Plenty of opinions on fixing the nation’s broken immigration system

Most agree that the nation’s immigration system is broken, but there’s no agreement on fixing it.This week, the debate over immigration reform emerged once again. President Barack Obama outlined his plan on a visit to Nevada on Tuesday. On Monday, a bipartisan group of eight senators, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, outlined their plan. Both similar, but one key difference...

Read More..

Meet the Man Who Designed BlackBerry’s New Phones

When BlackBerry set out to design the phones that would take the company into the next decade, it faced a big challenge. The flagship device of the new BlackBerry 10 platform needed to simultaneously satisfy what today’s customers want in a smartphone while at the same time stay true to the essence of BlackBerry — which, if the company’s market over the last few years is any indication, customers...

Read More..

Buzzmakers: SAG Winners Pics and Nicole Kidman Explains Jimmy Kimmel Lap Dance

What had ET readers buzzing this week?1. PICS: SAG Winners with their Statues! Some of Hollywood's biggest stars gathered Sunday night to honor acting achievements at the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Awards. Anne Hathaway -- winner of the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for Les Misérables -- kicks off our gallery of the stars accepting their handsome statuettes!Click...

Read More..

Deadly deserts

Ralph Peters Violence in Allah’s name in northern Africa won’t end in my lifetime — and probably not in yours. The core question is: To what extent can the savagery be contained?From the Atlantic coastline to the Suez Canal, struggling governments, impoverished populations and frankly backward societies struggle to find paths to modernization...

Read More..

Hollywood cardiologist’s ties with St. Jude sales rep raises red flags

Mark Sabbota, a Hollywood cardiologist, regularly implants $5,000 pacemakers in patients at Memorial hospitals in South Broward — generating, last year alone, more than a half-million dollars in sales for a manufacturer called St. Jude Medical. Sabbota, public records show, also happens to be partners with a St. Jude sales rep in two corporations that run frozen yogurt shops....

Read More..

At University of Miami, Justice Sonia Sotomayor gets real

From her days as a young girl in the Bronx being raised by her mother after the death of her father to becoming the first Hispanic on the highest judicial body in the country, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the story of her journey before a captivated audience at the University of Miami on Friday night.Sotomayor spoke with University of Miami President Donna...

Read More..

BlackBerry 10 installed base to reach 20 million in 2013, Windows Phone to reach 45 million

Despite showing clear promise and being a tremendous upgrade compared to earlier BlackBerry software, BlackBerry 10 didn’t receive the warmest welcome when it was unveiled earlier this week. At least one leading market research firm thinks BlackBerry (RIMM) has done enough to gain some good traction in 2013, however. ABI Research released new estimates this week projecting that the BlackBerry 10 installed...

Read More..

Brandi Glanville Talks Plastic Surgery and Says She's Done Talking About Eddie Cibrian and LeAnn Rimes

Brandi Glanville's new tell-all, Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders, is chock-full of juicy stories about her ex husband Eddie Cibrian, but The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star says that after promotion wraps on the book, she will no longer speak out about the actor and his wife LeAnn Rimes.Pics: LeAnn Rimes Defends Self with Teeny Weeny Bikini Photos "As soon the book tour is over,...

Read More..

Con Ed worker injured by explosion on UWS

A Con Ed worker was injured when a small electrical explosion burned his face and arms as he worked inside a tony Upper West Side apartment building, authorities said.The explosion sent the unidentified Con Ed worker and one other injured person to New York Presbyterian Hospital/Cornell Medical Center in stable condition at about 12:50 p.m., the FDNY said....

Read More..

Healthcare experts see bumpy road ahead: “Shift happens”

The healthcare industry in South Florida, like the rest of the country, faces huge challenges in the year ahead as major federal reforms kick in, experts told about 700 people at a University of Miami conference on Friday.“We are at a critical time in health policy,” said Mark McClellan, former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “There are going to be...

Read More..

Long before FBI raid, Sen. Menendez tried to help donor’s Dominican Republic business

Sen. Bob Menendez used his influence to advocate for a Dominican Republic business deal that helped a longtime friend and donor whose South Florida office was raided by federal agents this week.Menendez questioned Obama administration officials at a July hearing about what it was doing to help U.S. businesses that he felt were being unfairly treated by the government of the...

Read More..

Sony ignites talk of PS4 unveil with Playstation meeting

TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Corp will this month host its first major Playstation meeting in two years, sparking a flare-up in online speculation the Japanese consumer electronics giant is preparing to unveil the successor to its 70 million-selling PS3 games console.Sony declined to say whether it would release a new product at the meeting in New York on February 20. “We will be talking about the Playstation...

Read More..

Deion Sanders Talks Possible Destiny's Child Super Bowl Show

While die hard fans debate whether or not Destiny's Child will actually perform together at the Super Bowl, according to NFL Network's Deion Sanders, there's only one logical outcome.PICS: Inside Beyonce's Super Bowl Rehearsals! "You gotta think about her heart and her character," said the NFL hall of famer, who assumes that fans can expect some sort of reunion between the girls. "She would want to...

Read More..

Getting snippy at DHS vid

WASHINGTON — Don’t bring scissors to a gunfight!Americans from coast to coast were up in arms yesterday after the Department of Homeland Security recommended brandishing scissors to fend off crazed gunmen.Homeland Security dished out that infuriating advice in an instructional video posted on its Web site just a month after the school massacre in Newtown,...

Read More..

