JP Morgan CEO set for Miami talk

After a bruising start to 2013, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon will be a keynote speaker of an upcoming business conference in Miami.

Dimon, once Wall Street’s top-paid executive, saw his compensation cut in half on the heels of the so-called “London Whale” trading loss that cost the company $6 billion. He will be a keynote speaker at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s “Economic Summit” conference scheduled for Monday, Feb. 4. The event starts at 8 a.m. at Jungle Island and costs between $75 and $200 to attend.

JP Morgan’s bad bet on derivatives last year in its London trading office cost shareholders more than $6 billion, and fueled criticism that JP Morgan and other major banks were still free from the kind of regulations needed to prevent another global banking crisis. Directors cut Dimon’s compensation and Dimon called the incident “a terrible mistake” while pointing out the bank continues to produce record profits.

Eric Silagy, president of the FPL utility company, will share keynoting duties with Dimon at the half-day event.

DOUGLAS HANKS

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Youth Crime Watch helps kids take a bite out of crime

Last week’s column generated several emails from you asking if Youth Crime Watch is in every school. Unfortunately due to budgets, we are not, but we do service those that contact us. Therefore I asked our program director, Joel Mesa, to write my column for today to enlighten my readers about our program.

Youth Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County serves nearly 35,000 students per school year via youth crime prevention presentations, safety projects, YCW club meetings, assemblies, rallies, and special events. Our YCW School Coordinators conduct more than 500 presentations per school year at the Miami-Dade schools on: YCW orientations, YCW installation, YCW appreciation, reporting crimes, school safety, school violence prevention, bullying and cyberbullying prevention, sexting prevention, stranger danger, personal safety, drug prevention, gun prevention, character education, cyber safety, anger management, McGruff the Crime Dog, and much more.

I have experienced at first-hand the dominant factors that youth crime prevention education has in molding our future leaders to strive for success and strengthen our school communities. The students are the “eyes and ears” of our schools. They are the primary stakeholders in preventing crime at their schools by educating their peers on safety topics and by anonymously reporting threats and warning signs that can lead to violent incidents. However, they cannot do this without adequate training. YCW of Miami-Dade County’s primary mission is to provide them the training and skills to make their safety visions an observable reality. It is a mission that has been possible year after year.

Children and young people can be so vulnerable to fall for the ills of school crime. Youth Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County has been healing those ills throughout the last 33 years by implementing programs in the Miami-Dade schools. YCW of Miami-Dade County was selected as the National Crime Prevention Program of the Year by the National Crime Prevention Council. YCW educates students on safety skills which in turn the youth apply those skills in their schools to promote safe school environments, educate their peers on youth crime prevention, and curb school crime. The organization also provides students and faculty a multitude of crime prevention materials so the safety education can be reinforced in the classroom lessons and in YCW club activities. YCW is also the premier organization which has McGruff the Crime Dog appear at Miami-Dade school safety functions and help kids “take a bite out of crime.”

School crime statistics and survey assessments have continuously demonstrated that schools with YCW programs have lower crime rates and safer school environments. This in turn is a contributing factor in academic achievement. A child that is fearful of being bullied and harassed will prioritize their fear over their academics. On the other side of the “safety spectrum”, those children that feel comfortable and safe in their school environments will be more motivated & determined to focus on their academics.

Crime Prevention is a holistic process, working with teachers, counselors, parents, administrators and schools police, but the most important participant is the parent. For more information, feel free to call our office 305-470-1670 and we will be happy to send you a brochure.

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Women in Combat Stoke Twitter Debate

The Pentagon’s decision to allow women in combat has elicited some strong and controversial words from opponents of the move.

First, Tucker Carlson. Last night, the Daily Caller publisher tweeted: “Feminism’s latest victory: the right to get your limbs blown off in war. Congratulations.”

This drew some swift criticism on Twitter, and a counterpoint from The Week’s Marc Ambinder, who noted that one woman who lost limbs in combat, Tammy Duckworth, is now serving as a Democrat in the House of Representatives.

Then, Politico reported that Allen West, the former GOP congressman and Army lieutenant colonel, tweeted this morning: “Women in combat billets? Another misconceived lib vision of fairness and equality.”

West is already getting trashed on Twitter by users who took offense. After the controversial remarks made by Newt Gingrich in the mid-1990s and Rick Santorum last year, it’s no surprise that the Pentagon’s decision is stirring debate.

