Ba'ath wear
Saddam Hussein's threat to sue the Sun for splashing its front page with the toppled dictator starkers save for his Y-fronts could be the first bit of good news the Baghdad Butcher has had for a while. Media Diary's brand strategist suggests the former Iraqi leader seize the moment and launch his own exclusive lingerie line. Designs, as you can see, are ready to roll. Hello girls.
Iffy stiffy
The black-and-gold invitation dropping through the letterboxes of the great and the good from the Royal Academy of Arts was pretty impressive. 'The President and council request the pleasure of your company at the Summer Exhibition Preview Party', it smarms. Imagine the joy of those chosen few as they search to see which kind soul requires an RSVP. But wait - an application form and a cheque for a minimum of £145 to the fundraising events manager are required. 'I feel that they have crossed over a line,' one recipient opines. Finances at the Academy a wee bit tight, peut-être?
Public humiliation
Business types had a snigger at the Guardian's expense at last week's CBI annual dinner. John Sunderland, the CBI's president, poked fun at the thousands of public sector 'non-jobs' advertised in the paper each week, quipping that the Guardian couldn't go tabloid, because it would be impossible to fold it on a Thursday (pause for laughter). Apart from the fact that public sector jobs appear on a Wednesday - in the, er, tabloid-shaped Society section - it's a jolly good point. These business types are really in touch.
Cruel blow
Whistleblower Paul Dimoldenberg last year leaked to the Today programme secret documents that seemed to suggest Westminster Council's former leader, Dame Shirley Porter, had squirrelled away millions of pounds to avoid paying a £28m fine imposed for her part in the homes-for-votes scandal. Strange, then, that Westminster Council decided to take Dimoldenberg, a director at Good Relations, to a local government disciplinary committee, even though his work ensured the council received a much bigger chunk of Porter's money than it otherwise would have got. And even stranger that, when the first verdict came through, the BBC website headlined the piece 'Whistleblower lied'. As it turned out, Dimoldenberg was not reprimanded, despite being found in technical breach of protocol, and the piece was duly amended. Next time, Paul, leak to us. We'll treat you good.
Past their primetime
American TV network CBS has announced it is ditching four of its shows because they attract too old an audience. 'They called us the geezer network,' said chairman Leslie Moonves at the network's annual presentation on Wednesday. Some things get lost in translation.
Eamonn, and on, and on
Eamonn Holmes, the bouncing brath of a boy who used to make a big impression on GMTV - well, on the sofa, at least - celebrated his new job at Sky with a few tinctures at the OAG Airline of the Year Awards. Chosen targets in his speech included sweet Anthea Turner, his long-suffering sidekick Fiona Phillips, and Channel 5. 'We call it the 'labour exchange', he told diners at the Park Lane Hotel, who looked in no mood to split their sides. He even managed a couple of corny cracks about Airbus. 'He's in no position to make jokes about being wide-bodied,' muttered one BA veteran.
