Some gifts fall into the love-it-later category

NEW YORK (AP) — Have you ever said “thank you” through clenched teeth? The gift in that nicely wrapped box was so not what you wanted: comfy clothes instead of designer duds, or a kitchen gadget instead of a shiny piece of jewelry.

Sometimes, though, the best gifts are the ones you use, and, frankly, most of us probably wear hoodies more than haute couture.

With a closet full of beautiful boots and gravity-defying heels, flat-foot, furry Uggs weren’t at the top of celebrity stylist-designer Rachel Zoe‘s shopping list. They were OK for other people — she might even have suggested them — but she didn’t see them fitting into her closet until someone gave her a pair.

“Once you put them on, you can’t go back,” Zoe says. “In my house, it’s now the family at-home shoe. I wear them all the time. My son has 10 pairs and my husband has 10 pairs.”

Bradford Shellhammer, founder of Fab.com, which sells unusual items like canvas carryalls screen-printed with images of designer handbags, says gifts fit into three categories: the things everyone knows you want, the bad surprises and the amazing things that make you wonder, “How did I live without it?”

A. Mitra Morgan, founder and chief curator of decorative home-goods website Joss & Main, can’t imagine her busy life without the wallet-phone case wristlet her mother gave her last year.

Morgan has almost unlimited access to the pretty things on so many gift lists. Her mother, however, thought her daily necessities were too scattered. She didn’t know it at the time, Morgan admits, but mom was right.

Morgan received another love-it-later gift, this one from her husband. He gave her flat-bottomed pizza scissors.

“Coming from my husband, this was at the level of receiving a vacuum. I thought, ‘Really, this is what we’ve come to?’” Morgan says. “But it’s awesome!”

Christine Frietchen, a shopping expert who is advising TJ Maxx and Marshall’s this year on their gift-giving programs, says a gift is something you wouldn’t get for yourself. And the best way to know you’ve given a successful gift, she says, is if the receiver becomes an evangelist for it.

Adam Glassman, creative director at O, The Oprah magazine, was never at risk of buying the Patagonia fleece sweatpants his brother got for him a few years ago. “Never in my life did I think I’d need sweatpants, but I live in them,” he gushes. “When I come home from work, they are my go-to item. I wear them more than any other clothes in my closet.”

The only gift he might treasure more is the Eddie Bauer silk long johns his other brother gave him, something else he didn’t think he needed or wanted.

“Where was the Tom Ford, the Gucci?” Glassman says with a laugh.

But after a few winters of layering the long johns under his more fashionable pieces, he’s now buying them as gifts for other people.

Shellhammer says friends and family can’t ask for the items offered on Fab.com because the website sells things people don’t know exist. Items such as a shower curtain with a map of Paris (what enthusiastic traveler wouldn’t want one?) or a pug T-shirt for your favorite dog lover. (Shellhammer predicts the Mountain Pug Tee will be a top seller this season. The entire shirt becomes the face of a pug, wrinkles, jowls and all.)

And Shellhammer says it’s OK to be playful and show a little sense of humor when giving a gift. You’d be surprised how many positive comments the website has received about a hedgehog dish brush, he says. “It just gives you that crack of a smile.”

Brian Berger says the Yumaki toothbrush his business partner gave him is a present he’ll always remember — and appreciate. And, it’s something he uses every day.

His partner was trying to make a point as he and Berger recently launched a men’s undergarment and socks business called Mack Weldon that also is courting customers with the idea of “elevated basics,” Berger explains.

Some other gift ideas from the experts:

—Kitchen knives.

—Comfortable earbuds.

—Colorful tights and leggings.

—Berry bowls.

—Miniature flashlights that fit in pockets and purses.

—Pretty soaps.

—Personalized tote bags.

A lot of people do skimp on themselves, especially in a season where they are spending so much money, so an upgrade of something mundane to luxurious — or at least more fun — can be a very thoughtful gift, says gift advisor Frietchen.

“Have you ever had a really nice hairdryer, a REALLY good dryer? You think a hairdryer is a hairdryer until you have a good one in your hand. It can change your life,” Frietchen says.

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McCartney, Houston, Dylan lead Grammy Hall of Fame inductees

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Music by Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Elton John and late singers Whitney Houston and James Brown will be inducted into the 2013 Grammy Hall of Fame, The Recording Academy said on Wednesday.

Paul McCartney & Wings‘ 1973 album “Band on the Run,” long credited with reigniting McCartney’s career following the Beatles’ split in 1970, was one of the 27 new inductees into the Grammy Hall of Fame, on display at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles.

Houston‘s self-titled 1985 debut album was also named an inductee, following the singer’s sudden death aged 48 in February this year. Australian hard-rock band AC/DC’s top-selling 1980 “Back in Black” album was also named a new entry.

The Recording Academy, which also runs the Grammy awards, picks songs and albums from all genres that are at least 25 years old, with either “qualitative or historical significance” to be considered annually for the Grammy Hall of Fame by a committee.

“Memorable for being both culturally and historically significant, we are proud to add (the 2013 inductees) to our growing catalog of outstanding recordings that have become part of our musical, social and cultural history,” The Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow said in a statement.

