Mick Jones’ radio rescue

Foreigner's Mick Jones sent word to his son, Alexander Dexter-Jones, during Hurricane Sandy in rock star fashion: via a radio interview. Jones, in Los Angeles to play the Grammy Museum last night, couldn't reach his son, who was on Long Island by phone as tides began to rise. "I'm desperately trying to get a hold of him," Jones told California's KLOS radio's "Heidi and Frank" morning show Monday. "I'm about to call the police department out there." He explained he had told Alexander to listen in, and if he was, to "get the hell out of that low ground and get to high ground, please." Alexander got in touch with his dad to say he was safe shortly afterward, having taken shelter in a safer location.

EPA

Mick Jones

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Boldfaces see blue

Picasso was the theme of actress and art collector Allison Sarofim's and Stuart Parr's annual Halloween party Saturday night. The couple's West Village townhouse was transformed into Picasso's Blue Period by designer Antony Todd, with wall-to-wall blue carpeting, blue slipcovers, and a tented garden with walls covered in Picasso-esque murals. Nude, body-painted dancers performed throughout the space, while shirtless bartenders passed libations to a costumed crowd that included Brian Atwood, Dennis Basso, Harry and Peter Brant Jr., Dori Cooperman, Johan Lindeberg, Cynthia Rowley, Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict. Later in the evening, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, dressed as a Daryl Hannah-inspired mermaid, showed up but had some trouble at the door. Our source said, "The door staff didn't see their names on the list. But one of the organizers came to get them and ushered them inside."

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Marathon may be delayed

New York City Marathon organizers said they are moving ahead with their plans to run the race scheduled for Sunday, but in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, they understand the need to make any adjustments that will best serve the city.

When asked if one of those adjustments includes postponing the 26.2-mile race and moving it back from Sunday, a race organizer was noncommittal.

"This is a very challenging time for the people and City of New York. The City is rightfully focused on assessment, restoration and recovery. At NYRR, we stand with our City agency partners and support their efforts,'' said New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg, who also serves as race director. "The Marathon has always been a special day for New Yorkers as a symbol of the vitality and resiliency of this City. NYRR continues to move ahead with its planning and preparation. We will keep all options open.''

Nearly 20,000 amateur international runners need to get into the country.

Yesterday, it was unclear when all public transit, river crossings and airports would reopen.

The marathon pours an estimated $350 million into the city each year. But it also requires major support from city agencies that are being strained by the storm.

The route through the five boroughs mostly avoids areas considered at highest risk for flooding and doesn't run through lower Manhattan, which experienced significant flooding.

brian.lewis@nypost.com

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‘Awesome’ chance in Ladies’ Classic

ARCADIA, Calif. — The great racemare Personal Ensign, who won the 1988 Breeders' Cup Distaff (now called the Ladies' Secret) in dramatic fashion to finish her career undefeated, won 11 of her 13 starts with five surgical screws in her left hind leg after fracturing her pastern as a 2-year-old.

This Friday in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic, Awesome Feather — the 2-year-old filly champion of 2010 — looks to go 11-for-11 after overcoming an injury that was just as career-threatening as Personal Ensign's.

After Awesome Feather went 6-for-6 at 2, she was purchased at auction by Frank Stronach for $2.3 million and sent to trainer Chad Brown, but a bowed tendon (a tear of the fibers) in her left front leg sent her to the sidelines. Most horses never make it back from that injury, but 11 months later Awesome Feather returned to the races and won three stakes in the next four months.

Given another long break, the 4-year-old Florida-bred came back again on Sept. 20 at Belmont to win her 10th straight by 11 lengths, running the mile in 1:33.47.

"On the average, you don't see this type of thing happen often with a tendon, but this is a totally different situation," Brown said. "This horse is a special horse.

"Every horse is different, and every injury is different. It depends on where it is, the extent of it, or a horse's own tolerance for pain or healing. There is a lot of luck involved. The most important component is her, the filly. She's overcome it. We've tried to help her along and stay out of her way."

* The final flight bringing horses from New York to the Breeders' Cup — including leading Classic candidate Mucho Macho Man and Todd Pletcher's standout 2-year-olds, the colt Shanghai Bobby and the fillies Dreaming of Julia and Kauai Katie — is expected to leave Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., early this morning after being delayed because of Hurricane Sandy.

The plane will stop in Kentucky, then continue on the California, with agents of the Thoroughbred Protective Bureau aboard to keep the horses under surveillance in accordance with Breeders' Cup protocols.

* There is still time to register for the Breeders' Cup $500k Pay Day promotion to receive a mystery voucher via e-mail for $2, $5 or $100 — and for one lucky contestant, $500,000 — to bet on the Cup at your local simulcast outfit. To sign up, go to payday.breederscup.com before midnight tonight.

* Hurricane Sandy struck close to home out here when Claudene Christian, 42, a former marketing executive at Hollywood Park, drowned after the tall ship HMS Bounty sunk Monday off the coast of North Carolina.

According to Christian's Facebook page, she was a descendant of Fletcher Christian, the lead mutineer on the original Bounty portrayed by Clark Cable, Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson in various films.

ed.fountaine@nypost.com

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Report: Vilma brief has whistleblower email

The never-ending Saints Bountygate case has taken another twist.

The latest legal brief filed by New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma that pushes for the removal of former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue from the players' appeals hearing in the bounty investigation reportedly includes the original email from a former Saints assistant that had helped relaunch the NFL's investigation.

ProFootballTalk.com obtained a copy of the brief and reported that it attaches a Nov. 2, 2011 email from former Saints assistant coach Mike Cerullo to NFL spokesman Greg Aiello regarding the team's alleged pay-for-pain program.

Getty Images

CHIEF CONCERN: Struggling Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel is back as the starter — by default — after Brady Quinn was ruled out for tomorrow night due to a concussion.

"So I have info on Saints Joe Vitt Lying to your NFL Investigators on Bounties from 2010, along with proof!!! I was there, in the cover up meetings, with players and Joe, I love the NFL and want to work there again, but I am afraid if I tell thge [sic] truth I will never coach again in NFL, But I was fired for a situation that the Saints encourage," the email reads, according to the website. "All I want is a Job back in the NFL as a QC Coach anywhere, so If talking to you jepodizes [sic] that I will have to get back to you, but The Saints are a Dirty Organization. Contact me."

On March 21, the NFL handed the initial penalties to Saints coach Sean Payton, assistant head coach Vitt and general manager Mickey Loomis, as well as former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. The original penalties instituted against Vilma and three other players were handed down May 2. They were overturned on appeal, then re-instituted Oct. 10 by commissioner Roger Goodell.

CHIEFS: Matt Cassel is getting another chance to be Kansas City's starting QB. Cassel will start tomorrow night's game at San Diego as Brady Quinn has not been cleared to practice because of a concussion, regaining the starting job that he lost after a dismal season-opening, five-game stretch.

STEELERS: Safety Troy Polamalu will miss his third straight game Sunday against the Giants because of a strained right calf. The status of safety Ryan Clark (concussion) and linebacker LaMarr Woodley (right hamstring) is a bit more optimistic.

Running back Jonathan Dwyer (right quad) will not practice today but is expected to participate at some point this week.

CHARGERS: San Diego has waived kicker Nate Kaeding after he passed a physical.

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Stacy goes promo plus

George Clooney's girlfriend Stacy Keibler has found a new gig: spokesperson. The former pro wrestler has been turning up to promote a variety of products. Last Wednesday, she attended Valspar Paint's event at Bath House Studios for the brand's "Love Your Color Guarantee," and later showed up for Rent the Runway at Skylight Studio to spin their "Compliment Wheel." Keibler recently helped Macallan launch their Masters of Photography collection and kitchen appliances at GD Cucine.

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Stacy Keibler

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Living ‘Lincoln’

Oprah Winfrey almost missed Steven Spielberg Thursday at a screening of his latest film, "Lincoln," at AMC Loews Lincoln Square. Spielberg was going up an escalator when the media mogul, with Gayle King, exited the theater. "Oprah shouted to him across the room," says a spy. "Everyone turned including Steven who looked like he was going to walk back down the escalator. He waited for her, and she told him the movie was excellent." Spielberg took part in a panel led by Time magazine's Rick Stengel with writer Tony Kushner, and Daniel Day- Lewis, who took a year to prepare for the role as the 16th president. On his method acting, he said, "Over the years, I have made very little go a long way. I tend to believe that it may just be superstition on my part, but I found a way that suited me many years ago. It still suits me now." He added: "I can't help but believe that it compensates sometimes for a tendency for seeing the absurd in what I do and therefore I overcompensate by taking it that much more seriously," Day-Lewis said. "But I take it seriously in a way that I took soccer seriously as a kid. I enjoy playing soccer as a game . . . but I played it seriously, and I feel the same way about this. It's a game that I enjoy playing seriously."

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Oprah Winfrey

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Mystery of the missing will

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has been embroiled in a lengthy legal battle over the missing will of wealthy New York art collector Andrea Bollt and her $12 million estate.

Bollt, a classical musician and the wife of the late Robert Bollt who held a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, died at age 77 two years ago, leaving an estate of $12 million and a large collection of art including works by Alexander Calder, Franz Kline, Joan Miró, Yves Klein, Philip Guston, Josef Albert and Jacques Lipchitz, artists she had befriended in the 1950s and '60s.

Bollt's brother, George Panaiotopoulo s, asked to be named administrator of her estate. Bollt's daughter-in-law, Oana Bollt — the wife of Andrea's late son, archaeologist Robert Bollt Jr., sought a court order forcing Panaiotopolous, 67, to produce a will, but the businessman said it was missing.

