Free Republic

Hughs: Rumor mill fueled by Internet stories By Ina Hughs (Contact) Friday, July 11, 2008 Think about the Swift Boat campaign and what it did to John Kerry in 2004 and what rumors of a secret love child did to John McCain's bid for the White House in 2000. As a kid, we used to play a game called "gossip." We'd sit in a circle, and someone would whisper a sentence into the ear of the person next to her; that person would then whisper what she heard to the person next to her - and so on. By the...

In 30 years, I have provided this hotel and our guests with over a million orders. One million, two hundred. I have seen a lot of people that I have seen on television. Some use alias names, but I can look on the sheet and know exactly who they are. It's kind of cute because they don't realize you really know who they are. You go along with it. You'd be amazed. You get the guests that really admire their pets. One wanted caviar, and she wanted my waiter to actually hand-feed it to the feline when we were upstairs....

Back at the height of her surreal U.S. Senate campaign, we were thrilled at Katherine Harris' talk about writing a juicy tell-all book. Just think of all the wonderfully unpleasant things she might have to say about the Bushes, the Democrats, the reporters and the campaign professionals she was sure to cast as her persecutors. Alas, the former Republican congresswoman's book never appeared (kinda like the $10-million of her own money she promised to spend on her campaign against Bill Nelson). But fans of political gossip may get a consolation prize: a juicy tell-all book by her former campaign manager,...

That Little Bit of Juicy News You Spread at Work Might Get You Fired Just a year ago, the atmosphere in Sam Chapman's small public relations firm was often tense. "We had information leaks, we had disgruntledness, we had competitors finding things out, and we had sniping about senior management policies," says Mr. Chapman, CEO of Empower Public Relations in Chicago. "People would stop talking when you walked by." A life coach identified the problem: gossip. Determined to elevate the tone, Chapman took dramatic steps. He fired three employees for gossiping. He also established a strict policy, turning the whole...

o the question Is Jessica Simpson ready to be Mrs. Tony Romo? Well according to a close friend of Jessica she said that “she already calls him ‘my future husband’. She’s dropping hints, like, ‘Well, as soon as I get that ring on my finger.’ She is gunning for marriage big-time.” Adds another, “She definitely wants kids. Marriage is a part of that.” Jessica and Tony have only been together since November last year but with the recent engagement and pregnancy news of her sister, Ashlee she now seems to have an of urgency to settle down.

There was a momentary groundswell at the San Francisco International Film Festival gala Thursday evening when somebody - OK, it was me - asked Warren Beatty if he'd run for president and pry his beloved Democratic Party out of its stalemate. "That would be a barrel of laughs," said Beatty, who flirted with a run for the White House in 2000. He had come to the party at the Westin St. Francis to present the Kanbar Award for screenwriting to Robert Towne who, in turn, proclaimed that he would vote for Beatty. A couple of people in the crush surrounding...

Today's New York Post Page Six gossip column offers readers the following prima facie risible item: Not So Secret HUMA Abedin, the traveling aide who is rarely out of Hillary Rodham Clinton's sight, has been seen with bachelor Rep. Anthony Weiner on the campaign trail. Shortly before Clinton arrived for a fund-raiser Thursday night at the Hiro club in the Meatpacking District, Abedin was spotted going into the Maritime Hotel around the corner with Weiner. If they were trying to keep their affair a secret, you'd think they'd find someplace where political reporters wouldn't be walking by. "If they were...

New York Daily News' List of Dumbest People in Hollywood 1. Lindsay Lohan — poor movie choices ("I Know Who Killed Me"), delinquent behavior and bad taste in men. 2. Kim Kardashian — because it is sad when you leak your sex tape and nobody cares. 3. Spencer Pratt — who thinks his life on MTV's "The Hills" is reality - and believes we think so, too. 4. Jeff Kwatinetz — the man that gave the OK for Britney Spears' disastrous MTV Video Music Awards performance. 5. Shia LaBeouf — the 21-year-old "Transformers" star, for getting arrested while refusing to...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Paris Hilton is rooting for Britney Spears. Britney Spears was defended by Paris Hilton as "a very sweet girl." "I wish the best for her and I just wish everyone would leave her alone so she could live her life," the 26-year-old hotel heiress-actress tells E! News. "She's a great mother and a great girl and I really care about her." In an interview that was to air Tuesday night, Hilton says: "She's a very sweet girl and I love her to death." Hilton and Spears were nearly inseparable following the pop star's split from ex-husband...

