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Ex-hedge fund manager Mathew Martoma accused of insider trading

NEW YORK — After building a huge stake in two drug companies, hedge fund manager Mathew Martoma told his powerful boss on a Sunday morning that they had to immediately dump their position.

It was an unusual request even by the outsized standards of Wall Street, but the hedge fund quietly liquidated its $700-million position within days.

Federal authorities suggested Tuesday why Martoma was in such a hurry back in 2008 — he'd allegedly gotten an illegal tip about big problems with the companies' developmental Alzheimer's drug. It was the most profitable insider-trading scheme in U.S. history, netting $276 million in profit and avoided losses, according to prosecutors.

But it resulted in criminal charges against Martoma and a swirl of questions about his boss, Steven Cohen, who is one of the most celebrated figures on Wall Street.

Cohen is worth an estimated $8.8 billion and lives in a 35,000-square-foot mansion in Greenwich, Conn., that includes an ice rink and Zamboni machine. He helped bankroll a failed bid last year to buy the Dodgers.

His firm, SAC Capital Advisors, has drawn attention in recent years as the government launched a massive crackdown on insider trading.

The hedge fund reportedly told clients it received a subpoena seeking a "broad" array of documents in late 2010. Around that time, two hedge funds founded by SAC alumni were raided by FBI agents as the government pursued its insider probe.

Martoma is the fifth person affiliated with SAC Capital to be charged in insider-related cases. Cohen's ex-wife sued him three years ago, alleging that her former husband amassed his fortune partly through insider trading.

Cohen was not named in the dual federal and civil complaints Tuesday, but experts said the government might have him in its sights.

In a civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Cohen is referred to as "Portfolio Manager A," the Wall Street Journal reported. The companion criminal action lists Cohen as the "owner" of hedge funds involved in the scheme, the Journal said.

"He is to hedge funds what Michael Milken, back in the '80s, was to investment bankers," said John Coffee, a law professor at Columbia University. "The government seems to be within one move of getting a key witness against one of the most important figures in the new universe of hedge funds."

An SAC spokesman disputed that.

"Mr. Cohen and SAC are confident that they have acted appropriately and will continue to cooperate with the government's inquiry," the spokesman said in a statement.

Martoma's lawyer denied wrongdoing by his client.

"Mathew Martoma was an exceptional portfolio manager who succeeded through hard work and the dogged pursuit of information in the public domain," the lawyer, Charles Stillman, said in a statement. "What happened today is only the beginning of a process that we are confident will lead to Mr. Martoma's full exoneration."

The case revolves around a drug developed by Irish biotechnology company Elan Corp. and New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant Wyeth, which was acquired by Pfizer Inc. in 2009.

Martoma specialized in healthcare stocks for an SAC unit called CR Intrinsic. He got a series of tips about the drug, bapineuzumab, from Dr. Sidney Gilman, a neurology professor at the University of Michigan, the government said.

Gilman consulted for Elan and Wyeth. Martoma was connected to Gilman by an "expert network" that matches investors with specialists in various fields.

After initial optimism about bapineuzumab, a clinical trial showed disappointing results. Gilman allegedly alerted Martoma to the test results shortly before public disclosure in July 2008, prompting Martoma's 8:52 a.m. email to Cohen.

The subsequent selling accounted for a whopping 20% of Elan's trading volume and 11% of Wyeth's at one point, according to the FBI. The fund even bet against the companies by "shorting" their stocks.

"And so, just like that, overnight, Martoma went from bull to bear as he tried to dig his hedge fund out of a massive hole," Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said at a news conference.

Elan shares slumped 42% the day after the results were revealed.

Martoma is the fifth former SAC employee and the 73rd defendant accused of insider trading by Bharara's office since August 2009. Of those defendants, 69 have been convicted, most of them through plea agreements.

Bharara's office agreed to not prosecute Gilman, 80, in exchange for his testimony.

Martoma, 38, got an annual bonus of $9.3 million, primarily stemming from the profits in Elan stock, according to the government.

