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With dockworkers threatening to strike this weekend, businesses that rely on tens of billions of dollars worth of cargo flowing through the New York-New Jersey waterfront are starting to make costly contingency plans.
The International Longshoremen’s Association, whose grip extends across East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, is preparing to walk off the job on Sunday after failing to reach a deal with a group of shippers and port operators over container royalties.
The threat of a huge port shutdown has already led some supply-chain managers to divert their goods to other ports and ship them by rail or air instead.
“Customers have already begun diverting freight from Asia through the West Coast instead of waiting for a settlement,” one shipping company executive told The Post.
These contingency plans, however do not come cheap.
As more companies scramble to line up alternatives, freight costs will surge — and could even double, sources said.
For instance, customers who pay to ship goods from India to California instead of New York will have to pay an additional $1,000 “congestion fee” per container on top of the normal $2,000 per-container cost, according to Jonathan Gold, the National Retail Federation’s vice president for supply chain policy.
What’s more, there is the additional financial hit from transporting goods from California to the East Coast via rail or air, driving up prices for businesses across the board.
Gold said there is the potential for the extra costs to be passed along to consumers.
Ironically, some of the biggest national retailers moved much of their shipping to the New York and New Jersey ports after the West Coast waterfront lockout in 2002 — making them vulnerable this time around, a source said.
The Port of New York and New Jersey, the nation’s third-busiest port, rang up a record $208 billion worth of cargo last year and is on pace to top that this year.
Of course, many companies have not made contingency plans.
Ron Beckerman, the JFK branch manager of BGI Worldwide Logistics, said one of his customers considered flying video-game consoles from Singapore to New York but balked at the cost.
“Some people are postponing shipments and waiting it out,” he said.
About 60 percent of Beckerman’s business comes from international goods and 40 percent from domestic trucking.
“Think of everything we buy,” he said. “It’s all made overseas — food, department store merchandise, auto parts.”
Besides diverting freight to the West Coast, there will likely be a few non-union ports in Florida and Canada that will remain open. But those ports cannot handle the blocked flow.
The West Coast lockout in 2002, when the economy was on firmer footing, lasted 11 days and cost the economy an estimated $1 billion per day.
If there’s a strike, the longshoremen have said they will still unpack perishable commodities and autos, and handle passenger ships.
jkosman@nypost.com
In 2013, small business owners will contend with many of the same issues that made it hard to run their companies during the past 12 months.
They’re also heading into the new year with a lot of uncertainty. It’s unlikely that negotiations in Congress will resolve all of lawmakers’ disagreements over tax and budget issues that affect small businesses. And there are still many questions about the implications of the healthcare law for small companies.
That points to continued caution — and perhaps slow hiring — among the nation’s small companies.
“Uncertainty is the bane of every small business,” says Scott Shane, a professor of entrepreneurship at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland. “Their only rational response is to pull in their horns and slow down.”
Small businesses aren’t likely to get much encouragement from the economy. It’s expected to grow by no more than 3 percent in 2013, according to the Federal Reserve. That’s a moderate pace, better than the 1.7 percent that the economy grew during the first three quarters of 2012. But it’s also far from robust.
Here’s a look at some of the issues facing small businesses in the coming year:
TAXES
Lawmakers are still haggling over what’s called the fiscal cliff, the combination of billions of dollars in tax increases and budget cuts. Even if Congress reaches an agreement, small business owners won’t have the certainty they need, according to Todd McCracken, president of the National Small Business Association, a group that lobbies on behalf of small companies.
“It almost surely won’t be comprehensive enough that we won’t be revisiting it next year,” McCracken says. He’s concerned that there’ll be another fiscal cliff in six months — which would mean more negotiations and more uncertainty.
Many small business owners are worried about their personal tax rates. Sole proprietors, partners and owners of what are called S corporations, all report the income from their businesses on their individual Form 1040 returns. That means their companies are in effect taxed at personal rates, which can be higher than corporate rates.
One of the most important tax provisions for small businesses, what’s known as the Section 179 deduction, will shrink to $25,000 next year from $125,000 in 2012. The deduction, which applies to equipment purchases, was $500,000 in 2011. Congress can increase the deduction at any time, even after 2013 has begun. But for the time being, business owners can’t count on getting a big break.
“It’s a huge change for companies planning on making investments,” McCracken says.
It’s not known if Congress will extend the 2 percentage point payroll tax cut that workers have had for two years. If it doesn’t, consumers will have less money in their paychecks to spend, and that is likely to affect retailers and any other small businesses that sell directly to the public.