As well as albums, the Grammy Hall of Fame also includes songs of historic and cultural significance and the inductees for 2013 see a range of classic American songs.

Iconic Dylan song “The Times They Are A-Changing” from 1964, R&B singer Ray Charles’ 1961 tune “Hit the Road Jack,” Rat Pack star Frank Sinatra’s 1980 “Theme from ‘New York, New York’”, and ‘Godfather of soul’ James Brown‘s 1965 classic “I Got You (I Feel Good)” were all honored.

Other 2013 inductees include Elton John‘s 1970 self-titled second album and American debut, Billy Joel’s 1973 hit “The Piano Man” and Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton’s 1953 R&B classic “Hound Dog,” later covered by Elvis Presley.

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Andrew Hay)

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Well: Officials Warn Against Baby Sleep Positioners

Health officials are warning parents not to use a special device designed to help keep babies in certain positions as they sleep. The device, called a sleep positioner, has been linked to at least 13 deaths in the last 15 years, officials with two federal agencies said on Wednesday.

“We urge parents and caregivers to take our warning seriously and stop using these sleep positioners,” Inez Tenenbaum, the chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said in a statement.

The sleep positioner devices come primarily in two forms. One is a flat mat with soft bolsters on each side. The other, known as a wedge-style positioner, looks very similar but has an incline, keeping a child in a very slight upright position.

Makers of the devices claim that by keeping infants in a specific position as they sleep, they can prevent several conditions, including acid reflux and flat head syndrome, a deformation caused by pressure on one part of the skull. Many are also marketed to parents as a way to help reduce a child’s risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, which kills thousands of babies every year, most between the ages of 2 months and 4 months.

But the devices have never been shown in studies to prevent SIDS, and they may actually raise the likelihood of sudden infant death, officials say. One of the leading risk factors for sudden infant death is placing a baby on his or her stomach at bedtime, and health officials have routinely warned parents to lay babies on their backs. They even initiated a “Back to Sleep” campaign in the 1990s, which led to a sharp reduction in sudden infant deaths.

With the positioner devices, if an infant rolls onto the stomach, the child’s mouth and nose can press up against a bolster or some other part of the device, leading to suffocation. Even if placed on the back, a child can move up or down in the positioner, “entrapping its face against a bolster or becoming trapped between the positioner and the crib side,” Gail Gantt, a nurse consultant with the Food and Drug Administration, said in an e-mail. Or the child might scoot down the wedge in a way that causes the child’s mouth and nose to press into the device.

“The baby’s movement may also cause the positioner to flip on top of the baby, trapping the baby underneath the positioner or between the positioner and the side of the crib,” she said.

Of the 13 babies known to have suffocated in a sleep positioner since 1997, most died after they rolled from their sides onto their stomachs. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has also received dozens of reports of babies who were placed on their sides or backs, “only to be found later in hazardous positions within or next to the product,” the F.D.A. said in a statement.

Many baby books for new parents specifically urge against using sleep positioners, and the American Academy of Pediatrics does not support their use for SIDS prevention. Though the F.D.A. has never approved the positioners for the prevention of SIDS, it has in the past approved a number of the devices for the prevention of gastroesophageal reflux disease and flat head syndrome. But the agency said that in light of the new safety data, it believed any benefits from using the devices were outweighed by the risk of suffocation.

As of Wednesday, the agency is explicitly advising parents to stop using sleep positioners, and it has asked manufacturers of the devices to submit clinical data showing that the benefits of their products outweigh the risk of serious harm. In addition to avoiding the devices, experts say, parents should keep things like pillows, comforters, quilts and bumpers away from their infants and their cribs. Soft bedding can increase the likelihood of a baby suffocating.

“The safest crib is a bare crib,” Dr. Susan Cummins, a pediatric expect with the F.D.A., said in a statement. “Always put your baby on his or her back to sleep. An easy way to remember this is to follow the ABC’s of safe sleep – Alone on the Back in a bare Crib.”

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DealBook: Judge Approves Hostess Brands' Plan to Close Down

A federal bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved plans for Hostess Brands to wind down its operations, but there is little doubt that its best-known brand, Twinkies, will live on.

The company, whose corporate ancestors go back 82 years, said it would put Twinkies on the auction block, along with its other famous brands, including Ho Hos, Sno Balls, Ring Dings and Wonder Bread.

In granting the motion by Hostess, Judge Robert D. Drain of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York said it was important to have a quick and orderly shutdown of the company to prevent the deterioration of its factories and assets.

The company’s chief executive, Gregory F. Rayburn, testified in court that he needed to lay off 15,000 of his 18,500 employees on Wednesday afternoon so that they could begin applying for unemployment benefits as soon as possible. He said such speed was necessary for maximizing the remaining value of the company.

“From this point forward, I need two things to happen,” Mr. Rayburn told the judge. “I need to maximize the value of the estate, and I need to do the best thing for the employees.”