He got no bonus after disappointing years in 2009 and 2010 and was terminated in 2010. According to the government, an email recommending his termination said Martoma appeared to be a "one trick pony with Elan."

andrew.tangel@latimes.com

walter.hamilton @latimes.com

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Elmo left behind on 'Sesame Street' as actor exits

NEW YORK (AP) — Even on "Sesame Street," where everything is famously A-OK, problems can arise for its residents.

And that includes the Muppets. Cookie Monster grapples with an eating disorder. Oscar the Grouch gets cranky. Mr. Snuffleupagus gets the blues.

But Elmo seemed immune to any of that. Since enjoying his breakout success more than two decades ago, the 3 1/2-year-old red monster has radiated good cheer, love and trilling giggles. No wonder everyone — adults as well as children — adore him.

The key to Elmo is "his innocence, his positiveness and his sweetness," according to Kevin Clash, the man who created him and once told The Associated Press, "I would love to be totally like Elmo."

Now Clash has been scandalously separated from Elmo and from "Sesame Street," the TV series where he reigned behind the scenes for 28 years.

Clash spoke of "personal matters" as the cause of his resignation Tuesday after an unthinkable nine-day stretch that began with an unnamed man in his 20s claiming he had sex with Clash at age 16. That allegation was quickly recanted. But then came another accusation of sexual abuse, and a lawsuit.

That second accuser, a 24-year-old college student named Cecil Singleton, said the actor had engaged in sexual behavior with him when he was 15. He is suing Clash for $5 million.

"I am deeply sorry to be leaving," said Clash in his parting statement, "and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately."

But privacy may no longer be possible for Clash, the 52-year-old divorced father of a grown daughter who acknowledged last week that he is gay. Singleton's lawyer, Jeff Herman, said he has been contacted by two other potential victims of Clash and expects additional legal action.

At a news conference Tuesday, Singleton said he and Clash met on a gay chat line and then, for a two-week period, they engaged in sexual contact, though not intercourse. Sex with a person under 17 is a felony in New York if the perpetrator is 21 or older.

Singleton said he didn't know Clash's profession until years later, when he Googled the man's name.

"I was shocked when I found out what he did for a living," said Singleton.

Now that career has ended for Clash, who, in his dream job as a puppeteer for "Sesame Street," was assigned a little-used puppet now known as Elmo, then turned him into a star. In the process, Clash won 23 daytime Emmy awards and one prime-time Emmy. He published his 2006 autobiography, "My Life as a Furry Red Monster," and was the subject of the 2011 documentary "Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey."

Elmo overshadowed Big Bird and other "Sesame" Muppets in popularity and screen time, while marginalizing the cast of live actors. Since 1998, he has had his own show-within-a-show on "Sesame Street" in addition to appearances elsewhere in the hour.

He is also a major moneymaker for Sesame Workshop, the New York-based company that produces the show, and for licensees. At his merchandising height in 1996, he inspired the Tickle Me Elmo doll, which became a cultural phenomenon and that Christmas season's hottest toy.

This year's Elmo dolls, "LOL Elmo," which giggles, and "Let's Rock! Elmo," which sings and comes with a microphone and drum set, haven't made any of this year's hot toy lists. Even so, Elmo toys probably account for one-half to two-thirds of the $75 million in annual sales the "Sesame Street" toy line generates for toy maker Hasbro, estimates BMO Capital Markets analyst Gerrick Johnson.

Johnson said he wasn't sure how this week's news might affect sales of Elmo toys this holiday.

"How many people are going to want to explain to their kid why they're not getting an Elmo?" he asked.

On Tuesday, Hasbro issued a statement saying "We are confident that Elmo will remain an integral part of Sesame Street and that Sesame Street toys will continue to delight children for years to come."

Despite his resignation, Clash will remain an integral part of "Sesame Street" for the foreseeable future. Taping of season No. 44 will wrap by mid-December and will begin airing next September, according to someone close to the show who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of its production. That means new episodes with Clash performing as Elmo will presumably continue well into 2014.