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Kat Graham Vampire Diaries Season Four Interview

This has been an interesting season of The Vampire Diaries for Bonnie Bennett, who, despite factoring into the overall year-long mystery of finding the cure for vampirism, has been segregated from the main characters as she works on harnessing her magic.

But according to Kat Graham, Bonnie is about to come into focus in a big way as she not only regains full control over her powers, but could potentially use them for with potentially polarizing effects!

ETonline: Hey Kat, how's it going?

Kat Graham: Good, I'm driving from Cleveland, Ohio to Detroit to visit some radio stations and meeting a few fans, hanging out with some locals.

ETonline: Congrats on the Wanna Say music video? You look amazing in it!

Graham: Thank you so much! That means a lot coming from you, because you remember my terrible videos [laughs]. We won't talk about those, but I'm really proud of this. From the director to the choreography to the track, I think everyone did a killer job!

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ETonline: Logistically, how did you work on the song and the video while shooting The Vampire Diaries?

Graham: It just kind of works. The show doesn't go around my music schedule -- I don't even ask to get cleared most of the time because the show has such a grueling schedule. But, I'm actually not in episode 416, the episode they're shooting now, and they had scheduled to release the video on January 18, and I wrapped on January 17 by coincidence. Sheer blessing, total fate.

ETonline: I feel like Bonnie's had a lighter workload this season; did that help at all?

Graham: You know what’s funny, we're on episode 17, and for me, it might have been light in the beginning, but this episode [off] has been a godsend. I haven't had any days off in forever -- it gets really Bonnie heavy this season, and you'll see some crazy, crazy Bonnie stuff. I always tell Julie [Plec, executive producer], you have to write what you're inspired to write. I think she's got a better hold on the show than anyone and she's been very inspired to write all this incredible stuff recently -- and it shows. This show can't be forced, it's so smooth and there's such huge storylines coming up.

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ETonline: And Bonnie's dad is now the Mayor!

Graham: It's funny, the fans have no problem writing Julie or me or Mark Pedowitz [president of The CW] to let us know what they see for the character [laughs]. They are not shy with their opinions and they've always wanted to see Bonnie's dad. So it's been really cool ... I think I'm the only character on the show with both her parents still alive! Who'd have thought that!

ETonline: Yeah, well, she might not be for long; I feel like being the mayor of Mystic Falls is one of the most dangerous jobs in television!

Graham: Yeah, but Julie can break her own rules. When people start to think they're figuring out The Vampire Diaries, it switches on you. Caroline Dries [a TVD writer] said something pretty amazing to me -- she said, if we give the audience everything they want, they won't watch the show because there will be nothing for them to wait for. You can get them excited about something they really want by giving them a bit of it. So you almost don't want to give the audience everything they want, and I love that the audience can't figure us out. They don't know how grand the show is going to get this season. I mean, it's huge, epic episodes every week.

ETonline: Would you say that all the lessons with Professor Shane are leading to a revelation for Bonnie?

Graham: Oh yeah. Big time. One thing about Vampire Diaries is they plant these seeds that sometimes we as actors don't even know about ... by the end of this season, who Bonnie becomes, has everything to do with all those scenes in Shane's office. He has a huge impact on who she becomes. It's important to pay close attention and not miss an episode. The lines get blurred and allegiances get blurred. You have all these paradoxes and total opposites working together for the benefit of a common goal.

ETonline: Looking ahead, what are you excited for the fans to see with Bonnie this season?

Graham: So much crazy Bonnie stuff is coming up. I'm excited that, if Bonnie makes any turn as to who she is and what she's about, I'm excited to know that a lot of fans will come with her. I'm excited for them to grow with Bonnie and excited for them to see what Bonnie can do. For so long, this was a character who was never at her full power. She was always losing it and then getting some of it back ... she's struggled with finding herself as a witch and finding herself in her power. So I'm excited for the fans to see all the cool stuff this character is capable of once she really gets a grasp on that power and finds out what she's really capable of.

The Vampire Diaries airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.

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Family of slain highway worker 'saddened' by drunk driver's easy sentence

Loved ones of a highway worker who was killed by a drunk and unlicensed driver on the Grand Central Parkway last summer said they were “saddened” by his assailant’s lenient sentence.

"This is still fresh to me," said Israel Rosario, who witnessed Abdullah Munshi slam a 2002 Audi A6 into his 63-year-old co-worker, Frank Avino as they were setting up traffic cones near the Jewel Avenue exit of the highway on July 10.

