"It is precisely because it is unimaginable that Sarah Palin could play the role of honest broker on the international stage on an issue such as Middle East peace that she will never be president. For better or for worse, being president of the United States requires individuals who can assume such a role. Indeed, the success or failure of many American presidents has turned on whether or not they have risen to the challenges of international statesmanship. The American people recognize this fact and with very few exceptions look for character traits in winning candidates that translate into presidents who can hold their own with top leaders on vital issues (although sadly, international experience is not one of them). This week, with the renewal of direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, President Obama's test in this defining crucible will begin." (David Rothkof/ForeignPolicy)
"On Aug. 11, real estate blog Curbed posted a seemingly innocuous scoop: Rachel Maddow and her partner, Susan Mikula, had bought Michael Stipe's old apartment at 130 Jane Street for a cool $1.25 million. The blogger, Sara Polsky, also posted photos and a floorplan for the apartment, apparently attained from Corcoran's Web site. So far, so good. But Ms. Maddow, seemingly unfamiliar with New York's celebrity-intoxicated real estate press, was not pleased. On Sunday, she told New York magazine, 'They may get a lot of page views for that, but I think they would have gotten just as many page views if they had redacted my address and considered my safety and privacy. Whoever at Curbed decided the actual address and floor plan was necessary to get those page views, I hope they die in a fire.'" (Observer)
"Paris (Hilton) and her less ridiculous sister, Nicky, showed up one summer in the Hamptons in the late 90s. I remember meeting them for the first time at a benefit at the Parrish Art Museum. They looked like Eastern European hookers, decked out in Versace, or some such vulgarity. They were not even twenty. Their horribly pushy mother came to me—I was then the managing editor of Hamptons magazine, and she wanted me to give Nicky a summer internship, which I did. Nicky was reserved and efficient, though I could never quite make heads or tails of her. I imagine if Nicky had been prettier, she would have ended up much like her sister. I would only see Paris out at night; she thought she was somebody, and was clearly peculiar. One evening in a Manhattan club I saw her dry hump a support column for several hours while flashing her pantyless crotch to everyone around her. Poor Paris was desperate for something. But Hilton couldn’t quite crack the social scene in New York. Her low-rent star-seeking ways were too cheap for the East Coast." (Mandolyna Theodoracopulos)
"Were we seeing a reinvented Glenn Beck? Had the political commentator turned tent pole revivalist for good? Based on the material so far published at The Blaze, the answer is no: The site is part The Drudge Report and part Big Government, insofar as its content is mostly driven by a populist right-leaning political agenda. It's also less angry than those sites, and infused with notes of Beck's weirdness." (TheDailybeast)
"When he wanted to interview a source in Connecticut for a recent 'World News' story on technology, ABC reporter Pierre Thomas didn't even leave the office. ABC's cameras showed him sitting in front of a computer screen, talking to Michael Coppolla through Skype. The video phone service has become an important tool for television news organizations over the past several months. Producers say it enables them to reach many more people for interviews. It also saves money, although its current users insist Skype won't become a crutch. Skype encourages news organizations to use the service, doesn't charge for it and offers detailed advice on how to best take advantage of the technology. The company asks networks to display its logo or verbally identify Skype. 'It really has changed the way we do business,' said Tom Costello, a Washington-based NBC News reporter." (ABC News via TVNewser)
"Porto Cervo, I was told by someone knowledgeable a couple days before at Baroness Thyssen’s late afternoon drinks party, is a fairly new community built specifically for the rich and their yachts. I had no idea exactly what that meant but on arrival it is easy to see. A small bay wall-to-wall with big yachts and sailing ships, and at its center a large and rambling two- and three-story hotel and shopping mall (it turns out) which, again like Cala di Volpe is a faded salmon pink. And in the hillsides on either side, like architectural outcroppings, are smaller versions of that Mediterranean adobe/stucco and stone villas, some white, some salmon pink, some yellow. Idyllic, not fancy although very likely not modest, the scene is almost quaint and simple in feeling." (NySocialDiary)
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