HEDGE FUND MAKES PLAY FOR PORNCO

“The worlds of pornography and hedge funds combined this month when activist-investment firm Steel Partners proposed a management buyout of New Frontier Media Inc., an adult-entertainment company.

During a recent New Frontier board meeting, Steel Partners manager Warren Lichtenstein told directors he was interested in leading a management buyout of the company and was willing to pay a premium, according to a Tuesday regulatory filing. ” MarketWatch

TRUMP FIRES SIDEKICK CAROLYN KEPCHER

“The icy, 36-year-old blonde – who was running the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff in Westchester and helping supervise the Trump National in Bedminster, N.J. – was let go earlier this week.

“She became a prima donna,” said one insider. “Being on ‘The Apprentice’ went to her head. She was no longer focused on business. She was giving speeches for $25,000 and doing endorsements.”" NY Post

JOHN TRAVOLTA'S GAY KISS

“In photographs published in the newest issue of the National Enquirer, Travolta is seen planting a kiss on the lips of an unidentified man on the steps of his private plane at an airport in Hamilton, Ontario.” Ottawa Citizen

"STAY TUNED"… FOR PRESIDENT HILLARY?

“Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, standing outside an abandoned knitting mill that will become the new home of the National Women’s Hall of Fame, said Thursday she hopes America is ready for its first woman president.

“It just depends on when and if that happens,” the former first lady said. “Stay tuned.” ” AP

9/11 FLASHBACK: BUSH WAS WEAK

“With Bush on the run like a little girl, Cheney holed up in his bunker, Rumsfeld hiding in his office and the entire U.S. military curiously unable to halt the progress of a few hijacked passenger jets lazily looping over dozens of Air Force bases, Americans were so desperate for some kind of leadership that they turned to an opera-loving New York mayor with gay roommates.” Wonkette

CONSERVATIVE MAG REVEALS NEWT GINGRICH SEX DEPRAVITY

“During his early congressional career, Newt was widely rumored to prey on his female staff members. He divorced his first wife while she was battling cancer. In fact, he urged her to sign the divorce papers while she was still in a hospital bed. After he left Congress, he announced his divorce to his second wife right after she had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He left her for a congressional aide who is 23 years younger.” Insight

BILLIONAIRE BUFFETT BRINGS BRIDE BACK HOME

“Warren Buffett married his longtime companion, Astrid Menks, in a private ceremony Wednesday, the Omaha World-Herald reported in a copyrighted story in its Thursday editions.

Buffett’s daughter, Susan, hosted the wedding at her Omaha home. She said her father and Menks, 70, were married by Douglas County District Judge Patricia Lamberty in a 15-minute ceremony on Buffett’s 76th birthday.” AP

MILITARY SHELLING OUT $20 MILLION TO SPIN IRAQ WAR NIGHTMARE

“U.S. military leaders in Baghdad have put out for bid a two-year, $20 million public relations contract that calls for extensive monitoring of U.S. and Middle Eastern media in an effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq.

The contract calls for assembling a database of selected news stories and assessing their tone as part of a program to provide “public relations products” that would improve coverage of the military command’s performance, according to a statement of work attached to the proposal.” Washington Post

IRAQ WAR MAKES "FLAT DADDIES" IN AMERICA

“Welcome to the “Flat Daddy” and “Flat Mommy” phenomenon, in which life-size cutouts of deployed service members are given by the Maine National Guard to spouses, children, and relatives back home.

The Flat Daddies ride in cars, sit at the dinner table, visit the dentist, and even are brought to confession, according to their significant others on the home front.” Boston Globe

ANNA FARIS TO PLAY CENTERFOLD IN SORORITY COMEDY

“Paramount Pictures has picked up an untitled comedy project from Anna Faris and scribes Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith. Happy Madison is on board to produce the project, which will serve as a starring vehicle for Faris.

It is being described as a fish-out-of-water comedy about a naive centerfold model who loses her job and takes the only one she can find, that of a “house mother” at UCLA’s lamest, dorkiest sorority.” Hollywood Reporter

WHITE HOUSE PREPS IRAQ SMEAR CAMPAIGN VS DEMS IN FALL ELECTION BRAWL

“President Bush and his surrogates are launching a new campaign intended to rebuild support for the war in Iraq by accusing the opposition of aiming to appease terrorists and cut off funding for troops on the battlefield, charges that many Democrats say distort their stated positions.

The White House strategy of equating Democratic dissent with defeatism worked during the 2002 and 2004 elections, but it could prove more difficult this time. Some Republicans, such as Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.), line up with Democrats in seeking a timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq. When Bush and his allies accuse those favoring such a timetable of “self-defeating pessimism,” as Cheney put it this week, they risk spraying friendly fire on some of their own candidates.” Washington Post

ANN COULTER DECLARES WAR ON AL FRANKEN DOCUMENTARY

“Ann Coulter has demanded that a great scene where she gets her skinny ass handed to her be cut from the documentary Al Franken: God Spoke. The film, which follows Franken’s book tour for Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, his involvement in liberal radio network Air America and his eventual decision to run for office, includes a scene where Coulter and Franken engage in a public debate at The Connecticut Forum in 2004.” CHUD

OHIO: GOP IN PANIC OVER DEM SHERROD BROWN

“In a sign that the National Republican Senatorial Committee is seriously worried about Dem Sherrod Brown’s challenge to GOP incumbent Senator Mike DeWine, new campaign finance data show that the RSCC has now spent an astonishing $656,054.58 to date this year on the race.” TPMCafe

MICHIGAN BEAUTY QUEEN LOSES THRONE OVER LINGERIE WRESTLING PIX

“A 19-year-old college student has resigned less than two weeks into her reign as Miss Danish Festival 2006 after word spread that she had appeared in videos clad in lingerie and fighting or wrestling with men or other women.

Carissa Akkerhuis, a sophomore at Central Michigan University, resigned Aug. 24 as queen of the four-day festival. ” AP

BIG BROTHER TIVO IS WATCHING YOU WATCHING TV

“Today, TiVo announced it struck a deal with Omnicom Media Group, which houses media shops OMD and PHD, in which it will purchase TiVo’s second-by-second-audience-measurement research and fund a separate engagement study that uses TiVo’s DVR behavioral data. Omnicom clients advertising on TiVo will also receive economies of scale on pricing, said Omnicom Media Group CEO Daryl Simm in a statement.” Ad Age