As the stock markets continue their tumble, one commodity continues to, well, shine: Gold prices are way up, posting their highest gain in nine months and reaching parity with platinum. In fact, in the early afternoon, the only stock in the S&P 500 that hadn't dipped belonged to a gold-mine company. So did the gold bugs — who've spent the past few years warning of a postapocalyptic economy ... more.

Rawr.Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images According to journalists following the Republican candidate's campaign, the team's most pugnacious member is a "tall, silver-haired man" identified by a spokeswoman as a former Secret Service agent who has guarded presidents and "knows exactly what needs to be done." Reportedly, that includes tussling with Fox News' Scott Brown, threatening to break the arm of... more.

Bashar Assad will NOT be invited to our international conferences that never accomplish anything.Photo: Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images According to human rights groups, Syria's military has killed over 2,000 civilians since a crackdown on protesters began in mid-March. After repeatedly condemning the violence, the United States is finally calling for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad to step down. In a ... more.

Photo: gawker.com Christine O'Donnell is an easy target, one made for ridicule. The witch thing, the evolution thing, the masturbation thing, the lying about school thing, the not lying to Nazis thing, the First Amendment thing, the Vince Foster murder conspiracy thing, the secret Chinese war plans thing, the mouse people thing — these are all varying degrees of hilarious. But they're also t... more.

Peter Waldron has been a Republican operative since the eighties, according to the Atlantic — and a lot's happened in that period of time. In February of 2006, he was arrested for possession of assault rifles in Uganda and thrown in a prison outside of Kampala for over a month — where he claims he was tortured. It's unclear what he was doing in Uganda: Was he working with Congolese reb... more.

Romney, squinting as if at the sun off Martha's Vineyard.Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Earlier today, upon news that the president would be giving a speech on the economy, Mitt Romney couldn't resist a chance to take a dig at Barack Obama's fancy vacation plans. It's too little too late, but we appreciate the fact that he's going to devote some time to it. Not just going to be on the bus ... more.

Bloomberg.Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images The suit alleged that the company displayed a pattern of discrimination against women who took maternity leave, and that “Michael Bloomberg is responsible for the creation of the systemic, top-down culture of discrimination.” “‘J’accuse!’ is not enough in court,” Judge Loretta Preska wrote in her decision. ̶... more.

Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi is very good at some things, like ending interviews with flair and explaining credit default swaps to dudes who live in their mom’s basements. But what he is perhaps best known for is his willingness to say Bad Things about Important People in a Colorful Way. This talent is on copious display in his new book, Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the ... more.

Photo: J.B Nicholas / Splash News One of the police officers acquited of rape, but fired for official misconduct is still getting some pointed, unkind words from his ex-wife. Kenneth Moreno appeared in Brooklyn Family Court to address custody and child support issues today, and it was decided that his ex-wife, Maria Cruz, will up her payments to Moreno from $50 a week to $366 every other week bec... more.

Photo: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg via Getty Images In his latest takedown for Rolling Stone, "The People vs. Goldman Sachs," Matt Taibbi revisits his hate-hate relationship with Wall Street's vampire squid. Opening with the words, "They weren't murderers or anything," Taibbi spends the next 6,001 words laying out a case for why we should be seeing Lloyd Blankfein in court — if not for shafti... more.

"Me, weird?"Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images A report in Politico today allows President Obama's team of aides and advisers an extensive dress rehearsal of their reelection strategy — assuming Mitt Romney gets the Republican nomination — of painting the former Massachusetts governor as "inauthentic, unprincipled and, in a word used repeatedly by Obama's advisers in about a dozen ... more.

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Go back in time a few months, and it looked as if neither Rick Perry, Paul Ryan, or Chris Christie would run for president this year. Now Perry is full-blown candidate, Paul Ryan is reportedly thinking about entering the race, and according to a tweet by reporter Jonathan Alter, Chris Christie is "conducting focus groups in preparation for a possible run for ... more.

Get ready for some more of this.Photo: TMZ Newt Gingrich always promises that he is going to run an unconventional campaign. Now, he's turning convention on its head by traveling thousands of miles out of his way for a fund-raising stop in Hawaii, of all places. Some cynical reporters are already implying that Gingrich is only spending a few days in this beautiful, tropical paradise because the "... more.

Benson and McGeveran.Photo: Facebook Ever since Tom McGeveran and his compatriot Josh Benson left the Observer last winter, explaining that they were "moving on to something new," we've been wondering what they were working on. Last Friday Business Insider reported that their media editor, Gillian Reagan, had been poached by Benson and McGeveran for their new project. This is no surprise: At the ... more.

Yesterday, Slate press critic Jack Shafer tweeted, "Every 61-year-old man wants to know: Where does Rick Perry get his hair done?" Well, Jack, you may jest, but we take questions like that very seriously here at Daily Intel. We dug up this short video of Governor Perry getting a haircut last September from a woman named Dixie, who is "good with the scissors and laughs at his jokes." It offers a ta... more.

Back in May we told you about Capital New York, the brainchild of former Observer editors Tom McGeveran and Josh Benson. Then, we reported it would "contain magazine-quality journalism in a continuous format, accessible through a Politico-like homepage portal that brings together all their areas of coverage" and that it would publish "the kind of young name writers you'd expect from a couple of O... more.

Photo: Deandre Michael Name: La La Anthony Age: 30 Neighborhood: Hell’s Kitchen Occupation: Actress, producer, and television personality; Her new show, La La’s Full Court Life, premieres August 22 at 9 p.m. on VH1, and you can catch her Off Broadway in Love, Loss, and What I Wore starting October 5. Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional? I’m g... more.

Just over a year ago, Capital New York was just a twinkle in the eyes of founders Tom McGeveran and Josh Benson. But now, after a summer 2010 launch and a year's worth of thoughtful, long-form reporting and writing, the site has landed an angel investor. Adam Riggs led a round of funding that brought in $1.7 million for the site, and he'll sit on the board with Curbed network's Lockhart Steele. T... more.

Bobst Library.Photo: Wikipedia While working in the mail room of NYU's Bobst Library from July 2007 through January 2009, Osei Agyemang, an immigrant from Ghana, was repeatedly called a "monkey" and a "gorilla" by his supervisor, and was told to "go back to your jungle." After filing a discrimination lawsuit, Agyemang received a $210,000 payout from the school. Ah, America — a land of oppor... more.

Seriously.Photo: FDNY The FDNY nonchalantly tweeted the above, totally amazing photograph of a garbage truck hanging from the window of a garage in Queens this morning. To make things more dramatic, there was a man stuck inside! He was rescued with a ladder and is currently in stable condition with a hell of a story. FDNY Rescues Driver From Garbage Truck Dangling From Sanitation Garage ... more.