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aron Klein, WorldNetDaily journalist who hosts his own WABC talk-radio show, is out this week with a tough controversial book.
Its way-out sensational-sounding title? “The Manchurian President: Barack Obama‘s Ties to Communists, Socialists and Other Anti-American Extremists.” Mr. Klein lists 900 sources and tries to link Obama’s mentor David Axelrod to a Communist mentor.
This author won’t exactly get a “Today” show sit-down, but he’ll roll out with a hit on Fox’s Sean Hannity program.
CUBA’s official Castro Web site has published Elian Gonzalez photos. Remember the Elian Gonzalez story? Parents separated. At age 5, he was found floating off the Flor ida coast in an inner tube after his mom drowned trying to reach the US.
Ended up as a pawn between Cuba, where his father lived, and the US, where relatives fought for him to stay in this country.
It’s 10 years this month since federal agents stormed his uncle’s home in Florida, guns drawn, seized him hiding in a closet and returned him to his father in Cuba. Now 16, photos show him in closely cropped hair, serious face, and olive drab military uniform at a Young Communist Union congress.
Elian was hailed as a hero upon his return to Cuba. His restaurant worker father was elected to Parliament. Cubans celebrate his birthday every year.
But try to meet him or his father. Lotsa luck.
In Cuba last year, I went to his old restaurant. I used every connection. Forget it. Wherever I heard he was supposed to be, I went. And somehow he was never there. Elian and his father are closely watched by authorities who restrict all contact with the international press.
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LAN Cumming: “Women whimper, babble, gossip, yatter, chatter, spread rumors around like Philadel phia cream cheese. Men just talk. I guess that’s why I’m a woman.” . . . 50 Cent and talk-show guy Steve Wilkos on a flight from JFK to LA taking photos of each other . . . B’way’s “God of Carnage,” which comes to a halt soon for good, came to a halt the other night for five minutes. Lucy Liu‘s beads broke and ended up rolling around a fellow actor’s crotch. Unknown to him. They were removed by another actor . . . Martina Navratilova played for an hour at the Midtown Tennis Club.
JAVITS Center losing many big shows that were fixtures there. Why? . . . Before learning how stricken it was, the Giants’ Eli Man ning picked up a pile of money to be paid spokesman for St. Vincent’s Hospital . . . John Goodman: “I love being in New York. Please . . . ask them to hire me for more shoots in New York.”
MOVIES. “Higher Ground” marks the directorial debut of Vera Farmiga, who’ll also star in it. It’s looking to hire Hudson Valley crews — which is where she lives and has her animal farm — for filming this summer. Word is out to applicants: “It’s a real low-budget indie.” In other words, says author Bruce Littlefield, who lives nearby, “A James Cameron epic it’s not.”
MOTHER’S DAY gift tips: If the husband has snoring problems, there’s now supposedly a mem ory foam pillow. Supposedly it has a sensor that detects snores. Supposedly it vibrates to encourage him to change positions. Supposedly this makes him stop. Call 1-800-853-9490. Cost is $52.98. Batteries extra. Of course, kicking him in the side is cheaper.
BOOKS: “Inside The Plaza: An Inti mate Portrait of the Ultimate Hotel” by Ward Morehouse. The hotel when it opened 1907, it’s where F. Scott Fitzgerald lived, where Frank Lloyd Wright stayed while building the Guggenheim, where The Beatles bivouacked, where Neil Simon set his play “Plaza Suite,” where the soon-to-board Titanic passengers stayed, where Macaulay Culkin hid out, where Mick Jagger threw his 50th, where Eddie Murphy got married (where he got divorced, who knows?), where Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas got married, where Liza Minnelli grew up, where you could find faces like Marilyn and Elizabeth and Richard.
I only don’t understand the back-page blurb that says, “Mr. Morehouse’s book on the Plaza Hotel makes me feel young again.” It’s signed Bob Hope. The book just came out. Bob Hope left us July 2003. Before the place became a dump.
DR. Paul Tanners is waiting to see a private banker. When his name is called an older lady next to him says: “So what kind of doctor are you?” He says: “A prosthodontist.” Lady says, “Oh, I’ve been having this pain in my hip.” Tanner says: “I’m not an orthopedist. I do restorative dentistry.” To this the lady replies, “In that case, can you take a look at my chipped crown?”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.