Coffee Talk Shop…

The hidden camera ploy that has propelled television host Chris Hansen into an American pop culture phenomenon has pulled a fast one on the To Catch a Predator star.

The Daily Mail is reporting today that Hansen, the Dateline NBC personality that has hosted the popular To Catch a Predator series from 2004 through 2007, has been caught cheating on his wife Mary Joan Hansen, with whom he has fathered two sons.

It is being reported today that the National Enquirer was instrumental in arranging an undercover sting operation last weekend in which Hansen was caught on film going on a date with a blonde-haired reporter 20 years younger than him.

The Daily Mail claims that the hidden cameras reveal Hansen and Kristyn Caddell, a 30-year-old journalist from Florida, going out to dinner at the hoity-toity Ritz-Carlton in Manalapan and then heading off to Miss Cadddel’s Palm Beach apartment. The recording allegedly shows the couple then leaving her apartment the following morning with luggage in tow.

Undercover footage reportedly recorded the couple driving along the ocean, at a gas station, a liquor store and eventually Caddell’s apartment. The next day the tape continued to roll as Caddell took Hansen to the airport.

As host of NBC’s To Catch A Predator, Hansen and his crew have aired 12 investigations across the United States in which authorities carried out undercover stings to nab sexual predators seeking out children for elicit acts. After luring men to the homes of alleged underage prey, Hansen and a film crew question, document and humiliate criminals with the help of NBC videographers, hidden surveillance cams and law enforcement.

Former Texas District Attorney Louis Conradt committed suicide in 2006 after a SWAT team entered his house during a sting enacted in part by the television program. Authorities had created a fictional 13-year-old boy to whom Conradt engaged in explicit online chats with. When SWAT later stormed his Terrell, Texas home as the Dateline crew surrounded the premises, Conradt killed himself with a Browning .380 handgun bullet to the head.

Hansen has recently been investigating around Florida to try to find out how star athlete James ‘Jimmy T’ Trindade went missing in 2006. An anonymous source has told the Daily Mail that Hansen and Caddell met at a martini bar in Palm Beach earlier this year, and that “there was an immediate physical attraction between them.”

The source also claims that Caddell later boasted to friends that she spent the night with Hansen.

The Enquirer is alleging that the couple has been continuing recondite rendezvous along the East Coast, with the two spending weekends together in Miami, Palm Beach and even New York City. Previously Caddell worked as an intern in NBC’s New York City office.

OK, so maybe the television antennas littering the housetops across urban and suburban landscapes were downright ugly — and perilous to install on steep roofs — not to mention that windstorms could leave them twisting in the wind like pretzels.

And sure, the rabbit ears atop the TV were maddeningly stubborn about pulling in your favorite show without Dad’s having to fiddle around to adjust the metal spines repeatedly until they were just so. Some people even added aluminum foil to boost the signal-capturing ability.

But at least those contraptions weren’t the energy hogs that cable and satellite TV boxes are these days.

Those ubiquitous boxes of the digital age drain as much as a full-sized, but energy efficient, refrigerator and even some air-conditioning systems, according to a report in The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/us/26cable.html

That staggering fact brings to mind the exclamations that exploded on TV sets during “Batman” in the old black-and-white TV era: POW! BAM! And ZAP to your energy bill!

The 160 million boxes in the United States that funnel cable signals and digital recording ability into televisions are the single largest electricity drain in many American homes, the Times reports. Many homes have one or more basic cable boxes, as well as add-on digital video recorders, which use 40 percent more power than the set-top box.

One high-definition DVR and one high-definition cable box use an average of 446 kilowatt hours a year, about 10 percent more than a 21-cubic-foot energy-efficient refrigerator, the Times quotes a recent study from the Natural Resources Defense Council as saying.

The boxes consume $3 billion in electricity a year in the United States — and 66 percent of that power is wasted when no one is watching and shows are not being recorded, the study found.

“People in the energy efficiency community worry a lot about these boxes, since they will make it more difficult to lower home energy use,” said John Wilson, a former member of the California Energy Commission who is now with the San Francisco-based Energy Foundation.

“Companies say it can’t be done or it’s too expensive. But in my experience, neither one is true. It can be done, and it often doesn’t cost much, if anything,” Wilson told the Times.

Alternatives to the perpetually “powered-on” state are available, but they are not being required or deployed in the United States, critics say.

Similar devices in some European countries go automatically into standby mode when not in use, cutting power drawn by half, the Times reports. They also have an optional “deep sleep” option that can reduce energy consumption by about 95 percent.

