about 6:10 p.m., the sources said.

He refused and rammed his white Jeep Cherokee into the car in front of him in an attempt to push his way through traffic, sources said. The maneuver failed, so he shifted into reverse and barreled toward a Port Authority cop, who squeezed off one or two shots at the SUV, sources said.

The officer then latched onto the vehicle when the driver tried to speed off again and was dragged several feet, sources said.

At the same time, two other Port Authority officers were racing to the scene against traffic from the New York side of the tunnel, sources said. But when they approached, the madman steered the vehicle toward them and tried to pin them against a bus, sources said.

One of the officers fired at least once, officials said. The driver was hit in his right forearm, but it was not clear which officer fired the shot, officials said.

He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. Two other men who were in the SUV were taken into custody.

The tunnel was shut down to motorists for several hours that snarled traffic for miles.

Magazine Cover Models :The Power & Effect

Oh, baby! If Monica Bellucci in a one-piece swimsuit was enough to make you sweat, you might want to turn on the AC before checking out the hot mama in the Nov. 3 issue of Italian Vanity Fair.

On the breathtaking cover, Bellucci, 46, poses naked while cradling her daughter, Léonie, who was born just five short months ago.

Stars naked on covers may sell magazines, but can it still stir up controversy? Not likely. 

What cellulite? A flawless Kate Moss bared it all during a recent shoot for Vogue Brasil, gracing the magazine's May cover in nothing more than two gold cuffs and a smear of smoldering black eyeliner. 

Shot to mark the magazine's 36th anniversary, the 37-year-old supermodel went nude for photographer Mario Testino during the Sao Paolo shoot, showing off wavy blond locks and two tiny tattoos in the small of her back.

Rock of Love or just rock hard abs? Poison frontman and 'Celebrity Apprentice' winner Bret Michaels is back for a new VH1 TV show ... and this time he's bringing out the big guns on the cover of Billboard magazine.

His new series, called 'Life As I Know It,' gives fans an inside look into Bret's life. 'It’s an all-access backstage pass into my everyday life, about finding balance between my passion for my family, my relationship with [girlfriend] Kristi [Gibson] and being on the road,' he tells Billboard.

As if 'True Blood' couldn't get any hotter – or more perverse – the show's stars Alexander Skarsgard, Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer grace the cover of Rolling Stone wearing nothing but spatters of blood. 

In the cover photo, Paquin stands between the show's two brooding actors, with her leg strategically placed over Skarsgard's frontside and her breasts covered by the hand of Moyer, her real-life fiance. Much like the cover art, 'True Blood' exudes sex and explores the primal instinct vampires have toward humans. A raw emotion that is a distinct difference from the celibacy-promoting vampires in 'Twilight.' 

Moyer, who plays undead southern Civil War veteran Bill Compton, views the sexual nature of vampires as quite erotic, saying, 'If we go from a base level, vampires create a hole in the neck where there wasn't one before. It's a de-virginization - breaking the hymen, creating blood and then drinking the virginal blood,' he says. 'And there's something sharp, the fang, which is probing and penetrating and moving into it. So that's pretty sexy. I think that makes vampires attractive.

Kate and William's royal wedding has sparked hat-buying furor amongst New York enthusiasts

Lynn Paik tries on a hat called The 1903 at Barbara Feinman Milllinery in the East Village.

New Yorkers have really flipped their lids over the royal wedding - they're buying up hats for the big day.

"People are willing to get up at 4 a.m. and watch the royal wedding while they are wearing hats," said Barbara Feinman, who owns Barbara Feinman Millinery in the East Village.

She has received "dozens" of orders for cocktail hats to be worn at viewing parties. Suzanne Couture Millinery on the upper East Side had an uptick in orders - including three hats for locals invited to Kate and Will's nuptials.

"They came in with their outfits, and hats were custom-made for them," said owner Suzanne Newman.

One guest opted for a classic big-brimmed hat, while another favored a whimsical topper, said Newman, who once made a hat for Princess Diana during a New York visit.

Most of her orders this week have been for young moms planning for Friday morning tea parties to chat about the pomp and pageantry.

Lynn Paik shows off the 'The Ascot,' a sinamay hat with sinamay and blue hackle feather flowers.  

"They want small, Kate-like hats. That's the fun of the event," said Newman. "It's good because it's prompted a lot of interest in hats."

Even without the royals, milliners have a busy time in the spring: Easter, the Kentucky Derby, the Central Park Conservancy luncheon and Mother's Day boost sales.

"We're slammed," cried Linda Pagan, owner of the Hat Shop in SoHo, who counts a dozen orders for viewing-party hats and one custom creation for a wedding guest.

"It's very exciting," said British-born Pagan. "They are getting in the moment."

Killer Tornadoes tear through Alabama

Killer tornadoes and thunderstorms left death and destruction across five Southern states as death toll rises in leaps and bounds.

Killer tornadoes and thunderstorms tore through five states throughout the South Wednesday, leaving at least 173 dead with hundreds more injured amid the massive destruction.

Hardest hit was Alabama where 128 people died, most when a mile-wide tornado gouged its way across the state.

Storms also killed 32 in Mississippi, 11 in Georgia and one each in Tennessee and Virginia.

In Tuscaloosa, where at least 15 people were killed, some neighborhoods were reduced to rubble and drivers abandoned cars in streets littered with downed trees and power lines.

"What we faced today was massive damage on a scale we have not seen in Tuscaloosa in quite some time," said Walter Maddox, mayor of the 83,000 population town.

One hospital emergency room took in 100 people.

A Birmingham family was trapped briefly in their home by uprooted trees.

"As I was grabbing my daughter and running to the closet, they hit the house," said Lisa Hey, who estimated 90% of the trees in her neighborhood were toppled.