As for who might take over as Elmo, other "Sesame Street" puppeteers were already being trained to serve as Clash's stand-in, Sesame Workshop said. It's part of an understudy policy being adopted for all the major Muppet characters.

But no one knows how Elmo will fare going forward. Will the jokes spurred by Clash's downfall leave a lasting mark on Elmo's image? Will there be parents who see him tainted by association with the man who brought him to life?

In the wake of a personal tragedy that may still be unfolding, Elmo's innocence, positiveness and sweetness will be put to the test.

___

AP Television Writer David Bauder and AP Retail Writer Mae Anderson contributed to this report.

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The New Old Age Blog: Patience, Consciousness and White Lies

My wife and I are blessed with having three “semi-independent” parents in their mid-80s living within a few blocks of us. Our kids grew up knowing their grandparents as integral parts of our nuclear family, within walking distance for most of their childhoods. But now that our nest is empty, we find ourselves reliving many of the parenting issues we faced when our kids were little — now in geriatric versions, at close range. As it turns out, parenting our kids was good practice for the issues we face with our parents.

What exactly does semi-independence mean as applied to elderly parents? Among our three, we have two canes, five walkers, one wheelchair (for long walks), four artificial joints, a pacemaker, four hearing aides and a knee brace. The list of medical conditions is long, and the list of medications even longer, requiring different color pill box organizers for morning, afternoon and evening.

Our parents all live in the same homes they’ve been in for many years. Keeping them safe and healthy there, as well as when they leave the house, has become a big part of our day-to-day work these days. Therein the yin and yang of parenting has returned — independence versus helicoptering.

Children’s yearning for independence begins in toddlerhood: “I can do it myself!” It escalates through childhood, accelerates with the driver’s license, and crescendos, with pomp and circumstance, at high school graduation.

The urge for independence is seen in all animal species, but relinquishing independence and accepting assistance in old age is unique to humans. For most elderly, it comes with a struggle, reflecting how hardwired our brains are for independence. The thought of getting in-home help is antithetical to our parents’ sense of self worth, exceeded only by the dread of leaving their homes for assisted living facilities. So, as tasks that were once mundane and automatic have become onerous and stressful for them, we attempt to foster autonomy while protecting them from harm, as we did with our kids just a few short years ago.

Childproofing – Our home has again become hazardous, as have their homes. Furniture must be rearranged, booster seats placed on chairs to ease standing up, slippery rugs removed, lighting improved, bathrooms accessorized with handles and rails.

Dressing – Body shapes change in childhood and in old age. Our parents’ wardrobes, like those of our kids before them, need frequent attention to preserve self-esteem. Their unwillingness to part with old clothes turns us into tailors. And, once again, we shop for slip-on sneakers with Velcro ties.

Driving – For our teens, driving was the symbolic liberation from childhood to young adulthood. For our parents, driving is the symbolic resistance to infirmity and old age. Our attempt to wean them from their cars, in precisely the reverse order we used to phase our teens into driving, has been torture for our parents and for us.

Toys – We’ve filled our parents’ shelves with new toys to help them with everything from opening cartons of milk (I’d like a word with whoever designed those plastic pull loops) and zipping their clothes, to opening jars and removing the protective seals from over-the-counter medicines. A “picker-upper” device helps them avoid bending too low, and a key turner gives them leverage to open their door. Large digital clock faces, easy-read telephone keypads, and magnifying glasses keep them in touch with the world, and an e-mail printer keeps them in touch with their grandchildren.

Medicating – Filling those plastic pill box organizers with a week’s worth of medicines has become a personal barometer of competence for our parents, yet, as with our kids when they were young, we feel compelled to oversee the dosing.

Mobility – Despite numerous falls, it was only with much teeth gnashing (or denture gnashing, as the case may be) that our mothers consented to use canes; more gnashing when canes gave way to walkers. For long walks, we hide the wheelchair half way there and back so the neighbors don’t see.

