Posted on 03/29/2005 4:39:30 AM PST by BigWaveBetty
Spirits were high in the offices of The National Enquirer in Manhattan last week. A gaggle of British interlopers had taken custody of the tabloid, a SWAT team of Fleet Street meat-eaters brought in to revive the storied but now flagging checkout magazine. Not only was The Enquirer moving its main offices and production facilities to Manhattan from Florida - effectively taking the gossip magazine uptown and mainstream - but even more deliciously the paper also had a cover article suggesting that a Hollywood actor's Super Bowl celebration was a bit more super than most.
Paul Field, the Enquirer's editor and a former associate editor of The Sun, a popular British tabloid, was in particularly fine fettle, even though he was fighting a cold. A stripper and prostitute had told The Enquirer that she spent Super Bowl Sunday last month in the company of the star of a popular television show. The actor, through a representative, has denied the allegations. The Enquirer saved the naughtiest bit from the stripper's account - allegations of drug use - for the issue coming out today, the last one produced in Boca Raton, Fla.
In holding off, the editors took a tactical risk that they would not be scooped. "No, I'm not concerned," Mr. Field said, sitting at a table in his office. "No other publication would touch that story," he said, unlike in Britain, where "there would be other papers all over it."
In order to ensure a steady inventory of articles like the super Super Bowl one that will compel checkout readers to actually buy the paper, Mr. Field hired a slew of British tabloid veterans, including Paul Henderson, the former Mail on Sunday investigations editor, and Steve Dennis, the ex-Daily Mirror reporter who broke the stories about Paul Burrell, ...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I'm sorry your team didn't win the big game last night. They certainly made a scrappy comeback from that 15-point deficit. Some of the foul calls were questionable, in my opinion, and I saw at least one instance of the Illinois player getting beaten up under the basket, with no call. Congratulations to them on a great season.
John Travolta and Tom Cruise aren't gay?! Coulda fooled me.
Mr. Erelevent is baaaaack. His up coming new network, Current is aimed at young, hip and liberal viewers.
BigGAyAl, speaks during a news conference at IndTV offices in San Francisco, Monday, April 4, 2005 as he unveils the new television network, Current.
Will depend on the numbers. Are there more Catholics or Jewish constituents in NY state?
No mention in this story of hillary going...
Among those expected to attend: President Bush and first lady Laura Bush and former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush. Story
MICHAEL Jackson's former publicist is set to publish a tell-all book that dishes the dirt on the accused King of Pedophiles' relationships with young boys. Bob Jones, who was fired by Jackson last year after 30 years of service, teamed up with writer Stacy Brown for "Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask" (Select), which should be hitting book stores by the end of the month.
Brown, a regular Jackson trial commentator for MSNBC, tells PAGE SIX the book will detail Jackson's relationships with several prepubescent playmates, including Macaulay and Kieran Culkin, Emmanuel Lewis, Jordan Chandler, Wade Robeson, Brett Barnes and Jimmy Safechuck. "Bob confronted Michael a few times about his behavior with little boys," Brown said. "In no uncertain terms, Michael told Bob to mind his own business."
Jones accompanied Jackson on many globe-trotting trips with the youths, on which, Brown says, he observed Jackson engaging in bizarre behavior: "He saw him suck on baby bottles with Emmanuel Lewis and Kieran Culkin. He never saw him do it with Macaulay, though." The book will also describe Jackson's penchant for playing sick when he doesn't want to fulfill a scheduled obligation. "One time, Michael checked into a hospital and said he had chest pains because he didn't want to perform at a concert," Brown said. "He would come up with these schemes with Bob to get out of commitments." ... (Page Six)
Another book in the works, this time on Hillary:
ED KLEIN'S written a whole library just about the Kennedys. On Jackie alone, 3,000 books. Jackie as a baby, as a tot, as a teenager, before communion, after communion, Jackie engaged, Jackie married, Jackie dating, Jackie divorced, Jackie ill, Jackie gone. He nearly did one on Jackie in the next life — Shirley MacLaine would be his researcher — but he switched instead to Hillary. As I've already reported, the man's trolling around, calling people, requesting interviews. Hillary Clinton, the rock star of the Democratic Party, has been vetted more often than Bernie Kerik so, no matter how big his shovel, I asked what new stuff could he possibly unearth. ... (Cindy Adams)
Also from Cindy Adams:
Rudy Giuliani's missus is readying herself. For whatever. She's quietly socializing with p.r. types . . . As for her hubby, he's also readying. But not to run for prez. Too liberal. Too blue states. Too divorced. Bush's operatives already told him flat out their advance machinery dictates he's got 100 percent no shot.
