Media-Whore D'Oevres



"President Vladimir V. Putin, in the final weeks of an eight-year administration that secured his place as the country’s most popular politician, said Thursday that he intended to wield substantial and long-running power in the Kremlin after leaving office next month and becoming Russia’s prime minister ... He accused NATO of further encroaching on Russia’s borders by courting Ukraine, and accused the United States of developing a missile shield for deployment in Europe. Those two actions would force the Kremlin to assume a reinvigorated nuclear defense, he said. 'We will have to retarget our missiles on the objects that we think threaten our national security,' he said. 'I have to speak about this directly and honestly, so that there would be no attempts to shift the responsibility for such developments on those who should not be blamed.'" (NYTimes)

"Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, (Jerry Hall) says: 'When you have four children together, you're always going to have a connection. I still love him but it's a different kind of love now. It's a platonic love. I honestly think that sometimes you're only meant to be with someone for a certain period of your life. Whether that's to learn or to procreate, I don't know. But you love that person and then move on. That's what happened with Mick and I. I truly believe that it was never meant to be for ever. And I still strongly believe in love." (3AMGirls)

"'There are more dealers hanging on by their fingernails but no-one will go on the record,' said a prominent art world public relations expert who was speaking anonymously with The Art Newspaper. 'Everyone is wondering if the downturn will be just like 9/11,' she added. With the economy going south, art dealers are starting to feel the crunch. They're admitting to sluggish sales, hesitant clients and canceled deals amid continuing financial market woes." (TheObserver)

"While Showtime keeps pumping out critics’ darlings, the audience is starting to catch up. During CBS’ third-quarter earnings call last November, (Les) Moonves noted that Showtime’s original programming had 'performed at unprecedented numbers' in 2007 and was 'probably [generating] its best buzz ever among critics and fans.' Moonves said that season two of Dexter outperformed its original debut by 67 percent on the way to becoming Showtime’s top-rated series. (In fact, the Dec. 16 season finale drew 1.4 million viewers, making it the single most-watched episode of an original series in Showtime’s history.)" (Media Week)

"Everyone is talking about a histrionic email detailing some scandalous behavior inside Showtime that was sent to that company's personnel by 'Anonymous' on Wednesday morning. Even though I'm assured by sources that the content of the email seems true, I haven't been able to independently confirm all the allegations so I won't post the email here or even name names. Yet there's a telling message about how Hollywood really works and why it's so unfair: that some 'untouchable' people are protected by 'the powers that be' at entertainment companies for no good reason while others far more deserving are sacrificed so easily after years of loyalty." (Nikki Finke)

"The House voted Thursday to hold White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before a panel investigating the firing of several United States attorneys. Ahead of the vote, Republicans had walked out in an effort to show that they want to work on a permanent update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) rather than be part of a 'partisan fishing expedition,' as House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) put it." (TheHill)