HEALTHCARE
Healthcare has been another source of uncertainty for small business owners. The new year will bring some, but probably not all, of the answers to questions about how the new healthcare law will affect them. Many will have to devote some time to understanding the law — or hire someone to help them do it.
This is truly a Christmas miracle.
When Christ Fellowship Church asked its parishioners to help make "an everlasting impact on the hurting and under resourced this month", the idea was simply to raise $337,000 on the weekend of Dec. 15 and 16.
The result was overwhelming, when thousands of families attending one of the megachurch’s six campuses throughout Miami-Dade County decided it was truly more blessed to give than to receive, and raised more than $601,000 in two days.
According to Aimee Artiles, a spokeswoman from the church, "Thousands of churchgoers waited in line to give, using debit cards, writing checks, and turning in cash." Every penny of the money collected will be used to help the hurting and under-resourced in Miami and India," she said.
Artiles said more than half the money will stay in Miami, and will be used by a nonprofit organization affiliated with the church, Caring for Miami, to help meet the dental, medical and mental needs of thousands in South Florida. Caring for Miami’s most recent tax return lists the organization’s largest activities as including counseling on abortion alternatives, post-abortion counseling, assistance to homeless people, and aid to proselytizing activities.
The Rev. Rick Blackwood, senior pastor of the church said, "Christ Fellowship is blessed with the capacity to dream big. This December, we challenged everyone, including our own staff, to give big and be a light to their community and the world. the results were astounding."
Even the children’ were encouraged to bring in a new gift for a local foster child, as well as donate their own pennies to help another child in need. The children alone, raised $3,814.05 in pennies. The middle and high school youngsters were encouraged to leave their own shoes behind after service and more than 1,855 pairs of shoes were
collected in one weekend and will be shipped to others in need in countries like El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Haiti.
Christ Fellowship is one of the region’s largest churches, with campuses in downtown Miami, Palmetto Bay, West Kendall, Homestead, Redland and Coral Gables. For more information about the church, call 786-486-7339 or visit www.cfmiami.org.
Pastor honored
On Jan. 5, Bishop Walter H. Richardson, one of the longest serving pastors in Miami-Dade County, will celebrate his 90th birthday. To honor him, his church family will have a gala dinner at Miami Shores Country Club, followed by a special worship service on Jan. 6, in the church sanctuary at 1351 NW 67th St. in Liberty City.
Richardson is one of the county’s unsung heroes. He quietly goes about doing all the good he can for the downtrodden and those who are victims in natural disasters throughout the world. And he hasn’t just started doing good; when millions were homeless during the Rwanda crisis, he spearheaded a movement in the church to collect t-shirts, soap, medical supplies and ponchos for children whose parents had been killed in the civil war and were living in refugee camps. His efforts spilled over into the community and members of the congregation met two evenings to pack the items, which the church then paid thousands of dollars to have the items shipped to Africa.
He did the same thing when there was a natural disaster and thousands in the United States, Haiti, the Bahamas, Jamaica and other Caribbean countries needed help.
Christmas has ended and New Year’s Eve is still a few days away. What’s a person to do during this holiday lull?
1. Complain About Your Christmas Gifts
[More from Mashable: ‘We Are Young’ Performed on Vintage Computer Parts]
All I got for Christmas was some CDs and movies and my little brother got an iPad. Thanks a lot Obama!
— Nick Pagliara (@NickPagliara) December 26, 2012
[More from Mashable: What Christmas Is Like in a Simulated Mars Colony]
All i got for christmas was socks and toothpaste. Thats fucked up
— Inferior (@KowaiiShiAkuma) December 26, 2012
2. Use Your New Label Maker
Image courtesy of Imgur
3. Find Weird Crap Around Your Parents’ House
Hey @shaq at my parents house for Christmas and found this collectible! #longtime fan! twitter.com/GuyCPalmer/sta…
— Guy Palmer (@GuyCPalmer) December 26, 2012
Found this at my parents house- my first mobile phone from 13 years ago. I’m pretty old. twitter.com/ScottOfTheRive…
— Scott (@ScottOfTheRiver) December 23, 2012
A little walk down memory lane on Christmas morning when I found this at my parents’ house.#snaggingitforsure twitter.com/Mandery/status…
— Laura Kroll (@Mandery) December 25, 2012
4. Attempt to Learn How a Kindle Works
My mum just asked me ‘what time doesthe Internet close because I want to buy a book for my kindle?’ #wtf
— Natasha Wedlock (@NatashaWedlock) December 21, 2012
Does anybody know how to work a kindle fire? Mine is stressing me out!