"Teams have pre-deployed to begin debris removal and search and rescue operations as soon as conditions permit," said Alabama emergency agency spokeswoman Lauree Ashcom in a statement.

Jimmy King's garage shop in Arab, Ala., was destroyed. (Robin Conn/AP)

The monster twisters forced three nuclear reactors in Alabama to shut, leaving about 245,000 households and businesses in Alabama without power.

A Louisiana police officer was killed at a campsite in Choctaw County, Miss., when a tree fell onto his tent as he used his body to shield his 9-year-old daughter, said Kim Korthuis, a supervisor with the National Park Service.

"She wasn't hurt, just scared and soaking wet," said Greg Maier, a campsite volunteer.

Much of northern Texas, including areas recently charred by wildfires, also was pounded by tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.

"Numerous homes have been damaged or destroyed," said Lt. Chuck Allen, emergency management coordinator in Van Zandt County, located about halfway between Dallas and Tyler.

This week's storms have added to the violent weather that has pummeled much of the south this month.

Two weeks ago, at least 47 people died as storms tore a wide path from Oklahoma to North Carolina.

The latest wild weather - a nearly 600 mile stretch - began in the Midwest plains, moved through the south and Wednesday night was headed as far north as Pennsylvania and upstate New York.

Bicyclist makes way through rubble in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Caroline Summers/AP)

The National Weather Service said as many as 21 states could be hit by severe weather before things clear up Friday.

About 74 tornadoes were reported Wednesday along with hundreds of reports of wind and hail damage.

Roads were washed out or blocked by fallen trees and power lines, houses, schools and businesses were flattened, flooded or set on fire by lightning and wind-whipped debris became deadly flying projectiles throughout the four-state hot zone.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in Missouri after levees failed to hold back swollen rivers.

"I'm just glad my family is safe," said Chris Pigg, who spent the night at a shelter with his wife and daughter and wasn't sure if he'd have a home to return to after the Black River breached the levee in Poplar Bluff.

Governors called out the National Guard to help with rescue and cleanup operations, and states of emergency were declared in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

Blake Lively suffers wardrobe malfunction at Time 100 gala

Photographer Patrick McMullan accidentally stepped on and ripped off the train of Blake Lively's Zuhair Murad dress at the Time 100 gala Tuesady

Blake Lively was a train wreck Tuesday night. The actress and Chanel spokesmodel was on her way into the Time 100 gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center when society photographer Patrick McMullan accidentally stepped on and ripped off the train of her Zuhair Murad dress. McMullan says the lengthy piece of fabric actually got stuck to his shoe, and Lively protested, "Patrick, you have my train!" At which point, he says, Martha Stewart added: "Well, you better give it back to her!" The snapper, who's been friendly with leggy Lively since his "Gossip Girl" cameo, says he "felt awful" about the accident, and added that Blake was "very kind about it." The actress was spotted later that evening with the train safety-pinned to the back of her gown.

Lively after her wardrobe malfunction

Those gigantic choppers

Gary Busey may be done chewing the scenery on "Celebrity Apprentice," but he just got another role worthy of his teeth. Harvey and Bob Weinstein's Dimension Films has added Busey to  the cast of "Piranha 3DD." With Busey's choppers, we can only hope he'll play a human-piranha hybrid.

Give me some of that hooch  

Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford thank Chelsea Handler for introducing alcohol to their a.m.'s, but they also credit a slew of other celebs for making it a tradition. Kotb told us at the Friars Club on Tuesday that after producers provided drinks for Handler during an appearance on their "Today" segment, other guests expected to imbibe as well. According to Kotb, "Brooke Shields came up and said, ‘Where's my drink?' " and Gifford added that "Mikhail [Baryshnikov] brought his own Hennessy!" Not everyone is plied with alcohol, though.  When the talk-show hosts acknowledged Liza Minnelli at the luncheon, Liza stood up and declared, "I went on, but I didn't have a drink!"

Paying tribute to pops  

Jason Flom is about to honor his late father in a big way. We hear the Lava Records president, who signed new Brit sensation Jessie J, is going to donate $1 million in his dad Joseph Flom's name to the Innocence Project. The charity, which counts Jason as a board member, will hold its annual benefit at the Waldorf-Astoria on Wednesday (where former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine will be honored). There, Flom is expected to pay tribute to his pops, who helped build the corporate law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom into a legal powerhouse. The gift will help the organization further its work exonerating, through DNA testing, those wrongfully convicted.

Sean with a smile?

Sean Penn behaved like a man in love at the after-party for his movie "Love Hate Love" on Tuesday night.  Although Penn's current reported love interest, 26-year-old Scarlett Johansson, wasn't on hand, the usually stern-faced actor seemed almost euphoric at the Stoli-sponsored shindig at Tenjune.  Between ushering friends into the VIP section, Penn laughed it up with pals, many of whom stayed with the 50-year-old until the end of the party. Another partygoer wasn't able to kick back quite as much: While Penn walked around being giddy, a bodyguard comically shadowed the actor's every move in the small VIP section.

'Glee' clubby? 

They are playing high-school students, so maybe it's not surprising that "Glee" cast members tend to travel in same-sex packs. A source tells us there wasn't much coed mingling when the cast took turns grabbing a bite at R Lounge in Times Square, where the show was shooting on Monday. Chord Overstreet and Mark Salling, who appeared to be "pretty buddy-buddy," joked around while watching Lea Michele and Dianna Agron film scenes outside. In other words, the insider says, "the boys mostly hung out with boys and the girls stuck together."

Marcia Rodrigues accused of killing pool cleaner with ex-husband's gun after having sex

Marcia Rodrigues' lawyers say the pool cleaner raped her.