The more we do for our parents, the more frail and guilty they feel. Our efforts are sometimes resented. Helping them get in and out of the car, or bracing them under the arm as they negotiate a bumpy sidewalk, can be an affront. “I can do it myself!”

Can I ride my bike to tennis practice if I’m really careful crossing Holly Street? Why can’t I take a cab home from the seniors program at the community center? Can I walk to grandma’s by myself this time? Can I take the bus to the supermarket today? All the kids are hanging out at the park after school, can I go? I’ll just walk down the block to the neighbor’s house this afternoon, O.K.?

What wisdom did we gain the first time around to help us now? Patience, consciousness and white lies.

Patience to wait for them to come to the same conclusions we did. Mom, do you think Rosalind would have fallen and broken both wrists if she had been using a walker?

Consciousness about their need for independence as ballast to our need for their well-being. Why don’t you just let us drive you at night for now?

And white lies – I’m going to the supermarket anyway, we can shop together.

The longer we can protect our parents from harm, the more we can share our lives with them and the more joy they can have from their grandchildren. The trick is doing it without hurting them in other ways.

We’ve been through this before. It was worth it then, and it’s worth it now.

Dr. Harley A. Rotbart is professor and vice chairman of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the author of “No Regrets Parenting.”

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Fed chairman urges Obama, Congress to try to avoid 'fiscal cliff'

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke urged President Obama and Congress to shield the fragile economy from the full brunt of the so-called fiscal cliff or risk another recession just as the recovery is taking hold.

Speaking Tuesday at the New York Economic Club, Bernanke warned that the Fed doesn't have the tools left to offset the one-two punch of significantly higher taxes and sharply reduced government spending set to begin in January.

"Coming together to find fiscal solutions will not be easy, but the stakes are high," Bernanke said.

The housing market recently has shown "some clear signs of improvement," but the economic recovery still faces significant head winds. Among them is U.S. fiscal policy, which he said "may intensify in force in coming quarters."

"Congress and the administration will need to protect the economy from the full brunt of the severe fiscal tightening at the beginning of next year that is built into current law — the so-called fiscal cliff," he said.

"The realization of all of the automatic tax increases and spending cuts that make up the fiscal cliff, absent offsetting changes, would pose a substantial threat to the recovery," Bernanke said.

He noted that the Congressional Budget Office and many economists project "a fiscal shock of that size would send the economy toppling back into recession."

If the White House and Congress can't reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, the Fed won't be able to prevent another recession because it has exhausted just about all its monetary measures to try to boost the economy, Bernanke said.

The Fed is in the midst of a third round of stimulative bond buying, known as quantitative easing. But there is not much else the central bank can do other than buy bonds, a strategy that has kept short-term interest rates near zero since late 2008 and will probably continue until at least mid-2015.

Any deficit-reduction deal probably would involve higher taxes and reduced government spending that would be a drag on economic growth next year, Bernanke said. But that's better than the alternative.

"My advice on this is sort of 'do no harm,' and in that respect, what I'm most concerned about … is the full force of the fiscal cliff," Bernanke said. "The ability of the Fed to offset head winds is not infinite."

A deal to avoid the fiscal cliff and start reducing the soaring national debt will help ease some of the uncertainty that businesses have.

Bernanke said he could not quantify how much fiscal cliff concerns were harming growth, but said the effect of uncertainty was "probably significant."

The European debt crisis also is a source of concern. But Bernanke said that avoiding the fiscal cliff would reduce uncertainty and potentially provide a big boost to the U.S. recovery because there would be "a greater level of security about where the country is going."

jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com

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4 held in alleged terror plot

Men with Southland ties sought to join Al Qaeda and harm Americans, FBI says.

Four men with ties to Southern California have been charged with plotting to join Al Qaeda and the Taliban to commit "violent jihad" and target Americans, the FBI said Monday night.