I have to agree. I think Rudy and Newt have too many (adulterous) skeletons in their closets to have a realistic shot at a presidential run.
Sounds interesting. Hope it's what you want to do, and besides, the Guild would be lucky to have you all to ourselves. I rarely venture beyond the Guild, it works for me.
Now back to business:
Emmanuel Lewis
Noooooo! Not Emmanuel! Poor little guy. Michael Jackson is evil.
On to clinton:
Hillary Clinton ... has been vetted more often than Bernie Kerik so, no matter how big his shovel, I asked what new stuff could he possibly unearth. ... (Cindy Adams)
Oh Cindy! There a treasure trove of goodies to dig up on hilly. Tell your reporter friends to get off their lazy bazoos and do some investigating.
Start with Berger, did hillary or bill send you to pilfer the documents? Why did you steal them, what important informational notes were on those documents. How many different notes were there? And what was the content of those hand written notes on the documents you took? What are you plans in three years? Will you be advising a Hillary! presidential campaign? Are you and Richard Clarke still working closely together? So you know how much hush money Bill and Hill are paying Richard Clarke to shake his stick at the Bush Administration?
Candidates 2008:
Ditto!
A detailed look at last year's voting suggests big Republican opportunities.
A treasure trove of data on the meaning of the 2004 presidential election has just been released,... 2004 election numbers may explain why Hillary Clinton is taking care to present herself as a centrist.
In 2000, Mr. Bush carried 228 congressional districts to Al Gore's 207 on his way to one of the closest victories in American history. This year Mr. Bush carried 255 congressional districts, nearly six in 10.
The best chances for Democrats to gain the 15 seats they need to take control of the House in 2006 are in these districts held by "Kerry Republicans." The problem is that there are so few of them. John Kerry carried just 18 GOP House members' districts, while Mr. Bush carried 41 Democratic ones.
Only five Republican House members currently sit in districts where Mr. Bush won less than 47% of the presidential vote last year: two in Connecticut, two in Iowa and one in Delaware. But 31 House Democrats represent districts where John Kerry won less than 47%. That means Republicans have many more opportunities to pick up seats in favorable political terrain as Democratic members leave the House. No one expects Democrats to hold the seat of Ike Skelton of Missouri when he leaves office; President Bush won 64% of his district's votes. Ditto for the district of Gene Taylor of Mississippi, where Mr. Bush won 68%. Complete story
Let's hope so. Now if we just could come up with a presidential candidate, along with some congressional candidates who will demonstrate more backbone than many of our current Pubbies in Washington, D.C. I will be sick if Hillary is elected by default.
And now, the news:
Of Charles and Camilla, Cindy Adams writes, Meanwhile, any relationship between the Groom and his mommy the Queen is not good. Gossip is Her Majesty preferred this king-in-waiting to elope. To Scotland. This way nobody'd know and it would be a big — Surprise! Surprise! — and upon their return as Prince and Mrs. she'd give them a party. But Charlie, who hates the media and the headlines, wanted all the headlines and the media and refused. The royal circle twitters that the palace, which is basically a snakes' nest, has "stuff" on him. As a result, there exists a signed document long carved out between Elizabeth and her eldest son. That if she lives to a certain age — I do not know the exact number — that, in return for permission to marry his Shih Tzu, he officially, formally and legally agrees to not assume the throne. Agrees to abdicate and leave it to Prince William. If the Queen passes on earlier than this predetermined age, then, I guess, the white smoke goes up and he gets the job.