Conservative radio talker Rush Limbaugh's got a new sweetheart - and she's nearly half his age. Limbaugh, who turned 57 Jan. 12, told Page Two he's been dating West Palm Beach resident Kathryn Rogers for the past six months. Driver license records show she is 31. "So much for me being a recluse," Limbaugh said, mocking news reports claiming he rarely leaves his Palm Beach compound. "We met four years ago when Kathryn worked for (golf great) Gary Player. There was a charity tournament. She was rounding up the celebrities to participate in the event. She called me and I...

Britney Spears stunned sales staff at a Betsey Johnson store in Sherman Oaks, California on Sunday (13Jan08) when she stepped out of a fitting room completely naked. A day before Spears' bizarre antics outside a Los Angeles courthouse cost her visitation rights to her young son for a month, the singer was stripping in front of shoppers. Spears and her paparazzi boyfriend Adnan Ghalib caused a stir at the upmarket store upon their arrival, and as trendy shoppers watched, Spears grabbed a Betsey Johnson dress and took it to a fitting room. But when she re-appeared, she wasn't wearing the...

PITTSBURGH, PA – “Aunt Myrtle’s bursitis is acting up again.” “Tom lost his job at the mill last week.” “Alvin left Sylvia again on Thursday.” “The Wilsons’ kids got into trouble with the law; they broke into three cars down the road.” “Tammy’s sixteen, pregnant, and has a big GED test tomorrow.” “Franklin really needs the Lord. His whole life is messed up.” When you read the above list, you may be asking, “What is this?” If you have spent any time in evangelical America, you know that these are typical Sunday School/prayer meeting/cell group prayer requests. Most churches would...

WHICH political candidate showed extreme bad judgment in the woman he picked to have an extramarital affair with? The New Age hippie, who friends say "mooches off other people and sleeps on their couches because she doesn't believe in money," tells anyone who will listen about her fling with the good-looking guy

DES MOINES, Iowa – Several Republican officials close to Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign said they expect the candidate will drop out of the race within days if he finishes poorly in Thursday’s Iowa caucus.

Rumours of ‘Top Gun’ star, Tom Cruise’s alleged gay status have finally been smashed by a private detective who has been trying to find out if the movie star is secretly homosexual for six years. Former porn star Paul Barresi could not land his hand on any evidence suggesting the Hollywood superstar’s secret gay life ever since he has been digging around in Cruise’s private life since 2001. "Everything I've found, and everything I know, points to Tom being heterosexual, Contactmusic quoted Barresi, as saying. Barresi has now handed over his research to British author Andrew Morton, who has been...

Good evening, gentlemen and ladies of America. I speak to you tonight as a patriot, and believe me, I do love our country and honor the servicemen fighting in foreign theatres of war. The plan we are currently pursuing in the theatres of Europe and the Pacific are clearly not working. The President, the generals and soldiers serving in the field may believe the mission is being accomplished, but the results show otherwise.Our President's foolish behavior in provoking our European enemies started by his signing of the "Lend Lease" bill back in 1941. Instead of trying to negotiate with...

The couple, who married in Italy last year, have master bedrooms in separate wings so Katie can get her "beauty sleep". A source told America's Star magazine: "It's a situation that works for both of them. Of course they spend time together alone at night like most married couples - after all, they conceived Suri! In fact, they even joke about having separate bedrooms to their friends – Katie says Tom snores, and this way she can get her beauty sleep!" The couple are said to have slept in separate rooms since they started dating in 2005. Katie has decorated...

He used to be a family friend who joined them on ski trips. But now business mogul Paul Fribourg is the other man in the Paula Zahn-Richard Cohen breakup - and something for the warring spouses to argue about. "[Cohen] and Paula disagree over how long her thing with Paul has been going on," a friend of the couple said. As the marriage of the CNN anchorwoman and the wealthy developer publicly implodes, Fribourg is said to be on vacation with his Moroccan-born wife, Josabeth, with whom he has four kids and an upper East Side brownstone. Fribourg, 53, is...

TORONTO, Canada (The Catholic Register) – From cell phone conversations about what the boss may have told a colleague about his boss, to an Internet blog reporting what insiders are saying about a movie still in production, and TV shows filled with breathless revelations about celebrity marriages and sports pages filled with whispers about athletes at loggerheads with teammates and coaches, Catholics are daily floating in a sea of gossip. It’s a rough and dangerous sea for people who believe indulging in gossip is worthy of a trip to the confessional. There are plenty of Canadians who think that gossip...

