Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Frankly, I'm still not even entirely sure I'm capable of putting the major events of the last century in perspective, much less those of last weekend. After all, Germany lost two world wars and today we are told it is Europe's indispensable nation, more influential than ever. And most folks think we lost in Vietnam, but three and half decades later the Soviet Union is gone, communism is discredited, and Vietnam is both a vibrant economy and open to business with the United States -- so whose vision of victory was realized?  Nonetheless, let's try to put this week in perspective by highlighting a few winners, a few losers, and then a few stories that were overshadowed by this week's headlines that may actually turn out to be more important. The winners who have thus far emerged from the shootout at the Abbottabad corral include ...  India: The most Paki-skeptic of all places on earth is quietly ... and not so quietly ... reveling in all aspects of the raid: the damage to their historic enemy's credibility, the apparent porousness of their likely adversary's borders, and the general blow to Pakistan's stature in the world." (David Rothkopf/ ForeignPolicy)



"A beautiful, sunny weekend in New York with temperatures in the low 70s. I had an early dinner last night at Swifty’s which was jammed with Mother’s Day diners, including Marc Rosen and Arlene Dahl with Arlene’s daughter Carol Holmes McCarthy and her daughters; Helene and Hugh Tilney; Isabel Leeds with daughter and granddaughter, Ellen and Ian Graham, just back from the season in Palm Beach, with son Alexis; Hilary and Joe Califano; Peter Duchin and Virginia Coleman; Bob Colacello who was celebrating a birthday; and in the window, Taki with Lewis Lapham of Lapham’s Quarterly .." (NYSocialDiary)

"The South of France will be even more glam than usual as some of the biggest film stars from around the world arrive via plane, train, or yacht to the world’s most decadent movie fete, the Cannes Film Festival. Running from May 11 to May 22, the 64th fest will open with Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, which will hope to avoid the opening-night curse, and close with The Beloved, a decades-spanning musical-comedy from French filmmaker Christophe Honoré. Other intriguing entries include a Ryan Gosling action film, a flick with Sean Penn as a retired glam rocker, and new films from acclaimed auteurs Pedro Almodóvar, the Dardenne Brothers, Gus Van Sant, and several others. Robert De Niro will serve as president of the jury awarding the coveted Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) to the best feature film in the main competition, while Inglourious Basterds stunner Mélanie Laurent will serve as hostess of the opening and closing ceremonies. Without further ado, here are the most buzzed-about films at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival." (TheDailyBeast)

"On NBC's Today show this morning, Meredith Vieira confirmed that she will leave the show next month to spend more time with her family and that Ann Curry will replace her as co-host alongside Matt Lauer. Vieira, whose husband, author Richard M. Cohen,  has been coping with multiple sclerosis and colon cancer, will make her exit in June, ahead of the September end of her contract. She has been on Today for 5 years, having replaced Katie Couric in 2006. 'Even as I say this and I know that it's the right thing, I'm really sad,' Vieira said ... For Curry, who has been Today's news reader since 1997, this is a promotion 5 years in the making as she was passed over for the top job five years ago but stuck with the show. 'I feel like the high school computer nerd who has just been asked to the prom by the quarterback of the football team,' Curry said. She will be replaced as news anchor by Natalie Morales, an anchor for the third hour of Today, while Savannah Guthrie has been added as co-host of the third hour with Morales and Al Roker." (Deadline)

"Like so many of life’s varieties of experience, the novelty of a diagnosis of malignant cancer has a tendency to wear off. The thing begins to pall, even to become banal. One can become quite used to the specter of the eternal Footman, like some lethal old bore lurking in the hallway at the end of the evening, hoping for the chance to have a word. And I don’t so much object to his holding my coat in that marked manner, as if mutely reminding me that it’s time to be on my way. No, it’s the snickering that gets me down. On a much-too-regular basis, the disease serves me up with a teasing special of the day, or a flavor of the month. It might be random sores and ulcers, on the tongue or in the mouth. Or why not a touch of peripheral neuropathy, involving numb and chilly feet? Daily existence becomes a babyish thing, measured out not in Prufrock’s coffee spoons but in tiny doses of nourishment, accompanied by heartening noises from onlookers, or solemn discussions of the operations of the digestive system, conducted with motherly strangers. On the less good days, I feel like that wooden-legged piglet belonging to a sadistically sentimental family that could bear to eat him only a chunk at a time. Except that cancer isn’t so ... considerate." (Christopher Hitchens)

"THE deal signed by the main Palestinian factions in Cairo on May 4th, after many years of bloody infighting, marks a possible turning-point in the long-drawn-out saga known, often despairingly, as the Middle East peace process. It also marks a shift in the foreign policy of Egypt, where a new intelligence chief brokered the deal. Indeed, it was the new Egyptian government’s first foreign venture since the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in February. The big question now is whether the deal will stick—and if so, whether it will eventually lead to new negotiations between a stronger and united Palestinian front and an Israeli government that has been shaken by the dramatic regional shift in power since Mr Mubarak’s fall. First reactions among Palestinians at large, both in the West Bank, the biggest bit of a future Palestinian state, and in the Gaza Strip, were deeply sceptical. As news of the agreement came out, cars in both territories were heard honking their horns. But the joyful noise was nothing to do with politics. It came from football fans who had been watching a televised match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. No deal will soon end Palestine’s division into two separate geographical components. Israel, which lies in between, will almost certainly continue to block passage between them." (TheEconomist)

"If you look into the different 'shop' windows across the Middle East, it is increasingly apparent that the Arab uprisings are bringing to a close the era of 'Middle East Wholesale' and ushering in the era of 'Middle East Retail.' Everyone is going to have to pay more for their stability. Let’s start with Israel. For the last 30 years, Israel enjoyed peace with Egypt wholesale — by having peace with just one man, Hosni Mubarak. That sale is over. Today, post-Mubarak, to sustain the peace treaty with Egypt in any kind of stable manner, Israel is going to have to pay retail. It is going to have to make peace with 85 million Egyptians. The days in which one phone call by Israel to Mubarak could shut down any crisis in relations are over. Amr Moussa, the outgoing head of the Arab League and the front-runner in polls to succeed Mubarak as president when Egypt holds elections in November, just made that clear in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Regarding Israel, Moussa said: 'Mubarak had a certain policy. It was his own policy, and I don’t think we have to follow this. We want to be a friend of Israel, but it has to have two parties. It is not on Egypt to be a friend. Israel has to be a friend, too.' Moussa owes a great deal of his popularity in Egypt to his tough approach to Israel." (Tom Friedman)

"Howard (Stern) said President Obama was on 60 Minutes last night. He said he felt good watching the guy speak. He said he's very good at answering questions. Howard said the whole Osama bin Laden thing has been confusing to him. He said you want to the straight poop or none at all. He said they say they threw him into the sea and that was that. Howard said they couldn't do a thing about it if they did that. Howard said they had people complaining that they didn't give him a Muslim funeral and things like that. Howard said it's all bullshit because Osama didn't give a fuck what happened to the people in the World Trade Center. Howard said all religions are nuts. He said he was reading about the people who were sitting there watching the Osama video and they have that shot of them all doing that. Howard said in the Hasidic paper they cut out Hillary Clinton because thy don't want to show a woman in a position of power. He said these religions are so strict that they won't allow that. Howard said it's just people who want everything to be under control. They can't stand to have anything out of their control." (Marksfriggin)