Liz Smith reports that Camilla lets a hen run loose in her house, so guests have to check the chairs and sofas for stray eggs before they sit. Well, then.
The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy:
The Untold Story of How Democratic Operatives, Eccentric Billionaires, Liberal Activists, and Assorted Celebrities Tried to Bring Down a President--and Why They'll Try Even Harder Next Time
Author: Byron York
Publisher's Notes:
“We have to fight back.” —Al Franken
The Left is angry—angry at President George W. Bush, the war in Iraq, the “right-wing media,” and more. And as National Review investigative writer Byron York reveals in this stunning, meticulously reported book, liberal activists have harnessed that anger to build the biggest, richest, and best organized political movement in American history.
Indeed, the Left’s failure to oust President Bush in 2004 has obscured the fact that this new movement has transformed American politics. York documents the staggering scope of liberals’ efforts—the record sums of money spent, the “shell game” financial maneuvers, the close coordination between “nonpartisan” groups and the Democratic Party, the revolutionary approaches to fund-raising and reaching out to voters, the pioneering use of movies and websites as campaign tools, and more.
The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy provides a startling behind-the-scenes look at this powerful liberal movement. York brings the reader into secret powwows at Soros’s Hamptons estate, into the Chinese restaurant where MoveOn is born, to a gala event where Al Franken rants about the evils of the right wing, to fund-raisers where liberals openly mock the election laws they’re ignoring, to the movie premiere where Michael Moore is feted by top-ranking Democrats, into the Washington restaurant where Democratic operatives hatch their plan, and to many other spots along the way.
One thing above all becomes clear: Despite their failure to win in 2004, liberals will only keep improving the well-oiled political machine they built.
Reviews:
“Byron York shines a brilliant light into the very heart of liberal darkness. An essential guide to how the Far Left tried to take power in 2004—and how it hopes to succeed in 2008.” —David Frum, bestselling author of The Right Man
“Byron York is one of the best reporters in America today. His calm, intelligent questions to the Al Frankens and John Podestas of this world puncture leftist pretensions like a pin in a balloon. The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy punctures even such Hindenburgs as Michael Moore and George Soros. York takes his place with Tom Wolfe as a chronicler of the Left’s folly.” —Mona Charen, bestselling author of Useful Idiots and Do-Gooders
“With this book, Byron York becomes the foremost chronicler, and most informed critic, of the anti-Bush Left. It’s an indispensable guide to a ferocious, and sometimes frightening, new force in our politics.” —Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, bestselling author of Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years
“Byron York, a reporter’s reporter, has given us the definitive account of the workings of the liberal-left activist groups in the 2004 election and how, despite their insularity, their sanctimony, and their failures, they transformed American politics.” —John Corry, former New York Times media critic
“For years Byron York has reported on the clashes between Right and Left, red and blue states, regular people and the elites—always in an illuminating, entertaining, and compelling manner. Now he methodically and masterfully exposes the inner workings of the left-wing cabal that has taken over the Democratic Party. Three politically incorrect cheers for York!” —Laura Ingraham, radio talk show host, bestselling author of Shut Up and Sing
And if your tank of schadenfraude is running low and you can't wait for the mailman to bring York's book check out, 'Left of the Dial' on HBO. The documentary of the Air America start up. It's a snicker fest all the way through but the end is holy grail of schadenfraude. The last day of the doc is of course, election day! "We're going to change the bleeping world!" shouts one dem in the early morning that election day. By evening the tone had changed, heh heh heh, if you know what I mean.
Click here for show times. Don't miss this one! Michael Moore even makes an appearance, however he's none to happy with dems and mumbles some ugliness about the dem party on his way out of the Air America studios.
Oh my, I scared spit-less that McQueeg will get the nomination. The thought makes me queasy.
Charlie, who hates the media
Chuck is horrible King material. Allowing himself to verbally express his disdain for the media whilst they and their microphones are in full attendance. What a dolt.
That if she lives to a certain age ... in return for permission to marry his Shih Tzu, he officially, formally and legally agrees to not assume the throne.
Long live The Queen!!! PLEASE!