The rape of a name can be as vicious a crime and as destructive an act as the rape of a body. Sometimes the rape of a body is worse, sometimes the rape of a name is worse. But they are both rapes. And morally likening the two is in no way meant to lessen the horror of rape; it is meant only to heighten awareness of the horror of intentionally destroying the name of an innocent person. These words are written in the aftermath of the destruction of three young men's names by a lying woman whose name is...

We have Bill Clinton the big bird and Bill Clinton the International Lover. You read the above right, check it out. Plus a really depressing movie that might make you kill yourself, some blind item fun and a couple of celebrity pics that will surely cause a giggle or two.

HOOKSETT, N.H. (AP) -- Can you be fired for gossiping about your boss? Four town employees here say they were, raising questions about fairness, free speech and a staple of life in the American workplace. The employees were fired in April after speaking to a lawyer the town hired as a fact-finder to rout out chatterboxes. They say questions about a close relationship between Town Administrator David Jodoin and a female employee, identified only as "A" in the lawyer's report, drifted into Town Hall sometime in March. They say they weren't the only ones who discussed the rumor, and dismissed...

The TV reporter who sent NFL Network anchor Rich Eisen salacious snaps of herself in a bikini -- and got an hilariously acidic e-mail response from Eisen's wife (who found them on their shared account) -- says the photos are, you know, just "harmless pictures" that "friends" trade. Alycia Lane, an anchor at Philadelphia's CBS affiliate KYW-TV, just sent a statement to TMZ saying that she and Eisen have been "purely platonic" friends "for almost 10 years" and that they "regularly exchange e-mail and photos." Including, as Page Six reported, "seven e-mails and several bikini photos" from Lane, which went...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain (news, bio, voting record), who remarried one month after his 1980 divorce, said Friday that the personal lives of White House hopefuls shouldn't become an issue in the 2008 campaign. "I would like to see this campaign conducted on past record and ambition for the future," McCain told reporters after a fundraising luncheon in Charlotte, N.C. "I would hope that gossip — or, quote, 'family issues' — would not enter into this campaign." McCain's call to keep personal lives private came the same week that chief rival Rudy Giuliani asked for privacy...

NEW YORK The Associated Press decided to give up a major vice last week: its addiction to stories about Paris Hilton. In the past year, Hilton has appeared on the wire an average of twice a week. The wire service's entertainment editor Jesse Washington sent a memo to staffers on Feb. 13 that said, barring any major events, the AP would not run any mention of Paris Hilton on the wire, according to the memo, which was obtained by the New York Observer. In the Observer article Washington was quoted as saying, "There was a surprising amount of hand-wringing. A...

This is a very long,interesting article that is hard to excerpt. Here is a brief portion of it: Aditional findings: Men gossip as much as women. The study found that men gossip at least as much as women, especially on their mobiles. Thirty-three percent of men indulge in mobile gossip every day or almost every day, compared with twenty-six percent of women. Men gossip for just as long and about the same subjects as women, but tend to talk more about themselves. Mobile as 'symbolic bodyguard'. Women use their mobile phones as 'symbolic bodyguards' when feeling vulnerable in public places...

President Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, has cunningly used homophobia to score victories for the Republican Party. But Rove is said to have been far from fearful of the gay man he called "Dad." According to a new bio, Rove "loved and adored" his stepfather, Louis Rove, even though the Getty Oil geologist abandoned Karl's mother, Reba, to live as a homosexual. In their new book, "The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power," James Moore and Wayne Slater say some believe Louis' running off contributed to Reba's suicide. Nevertheless, Karl visited his stepfather in Palm...

Writing the history of our time in song. http://monya1.tripod.com/midis2.html MIDI - TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR (click on Margie Harrell, then the song) Tinkle, tinkle, little star...viewers wonder where you are Maybe in stall number one...this is really getting fun Tinkle, tinkle, little star...viewers wonder where you are Kyra was there to hear our leader speak Her sister-in-law we learn's a real controlling freak Then there was a television moment quite profound I hope everybody got to hear the zipper sound Come on, put it on your website, CNN We are waiting anxiously to hear the clip again Tinkle, tinkle, little...