Wednesday’s hearing came after a last-ditch mediation session on Tuesday between Hostess and its bakery workers union. After several hours of talks, the mediation efforts collapsed.

Hostess announced its intention to liquidate last Friday, and since then the company has received expressions of interest for its bakery brands from a wide range of potential buyers. Without naming names, an investment banker for Hostess, Joshua S. Scherer of Perella Weinberg Partners, said in court on Wednesday that they included regional bakeries, national competitors and retail customers along the lines of Wal-Mart Stores and Kroger.

Mr. Scherer added that his firm had plans to contact around 145 financial firms, including private equity shops and liquidators, to gauge their interest.

Investment concerns like Sun Capital Partners and C. Dean Metropoulos & Company, the owner of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, have already said that they are interested in buying some or all of Hostess’s remains. Sun Capital has said that it would like to buy all of Hostess, not just its brands, hoping to preserve the company and improve its often-tense relations with its unions.

Mr. Scherer said that he expected asset sales to reap “significant values,” perhaps more than $1 billion. Hostess had revenue of $2.5 billion in fiscal 2012, and a net loss of $1.1 billion.

Its famous brands have been sold and traded for decades among companies, including I.T.T., Ralston Purina and Continental Baking.

“These products will surely live on in one form or the other — because these brands are about as indestructible as Hostess’s baked goods are,” said Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for executive programs at the Yale School of Management.

Hostess was unable to resuscitate itself during this bankruptcy, its second in less than a decade. When it filed for bankruptcy last January, it had nearly $1 billion in debt as well as labor costs and work rules that it insisted were unsustainable.

According to Mr. Raymond, what sent the company into bankruptcy was both the refusal of one of its largest unions, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, to accept far-reaching concessions and a strike that the union began on Nov. 9, crippling two-thirds of the company’s 33 bakeries.

The bakery workers union, with 5,600 workers at Hostess, repeatedly said that it saw no reason to grant a new round of givebacks — after having granted major concessions in the previous bankruptcy of Hostess — because it was convinced that Hostess was heading toward liquidation, with or without concessions. That union and Hostess’s other major union, the Teamsters, repeatedly asserted that the company was mismanaged, having had six different chief executives since 2002. The unions maintained that Hostess’s top management had done little to modernize the company’s aging bakeries or its sugary product offerings — in an era when the nation has grown increasingly health conscious.

After filing for bankruptcy protection in January, Hostess demanded lower-cost contracts from the Teamsters, whose workers at Hostess average about $20 an hour, and the bakery workers, who average about $16. To help the company survive, the Teamsters, with 6,700 members at Hostess, most of them drivers, reluctantly agreed to a contract with numerous concessions. They include new work rules, an immediate 8 percent pay cut, a 17 percent reduction in Hostess’s contribution toward health coverage and a suspension of its pension payments until 2015. In return, the company agreed to give its unions two of the nine seats on its board and a 25 percent stake in the company.

But the bakery workers’ union resisted a similar deal, convinced it would drive down wages in the industry while in no way guaranteeing Hostess’s survival. That union went on strike rather than accept that offer, hoping the company would bend.

A week after the strike began, Mr. Rayburn said he would liquidate the company.

The looming liquidation of Hostess has been a topic of debate, with many on one side criticizing greedy, stubborn labor unions and many on the other blaming what the bakery workers’ president has called “vulture capitalists.” The company entered its first bankruptcy in 2004 with $450 million in debt, and exited five years later with even more debt — $670 million.

“The private equity owners put this thing in such deep debt and asked for such deep concessions that it put the unions in a difficult situation,” said Thomas A. Kochan, a professor at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The unions weren’t sure whether these concessions would be enough to salvage the company.”

Hostess Brands has corporate roots going back to 1930, but the company has had that name only since 2009, when Ripplewood Holdings, the private equity firm that took control of Interstate Bakeries, renamed it. Ripplewood, which has close ties to Richard A. Gephardt, a former Democratic House majority leader and longtime ally of labor unions, is rarely viewed as a predatory private equity company — it originally bought Hostess as part of an effort to save distressed unionized companies.

“The company had plenty of time to figure out a new business model in terms of products, but it didn’t, so it was convenient to blame labor for the company’s failure,” said John W. Budd, a professor of industrial relations at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. “Hostess’s creditors weren’t willing to make any more concessions, so if they didn’t see a viable business model, that raises questions of why labor should be making more concessions.”

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San Francisco officials wrap up public nudity debate with vote

SAN FRANCISCO — What started out as a discussion about whether people could stroll naked through this liberal city's storied streets ended up Tuesday as a discussion about the role of local government.

Faced with complaints about a band of so-called "Naked Guys" gathering daily in the Castro District, Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced legislation last month to ban public nudity citywide, except for at permitted festivals and parades.

"This legislation has strong support in the community," Wiener said to kick off the debate before Tuesday's vote. "I'm talking about support from everyday citizens who live and work in this wonderful neighborhood."

The stricture wasn't the brainchild of business owners, as some naturists have claimed. Nor did straight couples with children raise a fuss about freedom of expression — and freedom from clothing — in the heart of gay San Francisco.