Camilla lets a hen run loose in her house, so guests have to check the chairs and sofas for stray eggs before they sit.
That's not all guests have to watch out for before plopping down. Ick!
Btw! The doctor says I have tennis elbow (I call it housewives elbow). No shot needed but it will take a long time to heal. He gave me some anti-inflamitory meds and suggested I get an elbow brace. Which I did. So far so good!
I know there hasn't been any other news since the Pope passed but perhaps I missed it. It would be in keeping with the lefties MO to slip a "oh, btw, we got the story on Cheney threatening the CIA into compliance wrong..." between coverage of the Pope.
But "the Commission found no evidence of political pressure" to alter intelligence findings. "Analysts universally asserted that in no instance did political pressure cause them to skew or alter their analytical judgments," the panelists unanimously say.
These conclusions are all terribly inconvenient to those antiwar critics who are still promoting the Dick-Cheney-as-Rasputin fable of Iraq. Link
That aside, Pope John Paul II was such a great man. I pray they find someone close to his greatness.
With 19 months to go before the elections and no opponent in sight, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign is nonetheless warning her political supporters that she is the prime target of "the right-wing attack machine."
In a fund-raising e-mail message sent out on Thursday, Mrs. Clinton's campaign also said her critics were preparing an advertising campaign against her similar to the one orchestrated by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that attacked Senator John Kerry's [the haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat, who by the way promised 65 days ago to release his military records.] Vietnam service during the presidential election.Link
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
at a hearing of the Special Committee
on Aging last month.
*giggle*
Prince Rainier III Dies
MONACO (AP) - Prince Rainier III, whose marriage to American film star Grace Kelly brought elegance and glamour to one of Europe's oldest dynasties, died Wednesday at the hospital treating him for heart, kidney and breathing problems. He was 81.
Rainier's royal palace announced his death nearly a full month after he was first admitted with a lung infection to a heart and chest clinic that overlooks Monaco's glittering, yacht-filled harbor.
He had been Europe's longest-reigning monarch.
Rainier, who assumed the throne on May 9, 1949, also endured the tragedy of his famous wife's death and relentless scandals - including international criticism of the principality's tax laws - that plagued the final two decades of his rule.
The leader of Europe's longest-ruling royal family, the Grimaldis, Rainier suffered recurring health problems in recent years. The silver-haired, portly prince underwent heart surgery in 1999. He had two operations the following year, including having a nodule removed from a lung, and was hospitalized in 2002 for fatigue and bronchitis.
Recurrent chest infections put him in the hospital on numerous occasions. Most recently, he was hospitalized March 7 at Monaco's Cardio-Thoracic Center with a chest infection. He was placed in intensive care two weeks later with heart and kidney failure and hooked up to a respirator.
Prince Rainier's public appearances grew increasingly rare as his health deteriorated, although he attended Monaco's top social event, the Red Cross Ball, in August 2004.
Monaco had been preparing for the demise of its prince for several years.
Rainier's heir is Crown Prince Albert, who is unmarried and has no children. Monaco changed its succession law in 2002 to allow power to pass from a reigning prince who has no descendants to his siblings. Albert has two sisters, Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie, both of whom have children.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050406/D899OD080.html
If you think Prince Charles is not "ruling monarch" material, just imagine those dingbats Stephanie or Caroline in charge of a country. Yikes.
More on 'Jane I'm Fonda being a doormat'...
Jane Fonda says her marriage to Ted Turner ended for two distinct reasons: her conversion to Christianity and his continuous cheating.
In her spellbinding autobiography, "My Life So Far," Fonda reveals that she made the religious conversion without telling her husband of almost eight years.
"I hadn't told Ted beforehand because by then I didn't feel we were on the same team," she writes. "Alongside the frantic life we shared, I was living a parallel inner life, where I took care of my own needs ... I also knew that if I had discussed with him my need for spirituality, he would have either asked me to choose between him and it or bullied me out of it."
Fonda writes that her religious conversion coincided with the realization that Turner had never stopped cheating on her.
