• News: Post full of shit on circulation figures. Expect to see a similar story about the News in tomorrow's Post. [NYDN]

A couple of years ago, I was looking around at everyone (celebrities) in a room and thinking: "You all are morally bankrupt and insane."

• Federal judge orders the NYT to disclose its sources in the Hatfill defamation case. Times vows to appeal. [NYT]
• Katie Couric's taking all the good jobs away from the girls. [B&C]
• New Yorker Editor David Remnick attracts groupies. [FBNY]
• Tabloid Wars: News circulation up, ad revenue down; Post's circulation up, ad revenue up. Of course, the News is still ahead on that whole "not losing millions of dollars a year" thing. [Crain's]
• PBS brass doesn't give a shit who Charlie Rose honors. You can take your precious ethics and stuff 'em. [PBS]
• It's tough to be homeless in New York. [NYO]

Breaking, from today's Post:

Interesting article in today's Post about the Halloween episode of The Simpsons. Or, you know, it would be interesting if you hadn't read exactly the same thing in Radar on Friday (to be fair, you may have been distracted by their EXCLUSIVE on how celebrity magazines use Photoshop). The Post directly rips Radar's quotes from the show's executive producer and attributes them only to "a Web site."

Liz Smith plays defense for Team Madonna today, opening her column with this gem: "IT'S HARD for me to understand exactly what it is Madonna has done personally to all who are so violently critical of her recent plunge into Third World child-caring, money-giving and adoption. The press continues to turn her into a monster."

Wynn-Picasso leak update: After favorite suspect Jacob Bernstein came forward to say it was actually his poker- and punk-playing brother Max (pictured) that their mother Nora Ephron had told about Steve Wynn poking his Picasso, we added Max to the suspect poll. This cleverly spread out the Bernstein suspicion among the two brothers, leading to Barbara Walters taking the lead. Now Max writes in to defend himself as well, and he brings a new character into the scenario — Arianna Huffington:

In response to our poll about who leaked the story of Steve Wynn mauling his Picasso, Jacob Bernstein himself writes:

Yesterday, we expressed curiosity as to who might have leaked the story about Vegas casino boss Steve Wynn damaging his $139 million Picasso right before selling it. Witness to the event Nora Ephron claimed it was "very clear" who talked to Page Six, but she did not ID the leaker by name. We have our suspicions, and we admit to throwing out another Ephron quote a little disingenuously — the one where she told one of her sons about it, but that it wasn't a violation of the secrecy pact because her son is "completely trustworthy."

Former New York Post and current New York Daily News staffer and sex-averse blogger Dawn Eden has her book coming out in early December, just in time for Christ-mas. The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfilmment while Keeping Your Clothes On indeed sounds like a barrel o' laughs, but of particular note are a couple excerpts from the acknowledgements:

This is a big story about a small moment, but it comes with a big price tag, and a small question about that big story. When Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn poked his elbow through Picasso's "Le R ve," he accidentally scotched a $139 million deal he'd just clinched to sell the painting to hedge funder Steven Cohen. Wynn, who has little to no peripheral vision due to an eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa, was gesturing while explaining the painting's history to his guests. After living through the bizarre experience, Wynn asked his guests not to tell anyone about the accident until he had time to deal with it himself. However, ten days later, the news was leaked to the New York Post. Nora Ephron, who was one of those present, wrote about it for the Huffington Post, feeling she was liberated from the vow of silence after the New Yorker also wrote about the incident. So who broke the silence first? Ephron says, "It was very clear who had given Page Six the item, and it wasn't me." Would you cross a billionaire who laughs like the photo above? Suspects after the jump.

It's no secret that New York Post really hates terror-aid lawyer/smirk jerk Lynn Stewart, and we do not disagree that Stewart has committed a terrible crime. But the next time they hurl a thinly veiled insult at her, they may want to do a little research.

We want to thank Page Six for their mention of former Newsie Lloyd Grove's recent stint at this site. While we're well aware that their attention was merely a convenient way for them to once again poke fun at frequent target (and Daily News owner) Mort Zuckerman, we're happy for all the attention we can get. Still, something troubled us about the picture of Lloyd that they used on the item. Who's that guy standing next to him, cropped out and buried under the credit for Richard Johnson? He looks... familiar. What could it all mean? We'd ask Richard ourselves, but we've been told he's a man of few words.

Yesterday, the normally air-quote-happy New York Post picked up an Associated Press story about Mayor Mike Bloomberg's comments to the press about his future ran with the following lede,

In this morning's front page, you went with "Laughing traitor".

Noted without comment: At left, Special K's advice to the readers of Wired's "mr. know-it-all" column. At right, a photo from today's Liz Smith appreciation. Enjoy.

Just when we were getting used to the superfluous finger quotes, the Post gave us this little 'gem' on Sunday.

Okay, we get that the first one is part of their political agenda and the second one is there to make the item seem more salacious than it is, but what's going on with the third? Are they afraid that the shard is going to sue for defamation?

• Sources say venture capital firm Bridgescale is throwing a party for over 100 people at the Quadrus conference center on Sand Hill Road.

Like most people, we've found the whole Madonna-adopting-a-Maliwian-boy intensely distasteful on so many levels. But who, we wondered, would correctly articulate our discomfort? Step forward Andrea Peyser of the Post, whose sour visage should somehow become a recognized emoticon for the wagging finger. In calm, emotionless prose, Peyser makes her case against Madonna's - wait a sec, we're just now reading the whole thing and HOLY FUCKING SHIT.