Media-Whore D'Oevres



"He proved he would eat anything when he chewed on opponent Evander Holyfield's ear in the ring 11 years ago. But it appears boxer Mike Tyson, once known as the 'Baddest Man on the Planet' because of his formidable fighting skills, has been enjoying rather finer foods of late." (Thisislondon)

"'Scurrilous' and 'disingenuous' were among the words a top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives used on Thursday to describe Hillary Clinton’s campaign tactics in her bid to defeat Barack Obama for their party’s presidential nomination. House Democratic Whip James Clyburn, of South Carolina and the highest ranking black in Congress, also said he has heard speculation that Clinton is staying in the race only to try to derail Obama and pave the way for her to make another White House run in 2012." (Reuters via Drudgereport)

"The Clinton campaign, which is losing the pledged delegate race, is now talking up a different metric: the cumulative popular vote. 'I'm very proud that as of today, I have received more votes by the people who have voted than anyone else,' Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday, a day after she won the Pennsylvania primary by more than 200,000 votes. Her characterization is true only in a highly technical way: If you count the votes she received in Michigan (where hers was the only name on the ballot) and Florida (where an outlaw primary was held in January), and if you ignore a series of caucus states where hundreds of thousands of Democrats participated but no official popular vote tally was kept, then yes, she has received more votes than Barack Obama." (Observer)

"Peter Brant may have scooted in and out of Rachel Feinstein's new exhibition of sculptures Thursday night, but the Brant Publications owner had seen plenty to interest him ... Feinstein was quickly surrounded by friends, so husband John Currin was relegated to babysitting duty for sons Hollis and Francis. 'Hey fancy boy, let's go see mommy's sculpture!' he said. While Anna Wintour previewed it earlier in the day, Alexandra Kerry, Fran Drescher, Derek and Michelle Sanders (the latter whose Rick Owens dress drew many envious glances), Marina Rust Connor, Hamish Bowles, Jessica Joffe, and a tan Narciso Rodriguez, just back from Brazil, downed Sapporo beers as they examined the six oversized pieces." (Fashionweekdaily)

"Do you think Jackie Chan generally plays a chop-socky stereotype of a wisecracking, karate-chopping macho weirdo? Well, the good news is that's nothing new! Movies have long stereotyped Asians, generally pegging them as either inscrutable, evil, or stoic, and as villains, detectives, or whores. Arthur Dong's documentary Hollywood Chinese—opening here in May—beautifully captures the range of Hollywood's reflection of Asians, from Charlie Chan, who talked in fortune cookie aphorisms, to Susie Wong, the exotic prostie you ordered, with egg drop soup, from column B. Dong has assembled a top bunch of talking heads like Ang Lee, Nancy Kwan, and Amy Tan, who speak more with wry bemusement than with anger about Hollywood's cultural limitations." (Musto)

"Barack Obama’s real opponent now is not Hillary Rodham Clinton. It is a pair of punctuation marks. The first is a question. The second is an asterisk. Both threaten to hover over Obama if he wins the Democratic nomination without confronting and defeating the doubts Clinton has raised about his political strength beyond his electoral base of African-Americans and upscale whites. This is the significance of Indiana. Obama can and probably will win the Democratic nomination no matter what happens in the May 6 primary. But a victory in the Hoosier state is critical to Obama gaining at least some of the political and psychic momentum that ordinarily flow to a nomination winner. A loss—on top of a succession of losses in Pennsylvania, Ohio and other big states—would mean the nominee would enter the general election defined to an unusual degree by his vulnerabilities." (Politico)

"U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a sharp rise in food prices has developed into a global crisis. Ban said the U.N. and all members of the international community are very concerned, and immediate action is needed. He spoke to reporters Friday at U.N. offices in Austria. He was meeting with the nation's top leaders for talks on how the United Nations and European Union can forge closer ties." (Time)

"China appeared to bend to international pressure on Friday as the government announced it would meet with envoys of the Dalai Lama, an unexpected shift that comes as Tibetan unrest in western China has threatened to cast a pall over the Beijing Olympics in August.China’s announcement, made through the country’s official news agency, provided few details about the shape or substance of the talks but said the new discussions would commence 'in the coming days.'" (NYTimes)

"The Palestinian Islamic Resistance in Gaza (Hamas) has built up a military force of 20,000 combatants equipped with standard rockets, mortars, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) and anti-aircraft guns, according to an Israeli study. According to a study published by the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre, Hamas has been able to smuggle more than 80 tonnes of explosives into the Gaza Strip, despite the international blockade. A powerful demonstration of the organisations improved military capabilities was given on 19 April when Hamas launched its most sophisticated attack so far on the Kerem-Shalom border crossing with Israel." (Janes)

"So what will President George W. Bush do for his final White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday? Rumors are flying and speculation is growing as the president's last chance to get back at the White House press corps nears. White House Spokesman Tony Fratto offered few hints about the Bush farewell appearance, noting, 'I can't say; state secret.' But, he added, 'it's not like the State of the Union' ... Among the big names expected for this year's dinner are Ben Affleck, Pamela Anderson, Ken Burns, John Cusack, Katie Couric, Jesse Jackson, Rob Lowe, Salman Rushdie, Tim Daly, and for the tween set, The Jonas Brothers. Sen. John McCain is slated to attend with both his wife, Cindy, and 96-year-old mother, Roberta. Former Congressman Charlie Wilson, of 'Charlie Wilson's War' fame, is also on the list." (EditorandPublisher)