President Biden’s Weirdest White House Habits“Executive time” and the Diet Coke button are gone, but Biden keeps the White House weird with his secret TV, Gatorade habit, and “fexting.”
ByMargaret Hartmann
presidential pets
Biden’s (Other) Dog Bites ManMajor was rehomed for biting two people. Now his successor, Commander, has attacked seven, sending one Secret Service agent to the hospital.
ByMargaret Hartmann
presidential pets
Biden’s (Other) Dog Bites ManMajor was rehomed for biting two people. Now his successor, Commander, has attacked seven, sending one Secret Service agent to the hospital.
White House Cat Imminent, Bidens SayDespite a White House official warning that the cat will “break the internet,” the First Family is moving forward with the additional pet.
Anarchy in the A.C.: A Brief History of Atlantic City Mayoral Malfeasance
1985: Mayor Michael Matthews gets fifteen years for extortion.
1989: Mayor James Usry is arrested and charged with bribery, conspiracy, official misconduct, and accepting unlawful gifts.
2007: Mayor Bob Levy walks off the job, gets into his car, and apparently skips town after being caught in a massive lie. His supposed stint in the Green Berets, which he constantly mentioned during his 2005 campaign, turned out to be a total fiction. Levy’s family and lawyer insist he’s in a hospital but won’t say which one; Dominic Cappella, A.C.’s business administrator, stages a kind of coup by declaring that Levy left him in charge — except his only proof is a self-penned memo. At present, Atlantic City appears ripe for the taking. Your move, Mr. Trump!
Politics Dicey in Atlantic City After the Mayor Goes Missing [NYDN]
intel
Gawking at the GawkersJPRESS: Hey Chris! It’s Friday, so instead of writing up the Gawker book parties we went to last night, how about we just IM about it and publish our whole conversation? Because, as you know, our readers are interested in our every thought and social maneuver.
CHRISTAL: That sounds great! Because you know I am so hung-over I don’t even know how I’m going to get through the day.
JPRESS: Isn’t that always the way with blogging? So! You were at Nick Denton’s, which in my head I was calling the “adult party” because like, none of the editors were invited. But I guess they crashed?
CHRISTAL: You couldn’t crash. There were three girls guarding the door. It was totally awkward when people who were uninvited showed up. Like me.
company town
John Galliano Is Coming for Your ChildrenFINANCE
• Kevin Dunn, a 28-year-old former MetLife broker, was charged with defrauding a 9/11 widow of a quarter-million dollars from the victim-compensation fund. Nice one, dude. [NYT]
• After rumors that Warren Buffett might take a big stake, James Cayne insists Bear Stearns has put the credit crisis behind them and the bank is not for sale. But after laying off 310 employees, a lawsuit against Bear’s huge losses, and still plenty of tension in the market, you have to wonder if Cayne, the master bridge player, is going for slam when he’s only got a three-spade hand. Snap! [Bloomberg, CNN/Money, Forbes]
• Morgan Stanley and Goldman are pulling away from the pack in the league tables. [WSJ]
early and often
Giuliani (Almost) Weasels Out of Ferret StoryThe hunt for Rudy Giuliani’s weak spot is on. Hillary Clinton — who’s leading the mayor 51 to 43 percent in the latest poll (people! They haven’t been nominated yet!) — goes right after Giuliani’s handling of 9/11. He may have had all the photo ops, her new ad reminds us without naming the opponent, but she was the one who stood by ailing first responders. It ties in nicely with her health-care initiative and delivers an oblique slap. Today’s Times takes a different tack. In what might prove a genius move, the paper has begun combing through the trove of Rudy’s radio archives. Back in the late nineties, the mayor had his own show, and it was not, as you may imagine, the docile fireside chat we get from Bloomberg.
in other news
Suburban Moms Sound the Death Knell of the MBA
You know once affluent, middle-aged moms get into something, it’s over. We mean, no offense to the ladies, but look what happened with, say, Juicy Couture, Norah Jones, and La Esquina. Now, apparently, this crowd has set its sights on the MBA. In a shrewd new step in their ongoing effort to ensure that no one ever goes to b-school again, the Times business section today has a trend story about Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business “Back in Business” program, which caters to mommies who want to muscle their way back into the workforce. Simultaneously, the Brazen Careerist has a column listing all the reasons why the MBA has become obsolete. Coincidence? We think not. Also, it’s kind of funny how it’s called the Tuck School, which reminds us a little bit of plastic surgery. MBAs! They’re the new Botox.
M.B.A. Programs Pay Off for Women Seeking a Return to Wall Street[NYT]
B-School Confidential: MBAs May Be Obsolete [The Brazen Careerist]
in other news
Anand Jon: Excess of Evil?Earlier this year, New York designer Anand Jon was slapped with 32 criminal charges, including sexual battery and committing a lewd act on a child. Yesterday a Los Angeles court revealed that Jon was indicted with a whopping 54 felony counts (and five misdemeanors). He’s now accused of sexually assaulting twenty teenage girls, and the charges include “forcible rape, sexual battery by restraint, lewd acts upon a child, sexual penetration by a foreign object, using a minor for sex acts, forcible and attempted forcible oral copulation, assault with intent to commit a felony, possession or control of child pornography and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.” Which is, you know, an epic amount of evilness. His lawyer says the case is “made up out of whole cloth” (ooh, a fashion metaphor — appropriate and tasteful), but Jon is also under investigation in New York. If you’re not familiar with his design work, check out his Website AnandJon.com. As Defamer points out, you’ll quickly see that the only thing left out of his charges are extensive crimes against taste.
Grand Jury Indicts Celeb Designer On Sexual Assault Charges [KNBC]
it just happened
Cab Explosion at Rock Center?A cab just blew up outside of Anthropologie in Rockefeller Center, as Gawker just blithely reported. So far the wires have nothing that we can see, so we’re not sure what, if anything, is up. We’ll keep you updated if you do the same. E-mail us at [email protected] if you’re in the area!
UPDATE: An alert reader pointed us to photos of the fire at WNBC.com. If you ever wondered what “billowing flames” look like, check them out. We’ve got one after the jump.
