Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"The Obama administration has condemned WikLeaks' decision to publish more than 91,000 U.S. military documents related to the war in Afghanistan, saying the disclosures undercut American security and endanger the lives of U.S. troops and informants. It neglected to mention that when it comes to the release of sensitive U.N. documents, Washington and WikiLeaks have been allies. For five years, the U.S. government and WikiLeaks have each posted several hundred internal U.N. documents, including scores of confidential investigation reports on corruption, mismanagement and sexual misconduct by U.N. staff and peacekeepers at headquarters and in the field. The leaked reports have discussed highly sensitive U.N. anti-corruption probes from Haiti to Congo, and detailed audits of U.N. procedures for purchasing everything from jet fuel to office equipment. To be clear, the U.N. documents do not disclose war-time military and intelligence secrets, but they do contain lots of raw, unsubstantiated rumors and, allegations whose publication have the power to expose wrongdoing but also to damage reputations. They also show that the interests of Washington policymakers and WikiLeaks sleuths are sometimes more closely aligned than you'd think following days of White House denunciations." (ForeignPolicy)



"The paparazzi will have their work cut out for them Saturday, as the Federal Aviation Administration announced late Wednesday that it will be enforcing a temporary ban on flights near Chelsea Clinton’s Rhinebeck wedding. The agency has outlawed any flights in the area from 3 p.m. on Saturday until 3:30 a.m. on Sunday. The ban, implemented at the request of the Secret Service, wasn’t made just to annoy tabloid editors: That was solely a fringe benefit. The FAA announcement lists 'Temporary flight restrictions for VIP (Very Important Person) Movement' as the cause of the no-fly zone. Given the star-studded guest list, that might be an understatement. The ban is in effect for a 1.5 nautical mile radius, up to 2,000 feet." (NYMag)



"ABC Family president Paul Lee has impressed media buyers with his resurrection of the now-red-hot network, which was a virtual wasteland of 700 Club episodes and TGIF reruns before Lee arrived. Now it's the No. 1 cable channel among women 18-34. But Lee, whose appointment is expected to be made official this weekend, has a tough task before him in succeeding Steve McPherson as president of ABC Entertainment. Media buyers say there are three major concerns for the network: figuring out how to replace aging hits Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives; finding shows that appeal to male audiences to balance the network's recent female skew; and continuing the comedy revival that McPherson began with Modern Family. If he can begin to address those things, Lee should help slow ABC's recent ratings slide. The network tied for third place with NBC this past season with a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating, off 7 percent from last year and 10 percent from the year before." (Medialifemagazine)



"Paris Hilton denies she's been paid $1 million to party with mysterious billionaire Jho Low in St. Tropez. Despite rampant rumors on the French Riviera that the big-spending Malaysian was paying Hilton to have her lounge topless on his yacht and spray champagne with him at spots including exclusive club Les Caves du Roy, her rep said: 'They are friends. Jho has invited Paris and her sister, Nicky, out to St. Tropez as friends. He has not paid her in any way, although he is extremely generous.'" (PageSix)



"Down at Michael’s, the Wednesday crowd (packed) was wondering aloud why the President of the United States was appearing on daytime TV coffee-klatch and then breaking bread downtown with a fashion magazine editor. Someone suggested that it was because of his falling ratings with the women in the audience. Someone suggested we were just sour grapes, jealous that we weren’t invited. Among the Michael’s crowd: Paige Peterson and her daughter Alexandra with Jesse Kornbluth; Fox News’ Laurie Dhue with two old friends (mother/daughter) from Atlanta; Margo Nederlander with Haley Steinbrenner Swindel (the late George’s granddaughter); Tiffany Dubin, Richard Beckman, David Adler, Stan Shuman, Diane Clehane, Chris Meigher, Martin Puris, Jamie Niven, Jerry Inzerillo. At table 1, Joan Jakobson, our friend and occasional NYSD contributor, was hosting a lunch for her friend Mary McDonagh Murphy whose book Scout, Atticus & Boo; A Celebration of Fifty years of To Kill A Mockingbird was just published (HarperCollins). At table: Mary’s brother Patrick Murphy, Joe Armstrong, this writer and of course our hostess." (NYSocialDiary)



"It was just another Sunday in Beverly Hills for Hugh Hefner. His latest girlfriend, Crystal Harris, and other playmates lounged by the pool at the Playboy Mansion, while Hefner played Backgammon nearby with 'the boys.' In the evening, it was movie night in the screening room: Inception, which Hef declared 'a mind blower,' though he and Crystal went on to watch True Blood afterward before calling it a night. I know all this not because I was there, but because for the last two weeks or so I've become an avid follower of Hef's Twitter feed, a slightly anachronistic thing for an 84-year-old who wears pajamas all day: As he recently told Larry King, Ms. Harris gave him an iPad and 'I'm now a Twitter bug. When I was a kid, I was a jitter bug.' In fact, I wouldn't pay much mind to Mr. Hefner if not for the curious news a couple of weeks ago that he was planning to make an offer to take Playboy Enterprises, the company he founded 57 years ago, private. At first glance, this would seem to be evidence of Aging Macher Syndrome, wherein people with money and power in their dotage do silly things to remain in the mix. (For instance, check out Sumner Redstone's recent voice-mail flap with Daily Beast reporter Peter Lauria.)" (Observer)



"Unlike other cultural icons—the Mona Lisa, the Pyramids—the Parthenon never disappoints, and even a philistine like Bill Clinton has been photographed misty-eyed between the columns. Mind you, the one that takes the booby prize is the American lassie that years ago yelled, 'Look Ma, from here you can see the Hilton.' I suppose it’s the symmetry and the proportions that make the Parthenon the wonder that it is, and if a certain Lord Elgin had never existed, the place would be even more exquisite than it is. I just read a book by Mary Beard on the Parthenon and learned a thing or two that had escaped me. My uncle, who was chief justice of the Supreme Court and president of the Archeological Society of Greece, used to give me monthly tours of the Acropolis when I was a child. Still, uncle never told me that the small temple called Erechteion had been converted into a harem by the Turks, with its line up of columns of Caryatids advertising the delights that lay inside. But Mary Beard did, so I’m now much the wiser. The Big Bang, as Beard calls it, took place in 1687, when the Venetians fired on the Turks who had turned the temple into a gunpowder store. A Swedish general, Count Koenigsmark, gave the order, but the one who always gets the credit for the sacrilege is Count Morosini, the overall commander of the Venetian force, whose descendant, Fabrizio Ferrari, is one of my oldest friends. The Parthenon and its new museum aside, things are not looking good for the Olive Republic. It is impossible to measure the extent of the damage done to Greece’s image abroad by recent events." (Takimag)



"The get-a-life fans of Mad Men — including 'NBC Nightly News' anchor Brian Williams — have taken to the Internet to point out inaccuracies in the series that prides itself on getting all the details right when it comes to hair and wardrobe, props, dialogue and history. This week, on his blog The Daily Nightly, Williams took a sharp turn from his usual subject matter — his own news show — to outline a list of boo-boos that series creator Matthew Weiner made in last Sunday night’s Season 4 premiere, which takes place in November 1964. Don Draper, the character played by Jon Hamm, could not have been watching a black-and-white NFL game late at night on TV. 'Questionable,' as the anchor politely puts it. Prime-time football didn’t start until 1970, with the first 'Monday Night Football' game.And a slow-motion replay? Not in ’64, says the anchor." (NYPost)