"The dominant demographic expressing concern is gay men," Wiener told his colleagues as he implored them to expand on an earlier ordinance requiring clothing in restaurants and a barrier between naked bodies and public seating.

But the more progressive supervisors weren't buying it. Outgoing Supervisor Christina Olague called the proposal "a solution in search of a problem." Supervisor Eric Mar said the Naked Guys and the issue of public attire were well below the level of what the august body should be considering.

Supervisor John Avalos played a clip from the movie "Catch-22" of a soldier getting a medal while in the nude. He called the Naked Guys' daily strolls "inconsequential nudity" with meaningless effect.

Their point: that one neighborhood's problem was just that.

Opponents of the nudity ban cheered. But only briefly.

Because when the final vote was taken, the supervisors cast their ballots, 6 to 5, to require clothing under most circumstances on the streets of San Francisco.

The Naked Guys (and Gals) were not happy.

"It's not a legitimate government!" one shouted. "You're voting against the majority of the people," yelled another. "Shame!"

And with that, the Board of Supervisors took a 10-minute break.

maria.laganga@latimes.com

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Review: Gift guide to full-size tablets

NEW YORK (AP) — Tablets are at the top of many wish lists this holiday season. But what to get? The choice used to be pretty limited, with the iPad dominating the latecomers. But this year, the field is more even, as tablets from Apple‘s competitors have matured. In addition, Google and Microsoft are diving in with their own tablets, providing more choice.

The first step in the buying process is to decide on the size of the tablet. They fall into two rough categories: the full-sized tablet, pioneered by the iPad, and the half-size tablet, epitomized by the Kindle Fire.

Full-sized tablets, which generally have screens measuring about 10 inches on the diagonal, are better for surfing websites designed for PCs, and far better when it comes to displaying magazines and documents. Overall, they go further toward replacing a laptop. They cost $ 400 and up.

Half-sized tablets, which have screens measuring roughly 7 inches on the diagonal, are cheaper and lighter, but just as good as full-sized tablets for e-book reading. It’s an excellent first computing device for a kid, or a gentle nudge into the digital world for an older adult with little computing experience. This year’s crop costs $ 199 and up, but last year’s models are available for less.

If you’ve settled on a large tablet, here are some top choices. A review of smaller tablets ran Monday.

— Apple iPad, fourth generation (starts at $ 499)

Apple usually updates the iPad once a year, so it was a surprise when it dropped a new model in October, with a faster processor and the new “Lightning” connection and charging port, replacing the wide port inherited from the iPod. Like the third-generation iPad launched in March it has an ultra-high-resolution “Retina” screen. The model’s resolution of 2,048 by 1,536 pixels is only surpassed by the Google Nexus 10.

That means the current iPad is two generations ahead of the iPad 2 that was on sale last holiday season. It packs enough improvements to make the upgrade worth it. The iPad 2 is still on sale for $ 100 less, but it’s not a very good value for the money: if $ 400 is all you can spend, there are better tablets out there than the iPad 2.

While other tablets are starting to approach it in terms of hardware, the iPad still enjoys the best support by far from third parties, both in terms of quality applications and accessories like cases.

One caveat: the base model of the iPad has only 16 gigabytes of storage, which fills up fast these days. The thoughtful giver goes for at least a 32-gigabyte model, for $ 100 more.

Other than that, there are few downsides to the iPad: no one will frown when opening this package.

— Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ (starts at $ 269)

For a book store, Barnes & Noble makes some amazing tablets. The HD+ is its first model that approaches the iPad in size, with a screen that’s 9 inches on the diagonal. That makes it slightly smaller than the iPad, and the resolution is lower as well, but still very respectable. At 1,920 by 1,280 pixels, it can show more detail than a living-room HDTV.

The Nook is family-friendly too. You can create user accounts and restrict them from certain content, so there’s less risk that your kids will stumble on your copy of “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Like the basic iPad, the basic Nook HD+ comes with just 16 gigabytes of storage memory, but it can be expanded with a microSD memory card. That means another 32 gigabytes will cost you just $ 25 — a good deal.

But the Nook is the least versatile tablet in our roundup. The number of apps available is small, and it’s focused on Barnes & Noble content like e-books, magazines and movies. It doesn’t have any cameras, while the competitors have two each. It’s best for someone who’s likely to stick to media consumption, and doesn’t need the latest apps and games.

— Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (starts at $ 499)

If the Nook is for the avid reader or movie watcher, the Galaxy Note 10.1 is for the creative type. It’s the only tablet in our roundup that comes with a “pen” that can be used to write and draw on the screen. In our test, this worked well, though the number of apps that take advantage of the pen is still small. (Other tablets, like the iPad, only respond to finger-like objects, so third-party styluses for them are of necessity thick and clumsy.)

The Note 10.1 runs Google‘s Android software, giving it access to a wide array of apps originally written for smartphones. The selection is not on par with the iPad’s but better than other alternatives.

The Note’s screen falls into the low-resolution category, sporting 1,280 by 800 pixels. That’s a third of what the iPad musters.

