Joe Ahern, the general manager of a CBS O&O station in Chicago, threw himself a 63rd birthday bash, and then demanded his department heads pay for it. [CS-T]

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Post tags: CBS, Joe Ahern, Workplace

Know what helps pumps millions into the university athletics umbrella NCAA? The same thing that pumps millions into magazine publishers and criminal defense attorneys: booze! Though the NCAA supposedly has the interests of college athletes in mind as it sucks in huge broadcasting revenues for its games — they’ve got a $11 billion deal with CBS — they also allowed alcohol sponsors to advertise during games. This upsets some people, like college presidents, who pointed to beer sponsorships during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament “embarrassingly prominent.” Too bad there’s nothing the NCAA can do! Or so it says.CONTINUED »

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Post tags: Advertising, Alcohol, NCAA, Sports

When we spotted CNN International correspondent and after-hours Central Park cruiser Richard Quest taking a tour of the new Airbus A380’s on-board showers, we thought, “How fitting.” But then we spotted yet another phenomenal feature — for upper class — aboard the jumbo plane: a hidden store of enjoyable beverages revealed at the touch of a button. This is good news for Quest, who can quench his thirst without first showing a flight attendant his 30-day chip. It is also a place he could store his rope before running to the bathroom to put it on. [Flickr, via Cityfile]

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Post tags: Richard Quest, Transportation, Travel

Among the five questions asked by World’s Most Respected Media Critic Jon Friedman about NBC’s 3,600-hour Olympics coverage bonanza, he does not ask whether 30 Rock execs are worried about what Bob Costas looks like in HD.

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Post tags: Jon Friedman, NBC, Olympics

Ron Perelman, the Revlon chairman who is less wealthy than an entire other 86 people in the world, is trying to settle a little legal matter over Marvel Entertainment Group, a company he once helmed before it sank into bankruptcy. Not that it hurt Perelman much: He and other toppers stood accused of fleecing the company, directing its dollars to his own companies before Marvel went under. So he’s offering shareholders $80 million to settle the matter, while admitting no wrongdoing. This is, of course, a mere 4X more than he paid to have his ex-wife’s name stamped on a building at UPenn, and $473.5 million less than he stands accused of stealing.

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Post tags: Lawsuits, Marvel, Ron Perelman

The press corps accompanying President Bush to China for the Olympic opening ceremonies had their chartered Northwest Airlines plane delayed by Chinese officials for nearly three hours upon landing. Normally, the press accompanying the president are allowed to deplane and head straight to their hotels while government officials work out immigration issues. Not this time. Journalists were required to go through immigration one-by-one and have their bags screened individually. Officially, the White House blamed “logistical problems” for the incident. Yeah, like having the Olympics in China.

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Post tags: China, Media, Olympics, White House

After being a rock uber-god for years, how much more money do you need? For Steven Tyler, that answer rings in at about $2 million, which is what he’s getting for optioning his memoirs to HarperCollins. That should keep the big-lipped singer happy for awhile unless, wuh-oh, he takes a look at how much Keith Richards got for his story, just last year. Hint: It’s a lot more.
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Post tags: Books, memoirs, Steven Tyler

Now that he’s exhausted all avenues of publicity — namely, Good Morning America and Chelsea Lately — Christopher Ciccone is taking his book tour to the web. As if there aren’t enough places on the information superhighway trashing Madonna, Ciccone’s started a blog to add to the fray where, he says, some of the material that lawyers kept out of the book appears. Which means you will find tales of Madonna pooping herself and Madonna sucking a guy off while the guy blows Christopher. Lawyers indeed!

But our favorite part of Ciccone’s blogging so far? Madonna whining, in August 1993, about a savage Us Weekly article.CONTINUED »

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Post tags: Blogs, Christopher Ciccone, Madonna, Us Weekly

Despite the fact that Beyonce looks like she just emerged from a lengthy stay in a sun-deprivation chamber in her new L'Oreal Feria ad, reps from the beauty company deny that they lightened her skin color in any way.

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Post tags: Beyonce, External, L'Oreal, Racism

It’s hard to ironically speak for your generation. Or so says Christian Lander, founder of the popular website-cum-book Stuff White People Like, which is not a primer from the National Alliance’s Shaun Walker.

In an interview with a New Republic intern (which is definitely something white people like to do), Lander comes off as a pretty grumpy for a guy who just managed to turn his mildly-satirical website into a feature book in under a year:

The concept of anonymous charities is completely lost on this generation. It’s like a tree-falls-in-the-forest thing: If a white person does something positive and doesn’t tell you about it, does it happen?

Good question, Christian. Keep us updated if you find out.

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Post tags: Blogs, Books, Christian Lander, Stuff White People Like