Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(LAPD Police Chief William Bratton via latimes)

"Will Osama Bin Laden have anything to say about the U.S. presidential race? Does our economic implosion make us an even more tempting target? Al Qaeda has a history of trying to influence elections, most notably with the 2004 train attacks in Madrid. Just three days before Spain's prime ministerial elections, 10 bombs left 191 dead- and Al Qaeda affiliates swung the election away from the incumbent, who supported the coalition wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and toward the challenger, a vociferous critic of U.S. foreign policy. Seven months later, Bin Laden attempted to disrupt the presidential race between George W. Bush and John Kerry. His videotaped statement, released just days before the elections, seemed to support Kerry - driving some voters toward Bush. According to 2006 reporting by Ron Suskind, CIA analysts concluded that Bin Laden knew that voters would react in this way and his message was 'clearly designed to assist the President's reelection.' If Bin Laden wants to engineer a late-October surprise in 2008, an attack on a significant American economic target may be one of the most tempting opportunities he has had in recent years." (William Bratton & R.P. Eddy/NYDailyNews)

"I just heard the buzz in film financing circles that The Weinstein Company had to writedown $50 million of Goldman Sachs' money this week. It's taking the loss because of those four films it dumped into next year, Crossing Over, Killshot, Fanboys and Shanghai, plus The Road... (And let's face it: who in their right mind thinks even one of those pics is going to make a dime of profit in 2009?) So Harvey will just sit tight between this weekend's Zack And Miri fromKevin Smith .." (DeadlineHollywoodDaily)

"I celebrated being on the 2008-2009 Junior Committee of ACRIA with fellow members like Scott Buchheit and Gillian Hearst-Simonds at The Eldridge, the members-only club famous for rejecting people at the door. Dancing to DJ Angelos Styliano (love that last name) were Sarah Basile, Naeem Delbridge, Rachelle Hruska, Eli Mizrahi, Diana Papanove and Liam McMullan -- who just turned the big 2-1!" (Papermag)

"MOVE over John McCain and David Letterman - it looks like Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman are going to reconcile this week. On Kimmel's show. Silverman, the stand-up comic who stars in her own Comedy Central series, and Kimmel broke up last July after five years together. Now comes word - buried in a network press release - that Silverman is set to be a guest on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' Thursday night." (NYPost)