Like the Nook, the Note 10.1′s storage memory can be expanded with cards.

The Note’s appeal is somewhat niche, but it could be just the thing for the budding or established artist.

— Microsoft Surface (starts at $ 499)

Microsoft’s first tablet seems at first like a throwback to the first iPad. It’s thick, heavy and rugged. But it’s really doesn’t have much in common with the first iPad or any Apple- or Google-powered tablet. It runs Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 adapted for tablets. It comes with a version of Microsoft’s Office suite and the ability to connect to wireless printers and some other peripherals, like USB drives. The covers for it have functional keyboard printed on the inside.

The screen resolution is 1,366 by 768 pixels, placing it in the low-resolution category.

The Surface screams “work, work, work.” It’s the tablet for those who are wedded to Word and want to take their writing on the go.

One thing to note about the Surface: the basic model starts out with “32 gigabytes” of memory, but of that, only 16 gigabytes are available to the user. It accepts memory cards of up to 64 gigabytes, however, so expanding the memory is cheap.

Note that even though it runs Windows, the Surface doesn’t run standard Windows applications. It will run only programs specifically adapted for Windows RT. The selection is, for now, quite limited.

— Asus Vivo Tab RT (starts at $ 599 with a dock)

Asus has a quality line of Android tablets they call “Transformer” because they dock into a keyboard with an extra battery. The combination folds up just like a small laptop and has excellent battery life. The Vivo Tab RT essentially takes a Transformer and stuffs it with Windows RT instead of Android.

The tablet part is smaller and thinner than the Surface. Together with the keyboard, it makes for a familiar little setup: a tiny laptop running Windows. Like the Surface, it has a memory card slot and a USB port. The screen resolution is the same.

The Vivo Tab is a good tool for those who want to get some work done on the commute or plane, or those who can’t decide if they want a laptop or a tablet.

— Google Nexus 10 (starts at $ 399)

This is Google’s first full-size tablet and the only tablet from any manufacturer that beats the screen resolution of the iPad. It boasts 2,560 by 1,600 pixels, a third more than the fourth-generation iPad.

It’s also the only tablet in this roundup that has speakers on either side of the screen when it’s held horizontally, making for good stereo reproduction when you’re watching movies. It has a grippy, rubberized back and widely rounded corners. There’s no memory card slot or an option for a cellular modem.

The array of third-party software is wide, just as it is for the Note 10.1. Most people don’t associate Google with online books, music or movies, so it may feel odd that the Nexus steers buyers to Google’s Play store. Of course, given the open nature of Google’s Android operating system, there are apps available for other entertainment stores, including Amazon’s, and for streaming services like Netflix.

The Nexus 10 is a snappy performer, and among the iPad’s competitors, it comes the closest to matching the versatility of Apple products.

___

Peter Svensson can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/petersvensson

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Elmo puppeteer Clash resigns following new sex claims

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind the “Sesame Street” character Elmo, resigned on Tuesday following new allegations that he had sex with an underage boy, adding to an ongoing controversy involving one of America’s most popular children’s brands.

In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Cecil Singleton is seeking more than $ 5 million in damages from Clash. Singleton claims he met the then-32-year-old puppeteer in 1993 in a gay chat room when he was 15.

It added that on numerous occasions over a period of years Clash engaged in sexual activity with Singleton.

The news came just a week after another man recanted his claims that Clash had sex with him when he was 16 years old.

Clash, 52, said he was leaving Sesame Workshop, the company behind the television show, after nearly 30 years with a very heavy heart.

“I have loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization. Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work Sesame Street is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer,” he said in a statement issued by his publicist, Risa B. Heller.

“I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately,” he added.

The New York-based Sesame Workshop said it was a sad day for “Sesame Street,” which premiered in 1969 and has been educating and entertaining children for decades with characters such as Elmo, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster.

“Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us wants, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street,” the company said in a statement.

A representative declined further comment.

The unnamed 23-year-old man who first accused Clash recanted his claims last week, saying the relationship was consensual. His lawyers were not immediately available to comment on the lawsuit.

Clash had denied the allegations and acknowledged a past relationship with his first accuser. He added the pair were both consenting adults at the time.

“I am a gay man. I have never been ashamed of this or tried to hide it,” Clash said at the time.

Sesame Workshop said the first allegations involving Clash came to its attention in June when the earlier accuser contacted the company by email.

The Elmo character debuted on “Sesame Street” in 1979. While Clash was the third performer to animate the child-like shaggy red monster, Sesame Workshop credits him with turning Elmo into the international sensation he became.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; additional reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Cynthia Osterman)

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Ecstasy Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Shows Promise

Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times

ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which is financing research into the drug Ecstasy.

Hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress have recently contacted a husband-and-wife team who work in suburban South Carolina to seek help. Many are desperate, pleading for treatment and willing to travel to get it.

The soldiers have no interest in traditional talking cures or prescription drugs that have given them little relief. They are lining up to try an alternative: MDMA, better known as Ecstasy, a party drug that surfaced in the 1980s and ’90s that can induce pulses of euphoria and a radiating affection. Government regulators criminalized the drug in 1985, placing it on a list of prohibited substances that includes heroin and LSD. But in recent years, regulators have licensed a small number of labs to produce MDMA for research purposes.