A month into their marriage, she found out he'd had a "nooner" with another woman. She confronted him and bashed him over the head with a mobile phone.
Through counseling, they eventually reconciled, but Fonda had more disappointments to come.
"He had spent our whole last year together looking for my replacement," she writes. "The day we parted, three days after the millennium, he flew to Atlanta to drop me off. As I drove from the airport to [my daughter's] home in a rental car, my replacement was waiting in the hangar to board his plane. My seat was still warm."
Fonda's book, which will be released today, is a spectacularly candid, [I'm anxious to see how candid she is about her Tom Hayden years.] intelligently written piece. [??? Almost makes me want to buy it to see what passes for intelligence from her crowd.] Link
Extra bonus. 10 things you probably didn't want to know about Jane.
Will check my copy of Radical Son by David Horowitz for his take on Jane and Hayden during their heydays.
The Observer has learned that Warren Beatty, the 68-year-old actor and director, will likely join a lineup of liberal all-stars who will "group blog" on a Web site to be launched next month by columnist Arianna Huffington.
"I probably will," Mr. Beatty said, on the phone from his production office in Los Angeles.
The "Huffington Report," as Ms. Huffington has dubbed it, will also feature such boldface bloggers as Senator Jon Corzine, David Geffen, Viacom co-chief Tom Freston, Barry Diller, Tina Brown and Gwyneth Paltrow. Link
Thanks for the Ping. I have been too busy to post the last few days.
Pardon my French, but a "group blog" sounds like a euphemism for a "cluster f---." Geez, I can't believe they think anyone cares what they think. Gwyneth Paltrow? LOL!!
The proof was also in the long line outside the door late Sunday morning, when I most recently visited Prune, and at a corner table inside. There sat Chelsea Clinton, huddled over what looked like Prune's Dutch-style pancake. Smart woman. That pancake is as big as a Frisbee, fluffy as a cloud and so ethereally appealing that Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth would probably fight to the sticky death over the privilege of coating it. But real maple syrup beat them to it.
Watch those carbs, Chelz! They'll go straight to your hips!
A Chinese newspaper has picked up the Globe story about Chelsea's drinking:
Chelsea Clinton has fallen off the wagon and is slinging back cocktails and liquor shots with binge-drinking abandon, revealed worried pals. Friends say Chelsea is hitting the sauce like she did during her party-harty days at Oxford University because she's worried about losing the two most important men in her life--her dad Bill and her boyfriend, Ian Klaus.
"Ian is working as a civilian for the new government in Iraq, and Chelsea knows he could be killed or kidnapped at any time," says a friend. "Adding to her anxiety is the fact that they parted on a sour note.
Chelsea Clinton is worried that she may lose her boyfriend Ian Klaus "At the same time, she is increasingly alarmed over her dad's failing health."
Pals say chelsea, 25, is haunted by fears that Bill Clinton will die before giving her away at her wedding if she does marry Ian--that is, if Ian doesn't get killed first! "She's such a wreck," adds the friend, "she can't help but drown her sorrows and fears in booze."
The former first daughter's worries began when her father underwent quadruple-bypass surgery in September. Then Ian, 25, decided to take a job in Iraq that began in January and will keep him there for several more months.
The last straw was a follow-up surgery in March to remove fluid and scar tissue from 58-year-old Bill Clinton's chest, which seemed to leave him looking 10 years older overnight.
"Chelsea is a troubled, scared soul right now, and her way of making it go away is by tossing down the cocktails," one of her Manhattan party pals tells GLOBE. As recently as March 18, Chelsea got so loaded at the Big Apple hotspot Marquee, she had to be helped out of the place by two bouncers and the club owner--an undignified exit that made the local gossip column.
"She was there to celebrate two of her friends' birthdays," a second pal of Chelsea's tells GLOBE. "But she drank more than anyone else and got wasted--and that wasn't the first time!" China Daily
I still think Hillary banished Ian to Iraq....when he comes back, she will probably feel justified in hiring him for her staff and paying him a nice salary from her PAC....I am sure Chels will also be employed by Mumsie's campaign soon, too.
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