One of the men, Sohiel Omar Kabir, 34, allegedly traveled in July to Afghanistan, where he arranged for terrorist training to be conducted with Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives, according to a complaint unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Riverside.

Kabir, who lived in Pomona, is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, federal authorities said.

In 2010, Kabir allegedly introduced Ontario resident Ralph Deleon, 23, and Upland resident Miguel Alejandro Santana, 21, to "radical and violent Islamic doctrine," according to the complaint.

"Kabir influenced Santana and Deleon to convert to Islam," the complaint said.

Kabir and Santana allegedly posted terrorist audio and video files on their Facebook pages and communicated via Skype when Kabir was overseas, according to federal authorities.

The complaint said the men studied Internet essays and lectures by Anwar Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric and U.S. citizen killed in Yemen in 2011 by missiles fired from a U.S. Predator drone aircraft. The death of Awlaki, a mid-level Al Qaeda operative, was considered a major coup because he had been effective in reaching disaffected Muslims in the U.S. and elsewhere with his online speeches and sermons.

Santana is accused of posting audio files of Awlaki on a social media site, the complaint alleges.

After arriving in Afghanistan, Kabir told the two men he had arranged for them to travel to that country for terrorist training, the complaint alleged.

Santana and Deleon are accused of telling a confidential source working for the FBI that they planned to go to Afghanistan to take part in "violent jihad," the complaint said. Santana is a permanent resident born in Mexico, authorities said, and Deleon is a permanent resident born in the Philippines.

The confidential source was paid more than $250,000 in October by the federal government and received unspecified "immigration benefits," according to a footnote in the criminal complaint. The source was previously convicted of trafficking in pseudoephedrine.

In September, Santana and Deleon recruited Arifeen David Gojali, 21, of Riverside to travel overseas with them and join Kabir for terrorist training, according to federal authorities. Gojali is a U.S. citizen.

Santana, Gojali and Deleon were apprehended Friday by authorities with the Joint Terrorism Task Force. They appeared before a magistrate Monday in federal court in Riverside.

Kabir was taken into custody in Afghanistan.

The investigation is ongoing. If convicted, the men each face up to 15 years in federal prison.

robert.lopez@latimes.com

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So What if Oprah Used an iPad to Tweet About Microsoft Surface?

Oprah Winfrey recently gave Microsoft‘s Surface her seal of approval when the gadget made her annual “Favorite Things” list. Oprah has been using Twitter and hashtag #FavoriteThings to endorse the Surface.

On Monday, however, criticism began bubbling up on blogs and social sites because it appears Oprah is typing her tweets on Apple‘s iPad (see screenshot above).

[More from Mashable: How Should Apple Name the Next Mac OS Series? [POLL]]

But, we have to ask, does that really matter?

Technology users own more than one gadget — often made from different companies — and as my colleagues point out, people use an iPad differently than a Surface. And for Oprah, that’s no different. She did put the iPad on her “Ultimate Favorite Things” list in 2010, saying, “I really think it’s the best invention of the century so far.”

[More from Mashable: Apple Stock Jumps More Than 7% After Falling to 6-Month Low]

Additionally, a good Twitter client doesn’t exist yet for Windows 8, says Mashable Tech Editor Pete Pachal.

Oprah, whose product endorsements usually boost sales for companies, compared the Surface to a Mercedes-Benz in O magazine’s “Favorite Things” list:

“The Surface, Microsoft’s first tablet, feels like a Mercedes-Benz to me, people! The full-size keyboard built right into the cover makes work easy, the very smart kickstand makes watching a movie or Skyping a friend a delight, the less than a pound-and-a-half weight makes a great alternative to a laptop, and the many other features make it fun for work and play. Now, that’s a wowser!”

The Surface will also appear in the televised Oprah’s Favorite Things 2012 two-hour special on Nov. 18.

How do you feel about Oprah raving about the Surface via an iPad? Does that raise red flags about the product’s capabilities? Or are people blowing this incident out of proportion? Weigh in below in the comments.

