A Diet Book You Have to Hide

Trying to be politically correct can be a bitch.

Just as the New York City Council is debating a citywide ban on the use of the word (19 of 54 members have signed on), a diet book titled “Skinny Bitch” has moved up to No. 3 on the New York Times best-seller list.

Based on a vegan philosophy, the book encourages women to eat whole grains, fruits and vegetables and urges them to give up dairy products, eggs, meat and fish. The authors also attack meat eaters, calling those who choose to eat meat while attempting to lose weight "morons," which may or may not be coincidental to a new study finding vegans sexually repulsed by meat-eating men.

Sales of “Skinny Bitch” took off when Victoria Beckham, also known as the pop star Posh Spice and wife of soccer star David Beckham, was photographed carrying a copy in a Los Angeles boutique in May.

Will New York book lovers have to conceal their copies in a plain brown wrapper when they carry them on city streets or curl up with a copy at the beach?

Three-Way Subway Series

If Bloomberg runs as an Independent, a possibility that seems much likelier than it did 24 hours ago, and the Republican and Democratic front runners are nominated, the '08 election will be all New York all the time.

If so, there would be unprecedented religious, regional and cultural cross currents, a potential for social conflict that makes the issue of Mitt Romney's Mormon faith look simple. An unmarried Jewish billionaire, a thrice-married Italian-American with a family background of organized crime, the first woman President trying dissociate herself from her husband's scandalous history--enough plot lines for a dozen beach novels.

In such a campaign, Americans might find out more about their deepest feelings and prejudices than they want to know.

On the bright side, at least this three-way race would be free of attack ads picturing opponents as latte-drinking cosmopolites who are out of tune with America’s heartland.