Then in 2011, the Met — where Bollt had sometimes worked — said it had a copy of her will and that it named the museum as the sole beneficiary of her estate. It claimed she had said in writing she wanted her wealth to be used to "maintain, improve and expand the Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection of art from Africa, Oceania and the Americas. I further direct that such bequest should be made in memory of my late husband, Robert Boltt Sr., and my late son, Robert Bollt Jr."

The museum said Bollt had give a copy of the document to a friend at the Met, along with a note that said, "Please keep my will in your safe because my brother is too superstitious to look at it or take it home. Original in my filing cabinet, key in bedroom drawer." That original has still not been found.

Behind the scenes, Page Six has exclusively learned that the Bollt family has just settled with the Met, giving them a large donation of art and a settlement worth multiple millions of dollars. Panaiotopolous' lawyer, William Zabel, declined to comment. Bollt's lawyer, Steven Prager, said, "The papers speak for themselves." The Met didn't get back to us.

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Big gay party’s very fragrant

Andre Saraiva's Le Baron kicked off their first gay party here Wednesday night with $1,000 worth of fragrance. The new weekly party, called Les Garcons, pumped a different scent from Christopher Street's Aedes de Venustas onto each floor of the tri-level space and even had the sweet smell coming from the fog machine. For those who couldn't get enough of the smells, one of which was described as the odor of the living room "after the end of a Parisian dinner," scent sticks were also placed in the bathrooms. St. Germain bought over 150 bottles of champagne for the event at the Chinatown boite and Misshapes and Mazurbate DJ'd. This was Le Baron's first gay party ever, including their Paris location.

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Holmes’ Scientology stop

Katie, look out behind you! After escaping her marriage to Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes has been publicly showing us that she's just a normal single mom in the city, even hopping on the subway at West 23rd Street this month. But Chelsea spies tell us that at the very same station where Katie hopped the E train, a series of posters has gone up advertising Cruise's favorite religion, Scientology. "Searching for answers to life?" the poster says above a hunky Cruise lookalike staring at the Empire State Building from a balcony. "Scientology. Know yourself. Know life," the poster says. A source told us that the poster campaign does appear in other subway stations, too, but, "at all the hundreds of stations in New York, this is the one where three Scientology posters went up." Perhaps they are trying to lure her back. Chelsea resident Holmes, who is prepping for the opening of her Broadway play "Dead Accounts" next month, hasn't been spotted riding the rails since she was snapped earlier this month.

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Katie Holmes

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Worrying for their pets sick

I'm always worried about Lester," says Louise Rozett, 41, a writer of young-adult fiction who lives in Brooklyn. "I love him as much if not more than anyone or anything in my life, so when I think there might be a problem, it's pretty much all I can think about."

Rozett isn't talking about her child or a romantic partner, but rather her 2-year-old Bernese mountain dog. "I really have to force myself not to pick up the phone and call the vet for every little thing," she says.

As with many who have animals in the city, her pup's health and well-being is an ever-present worry that walks the fine line between legitimate concern and pet-focused hypochondria.

Alamy

For pet owners, it can be hard to tell if they've really got a sick puppy (or kitty) on their hands, or if they're just being crazy.

"People in New York are very in tune with their animals and very proactive," says Dr. Kristin Lester, a veterinarian with the Seaport Animal Hospital in lower Manhattan. "Sometimes you notice something very subtle and it turns out to be really significant. But...it could be nothing, just a change in barometric pressure."

Dr. Hilary Nims, a veterinarian at Hope Veterinary Services in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, says she's become accustomed to managing neurotic pet owners and has observed that pet-hypochondria tends to afflict young couples who get a pet to test their caretaking abilities before having a child.

Recently, she recalls, a couple brought their terrier into the practice. The woman had become concerned about a small bump on its head, and also feared the dog might be sick because he'd eaten a sweet potato. It was evident the boyfriend found it all a bit absurd. "Those are the most difficult, when one [owner] has taken on the maternal role and one is more dismissive," she says. In the end, the dog ended up having a developmental eye disease, and the boyfriend was humbled. "It's better to be safe than sorry," Nims cautions.

How can pet owners deduce when their concern is legitimate and when they're being overly neurotic? Here, some tips:

*  Don't miss your checkups: The ASPCA recommends that cats and dogs get an annual physical. Senior pets should be checked out twice a year.

* Know what's normal: Juliet Sternberg, the director of Hope Veterinary Services, has heard from cat owners concerned that their pet is sleeping all day, but that's actually prototypical feline behavior. Lester suggests that owners should read up on the health-related quirks common to their animals' breed and age.

*  Know what's an urgent concern: Lester notes that any animal demonstrating a respiratory problem — such as labored breathing — requires immediate medical attention.

*  Consider waiting it out: While it can be scary to see your pet projectile vomiting, a onetime incident doesn't necessarily mean you need to rush to the vet. "If the dog is still standing, and they're wagging their tail, one episode is fine," Nims says, "especially if he's still eating."

* But leave the doctoring to the doctor: Drugs that appear virtually harmless to humans, such as ibuprofen, can kill a dog, says Nims. A professional should make all medication decisions. Also, be wary of relying on the Internet for medical advice. There's a fine line between learning more about your kitty and diagnosing him.

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Adopt me!

Murphy is a 6-year-old medium-haired brown tabby cat. He is very social and adorable and has more toes than the average kitty. Meet him from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Humane Society of New York, 306 E. 59th St.; 212- 752-4840 or visit humanesocietyny.org.

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The great Pumpkin

Ahead of his band's big Halloween show at the Barclays Center on Wednesday, The Post caught up with "bald-headed" Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan, 45, to talk about impractical costumes, candy-gathering tips — and why he has a strict ban on spooky paraphernalia.

What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

One year I got the idea that I wanted to be the Mummy. So we got a bed sheet, wrapped me all up, pinned me up and I made it about half a block before the

costume just disintegrated. I had to run home in shame! I had nothing on underneath. But then I turned in to "the bum" — or the homeless man as you would probably call it now in PC culture. That was my emergency costume that year.

Redferns

Billy Corgan

Did you have a good trick-or-treating strategy?

Yes. There was a townhouse, subdivision complex about a mile away from where we lived [in the Chicago suburbs]. It was in a very remote location, so I convinced my younger brother that we should go there because it was mostly 20- and 30-somethings living there, and there weren't a lot of kids. That was a pretty accurate guess because when we got there, the people would say, "We've been waiting two hours, and no kids have come by. Here, take all the candy." So my brother and I would come with two shopping bags each full of candy. It became our go-to place every year, our well-kept secret.

What's the scariest chord progression?

It's called the devil's tritone which is A to B-flat. There's a song called "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" that we did for the "Batman & Robin" soundtrack that uses it. And "X.Y.U." from "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" uses it, too. I'm sure there's more — I just can't think of them. But if you want to be scary, you have to go there.

Have the Smashing Pumpkins ever done any Halloween-themed shows or played any Halloween-themed covers in past years?

No! We actually hated playing Halloween in the early days because everyone would always be so wasted. You'd turn up, and the show would be sold-out but full of drunk punters. I think for a while we had a policy where we would refuse to play Halloween. Some promoter would always offer us a show, thinking that he was being original because we're called the Smashing Pumpkins! But with a show like Barclays Center, it's a lot different because it's a big venue and it's a different set up. But it really used to be a nightmare!

So is Halloween the one time of year you regret the name Smashing Pumpkins?

The name has nothing to do with Halloween, and we always avoid using pumpkins and the like as stage props because it was always the most dumb and obvious thing to do. I remember once we were doing a TV show around Halloween, and they brought out pumpkins for us. I was like, "No!" That's the one thing you learn about rock 'n' roll — that people always default to the dumbest, lowest common denominator, no matter what. For instance, you always know it's gonna be a bad review when it starts with "the bald-headed Corgan." I can spot those pretty quickly!

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Meet our Hallo-winners!

Where you'll find it: 11 Weamaconk Drive, Englishtown, NJ

A dedicated decorator, 50-year-old Bob O'Brien is The Post's haunted house grand-prize winner after snagging an honorable mention in last year's contest. O'Brien, an automation systems technician, lives with his girlfriend, his son and his girlfriend's two daughters, but the decorating responsibilities fall on him.

"It's mostly my thing," he says. "They look at me like, 'Look at this old kook!' "

But the neighbors love it, and O'Brien, who estimates he has decorated for the past 20 years, starts planning months in advance. When his grill broke in March, it sparked the idea of a haunted cookout. The result is a complex scene made mostly of found and worn-out items collected over the months, along with skeletons and spooks he re-envisions each year. This year his ghoulish friends are seated around a picnic table O'Brien built, complete with table settings serving a meal of "brains" and "ears." And the old, weathered gazebo they're under provides the perfect spooky tableau.

The Post's winner, Bob O'Brien, hosts a creepy cookout in his backyard.

Photos: Halloween homes contest winners

"I love Halloween," says O'Brien. "Everybody thinks Thanksgiving and Christmas are the best holidays because you get something. But on Halloween, you can do goofy things like this."

Where you'll find it: 20 Yorkshire Drive, Suffern, NY

It was Brad Yuricisin's 10-year-old son Daniel who provoked this over-the-top shrine to the Tim Burton classic "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

"I saw it once or twice in the '90s," says Yuricisin, 41, a video editor, "but Daniel made me really love it."

As a toddler, Daniel was enthralled with the film — so much so that he begged for an inflatable yard decoration of one of the characters. The family went shopping and came up empty-handed, so Yuricisin did what any self-respecting dad would do — he made Daniel an 8-foot version of Jack Skellington out of plywood. Needless to say, Daniel was ecstatic.