“I feel survivor’s guilt, both for coming back from Iraq alive and now for having had a chance to do this therapy,” said Anthony, a 25-year-old living near Charleston, S.C., who asked that his last name not be used because of the stigma of taking the drug. “I’m a different person because of it.”

In a paper posted online Tuesday by the Journal of Psychopharmacology, Michael and Ann Mithoefer, the husband-and-wife team offering the treatment — which combines psychotherapy with a dose of MDMA — write that they found 15 of 21 people who recovered from severe post-traumatic stress in the therapy in the early 2000s reported minor to virtually no symptoms today. Many said they have received other kinds of therapy since then, but not with MDMA.

The Mithoefers — he is a psychiatrist and she is a nurse — collaborated on the study with researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina and the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

The patients in this group included mostly rape victims, and experts familiar with the work cautioned that it was preliminary, based on small numbers, and its applicability to war trauma entirely unknown. A spokeswoman for the Department of Defense said the military was not involved in any research of MDMA.

But given the scarcity of good treatments for post-traumatic stress, “there is a tremendous need to study novel medications,” including MDMA, said Dr. John H. Krystal, chairman of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine.

The study is the first long-term test to suggest that psychiatrists’ tentative interest in hallucinogens and other recreational drugs — which have been taboo since the 1960s — could pay off. And news that the Mithoefers are beginning to test the drug in veterans is out, in the military press and on veterans’ blogs. “We’ve had more than 250 vets call us,” Dr. Mithoefer said. “There’s a long waiting list, we wish we could enroll them all.”

The couple, working with other researchers, will treat no more than 24 veterans with the therapy, following Food and Drug Administration protocols for testing an experimental drug; MDMA is not approved for any medical uses.

A handful of similar experiments using MDMA, LSD or marijuana are now in the works in Switzerland, Israel and Britain, as well as in this country. Both military and civilian researchers are watching closely. So far, the research has been largely supported by nonprofit groups.

“When it comes to the health and well-being of those who serve, we should leave our politics at the door and not be afraid to follow the data,” said Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, a psychiatrist who recently retired from the Army. “There’s now an evidence base for this MDMA therapy and a plausible story about what may be going on in the brain to account for the effects.”

In interviews, two people who have had the therapy — one, Anthony, currently in the veterans study, and another who received the therapy independently — said that MDMA produced a mental sweet spot that allowed them to feel and talk about their trauma without being overwhelmed by it.

“It changed my perspective on the entire experience of working at ground zero,” said Patrick, a 46-year-old living in San Francisco, who worked long hours in the rubble after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks searching in vain for survivors, as desperate family members of the victims looked on, pleading for information. “At times I had this beautiful, peaceful feeling down in the pit, that I had a purpose, that I was doing what I needed to be doing. And I began in therapy to identify with that,” rather than the guilt and sadness.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 21, 2012

An article on Tuesday about using MDMA, or Ecstasy, in combination with psychotherapy to treat post-traumatic stress described incorrectly the office arrangement that a husband-and-wife team use to conduct therapy sessions using MDMA. The couple, Michael and Ann Mithoefer, hold the sessions in an office in a converted house; they do not conduct the sessions in their home office. And because of an editing error, an accompanying picture carried an incorrect credit. The photograph of the Mithoefers was taken by Hunter McRae, not by Gretchen Ertl.

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DealBook: Ex-SAC Trader Charged in $276 Million Insider Case

Over the last half-decade, as federal authorities secured dozens of insider trading convictions against hedge fund traders, they have tried doggedly to build a case against one of Wall Street’s most influential players: the billionaire stock picker Steven A. Cohen.

On Tuesday, the government appeared to inch closer to that goal. Prosecutors brought charges against a former portfolio manager at the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors in a case that for the first time directly involves Mr. Cohen, the fund’s founder.

Mathew Martoma, a former portfolio manager at CR Intrinsic, a unit of SAC, was charged with making more than $276 million in a combination of illegal profits and avoided losses by obtaining secret information from a doctor about clinical trials for an Alzheimer’s drug being developed by the companies Elan and Wyeth.

The case is “the most lucrative insider trading scheme ever charged,” said Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, who brought the charges in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

It also draws in Mr. Cohen, whose fund has been in the cross hairs of government investigators since the crackdown on insider trading began. Though not charged or mentioned by name, Mr. Cohen is referred to repeatedly in the government’s court filings as either “Portfolio Manager A” or the “owner” of the funds involved. People briefed on the case confirmed that the reference was to Mr. Cohen.

Mr. Martoma worked closely with Mr. Cohen in buying and selling large blocks of Elan and Wyeth shares, according to a lawsuit also filed on Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The government does not say that Mr. Cohen — who has not been charged in the case — knew that Mr. Martoma had confidential information about the companies’ Alzheimer drug when he bought and sold the stocks.