It started as a scene out of Penthouse Letters but ended like an episode of "Law & Order." 

A Florida woman is on trial for allegedly killing her pool cleaner after prosecutors said they had a torrid tryst.

Cops testified Wednesday that they found Ildo Aruajo bleeding to death in a closet at Marcia Rodrigues' Boca Raton home in 2007.

Prosecutors say the two had consensual sex before Rodrigues shot the 41-year-old pool cleaner with her ex-husband's gun.

Her lawyers say that Aruajo raped Rodrigues - who suffers a paranoid personality disorder - and that she snapped, thinking he had been sent by her husband to kill her.

"All of a sudden, all of that baggage, everything she had, came to a head at that point," her lawyer Travis Dunnington told the jury, reported the Orlando Sentinel. "She did what she believed was the only thing she could have done."

Prosecutors said there was no sign of a struggle, and that Rodrigues' bra had been delicately draped over a piece of furniture, suggesting the episode had been consensual.

Court records show that Rodrigues had been involved in a similar scenario once before. In 1993, she stabbed a man in the throat with a nail file after she said he tried to rape her. No charges were ever filed in that case.

Eight horses burned to death in Ohio

A barn fire took the lives of eight horses in McConnelsville, Ohio.

Eight horses - one just a week old and another ready to give birth - died in a raging barn fire in Ohio that lawmen think was set because of hatred for gays.

Brent Whitehouse of McConnelsville said an orange glow outside his home on Easter night drew him to the horror.

"I ran out there, but the doors of my barn wouldn't open and suddenly, flames were shooting up through the roof. That barn was gone in five minutes," he told the Zanesville Times Recorder.

The flames were so hot a tractor inside the barn melted.

Still visible on the remains of the gutted barn's walls Tuesday were spray-painted epithets such as "f-gs are freaks" and "burn in hell," the newspaper reported.

Because Whitehouse is gay and fire marshals determined the blaze was arson, the scrawlings were enough for authorities to launch an investigation into whether a hate crime had been committed.

The value of the horses was said to be in hundreds of thousands of dollars but Whitehouse, who owns an insurance company in the tiny village in southeastern Ohio, was hurt far more by the loss of Elvis, Barney, Love, Bella and Ethel, Floyd and Princess and her week-old foal, Buddy.

"The barn I can rebuild, but the bond I had with those horses can't be replaced," said Whitehouse

"Whoever did this had to walk right by all those horses, including the baby, and didn't care that they were killing a gentle, loving animal," he told the newspaper.

"I just don't understand someone wanting to kill innocent animals. It's like killing a child."

Of the messages on the barn, Whitehouse could only shake his head and say, "They were hateful,"

A reward of $5,000,sponsored by the Ohio FAIR Plan Underwriting Association, was put up Tuesday in hopes it will bring information leading to whoever set the barn ablaze.

Lady Gaga tied up with the Robin Hood Foundation for contest.

Lady Gaga performs during a stop of The Monster Ball Tour at the MGM Grand Garden Arena August 13, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lady Gaga wants New Yorkers to vote this way.

The pop diva is teaming up the Robin Hood Foundation for a contest that could net one of five New York City philanthropies a cool $1 million.  The public will be able to vote on which charity should get the big bucks .

All the charities involve the city's "disconnected youth" – young adults who've been victims of poverty, been in and out of foster care, or have had dealings with the criminal justice system, according to a press release from the Robin Hood Foundation.

"I'm thrilled to be working with the Robin Hood Foundation to distribute funds to help the youth of New York City, "said Lady Gaga.  "NYC is my hometown and I think investing in these kids' future will go a long way."

Here are the five charities that are vying for Gaga's dollars and the public's support.

SCO Family of Services, which works to strengthen family ties and connects New York City's homeless and LGBTQ youth to support services, including counseling, health care, life skills training, career guidance and counseling. 

Lawyers for Children, which advocates on behalf of New York City youth to ensure they have access to safe housing, educational opportunities and fair and equal treatment, providing free legal and social work services and offering specialized assistance for LGBTQ youth, as well as teens aging out of the foster care system. 

The Door, which provides New York City's disconnected youth with a safe space to learn and grow, offering a full range of medical, social, educational, recreational and legal services under one roof. 

Hetrick-Martin Institute, which prepares LGBTQ  youth for self-sufficiency by providing medical, education, career development, and HIV prevention services. 

Safe Horizon, which connects homeless and abused youth to support services, including housing, health care, and government entitlements. 

The winning charity will be announced on May 9 during Lady Gaga's performance at Robin Hood's annual benefit. It will also receive a $500,000 grant over a two-year period.

The subsequent charities would receive smaller grants.

"As poverty-fighters, we are thrilled with Lady Gaga's generosity to support New York City's disconnected youth "Right now, 4,000 New York City teens are living on the street. Some aged out of the foster care system, some ran away from abusive homes, and others were rejected by their families because of their sexual orientation,"  David Saltzman, Executive Director of Robin Hood wrote in a press release.

'Family Matters' actress Cherie Johnson reveals she wants to pose for Playboy

Cherie Johnson, who played Maxine on 'Family Matters,' reportedly wants to pose for Playboy.

One former child star is looking to go from appearing on family-friendly TV to appearing in the pages of a nudie magazine.

Cherie Johnson, best known for playing Maxine, the best friend to Kellie Shanygne Williams' Laura Winslow on the '90s sitcom "Family Matters," is reportedly hoping to make her nude pictoral debut in Playboy.

"I have been threatening my family that I was going to do Playboy since I was 18 years old," the actress, now 35, told TMZ.com.