Every year since, Yuricisin has created a new addition for the yard, voted on by Daniel and his little sisters, Sloane and Scarlett.

Where you'll find it: 11 Elm Lane, Greenville, NY

Halloween has always played a big role in the lives of Keith Krauss and his wife, Christine, both 45: The two wed — in costume — on Halloween in 1997.

Ever since, Keith has gone all out with spooky holiday decorations. The landscaper and prison maintenance worker spends $500 to buy new props and refurbish old ones. For him, the thrills make it worth the cost.

"We get a car doing what I call a drive-by, driving by slow [and close], almost every night," he says. "Usually if I see a car, I'll run out in the yard with a mask."

Krauss also hosts a themed party every year. This year's is "Carn-evil": Creepy clowns welcome visitors with an admission cost of just "one soul."

*The winner receives four VIP tickets to "Harry Potter: The Exhibition" in Times Square! Visit harrypotterexhibition.com for more information.

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Business briefs

Expedia flies

Expedia stock surged 15 percent, to $59.06, after the online travel agency reported third-quarter earnings that topped estimates. Excluding some items, profit rose 4.2 percent, to $188 million.

Healthy GDP

US economic growth sped up in the third quarter as stepped-up consumer purchases and turnaround in government spending offset business-investment cutback. GDP expanded at a 2 percent annual rate, up from 1.3 percent in the second quarter.

WhiteWave

Shares of WhiteWave, the Silk soy milk maker spun off by Dean Foods, received a so-so reception to its IPO yesterday, changing hands at just $16.87, after pricing at $17 Thursday.

Toyota zips

Toyota's worldwide sales grew 18 percent last quarter as US demand for Camrys and Priuses helped expand its edge over GM, the 2011 global volume leader.

KKR just OK

KKR's Henry Kravis and George Roberts are struggling to wrap up their first main buyout fund in six years. It has $6.2 billion, short of the desired $8 billion.

Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters. Click For Restrictions

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Street is shushed

Wall Street analysts are getting reined in again.

Citigroup's firing yesterday of a star analyst accused of leaking confidential information to the media rippled through research departments and served as a stark reminder of the disclosure rules imposed on banks.

Citi paid a $2 million fine and fired top analyst Mark Mahaney along with an underling accused of leaking confidential research on Facebook's public offering to the press.

Mahaney was faulted for failing to keep one of his junior analysts in check. Eric Jacobs was fired Sept. 27 for sending non-public research on Facebook to reporters at TechCrunch prior to the social network's initial public offering on May 18.

Getty Images

Muzzled: Wall Street is keeping mum after Citigroup paid a $2million fine and fired star analyst Mark Mahaney for improperly disclosing confidential research about acebook's initial public offering.

William Galvin, the top securities regulator for Massachusetts who levied the $2 million fine, also said Mahaney discussed unpublished revenue estimates for YouTube with a reporter from French magazine Capital without the bank's permission and subsequently tried to cover it up.

"This penalty should serve as a warning to the industry as a whole," Galvin said in a statement.

The Massachusetts case stands as one of the tougher punishments in the research realm since 2003, when then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer struck a global settlement with the largest banks over analysts' conflicts.

An all-star analyst who had garnered Institutional Investor's coveted No. 1 ranking in tech for five years in a row, Mahaney helped Citi grab a piece of blockbuster IPOs such as Facebook.

Regulators are also scrutinizing whether select investors received non-public research about Facebook's market debut before regular investors.

Galvin has subpoenaed the lead underwriters on the Facebook IPO — Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan — to determine whether analysts improperly disseminated research.

"It is essential in these times of rapid and diffuse means of communications financial institutions be vigilant to ensure that the rules on IPOs are observed by all their personnel," according to Galvin.

Sources said that Mahaney's coverage is being taken over by another senior analyst, Neil Doshi, who primarily covers electronic gaming stocks including Electronic Arts.

Citi is also mulling dropping coverage of Facebook and other companies Mahaney covered, sources said.

A Citi spokeswoman declined to comment other than to say, "We take our internal policies and procedures very seriously and have taken the appropriate actions."

In the wake of Mahaney's firing, leaders in Citi's research department called a conference to underscore the rules for research disclosures and getting approvals for media interviews.

"It too often happens that people are sloppy about who they talk [to]," said Eleanor Bloxham, CEO of The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance.

"The problem with situations like that where you have confidential information, at a certain point it starts to lapse into insider trading and people providing insider information," she added.

mark.decambre@nypost.com

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Lance’s fall from grace: Who are the wheel dopes?

The Issue: Lance Armstrong's being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after doping allegations.

***

The Anti-Doping powers that be have stripped Lance Armstrong of his Tour de France titles ("Ghost Rider Lance Is Stripped," Oct. 23)

They should give them to the second guy — but he was doping, too. And the third and fourth guys? Doping.

Keep in mind that Armstrong never failed a drug test.

The real dopes out there are those who think there are any competitors in the Tour de France who aren't doping.

This entire story is bull, because almost everyone in cycling was doping, and these agencies knew it.

AFP/Getty Images

Armstrong finishing the Tour de France in 2004.Getty

This is like Major League Baseball saying none of its players were taking steroids in the '90s.

If they want to go after Armstrong, they should go after the entire blood-doping sport of cycling.

Edward Drossman

Manhattan

Now that Armstrong has lost his titles and his endorsements, and could be sued by the companies who paid him, he is forever disgraced.

The only thing left is for him to run for president, like Bill Clinton.

Steve Becker

East Meadow

Shame on every single one of the 4,000 riders who participated in an Oct. 21 fundraiser hosted by Armstrong's charity, Livestrong.

These riders — especially the ones who claim to be against Armstrong's cheating — have given moral sanction to cheating through their actions and disgraced themselves.

Mark Kalinowski

Clifton, NJ

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Bam: Politics over defense

The Issue: Whether our naval forces should be strengthened through additional funding or left as is.

***

Retired Rear Admiral Joseph Callo makes many valid points about President Obama's comment during the last debate on today's naval forces ("The Prez Misleads on the Military's Needs," PostOpinion, Oct. 24).

If we don't reverse the trend of reducing our Navy, we will not be able to respond to groups and nations when they threaten us in the future.

Mitt Romney was correct about the need to strengthen our Navy and other military forces.

John G. McCandless

Grosse Pointe Woods,

Mich.

Obama, our commander-in-chief, has a better command of re-election politics than he has of our military.

Naval forces have been shrinking for decades because it is easy to cut ships and shift their expense to yet another civilian program, worthy or not, that will garner votes for the incumbent.

Romney is concerned about projecting strength, but Obama is more concerned with holding onto power.Paul Bloustein

Cincinnati

Obama wants to cut the military budget by billions of dollars.

Doesn't he realize that when you cut military spending, you begin to reduce weapons technology?

This may mean more boots on the ground and sending more men and women into harm's way. It could possibly even cause a resumption of the draft.

Try telling parents that their children may have to go to war because of these cuts.

Mr. President, technology saves lives.

David Fanelli

Levittown

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All in the Biden family

Getting ahead in politics or business is all about who you know, it's said.

And nowhere is that more true, it seems, than in the Obama administration.

It's been widely reported that Barack Obama & Co. tossed billions in taxpayer stimulus funds at Democratic contributors and their green-energy startups.

The most notorious, of course, is Solyndra — which produced not a single job and ended up flushing more than a half-billion taxpayer dollars down the toilet when it went belly-up.

Now Fox Business Network Senior Correspondent Charles Gasparino reported in these pages this week the latest example of Obama crony capitalism: the curious case of James Biden.

AP

Joe Biden

Biden's inside connection is pretty obvious: His brother Joe is Obama's vice president.

Two years ago, Brother Jim landed a job as executive vice president of Hill International, a New Jersey-based company that specializes in construction projects in both the US and the Middle East.

Just how he got the job isn't all that clear: According to Gasparino, Brother Jim has a slim-to-vanishing business resume.

In fact, he co-owned a hedge fund with the VP's son that was marketed by Allen Stanford, later convicted of running a Ponzi scheme.

Yet shortly after Brother Jim came on board, Hill landed a $1.5 billion contract — one of its biggest ever — to build 100,000 tax-subsidized homes in Iraq.

Now, that's a little surprising, too. For one thing, Hill's construction projects have rarely involved housing.

For another, the company has reported losses since last year — it's out $60 million in payments that it's trying to recoup from the Libyan government — and its shares have tumbled 80 percent since 2008.

Did we happen to mention that Brother Joe is Team Obama's point man on Iraq?

Sure 'nuff is.

And the company's CEO, Irv Richter, admits that both the State Department and the Iraqi government helped Hill land the contract — though he insists that the White House connection played no part.

But Richter did concede that the Biden name probably opens doors when government business is at stake — though it hardly guarantees success.

Which is precisely why it's called "crony capitalism."

Something that was never to be found at the Obama White House.

No, not at all.

Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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Cuomo’s welfare stipends

Redistribution and lingering dependency — it's not just an Obama thing.

Case in point: Gov. Cuomo is launching a program that'll give $2 million in taxpayer cash to Medicaid recipients who take good care of themselves.

Like the adults they're supposed to be.

Under Cuomo's "experimental" plan, as reported by The Post's Carl Campanile on Monday, folks on Medicaid could get up to $250 a year as an "incentive" to get checkups, monitor their weight, pick up medicine or other steps to protect their health.

Some might even get free lottery tickets.

Not a budget-buster, you say?

Shannon DeCelle

Andrew Cuomo

What's the big deal?

