| Hudson wasn't G-manly enough for FBI chief
J. Edgar Hoover's obsession with Rock Hudson's gay lifestyle caused Universal Studios to alter a movie in which he starred, a new book claims. The FBI director, a lifelong bachelor who may or may not have been a cross-dresser, had agents in the L.A. office interrogating men who'd partied with Hudson, claims Nick Redfern in "Celebrity Secrets: Government Files on the Rich and Famous" (Paraview), out Feb. 20. Reports (filed under Hudson's given name, Roy Harold Scherer Jr.) reached the FBI as early as the 1950s that the straight-shooting Hollywood star wasn't quite so straight. "FBI agents were clearly in possession of incriminating data on Hudson, including information on a variety of his bedmates, orgies in which he had partaken, and motels where he would conduct his secret affairs," Redfern writes.
Thorn: Odd couple of journalism
They were Oscar and Felix; Laverne and Shirley. One was a clean-cut overachiever. The other, a disheveled rebel who once looked at a roommate brandishing a toilet brush and said: "Clean the toilet with that? I've been scrubbing my back with it." One was a Yale WASP. The other, a college dropout, the son of communist Jews. It was button-down collar meets hippie, detail man meets big-picture guy. And here's the damndest thing: for one brief moment, it was a match made in heaven. You may have seen the movie about this pair - a little thing called All the President's Men - but you haven't had as much fun learning about the peccadilloes of Watergate scribes Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as you will reading Alicia Shepard's Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate (Wiley, $24.95), which details the duo's triumphs and foibles, pre- and post-Watergate.
Taking a walk on the Rooney side
You ever wonder how Andy Rooney comes up with ideas for columns? I couldn't answer that, but I've often envied the way he can craft a full column out of a series of questions. So for this week, humor me as I try the Andy Rooney approach. You ever wonder why people spend years wringing their hands over whether a historic site such as the Alms House at Broome Community College can be saved? The historic site-buffs form committees and sign petitions, and college leaders and legislators argue about budget restrictions. Meanwhile, every Sunday night on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" you see a community strip an old house down to the ground and rebuild it in a week! Couldn't the repairs be done for a beloved building like the Alms House if the community chipped in and expended some good 'ole elbow grease? Geesh, even the Amish build barns in a day! You ever wonder why people would want to fill their bellies with fried chicken at 4 a.m.? If you ask me, they're just asking for acid reflux -- no matter how wonderful the recipe.
The reasons why proposed IMF gold sales won
NEW ORLEANS (Mineweb.com) --There are numerous reasons why the IMF panel of distinguished current and former central bankers recommendation for the sale of 400 tonnes of gold to help plug operating IMF budget deficits wont happen.
Even if the IMF gold sale does occur, it will give the market yet another bullish signal on prices.
There are a number of reasons this won't happen, but should it still come to pass, it will give the market yet another bullish signal on prices.
First, the U.S. Congress would have to approve the move by the IMF because the United States has ultimate veto power over IMF decisions. The IMF needs an 85% consensus on a move like selling gold reserves.
Since the United States holds 17% of the voting power at the IMF, if Congress isn't on board, it's a non-starter.
|