"When my mom said, 'Okay' ... and my grandma said, 'Bring me an autographed copy,' I figured I'd make it a goal," explained Johnson, who got her start in Hollywood on the '80s sitcom, "Punky Brewster."

And Johnson seems to be already working hard on the follow-through – and giving fans a taste of what her pictorial might look like.

 TMZ posted a picture of Johnson topless and covering her breasts with her left arm. The shot was reportedly taken during a photo shoot last week on a beach in Southern California.

 

Johnson, however, tweeted that the "Pic is from 09" and was taken in Miami.

The ex-sitcom star is also working on a novel titled "Peaches & Cream."

Obama's birth certificate was released -Demanded by Donald Trump

Billionare Donald Trump is taking credit for the release of President Obama's birth certificate.

Birther bozo Donald Trump took credit Wednesday for forcing the White House to release President Obama's long-form birth certificate.

"I am really proud I was able to bring this to a point," he said as he landed in New Hampshire to explore a possible presidential run. "I feel I've accomplished something really, really important."

Trump surged to the top of the Republican field in polls after latching onto the widely discredited "birther" conspiracy theory that Obama was not born in the U.S.

Despite strong evidence to the contrary, the theory has festered in the political fringe.

 The White House has dismissed Trump as a "sideshow," but decided to release Obama's full birth certificate to try to put the matter to rest.

"We are not going to be able to solve our problems by focusing on sideshows and carnival barkers," Obama said. "We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We have better things to do."

 Trump had said he would release his tax records if Obama released his birth certificate, but the real estate mogul wouldn't say Wednesday if he would do that.

As his signature issue evaporated, Trump tried to pivot, and started hammering Obama over releasing his college transcripts.

President Obama's certificate of live birth.

 

Man busts into Christian radio station, tells host on air that he wants to rape her

Donald Destin, 30, was held without bail on charges of attempted sexual battery, battery and burglary of an occupied structure.
A deranged Florida man barged into a Christian radio station, told the host he wanted to rape her on air and began masturbating before being arrested, police said.

A listener who heard the threat during Monday's broadcast called 911 and the host calmly lured the man out of the building into police custody.

Donald Destin, 30, was held without bail on charges of attempted sexual battery, battery and burglary of an occupied structure.

As Destin was led away from a police station in Orlando, the Orlando Sun-Sentinel reported that he shouted, "I didn't want to rape her, but I was attracted to her."

The bizarre incident occurred during the 6 a.m. broadcast on La Voix Evangelique D'Orlando.

Destin has been in and out of prison for years on drug and burglary busts as well as flashing himself in public and stalking.

Brooklyn teen, shot dead near playground during visit home from reform school

Nathaniel Walcott had spent the past 18 months at Lincoln Hall, a juvenile delinquent facility in northern Westchester.

Cops found Walcott lying next to his pink bicycle.

The teenage son of a retired correction officer was shot to death outside a Brooklyn playground while on a home visit from an upstate reform school, authorities said Tuesday.

Nathaniel Walcott, 16, left his Brownsville home just before 11 p.m. Monday to get something to eat when he was shot once in the back by an unknown gunman, police said.

Cops found him lying next to his pink bicycle and rushed him to Brookdale Hospital where he died.

The teen had spent the past 18 months at Lincoln Hall, a juvenile delinquent facility in northern Westchester, after getting into "trouble" at school in Brooklyn.

"He came to visit every few weeks," said his father, Charles, 62, a tailor. "He was free to come home which means he was doing good."

The boy's mother, Delores, a retired correction officer, said her son wanted to become a doctor and had never been involved in violence.

"He didn't rob or hurt anybody in his life," she said. "He's never been in a real fight."

She said he had been dismissed from P.S. 327 because of fights he had with teachers.

"He was an outspoken person," she said. "He had trouble with staff more than he did with the children."

Walcott was ordered to Lincoln Hall by a judge to learn discipline, but was set to return to school in the city soon, she said.

"He was doing good there," she said. "I can't say he's perfect. These kids be into things you don't know about."

A message left with administrators at Lincoln Hall was not immediately returned.

Walcott's niece, Dee, described him as a good-natured kid.

"He had a great smile," she said. "He was sweet. We called him Candyman."

 

Mariah Carey, singer decorates baby bump with painted Easter egg

Mariah Carey had her baby bump painted to look like an egg in honor of the Easter holiday.

Mariah Carey had the most special Easter egg of all this holiday weekend: the one painted on her pregnant belly.

The singer, who is reportedly due to give birth to her twins in a few weeks, tweeted a photo of a pal painting a giant egg on her still-growing stomach.

"HAPPY EASTER! Ummm.. READY!!!!!!!!!!!!" Carey wrote in her tweet. "Done and done."

The 42-year-old, who is apparently eager for her little ones to come into the world, has shared pictures of her decorated bump before.

In late March, Carey showed off a painted pink-and-blue butterfly beneath the phrase "dem babies" as an "attempt @ festiveness" for her birthday.

 The music icon didn't opt for a butterfly this time, however. Instead, her belly featured clouds behind a blue-and-pink heart.

Carey and her husband, Nick Cannon, haven't been shy about showing a little skin in recent weeks. Both stars posed nude for personal photos, also seen in Life & Style and OK! magazines, as a way to remember this extraordinary time in their lives.

Animated family adventure "Rio" is No. 1 in box office

LOS ANGELES -- Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg's talking birds have edged out Tyler Perry's sass-talking grandma at the weekend box office.

Hathaway and Eisenberg's animated family adventure "Rio" took in $26.8 million to remain the No. 1 movie for the second-straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family" debuted a close second with $25.8 million, another solid opening for writer-director Perry, who also stars as boisterous, opinionated grandma Madea.

Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson's circus romance "Water for Elephants" premiered in third-place with $17.5 million.

"It's nice to have two movies in the top-three," said Bert Livingston, distribution executive for 20th Century Fox, which released both "Rio" and "Water for Elephants."

 

The weekend's other new wide release, Disney's nature documentary "African Cats," opened at No. 6 with $6.4 million.

Morgan Spurlock's product-placement documentary "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" opened with fair but unremarkable business in limited release.

The latest from the maker of the hit documentary "Super Size Me" took in $135,139 in 18 theaters, averaging $7,508 a cinema. That compares to an $11,254 average in 2,288 theaters for "Madea's Big Happy Family," which had by far the best cinema average among the top-10 movies.

Hollywood scored its second-straight weekend of rising revenues, good news for studios that have been in a box-office slide since last fall.

Receipts totaled $138 million, up 39 percent from the same weekend last year, when "How to Train Your Dragon" was No. 1 with $15.4 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The upward trend likely will continue next weekend with "Fast Five," the latest movie in "The Fast and the Furious" action franchise, expected to have a huge opening, said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

"I think we're going to have three up weekends in a row, and for us, that's a roll. We've been down for so long," Dergarabedian said. "It really points out how cyclical this business is."

A love-bird story centered on rare parrots, "Rio" raised its domestic total to $81.3 million. The movie has taken in $204.7 million more overseas, for a worldwide haul of $286 million.

"Rio" held on well to its audience, revenues dropping a scant 32 percent in the second weekend, while "Water for Elephants" came in a bit above industry expectations.

Adapted from the best-selling novel, "Water for Elephants" features Witherspoon as the star of a Depression-era circus, with Pattinson co-starring as a veterinarian who falls for her despite her jealous, tyrannical husband.

"It felt like old-time filmmaking for me and I think for the audience," Livingston said. "I think it's going to play for a long time. People are going to talk about it."

While Perry's latest "Madea" flick was unable to knock "Rio" off its perch, the filmmaker has been a prolific and consistent box-office earner, averaging two movies a year for distributor Lionsgate over the last four years.

"He has the most loyal fan base that I certainly have ever been associated with," said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. "They just continue to come out and flock to the cinemas and see his movies, whether it's a drama or comedy. He knows how to speak to his audience.

Watching Internet Porn at NYC Libraries is Protected

NEW YORK -- New Yorkers can watch internet porn at the city's public libraries thanks to a policy of free speech protected by the First Amendment, the New York Post reported Monday.

"Customers can watch whatever they want on the computer," said Brooklyn Public Library spokeswoman Malika Granville, describing the anything-goes philosophy that is the rule at the city's 200-plus branches.

The ruling has religious leaders and library patrons fuming.

"What they're doing is publicly funding an appetite for the most debased fare available," said Catholic League President Bill Donohue. "It's not like a Playboy centerfold anymore -- it's far worse."

Library patron Daisy Nazario, 60, said she was disgusted when she discovered she was sitting next to an elderly porn watcher in the Brooklyn Central Library recently.

The man was using library-provided extensions on the sides of his computer to block the view of his screen -- which was featuring a threesome at the time -- "but I could still hear the voices," Nazario said. "It is very disrespectful to the children."

Under US law, all libraries that take federal funding only must install filters on publicly used computers to block content containing illegal obscenity and child pornography, and New York City officials say they comply to the letter.

If localities want to further restrict viewing, they must specifically enact a policy, although the move almost certainly brings with it legal challenges.

Library officials and civil libertarians say it is a free speech issue.

"In deference to the First Amendment protecting freedom of speech, the New York Public Library cannot prevent adult patrons from accessing adult content that is legal," said New York Public Library spokeswoman Angela Montefinise. 

Maximize Her Pleasure Above the Waist - A study report

Any woman knows that most men love breasts. From your stash of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues to the way you ogle our chests in low-cut tops (um, our eyes are up here, guys!), it’s obvious that you like to look. 

So, tell me: If you love breasts so much, why do you so often neglect or manhandle them during sex? The truth is, that while our breasts may be a pleasure to behold, they’re even more of a pleasure to a woman when held (and caressed) correctly.

In one study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, nipple/breast stimulation caused or enhanced sexual arousal in 82 percent of women, yet 25 percent asked their partner to stop stimulating their nipples/breasts during lovemaking. That’s a sign that many guys need some help in translating their appreciation into action.

Here’s a quick course in Breasts 101.

• Breast sensitivity can vary quite a bit from woman to woman, with smaller breasts generally being more sensitive than larger ones. Also, breast surgery (including implants) can impair sensitivity, depending on whether the surgery preserves the nerve responsible for the nipple/areola area.

• Speaking of nipples, contrary to popular belief, they are not the most sensitive part of the female breast. The tops, bottoms and sides respond the most to stimulation. So think of yourself as the equivalent of a living comfy bra, one that can massage and support (and even lick) those areas, too.

• A woman’s breast sensitivity also varies with her menstrual cycle; many women even find their breasts too sensitive to touch in the days just before their period.

OK, enough fun facts -- on to the advanced stuff.

Want to know why breast stimulation is so pleasurable for most women? It’s all about oxytocin. This feel-good substance, also known as the “cuddle hormone,” is released when the breasts and nipples are stimulated -- even during breastfeeding. Oxytocin is also responsible for the nipple becoming erect during excitement and stimulation, caused by contraction of smooth muscle underneath the skin of the areola, which pulls on the overlying skin creating a goose bump-like effect.