Well, the road to budget hell is often paved with experimental programs. And in a state where roughly one-third of the population already is receiving welfare benefits of one sort or another, it really doesn't make sense to go trolling for more.

Now, it comes as no surprise that the cash program is a component of the ObamaCare Medicaid Incentives program.

But it is a little startling that Cuomo — given his experience with the pathologies that subsidized housing can generate — was so eager to sign on.

Guess maybe he really hasn't learned anything from America's long experience with welfare: It's now beyond dispute that handouts, subsidies, cash bonuses and the like all just foster more dependency.

And, no, that's not a good thing — for the recipients or for the nation.

Bill Clinton got it.

Remember the huge dips in welfare rolls after he signed off on rules that limited payments? Clinton's reform — one of the most successful pieces of social legislation in US history — moved millions from the dole into lives of self-sufficiency.

Now, we're not suggesting that there's no proper role for subsidized health care.

But it does need to be recognized that cradle-to-grave, no-frills-left-behind programs like New York's version of Medicaid are socially corrosive on three levels:

* They are so hugely expensive that they suck crippling sums from public education and infrastructure renewal, in the process diminishing states' prospects for long-term economic health.

* They promote permanent dependence on government succor.

* They make fools out of those among the working poor who are struggling to maintain independence and self-respect. If all their friends have Medicaid cards, why not just go along?

Cash bonuses meant to boost participation just make matters worse.

In New York, some 5 million people — more than a quarter — are on Medicaid, at a cost of $54 billion a year.

No wonder the Tax Foundation tabs New York as the nation's most heavily burdened state.

Please don't make it worse, governor.

Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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SUNY overhaul

Over the past two years, I have overseen the most comprehensive reform in the history of the Research Foundation ("SUNY Flim-Flam," Editorial, Oct. 21).

We've instituted rigorous new policies around compliance, accountability and transparency.

Recently we appointed Dr. Timothy Killeen, a National Academy scholar and former National Science Foundation assistant director, as the Research Foundation's president.

The audit raises questions about expenses to the so-called "Chancellor's Account." However, the final report validates what we've said all along: No money from that account was used for anyone's personal benefit, mine included.

As is commonplace at any college or university, SUNY hosts events that may include food and beverage expenses.

These expenditures are reasonable and appropriate. No one is denying the problems of the past, and they have been rightfully scrutinized.

We've done a good bit of housecleaning at the Research Foundation and, going forward, I am confident that we will continue to manage its assets to the high standards that New Yorkers deserve.

Nancy L. Zimpher

SUNY Chancellor

Albany

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Brooklyn power play

Sports in this city just got a whole lot more exciting — and so, too, did the economic prospects for a section of Brooklyn.

Yesterday, the New York Islanders hockey team announced that, come 2015, it will share the Barclay's Center with the NBA Nets, setting up a Battle of the Boroughs in yet another sport.

"It's a great day for our city," said Mayor Bloomberg, quite rightly. If anyone thought the Ranger-Islander rivalry couldn't get hotter, he said — well, it just did.

The one between Manhattan and Brooklyn sports fans did, too: They'll now be sparring for bragging rights not only in basketball (the Nets open their season at the Barclay's Center a week from today against the Rangers' Madison Square Garden co-tenants, the Knicks), but also in hockey.

REUTERS

Mayor Bloomberg with his new Islanders tie

Yesterday's news is a major-league coup for Brooklyn, the city and developer Bruce Ratner, who fought for a decade to get his Atlantic Yards vision built despite fierce Not-In-My-Back-Yard opposition.

Islanders owner Charles Wang, after all, had other options: Kansas City, Phoenix and Quebec were all said to be possible new sites.

Now, alongside the Nets, Ratner's arena will host a second team — and with a fan base that can make ready use of a nearby LIRR station and 11 subway lines.

You sure got to love all the new competition — between the teams, the boroughs and even the sports themselves. It'll help hold down ticket prices and keep up the quality of the sports-going experience — including the caliber of play by the teams.

Until now, MSG's masters could all but ignore years of mediocrity by the Knicks and Rangers, when they were the only game(s) in town.

Plus, the recent Jay-Z and Barbra Streisand concerts suggest that the new jockeying for New York's entertainment dollar will extend beyond sports.

Alas, the move is a blow to Nassau — and not just to the pride of residents who are Islanders fans, but also economically.

But let's face it: The handwriting's been on the wall for an Islanders departure ever since voters last year — quite wisely — nixed a $900 million public-financing scheme for a new facility to replace the decrepit Nassau Coliseum.

It's past time officials came up with realistic new ideas for that site — ideas that reward residents rather than rob them.

Meanwhile, Nassau's loss is Brooklyn's gain. As the mayor put it, it's a great day for New York City indeed.

Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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Benghazi chickens, roosting

Now for the two classic coverup questions: What did President Obama know about the 9/11 Benghazi terrorist attack? And when did he know it?

Answers:

* Plenty.

* Soon enough to realize that the savage attack was in no way a spontaneous event — and to understand that lying about its origins wasn't going to wash.

But lie Obama did, repeatedly — and now he, his administration and his re-election effort are in a world of well-earned hurt.

E-mails revealed Tuesday by several news agencies show that within two hours of the initial assault, the White House Situation Room was told that a major Libyan al Qaeda affiliate had claimed responsibility.

AP

President Obama

In fact, the group had even posted its claim on both Facebook and Twitter.

Though the names of both senders and recipients were redacted, it's clear that copies of the e-mails were sent to people at the Situation Room, the State Department, the FBI command center and various intelligence and military units.

Which may not prove that Obama personally knew — but it certainly shows that those in a position to tell him did.

And that means the White House claim that there was no information pointing to a well-planned terrorist raid was no misunderstanding, but an unadorned lie.

In fact, it was fully two weeks before Obama & Co. finally went back on their earlier insistence — supposedly based on CIA "talking points" — and admitted that it wasn't a spontaneous attack.

The president's credibility lies in shreds — and his administration has been exposed for its incompetence.

They lied not only to the American people, but also to themselves — which no doubt explains why no one has even been reprimanded, let alone disciplined, for the humiliating failure.

Both the White House and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday dismissed the e-mail news as "not in and of itself evidence" of anything.

But that's lawyers' lingo — evasive maneuvering meant to shield the president from the consequences of his fabrications.

Perhaps the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others was unavoidable. And yes, initial intelligence reports are often wrong.

But for two weeks, the public statements by Obama and his subordinates did not reflect any of the supposed confusion. Indeed, the administration was definite: This was the work of a flash mob.

It seems pretty clear why Team Obama desperately clung to this line:

Because any suggestion that al Qaeda had not been decisively crippled by the death of Osama bin Laden threatened the president's political narrative.

So the White House, knowing there was a damning e-mail trail, lied anyway.

That's duplicitous, and it's very dumb.

Par for the course, sad to say.

Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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Secrets of the sex surrogates

Crippled by shyness, the 40-something professional can barely look Fern Arden in the face as he talks about still being a virgin at such an advanced age.

"Don't worry," the Manhattan sex therapist tells him. "We can work on this."

If the doctor's voice sounds confident, it's with good reason. Arden is the founder of an exclusive private clinic off Central Park West that provides a very specialized type of treatment for psychosexual problems like this one.

She employs an all-female staff of sex surrogates, officially known as "surrogate partners," who give clients one-on-one coaching in caressing techniques, kissing, feeling relaxed with another person in the nude and, inevitably, the sex act itself.

Alamy

Helen Hunt plays a sex surrogate in the acclaimed film "The Sessions" — but in real life there are sex surrogates working right here in NYC (above). They say they provide a valuable service to clients who have problems with intimacy.

"The focus is not sex, but familiarity and intimacy," insists Arden, who founded the Abel 2 Counseling Center 22 years ago. "We provide an environment, not for sexual pleasure, but for sexual learning."

The licensed sexologist has never spoken about her practice to the media before, mainly because, she says, "I have famous clients." But she agreed to talk to The Post following Friday's release of the independent movie "The Sessions," which is already generating Oscar buzz.

It tells the real-life story of a sex substitute from California who takes on a profoundly disabled man needing to experience sex before he dies.

"People tend to be ill-informed about what a surrogate partner does," explains Arden, who hopes the award-winning film about the late polio sufferer Mark O'Brien and his surrogate, Cheryl Cohen Greene, will shine a much-needed light on the profession.

"They think of it pejoratively, the same as a sex worker, but it's not," she adds. "Just as you have legitimate massage therapists and people who run massage parlors, there is a huge difference between them."

In fact, in 1973 a group of sex surrogates based in Los Angeles tried to accredit their profession. Today the International Professional Surrogates Association has about 30 surrogates registered in the US, though Arden's staff are not members. Per the organization's code of ethics, surrogates must have completed a two-week training program with the society and work under the supervision (but not observation) of a licensed sex therapist.

But, according to one law expert, the business is still illegal.

Derrelle Janey, a defense attorney at the Manhattan law firm Gottleib and Gordon, likens the sex surrogacy practice to prostitution — after all, money is being received for sex: "It doesn't matter if the client is disabled, it doesn't matter if he is suffering from some kind of emotional distress — that just makes it kind of sad. They have agreed to pay money for a sexual experience, and everyone understands that's the transaction. In my view, that's prostitution."

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Third Bam-Mitt matchup least-watched

Monday night's presidential debate pulled in 59 million viewers — the least-watched of the three verbal sparring matches between President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney.

That was down from the 67 million who watched the first presidential debate on Oct. 3, and from the second debate on Oct. 16, which drew 66 million viewers.

