The terror threat in London isn't over yet. We're hearing that Kitson owner and Us Weekly frenemy Fraser Ross was on a British Airways flight from London, bound for Toronto, when the police boarded the plane with dogs and cleared everyone off at 12:45pm local time. Heathrow's Terminal 4 has been cleared entirely, with all passengers and staff standing in the rain in the car park. "There is some kind of suspicious bag or package on the plane or in the baggage area," we're told.
Update: Meanwhile, all suspects in London's scare are said to be in custody.
Only hours after an explosive device (loaded with fuel, gas cylinders nails) was found in London's theater district this morning, police have already discovered what appears to be a second car-bomb.
Last week was, as always, another dizzying frenzy of gossip and media-related news. We gave you our up-to-the-minute take, but we're far more interested in your reactions. Please continue to send us your comments, and every Monday we'll recap the burning issues and a sampling of your "colorful" responses in "Hot Topics."
Issue: The unbiased Christian Science Monitor taught us that 9/11 is to blame for our obsession with celebrity culture.
You said: "Here I was, just thinking my obsession with celebs/reality tv was due to horrible taste when, in fact, it was really the all the terrorists' fault. I feel so validated!"
Issue: U.S. Fashion Designers outlined their argument in favor of malnourished human clothes-hangers and their prominent rib-cages.
You said: "After looking at the fat cows that pass for American women these days, these normal-sized models are a breath of freash air!"
Issue: There are plenty of reasons to hate Condoleezza Rice besides the fact that she has yet to squeeze a baby out of her uterus.
You said: "I, personally, would much rather hate on Condi for the gap in between her two front teeth than for the fact that she has yet to reproduce."
Issue: Lindsay Lohan offered relationship advice to newly single Charlie's Angels Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore.
You said: "Not sure a long string of one-night stands really constitutes 'relationship expertise.'"
CONTINUED »
With hotels in East Peoria, Moline, Quincy and Galena, Ilinois, you can see the Stoney Creek Hospitality Corp. has a lot of power. So much power, in fact, that they've gone and yanked CNN from its meth dens hotel rooms after the news network on Oct. 18 aired portions of a tape CNN said came from the rebel group Islamic Army of Iraq. Company president James Thompson calls the decision "a moment of conscience" and says he won't be putting CNN back in the line up, ever. Guests will be pleased to know, however, that they'll still be able to access MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, and Skinemax.
While most of you spent yesterday bitching about Shea's renaming, Judith Miller was in a Chicago courtroom testifying in the trial of Muhammad Salah, an American accused of aiding Hamas. Miller's role in the trial? Relaying her account of his 1993 prison interrogation, which she claims did not include anything that resembled torture. How lovely for Salah. But under cross-examination, Salah's defense team got pesky.
Under cross-examination, one of Salah’s defense attorney, Michael Deutsch, suggested with his questions that Miller had been used by former Israeli prime minister Rabin to spur U.S. authorities to take seriously Israeli allegations that Hamas had a support network in the United States.
Deutsch also said Miller’s reporting on allegations that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction was used in a similar way by U.S. officials to justify starting a war in Iraq. “Isn’t it true that you are no longer with The New York Times because you have been exposed as someone who got too close to public officials?” Deutsch challenged her.
“No, sir, that is not true,” Miller replied without elaborating.
No, silly! Judith Miller is no longer with the Times because she got "too close" to her, ahem, colleagues. Oh, and that whole WMD thing being a total farce. But thanks to her carefully worded exit agreement, she'll never have to fess up to departing the Times on those grounds.
As Lebanon and Israel duke it out to see who's God has the bigger dick, the Wall Street Journal chimes in with this completely unexpected piece of news:
Bloggers from Lebanon and Israel — some on the scene, others around the world — are providing live updates of their experiences, commenting on each other's writing and sometimes linking to blogs across the border.
Linking?! Across the border? Don't they know how dangerous a href is?
Movable Type: The new face of diplomacy. Maybe they should offer a plugin for that.
In the Midst of War, Bloggers Are Talking Across the Front Line [Sarah Ellison. WSJ]
AccessHollywood.com's report last wek that Katie Couric wouldn't go to the Middle East to report wasn't a NBC Universal swipe at their ex-Today show anchor — it was just a regular, run-of-the-mill error.
On Wednesday, Access Hollywood's website posted an item quoting Katie Couric from May 30, when she was still co-anchor of the Today show, reacting to injured CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier; Couric said she would not go to Iraq, being a single mother of two children who already lost a father, and all. That quote, it turns out, was taken out of context in the AH item: At the Television Critics Association's annual event on July 16, fully representing her new post at CBS, Couric said she would go to the Middle East, especially in light of the current Lebanon situation.
It wasn't until the Drudge Report blared the AH item did anyone really notice the contradiction – and some folks updating Katie's Wikipedia entry – and set Katie's publicist Matthew Hiltzik reeling.