So next time you’re enjoying her breasts, think about what you can do to increase her enjoyment, too. Start off slow, with gentle pressure. Most women find this approach to be the most intense. Then, as her excitement builds, increase the simulation with more intense pressure, sucking, pinching, nibbling, etc. The hotter she gets, the more she can handle. Breasts can increase in size about 25 to 30 percent when a woman becomes sexually aroused and can tolerate stronger stimulation. If you’re unsure what to do, encourage her to show you and touch her own breasts --that can be a turn-on for both of you.

As the breasts continue to receive stimulation, oxytocin continues to be released into the bloodstream. The hormone’s most intense effects occur within the first 5 minutes after release, but can continue to increase uterine contractions for up to an hour. And the more you stimulate her breasts, the more oxytocin her body releases. The result? Her orgasms will be stronger and feel like they’re affecting her whole body.

As discussed in the Good in Bed Guide to Female Orgasms, about 1 percent of women can experience an orgasm just from having their breasts and nipples stimulated! So next time you want to appreciate her breasts, try to boost her into that 1 percent with these tricks -- and reward both of you with her pleasure.

International couples hire U.S. women as surrogates

14-week-old twins a pregnant Laurie Thompson is carrying don’t belong to her. Conceived with donor eggs, they are the children of a same-sex couple from Spain who turned to Thompson because paid surrogacy is illegal in their country, the Detroit Free Press reports.

"There's such pride in knowing that I did this for somebody," Thompson says of her experience as a surrogate, which also has included a pregnancy for a married couple from Serbia.

In the past five years, would-be parents from as far as Istanbul and Uruguay have turned to healthy, young American mothers to serve as surrogates, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The babies are born U.S. citizens, but surrogacy agency officials say that's not a primary motivation for the parents, who typically come from European and Latin American countries where surrogacy is illegal or socially unacceptable. The parents have exhausted other options and are willing to pay about $50,000 to $100,000 -- part of which goes to the surrogate -- to have biological children.

No one tracks how many of the estimated 1,400 babies via surrogacy in the U.S. each year are for international parents, but one of the larger U.S. agencies, the Center for Surrogate Parenting in Encino, Calif., estimates that about half of its 104 births in 2010 were for international parents, the paper reports.

In Illinois, which has one of the most surrogacy-friendly laws in the nation, at least two dozen international babies were born to surrogates in 2010. The other states that explicitly allow contracts for paid surrogacy are Arkansas, California and Massachusetts.

Home aide accused of swiping $800G from 85 year old widow to bankroll shopping spree

Renee Fuld said her savings were stolen right under her nose by a woman she trusted for seven years.

A heartless home aide is accused of preying on an elderly widow - turning her Queens apartment into a flophouse and plundering $800,000 to bankroll shopping sprees.

The 85-year-old victim, who is practically bedridden, said her savings were stolen right under her nose by a woman she trusted for seven years.

"She robbed me," Renee Fuld told the Daily News yesterday. "The only thing I could figure out is I gave her money to buy things and she kept it. I'm just sorry I didn't see her taking money. She would lie to me with a straight face."

Fuld said the aide, Jackie Pokuwaah, turned the Forest Hills apartment into a virtual boarding house, moving in at least seven friends and relatives - rent-free.

"I don't know how they all fit in here," the octogenarian said.

Pokuwaah, 52, is now locked up on charges of grand larceny and stolen property for the check-writing scheme, which went on for almost three years.

The fleecing ended when Pokuwaah's twice-weekly visits to a TD Bank - often carrying $800 checks with "laundry" written on the memo line - raised red flags with employees, officials said.

"Thank God for the bank," said Fuld, who is in the care of a new aide. "If they hadn't noticed the activity, she would still be roaming around here."

After Pokuwaah's arrest earlier this month, Fuld found $4,000 in bills for jewelry and clothing from Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus hidden in the apartment.

Fuld, who has no kids, has limited use of her hands and trouble hearing. When she is able to get out of bed, she needs a wheelchair to get around her cluttered apartment.

A psychiatric exam found the victim is cognitively impaired and "presents the opportunity for exploitation," according to court papers. The criminal complaint says she "did not understand why her bank account balance was decreasing and did not give the defendant permission and authority to take approximately $791,054."

Fuld, whose husband died about five years ago, told The News she relied on Pokuwaah to handle her banking.

She would write out checks with notations for food or laundry on the memo line, and Pokuwaah would tell her how much money was needed, the complaint charges.

The aide often told her she lost a check and needed a replacement to pay bills, Fuld said.

Pokuwaah - who appeared to have a spotty credit history - took home weekly salary checks of $1,561 - or $81,000 annually, according to the complaint.

"I can't believe she did this to me," Fuld said. "Why would she steal from me? I didn't pay her a pittance."

The aide was held at Rikers Island in lieu of a $25,000 bond and is expected back in court Tuesday. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Her lawyer, Henry Forman, refused to discuss the case.

Fuld said she doesn't know how much money she has left or whether she will get any of it back. Mostly, she feels betrayed.

"I'm just sorry I didn't see her taken away," she said.

Heather Morris of 'Glee' gets down and dirty in dance video but slams grinding

Heather Morris said 'tricks' like pop-and-locking, ticking and the moonwalk are some of her faves.

Heather Morris continues to prove she has all the right moves.

The dancer-turned-actress, best known for her role as Brittany S. Pierce on "Glee," loosens up and rocks out in new Esquire.com video.

The site, seeking to prove that some of the songs on their "50 Songs Every Man Should Listen To" list (including The Strokes' "Under Cover of Darkness" and Deadmau5's "Sofi Needs a Ladder") are indeed dance-worthy, employed Morris to get down in a partially see-through black leotard.

And while some of the 24-year-old's moves seem like they would work better in a strip club than a nightclub, there's no denying Morris knows how to work her body.

