Business & Media, Oct. 6, 2008:

It seems anxiety from the financial crisis is reaching new highs, but the tipping point for one individual came at the Lehman Brothers gym in the midst of the company’s collapse.

While former Lehman CEO Richard Fuld was testifying before the House Oversight Committee Oct. 6, CNBC reported he had been punched in the face at the Lehman Brothers gym after it was announced the firm was going bankrupt. CNBC and Vanity Fair contributor Vicki Ward said Fuld was attacked at the gym on a Sunday following the bankruptcy.

“Frankly, I sat there and listened and I’m with the guy who apparently, the day before Barclays announced they were coming in and Lehman had already filed for bankruptcy, went over to him in the gym and punched him because that’s how I feel when I, you know, when I watched that,” Ward said on the Oct. 6 Power Lunch. “I didn’t think he was contrite at all, I thought he was arrogant.”

ABC News, Oct. 7, 2008:

Less than a week after the federal government committed $85 billion to bail out AIG, executives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa, the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California, Congressional investigators revealed today.

“Rooms at this resort can cost over $1,000 a night,” Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) said this morning as his committee continued its investigation of Wall Street and its CEOs.

AIG documents obtained by Waxman’s investigators show the company paid more than $440,000 for the retreat, including nearly $200,000 for rooms, $150,000 for meals and $23,000 in spa charges….

Photo by Jonathan Bachman

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Oh boy, the hits just keep on coming from last night. It seems all of the sports world has been thrown into a tizzy after Reggie Bush’s record-setting performance last night against the Vikings. Deadspin had a great video of ESPN’s Robert Flores so excited pulled a Sarah Palin on air (video after the jump):

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Filmmaker/actress Jocelyn Marquis hosts an artists’ salon this evening to debut the trailer for her film Difficult Death, an adaptation of Rene Crevel’s 1926 novel of the same name about art, homoeroticism and social revolution. Cast and crew will be on hand to discuss the project, which is filming at locations around the city. Marquis plays Perinne Dumont (pictured), an art school student who becomes enthralled with the artistic life of a transgendered poet, Arthur. She also has feelings for a young painter named Daniel and is torn between the excitement of Arthur’s spontaneous and unconstrained lifestyle and the peace and stability of Daniel’s companionship. The salon takes place from 6:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 1128 St. Roch St. (at Marais St.) in the Marigny. Cash bar.

It’s part of American presidential politics that the vice presidential candidates are usually the attack dogs. So it makes sense that Sarah Palin has described herself as a pit bull with lipstick. And Joe “That’s Not Change. That’s More of the Same” Biden is no slouch either when it comes to chewing up his partner’s opponent.

     But sometimes all that barking — all of that incendiary yapping — can produce nothing short of mob rule. Take the situation that the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank writes about that just occurred in Florida, where Palin boosters screamed at members of the press and waved thunder sticks. Even worse, one Palinite verbally abused an African American network sound man with racial epithets and told him, “Sit down, boy.”

     This needs to stop.

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Can’t find confirmation elsewhere on the Web, but WDSU is reporting that:

Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin may visit Louisiana at the end of this month for a fundraiser.

Insiders told NewsChannel 6 that she will travel to Pensacola, Fla., next week prior to her visit to New Orleans.

Nothing about it on the official McCain/Palin Web site (yet), but the possibilities are intriguing, if not mindboggling. Since it’s deer-hunting season, will the RNC be offering a hunting trip with John McCain’s co-maverick? (Better to go hunting with Gov. Palin than with the current veep, obviously.)

Should Palin’s visit come to pass and you’re unable or unwilling to afford the (no doubt) megabuck donation, you have a more affordable option. Comedian Julie Brown has rewritten her 80s novelty hit “The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Gun,” and is selling her all-new single “The Girl V.P.’s Got a Gun” for the low, low price of only $1.99.