Microsoft Surface Powered Up

This is the Surface tablet with Touch Cover in place.

Click here to view this gallery. Screenshot of Oprah’s Tweet from Mashable’s Seth Fiegerman

Homepage photo via Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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'Trapped' on Broadway? R. Kelly is working on it

NEW YORK (AP) — Is Broadway ready for Twan, Sylvester, Pimp Lucius and "the package"? R. Kelly thinks so — and says he's working to bring the wacky characters and plotlines in his even wackier "Trapped in the Closet" series to the Great White Way.

The superstar announced on Monday night that he's had an offer to bring the cult classic to the stage, and he may even be in some performances.

"To transform it into a Broadway version, that's what I'm working on," he told a packed house at the Sunshine Theater, where he unveiled the latest chapters in "Trapped in the Closet," which will debut on the IFC on Friday.

Kelly gave no other details about a possible Broadway adaptation of the wildly popular video opera. It got its start from a stirring series of songs Kelly debuted in 2005, which ended with a cliff-hanger. The songs captured so much attention, Kelly made an over-the-top video series about it that just got crazier and crazier as he added more chapters.

Kelly has often referred to "Trapped" as an alien, and on Monday, he said: "I'm glad to be one of the astronauts to take this thing to the unknown."

He thanked the enthusiastic crowd for accepting the series, and admitted that he always wanted to act: "Somehow, I landed 'Trapped in the Closet' from being silly."

He also joked about the ridiculous nature of the series.

"I'm just having a lot of fun. I don't have a job so I sit in the studio all day and think of stuff to do and this is just something stupid I've done that's been successful for me," he said. "I'm having a lot of fun with it."

The latest chapters introduce a few new faces, and like the others series, ends with a cliffhanger. While it's taken Kelly five years to add these latest chapters to the series, Kelly says he won't take as long to produce more.

"I want everybody to know I've got 85 chapters of 'Trapped in the Closet' waiting in the studio for y'all," he said. "The chapters that are coming — the show, we call it — is going to exceed every chapter that you have ever seen."

Kelly capped of the evening with a rendition of one of his biggest hits, "I Believe I Can Fly," for the audience.

___

http://www.r-kelly.com

http://www.ifc.com

___

Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's Global Entertainment & Lifestyles Editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi

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Responding to Illnesses Manifesting Amid Recovery From Storm

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

Dr. Aaron Gardener, center, attended to a patient at an ad hoc medical unit in Long Beach, N.Y. Many people have coughs, rashes and other ailments.

Day and night, victims of Hurricane Sandy have been streaming into ad hoc emergency rooms and relief centers, like the MASH-type medical unit on an athletic field in Long Beach, and the warming tent in the Rockaways the size of a small high school gym.

They complain of rashes, asthma and coughing. They need tetanus shots because — house-proud and armed with survivalist instincts — they have been ripping out waterlogged boards and getting poked by rusty nails. Those with back pain from sifting through debris receive muscle relaxants; those with chest pain from overexertion are hooked up to cardiac monitors.

“I’ve been coughing,” said Gabriel McAuley, 46, who has been working 16-hour days gutting homes and hauling debris in the Rockaways since the storm hit. “I’ve never felt a cough like that before. It’s deeper down.”

It is impossible to say how many people have been sickened by what Hurricane Sandy left behind: mold from damp drywall; spills from oil tanks; sewage from floodwater and unflushable toilets; tons upon tons of debris and dust. But interviews with hurricane victims, recovery workers, health officials and medical experts over the last week reveal that some of the illnesses that they feared would occur, based on the toxic substances unleashed by the storm and the experience of other disasters, notably Hurricane Katrina, have begun to manifest themselves.

Emergency rooms and poison control centers have reported cases of carbon monoxide exposure — and in New Jersey, several deaths have been attributed to it — from the misuse of generators to provide power and stoves to provide heat.