IT SOUNDS like the television anchorwoman’s ultimate nightmare. Take lavatory break. Leave personal microphone on. Have cloakroom gossip — including how much you hate your sister-in-law — broadcast live in excruciating detail during a nationally televised speech by President Bush. CNN was forced to apologise yesterday after such a fate befell Kyra Phillips, whose trenchant views on her brother’s wife, mixed with the sound of zips and running water, drowned out Mr Bush as he spoke live from New Orleans to mark the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Her inadvertent comments gave the name of her show, Live From, a...

On Saturday, Gibson released a statement apologizing: "After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the L.A. County Sheriffs. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person. I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am...

Has anyone noticed that Cal Thomas looks strange lately with his dyed black hair and apparent face lift and/or Botox? He used to look like a distinguished older gentleman.

On April 7, when Britney Spears and Kevin Federline realized that their baby, Sean Preston, had been sleeping more than usual, panic bells went off. Just six days earlier, the 7-month-old had taken a major fall from his high chair, a tumble that had his parents worried that he might have been critically injured. They had every right to fret. After rushing Sean to a nearby hospital, they discovered he had a minor skull fracture (sometimes called a "scalp fracture" in babies), and a blood clot. And the doctors weren't the only ones to take notice! The next day, the...

GEORGE CLOONEY is once again fighting to save the world from evil, but this time he does not need his Batman costume. The Oscar-winning actor is playing himself in a new battle against an internet website that provides maps and addresses of celebrity sightings. Clooney is leading the Hollywood charge against Gawker, a New York-based gossip website that proudly declares itself to be “sick and psychotic�. Concerned that the website may be exploited by obsessive fans, Clooney has launched a campaign to discredit it by swamping its celebrity sightings page with bogus reports. In an e-mail distributed by his publicist...

A judge in Afghanistan said today that Abdul Rahman, the man charged with converting to Christianity, would face the death penalty, or worse, if convicted of the crime. “We could behead him and then throw the book at him,” said the judge presiding over the case, raising the specter that the punishment could include intentional abuse and damage to Mr. Rahman’s copy of the Bible. The threat to the Bible comes as retribution for reported incidents of Koran desecration last year by Americans at the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention facility. Those allegations sparked deadly Muslim riots worldwide. Meanwhile, state governors...

JUST ASKING WHICH political reporter attends so-called "circuit parties" while flying high on ecstasy? "It stuns me that a prominent figure with public responsibility would show such poor judgment," said one witness, "not to mention that it's totally illegal."

Is John McCain a lesbian? Maybe we'll learn the answer from Edward Klein, who insinuated as much about Hillary Clinton in his 2005 biography — largely a clip-job of hit pieces, reviewers said — and is apparently hard at work on a poison-pen book about the Arizona senator. According to Crain's New York Business, Klein claims he'll chronicle the Republican presidential front-runner's "sexual infidelity, chronic gambling and anger management." I can hardly wait

"Diane Sawyer dropped by for a kiss and a hello. She was fresh from her chores filling in on ABC’s “World News Tonight” and said her stint on air with Elizabeth Vargas had been “refreshing and very exciting.” Another hit of the night was Cecile Richards, tall, blond and handsome, now moved to Manhattan to oversee Planned Parenthood. We had a reunion as we are pals via her famous mother, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards. Cecile and her wonderful family are going to be a great addition to New York. Documentary maker Alexandra Pelosi, the daughter of Nancy Pelosi, the...

I think that it's par for the course to yawn when you see stars divorce Sambora, Locklears' marriage: eleven years, Tommy Lee had her first, says my source. The famed biker named Lance Armstrong While on a bike could do no wrong He divorced, you know and then he met Crow will that fling now become his swan song?

Heard from a reliable source that Bush is going to shake up his Staff after New Year. As a minimum Andy Card is going to be replaced by Bush's best friend and former Commerce Secetary, Don Evans. More later.

This is a recent post by Erick on ConfirmThem.com blog (a project of RedState.org):Word in legal circles is that Priscilla Owen is set to become the next justice appointed to the United States Supreme Court. Unfortunately, I have received reliable information late this afternoon that Karl Rove, among others, is making a last minute push for the President to consider Alberto Gonzales, despite previous assurances from inside the White House, Justice Department, and Senate that Gonzales was not being considered. A third party source tells RedState that Rove is pushing for Gonzales and that Larry Thompson’s name has gone off...

Albany [Delmar], New York - Group organizes effort to draft Martha Stewart for NY Senate in 2006 at www.marthaforsenate.com. An excerpt from the site read "New York Politics may be mean and ugly. But Martha is the Queen of clean and who better to tidy up Washington than her? " Unlike Hillary Clinton who spent little time in New York prior to becoming Senator, Martha Stewart received a degree from Barnard and owns several properties in the State. Also, unlike Hillary, Martha is a self-made business woman. Questions about her eligibility due to the ImClone scandal pale in comparison to...