Morris also offered the men's mag some tips, such as how to do the cross-turn.

"Like in the 80s — Michael Jackson did it," she said. "You jump and cross your legs together at the same time, and then spin out of it. That's it."

And while she doesn't recommend anyone break out into the running man, there's nothing wrong with shuffling with your head bowed.

But, guys, keep this in mind should you ever run into Morris on the dance floor: it's better to be seen "being a dork, and having fun, than trying to be sexy."

And that means no grinding.

"It's offensive," she said. "Why would you do that to me?"

Vicious Park Slope attack caught on tape as man grabs woman

This screengrab from a brownstone security video shows a man grabbing and overpowering a woman in Park Slope, before her screams alerted neighbors.

A late-night attack on a woman that was captured on surveillance video has a quiet Brooklyn block frozen in fear.

The chilling video taken from a brownstone stoop on 16th St. in Park Slope shows a man grabbing a woman on a sidewalk.

"Get away!" the woman hollered, as the man tried to lock her in a hold from behind. "Please, someone help me!"

For about 45 seconds she struggled in vain to escape the man's grasp - but he overpowered her. Her screams drew the attention of neighbors who came out to see what was going on and scared him off.

The attacker released the woman, who ran for safety. The brute ran off in a different direction, as his pants nearly fell to the ground.

Now residents are looking over their shoulders, since the suspect in the March 20 assault is still on the loose.

"It's horrible," said Susan Gosnell, 26, a manager who witnessed the attack from her apartment across the street. "This guy could be out there attacking other women."

The owner of the brownstone with the security camera got a good look at the suspect.

"His eyes were blank - he showed no emotion at all," said the 53-year-old retired financial worker who wouldn't give his name.

Police arrived about 11:35 p.m. - just minutes after the crime. A police source said the 24-year-old woman lives nearby. She was knocked to the ground at some point during the assault, according to the source.

Witnesses described the attacker as a short, Hispanic man with a stocky build. It's not clear if he knew the victim. Police are still trying to figure out the motive.

Neighbors said they were glad they were able to scare off the attacker, but worry that he's still in the neighborhood. "There's nothing heroic about what we did - we were just being good neighbors," said Donald Harrington, 44, a construction worker who responded to the woman's cries for help by hurrying down the street in his pajamas.

"I just hope this guy doesn't come back to do it again - it makes you think twice before walking down the block at night," Harrington said.

President Obama and Mark Zuckerberg up at Facebook headquarters in Silicon Valley

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) talks with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during a town hall style meeting at Facebook headquarters on Wednesday.

You know the President has some pull with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg if he can get the normally hoodied CEO to wear a tie.

And that's just one signal that Obama and Facebook have gotten very friendly.

The duo appeared at a town hall event at the social media site's headquarters in California's Silicon Valley on Wednesday. The President tackled a number of subjects, including health care, immigration and the economy.

Obama answered pre-screened questions at the campaign-style event in front of a mostly young audience, the same group that helped carry him to victory in 2008. The president has been trying to jumpstart enthusiasm among younger voters as he kicks off his re-election effort.

The president promoted his deficit-reduction plan of spending cuts paired with tax increases for the richest Americans. He told the 26-year-old billionaire that they would both have to pay more taxes.

Demi Lovato found out she has bipolar disorder while seeking treatment for cutting, eating disorders

Demi Lovato is speaking out about her personal troubles in hopes of helping other teens.

Demi Lovato, who has admitted to cutting, overeating and starving herself as far back as elementary school, didn't know the name for some of her problems until suffering a breakdown last fall.

"I never found out until I went into treatment that I was bipolar," she told People magazine.

"Looking back it makes sense," the 18-year-old said. "There were times when I was so manic, I was writing seven songs in one night and I'd be up until 5:30 in the morning."

Bipolar disorder is characterized by alternating periods of extreme highs and extreme lows.

 Lovato knew she was "depressed from a very young age," but it took an intervention to get her to seek medical help.

And after three months in an Illinois rehab center, Lovato said she feels "like I am in control now where my whole life I wasn't in control."

Knowing first-hand how therapy can radically change a person's life, it's no surprise that the singer-actress has vocalized her support for Catherine Zeta-Jones, who also recently sought treatment for bipolar disorder.

"I don't know Catherine Zeta-Jones personally but what she has decided to do it SO brave [sic]. And SO difficult but worth it," she tweeted last week. "I'm proud of her."

Pope Benedict lauds man's technological advances, but laments evil uses in Palm Sunday outdoor Mass

Pope Benedict blesses the faithful as he arrives to celebrate Palm Sunday outdoor Mass.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI, leading a huge crowd at Palm Sunday outdoor Mass, lauded man's technological accomplishments but lamented that his increasing abilities can also be used for evil.

Waving palm fronds and olive branches - symbols of peace - pilgrims, tourists and Romans packed St. Peter's Square on a sunny, breezy day for the start of Holy Week ceremonies. When the ceremony began, the square was nearly full, but by its end, a crowd numbering in the tens of thousands spilled over into the broad boulevard which leads to the Tiber.

Palm Sunday's liturgy recalls Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and Benedict's homily reflected on how the triumphs of men and women are also tempered by selfishness and evil.

"From the beginning, men and women have been filled - and this is as true today as ever - with a desire to be like God, to attain the heights of God by their own powers," the pope said. "All the inventions of the human spirit are ultimately an effort to gain wings," he added.

"Mankind has managed to accomplish so many things: we can fly! We can see, hear and speak to one another from the farthest ends of the earth," the pope told the faithful.

"And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful," dragging people "toward selfishness, falsehood and evil," the pope said.

He also referred to recent natural disasters that man has been unable to control, noting that "our limitations have also remained."