In Livingston, N.J., the Burn Center at St. Barnabas Medical Center had 16 burn cases over about six days, three times as many as usual, from people trying to dispel the cold and darkness with boiling water, gasoline, candles and lighter fluid.

Raw sewage spilled into homes in Baldwin and East Rockaway, in Nassau County, when a sewage plant shut down because of the surge and the system could not handle the backup. Sewage also spilled from a huge plant in Newark. “We tried to limit our presence in the house because the stink was horrible,” said Jennifer Ayres, 34, of Baldwin, who has been staying temporarily in West Hempstead. She said that she felt ill for several days, that her son had a scratchy throat, and that her mother, who lives in the house, had difficulty breathing, all problems she attributed to the two days they spent inside their house cleaning up last week. “I had stomach problems. I felt itchy beyond itchy on my face.”

Coughing — locally known as the Rockaway cough — is a common symptom that health officials said could come from mold, or from the haze of dust and sand kicked up by the storm and demolitions. The air in the Rockaways is so full of particles that the traffic police wear masks — though many recovery workers do not, worrying people who recall the fallout of another disaster.

“It’s just like 9/11,” said Kathy Smilardi, sitting inside the skeleton of her gutted home in Broad Channel, wrapped in a white puffy jacket, her breath visible in the afternoon cold. “Everyone runs in to clean up, and they’re not wearing masks. Are we going to wait 20 years to figure out that people are dying?”

Health officials and experts say the risks are real, but are cautioning against hysteria. Some coughing could be due to cold, damp weather. Lasting health effects from mold, dust and other environmental hazards generally require long-term, continuous exposure, they said. And the short-term effects can be mitigated by taking precautions like wearing masks, gloves and boots and removing mold-infested wallboard. “The reality is that cleaning up both muck and sewage and spills and removing walls and reconstruction and dealing with debris all do in fact pose concerns,” Daniel Kass, New York City’s deputy commissioner for environmental health, said Friday. “Are they vast or uncontrollable? No. But they depend on people doing work correctly and taking basic precautions.”

The Katrina cough was found to be temporary, said Roy J. Rando, a professor at Tulane’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Felicia Rabito, an epidemiologist at the school, said that healthy children exposed to mold after Hurricane Katrina showed no lasting respiratory symptoms when they moved back to new or renovated homes.

Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, lead levels in New Orleans’s soil dropped after the top layers of dirt, where lead from paint and gasoline can accumulate, were washed away. But in the two years afterward, soil testing found extremely high lead levels, Dr. Rabito said, which she theorized came from renovating old homes. “That’s a cautionary tale,” she said. Lead in soil can be tracked into homes and pose a health hazard to children playing inside or outside.

Though at least one outbreak of norovirus, a contagious gastrointestinal virus, occurred in a Brooklyn high school that was used as a shelter, New York and New Jersey health officials said they had not seen any significant spike in respiratory or gastrointestinal diseases related to the storm.

In Broad Channel, most homes on Noel Road, where Ms. Smilardi lives, have outdoor oil tanks that were overturned by the storm. The innards of many homes, built when asbestos was used, lie spilled among major and minor roads.

Ominous red spots covered both sides of Paul Nowinski’s burly torso. After the storm, Mr. Nowinski, a musician, waded into the basement of his childhood home on Beach 146th Street in the Rockaways to try to salvage records, books and instruments. He was up to his chest in water, which he thinks might have been contaminated with sewage. He said that he did not know the cause of the red marks; and that he had been too busy “schlepping” to go to the doctor.

Angela Macropoulos contributed reporting.

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Over-the-top cooking show 'Epic Meal Time' sizzles on the Web

The chef at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen is accustomed to preparing meals for hundreds of people using donated meat, vegetables and fruit.

