A Little Of The Old In And Out



In: Dmitri Medvedev. Drudge, unfortunately, is spinning this story all wrong. Yes, Medvedev rejected the direct strategic linkage of an exchange between Russia and the U.S. with regards to the Czech missile shield and Iranian nuclear capability. And, yes, that does look bad for Obama on the face of it and good for Medvedev internally in Russia and abroad. But President Obama still handled Russia deftly. Anyone with a serious understanding of diplomacy knows that the meaneuvers of nations are more complicated than which can be summed up in a single sentence headline on Drudgereport (Averted Gaze).

After years of a policy -- Bush, 43s -- that began "looking into (Russia's) soul," then, clumsily, squandering the political capital gained after the Cold War as well as Clinton's solid relationship with Yeltsin, the United States found itself on the wrong side of Russia. As the War on Terror moved, decidedly, to Pakistan, Russo-American relations took on a higher order of magnitude. So, Obama gave Putin a little cosmetic respect (Obama wasn't ever really going to continue on the Rumsfeldian Czech shield).

With the ball in his court, President Medvedev -- a puppet, to be sure, but an important one -- felt, probably for the first time, like a True Global Player (tm). And that, moving forward, might just cleft the Medvedev-as-Putin's-placeholder in twain (to the advantage, perhaps, of the United States). A deft chess move. From the NYTimes:

"President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.

"On Tuesday, President Dmitri A. Medvedev offered a measured response, saying that the Kremlin was 'working very closely with our U.S. colleagues on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program,' but not in the context of the American missile defense plan.

"'No one links these issues to any exchange, especially on the Iran issue,' Interfax reported that Mr. Medvedev said at a news conference in Madrid, where he was visiting to boost economic and political ties.

"'What we are getting from our U.S. partners shows at least one thing: Our U.S. partners are ready to discuss the issue,' he said. 'It's good, because several months ago we were getting different signals — that the decision has been made, there is nothing to speak about, that we have done everything as we have decided.'"

"It's good," "'working very closely," "our U.S. colleagues," and "U.S. partners" are all good rhetorical signs that we are moving closer to the healthy but rivalrous Clinton-Yeltsin relationship with Russia than the Bush-Putin model.



Out: Andrew "Dice" Clay. "Dice's" career, since the mid-80s, has been mired in what can only be properly construed as loserdust (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment). According to HowardStern.com: "Dice claimed he used to gamble big in Donald Trump's casinos ('There was one time I lost $700,000 three nights in a row.')." The future E! True Hollywood Story continues to play the role of a dumb misogynist Jersey pig besieged -- from every conceivable angle -- by some elite entertainment cabal hell-bent on his destruction. Quite the contrary. Clay is a self-sabotager, and his media image -- tough ethnic shithead circa 1950 -- is thoroughly outmoded. And crying on Arsenio Hall is not going to change things. From Gather:

"Comedian Andrew Dice Clay was back on The Howard Stern Show today, this time he was detailing getting kicked off Celebrity Apprentice. Andrew Dice Clay was the first celebrity to get fired from the new season of Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice.

"Howard accused Andrew Dice Clay of not taking the show seriously and actually trying to get fired. Dice went into great detail about how badly he was treated by Trump even before the show began taping. Dice thinks having him on was a set-up and the producers had planning on firing him in the first week all along.

"Andrew Dice Clay, who was a HUGE comedic superstar in the 80’s, says he went on Celebrity Apprentice for his fans and because the show is incredibly popular and is seen by 40 million people each week.

"Howard asked Dice why he went on the show if he wasn’t even going to try to win? Dice said he started out with a good attitude, but was upset at the way he was treated by Donald Trump (who Dice calls Donny) and therefore had a bad attitude about the whole thing."

In other words it is, as always, everyone else's fault. Dumb Jersey pig. Nothing short of an entire media image makeover is going to save this poor bastard's career.



In: Restitution and Provenance. The balance of power has shifted. It is quite curious how, over the years, the theoretical questions of restitution and provenance has moved at a glacial pace. Until now. The monied class -- that buys High Art -- tend to only understand money and power.

China, that rising power, has done more in a single "political" act that the Government of Ethiopia did in decades in furthering the issues of provenance and restitution. Finally, the issue of provenance matters in questions of looted art. From Bloomberg:

"Western dealers said it might be more difficult to sell high-value Chinese works of art after a collector refused to pay for two Qing bronzes on which he had placed the winning bid at a Paris auction last week.

"Cai Mingchao, an antiques collector and Chinese government adviser, bid 31.4 million euros ($40 million), at the Feb. 25 Christie’s International auction for the bronzes owned by Yves Saint Laurent, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

"Christie’s Asian department sold 372.9 million pounds worth of art in 2008, making it the auction house’s third-biggest department by revenue. Dealers said Cai’s action made a political point about artworks that China sees as looted. The risk of Chinese government disapproval might make important items connected with its emperors unsaleable without detailed ownership records, they said.

"'People are now going to be much more sensitive about the issue of provenance,' the Mayfair-based dealer Roger Keverne, chairman of the Asian Art in London event, said in an interview. 'If works lack a pedigree, there will be problems. These have been coming for some time.'"

With the rise of the second world and the precipitous global economic crisis, art theft -- especially from First against Second Worlds appears to be on the wane. Art theft is now most definitely out. It is not inconceivable that Art, which often anticipates Science is, in this case, presaging progress in an era of international law (we are hopeful, anyway).



(Digital killed the video store via phillysuburbs)

Out: Blockbuster. Is there anyone who has used Blockbuster since -- at the LATEST -- 1990? It's a Netflix world, and we are all just renters (excepting, of course, bankruptcy lawyers, who are in line to make a killing). from Bloomberg:

"Blockbuster Inc., the world’s largest movie-rental chain, hired legal counsel to explore a possible bankruptcy filing, a person familiar with the situation said. Blockbuster fell as much as 86 percent before trading was halted.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP was asked to evaluate restructuring options for the company, which may include a 'pre-packaged' or 'pre-arranged bankruptcy,' in which much of the restructuring work is completed out of court, the person said. A pre-packaged filing is more advanced than a pre-arranged bankruptcy as it includes agreements from creditors about the outcome of the company’s reorganization."

UPDATE: From Money.CNN.com "Blockbuster Inc., whose video rental stores have been pressured by the growing online market, said Tuesday it has hired a law firm to help find ways to raise capital, but that it does not intend to file for bankruptcy. 'We have hired Kirkland & Ellis for assistance with our ongoing finance and capital-raising initaive,' said Karen Raskopf, Blockbuster spokeswoman. 'We do not intend to file for bankruptcy.'"