NBC led the broadcast pack with 12.4 million viewers from 9 to 10:30 p.m., followed by ABC (11.7 million).

Fox News Channel was the big cable news winner, snaring 11.5 million viewers — the biggest audience in its 16-year history and over 3 million more viewers than CBS (8.4 million).

CNN finished with 5.8 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (4.1 million viewers).

By comparison, the third and final presidential debate in 2008 averaged 57 million viewers.

Meanwhile, Monday's "Monday Night Football" game on ESPN pulled in 10.7 million viewers, while Game 7 of the NLCS on Fox — which send the San Francisco Giants to the World Series — averaged 8.1 million viewers.

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‘Houstons,’ we have a problem

Linda Stasi

TV REVIEW

"The Houstons: On Our Own"
Tonight at 9 on Lifetime

Halfway through tonight's premiere of "T he Houstons: On Our Own," a reality show about life after Whitney, Pat, the singer's former sister-in-law and the series' executive producer, cries about the hardship of making decisions in a fishbowl.

"It's very difficult," she says, "to deal with [Bobbi Kristina, Whitney's 19-year-old daughter], because the world is so involved with our family." What?

For one thing, it's a pretty grandiose statement. I, for one, am not involved with their family. Are you?

And two, Pat is the one who decided to bring in the world by producing this uncomfortable reality show that focuses mostly on herself and Whitney's daughter.

JUMPING INTO THE FISHBOWL: Cissy Houston and her granddaughter Bobbi Kristina Brown star in a new Lifetime reality series.

But since when does reality TV make sense? Clearly they are trying to duplicate the blockbuster ratings of Oprah's interview with Bobbi Kristina on OWN shortly after Whitney died. Warning: If you saw it, you don't need to see this.

Pat comes across here as the wise and calm sage amidst the carnage left by the singer's death.

The whole thing is reminiscent of the Jacksons' behavior in the wake of Michael's death. They, too, tried to exploit the situation with a reality show that was so bad, even they probably couldn't watch it.

This series at least lets us see what the heck is going on between Bobbi Kristina and Nick Gordon, the young man that the press dubbed her adopted brother, and to whom she is now engaged.

The couple denies that he was ever adopted and Nick is quick to point out that Whitney took him in when his mother threw him out 10 years ago when he was still in high school.

If you want exploitation, "The Houstons: On Our Own" sinks to a new level when the whole family—including elderly matriarch Cissy Houston—visits Whitney's grave site for the first time. I mean, can you imagine inviting a reality show team in to catch every private moment of seeing your mother's grave for the first time? Is nothing sacred? Oh, right. No, nothing is sacred.

Because they want it all to look more glamorous than it is, they show the NYC skyline every five seconds and talk about being in New York.

Only thing is the restaurants they feature are in North Bergen and Newark. I don't remember Newark moving to New York, but you never know.

The principal drama comes from the family's displeasure at Bobbi's engagement to Nick. Whitney's brother/Pat's husband, Gary, says, "How do you go from being a brother to a boyfriend? Crazy concept."

He could have been talking about the series.

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Oprah dad’s dirty divorce

Opah Winfrey's father is divorcing his school teacher wife of 11 years — and the court papers are good enough for a juicy daytime TV drama.

Vernon Winfrey, now 79, admits in documents filed this week that he had an affair during his marriage to 64-year-old Barbara Winfrey.

And he concedes he may have chased her waving a handgun during an argument "five or six months ago," according to the papers.

But at the heart of the divorce case is money — Oprah's money, more or less.

Vernon Winfrey, a Nashville barber, claims in the papers that his personal checking account is overdrawn and that he makes only $282 a month from his hair-cutting business, according to a local report.

O NO: Vernon, Oprah

Still, he has been living with Barbara in a $1.5 million mansion in suburban Nashville that Oprah bought for him.

Barbara claims he gets $25,000 every three months from a trust fund set up for him by his famous daughter.

She is seeking support from Vernon and the right to keep living in the house.

The couple, married in 2000, filed for divorce last summer with Vernon citing "inappropriate marital conduct" as grounds.

In papers, Vernon acknowledged that he had a one-week affair with an unidentified women but apologized for it when caught by Barbara.

He also said he was holding a handgun during an argument with his wife but that he no longer owned the gun.

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R.L. Stine’s ‘Goosebumps’ kids grow up

R.l. Stine is terrifying a brand-new generation with his kids show "The Haunting Hour" on Hub (now into its third season). But his original fans — kids who grew up on "Goosebumps" and "Fear Street" books — are begging him for new material.

Stine says his grown-up fans account for his 60,000 Twitter followers.

"I have a great time on Twitter. I really love it because it's all my old fans from the '90s — you know, this is the 20th anniversary of 'Goosebumps,' " Stine told The Post.

"And all those kids who read it back then are in their 20s and early 30s. There are no kids on Twitter, it's all them. I hear from them all day long. And they're all saying, 'Write something for us! We're grown up now!' "

GRAMPIRE DIARIES: "The Haunting Hour" on Hub

SCREAM KING: R.L. Stine

His latest book, "Red Rain," is an adult horror novel that was inspired by those Twitter conversations with fans.

With the success of "American Horror Story," "Dexter," "The Walking Dead" and "666 Park Avenue," horror is dominating the TV landscape these days.

Could those "Goosebumps" kids hope to see their favorite writer conquering adult horror on TV one day?

"We've talked to people about doing adult horror on television," Stine said. " I can't really talk about anything, because nothing's really definite.

"There are a lot of things we're talking about, including a 'Fear Street' series."

Stine's first TV series was Nickelodeon's "Eureeka's Castle," which was popular in the early '90s. He hasn't been associated with many TV shows since then, he says, because he is still a book writer at heart, and he chooses his TV ventures carefully.

"I had no hesitation about 'The Haunting Hour' because it's Dan Angel and Billy Brown — the same guys who did the 'Goosebumps' TV show back in the '90s, which was a wonderful show. I was so proud of it. It was the No. 1 kids show for three years, and I just thought they did a great job."

To kick off Halloween week, Stine is taking over our Twitter account, @NYPostTV tomorrow from 11 a.m.-noon. Tweet us your questions about "Goosebumps," "The Haunting Hour," "Red Rain" or anything else spooky!

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‘Idol’ ads no longer the hottest ticket

'American Idol" — the biggest show of the decade — suffered a new comedown yesterday.

It is no longer the most expensive show on TV to advertise on.

Ad Age released its Top 10 list of the most expensive TV shows yesterday and, for the first time in five years, "American Idol" is no longer No. 1.

"Sunday Night Football" is the new chart topper, according to the trade magazine.

Still, "American Idol" is not in jeopardy of going broke any time soon.

From about $500,000 per 30-second ad, "Idol" is now charging about $340,000.

But that is still good enough for second place.

"Modern Family" ($330,000 per ad) is the No. 3-ranked show and last year's top newcomer, "New Girl" ($320,000), was a surprising No. 4.

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Curious George

Linda Stasi

TV Critic

'Good Morning America" has managed to do for the last nine weeks what everyone knew, absolutely knew, was impossible to do.

The perpetual No. 2 morning show is in the No. 1 spot, beating "Today," which had been at the top for so long, it was like a dictator for life. But, hey, even Fidel stepped down eventually.

So, what exactly has changed?

George Stephanopoulos, that's what. Nearly three years ago, he got the gig to hold down the show next to co-host Robin Roberts. He's not just held it down, but brought it up.

At first, Bill Clinton's former mouthpiece and senior policy advisor seemed like such a weird choice. I mean he was/is ABC's resident policy wonk.

Roger Wong/INFphoto.com

MORNING WARS: George Stephanopoulos is just what "GMA" needed to finally beat "Today."

Sure, he was good at handling delicate matters like war (between Bill and Hill) and peace (the Gennifer Flowers debacle). But that doesn't exactly prepare a guy for interviewing Lady Gaga or cooking with Emeril.

Turns out, George was the missing ingredient in the almost-there "GMA" recipe.

For the most part, Stephanopolous leaves the goofy standing outside in 10-degree weather with 14-year-old rockers to Lara Spencer and the cooking segments and 50-uses-for-used-pantyhose segments to Sam Champion, Josh Elliott and the rest of the team.

This leaves George as the "gravitas light" king of morning TV.

OK, in the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that George and I have been seen together wearing robes.

Oh, go clean your mind! We share a hairdresser, Damien Miano of Miano Viel Salon & Spa.

I've always been impressed that, in that barber chair, George is just one of the guys with a wet head talking politics and life to everyone, even Republicans with buzz cuts.

Which is more than you can say for me. I hate buzz cuts.

***

Pull up the trailer. I feel an addiction coming on.

My latest shame is "Couples Therapy," a show so cringe-worthy and full of tacky reality show has-beens that it makes the "Honey Boo Boo" clan look like the Obamas.

Simon van Kempen and Alex McCord, the embarrassing couple who pretended to have a life of bliss on "Real Housewives of New York" are now on the fritz and trying to find true intimacy in public with a TV shrink.

They are there with other troubled marrieds like 52-year-old actor Doug Hutchinson and his 18-year-old, hot-pants bride.

Seriously? You can bypass that? You need to see a shrink.

***

Another addiction begins for me this Saturday night on Bio, when the real Long Island medium, Kim Russo, connects Regis Philbin with his dead Delta pilot brother on the premiere of "The Haunting Of..."

Kim is not a dopey caricature, but just your average soccer mom who really does speak to the dead like we speak to each other.

