Today's LBN E-Lert

CASTRO TO AHMADINEJAD: LEAVE THE JEWS ALONE: Cuban Leader Fidel Castro attacks Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his anti-Semitism in an interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg. Quotes include “I don’t think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews” and “The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust.” More remarkably, Castro expresses regret about his behavior during the Cuban Missle Crisis when he urged the Soviet Union to nuke the United States. “”After I’ve seen what I’ve seen, and knowing what I know now, it wasn’t worth it all,” Castro says. Castro invited Goldberg to meet with him after reading his Atlantic cover story about Israel and Iran.

FLORIDA’S QURAN-BURNING PASTOR: In Gainesville, Florida, the Rev. Terry Jones is a notorious extremist with a tiny congregation at his Dove World Outreach Center. Locals would prefer to ignore Jones, but his Quran-burning stunt has made that impossible. Despite international outcry, and death threats, Jones is not canceling the 9/11 event, saying his church needs to really stick it to radical Islam. But this isn’t Jones’ first bid for infamy—he’s long been a radical provocateur, reports The Daily Beast’s Lynn Waddell. Jones once ran a church in Germany, and was upset by the growing local Turkish population. Devotees said he left because criticizing Islam was unpopular there, but his estranged daughter says Jones had to cut and run after accusations that he dipped into the church kitty to fund personal luxuries and eBay business. His Florida church now stores much of his merchandise. Jones and his wife have a beach home and luxurious digs at the church’s parson’s quarters, while the church has a metal roof and cheap carpet.

OBAMA WON’T EXTEND TAX CUTS FOR WEALTHY: President Barack Obama is playing hardball. He will announce on Wednesday that there will be no possibility of extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, creating an election-year showdown for Congressional Democrats. Obama’s economic package proposes an extension of tax cuts for the 98 percent of Americans with incomes below $250,000 for couples and below $200,000 for individuals. By not extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest, voting against the plan can be seen as a choice between supporting only the rich or supporting the middle class. Obama’s plan could backfire, though, given his diminishing popularity and that this plan has been labeled by some as the “second stimulus.”

LEAN, MEAN KHALID DROPS 40 LBS. – BUT STAYS ALL EVIL:  The monster mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks wants to show the world a kinder, gentler — and thinner — side.  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed sent photos from his Guantanamo Bay prison cell showing he has lost nearly 40 pounds.  In place of the scowling, chubby, T-shirted Mohammed, with a rat’s nest of a hairdo that he had in photos taken after his capture in Pakistan seven years ago, the jailhouse snapshots show him in a white robe and headdress, with a cryptic, almost beatific smile and graying beard, holding a copy of the Koran.  The photos were sent to relatives in letters that seemed part of the terror fiend’s attempt at an image makeover.  The current issue of The New Yorker said that in a June 25, 2009, letter, Mohammed made what could be interpreted as a plea for absolution for his hideous crimes.  “All praise is due to Allah,” he wrote in English. “I praise Him and seek His aid and His forgiveness and I seek refuge in Allah from our evil in ourselves and from our bad deeds.”

WHO READS THE LBN E-LERT? Author Lynda Resnick along with over 320,000 other “influencers” in all 50 of the United States and 24 foreign countries.

BP TO ACCEPT PARTIAL BLAME FOR SPILL: The Company will accept partial blame for the Deep-water Horizon oil spill in a report on Wednesday but will also demand that other companies take more responsibility. The 200-page report is expected to say that BP employees misread pressure readings prior to the April 20 explosion. One reason that BP is demanding companies like Transocean and Haliburton accept more responsibility could be self-preservation: Had BP shouldered too much of the blame in the report, it could have had more liability for the accident.

LBN-INVESTIGATES: Minnesota’s prison population increased by 59.7 percent between 2000 and 2008.

CAN MONEY BUY HAPPINESS?: It is said that money cannot buy happiness, but that may not be entirely true. According to researchers who surveyed 450,000 Americans, people’s emotional well-being increases along with their income up to about $75,000, at which point the effect levels off. The lower a person’s annual income falls below that standard, the unhappier he or she feels. Earning more than $75,000 a year can still increase a person’s overall sense of success or well-being, however, one’s day-to-day sense of happiness at or above that income level depends much more on individual temperament and life circumstances

IS A WHITE HOUSE SHAKEUP AHEAD?: Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s surprise announcement that he won’t be running for re-election is sparking speculation that White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel—long a leading contender for Daley’s job—might head back to the Windy City. He won’t be the only one leaving 1600—a wider shakeup is expected to begin as soon as voting is over this November.

