Google used to say its lavish perks bolstered productivity and, if anything, would only grow more posh. But a recession changes things. Now the official line is more like, just be happy you're working, you ungrateful fucking pigs.

The 96-hour orgy of navel-gazing, unseemly on-camera veneration that attended Tim Russert's untimely death was not enough, nor was the accelerated career advancement afforded his son. Nope—now Russert's old NBC News office will become a museum exhibit.

Irving Penn, who began his career shooting for Vogue in the '40s, died today at 92. No cause of death was given.

Have you heard the one about how leftist terrorist boogeyman Bill Ayers secretly wrote Barack Obama's memoirs? You will! Because Ayers just admitted it!

Pieces are falling off a building on Broadway and Houston St. What up today, NYC?

• David Letterman appears to be through discussing the little sex scandal he now finds himself in. The subject doesn't come up on tonight's show. [NYP]
• Gourmet may have gone down, but the editor of Saveur says the mag is doing well (and that she's been flooded with resumes, not surprisingly). Meanwhile, while Condé Nast is laying off staff at Brides, a brand new bridal magazine is now preparing to launch. The dream lives on, clearly. [Forbes, NYO, Gawker]
• Related: Condé Nast's digital division is facing issues, as well. [NYO]
• The remaining bidders for BusinessWeek, now that Mort Zuckerman and a private equity firm have dropped out: Bloomberg LP and ZelnickMedia. [NYT]
• Barbra Streisand has scored her ninth No. 1 album, beating out Mariah's new record. It makes her the second-oldest living artist to top the charts. [Reuters]
• Famed fashion and celeb photographer Irving Penn has died at age 92. [AP]

Press release that's right on time: A new wedding magazine is launching. How optimistic!

The internet campaign started at Twacy.org to get 30 Rock funnyman Morgan to open a Twitter account may just be an innovative way to market a website that looks like Gawker Stalker, but that doesn't mean it's any less brilliant.

[Like a time machine dropped them off in Paris, '60s prints and afros were all over the models at the Louis Vuitton show today. Image via Getty]

San Francisco's renaissance men are supposed to be clever enough to make millions on internet startups and cultured enough to make home design decisions. In reality, they lack both time and taste, so they just completely outsource the latter .

What exactly happened on the L train—NYC's most cool subway line—today? Earlier we heard rumors of a suicide. We got a bunch of tips. And just before we went to put up this post, we saw this.

Joe Halderman, who is accused of attempting to extort $2 million out of David Letterman, ate lunch with a veteran Nashville homicide detective just days before he left a note demanding $2 million in Letterman's car.

The big round of cost cuts and layoffs at Condé Nast isn't just being felt at 4 Times Square. The gloominess has also made its way to Paris Fashion Week. Instead of spending their days observing the action on the runway, some Condé editors have been forced to remain in their hotel rooms to take part in a "dizzying" number of "budget-related conference calls and team meetings," reports The Daily. This could be why Vogue editor Anna Wintour hasn't "been spotted since Dior on Friday." Budget cuts could also explain why poor Anna has been forced to make do with a single snakeskin coat at Fashion Week in London, Milan and Paris. [FWD]

This clip of two cage fighters in drag fighting off would-be attackers in South Wales is making its way around the internet. Between homophobic attackers and blackface, it is officially viral video hate day. Let's celebrate!

The City of Detroit just wanted to hand out 5,000 applications for housing and bill payment aid to those at risk of homelessness, so of course chaos and violence erupted.

The National Organization for Women has something to say about David Letterman, because any time a man and woman who don't make equal amounts of money have sex, NOW is there.

When Conde Nast folded Elegant Bride and Modern Bride in its magazine purge this week, the company also announced it was increasing the frequency of Brides. But now tipsters are telling us that Brides is suffering its own purge.

A source close to Forbes tells us another layoff round is imminent, the third this year. Ouch.

Of all of Courtney Love's addictions, we're glad that Frances Bean Cobain has taken up her "ranting on the internet" addiction. You have got to check out her Twitter smackdown of Ali Lohan. Daddy would be so proud.

For a big, swinging master-of-the-universe type, a three-decades-younger Eastern European bikini model seem like an ideal accessory. But according to new research, there are all sorts of hidden risks involved. Not only will she walk from the marriage with a fat settlement when she decides to dump the aging mogul for the Peruvian pool boy, she may end up contributing to his premature death, too. [ABC News]