Alan Meier, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, offered this of the industry in the United States to the Times: “I don’t want to use the word ‘lazy,’ but they have had different priorities, and saving energy is not one of them.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has established Energy Star standards for set-top boxes and has plans to tighten them significantly by 2013, Ann Bailey, director of Energy Star product labeling, said in an email to the Times.

Back in the day, the biggest energy demand was climbing up on the roof to monkey around adjusting the antenna.

© Newsmax. All rights reserved.

SAN FRANCISCO — The photograph on the Home Depot website shows a line of smiling soldiers unloading a truck stacked with power tools and other company wares.

The company says this shows “federal dollars go farther at The Home Depot.”

San Francisco Attorney Paul Scott says the photo also shows the company providing Chinese-made products in violation of the Buy American Act, and the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating.

A federal judge refused Home Depot’s bid in April to toss a whistleblower lawsuit Scott and other attorneys filed against the company. Now the country’s largest home improvement retailer is the latest company accused of running afoul of the Buy American Act, a 1933 law aimed at protecting U.S. jobs. The law requires that all materials used in construction of public projects originate in the United States or “designated countries.”

Like most protectionist trade provisions, the Buy American Act has its supporters and detractors.

Proponents support the act as a way to boost the economy and preserve U.S. jobs. Critics complain the law limits the government’s ability to make the best purchase on price and quality. Further, they argue that complying with the letter of the law is difficult, given the many exemptions and the reality that the component parts of many products originate in multiple countries. In addition, the law’s critics say it’s especially difficult for large companies such as Home Depot that carry thousands of products to ensure it follows the law with every government transaction.

The law has been through many revisions, and trade agreements with Canada, Israel and several other countries allow for use of material made in those countries. In the decades after its enactment, the law was little used. But with the explosion of international trade a number of companies have been accused of violating the Buy American Act over the last several years.

Earlier this year, the national hardware distributor Fastenal Co. agreed to pay $6.25 million to resolve DOJ claims made after a government audit found among other things that it violated its contract with the General Services Administration by providing Chinese-made goods.

Fastenal said in a statement that it settled because “we continue to believe that we complied with our obligation under the GSA contract in all material respects. However, we felt a continuation of our dispute with the DOJ and GSA was not the best use of our resources.”

In the last six years, Staples, Office Depot, and OfficeMax have paid a combined $22 million to settle government claims they violated the act. In 2008, the Department of Justice announced that W.W. Grainger agreed to pay $6 million to settle claims the company overcharged the government and provided it with Chinese and Taiwanese products in violation of the Buy American Act.

At issue in the Home Depot case are GSA “schedule” contracts. Those contracts authorize any government agency to purchase tens of thousands of products from the company’s Web site.

The lawsuit alleges that up to half of those products are made in China and other non-designated countries. The lawsuit was filed by two employees of another government contractor in 2008 that claimed their employer, the Actus Lend Lease Co., supplied noncompliant material in several military housing projects.

Before Actus was dropped from the case this year after paying an undisclosed amount of money to settle, lawyers discovered allegations that one of its corporate partners — Home Depot — was also violating the law.

The two Actus employees initially filed the so-called whistleblower lawsuit under seal, as all such claims on behalf of the government are filed. That gives the DOJ a chance to investigate the claims and decide if it wants to take over the lawsuit, which seeks to recover damages on behalf of the government.

All damages recovered are split between the government and the plaintiffs filing the lawsuit, with the government always receiving a larger amount.

Last year, the judge denied the government’s request to keep the lawsuit under seal so it could continue its investigation.

After the lawsuit was made public, Home Depot asked the judge to dismiss the case, noting the government’s non-intervention in the case. In March, federal prosecutors fired back at Home Depot with a court filing stating that it “would be erroneous to assume that the government’s lack of intervention reflects its conclusion that the case lacks merit.”

The DOJ continues to investigate the issue and still has not decided whether to join the case.

In court filings and a brief interview, Home Depot officials argue they have complied fully with the terms of the contract and the Buy American Act.

“We would never knowingly sell prohibited goods under any circumstances, and we have been cooperating with the government to provide requested information,” said Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes. “We believe the plaintiffs have an inaccurate view of the facts, so we look forward to presenting our side of this case as the process moves forward.”

A judge has scheduled a trial for early next year.

© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Automakers that sell vehicles in the United States may have to boost car and light truck fuel economy to an average 56.2 miles per gallon by 2025 under a White House proposal presented this week.

In separate meetings with officials from Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., and Chrysler Group LLC on Wednesday, the Obama administration asked the three largest U.S. automakers to analyze the effects of a 56.2 mpg fuel-economy target, two people familiar with the talks said. The rules also would cover other manufacturers, such as Toyota Motor Corp.

That represents an improvement of about a 5 percent a year in each company’s fleetwide average fuel economy from 2016, when they are required to have a 35.5 mpg average for vehicles sold in the United States The Detroit News reported the administration’s plan today.

Republicans, including Environmental Protection Agency administrators for every Republican president since Richard Nixon, joined other Republicans this week in asking Obama to write “aggressive” fuel economy standards for 2017 to 2025, the years covered under the rule now being drafted.

Increasing fuel economy by the amount proposed could cost at least $2,100 per vehicle, according to a document prepared last year by the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, who have said they will publish a proposed rule by Sept. 30. California’s Air Resources Board is also helping write the rule and was represented at this week’s meetings, according to the people familiar with the talks.

“We continue to work closely with a broad range of stakeholders to develop an important standard that will save families money and keep the jobs of the future here,” Clark Stevens, a White House spokesman, said in an email. “A final decision has not been made, and as we have made clear we plan to propose that standard in September.”

Any number being floated now is early in the process, Greg Martin, a spokesman for Detroit-based GM, said in an interview.

“There’s a way go to in this process,” said Martin, who said he doesn’t know what the White House said in the meeting. “Any number out there right now has the rigidity of Jello.”

Christin Baker, a spokeswoman for Ford, based in Dearborn, Mich., also declined to comment on this week’s talks.

“Our discussions with the administration are ongoing and productive,” she said in an email.

Spokeswomen for Chrysler, based in Auburn Hills, Mich., and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents automakers from around the world, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment placed outside of regular business hours.

Environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council are pushing for a 62 mpg standard by 2025, saying increasing the fuel economy average will help U.S. automakers regain market share they lost to foreign competitors who sold more smaller cars in the U.S.

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” council Transportation Program Director Roland Hwang said about the 56.2 mpg proposal in an interview. “That’s a good number as long as there aren’t any loopholes by the automakers” such as making most of the improvements in the later years of the rule.”

© Copyright 2011 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved.

Imagining advances from lighter cars to smarter robots, President Barack Obama is announcing a $500 million project to spur high-technology manufacturing, a sector of U.S. industry that presidential advisers say has lost ground to such competitors as Germany and Japan.

On Friday in Pittsburgh, Obama is to call for a joint effort by industry, universities and the federal government to help reposition the United States as a leader in cutting-edge manufacturing, including biotechnology, robotics and nanotechnology – the development of new materials at the molecular level.

The initiative represents yet another effort by Obama to promote job-creation in the midst of an economic slowdown that has reduced hiring and weakened his job approval standing with the public. The president has tried to elevate his profile on the economy with weekly job-related trips to states that are key to his re-election.

In 2008, Obama beat John McCain, his Republican opponent, by a 55-45 percent margin in Pennsylvania. But presidential elections are usually competitive there, making the state a 2012 battleground.

He is to launch his new high-tech plan at Carnegie Mellon University, one of six universities in what the administration is calling the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. The plan also features 11 manufacturing companies, including Ford Motor Co., Caterpillar Inc., Procter Gamble Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. Leading the effort will be Andrew Liveris, chairman, president and CEO of the Dow Chemical Co., and Susan Hockfield, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“The idea here is that we’re bringing together all of the key players in a collaborative partnership to help identify these promising technologies, to invest in these promising technologies and to use them to drive a revitalization of American manufacturing,” said Ron Bloom, assistant to the president for manufacturing policy.

Obama will be touring the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute, which is building machines that can help with bomb disposal, brain surgery, lawn mowing and paint scraping. Ultimately, some scientists at the institute are trying to figure out whether robots and humans can “treat each other as equal partners or teammates.”

The administration’s plan includes $70 million for a robotics initiative. It also is aiming $300 million toward national security industries and $100 million for research and training to more quickly develop advanced materials at lower costs. Some of the $500 million would come from existing allocations to government agencies, but other money is only reflected in Obama’s 2012 budget request and would require approval by Congress.

Bloom envisioned nanotechnology that could create stronger but lighter materials.