"We were preparing to repair the lights on the highway, the car passed me first and hit Frank. I heard a very short shriek and Frank was gone," said an emotional Rosario as a fellow co-worker consoled him outside of Queens Criminal court.

Munshi, 26, dodged up to 15 years in prison when he plead guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter -- a non-violent felony -- and will be sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison on March 12, said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.

"I understand vehicular manslaughter is a non-violent crime and we need to change that. My husband was killed...it is saddens me," said Avino's heartbroken wife, Patricia.

"It's hard for me to hear a kid before [Munshi's] case was called get threatened to be put into jail for 1 1/2 to 3 years for a marijuana charge and he didn't kill anyone, yet this guy gets almost the same amount time, its not fair," said Rosario, who worked with Avino, an electrician for Welsbach Electric Corp for seven years.

Patricia is hoping to work with the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) in order to help with "changing the laws" when intoxicated drivers are charged.

Munshi, a citizen of Qatar, admitted to prosecutor, John Kosinski, that he drank alcohol before he got into the car with his friends and also "purchased beer" at a corner store before the 11 a.m. crash.

The reckless driver was unable to produce a valid NYS driver's license and also admitted that he was driving a "friend's car" because "they were too drunk to drive," said Brown.

At the scene, Munshi's blood alcohol content read .21 percent -- well above the legal limit of .08 percent in New York.

Following Munshi's release from prison he is ordered to a three-year conditional discharge and install an ignition interlock into any car he owns for five years -- at his own expense.

Munshi also faces deportation.

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Meet the judges: FIU Track

John C. Fleming, a serial entrepreneur, is the technology practice lead at Biztegra Partners, a social Web agency based in West Palm Beach. He started his career as a software developer in 1979 and has worked nationally and internationally in engineering, sales, marketing, services and general management in industries ranging from high tech to real estate. Fleming has started companies, raised money and has been part of teams that built products that became market leaders.

Robert H. Hacker is the managing partner of GH Capital, a Miami-based financial consulting boutique. He is a professor in the FIU Engineering School and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is author of “Billion Dollar Company” and is finishing his next book on social entrepreneurship. He is also the CFO at the One Laptop Per Child Association and is a board member of the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center at FIU and the South Kent School.

Mike Tomas is president of The ASTRI Group, an early-stage private equity investment company providing capital, business development and strategic marketing support. He is also president and CEO of Bioheart, an adult stem cell company dedicated to autologous cell therapies for the treatment of chronic and acute heart damage and peripheral vascular disease. Previously, he worked 18 years in the telecom industry in the U.S. and Mexico. He chairs FIU’s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center.

Erika Twani is CEO and a founding board member of Learning One to One Foundation, which aims to improve the potential of today’s youth. Before that, she was the education industry director for Microsoft Latin America’s Multi-Country Region and received the Microsoft Circle of Excellence Award. Twani also owned a company in Brazil, which she grew to $60 million in sales in six years. She serves on FIU’s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center Board of Advisors.

Ricardo Weisz is an international marketing expert in startups, brand development, licensing and marketing of products and services and has successfully headed various ventures. During his tenure with The Walt Disney Co., he launched operations in multiple countries, was a Zone VP and GM, and headed a Latin American SBU. The angel investor has held board positions including Orangi Corp., Consult A Doctor, Miami Innovation Fund, The Winner’s Circle and New World Angels.

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Student accused of shooting girl on school bus to be tried as adult

The teen accused of accidentally shooting a fellow student on a school bus will be tried as an adult, a Miami-Dade judge ruled on Wednesday,

Lourdes Guzman-DeJesus was killed just before Thanksgiving on the way to school from her South Miami-Dade home.

The suspect in the shooting, 15-year-old Jordyn Howe, will be transferred to Miami-Dade County Jail from house arrest. Judge Orlando Prescott ruled Wednesday that he will be tried as an adult.

Lourdes Guzman-DeJesus, whose nickname was "Jina, " was killed when Jordyn took a .40-caliber pistol out of his backpack on the school bus transporting kids to three charter schools in South Miami-Dade. The gun went off, striking Lourdes in the neck. Howe was a student at Somerset Academy Silver Palms.

The shooting occurred as the bus was near Southwest 296th Street and 137th Avenue. Lourdes, a student at Palm Glades Preparatory Academy, was shot in front of her 7-year-old sister.

