Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



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"Howard (Stern) came back and said that 50 Cent was there. Howard said he read that he earned $150 million last year alone ..Howard asked 50 about banging famous women but 50 said that he's still not doing that. He said that he's still friendly with Madonna but she's never offered herself to him. Howard asked if he would do that if she offered. 50 said that he would do it for all mankind if she made the offer .. Howard asked what it feels like to be shot. 50 said that you don't even feel the bullets going in. He said that the pain comes when the doctor tells you that you're going to be alright. 50 said that he got hit in the face with one bullet and lost some teeth in the back of his mouth. 50 said that you don't feel the pain until after the bullet has gone through. 50 said that the guy who shot him ended up dying a couple of weeks later. Howard asked why the guy did it. 50 said that guy got paid. 50 said that he had a lot of attention on the streets at the time and he may have been selling some cocaine and stuff like that. " (Marksfriggin)

"When it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the conventional wisdom is often worth challenging. On Friday, former Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu was tapped to try to form the next Israeli government. Netanyahu's ascent and the overall victory of right-wing parties in the Israeli elections have led to dire predictions of the collapse of the peace process and tensions in U.S.-Israel relations. Such predictions have a tendency to be self-fulfilling, however, and the Obama administration should be careful not to heed them. In one sense, this entire discussion is premature. Netanyahu isn't prime minister yet, and must endure a tough slog before he can take up the office. Likud won just 27 seats in the Knesset (Israel's parliament) and needs a coalition of at least 61 seats to form a government. Though a number of political combinations are available, the basic choice before Netanyahu is between a 'national unity' government with Kadima and/or Labor (though the latter won just 13 seats to Kadima's 28) or a right-wing coalition. He has publicly displayed a preference for the national unity option, calling immediately during his acceptance speech for Kadima and Labor to join his government. The outcome of the coalition negotiations will be critical in determining the shape of Netanyahu's tenure. A broad grouping would require him to cede influential positions to his chief rivals but somewhat paradoxically could also provide him greater flexibility in setting policy. During his previous stint as prime minister, Netanyahu's narrow coalition put him in a precarious position to make any significant moves on regional peace, and he doubtless wishes to avoid a repeat of that situation." (ForeignPolicy)



"I went down to the Plaza at noontime for the American Cancer Society’s Youth Against Cancer: Mothers of the Year Award 2009 luncheon .. This year they honored as Mothers of the Year: Ann Curry of the Today Show and Dr. Alexandra Herdt, an associate attending surgeon at Memorial Sloan-Kettering where she specializes in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of all forms of breast cancer. The Today roster was all in attendance, from Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera, Hoda, Al Roker and Kathie Lee Gifford who was also a very amusing Mistress of Ceremonies.. Ann Curry was returning from a trip and because of traffic and logistics was in transit when the luncheon began, and unfortunately still in transit when the luncheon was ending. Her husband provided the introductory remarks, talking about her global reporting assignments to investigate under-reported stories of crises as well as wars. You got the feeling that Ms. Curry was lucky to have partner to cover the mothering aspect when her work took her away from her family." (NYSocialDiary)



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"Liz Smith is angry but not very surprised that the New York Post fired her. She said she saw it coming: She didn’t drink enough. 'They are going to save the New York Post by firing me,' the 86-year-old columnist deadpanned in an interview with me today. 'They’ll save my salary. It’ll put them right in the black. They’re only losing $30 million a year. So they can economize.' How much? Smith makes $125,000 a year with the Post column, she said. Smith had been butting heads with Post editor Col Allan for a year. Her style – more celebrity back-slapping than back-stabbing – didn’t mesh with his. 'I wasn’t sensational enough,' Smith said. 'I didn’t hang around at the Post and drink.' Smith has been an icon in gossip column lore for more than three decades.The Texas-born social writer has made close friends with the bold face names she writes about, while always tweaking them. But she just ain’t mean .. So, despite the apparent demise of Defamer this week, mean has become the way to go in the world of gossip. Perez Hilton, with his graffiti-laden celebs, rules. The days of genteel party chatter are over." (TheWrap)

"President Barack Obama met with 10 members of the press today over lunch at the White House — two from each network. The guest list consisted of ABC's Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, CBS' Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer, NBC's Brian Williams and David Gregory, CNN's Wolf Blitzer and John King and FNC's Bret Baier and Chris Wallace. Although the lunch was 'on background,' there have been a few reports about the meeting. Stephanopoulos tweeted about it after leaving. 'Terrific sense of what Obama thinking and feeling. Clearly relishes job--esp tough decisions,' he writes. He also gave a glimpse at the menu. 'Lobster bisque w beignets, seared Virginia bass w leeks and pot, pound cake w fruit compote and lemon sorbet,' he writes, clarifying 'bass not served w cannabis! 'Pot' short for potato' in a later tweet." (TVNewser)

