Chuck and Vanessa Go Bowling, Do Jäger Bombs

The ‘Gossip Girl’ kids hit Bowlmor Lanes! André Leon Talley had a hissy fit! Lindsay and Sam played tongue tennis at Beatrice Inn! All in today's gossip roundup!

Posted 09/15/08 in Daily Intel : Gossipmonger

Tags: andre leon talley, barbara bush, bill clinton, carine roitfeld, david blaine, ed westwick, george bush, gossipmonger, jennifer hudson, jennifer lopez, jessica szohr, john catsimatidis, kathie lee gifford, laura bell bundy, lindsay lohan, marc anthony, richard prince, samantha ronson, sarah palin

Meet Your New Local Oligarch!

For decades and even centuries, we as a nation have been forced to feign allegiance to that ridiculous “democracy” canard. This year, the Republican Party cuts the crap: We have an oligarchy on our hands, so let’s just be governed by the rich and not pretend otherwise. According to the Times, the GOP, lagging well behind Democrats in fund-raising for 2008, has been “aggressively recruiting wealthy candidates who can spend large sums of their own money to finance their Congressional races.” Splendid idea! In Texas, banker and real-estate developer Francisco Canseco is putting up $711,000 to finance a House campaign; in Illinois’ Fourteenth Congressional District, no fewer than three candidates (including one Democrat) have blown over $300,000 each on the race.

Posted 11/26/07 in Daily Intel : White Men With Money

Tags: democrats, john catsimatidis, mayor bloomberg, republicans, white men with money

Parsing the Catsimatidis Dis in the ‘Times’

Today’s Times profiles mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, who just switched parties to try for a Republican nomination. If you read very closely, you can catch subtle signs that writer Robin Finn is not taking his candidacy entirely seriously. See if you can spot some! • Headline: “Another Billionaire Who Wants to Be a Mayor” [We're already cracking up.] • Lede: “Those black plastic eyeglasses – reminiscent of the magnate Aristotle Onassis…” [Because he is, you know, GREEK. In the real world, Catsimatidis’s glasses look equally like Henry Kissinger’s or Alan Greenspan’s.] • “But how the heck does their wearer… see a blessed thing? In focus, that is.” [Wow, what?]

Posted 11/02/07 in Daily Intel : In Other News

Tags: In Other News, john catsimatidis, mayoral race, new york times

Mayoral Maybes Ray Kelly and John Catsimatidis Go Both Ways

Our City Hall hopefuls' political affiliations are as about as fluid as a Vassar sophomore's sexuality. One prospective candidate, Gristedes billionaire John Catsimatidis, switched his affiliation from Democratic to Republican last week — after supporting both Clintons and, in 2000, Gore. Now the Times, in a profile of another possible contender — police commish Ray Kelly — breezily muses: “It is not clear whether Mr. Kelly … would even run as a Republican. Mr. Kelly is not registered with any political party.” The very existence of this choice — hmm, which crew should I run with (or from)? — speaks to a curious local phenomenon: Jumping parties has apparently become a mark of New York City mayor material.

Posted 10/15/07 in Daily Intel : Early and Often

Tags: early and often, john catsimatidis, mayoral race, ray kelly

Pills, Pols, and Oprah

• Eight percent of the city's sexually active teens report using the pill, as opposed to 18 percent nationwide, a city Health Department survey finds, with girls from the South Bronx nearly twice as likely as the nation's average to have unprotected sex. [1010wins]

Posted 08/30/07 in Daily Intel : The Morning Line

Tags: albany, david letterman, democrats, john catsimatidis, money, oprah winfrey, sex, sheldon silver, teens, the morning line