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Tattle | Cruise running aground in Germany?

THERE'S A Cruise facing discrimination and it's not Rosie O'Donnell's gay cruise. It's Rosie's former love, Tom Cruise. Cruise is set to star in "Valkyrie" as Col. Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, the famous anti-Hitler plotter during WWII. It's shooting in Germany for director Bryan Singer.

THERE'S A Cruise facing discrimination and it's not

Rosie O'Donnell

's gay cruise.

It's Rosie's former love, Tom Cruise.

Cruise is set to star in "Valkyrie" as Col. Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, the famous anti-Hitler plotter during WWII. It's shooting in Germany for director Bryan Singer.

But Herr Cruise, as we all know, is a Scientologist and the German government considers Scientology a commercial enterprise that takes advantage of vulnerable people (gee, in Christopher Hitchens' new best-seller, "God Is Not Great," he says the same about all religions). Critics maintain that a Scientologist should not be playing one of the Nazi-era's few heroes.

We say, what better way to recall the Nazi era than by denying a man work due to his beliefs.

Stauffenberg "is to be played by an actor whose sect, through dubious methods, attempts to lure people and make them pliable," Social Democratic lawmaker Klaus Uwe Benneter said on his Web site. "This is a slap in the face to all upstanding democrats, all resistance fighters during the Third Reich, and all victims of the Scientology sect."

Oy.

"This is not a Scientology film, it is a Bryan Singer film, and Bryan Singer is Jewish . . . and they want to make this film to show that during the Nazi regime there was heroic resistance," co-producer Carl Woebcken said. "The personal beliefs of Tom Cruise have to be separated from his skills as an actor. He is one of the best, if not the best, actors in the world for heroic roles and that is why Bryan Singer approached him."

Stauffenberg's son Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg has also spoken out against Cruise, telling the Sueddeutsche Zeitung that "he should keep his fingers off my father."

Paris? She's the sane one

We've given Paris Hilton a lot of ribbing over the years (it all started when she dissed our offer for a Daily News internship) but we'd be the first to admit that on a list of young celebs she's way down on the cuckoo list.

Take Britney Spears for instance. The National Enquirer is reporting that on June 21 she called estranged hubby Kevin Federline and told him she was not going to divorce him.

" . . . I want my family back!" Britney reportedly told a stunned K-Fed by phone.

K-Fed, who's seeking custody of his two sons with Spears, "told Britney she was crazy," said a source. "He said: 'You can't make me stay married to you!' "

Using the logic that has made her a serious contender for a MacArthur Fellowship, Britney then allegedly told Kevin she would drag the divorce out so long he would eventually see things her way and come back to her.

Britney's publicist, Leslie Sloane Zelnik, denies the story.

* The Star, meanwhile, reports that Britney is so eager to get back in shape she has hired six-time Mr. Olympia contender, Chris Cormier, to work her out.

Cormier's reported fee? $1,500 per hour.

Reading Kimberly Garrison's Thursday fitness column in the People Paper is a lot cheaper.

* Shar Jackson proved to In Touch Weekly she's not pregnant with another K-Fed baby by peeing on a stick for the magazine.

"What better way to document the truth than by taking a pregnancy test in front of America?" Shar says in an interview. Besides, Shar points out that she "just spent $16,000" on a tummy tuck. "If anybody thinks I'm ruining it by getting pregnant, they're out of their mind!"

Sex is her drug

It's nice to see rehab hasn't dulled Lindsay Lohan's sex drive.

The Star reports that since Lindsay has checked into Promises she's been dipping into both the patient and staff pools for companionship.

Regarding the fellow patient, "Lindsay sparkles when she's near him," an insider tells Star. "They're glued at the hip. They take smoke breaks together, eat together – they both love Japanese food and Promises has a five-star chef. They also go for walks together and take coffee breaks together after meetings."

And when they went swimming together, Lindsay's bikini top magically fell off.

Whoops.

Even though Promises' policies prohibit entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the rooms, Lindsay has her own rules.

About midnight on June 17, the Star says Lindsay was caught canoodling with the hunky patient – wearing nothing underneath a skimpy nightie.

Whoops again.

The Star reports that Lindsay also has the hots for her fitness trainer, Matt Searle.

"Lindsay has been working out with Matt [nearly every day] and has become very friendly with him, even calling him on the days she doesn't work out," says a close "friend."

"For the first time ever, she looks forward to going to the gym."

Just what the world needs, Lindsay Lohan with more stamina.

Tattbits

* Tom Sizemore's 16-month prison sentence for violating probation in a drug case was dramatically reduced Tuesday.

Superior Court Judge Cynthia Rayvis gave the actor 213 days of credit for time he has already spent in jail and two live-in drug programs, leaving him with about nine months in state prison.

He'll likely serve only about 4 1/2 months of that.

Not that we want to see Tom in jail, but isn't he essentially getting credit for the time he spent violating the probation?

Isn't that like getting extra credit in school for the papers you didn't write?

* The National Enquirer reports that Martha Stewart underwent secret hip surgery last week in New York, proving again that Martha will do anything to be hip. *

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

Send e-mail to gensleh@phillynews.com