Mompreneur jumps into the ‘Shark Tank’

It all started with a 4 a.m. email nearly a year ago: “Do you think a baby bib could change the world? I do...”Then Susie Taylor included a link to her website, bibbitec.com, and off it went to Shark Tank, the popular ABC television show where entrepreneurs pitch their companies to investors on the show — and by extension, 7 million viewers.Four months later, as the “mompreneur”...

Read More..

Limo rides for kids with cancer

Sometimes, we really do entertain angels unaware. Michael Fischer is one. Several years ago he came up with a way to bring a little hope to cancer-stricken children by providing limo rides for those whose parents didn't have a car, when it was time for then to take their cancer treatments. The idea is called Drops of Hope.Fischer, who not only is the founder of the organization,...

Read More..

Timeline: From RIM to BlackBerry, a company in transition

(Reuters) – Research In Motion Ltd has launched its new line of re-engineered BlackBerry smartphones, taking the wraps off the long-delayed devices at a series of events around the world on Wednesday.The company used the occasion to announce that it was changing its name to BlackBerry, hoping a new brand identity will polish its tarnished image and help give it a fresh start.The company, which has...

Read More..

Josh Groban Talks Dating Katy Perry, Being Madly in Love with January Jones

Josh Groban isn't one to open up much about his personal life, but in a rare moment, the singer breaks his silence on high-profile exes Katy Perry and January Jones."We were madly in love," Groban tells Details magazine of Jones, whom he began dating in 2003 for a period of two-and-a-half years. "It was definitely my longest relationship."Unfortunately, the twosome couldn't make it work, but Groban...

Read More..

Berry nice but...

You’ll have to wait just a little longer for this comeback-Berry.BlackBerry’s last hope to maintain mobile relevance won’t hit US stores until March — still weeks away for a device that has faced many delays.Not exactly the best way to ignite marketing momentum, it would seem.Executives of the smartphone maker brought their roadshow to New York City yesterday,...

Read More..

Report: Miami among top cities to snag foreclosed homes

Six Florida cities rank among the best places to buy foreclosures in 2013, according to a report by RealtyTrac. Topping a list of 20 metropolitan areas is Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, the Irvine, Calif.-based real estate data firm said. RealtyTrac looked at four criteria in tallying the “best places:” the supply of foreclosure inventory; foreclosure sales as a percentage...

Read More..

Critical, long-overdue BlackBerry makeover arrives

TORONTO (AP) — BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. will kick off a critical, long-overdue makeover when chief executive Thorsten Heins shows off the first phone with the new BlackBerry 10 system in New York on Wednesday.Repeated delays have left the once-pioneering BlackBerry an afterthought in the shadow of Apple’s trend-setting iPhone and Google’s Android-driven devices. There has even been...

Read More..

Entourage Movie Gets The Green Light From Warner Brothers

The boys are coming back!Warner Brothers has officially given the go-ahead to the feature film sequel of HBO's hit-series Entourage, Deadline reports.Pics: TV's 10 Most Divisive Love TrianglesAccording to the site, the show's creator, Doug Ellin, has already written the screenplay and will direct the movie. The studio is reportedly in the process of making deals with principal cast members Adrian...

Read More..

House of shards: Street bonus woes slam NY housing market

Wall Street’s bonus blues are holding back Big Apple home prices. While the housing market is on the mend and every other major metro area is on the upswing, New York stands out as the sole city to see an annual price decline, according to Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller index released yesterday.Home prices in the New York area were down 1.2 percent...

Read More..

Tablets take their screen tests

Screen quality is critical to a great tablet, and in 2012 we saw the quality of tablet screens advance in leaps and bounds, especially in terms of clarity. Here are our favorites. Barnes & Noble Nook HD Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good) The good: A light, comfortable design with a sharp screen and a well-implemented user profiles feature. Books,...

Read More..

Lauderhill police investigating homicide; searching for suspect

Lauderhill police Monday night were investigating an apparent homicide.Details were sketchy, but police said just before 9 p.m. a woman was shot and killed on the 2800 block of Northwest 55th Avenue.The victim was dead at the scene. K-9 units were in the area searching for a possible suspect and a public information officer is now at the scene. This story...

Read More..

Scott Brown’s Twitter Rant Will Not Stop Haunting Him

Scott Brown got a little carried away responding to critics on Twitter over the weekend, which shouldn’t be a big deal, but apparently it is when you’re expected to run for a vacant Senate seat and now everyone is taking his “whatevers” so very, very seriously. RELATED: Paging Senator Warren: The Case for Her CampaignAfter watching his daughter perform on Friday evening, now former Senator Brown...

Read More..

The Bachelor Recap: Sean Lowe Eliminates Leslie H and Amanda

The competition for Bachelor Sean Lowe's heart is heating up! Thirteen girls are left to vie for Sean's affections this week, and it's no surprise announcements of the coveted one-on-ones are making everyone a bit antsy. To the dismay of the other women (especially Leslie H., who breaks out in tears from frustration), Selma is chosen for the first whirlwind date.Despite Selma's distaste for athletics...

Read More..

Ex-NYCiSchool principal in Regents test cheat

The former principal of the high-performing NYCiSchool improperly allowed one of her teachers to re-grade and raise scores on high school Regents exams, school investigators found.She was among nearly 100 educators — including 17 principals, 61 teachers, seven assistant principals and nine other staffers — who have been implicated in cheating probes by...

Read More..

Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge opens for entries

Entrepreneurs, please don’t let the name of our contest scare you.As we launch our 15th annual Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge today, we are putting out our annual call for entries. But we aren’t looking for long, laboriously detailed business plans. Quite the contrary.More and more, today’s investors in very early stage companies want to see a succinct presentation...

Read More..