2007 Year

It's time for the top 10 scams of 2007. From cruel foreclosure frauds to Nigerian puppies -- in other words, from the tragic to near comical -- this was a banner year for consumer scams. Much like many other years. The Internet continued to provide a worldwide platform for fraudsters. New scams popped up and some old-fashioned schemes came back. So, without further ado, here's a countdown of infamous notables for the year. Hold your applause, and your wallet. 10.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach remained the nation's busiest seaport complex for cargo containers in 2007, even though they saw a decline in traffic for the first time in at least 20 years. But in a shift, exports grew as the dollar's declining value helped U.S. companies ride into new markets and to record-breaking sales. One of those benefiting was Los Angeles Grain Terminal in Long Beach, a 49-year-old company that packs cargo containers with grain from the Midwest for sale in Asia.

WASHINGTON -- Was 2007 dull? America's magazine editors seemed to think so. They kept finding excuses to publish stories about other years. U.S. News & World Report ran a cover story on 1957. Rolling Stone published an entire issue devoted to 1967. Newsweek ran a cover story on 1968. And Spin ran a package of stories about 1977. Why? Well, 1957 was 50 years ago. And 1967 was the year Rolling Stone was founded. And 1968 was, Newsweek declared, "the year that made us who we are."

Although it was the young, up-and-coming designers who made the most noise here this season, plenty of old stalwarts took to the runways, too, including one carpetbagger, Marc Jacobs. He closed out the week Friday night showing his lower-priced Marc by Marc Jacobs line to a star-studded crowd and marking the opening of his first store here, in Mayfair. It's a growing trend: designers decamping to other cities for promotional purposes.

One could hardly call it a vintage year for new musicals, but there were small theatrical delights to be had, the best of which were marvelously unexpected. Here, in alphabetical order, are the memorable sleepers as well as the blockbuster and camp extravaganza that sweetened the annual mix: "after the quake," La Jolla Playhouse.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, "Raising Sand" (Rounder). The roaring mouthpiece of hard rock meets the heavenly voice of bluegrass somewhere between the craggy hollers of Appalachia and the forest depths of time immemorial. Mary Gauthier, "Between Daylight and Dark" (Lost Highway). It matters not whether this singer-songwriter's often harrowing tales relate real-life situations or people -- the emotions they elicit are as genuine as humanly possible.

In October, I published a list of what I thought most other critics would put on their 2007 Top 10s. My predictions are panning out, though I should have ranked LCD Soundsystem higher and recognized that few would grasp that Rihanna's more than a singles artist. Understandably, some readers thought that list represented my own faves.

Michael Brecker "Pilgrimage" (Telarc). There's a tendency to give sentimental credibility to recordings released after an artist's death. But this is a major recording by a major artist, even though it was Brecker's last -- a stunning epilogue to a brilliant, far too short career. Charles Mingus Sextet With Eric Dolphy: "Cornell 1964" (Blue Note). Newly discovered, this is sheer gold -- historic performances by one of the very finest ensembles Mingus ever led.

Calle 13, "Residente of Visitante" (Sony). The devilish duo from Puerto Rico is more mature though no less outrageous in its sophomore effort, expanding the boundaries of urban Latino with two of the most memorable songs of the year -- the deliciously seductive "Tango del Pecado" and the gritty immigrant anthem "Pal Norte," with a chorus by the Cuban hip-hop trio Orishas. Juanes, "La Vida Es . . . Un Ratico" (Universal).