This is an exclusive LBN E-Lert dinner that includes an appetizer, entrée, dessert, and a non- alcoholic beverage for only $37.00.

Click Here to reserve your seat.  Click here to learn more about Alana Stewart.

LBN-TODAY’S BIRTHDAY:  Peter Sellers (1925) Sellers were a British actor who earned international stardom playing a wide range of characters at a time when rigid typecasting was the norm. The son of vaudeville performers, he began appearing with his parents as a boy. He started making films in the 1950s and later gained enormous popularity as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther series. In Dr. Strangelove, he plays three characters, including the titular role. Celebrate more birthdays at the LBN Blog.

LBN-HOLLYWOOD INSIDER:   ***Amy Poehler returns to “Saturday Night Live” for its 36th season premiere, but this time as host, NBC confirmed Tuesday.   ***Disney has taken the unusual step of hiring veteran consultant Valerie Van Galder to handle the marketing of the fourth movie in its flagship film franchise, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”   ***WME’s Mark Itkin will be feted by Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services at the org’s Oct. 10 gala at the Beverly Hilton.  ***Spending on newspaper advertising across the United States declined 5.6% in the second quarter, says the Newspaper Association of America. “The fact that online now represents nearly 12% of overall newspaper ad revenues bodes well for our medium’s future.”   ***Just like his hero Oprah Winfrey, Perez Hilton is spinning off his supporting talent as brands unto themselves. But instead of Dr. Oz or Dr. Phil, Hilton is turning to his pet dog, Teddy Hilton. The Internet gossip king just launched Teddy Hilton, a showcase for celebrity pets.

VAN DER SLOOT:’I FEEL GUILTY’: Joran van der Sloot says he feels “guilty” for “everything that’s happened since 2005,” when Natalee Holloway, an Alabama teen, went missing in Aruba. But van der Sloot denied involvement in her disappearance in his interview with Dutch television from his Peruvian jail. The Dutch 22-year-old is awaiting trial on charges that he murdered Stephany Flores, a 21-year-old student, in a hotel room. “It’s a whole web of problems, but I created all of them myself. So yeah, I have to deal with it now, deal with the consequences,” van der Sloot said. He also admitted to trying to extort $25,000 from Holloway’s parents by offering details of her death. Van der Sloot said he offered several different versions about what happened to Holloway because, “There were people who were paying me to make up stories … I was really good at making up stories. Everybody keeps coming at you asking questions … if you want something, I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear, sure.”

LBN-MUSIC INSIDER:   ***The man who shot and killed John Lennon in 1980 will remain behind bars for at least another couple of years after officials determined Mark David Chapman is still not fit for parole. Earlier today, the New York State Division of Parole informed 55-year-old Chapman that they had concerns “about the disregard [he] displayed for the norms of our society and the sanctity of human life.”  It was nearly 30 years ago that Chapman gunned down the “Beatles” icon outside Lennon’s NYC apartment.  A rep for Yoko Ono tells us she’s “very pleased with the result” of today’s hearing.

JANE FONDA TELL-ALL SHOCKER:  Jane Fonda’s startling confessions – she’s has nothing to hide The Barbarella star, who will turn 73 in December, has admitted to going under the knife.  “I recently had plastic surgery,” Jane admitted. “It was a hard decision to make and I decided if I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna tell the truth. I’m writing a book about aging; I can’t write that book and not say I’ve had plastic surgery.  “I just decided it was for me; I didn’t want to have bags under my eyes that made me look tired. “I have a new hip. I have a new knee, and I’m going to soon be bionic,” Jane wisecracked. And Jane’s other health secrets other than invasive surgery? “I’m careful about what I eat, I stay active, walk a lot.  “I have good genes.”

REAGAN BIOPIC COMING IN 2011:  Ronald Reagan’s journey from Hollywood actor to 40th U.S. president will reach movie theaters across the country next year, The Hollywood Reporter exclusively revealed Tuesday. A $30-million feature film on the late president, entitled Regan, based on two of Paul Kengor’s best-selling Reagan biographies, is currently slated for a late 2011 release. Jonas McCord wrote the script using Kengor’s The Crusader and God and Ronald Reagan as its foundation, while Mark Joseph is co-producing the biopic with Ralph Winter. Those behind the film say it will be nothing like CBS’ 2003 miniseries The Reagans, starring Josh Brolin. “Only in Hollywood could you make an insulting, condescending movie about a much-loved historical figure, hire an actor who loathes the man, watch it flop and then somehow conclude that Americans don’t want to see a movie about him,” Joseph told The Hollywood Reporter. “I watched Americans line up and wait for 10 hours for the simple privilege of passing by his closed casket. They love this man.” No director or actors have been attached yet.

