the buzz log

In a week of untempered remarks and a freefalling economy, the Buzz took time to coo over secret weddings and July babies.

I'm Sorry, Were You Listening to Me Speak?
Once in a great while, the desire to speak freely takes over a politician—it's just the timing isn't always right. That impulse hit former aspiring presidential candidate Jesse Jackson when he threatened Barack Obama's machismo during a Fox News interview break. The reverend, whose searches catapulted more than 35,000%, issued multiple mea culpas. And while Obama accepted the apology, Jackson's own son wasn't so forgiving. Meanwhile, contender John McCain put a 10-foot pole between himself and remarks made by former senator (and current adviser) Phil Gramm, who described America as a "nation of whiners." McCain apparently learned from the jab wife Cindy gave him after his Iran cigarette wisecrack, something President George Bush could have benefited from before his G8 Summit joke, "goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

In Case You Didn't Notice the Recession
In another sign that the recession gods are miffed, the Dow dropped to a new two-year low after worries over new oil price highs and the precarious positions of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. More good news/bad news hit with a report that foreclosures this June were up 53% over June of 2007. As Congress inched closer this week to approving bailouts for homeowners, those trying to buy are finding lending practices far too onerous.

First Comes the Carriage...
OK! Magazine had a cover story with Jamie Lynn Spears revealing why motherhood is all worthwhile, without once mentioning the reported $1 million payoff for first pics of her baby. In new baby news, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban (this week's sole wedded parents) sprayed their girl with whipped cream, sprinkled nuts, and plopped down a maraschino cherry. Well, OK, they just named her Sunday (as in the day) after she was born on Monday. Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughey named their Monday child Levi. Meanwhile, please stop bothering Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

...Then the Celebrity Marriage (and Divorce)
DeAnna Pappas ended this season of "The Bachelorette" with her choice, but she doesn't have to stick with him—as 2003 "Bachelor" Andrew Firestone showed in marrying Ivana "no-I'm-not-Jen-Schefft" Bozilovic. Among higher ranking celebrities, secret weddings were in, as in singer Olivia Newton-John's two ceremonies on the sly and Ethan Hawke's June wedding to his kids' former nanny. Hawke's ex-wife, Uma Thurman, celebrated her recent engagement and retracted her "I'll never get married" vow, now taken up by newly divorced Christie Brinkley.