"Until this week, the only official disclosure from corporate raider/shareholder activist Carl Icahn has been that he's buying up Lionsgate stock because it's 'undervalued.' But that all changed on Monday. It's not just that he purchased still more Lionsgate stock so that he now has 16,540,849 shares, representing approximately 14.28% of the mini-major. It's that he amended his schedule 13D SEC filing, which is a statement any person owning 5% or more of a publicly traded company must make for certain disclosure reasons, like when their intentions change. What this means is that Icahn may seek to add his nominees to Lionsgate's board of directors and/or potentially remove existing members. This is a declaration he intends to change the way that the company is run." (DeadlineHollywooddaily)

"Has Woody Allen gotten over his weird crush on Scarlett Johansson?The noted director, who in his AARP years had taken to gushing publicly about his 'criminally sexy' twentysomething muse—her smarts, her curves, her (ahem!) 'zaftig humidity'—has signed the new starlet in town to play the ingenue in his as-yet untitled new movie, according to Variety. 'Slumdog Millionaire's' Freida Pinto, fresh from her film's Cinderella night at the Oscars, will join a cast that includes Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins. The role is a coup for Pinto, considering Allen has directed many actors to the winner's stand on Oscar night, with Penelope Cruz as the most recent example." (ChiTrib)

"On Monday, former SNL star Jimmy Fallon will take over for Conan O’Brien as the new host of NBC’s Late Night. He sat down with The Daily Beast’s Kevin Sessums to talk about his first guest, calling in favors from Tina Fey—and positively IDs Will Ferrell’s package. Jimmy Fallon will take over for Conan O’Brien as the host of NBC’s Late Night on Monday, but his office looks like he’s had the job for years, filled with family photos, wedding pictures of his wife, Nancy Juvonen, three flat-screen TVs, and a giant stained-glass portrait of Buddy Holly. Fallon excitedly pointed out the many city sights below 30 Rock: 'I can even see the hot dog vendor down there now that I’ve had Lasik surgery,' he said. On a tour of Studio 6A, Fallon pointed out the stage where The Roots, his house band, will play." (TheDailyBeast)

"Rep. Mark Kirk’s (R-Ill.) staff pulled an all-nighter Monday night to scour the $410 billion omnibus spending bill introduced earlier that afternoon. And what they found, the aides said, may give them nightmares. Kirk rang the alarm bells on Tuesday because of several 'troubling' provisions tucked in the foreign operations portion of the 1,130-page bill. The centrist, who is eyeing a Senate bid, said that he intended to vote against the massive spending measure in part because it would exclude a provision contained in previous funding bills prohibiting assistance to Saudi Arabia .. In 2007, Congress voted to restrict foreign aid for Saudi Arabia funds because members contended that the U.S. ally was not cooperative enough in the war on terror. The Bush administration opposed the House-measure but signed the foreign operations bill despite the policy change. The administration was able to give money to the Saudis for training however, because Congress added a provision to waive the restriction in light of national security concerns, according to an aide familiar with last year’s foreign operations appropriations bill ..In addition, the 'ominous,' as Kirk refers to the bill that would increase funds for government operations, would also direct as much as $900,000 toward Syria, which the U.S. lists as a state sponsor of terrorism. Yet, the Obama administration has reached out to Syria while Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) visited the country last weekend. 'This bill gives foreign aid to Syria, for the first time. This is a terrorist nation,' Kirk said, pointing out that the money would be spent on democracy-promotion organizations." (TheHill)

"Iraq became the 186th country to become a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention on 14 January. This may assuage regional concerns over unconventional weapons, but developments elsewhere in the Middle East suggest prevention of chemical weapons development is failing. Satellite images from several commercial sources gathered from 2005 to 2008 have shed light on activity at the chemical weapons facility identified as Al Safir in northwest Syria. Imagery obtained by DigitalGlobe's WorldView-1 satellite indicates that the site contains not only a number of the defining features of a chemical weapons facility, but that significant levels of construction have taken place at the facility's production plant and adjacent missile base." (JanesDefense)

"The presidential election may be long over, but partisan politics are still thriving on cable news, and winning. Right-leaning Fox News Channel and left-leaning MSNBC continue to build on last year’s huge ratings increases, a year after their viewership began surging during the presidential primary season. By contrast, CNN, known as the most balanced of the three major cable news networks and the one that saw the biggest increases during the presidential race, has seen ratings decline. This only confirms what Fox News established years ago when it first shot past CNN: When it comes to ratings, taking sides will always trump solid and fair reporting, as much as Americans may say they appreciate it." (Medialifemagazine)

"Chris Brown is taking anger-management classes. The troubled R&B singer, who was arrested two weeks ago on suspicion of making criminal threats against girlfriend Rihanna, attended his first class in Glendale, Calif., on Monday afternoon. According to a source, Brown opted for anger management at the behest of his spin doctor, Michael Sitrick. 'Chris doesn't actually have to go by law,' our insider tells us, "but he believes it will make him look better to the public, and he wants to try to get in a few classes before March 5,' his court date. The Feb. 7 incident - in which Brown allegedly assaulted Rihanna and left her with cuts and bruises to her forehead, lips and cheeks - didn't just stir up controversy. It tarnished Brown's good-guy image so badly that several of his endorsement deals were suspended, including commercials for Wrigley's gum and the Milk Mustache campaign. Brown's songs have also been temporarily taken off the air at a handful of radio stations." (NYDailyNews)