Wasted News

Hillary Clinton Hospitalized for Blood Clot

Hillary Clinton was hospitalized in New York on Sunday after doctors discovered a blood clot.

Pics: From the White House to the Altar: Chelsea Clinton Through the Years

The 65-year-old Secretary of State's spokesman said the clot was found during a follow-up exam related to the concussion she sustained earlier this month when she fainted due to dehydration; Clinton was suffering from a stomach virus and has been sidelined from work for the last three weeks.

Clinton is expected to remain at New York Presbyterian Hospital for the next two days so physicians can treat her with anti-coagulants and keep an eye on her.

Video: Grammys Flashback '97 -- Hillary Clinton!

Philippe Reines, deputy assistant secretary of state, said in a statement, "In the course of a follow-up exam today, Secretary Clinton's doctors discovered a blood clot had formed, stemming from the concussion she sustained several weeks ago. She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours. Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion. They will determine if any further action is required."

Hold Brawley & Co. responsible

Label: Health

The Issue: Tawana Brawley, who accused innocent men of rape 25 years ago and is now resisting fines.

***

Tawana Brawley should pay what she owes to Steven Pagones (“Brawley’s Defiant Life in Hiding,” Dec. 23).

After all, it was Brawley, with the feverish support of the Rev. Al Sharpton, Alton Maddox and C. Vernon Mason, who trashed the reputations of Pagones and Officer Crist, while telling a lie that could have sent these two honest men to prison for a long time.

It matters that Brawley pay the fine and ’fess up to what she did.

Diane McVey

Scotch Plains, NJ

One of the sad results of the Brawley fiasco was that it catapulted Sharpton’s career.

He, Mason and Maddox had to pay damages for the fraud they perpetrated, when they should have been given prison wear.

They deserved no less for the racial divide they caused.

I hope Pagones is successful in his quest to have Brawley pay for her sinister accusations against innocent men.

She did untold damage to their lives. She, too, should have been punished by jail time.

Sharpton built his career through demagoguery.

It’s hard to imagine that the idiots at MSNBC saw fit to give this buffoon face time on their station.

It shows signs of their extreme desperation.

Sarah McKenzie

Freehold, NJ

Resources for South Florida small businesses

Label: Business

• Florida Small Business Development Centers. Counseling and training at centers in South Florida and around the state, www.floridasbdc.org.

• SCORE Workshops, online training and free coaching at local branches, www.score.org, miamidade.score.org, browardscore.org, southbroward.score.org

• Florida Women’s Business Center. Provides training, mentoring and resources to women entrepreneurs, http://www.flwbc.org.

• The Commonwealth Institute. Helps women entrepreneurs, CEOs and corporate executives build businesses through peer mentoring programs and annually honors top women-led businesses in Florida, www.commonwealthinstitute.org.

The Hispanic Business Initiative Fund of Florida. Nonprofit, with a Miami office, provides free bilingual seminars, workshops and technical assistance to Hispanic entrepreneurs launching or expanding businesses in Florida. www.HBIFflorida.org.

• Barry University, Barry Institute for Community and Economic Development. Counseling, workshops and training for Miami-Dade small businesses through the Entrepreneurial Institute, www.barry.edu/biced.

• Broward College. Offers a 24-credit entrepreneurship certificate, www.broward.edu. For noncredit business courses, including training through its Entrepreneurial Institute, http://www.broward.edu/ce.

• Florida International University, Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center. Workshops, webinars and more, entrepreneurship.fiu.edu.

• Miami Dade College. Offers a 12-credit entrepreneurship certificate program, www.mdc.edu/business. For noncredit classes, www.mdc.edu/ce. The Meek Entrepreneurial Education Center offers many programs, www.mdc.edu/north/eec.

• University of Miami, The Launch Pad. Workshops, networking, resources and coaching, www.thelaunchpad.org.

• Southern Florida Minority Supplier Development Council. Connects large businesses with minority businesses across South Florida, www.sfmsdc.org.