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Talk show guests

TUESDAY

CHRIS ROCK, SOLANGE KNOWLES - The Oprah Winfrey Show, 7 a.m., (OWN)

CHRIS ROCK, JON STEWART - The Oprah Winfrey Show, 8 a.m., (OWN)

GERARD BUTLER, KRYSTEN RITTER, RICK SCHWARTZ - LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, 9 a.m., Ch. 7

NANCY GRACE, YVETTE NICOLE BROWN, MICHAEL RUSSO - The Wendy Williams Show, 10 a.m., Ch. 5

PROFESSOR DONALD SADOWAY - The Colbert Report, 10:30 a.m., (COM)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, JANINE DRIVER - Anderson Live, 12 p.m., Ch. 5

ANTHONY ANDERSON, GLYNIS MCCANTS - The Talk, 2 p.m., Ch. 2

JUDGE GREG MATHIS - Steve Harvey, 3 p.m., Ch. 4

NANCY GRACE, YVETTE NICOLE BROWN, MICHAEL RUSSO - The Wendy Williams Show, 3 p.m., Ch. 9

LL COOL J, VICTORIA JACKSON, ALI GUTHY - The Ellen DeGeneres Show , 4 p.m., Ch. 4

PROFESSOR DONALD SADOWAY - The Colbert Report, 7 p.m., (COM)

WILL ARNETT, HARRY SHEARER - Conan, 11 p.m., (TBS)

BEN GLEIB, LIZ CAREY, RYAN STOUT - Chelsea Lately, 11 p.m., (E!)

JOHN GRISHAM - The Colbert Report, 11:31 p.m., (COM)

DENZEL WASHINGTON, M. WARD - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 11:35 p.m., Ch. 4

PRINCE, RUSSELL PETERS - Jimmy Kimmel Live, 12:02 a.m., Ch. 7

BEN GLEIB, LIZ CAREY, RYAN STOUT - Chelsea Lately, 12:30 a.m., (E!)

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, HANA MAE LEE - The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, 12:37 a.m., Ch. 2

WILL ARNETT, HARRY SHEARER - Conan, 1 a.m., (TBS)

JOHN GRISHAM - The Colbert Report, 1:30 a.m., (COM)

W. KAMAU BELL, LIANNE LA HAVAS - Last Call with Carson Daly, 1:36 a.m., Ch. 4

WEDNESDAY

TED DANSON, JACK MCBRAYER, LITTLE BIG TOWN - LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, 9 a.m., Ch. 7

STEVEN COJOCARU - Rachael Ray, 9 a.m., (OWN)

MARK STEINES - Rachael Ray, 10 a.m., (OWN)

JAMIE LYNN SIGLER, JORDI LIPPE - The Wendy Williams Show, 10 a.m., Ch. 5

JOHN GRISHAM - The Colbert Report, 10:30 a.m., (COM)

LISA LING - Anderson Live, 12 p.m., Ch. 5

BISHOP T.D. JAKES - Dr. Phil, 12 p.m., (OWN)

JOSHUA MORROW, LEIGHTON MEESTER, LYNETTE KHALFANI-COX - The Talk, 2 p.m., Ch. 2

JAMIE LYNN SIGLER, JORDI LIPPE - The Wendy Williams Show, 3 p.m., Ch. 9

HELEN HUNT, MASON COOK - The Ellen DeGeneres Show , 4 p.m., Ch. 4

JOHN GRISHAM - The Colbert Report, 7 p.m., (COM)

BOBBI KRISTINA HOUSTON BROWN, PATRICIA HOUSTON, GARY HOUSTON - Oprah's Next Chapter, 9 p.m., (OWN)

THE ROOTS, WENDY WILLIAMS, TOMMY HILFIGER - Talk Stoop, 10 p.m., Ch. 25

GABBY DOUGLAS - Oprah's Next Chapter, 10:30 p.m., (OWN)

RAINN WILSON - Conan, 11 p.m., (TBS)

HELEN HUNT, MICHAEL YO, ARDEN MYRIN - Chelsea Lately, 11 p.m., (E!)

ANTHONY EVERITT - The Colbert Report, 11:31 p.m., (COM)

BILL O'REILLY, NICOLE "SNOOKI" POLIZZI - Late Show with David Letterman, 11:35 p.m., Ch. 2

JANE LYNCH, RICHARD ENGEL - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 11:35 p.m., Ch. 4

BOBBI KRISTINA HOUSTON BROWN, PATRICIA HOUSTON, GARY HOUSTON - Oprah's Next Chapter, 12 a.m., (OWN)

AXL ROSE, ANA GASTEYER - Jimmy Kimmel Live, 12:02 a.m., Ch. 7

HELEN HUNT, MICHAEL YO, ARDEN MYRIN - Chelsea Lately, 12:30 a.m., (E!)

SUSAN SARANDON - The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, 12:37 a.m., Ch. 2

RAINN WILSON - Conan, 1 a.m., (TBS)

ANTHONY EVERITT - The Colbert Report, 1:30 a.m., (COM)

GABBY DOUGLAS - Oprah's Next Chapter, 1:30 a.m., (OWN)

DEEPAK CHOPRA, GOTHAM CHOPRA - Last Call with Carson Daly, 1:36 a.m., Ch. 4

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OMG! Tracy Morgan passed out again

Remember when Jimmy Kimmel asked viewers to whip out their cellphones to tweet "OMG Tracy Morgan just passed out onstage! Turn on ABC now!"

It looks like "30 Rock" was trying the same gag yesterday.

Kimmel's idea was to give the ratings for the Emmys a little jolt — which kind of worked when 25,000 people, including Stephen Colbert and Joel McHale who were in the audience — tweeted the SOS.

Yesterday, in Midtown, Tina Fey and Morgan were filming a scene from the comedy's final season.

In the scene, Morgan (who plays Tracy Jordan) is laid out after being hit by a taxi.

Ben King/startraksphoto.com

MAN DOWN: Morgan faked passing out onstage at the Emmys (inset). Yesterday in Midtown, he was in a similar position.

Reuters

MAN DOWN: Morgan faked passing out onstage at the Emmys.

Relax, Jordan jumped up right away and kept talking to Liz Lemon (Fey).

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Head in the clouds

Nicole Gelinas

One World Trade Center may symbolize not victory over terror but miserable commutes.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns both the skyscraper and the transportation links between the two states, has neglected its bridges, tunnels, trains and bus terminal to rebuild Downtown.

Rebuilding the World Trade Center was always going to be hard. But then-Gov. George Pataki (the NY and NJ governors control the Port Authority) made it a lot worse —and far more expensive.

With $20 billion pouring in from Washington, plus insurance, why not indulge starchitects dreaming of abstract-art skyscrapers and a "soaring" PATH-train hub? Someone else would pay — $1.3 billion for 1 WTC, $2 billion for the PATH station.

ABACAUSA

Inspiring, but: Reconstruction at Ground Zero is finally happening, but some projects' costs will leave the Port Authority short of cash for decades.

In 2006, the pols admitted they needed a redesign — but they never were honest about the cash.

Pataki & Co. (mostly him) burdened the Port Authority for decades. The agency took over 1WTC from developer Larry Silverstein, who also got PA financial help to build other towers at the site.

Today, 1 WTC will cost $3.9 billion. The PATH station has soared to $3.7 billion. And we can't get back the federal money that pols spent on a sports museum and on the Bank of America and Goldman Sachs towers.

That's how the Port Authority got caught on the hook for $7.7 billion (after money from other sources) for WTC rebuilding.

And it's borrowed all that. In 2002, it owed $9.5 billion. Now, it owes $19 billion. And it won't even start repaying some of those bonds until 2039.

It will be at least another decade before anyone knows whether the towers will repay their investments. The signs aren't promising.

The complex will have high operating costs. In 2000, the last year of the old WTC's operations, costs were $203.9 million ($272.8 million in today's dollars). Without any buildings yet open for business, operating costs — not rebuilding costs — were $106.3 million last year. When the buildings are complete, it'll be roughly $500 million a year.

To cover those bills, the agency would have to lease all the available office space in the two towers being built for at least $80 per square foot, nearly twice today's rates.

The old WTC was profitable when Wall Street was growing. Today, Wall Street is contracting. Conde Nast, the tenant signed for one-third of the 1WTC space, is cost-cutting. The nearby World Financial Center is losing tenants to Midtown.

And tech firms — the ones that, if we're lucky, will be the city's new big growth industry — are happy with older, cheaper space. Their clients aren't like the folks bankers call "muppets," impressed by fancy views.

But the muppets are folk who use New York and New Jersey transportation. And the Port Authority can't offer them much.

Last year, the PA hiked tolls for the second time in three years. And now tolls are set to rise every year for the foreseeable future.

But the Port Authority can still barely keep up with maintenance on its Depression-era bridges and tunnels. Of the $25.1 billion that the PA has spent on capital investment since 2002, about $9.4 billion, or 38 percent, has gone toward WTC redevelopment. And WTC debt will leave less for future investment.

The agency ought to be spending on core projects.

Manhattan needs a new bus terminal; backups at the PA bus terminal force commuters to wait needlessly in long lines on a daily basis.

LaGuardia is desperate for the "state of the art" terminal that the PA has long promised, so that waiting travelers have a place to sit. JFK needs a faster ride to Midtown.

At Penn Station, NJ Transit and Amtrak travelers face delays. Two years after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie canceled plans for it, New York and New Jersey still need another rail line.

Christie and New York's Gov. Cuomo can do something. They can appoint to the authority's board people who aren't afraid to speak up, especially when the politicians won't like what they hear.

Instead, Christie has appointed his former chief of staff, now a pharmaceutical-industry lobbyist. Cuomo has named the La Prensa and El Diario publisher.