Jordyn was not in court Wednesday, but will appear on Thursday when his bond will be set. He faces formal charges in court on Jan. 28 that include manslaughter and manslaughter with a firearm.

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Why the Future of TV Still Isn’t Here Yet

As content providers continue to intimidate tech companies with a seemingly endless couch-potato conundrum, the latest innovation in the war to win your living room isn’t some new gadget from Apple or Netflix, or even that exciting à la carte content delivery system from Intel — it’s a protocol that helps our screens better communicate with one another. YouTube and Netflix have teamed up to create something called DIAL, a competitor of sorts to Apple’s AirPlay, which, as GigaOm’s Janko Roettgers describes it, ”helps developers of second-screen apps to discover and launch applications on smart TVs and connected devices.” Basically, it turns your phone into a kind of wireless super-remote for your TV, as Roettgers explains: 

With DIAL, the Netflix app on your phone will automatically discover that there is a device with a Netflix app connected to your TV. It will fire up that app, and then the two apps are free to do whatever they want — which presumably involves some healthy binge-viewing.

This solves a “big problem” because it makes using those apps on your smart television a lot easier.  As of right now, controlling the Netflix app on a PlayStation still requires the console remote to open up the app on your television before controlling it from a phone or tablet. This eliminates a step — and that, ladies and gents, is the biggest thing actually happening in TV tech right now. Instead of letting us pay just for the content we want, the cable industry’s aging model is still forcing tech companies to help us sift through all the extras were forced to buy. Because with the big media companies refusing to budge on innovative content deals so far this year, “content discovery” tools like GIAL and AirPlay remain one of the only ways everyone can get along. 

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It wasn’t supposed to be this way, of course. Many expected hardware like a supped-up Apple TV or the Roku streaming stick to “fix” television — instead of some protocol that makes finding stuff on our TVs easier. But, as Netflix discovered when it tried to get in the hardware business, the total package can alienate the other key players. Back in 2007, the streaming company had a set-top box in the works that would transform Netflix into a cable competitor, reports Fast Company’s Austin Carr. But CEO Reid Hastings scrapped the idea because it was too competitive. “We could not be competing against Sony, LG, and Samsung,” says Steve Swasey, then the company’s VP of communications. On top of the potential loss of support from hardware makers, this separate Netflix box scared away the content owners, with which Netflix has worked so hard to get streaming TV deals. 

RELATED: The Future of Streaming Video Looks Like TV Reruns

The old-school media industry’s fear of tech-world competition has driven the future of television in a spiraling direction. When one of the too-many entities gets offended, the future falls apart, as we saw with Google TV in an experiment that ultimately scared off content providers as well. A protocol like DIAL is the politically correct solution: It doesn’t change how we pay for content — but it sure does work within the comfortable way we’re used to sitting down and watching TV!

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Batman Star Christian Bale Thrills 8-year-old Cancer Patient with Personal Call

Christian Bale received his share of negative publicity after audio surfaced of him angrily ranting on the set of the 2009 action movie Terminator Salvation. But the Dark Knight actor has done a lot to change that image since, including his recent gesture to an 8-year-old Batman fan suffering from cancer.

As we can see in this video posted on YouTube by the parents Leukemia sufferer Zach Guillot, Bale clearly gives the boy a thrill by calling him in his hospital room and chatting with him about his role in the Batman franchise.

VIDEO: Christian Bale's Heroic Visit to Aurora, CO 

"The thing that's great about Batman, and the whole point of the movie, is that anybody can be Batman," Bale can be heard telling Zach. "You know, anyone can be as strong as that, and help people, and do good in the world."  

Watch the video to see more of this uplifting phone conversation between the star and his young lifelong fan.

PICS: Star Sightings

You can read more about Zach's battle with Leukemia at his personal Facebook page.

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Thief hits two banks in Morningside Heights

A bank bandit hit two banks in Morningside Heights -- 15 minutes apart, authorities said.

He first tried to rob an HSBC bank on Broadway near West 102nd Street around 2:10 p.m. and fled without getting any cash, police said.

Then, 15 minutes later, the thief went to a Bank of America just six blocks north of his attempted heist and passed a demand note to the teller, cops said.

In the second robbery, he fled with an unknown amount of dough, cops said.

No one was injured in either incident and no weapons were displayed, police said.

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