• Startup Florida. Programs and training, plus register your company in this Startup America initiative, www.startupfl.org.

• Partners for Self-Employment. Offers training, technical assistance and loans in Miami-Dade and Broward. www.partnersforselfemployment.com

• Miami Bayside Foundation. Provides loans of $10,000 to $50,000 to minority-owned businesses in the city of Miami. www.miamibaysidefoundation.org..

• MetroBroward. Nonprofit offers financing, incubation and training for businesses in low- to moderate-income areas of Broward, www.metrobroward.org.

• ACCION USA. Provides microloans up to $50,000 and financial education, with South Florida offices and programs, www.accionusa.org.

ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions. Nonprofit offers one-on-one, over the phone or Internet credit counseling to entrepreneurs and consumers with poor credit. 305-463-6739, ext 1019 or www.clearpointccs.org .

• Incubate Miami. Start-up businesses in technology can get mentorship, office space and now early-stage funding, www.incubatemiami.com.

• The Technology Business Incubator at the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University. Offers mentors, investor connections and business services, http://www.research-park.org

• South Florida Urban Ministries’ ASSETS Business Development. Nonprofit offers small business development program including one-on-one business coaching and consulting in areas of start-up, marketing, finance and more, www.sflum.org.

• United Way Center for Financial Stability. Center offers a wide array of tools and resources to help families and individuals achieve financial independence. www.unitedwaymiami.org/WhatWeDo/CFS.

• The Startup Forum. Organization’s mission is to foster the development of vibrant regional startup communities, www.startupforum.net.

• StartupDigest. Begun in Silicon Valley as a place to find events for entrepreneurs, this has spread to other cities, including Miami, www.startupdigest.com

If your organization should be on this list, email ndahlberg@miamiherald.com

How Florida limits care for disabled kids

Label: World

In a drab, cramped conference room in Doral, a 45-year-old single mother is fighting with the state to secure in-home nursing care for her severely disabled daughter — while the 10-year-old fights for her life.

The mother sits across a wooden table from a state hearing officer who will decide whether health regulators were right to insist she get 18 hours each weekday of nursing care for her daughter, and fewer on the weekends, instead of the 24 hours her daughter’s pediatrician says are necessary. As her expert witness — a registered nurse — testifies, the woman’s daughter begins to cough, then vomit, then struggle for breath as her breathing tube becomes clogged. The hearing stops as the child’s mother and the nurse suction the girl’s tube, then clean, change and console her.

Generally lacking in such drama, hearings like the one that occurred Dec. 14 are held hundreds of times each year in Florida as the parents of severely disabled and medically fragile children battle state health administrators for nursing care and services for their children. Without such care, some of the youngsters will end up in nursing homes, something the 10-year-old’s mother is trying to avoid.

“I think about it often,” the mother says, under questioning from her attorney, Howard Talenfeld. “I’m very concerned.”

In September, the U.S. Justice Department said the state had “planned, structured and administered a system of care that has led to the unnecessary segregation and isolation of children, often for many years,” in geriatric nursing homes. Children in such homes often spend their days in virtual seclusion, lying in bed or watching television, the civil rights division wrote.

Rationing care

Florida has consigned hundreds of children to such a plight, the Justice Department wrote, by “reducing or eliminating the availability of in-home services that had been prescribed as medically necessary by a child’s physician, without reasonably considering the child’s actual needs.”

State and federal lawyers are still negotiating over the federal government’s insistence that Florida sign an agreement to redesign the state’s program, and allow a federal judge to oversee the state’s effort.

Justin Senior, the Agency for Health Care Administration’s deputy secretary for Medicaid, said Friday the overwhelming majority of pediatric in-home nursing claims end amicably with the child’s family doctor and state reviewers in agreement over the care that is needed. “The long and the short of it is we always make sure the child and the family get the services they need — and err on the side of caution,” he said.

Senior added: “We need to make sure we are spending our dollars — and they are finite dollars — on the things that provide significant medical benefits to our recipients.”