Both governors also should disavow "regional programs" — pork —that have nothing to do with bi-state transit. Last year, such programs consumed $153 million, including $60 million on debt payments. It would have been enough to pay for a new bus terminal.

Last month, the Port Authority announced it might take over the Atlantic City airport — miles from the bi-state border. It's another bailout for the casinos.

When New Yorkers and New Jerseyans look for someone to blame, politicians point to "the Port Authority."

The governors should point at their predecessors — and in the mirror.

Adapted from the forthcoming issue of City Journal.

Have a comment on this PostOpinion column? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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Strahan: ‘I’m not adulterer. I’m not gay. Didn’t beat anybody’

Tomorrow night, Michael Strahan tackles a delicate subject — his headline-making divorce in 2006 from then-wife Jean Muggli — on his first major interview since being named to replace Regis Philbin on Kelly Ripa's morning show.

"The worst of it?" Strahan tells Bryant Gumbel in a piece for HBO's "Real Sports" (10 p.m.).

"I think early on when you're reading all these things in the paper that aren't true — I'm not an adulterer. I'm not gay. I mean, I didn't beat anybody."

Gumbel brings up the bitter divorce "because the thing that I find the most surprising about it is in retrospect, your public image didn't take a hit."

"People don't care," Strahan replies. "Everybody has their own problems . . . I just kept go on being myself and it worked."

About getting the most-sought-after job in daytime TV, Strahan says he was only mildly surprised by it,

"When I did watch everybody, I felt that I was the best one," he says laughing.

"Better than me?" asks Gumbel, who was aso a fill-in host, if not exactly a candidate.

"You were good," Strahan replies. "But I know you don't want to wake up every day, so I knew I was safe with you."

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You looking at me?

Exciting plot twists have kept "Homeland" crackling this season — but mostly around suspected terrorist Sgt. Nicholas Brody.

But this week, Brody's sullen teenage daughter, Dana, who attends school with Finn Walden, son of the vice president, moves to center stage when they go on their first, unforgettable date.

It's a doozy of an episode that involves a late-night car chase from the Secret Service agents assigned to protect Walden (Timothee Chalamet).

The fallout, says the teenage actress who plays Dana, Morgan Saylor, "changes Dana's life completely. She's way more freaked out and not able to function in everyday life. There are some breakdowns. Big conversations."

Startraks

"HOME" GIRL: Morgan Saylor, 17, says she's temperamentally suited to play the exasperated daughter.

Saylor (r) at the Emmys with her TV mom Morena Baccarin.

As if discovering that her dad, played by Damian Lewis, was a practicing Muslim wasn't enough.

Saylor is that television rarity — a bold, new talent who seemingly comes out of nowhere.

Although she can do the recalcitrant teenage girl thing — "I would not openly categorize myself as a sullen teenager but that kind of role comes more easier to me than a bright, perky thing," she says — the part requires Saylor to do much more than mope.

Director Michael Cuesta is so impressed with his young star that he keeps giving her dramatic showdowns with all the adults on the show.

Dana gives her mother (Morena Baccarin) the kind of obnoxious back talk that, years ago, would have earned her a good slap across the face.

She also threw CIA agent Mathison (Claire Danes) out of her parents' house when Mathison barged in, off her meds and raving like a lunatic.

"You write her a line, and she makes it her own," Cuesta says. "She made the writers want to get deeper into her character. It's like, 'Wow, we have such a good actress. Let's keep with writing for her.' "

Saylor, who turns 18 on Friday, was born in rural Georgia, near the Alabama border, and moved to Decatur when she was 10 years old.

After going to acting camp, she started doing community theater, a couple of commercials and small roles in small movies, but nothing as juicy as the role of Dana Brody.

"When I read the pilot, I thought it was fantastic. I wish I could say I predicted the show would be so huge," Saylor says. "We had no idea."

Saylor accompanied the cast to the Emmy bash in September, where she worked on her schmoozing skills — she congratulated Best Supporting Actor in a Drama winner, Aaron Paul of "Breaking Bad" — and marveled that "your living room TV is sitting in that audience."

Saylor's parents are divorced. Her dad renovates Starbucks locations and her brother "works at a well-known pub" in Atlanta.

She plans to apply to colleges, but she thinks she'll have to defer enrollment as she goes back to work on the series in June. She does think, though, that she'll be able to graduate with her high school class in May.

She hangs out on the set with Baccarin and has had some confidential conversations with Danes, who became a star at age 15 on the series "My So-Called Life."

"One of the very first times I met her, she came up and said, 'I was on a show when I was your age, and it's strange to be living so close to your mom."

"Homeland" is in the midst of filming its season finale, set to air in December.

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Hot to fox trot

Who needs "The Bachelor"?

"Dancing With the Stars" is prime-time's most compelling dating show.

All the bumping, grinding and half-naked bodies have both pros and celebrities hopping in the sack like teenagers on prom night.

"When you have two single people in a room and you are spending so much time together, it's natural to have chemistry and to be curious," longtime pro Cheryl Burke tells The Post.

"All of a sudden you think you are in love because you are grinding on each other seven days a week."

Backstage love connections happen "a lot more than people know," pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy confirms.

ABC

Mark Ballas and Shawn Johnson couldn't be paired up again for the All-Star season, insiders say.

And they rarely end well.

One celebrity nearly left his wife for a pro who has bedded as many as four other participants, an on-set source reveals.

"They all fool around with each other," the insider says. "The problem is that many of these people are married. It is disgusting!"

While much of their time at work is spent in front of producers and cameras, the dancing partners often retreat to L.A nightclubs for late-night rendezvous.

Last month, Pamela Anderson fueled speculation of a budding romance when she invited partner Tristan MacManus on a Mexican vacation, during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

"Pam is totally into him, but Tristan is madly in love with his girlfriend [Australian model Tahyna Tozzi, 26]," our spy says.

The show has no official policy about workplace hookups, but producers are often faced with cleaning up the mess when a showmance fizzles out.

All-Star contestant Shawn Johnson had "a nasty breakup" with pro Mark Ballas after they won the mirrorball trophy in season eight, a source says. "That's why they couldn't be paired up again [for the All-Star shows]."

Both parties have denied the affair.

"Us dancers are very touchy feely," Burke says. "We're used to grinding on each other. But for other people, that's not normal. This is why feelings start to happen. They think 'she likes me.' "

The two time champ admits to canoodling with only one of her previous partners. She won't say who, but insists "it wasn't a great experience."

Burke, 29, may have been referring to disgraced football star Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson, who asked her out in 2010 during a televised interview on "Entertainment Tonight." (She said yes!)

After the pair were eliminated, Johnson presented her with a $10,000 diamond ring.

"I gave it back to him," she says. "I felt weird wearing that big diamond that first of all is way too big for my hand. And it sent a weird message. Like, what are you guys engaged?

Maks, 32, did become engaged -- to fellow dancer Karina Smirnoff -- in 2009, but the romance quickly flamed out, creating an awkward work environment

"There is bad blood," he told The Post last year. "I will never speak to that person again."

Maks — who is currently paired with Kirstie Alley -— admits he also "crossed the line" with partner Willa Ford during Season 3.

He is now dating Australian dancer Peta Murgatroyd, who recently ended a five-year courtship with "Dancing" pro Damian Whitewood.

(Whitewood is reportedly dating Russell Crowe's estranged wife, Danielle Spencer, a contestant on "Dancing with The Stars" in Australia.)

A source close to the show says Maks' brother Valentin may be the next dancer to take the plunge with his celebrity partner, Kelly Monaco.

"I truly believe that by the end of the season they will hook up," the spy says. "They are both very emotional people. Right now they want to concentrate on the competition, but they have more chemistry than I have seen in years."

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Pulse sales

PATRICIA FIELD

306 Bowery, between Houston and Bleecker streets; 212-966-4066

* Sale Ongoing through Oct. 31. Mon.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-9 p.m./Fri.-Sun., 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Shop for spectacular costumes (and Pat's regular clothing and accessory staples) now at extended hours through Halloween.

SONIA RYKIEL

37. W. 57th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues; 212-920-1211

* Sale Oct. 22-23. Mon.-Tues., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Up to 80 percent off retail prices on current season goods.

ADRIENNE LANDAU

519 Eighth Ave., between 35th and 36th streets; 212-920-1211

* Sale Oct. 23-25. Tues.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Up to 80 percent off retail prices on current season fur coats and accessories.

CLUB MONACO

261 W. 36th St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues

* Sale Oct. 23-25. Tues.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Discover stylish women's and men's clothing and accessories at great sample-sale prices.

JUDITH RIPKA

569 Lexington Ave., between 50th and 51st streets

* Sale Oct. 25-28. Thurs., 10 a.m.-8 pm./Fri.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m./Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Up to 70 percent off fine jewelry. Readers will receive a $50 gift certificate if they cut out this listing or print it from nypost.com and bring it to the sale.

ZADIG & VOLTAIRE

260 Fifth Ave., between 28th and 29th streets; 212-725-5400

* Sale Oct. 25-28. Thurs., 9 a.m.-8 p.m./Fri.-Sat., 10 a.m.-7 p.m./Sun., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Find women's, men's and children's clothing and accessories at up to 80 percent off.