Keanu Reeves was reported last night to be embroiled in a romance with Diane Keaton, the actress who is nearly 20 years his senior. Reeves, 40, was said to have dumped actress girlfriend Lynn Collins, 28, to date the 59-yearold Oscar winner. Reeves met Miss Keaton when they appeared together in the 2003 comedy Something's Gotta Give. He began dating Miss Collins three months ago after they met on the set of the forthcoming drama Il Mare. A friend told the U.S. magazine Star that Reeves was 'hit hard' by turning 40 last year. Breaking up with Miss Collins 'kind...

If knowledge is power, then gossip is powerful currency, traded daily on high school phone lines and at the supermarket check-out lines. "The best piece of gossip always has a little hint of scandal involved," says Paula Froelich, a columnist for the New York Post's "Page Six." "And it's also pretty salacious. And at some point your mouth drops and you go, 'oh no she didn't!'" While Mom always said "No one loves a busybody," some scholars believe gossip is a healthy, essential tool in helping people work together and defining the rules of the tribe. ....

Juicy gossip moves so quickly - He did what? She has pictures? - that few people have time to cover their ears, even if they wanted to. "I heard a lot in the hallway, on the way to class," said Mady Miraglia, 35, a high school history teacher in Los Gatos, Calif., speaking about a previous job, where she got a running commentary from fellow teachers on the sexual peccadilloes and classroom struggles of her colleagues. "To be honest, it made me feel better as a teacher to hear others being put down," she said. "I was out there on...

JUST ASKING WHICH newlywed husband of a TV personality dropped her off at an award show, then went on a tour of gay bars in L.A.? What he didn't realize was that the limo driver had to keep a list of every stop — and that when network execs got the limo bill, the list "looked like a Yellow Page ad of gay bars" . . . WHICH leading man landed his fiancée by giving her a five-year contract for $10 million? Now, she's giving an Oscar-worthy performance acting as if she's really in love with him . . ....

A COLOMBIAN town has taken a hard line against gossip, with fines of up to $US6000 ($7936) and three years in jail. "Residents come out with things that they have no reason to say, that are mere gossip and that have even gotten people killed," Margoth Morales, city manager of Iconozo, 150km south of Bogota, told RCN televsion. Morales explained that only gossips who could not resist talking about their neighbours would be punished to the maximum. Recidivists could get the full three-year, $US6000 punishment. The Iconozo gossip ordinance is not the first in Colombia. Two years ago, the mayor...

Interesting item from today's NY Daily News:Which married cable news executive who's been toiling in Iraq is said to be back in the arms of his stateside mistress, an also-married master media manipulator who appears on his network? Word is they've both been able to keep the affair from their families, but colleagues have caught on.

It's not only the top of the market old media like CBS and the New York Times that are under assault. In the last few days there have been stories about the travails of the National Enquirer and the New York Daily News' gossip columnist, Liz Smith, drowning in the digital storm. It seems the Enquirer has lost a cool million readers per edition in circulation over the last eight years — down to 1.5 million over its historic high of 4 million in the halcyon days of the 1970s. Liz Smith, proud to be a gossip columnist a publicity...

WASHINGTON, 23 March 2005 — Here’s a bit of news that had Washingtonians choking on their coffee this morning: President Bush’s neoconservative hawk Paul Wolfowitz, the Pentagon’s architect of the US invasion of Iraq, is dating a Muslim! While battle lines have hardened over President Bush’s nomination of Wolfowitz to become president of the World Bank, what many say is really fueling the controversy is concern within the bank over Wolfowitz’s reported romantic relationship with Shaha Ali Riza, an Arab feminist who is the acting manager for External Relations and Outreach for the Middle East and North Africa Region at...

One of the first sex scandals of the blogosphere ended, of course, in a book deal. In May, Ana Marie Cox, the Internet gossip whose Web log, Wonkette, focuses on Washington, published a link to another blogger who called herself the Washingtonienne. In the blog, Washingtonienne, a Capitol Hill employee, used a Senate computer to post intimate details about her experience sleeping with six different men, some of whom were paying for her favors. Washingtonienne listed her partners by their initials and occupations, from the married ''Chief of Staff at one of the gov agencies, appointed by Bush'' to her...