In a deposition last February, the associate medical director of Louisiana-based eQHealth Solutions, which reviews such claims under contract with the state, acknowledged what truly undergirds the state’s pediatric private duty nursing program: rationing.

“There are many children who require services in the state of Florida,” pediatrician Ian Nathanson said. “There are many requests for services. And there are, in my view, just not enough resources to provide for every single child and every single request.”

Buzzmakers: Kate Winslet's Wedding and Rider Strong's Engaged

Label: Lifestyle

What had ET readers buzzing this week?

1. Kate Winslet Ties the Knot!

Kate Winslet recently married her boyfriend Ned Rocknroll in a small, secret ceremony in New York.

A rep for the 37-year-old Oscar winner tells ET, "I can confirm that Kate Winslet married Ned Rock'nRoll in NY earlier this month in a private ceremony attended by her two children and a very few friends and family." The rep added that Kate and Ned got engaged over the summer.

British newspapers reported that Kate's Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio gave away the bride in a ceremony so secret that not even the parents of the bride and groom were aware of it.

It is the third marriage for Kate, who split from film director Sam Mendes, the father of her son, in March 2011. She was also previously married for three years to Jim Threapleton, the father of her daughter, before splitting with him in 2001.

Ned, 34, is the nephew of British media/aerospace magnate Sir Richard Branson.

2. 'Boy Meets World' Star Rider Strong Engaged

Amid the holiday engagement rumors (Brandy, Janet Jackson...), Boy Meets World star Rider Strong confirms that he popped the question to his longtime love Alexandra Barreto -- but that's not the crazy part.

Strong, 33, told E! News that he asked Barreto to marry him with "a handmade ring he created himself!"

The actors met on set of the 2006 series Pepper Dennis, and the rest is history. "I asked on December 23, while her parents were visiting for the holidays. I took her for a walk under the redwoods on the property where I grew up in Northern California," Strong tells ETonline. "It was pouring rain, but it didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon, so I just decided to go for it."

Meanwhile, TheInsider.com confirmed earlier this past November that Strong will not be joining the cast of Disney's Girl Meets World, a spin-off of his wildly popular teen show Boy Meets World. "Girl Meets World will be, and I think it should be, its own show. It will be about Cory and Topanga, their daughter, and a new set of characters. It's the next generation."

3. 'Glee' Creator is A New Dad!

Ryan Murphy had a very merry announcement this holiday season: he's a father!

According to E! News, Murphy and partner David Miller welcomed a son into their family recently, with the couple announcing their new addition on Christmas Eve to friends and family via email.

The announcement revealed the boy, named Logan Phineas Miller Murphy, was born December 24, 2012 9:47 a.m.

Earlier this year, Murphy opened up to Vogue about his desire to become a father. "I thought if I don't do this ... I'm 46 ... I will really, really regret it," he said, adding, "I want the kid to be bold."

4. Jessica Simpson Confirms She's Pregnant, Again!

After weeks of speculation, Jessica Simpson has confirmed that she is pregnant with her second child!

This morning she Tweeted, "Merry Christmas from my family to yours," along with a photo of daughter Maxwell sitting above a message written in the sand. It read: "Big Sis."

Simpson, who gave birth to Maxwell on May 1, has been spotted wearing lots of loose clothing in recent weeks as rumors swirled that she was pregnant again.

This will be the second child for Simpson and her fiance, Eric Johnson.

5. Lady Gaga Announces Documentary

The nearly 33 million Little Monsters who follow Lady Gaga on Twitter got a massive Christmas present this morning as the singer revealed she'll soon be coming to a theater near you!

"Merry Christmas little monsters," Gaga wrote. "Terry Richardson is making a #LadyGagaMOVIE documenting my life, the creation of ARTPOP + you!" "Thank you for being so patient waiting for my new album ARTPOP I hope this gets u excited for things to come. I love you with all my heart!" Gaga announced her fourth album on August 6, 2012 and featured several of the songs in contention for inclusion on her recent Born This Wall Ball. Although no release date is yet known, it's rumored to be due out in Spring 2013.