“Mr. Cohen and SAC are confident that they have acted appropriately and will continue to cooperate with the government’s inquiry,” said Jonathan Gasthalter, a SAC spokesman.

From the middle of an expansive trading floor in SAC’s Stamford, Conn., headquarters, Mr. Cohen, 56, oversees a fund that manages about $13 billion and, including borrowing from banks, possesses about $39 billion in total buying power. The fund, which has about 900 employees, has generated some of the best investment returns on Wall Street, averaging about 30 percent over the last two decades.

Though the case against Mr. Martoma is the first time the government has pointed to Mr. Cohen’s participation in a trade that may have been improper, it is the latest in a spate of insider trading prosecutions of former SAC employees. At least seven former SAC employees have been tied to the government’s multiyear investigation; three of them have pleaded to insider trading while working for Mr. Cohen.

Previous cases involving SAC have highlighted the firm’s unusual structure: traders are allocated money and invest on their own with little direct input from Mr. Cohen. But in this case, Mr. Cohen is said to have had numerous contacts with Mr. Martoma and appeared to collaborate closely with him.

“The law of averages would tell you that all of these instances at one firm are not coincidences,” said Mark Zauderer, a securities lawyer in New York. “People take their cues from the top, and these cases must reflect a culture there.”

F.B.I. agents arrested Mr. Martoma, 38, early Tuesday morning at his home in Boca Raton, Fla. He was released on bail after making an appearance in Federal District Court in West Palm Beach. Mr. Martoma, who has been unemployed since leaving SAC in 2010, is expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Monday and enter a plea.

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

Also accused in the scheme by the Securities Exchange Commission on Tuesday was Sidney Gilman, a neurology professor at the University of Michigan. The S.E.C. said Dr. Gilman, 80, an Alzheimer’s expert who helped oversee the clinical trials for the drug, gave Mr. Martoma the confidential information.

Dr. Gilman is cooperating with the government and has entered into a nonprosecution with the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan, meaning that criminal charges will not be brought against him. Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for Dr. Gilman, said that he expected the S.E.C.’s case to be resolved shortly.

Mr. Martoma met Dr. Gilman through the Gerson Lehrman Group, a so-called expert network firm based in New York. Once an obscure pocket of Wall Street, expert network firms became popular among the hedge fund set in the last decade as a way to gain an investment edge. The services linked traders to specialists and consultants in various industries.

But these firms came under scrutiny after the government brought more than a dozen insider trading cases involving these expert networks. In some cases, hedge fund managers paid outside consultants handsome fees for providing confidential information about publicly traded companies. In others, the government charged executives at the expert network firms with knowingly facilitating the exchange of illegal stock tips.

A spokesman for Gerson Lehrman declined to comment. The government’s complaint details how Dr. Gilman hid his communications about the trial from the expert network firm.

Dr. Gilman’s consulting work for Mr. Martoma earned him about $108,000, according to court filings. Based in part on Dr. Gilman’s leaks about positive developments related to the clinical trials of a new Alzheimer’s drug, SAC accumulated a roughly $700 million position in the stocks of Wyeth and Elan, according to the government.

The S.E.C. said that the fund’s owner, Mr. Cohen, took a large position in Wyeth and Elan in his personal portfolio based on Mr. Martoma’s recommendation. Mr. Cohen maintained his holdings even though there was significant debate about the wisdom of such a large position in the companies, the government said.

But in July 2008, as the trials neared completion, Dr. Gilman told Mr. Martoma that patients were experiencing serious side effects, prosecutors say. Afterward, Mr. Martoma e-mailed Mr. Cohen, telling him “it’s important” that they speak. They spoke on the phone for nearly 20 minutes, the government says, and Mr. Martoma told his boss that he was no longer “comfortable” with the investments.

The following day, SAC reversed course. Mr. Cohen’s head trader sold the firm’s entire inventory of roughly 10.5 million shares of Elan and about seven million shares of Wyeth, the government said. Once it had dumped the shares, SAC built a short position in the two stocks, betting their value would drop.

According to the S.E.C., the trader, Mr. Cohen and Mr. Martoma kept the sales confidential. The trade, wrote the head trader in an e-mail to Mr. Cohen, “was executed quietly and efficiently over a four-day period through algos and darkpools” — referring to trades using algorithms and to trading platforms that do not have the same reporting requirements as the stock exchanges — “and booked into two firm accounts that have very limited viewing access.”

After the companies announced the results of the trials, Elan’s stock fell about 42 percent and Wyeth’s about 12 percent.

The trading allowed SAC to avoid about $194 million in losses and earn about $83 million in profits on Elan and Wyeth, according to prosecutors.

At the end of 2008, Mr. Martoma received a bonus of about $9.3 million, the S.E.C. said. Mr. Martoma’s stock picks were less successful in 2009 and 2010, and he received no bonuses then.

According to the government, in 2010 an SAC executive suggested in an e-mail that the firm let Mr. Martoma go, describing him as a “one-trick pony.”