Faithful gather in St. Peter's Square. (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

Near the ceremony's beginning, Benedict, wearing crimson-and-gold colored robes, silently observed a long and solemn procession of prelates and rank-and-file faithful as a choir's voices rang out across the square, and he blessed the palms and olive branches. Clerics sang a nearly hourlong recounting from the Gospels of the events which led to Jesus' suffering and crucifixion.

Benedict turned 84 on Saturday. As the ceremony ended, a man in the crowd shouted: "Long live the pope" and some faithful broke into a the Italian version of "Happy Birthday To You."

The pope's stamina appeared to hold up well during the nearly three-hour appearance, the first of a series of public ceremonies as Holy Week continues.

The services include a feet-washing ceremony on Holy Thursday and the traditional nighttime Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum on Good Friday. Tens of thousands of faithful are also expected for Easter Sunday Mass.

Even bigger crowds are expected May 1, when Benedict will beatify his predecessor Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square.

Students challenged to 24 hours cold-turkey admit, 'We're addicted to media': study

A recent study by the International Center for Media & the Public Affairs revealed that media users around the world see their habits as an addiction.

The World Unplugged study asked nearly 1,000 students in 10 countries to forego all electronic media - from texting to email, Facebook and TV - for a full 24 hours.

According to the study, dependence on technology is so great that a majority of students failed to complete the challenge.

And for the second year in a row, U.S. subjects responded to the study using “literally the same terms associated with drug and alcohol addictions to describe their reactions to going without media for 24 hours,” according to the study’s website.

“I made it until about 8 p.m., when ‘Monday Night Football’ came on TV, and I just couldn’t resist ... I felt like a drug addict, tweaking for a taste of information,” wrote one student surveyed.

The World Unplugged expands upon a study conducted in 2010 by researchers at the University of Maryland-College Park, which asked 200 students to go without media for a day. This new study, conducted by the ICMPA in partnership with the Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change, found that all students in the 10 countries had almost identical reactions to the challenge.

Around the world, students expressed feelings of addiction, boredom, confusion, distress, and isolation in response to the study.

One student of Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, wrote, “It was not an easy experience because I felt I was in a kind of another world - left out.”

Online pranksters poke fun at UK's The Independent over Kate Middleton jelly bean article

After the Independent posted a piece on a Kate Middleton jelly bean look-a-like, jokesters took to their URLs to mock the paper.

Readers are always offering colorful opinions in the comment sections of newspapers — but who knew they could leave them in the URLs of stories?

That’s what the British newspaper The Independent found out after a story about a jelly bean resembling Kate Middleton hitting eBay was posted. 

Apparently, some readers weren’t pleased with the paper’s coverage of the royal nuptials.

One jokester gave the paper a jab in a URL that was edited to read: “utter PR fiction but people love this s— so f— it lets just print it.”

According to a post from Independent online editor Martin King, the Independent’s site automatically “resolves updated or incorrect URLs to the matching story ID.”

More serious commenter took to the URLs with political and social messages. 

“It was designed as a feature and not a bug - and we are not alone in this problem,” King said. 

The Washington Post also appears to have a problem that allows users to mess with their URLs.

But don’t expect to be able to play around with the Independent’s stories forever.

King said there are changes coming to the Independent’s site to prevent such tomfoolery.

“ We are  acting urgently to find a way to avoid such abuse and hope that will be in place shortly,” he said.

Grandsons may be affected by old pregnancy drug DES, taken 40 years ago to prevent complications

Researchers report that the grandsons of women who took a pregnancy drug called DES are more likely than other men to have genital deformations.

Four decades after doctors realized that a drug called DES - used to prevent pregnancy complications - had devastating consequences for babies, a new study finds those effects may be reverberating into the third generation.

French researchers report that the grandsons of women who took diethylstilbestrol (DES) are more likely than other men to have deformations in the opening of the penis.

Doctors prescribed DES to pregnant women in the mid-20th century until research, published 40 years ago this week, revealed a tragic side effect: girls exposed in the womb have a vastly higher chance of developing a cancer in the vagina.

Later studies found that girls whose mothers took DES while pregnant were also more likely to have birth defects and fertility problems.

One of the birth defects suspected in boys is hypospadias, in which the urethra (the tube that carries urine) ends somewhere along the penis or close to the scrotum, rather than at the tip of the penis.

About 4 out of every 1,000 boys are born with hypospadias. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said it's unclear whether DES increased the risk of hypospadias, but some studies have shown a link.

Previous studies have also suggested that the effects of DES might transmit down to the third generation - to the grandchildren of women who took the drug.

In this study, Dr. Nicolas Kalfa at Universite Montpellie and colleagues looked at the number of hypospadias cases among the sons and grandsons of a group of women who took DES.

The women reported using DES during 1,000 pregnancies, and did not take the drug during 180 pregnancies.

About 3 out of every 100 boys exposed to DES while their mother was pregnant had the defect. There were no cases of hypospadias when mothers did not take DES.

Among grandsons, the only ones to have the malformation were the sons of daughters who were exposed to the drug prenatally. Eight out of every 100 grandsons in this group had hypospadias.

"If (defects) are being transmitted to the third generation - and it's not 100 percent certain that they are - we don't know how that's happening," said Dr. Linda Titus-Ernstoff, a professor at Dartmouth Medical School, who was not involved in this study.

One possibility is that a woman who was exposed to DES in the womb suffered damage, as a fetus, to her developing reproductive system. In this case, her eggs were damaged, causing a defect in her future son.

Another possibility is that the DES could have altered the control of the mother's genes, something that could be passed down not just to her son, but to subsequent generations.

There's also the chance that "it could be nothing," Titus-Ernstoff told Reuters Health.