Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(image via timeinc)

"WHILE Madonna entertains herself with Brazilian boy toy Jesus Luz, she's apparently willing to share her other man, Alex Rodriguez, with her kabbalah friends. A-Rod flew into Parrot Cay to ring in the New Year with Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Bruce Willis and Donna Karan. While on the island, a spy says the slugger got 'very close to [Karan] who only had eyes for him and followed him around all night on New Year's Eve.' But apparently Rodriguez is "still hung up on Madonna" and refused Karan's advances." (PageSix)

"Last night on my way to dinner, we were stopped at an intersection by the flashing red and blue lights of a cortege of black limousines, SUVs with serious looking security detail in the front seats. There been five vehicles in this cortege, taking the Right of Way. The world stopped for them. Whoever they are/were. Some politician. Maybe a visiting foreign dignitary, maybe a Senator or whoever (not a President – not enough security). Whoever they were, they were 'important.' New Yorkers today are used to politicians riding around in corteges of black SUVs with tinted windows and escorts and sirens to navigate their Selves through the madding crowd. Privilege is to the politician what greed is to the banker .." (NYSocialDiary)

"Which supermodel is terrified that a video clip of her racking up lines of cocaine on a yacht in the Mediterranean are going to appear online any day?" (3AMGirls)

"The need for a move away from the lethal mix of arrogance and ignorance characteristic of George W. Bush's presidency is hard to dispute. That is not all that needs breaking away from. Some observers have welcomed the past year's surge of older-style US diplomacy, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's multiple visits to the region, efforts to build Palestinian institutions and security forces, and negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians over a final status agreement. Yet spin aside, these efforts hardly can be deemed successful. Realities on the ground—from settlement construction to deepening divisions within Palestinian and Israeli societies to growing disillusionment with a two-state solution—render the possibility of a peace accord increasingly remote. The failings of Bush's efforts have also revived nostalgia for President Clinton's. But it is a nostalgia born as much of anger with the present as of longing for the past. The 1990s were a time of US activism on behalf of peace, yet there is a record to contend with. It is not as forgiving. On this issue, Clinton's term concluded in failure, and it is a failure that bears at least some relation to the policies so lamented today. President Obama will need to make a change, of that there can be little doubt. But it will take more than turning the page on the worst of the Bush years. It will mean writing an entirely different script." (NYBooks)

"We all have to cut costs these days and clearly Ron Perelman is no exception: He's in the process of selling his yacht for $67 million. The 190-foot Ultima III comes with eight bedrooms and a Jacuzzi and is where, according to the Guardian, the billionaire financier has 'entertained' Gina Gershon and director Penny Marshall on the 'yacht's lengthy sun deck in recent years.'" (Cityfile)



"John Madejski, who last week won a knighthood in the U.K., is selling a bronze version of Edgar Degas’s best-known sculpture at Sotheby’s February auction of Impressionist and modern art in London. 'Petite danseuse de quatorze ans' owned by Madejski --one of the U.K.’s wealthiest businessmen -- is expected to fetch up to 12 million pounds ($17.6 million) on Feb. 3, the auction house said in an e-mailed statement today. Its minimum estimate is 9 million pounds." (Bloomberg)

"The incoming and outgoing chairs of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee signaled concerns about President-elect Barack Obama ’s choice of Leon E. Panetta to head the CIA, primarily because of Panetta’s thin intelligence resume. 'I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta. . . . I know nothing about this, other than what I’ve read,' said Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who will chair the committee in the 111th Congress, in an e-mailed statement. 'My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time.' Added an aide to John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., who served as chairman of the committee in the 110th Congress: 'I think, based on press reporting if it proves correct, Sen. Rockefeller has some concerns about his selection. Not because he has any concerns about Panetta, whom he thinks very highly of, but because he has no intelligence experience and because he has believed this has always been a position that should be outside of the political realm.'" (CQPOlitics)

"The newest chapter in the NBC-Ann Coulter feud didn't even take a day to develop. Coulter appeared tonight on FNC's 'Hannity & Colmes' to promote her new book, and the very first question from Sean Hannity related to the NBC cancellation. 'I know the whole thing was a set up to block me from other TV shows,' said Coulter, who said she was 'very upset about this' ..Earlier this evening NBC told TVNewser they had offered Coulter a segment on Wednesday's show, but it didn't sound like she'd be showing up. 'I think I'll accept and then cancel at the last minute,' she said." (TVNewser)

"The cable channel that sold for a bargain-basement price last month is suddenly the object of a tug-of-war between two prospective owners. Lionsgate surprised the biz late Monday by announcing that it's cut a deal to acquire the TV Guide Network cabler and TV Guide Online from Macrovision for $255 million. Just three weeks ago, Macrovision announced a deal to sell the channel and online biz to investor Allen Shapiro for the same price, but late Monday the tech firm announced it had 'terminated' that agreement in favor of the deal with Lionsgate ..Lionsgate is set to pay cash for the acquisition that's expected to close by Feb. 28. Shapiro's deal was also said to be for cash, but Macrovision execs said it was subject to other closing conditions that made it less attractive to Macrovision than the Lionsgate offer." (Variety)

"John Bolton proposes in today's Washington Post giving up on Palestinian governance and a two-state solution, instead opting for a "three-state approach" in which 'Gaza is returned to Egyptian control and the West Bank in some configuration reverts to Jordanian sovereignty.' If a zombie can be defined as a 'reanimated corpse,' then (former Ambassador) Bolton's proposal certainly fits the bill. This concept reappears like clockwork whenever there's an Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Some see it as a magic bullet to negate Palestinian nationalism or at least redirect Palestinian ire towards their new/old Arab rulers. Others just can't imagine the emergence of any Palestinian leadership they find acceptable (probably a safe bet) and prefer the predictable dictatorships to the East and South. Most recently, in October, Israeli Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Giora Eiland's Washington Institute for Near East Policy paper proposed a 'trilateral' solution (more discussion here)." (ForeignPolicy)