SAC CAPITAL UNDER A MICROSCOPE The firm has been under a cloud since a former employee, Richard Choo-Beng Lee, pleaded guilty in 2009 to insider trading and began helping the government in its investigation. The crimes he confessed to were committed after he left SAC, but he agreed to provide information about his five years at the firm, which ended in 2004.

NAMES	THE CASES
Jonathan Hollander	The former analyst paid more than $220,000 to settle civil charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission accusing him of trading in his personal account on confidential information about the 2006 takeover of the Albertsons grocery store chain.
Jon Horvath and Michael Steinberg	Mr. Horvath, right, a former technology industry analyst, pleaded guilty in September to participating in a conspiracy that illegally traded in the shares of Dell computer. His boss, the former portfolio manager Mr. Steinberg, has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator but has not been charged in the case. Federal prosecutors contend they were part of a seven-person conspiracy — a “circle of friends” — that earned about $62 million in illegal gains trading on secret tips from executives at publicly traded technology companies.
Donald Longueuil and Noah Freeman	The two former portfolio managers admitted in 2011 to trading on illegal tips about publicly traded technology companies. Mr. Longueuil, right, was swept up in a crackdown on so-called expert networks. He is one of roughly a dozen implicated in the case. Mr. Longueuil is serving a two-and-a-half-year jail term at a federal prison in Otisville, N.Y.; Mr. Freeman, who is cooperating with prosecutors, has yet to be sentenced.
Mathew Martoma	The former trader at CR Intrinsic, a unit of the hedge fund, was charged with making about $276 million in combined profits and avoided losses by obtaining confidential information about a drug trial for an Alzheimer’s drug developed by the pharmaceutical companies Elan and Wyeth.

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Israel, Hamas keep up attacks as talks continue in Egypt

GAZA CITY — As negotiators worked on a tenuous cease-fire deal, Israel and Hamas pounded each other for a sixth day and anger rose in the Gaza Strip over the increasing number of casualties.

Hopes for a truce grew Monday night when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened Cabinet members to discuss the details of what was said to be a multiphase, multiyear cease-fire agreement.

Officials in Egypt, where the talks were underway, expressed cautious optimism. Arab League leaders and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was visiting the region, were trying to help negotiate a deal. The White House said President Obama, who is visiting Asia, called Netanyahu and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Monday.

Israel is seeking assurances from Egypt that Hamas will halt rocket fire into Israel and not be allowed to rebuild the weapon caches that Israel has destroyed in recent days. Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, wants an end to the land and sea blockade that has crippled its economy, and to targeted killings of its leaders by Israel.

Any sort of agreement must overcome huge obstacles. Israel views Hamas as a terrorist organization and the Islamist militant group refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist.

Even if the two don't alter those stances, any internationally endorsed truce would usher in a new phase in their relationship. Previously Israel and Hamas have refused direct negotiations, occasionally reaching informal agreements brokered through intermediaries, such as last year's deal to release captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

There are sizable risks for both sides, but also opportunities, said Doron Avital, a lawmaker with Israel's centrist Kadima party and a former commander of an elite military unit.

Hamas would win some of the international legitimacy it craves, but it would also need to moderate its behavior, just as the Palestine Liberation Organization did after signing the Oslo peace accords in 1993.

"It might elevate the status of Hamas, but that will also mean that Hamas will have to play realpolitik," Avital said. "It can't stay a terrorist organization forever. There's an interesting potential here."

Heated comments by Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal during a Cairo news conference Monday underscored the level of animosity. He called Netanyahu a "child killer" and "murderer."

"It is Netanyahu who asked for a truce," Meshaal said. "Gazans don't even want a truce."

For Israel, besides gaining an end to rocket attacks from Gaza, a deal might start the process of encouraging Hamas to become more moderate. And if Egypt guarantees an agreement, it would be directly invested in keeping Hamas unarmed.

With no cease-fire in place, Israel has massed soldiers and armor along the Gaza border in preparation for a possible invasion. But ground fighting would almost certainly lead to more Israeli and Palestinian casualties, and voices on both sides have cautioned against it.

Some said the negotiations may have led to an uptick in violence in recent days, as each side attempts to intimidate the other before a truce is called.

Palestinian casualties were relatively low in the first days of the conflict, but have increased as Israel's air campaign hit targets in more populated areas. On Monday, Israel attacked the Sharouk communications building in Gaza City where it said four senior members of the Islamic Jihad militant group were meeting.

Among the dead was Ramez Harb, a Palestinian journalist. Israel said he was a legitimate target because he served in the information department of Islamic Jihad.

Hamas' Health Ministry said 107 people had been killed in Gaza, including more than two dozen children. At least 850 people had been wounded.

Three Israelis have died in the barrage of rockets from Gaza and a dozen have been wounded, including three on Monday. An additional 135 rockets were fired Monday, pushing the total over the last week to more than 1,000. Hamas has fired rockets at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for the first time.

The White House said Obama, in his conversation with Morsi, emphasized that the rocket fire into Israel must end.

In a somber sign of the climbing death toll, hundreds of Gazans crowded around the Shifa Hospital morgue Monday morning in a familiar ritual: collecting the bodies of loved ones.

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