But on a recent afternoon in Costa Mesa, the chefs of Internet cooking sensation "Epic Meal Time" were raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Among the "epic" meals added to the lunch menu: Fast Food Lasagna (whose main ingredient is 45 McDonald's cheeseburgers), the Angry French Canadian (an adaptation of the Quebec dish poutine, on this day made with French fries, bacon and cheddar cheese and topped with brown gravy and maple syrup), and TurBaconEpic, a super-size version of the Thanksgiving-themed stunt classic, in which a quail is stuffed inside a Cornish game hen, inside a chicken, inside a duck, inside a turkey — then slow-roasted inside a pig.

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"We brought a whole bunch of our best-tasting recipes today to share with everyone here," said Harley Morenstein, the host of "Epic Meal Time." "So, I hope you enjoy it. If not, I apologize."

This isn't Ina Garten's "Barefoot Contessa." Morenstein and his cast of supporting characters aren't seeking the perfect bechamel sauce.

They're cooking big piles of meat, making such comically over-the-top meals as the barbecue Colosseum constructed out of ribs, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, or a Christmas tree decorated with garland strands of chicken nuggets and 2,000 strips of bacon.

Online audiences — especially young men — eat it up. The weekly cooking show has attracted some 2.9 million subscribers on YouTube, and nearly a half-billion video views. The recent episodes "Chinese Pizza," "The Unbalanced Breakfast" and "Country Fried Meal Time" have each had more viewers than for a recent episode of TLC's popular "Cake Boss" or The Travel Channel's "Man Vs. Food." According to ratings firm Nielsen, new episodes of "Cake Boss" and "Man Vs. Food" attracted 1.5 million and 1.1 million viewers, respectively, in their initial TV outings.

PHOTOS: Hollywood back lot moments

Eager to reach the Web show's young male demographic, Frito-Lay North America Inc.'s Doritos brand, retailer GameStop Corp., subscription service Netflix Inc. and the publisher of the "Gears of War" video game have advertised on the channel.

The Web show is not without its detractors. The advocacy group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals featured a parody video called "Vegan Meal Time" on its blog and criticized the show's creators for "the nastiness of their gluttonous creations."

"'Epic Meal Time' seems to be a proud sponsor of the obesity epidemic," Jane Dollinger, a spokeswoman for PETA, said in a statement.

But "Epic Meal Time" has won some surprising fans who appreciate its satire of the over-serious TV cooking show. Healthful-eating advocate Jamie Oliver, who hosted ABC's "Food Revolution," even wrote the forward for the Web show's forthcoming cookbook.

Morenstein, who holds a degree in elementary education from McGill University in Montreal, was developing a children's show when he uploaded a video of him and a buddy cooking a pizza topped with melted cheese and McDonald's hamburgers. For fun, he tacked on nutritional information (6,000 calories and over 1,000 grams of fat) and invented the "Epic Meal Time" name to capture the gastronomical excess.

The October 2010 video was a modest YouTube sensation — attracting 150,000 views and coverage in the local newspaper. The next video, in which Morenstein created the Angry French Canadian sandwich, grabbed an even bigger online viewership and earned the 6-foot-6 host the nickname "Jackass in the kitchen."

In a bid for American viewers, Morenstein planned a Thanksgiving feast in which he created an exaggerated version of the legendary turducken. He dubbed his creation the TurBaconEpic.

"It got 2 million views in a week," Morenstein said. "I was like, 'OK, this is what we do for my life now.'"

In 2010, "Epic Meal Time" was accepted into YouTube's partner program, allowing it to share in online advertising revenue. To prepare, he wrote 200 to 300 cooking ideas for such things as a variation on spaghetti and meatballs, in which the pasta is stuffed into a meatball the size of a basketball.

Now, Morenstein's production company is profitable and supports a 10-person full-time team.

It collects revenue from advertisers attracted by its more than 30 million monthly video views, garners fees from marketers who are coming to the show's creator to develop branded content to promote their products and services, and operates a lucrative merchandising operation that sells everything from hats, hoodies and T-shirts to, soon, cooking utensils, said Dan Weinstein, chief content officer at Collective Digital Studio, Morenstein's management company and distribution partner.

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