Gaga has previously collaborated with Richardson on countless magazine covers and 2011's Lady Gaga x Terry Richardson photobook.

Lady Gaga won't be the only major musician to be featured in a documentary next year. It was revealed on November 26 that HBO would be airing a Beyonce documentary on February 16, 2013.

The film promises extensive first-person footage -- some of it shot by Beyonce on her laptop -- in which she reflects on the realities of being a celebrity, the refuge she finds onstage and the joys of becoming a mother after giving birth to her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, in January 2012. Watch a sneak peek below.

Forced diet at eateries

Label: Health

New York City’s restaurant industry slimmed down in 2012, ending the year with fewer openings and flat revenues, according to analysts and hospitality execs.

“We had expected a better year coming out of the recession,” admitted a disappointed Jeremy Merrin, founder and president of Havana Central, the casual, full-service Cuban restaurants with Manhattan locations in Times Square and on the Upper West Side. “We can’t explain what has happened.”

The slide in New York’s culinary appetite was most pronounced after the summer. That directly followed two straight years of strong business growth after the 2008 downturn. Havana Central, for example, saw substantial increases in customer activity in 2009 and 2010.

NY Post: Tamara Beckwith

NOT-SO-GRAND ‘CENTRAL’: Dyana Ramirez samples the frozen coconut lemonade at Havana Central, which had a so-so year in NYC.

But then the slide really picked up momentum. “Most in the industry had expected things to weaken through the entire fall,” Merrin said. “My Christmas season does not feel as strong as last year.”

That’s a common view across New York City’s assorted collection of 24,000 restaurants. And it likely explains the slowdown in restaurant openings.

The number of restaurateurs locally seeking permits is likely to dip from last year. At the current rate, the final 2012 number issued by the city Department of Health could decline 5.7 percent, or 270 short of last year’s 4,723 total. As of Nov. 30, there were 4,082 permits issued, including the typical 300 or so annual renewals, resulting in a 2012 annualized tally of some 4,440.

There’s talk within the sector that as ObamaCare became a reality, openings and expansion plans were put on hold until the cost structure of the plan was cemented.

A strong start to 2012 probably saved the entire year from disaster. “Overall, the hospitality industry has stayed stable this year in New York,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance.

It reflects a broader national trend. The US restaurant industry opened on solid expectations this year — which then melted away faster than an ice-cream sundae. Weaker spring and summer quarters led the industry into a lackluster-though-“stable” year, according to The NPD Group.

Rigie noted that Hurricane Sandy walloped many restaurants in New York. “It caused damage to many restaurants, or put them out of business,” he said. And, as Merrin noted, “we lost two good weeks of sales.”

Some local restaurateurs say onerous regulations are also contributing to a disappointing environment. “If the fines were not as expensive, that would help,” celebrity chef Marc Murphy, owner of the fashionable restaurant chain that includes Landmarc in TriBeCa and in the Time Warner Center, told The Post.

In any event, Murphy doesn’t think 2012 will be one for the record books. “We thought things were going to get a little bit better this year. Unfortunately, they weren’t as good as we wanted them to be,” he said.

Murphy added that activity at his four restaurants, which includes the stylish Ditch Plains, was “stable,” or unchanged since last year. The one bright side: His 2-year-old catering business, Benchmarc Events, saw business volume skyrocket 40 percent.

Merrin at Havana Central said he’s perplexed by the recent slowdown. “I don’t know if this is specific to the East Coast, or because consumers are very nervous with talk of the fiscal cliff and unemployment relatively high,” he said. “We walked into the season believing we would have a very strong season. And that didn’t happen.”

Visits to restaurants nationwide were up 2 percent in August and then dipped in September, says NPD, which forecasts that restaurant industry will end the year “flat,” with spending up 2 percent.

“While the restaurant industry basically recovered from last year’s traffic declines, a sluggish economy and continuing cost consciousness on the part of consumers kept the industry stable but not growing,” said Bonnie Riggs, NPD’s restaurant-industry analyst.