— Emily Fitzhugh (@EmiFitzU) December 26, 2012
but like how does this kindle work?
— a (@its_audrey) December 25, 2012
5. Recreate Old Family Photos
Image courtesy of Reddit, 31Max
Image courtesy of Imgur, ConnorUllmann
6. Try to Figure Out What Boxing Day Is
What is this “Boxing Day” you guys speak of, and do I get to wear silk shorts?
— The Robfather (@thatUPSdude) December 26, 2012
Every year I wonder what Boxing Day is before deciding I’m too lazy to look it up and taking a nap instead.
— joseph birdsong (@josephbirdsong) December 26, 2012
No matter what people tell you, Boxing Day is not the day that Canadians celebrate the birth of Muhammad Ali.
— Mark Campbell (@MrWordsWorth) December 26, 2012
What is Boxing Day and why don’t Americans celebrate it?
— Andrea Cooney (@ACCooney) December 20, 2012
Educate yourself.
7. Put Away the Christmas Throw-Up
Image courtesy of Reddit, xbaahx
8. Return the Stuff You Don’t Want
Image courtesy of Imgur
9. Reuse the Christmas Tree Tinsel and Other Holiday Decorations
Image via Borntobenervous.com
Image courtesy of Flickr, stuartpilbrow
10. Take a Nap
Image courtesy of Flickr, chriswaits
Click here to view this gallery.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, formatc1
This story originally published on Mashable here.
Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Holy shoot!
A grinch slipped a real handgun into a wrapped gift that was part of a church gift collection for foster kids — and it ended up in the hands of an 8-year-old Harlem girl who found it alongside a mama-and-baby teddy-bear set, The Post has learned.
Natasha Brunson said, “Oh wow!” and waved the gun around to show everyone on Christmas morning — but luckily, it was inoperable.
“This is something you never expect on Christmas,” said her foster mom, Sheeba Anderson.
“I feel like we narrowly avoided what could have been a terrible disaster. I couldn’t calm down all day.”
Anderson, 42, picked up two bags of already-wrapped presents last Thursday from St. Anthony’s Church in SoHo.
She brought them to her home in the Frederick Douglass Houses for her six foster kids.
On Christmas morning, she handed out the gifts to the thrilled children, including the box to Natasha.
“I thought they were really pretty,” little Natasha said. “So I was squeezing the bears and just starting to play with it.”
When she reached inside to grab the baby bear, she felt something hard, but figured it was simply a stand.
“But then I reached in and took out a gun,” she said. “I thought it was another toy that fell inside the box.”
Anderson was watching another child open a gift when she spotted Natasha holding the pistol.
“I heard her say, ‘Look, Miss Sheeba, I found a gun!’ She was waving it around and playing with it.”
Anderson took the gun from the girl and checked the other donated presents to make sure there weren’t potentially dangerous items in the packaging.
“I grabbed the dolls, too, and started examining them,” she said.
“Who knows what else was going on with this bear? It could have had drugs or needles or anything else in there.”
Anderson also called police, who took the weapon.
The firing pin had been removed and there were no bullets or visible serial numbers, sources said.
Investigators were still trying to determine the make and model of the weapon and how it was donated.
The gifts were provided by a nonprofit that has a contract with the Administration for Children’s Services, sources said.
Calls to St. Anthony’s were not returned.
An ACS spokesman said the agency was “concerned” over the incident.
Anderson was outraged that the weapon had made its way into her home.
“I treat these kids as if they are my own. I also expect ACS to feel the same way,” she said.
“This is the last thing I would have expected. Security has to be improved. These are anonymous donations. They could have come from anywhere and anyone.”
Additional reporting by Brad Hamilton
larry.celona@nypost.com
Florida residents who believe they suffered from shoddy foreclosure practices have through Monday to apply for a free case review that could net them up to $125,000 if wrongdoing is found.
The program, which is overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, began in November 2011 with an estimated 4 million eligibility letters mailed nationwide.
As of late September, just 3.8 percent of Floridians who were sent letters about their eligibility for the review have applied.
Cases are eligible for review if the foreclosure was on a primary residence in some stage of foreclosure during 2009 and 2010. The foreclosure had to have been handled by one of 24 banks or mortgage servicers named in consent orders crafted in response to findings of foreclosure deficiencies. The affected servicers can be found at independentforeclosurereview.com.
