Alan Greenspan: ‘Not My Fault’FINANCE
• Alan Greenspan says don’t blame him for the credit crisis. He may not have understood the dangers until recently, but the former Fed chief claims there’s nothing he could have done. [NYP]
• Who needs Wall Street 2 when Gordon Gekko is already back in the guise of Steve Schwarzman? The Blackstone founder just bought a big stake in a firm called BlueStar, the same name as the central company in the original Wall Street. [DealBook/NYT]
• Big surprise: Funds that invest in Vice typically do far better than those that insist on Virtue. [NYT]
in other news
Kids Safe Online? Not From Themselves
Slate’s Emily Yoffe takes a somewhat hilarious journey today through the amazingly alien world of children’s online social networking. It is, she finds, a world full of penguins, Froot Loops, Barbies, and oddly enough, flagrant capitalism. Yoffe was worried that her children weren’t learning important life lessons while they were logged onto the Internet, and also that they were exposed to predators. But in the end, she concluded “that these sites are mostly benign.” Yoffe obviously didn’t read the spectacular Talk of the Town piece in the New Yorker this week, which we’ve been waiting for an excuse to link.
party people
Jessica and Ken Were HairJessica Simpson and her hair stylist/lapdog Ken Pavés spent much of Fashion Week trotting around singing the praises of the latter’s new line of clip-on hair extensions, Hair U Wear. Having a headful of fake hair is “nothing to be ashamed of,” Simpson chirped to New York on one of many red carpets she visited that week. “I have two tracks clipped in right now!” While it’s tempting to imagine the — what do we call her? Singer? Actress? Personality? — lounging around in her off-hours sans “tracks” and thus completely bald, Simpson does not often go (fake) hairless, she says. She even wears her falsies while working out! “I went to her house and she was on the treadmill, wearing a chignon I made to clip her hair up!” said Pavés. But Pavés’s line isn’t for everyone. Recently, says People magazine, the stylist flew out to Vegas to do Britney Spears’s hair before the MTV Video Music Awards, only to make the “professional decision” that touching Spears’s head might be a career killer. He thus left, taking his hair with him. —Maggie Gray
gossipmonger
Stars Already Blabbing About ‘Sex and the City’ PlotVincent Gallo railed against a New York Post reporter who speculated that his penis in Brown Bunny was a prosthetic. The stars of the Sex and the City movie have all signed non-disclosure agreements regarding the plot, though Kristin Davis claims the Post is involved in some capacity. Brad Pitt bought a watch in New York. Mick Jagger barely missed a run-in with ex-wife Bianca at Cipriani in the Sherry-Netherland. Police commish Ray Kelly, who turns 66 next week, wears a hidden hearing aid. Carmen Electra hung out with Joan Jett backstage at Jones Beach.
in other news
Anucha Browne Sanders Continues Knicks Full Court Press
In a bizarre twist (as though there have been any twists that weren’t bizarre) in the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment trial, the Post reports that a Knicks intern who succumbed to Stephon Marbury in the back of a car has agreed to testify for the defense. In other words, she’s going to clear Marbury of any wrongdoing or inappropriate behavior (except, you know, cheating on his wife). This is an effort to clear up the impression that lawyers for plaintiff Anucha Browne Sanders are trying to create, which is that the Knicks enterprise is macho and sexist. But just as they try to staunch that wound, another one has sprung open. The Daily News reveals that Browne Sanders unearthed a Burn Book written by Madison Square Garden officials describing what they’d like to do to the comely Rangers ice dancers. And we’re not talking about assisting with a double-hand lift. It boggles the mind why the Knicks haven’t settled yet. This circus of sleaze is only going to get worse, and knowing this city’s tabloids, it’s only a matter of time before the team gets rechristened “The New York Dickerbockers.”
Stephon’s Hoop Skirt to Testify [NYP]
Ice-Skate Shocker Has ‘Em Shivering [NYDN]