LBN-NOTICED:   ***After jogging with boyfriend Jim Toth, Reese Witherspoon and her man sat down to a healthy Japanese lunch at Sugarfish in Brentwood, Calif., along with a male friend.   ***Mark Wahlberg and Sean Combs in deep discussion as they exited the Beverly Hilton.   ***Former US Open champ Marat Safin buying drinks and paying the bill for the ladies in the next booth at B.E.S.   Robin Givens, after a day at the Open, in a grocery store a few blocks from Times Square in NYC.   ***Gwen Stefani and son Zuma, 2, seeing “Mary Poppins” on Broadway in NYC.   ***Victoria and David Beckham having lunch with two of their three sons at Matsuhisa in LA.   ***Blake Lively leaving Sunglass Hut on Fifth Avenue wearing Tiffany Hearts aviator sunglasses.   ***Media expert and author Michael Levine filming a commentary for CNN yesterday in his office in Beverly Hills.   ***Ryan Gosling performing with his new band onstage at FYF Fest in Los Angeles, CA.   ***Louise’s Trattoria President Rob Serritella having lunch at Louise’s on Pico Boulevard in West L.A., CA.   ***Manager-producer Bruce Edwin having lunch at the Enterprise Fish Company in Santa Monica, CA.   ***BE AN LBN-CORRESPONDENT — Send your celebrity sightings to: LBNElert@Timewire.net.

LBN-SEE IT: Ivanka Trump—–Her summer job took her to new heights – literally! – When Trump checked out the construction site of the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Toronto. “Heels and a hard hat. Quite a look!” she tweeted. (Photo courtesy of Ivanka Trump).

LBN-COMMENTARY By PETER GUBER (Producer and author):  The internet is an audience of one, a million times over.

LBN-COMMENTARY By ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: Third World America — it’s a jarring phrase, I know, but I decided to make that the title of my new book as a warning — to make it clear that if we don’t change course that could very well be our future.

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By COCO CHANEL: Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future.

LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:

LBN-OVERHEARD:   ***The City of Lights has become the City of Love for Halle Berry. Berry, 44, has been spotted cozying up to her Dark Tide costar Olivier Martinez, 44, in his hometown of Paris. The two have been seen smooching and exploring the city, embracing a Hollywood-style romance straight out of a movie.   ***The TV producer who tried to blackmail David Letterman is a free agent. Robert “Joe” Halderman is out of jail, released for good behavior after serving four months of a six-month sentence. Now he’s ready to go back to work.   ***Alec Baldwin got a big laugh after the screening of “Last Day at Shea” at East Hampton’s Guild Hall Saturday night during a Q&A with Billy Joel, the star of the sarcastic look at fame in the 1970s and ’80s. Noting Joel’s ex-wife, Christie Brinkley, in the crowd with Lorraine Bracco, Alan Alda, Rosanna Scotto and Bruce Weber, Baldwin said, “Billy, how do get your ex-wife to attend your movie premiere? As most of you know, my relationship with my ex is a little different than that.” Baldwin’s ex, Kim Basinger, likely wouldn’t spit on him if he were on fire.   ***Jay-Z threw an intimate party to celebrate wife Beyoncé’s 29th birthday on Saturday. He took over nightlife im presario Scott Sartiano’s and Richie Akiva’s about-to-open Chelsea restaurant, The Darby, and invited friends including Alicia Keys, Serena Williams, Kanye West and Sean “Diddy” Combs to toast Beyonce.   ***Broke boxing legend Mike Tyson is about to tie Mel Gibson and become a father for the 8th time.  RadarOnline.com reports that a year after the horrific death of his four-year-old daughter, boxer Mike Tyson, 44, is expecting his eighth child. Tyson’s third wife Lakiha Spicer, 32, is five month pregnant.

LBN-QUOTE:   “I never loved another person the way I loved myself.” – Mae West.

LBN-HISTORY:   On September 8th, 1866, the first recorded birth of sextuplets took place in Chicago, IL. The parents were James and Jennie Bushnel.