Afternoon Briefing:
Moore in China: The People's Daily reports that "Fahrenheit 9/11" might be the first imported documentary screened in China. But don't think things there are completely opening up; the same article says that some violent scenes will be cut before it's shown. (People's Daily)
The Mouse waves the flag: Meanwhile back home, Disney is releasing a feel-good flick this Fourth of July -- some say as a reply to Moore's anti-Bush film, which they chose not to distribute. "America's Heart & Soul" opens today on 100 screens nationwide and features "ordinary Americans with extraordinary stories" -- such as an Olympic boxer, a blind mountain climber and a dairy farmer. Disney's Buena Vista is also promoting its "Walt Disney on the Front Lines," which includes training and propaganda films made by the studio during World War II. (Financial Times)
Pam's pen pal: Pamela Anderson wrote a letter to Sweden's Prime Minister Goeran Persson this week, asking him to ban fur farming in his country. Sweden has 180 mink farms and is one of the world's largest producers. Anderson used flattery to cajole, writing, "I am impressed by how far Sweden has come when it comes to gender equality, justice in society and environmental work. I also know that many people in your country are opposed to the fur industry. Stopping this terrible practice is therefore a natural step for Sweden." (AFP)
A new way to plagiarize: Octavio Roca, former dance critic for the San Francisco Chronicle and arts and culture critic for the Miami Herald until this week, left after his bosses found out he was copying himself. One example: In June 2003 in the Chronicle he wrote about Mikhail Baryshnikov, "He did not disappoint his fans. It was even endearing to see how the evening's sole double pirouettes -- dazzlingly youthful, incidentally in the middle of Cesc Gelabert's 2003 dance 'In a Landscape' -- brought out the biggest applause up to that point." And this appeared in February 2004 in the Herald, "He does not disappoint his fans. It is even endearing to see how the program's sole double pirouettes -- dazzlingly youthful, incidentally in the middle of Cesc Gelabert's 2003 dance 'In a Landscape' -- can bring out the biggest applause ... " (New Times)
It's the bartender's fault: Country crooner Glen Campbell, who was arrested back in November and spent 10 nights in jail after causing a traffic accident while under the influence, has a new way of looking at things now. He told Access Hollywood, "I wasn't really that drunk. I was just over-served." (Associated Press)
-- Karen Croft
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Turn On:
The PBS documentary series "Wide Angle" (PBS; check local listings), hosted by Mishal Husain, begins a new season on Thursday night with a piece on suicide bombers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Also: Having had their fill of teaching straight men how to dress, decorate and groom, the guys of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" (8 p.m. ET; Bravo) use their considerable powers to help a -- gasp! -- clueless gay man.
-- Scott Lamb
Morning Briefing:
Vast right-wing conspiracy, confirmed: Longtime Clinton side-thorn Paula Jones says that Hillary Rodham Clinton was right about that "vast right-wing conspiracy" stuff -- and says she was fodder for it. "I agree that I was a small little entity in this big vast whatever-you-want-to-call-it that got erected," Jones told ABC News' "Primetime." "It started with me -- and they did use me for their own agendas." (ABCNews.com)
Speaking of conspiracy theories ... Matt Drudge is reporting that "a top D.C. insider" is predicting that "official Washington and the entire press corps will be rocked when Hillary Rodham Clinton is picked as Kerry's VP and a massive love fest will begin!" "All the signs point in her direction," the insider told him in a piece running under the headline "VICE PRESIDENT HILLARY; SPECULATION INTENSIFIES IN WASHINGTON" -- prompting D.C. bloggeuse Wonkette to respond, "In equally reliable news, we hear: VICE PRESIDENT CLAUS; SPECULATION INTENSIFIES IN WASHINGTON." Certainly Santa, as second banana, could guarantee the jolly, white-bearded vote from the north. (Drudge and Wonkette)
No Stern warning: Howard Stern may be back on the air in the markets in which his radio show was dropped by Clear Channel, but Infinity Broadcasting and One Twelve Inc., which places the show on affiliate stations, are suing Clear Channel for more than $10 million for dropping it without notification -- a move the companies say violates the terms of their contract. Clear Channel, meanwhile, says it had "both a legal right and an obligation" to pull the show after Stern failed to "comply with all FCC rules and regulations." (Radio and Records)
Brit's big rock: If you've been longing to know how Britney Spears got engaged to dancer Kevin Federline, whom she met in April, here's your answer: They were on a plane. She asked him. He said no, but only because, he says, he was "taken by surprise. I thought the guy was supposed to ask the girl. So a couple of minutes went by and then I asked her." She said yes, and now she says she can't get enough of the 5-carat rock she's wearing on her ring finger. "I'm excited. Elated. Happy. I wake up in the morning, look at that ring and think, 'Very cool.'" And what of that flash-in-the-pan Vegas marriage a few months back? "That thing was a total 'ugh,'" she says. (People magazine via N.Y. Daily News)
Not another Bennifer: Miramax has cut a Jennifer Lopez-Marc Anthony duet from the soundtrack of "Shall We Dance" because the company doesn't want the couple's recent marriage to distract from the movie. "Her engagement to Ben Affleck didn't help 'Gigli' or 'Jersey Girl,' and her marriage to Marc Anthony isn't going to help 'Shall We Dance,'" an insider says. "Miramax doesn't want the publicity focusing on the two of them. They've been through that before. They want to keep the focus on the movie." (Page Six)
Money Quote:
President Bush to fellow members of Yale's secret society Skull & Bones (of which John Kerry is also a member): "If you want anything from me, you better ask for it now. I might not be here next year." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
-- Amy Reiter
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