“And what that means is, if we can be the leader in creating these kinds of materials, then we’re going to have cars that are lighter, but yet as strong; we’re going to have airplanes that are light and consume less energy in order to power them,” he said.

(See: Robot institute attracts presidential visit)

(See: Robot institute attracts presidential visit)

The initiative is the brainchild of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. In a report issued Friday, the council warned that U.S. leadership in manufacturing is at risk. It said the United States has been losing research and development associated with manufacturing to other countries. Most importantly, the council noted, the United States is losing the manufacturing competition for products that were invented in the U.S., including laptop computers, flat panel displays and lithium ion batteries.

In a teleconference with reporters, Bloom rejected a suggestion that the effort could be criticized because it could single out beneficiaries at the expense of others

“We’re not trying to pick a winner,” Bloom said. “We just want to give entrepreneurs and innovators tools to work with.”

© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Former mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, captured near his coastal California hideout after 16 years on the run, was ordered held without bond Thursday for transfer back to Boston to face charges of murder, extortion and conspiracy.

Bulger, 81, one of America’s most wanted fugitives, was lured from his Santa Monica, California, apartment just blocks from the Pacific Wednesday evening by federal agents and police acting on a tip from the public.

The man who inspired the gangster character played by Jack Nicholson in the 2006 film “The Departed” put up no resistance when he and his longtime companion, Catherine Greig, 60, were arrested, federal officials said at a Boston news conference. Greig had been with him in hiding since 1995.

An employee for the company that manages the apartment building, Joshua Bond, told Reuters the couple had lived there for 15 years and went by the names Charles and Carol Gasko. Neighbors said had frequently seen pair out walking together.

The pair appeared Thursday afternoon before a U.S. magistrate judge in Los Angeles, who ordered both of them to remain in federal custody without bail.

Handcuffed but looking calm and fit, Bulger gave short answers to procedural questions posed by the judge. He was mostly bald and wore a neatly trimmed white beard and wire-rimmed glasses.

He smiled and chuckled to himself while staring at reporters in the courtroom before the proceedings began.

When the judge asked if he had read the indictment against him, Bulger held up a sheaf of white papers and replied, “I got ‘em all right here. It will take me quite a while to finish these.” He said “thank you” to the judge at the end.

Greig, with close-cropped white hair, appeared frailer and older than Bulger. She scowled through much of her hearing.

Bulger and Greig waived rights to challenge their removal from California to Boston. The judge said both would be “sent forthwith” back to Massachusetts.

Steven Martinez, assistant director of the FBI Los Angeles office, later said the pair were spending the night locked up in Los Angeles, and that U.S. marshals would escort them across the country as early as Friday.

Bulger, a onetime underworld informant and former leader of the Irish-American criminal group the Winter Hill Gang, was wanted on 19 counts of murder committed in the 1970s and 1980s, and on charges of drug dealing, extortion, money laundering and conspiracy.

Greig was charged in 1997 with harboring a fugitive.

Boston U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said Bulger faced life in prison if convicted.

Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 and was joined by Greig a few months later. Before their arrest, the last credible sighting of the pair was in London in 2002. Bulger was thought to have traveled extensively in the United States, Europe, Canada and Latin America after slipping away.

His story inspired Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning film “The Departed” about double-dealing gangsters and corrupt cops in Boston.

BEACHSIDE HIDEOUT

Inside Bulger’s Santa Monica hideout, agents said they found $800,000, more than 30 firearms, knives and pieces of false identification. They declined to give details of the ploy that led to Bulger leaving his apartment.

A new series of televised public service announcements aimed at female viewers who might have seen Greig was launched just Tuesday, airing in 14 cities during daytime TV programs — though not in Los Angeles. The FBI also placed billboards in New York’s Times Square and elsewhere.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers said the media campaign paid off with an anonymous tip that directly led the critical break in the case.

Agents from the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department staked out the three-story apartment building Wednesday afternoon before making the arrests.

Bulger is the older brother of William “Billy” Bulger, a former president of the Massachusetts State Senate. William Bulger had no comment about his brother’s arrest.

He was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 1999, and a $2 million reward was offered for information leading to Bulger’s arrest. The FBI doubled the reward offered for Greig’s whereabouts this week, to $100,000.

Bulger, said to be an avid reader and history buff who likes to take long walks on beaches, has been featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted” more than a dozen times from 1995 to 2010. (Additional reporting by Lauren Keiper in Boston, Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington and R.T. Watson and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Steve Gorman and Eric Walsh)

© 2011 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.