SITE LAUNCH:SHOPTHENEWS.COM

Shop Cheap Monday wares and watch for more brands to come. To celebrate the launch of the Web site, there will be a contest rewarding $1,000 worth of Cheap Monday gear to a randomly chosen winner. Entries accepted through Oct. 24 by signing up on the site. To get extra entries "Like" the site on Facebook (facebook.com/shopthenews) and follow on Twitter @shopthenews. A winner will be chosen and notified on Oct. 25.

tmitchell@nypost.com

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Book: Stats say Pats’ antics haven’t stopped after Spygate

The NFL might have long since moved on from the 2007 Spygate scandal, but at least one extremely determined fan has not — and he's claiming Bill Belichick and the Patriots haven't, either.

Bryan O'Leary has spent what the Dallas-based financial strategist estimates is $30,000 (and counting) to self-publish the book "Spygate: The Untold Story," which alleges the Patriots' videotaping was much more vital to their three Super Bowl victories than the NFL let on, and that getting exposed by the Jets hasn't kept Belichick from continuing to engage in misconduct to this day.

AP

Tom Brady

The Patriots did not acknowledge a request for comment about the book by The Post. An NFL spokesman declined comment.

Citing no sources but using data he says was crunched by both a Ph.D. in statistics from China and a famed Vegas bookmaker, O'Leary insists that breaking the rules is the only way to explain New England's incredible success at home since 2002, and especially in the six seasons since the taping scheme was uncovered.

Nevertheless, there has been no further official action by the league since the Spygate incident.

O'Leary, who grew up in Pittsburgh as a Steelers fan, claims a logical reading of those numbers means the Jets can expect to be yet another victim of skullduggery in today's AFC East showdown at Gillette Stadium.

"You just cannot explain away all these statistical anomalies," O'Leary said in a telephone interview this week. "The only thing that makes sense is that the Patriots are still cheating, and it's especially obvious to anyone with a brain who looks at the numbers that they're still cheating at home."

Citing a 2007 ESPN report that the Patriots were accused of using a second radio frequency at home, O'Leary theorizes New England assistant Ernie Adams — one of the more mysterious figures in the league — still communicates with Tom Brady via that alternate frequency after Brady's helmet microphone goes dead per NFL rules 15 seconds before the snap.

O'Leary also suggests the Patriots still could be using cameras to film opponents' defensive signals at Gillette Stadium by hiding them in obscure places.

What isn't in dispute is Belichick and the Patriots — despite a Week 2 loss to the Cardinals this season — remain practically untouchable at Gillette Stadium long after Spygate was uncovered.

Including playoff games, the Patriots are 34-7 (.829) at home since Spygate was uncovered after the 2007 season opener and 77-16 (.828) since 2002, numbers that are such huge statistical outliers in the NFL's salary-cap era of parity that O'Leary says they can't be attributed just to Belichick's coaching skills and Brady's quarterbacking.

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Emma bubbly bath

Emma Roberts was doused in champagne after an overenthusiastic guest tripped over a light while trying to get close to the actress and wound up accidentally pouring a drink on her. Roberts was drenched at the "Emma" sunglass launch for Vogue Eyewear at the Sunglass Hut Flagship on Fifth Avenue. A witness said, "Emma was nearly knocked over and was soaked in champagne. She quickly brushed it off before regaining her composure and taking pictures with Nanette Lepore."

Photo Image Press / Barcroft Med

Emma Roberts

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Herd on the Street cuts Google targets

Google lost juice on Wall Street after weak earnings last quarter.

Analysts yesterday dropped their price targets on Google shares after the company announced disappointing third-quarter results.

The moves sent shares of the Mountain View, Calif., company down 1.9 percent — after a 10 percent pounding Thursday.

More than two dozen analysts put out new reports on Google, with many cutting their price target.

Despite the cuts, most analysts still expect the stock to outperform, and it is still a buy in many corners of Wall Street.

However, the prospects are not as rosy as they once were. For instance, Deutsche Bank analysts dropped their target to $850 a share from $890, and Piper Jaffray analysts went from a target of $834 to $775.

The average yesterday from a sampling of 24 firms who set a target price went from $815 to $800.

Investors were not only unnerved by the tepid results, but because of the snafu that had them disseminated at the lunch hour instead of after the close.

Google's core business contributed $9.03 earnings per share, but Wall Street was expecting $10.63.

"Weakness may have came in the later part of the third month of the quarter, which somehow we may have missed," said analyst Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research.

Google is taking in 15 percent less money per click than it was a year ago, a result of the lower ad rates on mobile devices, where more users are increasingly accessing it.

Also, Motorola Mobility, the smartphone maker Google bought for $12.5 billion last year, lost $527 million in the quarter, renewing criticism of the deal.

Google's shares had been surging during last quarter, up 30 percent and propelling the company at one point to surpass Microsoft's market capitalization for the first time.

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Stringing ’em along

Roy Niederhoffer has been a hedge fund manager for almost 20 years — but the nerdy investor is probably just as well known in Manhattan social circles for his love of music.

A patron of the arts and an accomplished musician, the 46-year-old investor is scheduled to play violin next Saturday with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony.

He might want to buff up his musical resumé — the hedge fund he is running hasn't made a dime since 2008 when it had a spectacular 51 percent gain.

Since then, roughly $1.1 billion has been lost to poor investments.

The firm now has only $484 million, according to a recent report to investors.

Hitting sour notes: Maybe society fixture Roy Niederhoffer, shown here playing violin with The Harmony Program, should paymore attention to his hedge fund, which has lost money four straight years.

"It seems so dire," sniffed one institutional hedge fund investor who knows the fund. "It's hard to say it's just not broken at this point."

It's hard to argue the point.

While many other hedge funds are hurting this year, Niederhoffer's four-year losing streak is apparently unmatched by other funds of its size and strategy.

Since 2009, Niederhoffer's biggest fund has lost a cumulative 60 percent, a third of it this year.

It's quite a turnaround from 2008 when Niederhoffer seemed certain to be stepping away from the fractured reputation of his older brother, Victor — who famously blew up two hedge funds, most recently in 2007.

In that magical 2008, Roy had become a star — and everyone was curious about his strategy.

Niederhoffer attributed the profits to what he calls "computational neuroscience" — a black box formula he claimed allowed him to successfully predict the direction of markets based on the level of investor fear or greed.

Well, it doesn't seem to have worked since then.

After four years in the red, R.G.Niederhoffer has lost about 70 percent of its assets, The Post has learned.

Roy Niederhoffer did not return a call for comment.

Niederhoffer's fund, which belongs in a group of funds called "managed futures" funds, uses algorithms and models to follow long-term trends and invest in everything from stocks and bonds to currencies and interest rates.

But managed futures funds are highly leveraged and volatile.

Managed funds in general aren't doing well, and Niederhoffer's fund has done worse than most this year, according to the Absolute Return Managed Futures Index, which is up 0.3 percent through September of this year.

Niederhoffer's biggest fund had lost more than 20 percent by that time.

Some experts say that the "computational neuroscience" he claims to employ may be little more than a marketing gimmick.

"While neurological studies have tried to identify components responsible for fear and greed, the impact on finance is less clear," says Andrew Lo, a professor of finance at MIT who also runs a hedge fund.

It certainly hasn't helped Niederhoffer sniff out fear, says a former investor. "You couldn't have more fear in the markets than in the past four years."

mcelarier@nypost.com

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Ripe for picking

Shares of the lifestyle cable group Scripps Networks Interactive hit an all-time high yesterday spurred by growing investor expectations that it would soon be in play.

The Cincinnati-based cable group, home to Food Network, HGTV, the Travel channel and other properties, has been controlled by a family trust since its spin-off from the newspaper and TV stations sibling, E.W. Scripps in 2008.

But yesterday, the company announced the death of the 94-year-old Robert Scripps, the founder's grandson.

His passing triggered the end of the family trust, which controls 98.5 percent of the voting power in the company.

With the death of patriarch Robert Scripps, media companies believe Scripps Networks Interactive is in play and they are sniffing around.

In place of the trust, the Scripps Family Agreement kicks in — which will unify new family shareholders who have agreed to vote as a block.

SNI shares have been on a tear this year, anticipating some sort of deal — jumping 49 percent to close yesterday at $63.19.

The end of the family trust could make it easier for a takeover, according to Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet, noting that any acquirer would only have to deal with the family agreement instead of each family member individually.

"If someone throws in a bid now, it's a binary up or down," said Bazinet, who believes Disney is the most likely buyer of the cable outfit since it offers the company a big female cable audience, absent from its portfolio of male and kid-targeted channels.

Discovery Communications, the most logical buyer given its nonfiction/reality bent, appears to be taking a pass, leaving Scripps watchers to suggest that perhaps CBS might take a run at the cable group, which carries a $9.41 billion market cap.

CBS is the lone media company without a portfolio of sizable cable assets.

SNI boss Ken Lowe, a frequent attendee at the Allen & Co. mogulfest in Sun Valley, had shaken the trees back in 2009-2010 to see what interest their might be in a potential sale — but nothing came of it.

The Scripps trust held 43 percent of the shares in SNI.

UBS analyst John Janedis poured cold water on the thought that a sale of SNI would happen soon.

"We think the trust beneficiaries may look to come back to the market to sell shares at some point, but do not believe a sale of shares is imminent," Janedis said in a note to investors yesterday.

Scripps is a difficult buy since a potential takeover has been baked into the stock price — making it more likely a buyer would pay a super-premium price.

Plus, promised international growth has been hard to come by since the food category is uniquely a local topic and HGTV content is uniquely American.

SNI doesn't completely control its biggest asset either. Tribune Co. holds a 30 percent ownership stake in Food Network.

Tribune has yet to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings.

In the US, Scripps has done a good job of renewing affiliate deals and pulling in ad revenue, making it harder for a buyer to wring out better returns, sources said.

Discovery, CBS and Disney had no comment.

catkinson@nypost.com

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