Media-Whore D'Oevres



"Riots erupted in Kenya on Tuesday as opposition leaders announced that they were suspending talks with the government over a stalled power-sharing agreement. According to witnesses, dozens of young men stormed into the streets of Kibera, a sprawling slum in the capital, Nairobi, liting bonfires, ripping up railroad tracks, and throwing rocks at police officers in a scene reminiscent of the post-election violence that convulsed Kenya this winter." (NYTimes)

"This just in: Junot Diaz, author of one of the best books we've read in quite some time, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Congrats, JD!" (Papermag)

"Last night at Hunter College, New York Times correspondent Linda Greenhouse interviewed Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Sandra Day O’Connor (ret.) in the first of a series of 'Conversations on Presidential Leadership' ... After the discussion there was a dinner for about 100 given in one of the Hunter reception rooms, hosted by Hunter’s President Jennifer Raab and attended by a variety of New York heavy hitters and opinion makers – business people, philanthropists, lawyers and such: ... Walter Isaacson, President of the Aspen Institute ... Adam Liptak (of the Times) ... Melinda and Bill vanden Heuvel, ... Jennifer and Jonathan Soros, Kimba Wood and Frank Richardson, Fred Wilpon, and Michael Goodwin who on the Hunter campus might be regarded as Mr. Jennifer Raab, but off-campus, is the highly respected political columnist for the New York Daily News and a regular guest pundit on Lou Dobbs’ nightly show." (NYSocialDiary)

"'I worship the ground Sheila walks on!' exclaimed host Cindi Leive at Graydon Carter's Waverly Inn last night to celebrate Shelia Weller's new book Girls Like Us, which chronicles the lives and careers of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon ... The toast of the evening was Carly Simon, who held court in the back garden. 'I can't believe I'm being associated with these two women,' she said. 'I copied them, I tried to dress like them and write like them--now being among them feels very powerful.'" (Fashionweekdaily)

"The United States has denied imposing restrictions on the Indian Navy (IN) regarding its 2007 sale of USS Trenton, the 16,900-ton Austin-class landing platform dock (LPD) now renamed INS Jalashwa. The denial came in response to a report from India's Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which was delivered to the Indian parliament in March and complained that the US had set conditions as to how the IN could deploy the vessel. 'There are no unique terms or language associated with the transfer,' US Navy (USN) Secretary Donald C Winter said in New Delhi on 28 March at the end of a three-day visit. "(Janes)

"Don't you hate when, in a fit of housecleaning, you throw some shit out you haven't touched in years, then the next day it turns out you suddenly need it! This has happened to me with all manner of sarongs, tiaras, dildos, and the Best Actor trophy from my high school 'Sing.' And now with a naked photo of Charlton Heston! I had ripped it out of a book, amazed that the hunky actor had shown it all for an arty portrait in which the lithe, lean body that was hinted at in Ben Hur veritably throbbed in all its unclothed glory. And the dick! Honey, it made you want to scream, 'Get Hur!' (Or maybe 'Big Ben!') That thing could cause a whole lot of agony and ecstasy! Anyway, I foolishly threw the photo out and now I wish I had it so I could post it for you good people and prove that, though he was an often hamfisted actor and a gun advocate, Heston was an extremely hot piece of work." (Musto)

"Pro-war protesters, who earlier rallied with Sen. John McCain in support of a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq, have some of the more colorful protest signs of the day. 'Al Qaeda Loves Nancy Pelosi' read one sign, while another was critical of the anti-war group Code Pink. 'Code Pinko = Treason.' The pro-war protesters have attracted some media attention, both at their rally early this moring with McCain in what's known as the Upper Senate Park by the Russell Senate Office Building. Code Pink, for its part, has a strong presence inside the Armed Services Committee hearing room. They're dressed in black burqas and dark makeup, and they're carrying signs reading a 'Surge of Peace' or a 'Surge of Suffering.' The anti-war protesters generally keep up a steady stream of conversation and commentary, making sure the press and audience knows how they feel about any statement by Petraeus, Crocker or the senators. They know how far they can go with the Capitol Police before being kicked out of the hearing. Right now, I would estimate there are about a dozen anti-war protesters inside the committee hearing, whole I saw a smaller number of pro-war protesters milling around outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building." (Politico)

"A secret cabal of historians has reached the same conclusion as millions of Earthlings: George W. Bush is the worst president ever, or perhaps second only to James Buchanan."(Wonkette)