Blogger Michael Yon—one of the few people to break the New York Times' news blackout over the kidnapping of reporter David Rohde in Afghanistan—reports via Twitter that former CIA operatives paid a ransom to secure Rohde's release.

Tomorrow is Election Day! You will probably not vote, because there are no contested races for anything important in 90% of the nation. But if you are a New Yorker, we have one message: don't vote for Michael Bloomberg.

Did you hear about Brian Schroeder, the Harvard Law School grad who set fire to the 9/11 chapel early Saturday morning, either as part of a "drunken prank" or because "someone slipped something into his drink"? The good news is Schroeder finally scraped together $3,000 in bail money and got to go home last night. The bad (though hardly surprising) news: Not only is Schroeder quickly turning into this week's tabloid whipping boy, his job offer at the law firm Sidley Austin—which coincidentally once had its offices in the World Trade Center—has been rescinded. But at least now he'll have plenty of time to continue his world travels. [NYDN, NYP, NYDN]

Silicon Valley pundits like to talk about social media as a potential geyser of cash. What they leave out is that one of the only ways social networks like Facebook, MySpace have done that is joining league with online scammers.

You people always have something slick to say about our ads. You think you're so fucking smart? You figure out the ads, then. We'll just sit here while you work for free. Uh, we mean...Do the Dewmocracy™!

Somewhere out there in Hollywood, there are a few dozen people who made bets that "scandal was never the way to win over audiences" kicking themselves, hard.

Peter Braunstein is a convicted rapist and certified psycho with serious mental problems. But he's so tabloid-y! What's his latest crazy celebrity obsession, for the public to point and laugh about? Inside Edition knows!

The GM Building may not be the GM Building for much longer. Naming rights are up for grabs now that the automaker has gone bankrupt. And it's quite an opportunity: "This is the first time since 1968, when General Motors completed construction of the 50-story tower at 767 Fifth Avenue, that the rights to dub perhaps the single most coveted skyscraper in the country—on Fifth Avenue, above the Apple cube, across from the Plaza and Central Park, in the center of what is arguably the country's, if not the world's, most glamorous shopping district—are available." Let's all hope that existing tenant Apple swoops in and lands the deal. Otherwise, the building named after a bankrupt automaker could go back to looking like this, which wouldn't be an improvement at all, now would it? [NYO]

Just because NBC can't make it work, doesn't mean somebody can't. TNT, announced this morning they will pick up Southland, the critically acclaimed cop drama Executive Produced by ER's John Wells, which NBC cancelled a few weeks back.

Giuseppe Cipriani fled left the country last year in the wake of a scandal over alleged shady dealings regarding a liquor license for his celebtastic restaurant. He's not "on the lam," see. He simply could not take Bush any longer.

[Jason Schwartzman looks a little lost in a sea of green at the Jets/Dolphins game at Giants Stadium yesterday. Image via Getty

Rural Democrats refused to have the House version of the public option reimburse providers with rates tied to Medicare, because Medicare underpays rural hospitals and doctors. Guess what they did for urban hospitals, though!

Model Stephanie Seymour and paper mogul Peter Brant have been in the middle of a nasty divorce the past few months, a feud that has required the police to intervene on more than one occasion. While the case plays itself out in the courts, a judge issued some "financial ground rules" recently, a ruling that requires Brant to pay Seymour $270,000 a month in alimony and child support. But that isn't all that much when you consider what Brant normally spends his money on:

Like the Tim Curry song says, anything can happen on Halloween. Paris Hilton can get choked, Real Housewives can bury the hatchet, Tinsley Mortimer can tape a reality show, Elton John can get sick. It's Monday morning's leftover gossip candy.

Some genius once dubbed New York University economist Nouriel Roubini "the Joe Francis of Pessimism Porn," and yesterday's one-two punch of a Eurotrashy post-Halloween loft party with Oliver Stone and a doomsaying op-ed in the Financial Times proves the point.

Pabst Brewing Company, maker of PBR, is going up for sale. Oh we know who should buy it: A hipster! Hahahaha. Sure, try finding a hipster with $300 million! Hahaha. Maybe for beer they'd find it! Haha. [NYP. Pic: LATFH]

Authors: never get conned by a friendly reporter into doing one of those "Let's Explore This Famous Writers' Work Space" stories. Your cool office is only cool in secret. We mean you, Jonathan Lethem!

Kate Winslet picking up son Alfie from school ... Roman Abramovich and girlfriend Dasha Zhukova leaving Nello's after lunch ... Ed Burns taking his son trick or treating on Halloween ... Sandra Bernhard walking her dog ... Mark Ronson and sister Samantha leaving Bar Pitti on a Vespa ... Michelle Williams taking daughter Matilda to school ... Matt Damon and Emily Blunt filming scenes for The Adjustment Bureau in Chelsea ... Dustin Hoffman and son Jake attending a Knicks game ... Rachel Hunter standing on the set of Gravity ... Jude Law talking to his son on a stoop in the West Village ... Jimmy Fallon leaving last week's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert... Gabriel Aubry getting out of a taxi with his daughter ... and Sienna Miller walking her dog in SoHo.

Newsday is going to start charging for its awful website. One columnist there quit over it. The New York Times says it will make a decision on charging for its (good) website "within weeks." Then what happens?

He may be a lion on the set, but he's a lamb at home, where his angry wife calls all the shots. He could be out behaving badly, like a group of lethal actors. Is there any happy medium?