It took two hours between the article's initial filing on Access Hollywood's website for a corrected version to appear, we're told. But on a slow gossip Saturday, Page Six took the incident one step further — alleging (via a NBC source) that the item was a deliberate move from inside 30 Rock to bitchslap their former morning darling.
But after speaking to a NBC Universal insider with knowledge of the situation, we've learned nobody inside NBC chief Bob Wright's camp had anything to do with the AccessHollywood.com item. The erroneous posting was, in fact, just a screw up due to not fully vetting the interview transcript from May and failing to include Couric's most recent comments. So no, there's no conspiracy here. And we, of all people, we're hoping for one.
Which Anchors Put Themselves In The Line Of Fire? [AccessHollywood.com]
'ACCESS' BLOWS KATIE QUOTES [Page Six]
So, about that white powder that showed up on the 8th floor at the New York Times last week? It wasn't so much a deadly powder as a key ingredient in making a delicious cherry pie.
Shortly before 5 p.m. an announcement was made over the Times public address system saying that the powder had been found to be “nonthreatening and nonhazardous.†According to field tests conducted by the Department of Environmental Protection, the substance was preliminarily identified as corn starch, though further analysis will be done at the city Health Department’s laboratory, as the protocol requires.
Minutes later officials spotted the indicated "ATTN": Frank Bruni.
Powder Sent to The Times Not Anthrax [Al Baker, NYT]
Yey! It's been a while since we got patted down on the 6 by someone other than Creepy Beard Guy With Missing Buttons.
New York City Tightens Transit Security After India Railway Bombings [AP]
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Sure, Fox News knew as early as every other media outlet that no, this morning's Upper East Side building collapse was not an act of terrorism, but a gas leak explosion. But would such facts stop the network from using today's emergency as a vehicle to launch into a back-and-forth about Al Qaeda? Hah! About as much chance of a Hollywood starlet landing a Vanity Fair cover without revealing some dark secret.
Earlier: Breaking: Midtown Townhouse Collapses, Fox News Cues Terrorism Fear
• In case you didn't get your fix of bright lights and fireworks over the Fourth, head to Coney Island tonight for some more, courtesy the Parachute Jump. [NY1]
• You can't say no to marrying the gay New Yorkers and expect that to be the end of it. [VV]
• Just because the West Side Stadium got a pass doesn't mean NYC would allow there to be empty space. [MetroNY]
• Remember that inaudible ringtone that only kids could hear? Well, it finally happened: Adults found a way to harness it as a weapon against kids. [Newsday]
• It's the banner advertising that is ruining the scenery of skyscraper-filled New York, not the buildings that block out sunlight. [amNY]
• Despite the decrease in New York's anti-terrorist funds, a plot to bomb Holland Tunnel and drown us all was foiled. [NYDN]
• The New York government hashed out a budget plan, and one of the first things the City Council decided to wisely spend our limited money on is a much needed hip-hop museum. [NY Sun]
Yesterday, we missed what just may be the best correction we've ever read in the New York Times. Fittingly, it's about why the Times missed a same-day story. Reports NYO's Media Mob:
On Sunday, April 9, the New York Times reported on page A1 that the Vice President's former Chief of Staff I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby had been authorized to leak to former Times reporter Judith Miller that Iraq was "vigorously trying to procure uranium" to produce a nuclear bomb.
The Times piece said that Libby was told to overstate the intelligence.
But on Wednesday, Libby filed a correction to accompany his original court filings (from which the Times had gotten its information). The correction explained that he was not told to oversell the intelligence. Details of the letter were made available to the media on Tuesday night, and The Washington Post ran a piece on Wednesday explaining Libby's correction.
To which the NYT issued this correction:
Although Mr. Fitzgerald formally filed his corrective yesterday, accounts of it were provided to some news organizations on Tuesday night, and were the basis for news articles yesterday. The Times did not publish one, as other organizations did, because a telephone message and an e-mail message about the court filing went unnoticed at the newspaper. An article on the filing appears today, on Page A17.
A voicemail. And an email. Went "unnoticed." Can't wait to use that one. Again.
Times Forgets to Check Voicemail [Media Mob]
Corrections [NYT]
The sad, indisputable news that arrived this morning: While cleaning up the top of the Deutsche Bank building, workers found more human bone fragments spewed about from the 9/11 attacks. Now the fun begins as the media try to pin a number on how many bone fragments were just found, in addition to the 80 or so previously recorded.
• AP: "Nearly 300 more"
• NYDN: "nearly 400"
• WABC: "more than 300 separate bone parts"
• NYT: "nearly 300 more"
• WaPo: "Another 300 or so"
• NYP: "Nearly 300 more"
Far be it from us to criticize the Post for ignoring the Flight 93 tapes when they make a stab at something else so important: math.
The next time you miss the NQRW because you need to re-up your MetroCard, consider this: When you swipe your AmEx, the MetroCard kiosk will be swiping you for any explosives remnants. Or at least that's the plan.
