Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"While the fight for the control of the House of Representatives is taking place on a battlefield that includes almost every state (Alaska and Wyoming are among the exceptions), four Congressional districts have emerged as early battlegrounds in the independent expenditures war being waged by the two parties’ campaign committees." (CQPolitics)

"Yesterday was cool, not quite chilly and occasionally sunny in New York. Down at the Harvard Club the New-York Historical Society held its 2010 History Makers Gala. I was invited to this but characteristically took so long to RSVP that by the time I did (a day or two before), they had sold every seat. Much better for them. I was especially interested because the honorees were Byron Wien, Vice Chairman of Blackstone Advisory Partners, and Niall Ferguson, Professor of History at Harvard (the Laurence A Tisch Professor of History) as well as Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. These are two men who are currently distinguished by the integrity of their credibility in the financial world." (NYSocialDiary)

"Some of our readers may be aware that the sainted editor’s wife of The Spectator is Swedish—and she has a sister—but I swear on the Koran that my story has nothing to do with it. In The Spectator only two weeks ago, the Sainted One wrote about how the Swedes bucked recession by lowering taxes. What I will tell you is about the fun I’ve had with that country’s hyperborean beauties, starting with my first great love, Kerin, wife of a great tennis player of the late 50s. We were all touring together, and as he would compete all week and I’d be out of the tournament by Tuesday or Wednesday, Kerin and I spent a lot of time together—so much that people talked. Although Kerin refused to sleep with me—she was on her honeymoon when she joined the tour—we’d sit watching her hubby play, but all she did was look at me. It drove me nuts, and the Indian players used to have a cheap laugh about it. I told her that I felt like Charles XII, known as a great king but the one who lost the whole kit and caboodle to the Russians. She just kept looking deeply into my eyes." (Takimag)