Media-Whore D'Oevres



"Across much of the Western world, the Dalai Lama is known as the beatific spiritual leader of a humble community of Buddhists, beloved in Hollywood, Congress and the White House, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Chinese leaders cast him in a different light. They call him a separatist and a terrorist, bent on killing innocent Han Chinese and “splitting the motherland.” That gap in perception, which has grown immeasurably wider in the two weeks since violent unrest rocked Tibet, is breeding pessimism that Chinese leaders are willing — or perhaps even able — to embark on a new approach to Tibet even as it threatens to cast a long shadow over their role as hosts of the Olympic Games this summer." (NYTimes)

"History may record that there were three distinct windows of opportunity for Al Gore to play a decisive role in this year’s Democratic primary contest. The first was in the days leading up to Super Tuesday, on Feb. 5, when it seemed Barack Obama could do no wrong and a critical mass of establishment endorsements was piling up in his favor. The second occurred this month when Florida and Michigan seemed to rule out re-votes, delivering a crushing blow to Hillary Clinton’s hopes of catching up in the popular vote. And the third—and perhaps most irresistible—will arrive in June, after the voting is over, but before the Clinton campaign can launch a final, all-out push to make Mr. Obama the unelectable candidate. 'If Gore were to weigh in, he would have to do so before the superdelegates begin breaking for either Obama or Clinton' said a former Gore adviser, after laying out the various scenarios that might prompt the former vice president to get involved. 'The superdelegates constitute the last true contest in this race. And for many, Gore is someone they talk to, listen to, and whom a lot of them admire and respect. Having him make a closing argument for either candidate would carry significant weight with some of these last-man-standing voters'" (Observer)

"Howard (Stern) said that he used to hate living at home. He said he was so happy to go to camp when he went. He ended up talking about how his parents would threaten him with an ice cream scooper so that was really confusing to him. On one hand he'd get ice cream with it and on the other it would hurt him." (Marksfriggin)

"Because the market for news spoofs (what with Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report) is apparently still not saturated, CNN's Headline News is launching its own weekend news parody show, called Not Just Another Cable News Show, on April 5. Not that big a surprise, really; given that Headline News already has Glenn Beck and Nancy Grace every night, haven't they already been airing goofy faux news for some time now?" (Popwatch)