This vending machine not only sells MetroCards - it can alert authorities when a potential terrorist is lurking and instantly lock turnstiles.
Two companies have teamed up to develop a machine that can detect whether the straphanger who just touched the start button or screen has recently handled explosives.
Alerts - including a digital image of the person at the machine and the type of substance detected - can be quickly transmitted to law enforcement officials, company officials said.
The device can be programmed to lock turnstiles at the station - and potentially beyond.
The machine will not, however, be able to determine whether you're a wanted firefighter-outfitted rape suspect — because that would involve really tricky technology. And the locking the turnstiles bit? Brilliant. As we all know, would-be bombers aren't the type to hop the gate.
Newest terror foe may hide in your MetroCard machine [Pete Donohue, NYDN]
Warning: If you work with unprocessed animal hides from Africa, you may have been exposed to Anthrax.
This information doesn't really affect anyone (besides the guy who "accidentally caught it") especially because the infected man is currently in Pennsylvania. But because everyone is freaking out about terrorism today (and Anthrax is a terrorism word) Mayor Bloomberg felt the need to make an announcement.
The mayor really wanted to get the "potential terrorist threat" (which was not a terrorism threat at all) out to everyone as soon as possible. You know, sort of like he did when there was that little terrorism threat on the subways, and he waited like three days to make an announcement.
With all the rioting the Danish cartoons of Muhammad have caused, it's a small wonder that so few people have actually seen those cartoons. Even after reading the AP stories and the incessant cable news coverage, do Americans even know how silly Muhammad looks drawn as a bomb?
A small town California newspaper thinks something needs to be done about it, so they've gone and published 'em — hurting the feelings of Muslims, be damned!
The editor of the Freedom Communications Inc. paper, Don Holland, explains in a column today, "I'm sure most Americans are curious about this controversial cartoon, which depicts the Muslim prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban.
"The mindless violence by Islamic radicals is par for the course. But what is incredible is that the Associated Press, which distributes news stories and photos from across the globe, has decided that you shouldn't see it."
And with a circulation of just 31,000, we're pretty sure Don Holland doesn't want you to see the cartoons either.
California Editor Publishes Muhammad Cartoon–And Slams the A.P. [E&P]
Know which Super Bowl ad we really responded to?
The one where MasterCard calls the ability to charge all of our terrorist-related bomb building equipment "priceless." Just think how much cash back you could get just from buying that tube sock, ball point pen, and fertilizer.
Best Super Bowl Ads [AOL]
(To view this ad, click "4th Quarter," then "Mastercard: Macgyver.")
Unlike Colin Ferrell's sex tape, not a soul has seen the footage of Bob Woodruff and his cameraman Doug Vogt experience of their vehicle bombing in Iraq.
ABC executives made the controversial decision not to remove the tape from the camera.
"It is not first, second, or third thing on anyone's mind," said the insider.
The camera will be hand-carried and delivered to ABCNEWS headquarters in New York later on Thursday, from Washington, a source claims. "No one has seen what is on the tape. No one."
In some sort of bizarre evidence like treatment of the video, ABC execs have left the tape in the camera, not even removing it to watch what's on there. Plans to treat the tape with the "same editorial judgement applied to any war footage."
Which means nobody will ever see it, because that would actually require bringing the war to the public's attention. Wait, wasn't that, like, the point of Woodruff being there in the first place?
ABCNEWS HOLDS TAPE OF ANCHOR BOMBED IN IRAQ [Drudge Report]
Even we thought it might be hard to take on Jon Friedman's column today, given its emotional twinge as Jon-Jon effuses on journalists in the war zone, from Christian Science Monitor scribe and current hostage Jill Carroll to Bob Woodruff and Doug Vogt, whose roadside IED attack have left them both hospitalized.
But Friedman – quickly gaining notoriety around Jossip HQ as "that guy who won't participate in our talking head email polling" – has managed to accomplish something we never expected: prove us wrong.
You see, we can take on his column today! Begins Friedman:
I wonder if it's time for the media to reject the whims of hostage-takers in Iraq and elsewhere, and decide not to air terrorists' news footage.
On Monday afternoon, MSNBC showed a brief, heartbreaking image: a television clip of Jill Carroll, the American freelance journalist who had been taken hostage in Iraq on Jan. 7.
The riveting shots, made available by al-Jazeera, showed the 28-year-old Carroll clad in a white head scarf. We saw the stricken, agonized expression on her face as she spoke. The footage lasted less than a minute — not quite the time it takes to air a Coke or Pepsi commercial. Still, the pictures provided such an indelible portrait of one courageous woman's fear that it will be a long time before I can get them out of my mind.
You see, even we aren't using something as gravely solemn as Carroll's hostage situation to tip off the likes of McCann-Erickson and FCB Worldwide on how to sell more soda. Just get a white female with tears in her eyes and a plea for help and – bam! – they could probably convince consumers New Coke Is It! in a mere 30-second spot.
How the media can help Jill Carroll [Jon Friedman, Marketwatch]
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