Problems contacting borrowers who may have been evicted from foreclosed homes, as well as borrower fatigue in applying for aid programs probably contributed to the limited response, some foreclosure defense attorneys said.
“A lot of these homeowners have been promised a lot of things in the past that were never fulfilled,” said attorney Ron Kaniuk, of Sachs Sax Caplan in Boca Raton. “It’s the law of diminishing returns. Once you are disappointed a few times, you stop filling stuff out.”
The Independent Foreclosure Review is separate from the $25 billion attorneys general settlement reached in February.
Nationwide, the return rate of borrowers responding to eligibility letters was about 5.3 percent through Sept. 27. Since then, an additional 121,677 borrowers have applied nationwide, said Bryan Hubbard, a spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The original deadline to apply for the review was April 30. It was pushed back to July 31 and then Dec. 31.
Reviewers are looking for several problems including failure to put a homeowner on a permanent loan modification after he or she successfully completed a trial period, foreclosing on a borrower while he or she was current on payments under a loan modification, and not providing a borrower with proper notification during a foreclosure.
Remediation to borrowers can include credit fixes, reimbursement of improperly charged fees, and lump-sum payments of between $500 and $125,000.
For more information about the Independent Foreclosure Review, call 1-888-952-9105.
So, as Miss Ella once sang, What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
Many of you, of course, will ring in 2013 with champagne and dancing at one of the clubs in Miami Beach or downtown Miami — and many of these same people will wake up with a hangover Tuesday only to wonder why they spent $2,000 to be in the same space as R&B/hip-hop act Drake and a DJ at the Fontainebleau or depressed that they spent $1,500 for a VIP table at the Catalina’s Studio 54 party to hear ’70s disco when they could have played Donna, Gloria and the Village People at any old time on iTunes for a few houseguests.
Clubbing not your thing? Good thing you live in South Florida, where going outside generally makes sense at this time of year. Here are some suggestions for activities, with an accent on the great outdoors and even a little fitness thrown in for good measure.
King Mango Strut
The annual spoof of the Orange Bowl Parade — or whatever some politician wants to call it now, as in ‘La Gran Naranja’ — has been “putting the ‘nut’ back in ‘Coconut Grove’ since 1981,” its ads tout. This time around, being an election year should provide plenty of fodder, and not just the silliness going on in West Kendall and Brickell, where some people are still waiting to cast a vote in the presidential race. (Obama won, go home.) The snarky parade pokes good-natured fun at the people and things behind the events that made the news snap during the year. This year’s grand marshal will be Clint Eastwood’s chair, fresh from the Republican National Convention.
This year’s parade takes place at 2 p.m. Sunday in downtown Coconut Grove on the corner of Commodore Plaza and Main Highway. The wacky participants turn left onto Main Highway and then left onto Grand Avenue at CocoWalk. Get comfy along the street and prepare to giggle. Call the Mango Hotline at 305-582-0955 for information.
The ball drop
You can go traditional and watch the ball drop in downtown Miami at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater New Year’s shindig. The free event features music and the midnight countdown for the dropping of the Big Orange, followed by fireworks. Be there at 301 N. Biscayne Blvd. Call 305-358-7550.
Just want the fireworks part? Miami Beach’s New Year’s Eve Party offers a free fireworks celebration at midnight on the beach near Ocean Drive and Eighth Street, if you can tear yourself away from Carl Cox at Mansion and Calvin Harris at Liv. Call 305-673-7400.
Bike It
Shark Valley, on the Tamiami Trail about 35 miles into the Everglades, is a real South Florida experience. Cycle amid gators — and we’re not talking the University of Florida variety. Alligators, wading birds and turtles frolic freely in the greenery along the 15-mile round-trip bike path. A multilevel observation at the midpoint offers a nice break spot for a boxed lunch or photo ops. There are no shortcuts, but you can opt for a tram tour. Call 305-221-8776.
Other leisurely bike rides around town include the shaded 13 or so miles of the Old Cutler Trail in South Miami, and you can pop over to Pinecrest Gardens for the Sunday Green Market, one of South Florida’s best farmers markets. North Dade residents aren’t too far from the restored Hollywood Beach Broadwalk for some nice ocean views while cycling or strolling.
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!
VIDEO - Lady Gaga Hosts Fame Picnic in Paris
"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.
VIDEO - The Secret Lady Gaga Never Told Beyonce
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.
VIDEO - Get A Sneak Peek at Beyonce's Documentary
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.
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